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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2041-h.zip b/2041-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..13e5cac --- /dev/null +++ b/2041-h.zip diff --git a/2041-h/2041-h.htm b/2041-h/2041-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..06a6b7f --- /dev/null +++ b/2041-h/2041-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8215 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of The House of the Wolf, by Stanley Weyman +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The House of the Wolf, by Stanley Weyman + +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 House of the Wolf + A Romance + +Author: Stanley Weyman + +Posting Date: November 19, 2008 [EBook #2041] +Release Date: January, 2000 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF *** + + + + + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +Note: +<BR><BR> +In this Etext, text in italics has been written in capital letters. +<BR><BR> +Many French words in the text have accents, etc. which have been +omitted. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF +</H1> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +A Romance +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +by +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +STANLEY WEYMAN +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS. +</H2> + +<TABLE ALIGN="center" WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">CHAP.</TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> </TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I.— </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">WARE WOLF!</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II.— </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">THE VIDAME'S THREAT.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III.— </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">THE ROAD TO PARIS.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV.— </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">ENTRAPPED!</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V.— </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">A PRIEST AND A WOMAN.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI.— </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">MADAME'S FRIGHT.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII.— </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">A YOUNG KNIGHT ERRANT.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII.— </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">THE PARISIAN MATINS.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX.— </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">THE HEAD OF ERASMUS.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X.— </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">HAU, HAU, HUGUENOTS!</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI.— </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">A NIGHT OF SORROW.</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII.— </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">JOY IN THE MORNING.</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +INTRODUCTION. +</H3> + +<P> +The following is a modern English version of a curious French memoir, +or fragment of autobiography, apparently written about the year 1620 by +Anne, Vicomte de Caylus, and brought to this country—if, in fact, the +original ever existed in England—by one of his descendants after the +Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. This Anne, we learn from other +sources, was a principal figure at the Court of Henry IV., and, +therefore, in August, 1572, when the adventures here related took +place, he and his two younger brothers, Marie and Croisette, who shared +with him the honour and the danger, must have been little more than +boys. From the tone of his narrative, it appears that, in reviving old +recollections, the veteran renewed his youth also, and though his story +throws no fresh light upon the history of the time, it seems to possess +some human interest. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF. +</H1> + +<BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +WARE WOLF! +</H3> + +<P> +I had afterwards such good reason to look back upon and remember the +events of that afternoon, that Catherine's voice seems to ring in my +brain even now. I can shut my eyes and see again, after all these +years, what I saw then—just the blue summer sky, and one grey angle of +the keep, from which a fleecy cloud was trailing like the smoke from a +chimney. I could see no more because I was lying on my back, my head +resting on my hands. Marie and Croisette, my brothers, were lying by me +in exactly the same posture, and a few yards away on the terrace, +Catherine was sitting on a stool Gil had brought out for her. It was +the second Thursday in August, and hot. Even the jackdaws were silent. +I had almost fallen asleep, watching my cloud grow longer and longer, +and thinner and thinner, when Croisette, who cared for heat no more +than a lizard, spoke up sharply, "Mademoiselle," he said, "why are you +watching the Cahors road?" +</P> + +<P> +I had not noticed that she was doing so. But something in the keenness +of Croisette's tone, taken perhaps with the fact that Catherine did not +at once answer him, aroused me; and I turned to her. And lo! she was +blushing in the most heavenly way, and her eyes were full of tears, and +she looked at us adorably. And we all three sat up on our elbows, like +three puppy dogs, and looked at her. And there was a long silence. +And then she said quite simply to us, "Boys, I am going to be married +to M. de Pavannes." +</P> + +<P> +I fell flat on my back and spread out my arms. "Oh, Mademoiselle!" I +cried reproachfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Mademoiselle!" cried Marie. And he fell flat on his back, and +spread out his arms and moaned. He was a good brother, was Marie, and +obedient. +</P> + +<P> +And Croisette cried, "Oh, mademoiselle!" too. But he was always +ridiculous in his ways. He fell flat on his back, and flopped his arms +and squealed like a pig. +</P> + +<P> +Yet he was sharp. It was he who first remembered our duty, and went to +Catherine, cap in hand, where she sat half angry and half confused, and +said with a fine redness in his cheeks, "Mademoiselle de Caylus, our +cousin, we give you joy, and wish you long life; and are your servants, +and the good friends and aiders of M. de Pavannes in all quarrels, as—" +</P> + +<P> +But I could not stand that. "Not so fast, St. Croix de Caylus" I said, +pushing him aside—he was ever getting before me in those days—and +taking his place. Then with my best bow I began, "Mademoiselle, we +give you joy and long life, and are your servants and the good friends +and aiders of M. de Pavannes in all quarrels, as—as—" +</P> + +<P> +"As becomes the cadets of your house," suggested Croisette, softly. +</P> + +<P> +"As becomes the cadets of your house," I repeated. And then Catherine +stood up and made me a low bow and we all kissed her hand in turn, +beginning with me and ending with Croisette, as was becoming. +Afterwards Catherine threw her handkerchief over her face—she was +crying—and we three sat down, Turkish fashion, just where we were, and +said "Oh, Kit!" very softly. +</P> + +<P> +But presently Croisette had something to add. "What will the Wolf +say?" he whispered to me. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah! To be sure!" I exclaimed aloud. I had been thinking of myself +before; but this opened quite another window. "What will the Vidame +say, Kit?" +</P> + +<P> +She dropped her kerchief from her face, and turned so pale that I was +sorry I had spoken—apart from the kick Croisette gave me. "Is M. de +Bezers at his house?" she asked anxiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," Croisette answered. "He came in last night from St. Antonin, +with very small attendance." +</P> + +<P> +The news seemed to set her fears at rest instead of augmenting them as +I should have expected. I suppose they were rather for Louis de +Pavannes, than for herself. Not unnaturally, too, for even the Wolf +could scarcely have found it in his heart to hurt our cousin. Her +slight willowy figure, her pale oval face and gentle brown eyes, her +pleasant voice, her kindness, seemed to us boys and in those days, to +sum up all that was womanly. We could not remember, not even Croisette +the youngest of us—who was seventeen, a year junior to Marie and +myself—we were twins—the time when we had not been in love with her. +</P> + +<P> +But let me explain how we four, whose united ages scarce exceeded +seventy years, came to be lounging on the terrace in the holiday +stillness of that afternoon. It was the summer of 1572. The great +peace, it will be remembered, between the Catholics and the Huguenots +had not long been declared; the peace which in a day or two was to be +solemnized, and, as most Frenchmen hoped, to be cemented by the +marriage of Henry of Navarre with Margaret of Valois, the King's +sister. The Vicomte de Caylus, Catherine's father and our guardian, +was one of the governors appointed to see the peace enforced; the +respect in which he was held by both parties—he was a Catholic, but no +bigot, God rest his soul!—recommending him for this employment. He +had therefore gone a week or two before to Bayonne, his province. Most +of our neighbours in Quercy were likewise from home, having gone to +Paris to be witnesses on one side or the other of the royal wedding. +And consequently we young people, not greatly checked by the presence +of good-natured, sleepy Madame Claude, Catherine's duenna, were +disposed to make the most of our liberty; and to celebrate the peace in +our own fashion. +</P> + +<P> +We were country-folk. Not one of us had been to Pau, much less to +Paris. The Vicomte held stricter views than were common then, upon +young people's education; and though we had learned to ride and shoot, +to use our swords and toss a hawk, and to read and write, we knew +little more than Catherine herself of the world; little more of the +pleasures and sins of court life, and not one-tenth as much as she did +of its graces. Still she had taught us to dance and make a bow. Her +presence had softened our manners; and of late we had gained something +from the frank companionship of Louis de Pavannes, a Huguenot whom the +Vicomte had taken prisoner at Moncontour and held to ransom. We were +not, I think, mere clownish yokels. +</P> + +<P> +But we were shy. We disliked and shunned strangers. And when old Gil +appeared suddenly, while we were still chewing the melancholy cud of +Kit's announcement, and cried sepulchrally, "M. le Vidame de Bezers to +pay his respects to Mademoiselle!"—Well, there was something like a +panic, I confess! +</P> + +<P> +We scrambled to our feet, muttering, "The Wolf!" The entrance at +Caylus is by a ramp rising from the gateway to the level of the +terrace. This sunken way is fenced by low walls so that one may +not—when walking on the terrace—fall into it. Gil had spoken before +his head had well risen to view, and this gave us a moment, just a +moment. Croisette made a rush for the doorway into the house; but +failed to gain it, and drew himself up behind a buttress of the tower, +his finger on his lip. I am slow sometimes, and Marie waited for me, +so that we had barely got to our legs—looking, I dare say, awkward and +ungainly enough—before the Vidame's shadow fell darkly on the ground +at Catherine's feet. +</P> + +<P> +"Mademoiselle!" he said, advancing to her through the sunshine, and +bending over her slender hand with a magnificent grace that was born of +his size and manner combined, "I rode in late last night from Toulouse; +and I go to-morrow to Paris. I have but rested and washed off the +stains of travel that I may lay my—ah!" +</P> + +<P> +He seemed to see us for the first time and negligently broke off in his +compliment; raising himself and saluting us. "Ah," he continued +indolently, "two of the maidens of Caylus, I see. With an odd pair of +hands apiece, unless I am mistaken, Why do you not set them spinning, +Mademoiselle?" and he regarded us with that smile which—with other +things as evil—had made him famous. +</P> + +<P> +Croisette pulled horrible faces behind his back. We looked hotly at +him; but could find nothing to say. +</P> + +<P> +"You grow red!" he went on, pleasantly—the wretch!—playing with us +as a cat does with mice. "It offends your dignity, perhaps, that I bid +Mademoiselle set you spinning? I now would spin at Mademoiselle's +bidding, and think it happiness!" +</P> + +<P> +"We are not girls!" I blurted out, with the flush and tremor of a +boy's passion. "You had not called my godfather, Anne de Montmorenci a +girl, M. le Vidame!" For though we counted it a joke among ourselves +that we all bore girls' names, we were young enough to be sensitive +about it. +</P> + +<P> +He shrugged his shoulders. And how he dwarfed us all as he stood there +dominating our terrace! "M. de Montmorenci was a man," he said +scornfully. "M. Anne de Caylus is—" +</P> + +<P> +And the villain deliberately turned his great back upon us, taking his +seat on the low wall near Catherine's chair. It was clear even to our +vanity that he did not think us worth another word—that we had passed +absolutely from his mind. Madame Claude came waddling out at the same +moment, Gil carrying a chair behind her. And we—well we slunk away +and sat on the other side of the terrace, whence we could still glower +at the offender. +</P> + +<P> +Yet who were we to glower at him? To this day I shake at the thought +of him. It was not so much his height and bulk, though he was so big +that the clipped pointed fashion of his beard a fashion then new at +court—seemed on him incongruous and effeminate; nor so much the +sinister glance of his grey eyes—he had a slight cast in them; nor the +grim suavity of his manner, and the harsh threatening voice that +permitted of no disguise. It was the sum of these things, the great +brutal presence of the man—that was overpowering—that made the great +falter and the poor crouch. And then his reputation! Though we knew +little of the world's wickedness, all we did know had come to us linked +with his name. We had heard of him as a duellist, as a bully, an +employer of bravos. At Jarnac he had been the last to turn from the +shambles. Men called him cruel and vengeful even for those days—gone +by now, thank God!—and whispered his name when they spoke of +assassinations; saying commonly of him that he would not blench before +a Guise, nor blush before the Virgin. +</P> + +<P> +Such was our visitor and neighbour, Raoul de Mar, Vidame de Bezers. As +he sat on the terrace, now eyeing us askance, and now paying Catherine +a compliment, I likened him to a great cat before which a butterfly has +all unwittingly flirted her prettiness. Poor Catherine! No doubt she +had her own reasons for uneasiness; more reasons I fancy than I then +guessed. For she seemed to have lost her voice. She stammered and +made but poor replies; and Madame Claude being deaf and stupid, and we +boys too timid after the rebuff we had experienced to fill the gap, the +conversation languished. The Vidame was not for his part the man to +put himself out on a hot day. +</P> + +<P> +It was after one of these pauses—not the first but the longest—that I +started on finding his eyes fixed on mine. More, I shivered. It is +hard to describe, but there was a look in the Vidame's eyes at that +moment which I had never seen before. A look of pain almost: of dumb +savage alarm at any rate. From me they passed slowly to Marie and +mutely interrogated him. Then the Vidame's glance travelled back to +Catherine, and settled on her. +</P> + +<P> +Only a moment before she had been but too conscious of his presence. +Now, as it chanced by bad luck, or in the course of Providence, +something had drawn her attention elsewhere. She was unconscious of +his regard. Her own eyes were fixed in a far-away gaze. Her colour +was high, her lips were parted, her bosom heaved gently. +</P> + +<P> +The shadow deepened on the Vidame's face. Slowly he took his eyes from +hers, and looked northwards also. +</P> + +<P> +Caylus Castle stands on a rock in the middle of the narrow valley of +that name. The town clusters about the ledges of the rock so closely +that when I was a boy I could fling a stone clear of the houses. The +hills are scarcely five hundred yards distant on either side, rising in +tamer colours from the green fields about the brook. It is possible +from the terrace to see the whole valley, and the road which passes +through it lengthwise. Catherine's eyes were on the northern extremity +of the defile, where the highway from Cahors descends from the uplands. +She had been sitting with her face turned that way all the afternoon. +</P> + +<P> +I looked that way too. A solitary horseman was descending the steep +track from the hills. +</P> + +<P> +"Mademoiselle!" cried the Vidame suddenly. We all looked up. His tone +was such that the colour fled from Kit's face. There was something in +his voice she had never heard in any voice before—something that to a +woman was like a blow. "Mademoiselle," he snarled, "is expecting news +from Cahors, from her lover. I have the honour to congratulate M. de +Pavannes on his conquest." +</P> + +<P> +Ah! he had guessed it! As the words fell on the sleepy silence, an +insult in themselves, I sprang to my feet, amazed and angry, yet +astounded by his quickness of sight and wit. He must have recognized +the Pavannes badge at that distance. "M. le Vidame," I said +indignantly—Catherine was white and voiceless—"M. le Vidame—" but +there I stopped and faltered stammering. For behind him I could see +Croisette; and Croisette gave me no sign of encouragement or support. +</P> + +<P> +So we stood face to face for a moment; the boy and the man of the +world, the stripling and the ROUE. Then the Vidame bowed to me in +quite a new fashion. "M. Anne de Caylus desires to answer for M. de +Pavannes?" he asked smoothly; with a mocking smoothness. +</P> + +<P> +I understood what he meant. But something prompted me—Croisette said +afterwards that it was a happy thought, though now I know the crisis to +have been less serious than he fancied to answer, "Nay, not for M. de +Pavannes. Rather for my cousin." And I bowed. "I have the honour on +her behalf to acknowledge your congratulations, M. le Vidame. It +pleases her that our nearest neighbour should also be the first outside +the family to wish her well. You have divined truly in supposing that +she will shortly be united to M. de Pavannes." +</P> + +<P> +I suppose—for I saw the giant's colour change and his lip quiver as I +spoke—that his previous words had been only a guess. For a moment the +devil seemed to be glaring through his eyes; and he looked at Marie and +me as a wild animal at its keepers. Yet he maintained his cynical +politeness in part. "Mademoiselle desires my congratulations?" he +said, slowly, labouring with each word it seemed. "She shall have them +on the happy day. She shall certainly have them then. But these are +troublous times. And Mademoiselle's betrothed is I think a Huguenot, +and has gone to Paris. Paris—well, the air of Paris is not good for +Huguenots, I am told." +</P> + +<P> +I saw Catherine shiver; indeed she was on the point of fainting, I +broke in rudely, my passion getting the better of my fears. "M. de +Pavannes can take care of himself, believe me," I said brusquely. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps so," Bezers answered, his voice like the grating of steel on +steel. "But at any rate this will be a memorable day for Mademoiselle. +The day on which she receives her first congratulations—she will +remember it as long as she lives! Oh, yes, I will answer for that, M. +Anne," he said looking brightly at one and another of us, his eyes more +oblique than ever, "Mademoiselle will remember it, I am sure!" +</P> + +<P> +It would be impossible to describe the devilish glance he flung at the +poor sinking girl as he withdrew, the horrid emphasis he threw into +those last words, the covert deadly threat they conveyed to the dullest +ears. That he went then, was small mercy. He had done all the evil he +could do at present. If his desire had been to leave fear behind him, +he had certainly succeeded. +</P> + +<P> +Kit crying softly went into the house; her innocent coquetry more than +sufficiently punished already. And we three looked at one another with +blank faces, It was clear that we had made a dangerous enemy, and an +enemy at our own gates. As the Vidame had said, these were troublous +times when things were done to men—ay, and to women and +children—which we scarce dare to speak of now. "I wish the Vicomte +were here," Croisette said uneasily after we had discussed several +unpleasant contingencies. +</P> + +<P> +"Or even Malines the steward," I suggested. +</P> + +<P> +"He would not be much good," replied Croisette. +</P> + +<P> +"And he is at St. Antonin, and will not be back this week. Father +Pierre too is at Albi." +</P> + +<P> +"You do not think," said Marie, "that he will attack us?" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly not!" Croisette retorted with contempt. "Even the Vidame +would not dare to do that in time of peace. Besides, he has not half a +score of men here," continued the lad, shrewdly, "and counting old Gil +and ourselves we have as many. And Pavannes always said that three men +could hold the gate at the bottom of the ramp against a score. Oh, he +will not try that!" +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly not!" I agreed. And so we crushed Marie. "But for Louis de +Pavannes—" +</P> + +<P> +Catherine interrupted me. She came out quickly looking a different +person; her face flushed with anger, her tears dried. +</P> + +<P> +"Anne!" she cried, imperiously, "what is the matter down below—will +you see?" +</P> + +<P> +I had no difficulty in doing that. All the sounds of town life came up +to us on the terrace. Lounging there we could hear the chaffering over +the wheat measures in the cloisters of the market-square, the yell of a +dog, the voice of a scold, the church bell, the watchman's cry. I had +only to step to the wall to overlook it all. On this summer afternoon +the town had been for the most part very quiet. If we had not been +engaged in our own affairs we should have taken the alarm before, +remarking in the silence the first beginnings of what was now a very +respectable tumult. It swelled louder even as we stepped to the wall. +</P> + +<P> +We could see—a bend in the street laying it open—part of the Vidame's +house; the gloomy square hold which had come to him from his mother. +His own chateau of Bezers lay far away in Franche Comte, but of late he +had shown a preference—Catherine could best account for it, +perhaps—for this mean house in Caylus. It was the only house in the +town which did not belong to us. It was known as the House of the +Wolf, and was a grim stone building surrounding a courtyard. Rows of +wolves' heads carved in stone flanked the windows, whence their bare +fangs grinned day and night at the church porch opposite. +</P> + +<P> +The noise drew our eyes in this direction; and there lolling in a +window over the door, looking out on the street with a laughing eye, +was Bezers himself. The cause of his merriment—we had not far to look +for it—was a horseman who was riding up the street under difficulties. +He was reining in his steed—no easy task on that steep greasy +pavement—so as to present some front to a score or so of ragged knaves +who were following close at his heels, hooting and throwing mud and +pebbles at him. The man had drawn his sword, and his oaths came up to +us, mingled with shrill cries of "VIVE LA MESSE!" and half drowned by +the clattering of the horse's hoofs. We saw a stone strike him in the +face, and draw blood, and heard him swear louder than before. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" cried Catherine, clasping her hands with a sudden shriek of +indignation, "my letter! They will get my letter!" +</P> + +<P> +"Death!" exclaimed Croisette, "She is right! It is M. de Pavannes' +courier! This must be stopped! We cannot stand this, Anne!" +</P> + +<P> +"They shall pay dearly for it, by our Lady!" I cried swearing myself. +"And in peace time too—the villains! Gil! Francis!" I shouted, +"where are you?" +</P> + +<P> +And I looked round for my fowling piece, while Croisette jumped on the +wall, and forming a trumpet with his hands, shrieked at the top of his +voice, "Back! he bears a letter from the Vicomte!" +</P> + +<P> +But the device did not succeed, and I could not find my gun. For a +moment we were helpless, and before I could have fetched the gun from +the house, the horseman and the hooting rabble at his heels, had turned +a corner and were hidden by the roofs. +</P> + +<P> +Another turn however would bring them out in front of the gateway, and +seeing this we hurried down the ramp to meet them. I stayed a moment to +tell Gil to collect the servants, and, this keeping me, Croisette +reached the narrow street outside before me. As I followed him I was +nearly knocked down by the rider, whose face was covered with, dirt and +blood, while fright had rendered his horse unmanageable. Darting aside +I let him pass—he was blinded and could not see me—and then found +that Croisette—brave lad! had collared the foremost of the ruffians, +and was beating him with his sheathed sword, while the rest of the +rabble stood back, ashamed, yet sullen, and with anger in their eyes. +A dangerous crew, I thought; not townsmen, most of them. +</P> + +<P> +"Down with the Huguenots!" cried one, as I appeared, one bolder than +the rest. +</P> + +<P> +"Down with the CANAILLE!" I retorted, sternly eyeing the ill-looking +ring. "Will you set yourselves above the king's peace, dirt that you +are? Go back to your kennels!" +</P> + +<P> +The words were scarcely out of my mouth, before I saw that the fellow +whom Croisette was punishing had got hold of a dagger. I shouted a +warning, but it came too late. The blade fell, and—thanks to +God—striking the buckle of the lad's belt, glanced off harmless. I +saw the steel flash up again—saw the spite in the man's eyes: but +this time I was a step nearer, and before the weapon fell, I passed my +sword clean through the wretch's body. He went down like a log, +Croisette falling with him, held fast by his stiffening fingers. +</P> + +<P> +I had never killed a man before, nor seen a man die; and if I had +stayed to think about it, I should have fallen sick perhaps. But it +was no time for thought; no time for sickness. The crowd were close +upon us, a line of flushed threatening faces from wall to wall. A +single glance downwards told me that the man was dead, and I set my +foot upon his neck. "Hounds! Beasts!" I cried, not loudly this time, +for though I was like one possessed with rage, it was inward rage, "go +to your kennels! Will you dare to raise a hand against a Caylus? +Go—or when the Vicomte returns, a dozen of you shall hang in the +market-place!" +</P> + +<P> +I suppose I looked fierce enough—I know I felt no fear, only a strange +exaltation—for they slunk away. Unwillingly, but with little delay +the group melted, Bezers' following—of whom I knew the dead man was +one—the last to go. While I still glared at them, lo! the street was +empty; the last had disappeared round the bend. I turned to find Gil +and half-a-dozen servants standing with pale faces at my back. +Croisette seized my hand with a sob. "Oh, my lord," cried Gil, +quaveringly. But I shook one off, I frowned at the other. +</P> + +<P> +"Take up this carrion!" I said, touching it with my foot, "And hang it +from the justice-elm. And then close the gates! See to it, knaves, +and lose no time." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE VIDAME'S THREAT. +</H3> + +<P> +Croisette used to tell a story, of the facts of which I have no +remembrance, save as a bad dream. He would have it that I left my +pallet that night—I had one to myself in the summer, being the eldest, +while he and Marie slept on another in the same room—and came to him +and awoke him, sobbing and shaking and clutching him; and begging him +in a fit of terror not to let me go. And that so I slept in his arms +until morning. But as I have said, I do not remember anything of this, +only that I had an ugly dream that night, and that when I awoke I was +lying with him and Marie; so I cannot say whether it really happened. +</P> + +<P> +At any rate, if I had any feeling of the kind it did not last long; on +the contrary—it would be idle to deny it—I was flattered by the +sudden respect, Gil and the servants showed me. What Catherine thought +of the matter I could not tell. She had her letter and apparently +found it satisfactory. At any rate we saw nothing of her. Madame +Claude was busy boiling simples, and tending the messenger's hurts. +And it seemed natural that I should take command. +</P> + +<P> +There could be no doubt—at any rate we had none that the assault on +the courier had taken place at the Vidame's instance. The only wonder +was that he had not simply cut his throat and taken the letter. But +looking back now it seems to me that grown men mingled some +childishness with their cruelty in those days—days when the religious +wars had aroused our worst passions. It was not enough to kill an +enemy. It pleased people to make—I speak literally—a football of his +head, to throw his heart to the dogs. And no doubt it had fallen in +with the Vidame's grim humour that the bearer of Pavannes' first love +letter should enter his mistress's presence, bleeding and plaistered +with mud. And that the riff-raff about our own gates should have part +in the insult. +</P> + +<P> +Bezers' wrath would be little abated by the issue of the affair, or the +justice I had done on one of his men. So we looked well to bolts, and +bars, and windows, although the castle is well-nigh impregnable, the +smooth rock falling twenty feet at least on every side from the base of +the walls. The gatehouse, Pavannes had shown us, might be blown up +with gunpowder indeed, but we prepared to close the iron grating which +barred the way half-way up the ramp. This done, even if the enemy +should succeed in forcing an entrance he would only find himself caught +in a trap—in a steep, narrow way exposed to a fire from the top of the +flanking walls, as well as from the front. We had a couple of +culverins, which the Vicomte had got twenty years before, at the time +of the battle of St. Quentin. We fixed one of these at the head of the +ramp, and placed the other on the terrace, where by moving it a few +paces forward we could train it on Bezers' house, which thus lay at our +mercy. +</P> + +<P> +Not that we really expected an attack. But we did not know what to +expect or what to fear. We had not ten servants, the Vicomte having +taken a score of the sturdiest lackeys and keepers to attend him at +Bayonne. And we felt immensely responsible. Our main hope was that +the Vidame would at once go on to Paris, and postpone his vengeance. +So again and again we cast longing glances at the House of the Wolf +hoping that each symptom of bustle heralded his departure. +</P> + +<P> +Consequently it was a shock to me, and a great downfall of hopes, when +Gil with a grave face came to me on the terrace and announced that M. +le Vidame was at the gate, asking to see Mademoiselle. +</P> + +<P> +"It is out of the question that he should see her," the old servant +added, scratching his head in grave perplexity. +</P> + +<P> +"Most certainly. I will see him instead," I answered stoutly. "Do you +leave Francis and another at the gate, Gil. Marie, keep within sight, +lad. And let Croisette stay with me." +</P> + +<P> +These preparations made—and they took up scarcely a moment—I met the +Vidame at the head of the ramp. "Mademoiselle de Caylus," I said, +bowing, "is, I regret to say, indisposed to-day, Vidame." +</P> + +<P> +"She will not see me?" he asked, eyeing me very unpleasantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Her indisposition deprives her of the pleasure," I answered with an +effort. He was certainly a wonderful man, for at sight of him, +three-fourths of my courage, and all my importance, oozed out at the +heels of my boots. +</P> + +<P> +"She will not see me. Very well," he replied, as if I had not spoken. +And the simple words sounded like a sentence of death. "Then, M. Anne, +I have a crow to pick with you. What compensation do you propose to +make for the death of my servant? A decent, quiet fellow, whom you +killed yesterday, poor man, because his enthusiasm for the true faith +carried him away a little." +</P> + +<P> +"Whom I killed because he drew a dagger on M. St. Croix de Caylus at +the Vicomte's gate," I answered steadily. I had thought about this of +course and was ready for it. "You are aware, M. de Bezers," I +continued, "that the Vicomte has jurisdiction extending to life and +death over all persons within the valley?" +</P> + +<P> +"My household excepted," he rejoined quietly. +</P> + +<P> +"Precisely; while they are within the curtilage of your house," I +retorted. "However as the punishment was summary, and the man had no +time to confess himself, I am willing to—" +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" +</P> + +<P> +"To pay Father Pierre to say ten masses for his soul." +</P> + +<P> +The way the Vidame received this surprised me. He broke into +boisterous laughter. "By our Lady, my friend," he cried with rough +merriment, "but you are a joker! You are indeed. Masses? Why the man +was a Protestant!" +</P> + +<P> +And that startled me more than anything which had gone before; more +indeed than I can explain. For it seemed to prove that this man, +laughing his unholy laugh was not like other men. He did not pick and +choose his servants for their religion. He was sure that the Huguenot +would stone his fellow at his bidding; the Catholic cry "Vive Coligny!" +I was so completely taken aback that I found no words to answer him, +and it was Croisette who said smartly, "Then how about his enthusiasm +for the true faith, M. le Vidame?" +</P> + +<P> +"The true faith," he answered—"for my servants is my faith." Then a +thought seemed to strike him. "What is more." he continued slowly, +"that it is the true and only faith for all, thousands will learn +before the world is ten days older. Bear my words in mind, boy! They +will come back to you. And now hear me," he went on in his usual tone, +"I am anxious to accommodate a neighbour. It goes without saying that +I would not think of putting you, M. Anne, to any trouble for the sake +of that rascal of mine. But my people will expect something. Let the +plaguy fellow who caused all this disturbance be given up to me, that I +may hang him; and let us cry quits." +</P> + +<P> +"That is impossible!" I answered coolly. I had no need to ask what he +meant. Give up Pavannes' messenger indeed! Never! +</P> + +<P> +He regarded me—unmoved by my refusal—with a smile under which I +chafed, while I was impotent to resent it. "Do not build too much on a +single blow, young gentleman," he said, shaking his head waggishly. "I +had fought a dozen times when I was your age. However, I understand +that you refuse to give me satisfaction?" +</P> + +<P> +"In the mode you mention, certainly," I replied. "But—" +</P> + +<P> +"Bah!" he exclaimed with a sneer, "business first and pleasure +afterwards! Bezers will obtain satisfaction in his own way, I promise +you that! And at his own time. And it will not be on unfledged +bantlings like you. But what is this for?" And he rudely kicked the +culverin which apparently he had not noticed before, "So! so! +understand," he continued, casting a sharp glance at one and another of +us. "You looked to be besieged! Why you, booby, there is the shoot of +your kitchen midden, twenty feet above the roof of old Fretis' store! +And open, I will be sworn! Do you think that I should have come this +way while there was a ladder in Caylus! Did you take the wolf for a +sheep?" +</P> + +<P> +With that he turned on his heel, swaggering away in the full enjoyment +of his triumph. For a triumph it was. We stood stunned; ashamed to +look one another in the face. Of course the shoot was open. We +remembered now that it was, and we were so sorely mortified by his +knowledge and our folly, that I failed in my courtesy, and did not see +him to the gate, as I should have done. We paid for that later. +</P> + +<P> +"He is the devil in person!" I exclaimed angrily, shaking my fist at +the House of the Wolf, as I strode up and down impatiently. "I hate +him worse!" +</P> + +<P> +"So do I!" said Croisette, mildly. "But that he hates us is a matter +of more importance. At any rate we will close the shoot." +</P> + +<P> +"Wait a moment!" I replied, as after another volley of complaints +directed at our visitor, the lad was moving off to see to it. "What is +going on down there?" +</P> + +<P> +"Upon my word, I believe he is leaving us!" Croisette rejoined sharply. +</P> + +<P> +For there was a noise of hoofs below us, clattering on the pavement. +Half-a-dozen horsemen were issuing from the House of the Wolf, the ring +of their bridles and the sound of their careless voices coming up to us +through the clear morning air Bezers' valet, whom we knew by sight, was +the last of them. He had a pair of great saddle-bags before him, and +at sight of these we uttered a glad exclamation. "He is going!" I +murmured, hardly able to believe my eyes. "He is going after all!" +</P> + +<P> +"Wait!" Croisette answered drily. +</P> + +<P> +But I was right. We had not to wait long. He WAS going. In another +moment he came out himself, riding a strong iron-grey horse: and we +could see that he had holsters to his saddle. His steward was running +beside him, to take I suppose his last orders. A cripple, whom the +bustle had attracted from his usual haunt, the church porch, held up +his hand for alms. The Vidame as he passed, cut him savagely across +the face with his whip, and cursed him audibly. +</P> + +<P> +"May the devil take him!" exclaimed Croisette in just rage. But I +said nothing, remembering that the cripple was a particular pet of +Catherine's. I thought instead of an occasion, not so very long ago, +when the Vicomte being at home, we had had a great hawking party. +Bezers and Catherine had ridden up the street together, and Catherine +giving the cripple a piece of money, Bezers had flung to him all his +share of the game. And my heart sank. +</P> + +<P> +Only for a moment, however. The man was gone; or was going at any +rate. We stood silent and motionless, all watching, until, after what +seemed a long interval, the little party of seven became visible on the +white road far below us—to the northward, and moving in that +direction. Still we watched them, muttering a word to one another, now +and again, until presently the riders slackened their pace, and began +to ascend the winding track that led to the hills and Cahors; and to +Paris also, if one went far enough. +</P> + +<P> +Then at length with a loud "Whoop!" we dashed across the terrace, +Croisette leading, and so through the courtyard to the parlour; where +we arrived breathless. "He is off!" Croisette cried shrilly. "He has +started for Paris! And bad luck go with him!" And we all flung up our +caps and shouted. +</P> + +<P> +But no answer, such as we expected, came from the women folk. When we +picked up our caps, and looked at Catherine, feeling rather foolish, +she was staring at us with a white face and great scornful eyes. +"Fools!" she said. "Fools!" +</P> + +<P> +And that was all. But it was enough to take me aback. I had looked to +see her face lighten at our news; instead it wore an expression I had +never seen on it before. Catherine, so kind and gentle, calling us +fools! And without cause! I did not understand it. I turned +confusedly to Croisette. He was looking at her, and I saw that he was +frightened. As for Madame Claude, she was crying in the corner. A +presentiment of evil made my heart sink like lead. What had happened? +</P> + +<P> +"Fools!" my cousin repeated with exceeding bitterness, her foot +tapping the parquet unceasingly. "Do you think he would have stooped +to avenge himself on YOU? On you! Or that he could hurt me one +hundredth part as much here as—as—" She broke off stammering. Her +scorn faltered for an instant. "Bah! he is a man! He knows!" she +exclaimed superbly, her chin in the air, "but you are boys. You do not +understand!" +</P> + +<P> +I looked amazedly at this angry woman. I had a difficulty in +associating her with my cousin. As for Croisette, he stepped forward +abruptly, and picked up a white object which was lying at her feet. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, read it!" she cried, "read it! Ah!" and she clenched her +little hand, and in her passion struck the oak table beside her, so +that a stain of blood sprang out on her knuckles. "Why did you not +kill him? Why did you not do it when you had the chance? You were +three to one," she hissed. "You had him in your power! You could have +killed him, and you did not! Now he will kill me!" +</P> + +<P> +Madame Claude muttered something tearfully; something about Pavannes +and the saints. I looked over Croisette's shoulder, and read the +letter. It began abruptly without any term of address, and ran thus, +"I have a mission in Paris, Mademoiselle, which admits of no delay, +your mission, as well as my own—to see Pavannes. You have won his +heart. It is yours, and I will bring it you, or his right hand in +token that he has yielded up his claim to yours. And to this I pledge +myself." +</P> + +<P> +The thing bore no signature. It was written in some red fluid—blood +perhaps—a mean and sorry trick! On the outside was scrawled a +direction to Mademoiselle de Caylus. And the packet was sealed with +the Vidame's crest, a wolf's head. +</P> + +<P> +"The coward! the miserable coward!" Croisette cried. He was the +first to read the meaning of the thing. And his eyes were full of +tears—tears of rage. +</P> + +<P> +For me I was angry exceedingly. My veins seemed full of fire, as I +comprehended the mean cruelty which could thus torture a girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Who delivered this?" I thundered. "Who gave it to Mademoiselle? How +did it reach her hands? Speak, some one!" +</P> + +<P> +A maid, whimpering in the background, said that Francis had given it to +her to hand to Mademoiselle. +</P> + +<P> +I ground my teeth together, while Marie, unbidden, left the room to +seek Francis—and a stirrup leather. The Vidame had brought the note +in his pocket no doubt, rightly expecting that he would not get an +audience of my cousin. Returning to the gate alone he had seen his +opportunity, and given the note to Francis, probably with a small fee +to secure its transmission. +</P> + +<P> +Croisette and I looked at one another, apprehending all this. "He will +sleep at Cahors to-night," I said sullenly. +</P> + +<P> +The lad shook his head and answered in a low voice, "I am afraid not. +His horses are fresh. I think he will push on. He always travels +quickly. And now you know—" +</P> + +<P> +I nodded, understanding only too well. +</P> + +<P> +Catherine had flung herself into a chair. Her arms lay nerveless on +the table. Her face was hidden in them. But now, overhearing us, or +stung by some fresh thought, she sprang to her feet in anguish. Her +face twitched, her form seemed to stiffen as she drew herself up like +one in physical pain. "Oh, I cannot bear it!" she cried to us in +dreadful tones. "Oh, will no one do anything? I will go to him! I +will tell him I will give him up! I will do whatever he wishes if he +will only spare him!" +</P> + +<P> +Croisette went from the room crying. It was a dreadful sight for +us—this girl in agony. And it was impossible to reassure her! Not one +of us doubted the horrible meaning of the note, its covert threat. +Civil wars and religious hatred, and I fancy Italian modes of thought, +had for the time changed our countrymen to beasts. Far more dreadful +things were done then than this which Bezers threatened—even if he +meant it literally—far more dreadful things were suffered. But in the +fiendish ingenuity of his vengeance on her, the helpless, loving woman, +I thought Raoul de Bezers stood alone. Alas! it fares ill with the +butterfly when the cat has struck it down. Ill indeed! +</P> + +<P> +Madame Claude rose and put her arms round the girl, dismissing me by a +gesture. I went out, passing through two or three scared servants, and +made at once for the terrace. I felt as if I could only breathe there. +I found Marie and St. Croix together, silent, the marks of tears on +their faces. Our eyes met and they told one tale. +</P> + +<P> +We all spoke at the same time. "When?" we said. But the others +looked to me for an answer. +</P> + +<P> +I was somewhat sobered by that, and paused to consider before I +replied. "At daybreak to-morrow," I decided presently. "It is an hour +after noon already. We want money, and the horses are out. It will +take an hour to bring them in. After that we might still reach Cahors +to-night, perhaps; but more haste less speed you know. At daybreak +to-morrow we will start." +</P> + +<P> +They nodded assent. +</P> + +<P> +It was a great thing we meditated. No less than to go to Paris—the +unknown city so far beyond the hills—and seek out M. de Pavannes, and +warn him. It would be a race between the Vidame and ourselves; a race +for the life of Kit's suitor. Could we reach Paris first, or even +within twenty-four hours of Bezers' arrival, we should in all +probability be in time, and be able to put Pavannes on his guard. It +had been the first thought of all of us, to take such men as we could +get together and fall upon Bezers wherever we found him, making it our +simple object to kill him. But the lackeys M. le Vicomte had left with +us, the times being peaceful and the neighbours friendly, were +poor-spirited fellows. Bezers' handful, on the contrary, were reckless +Swiss riders—like master, like men. We decided that it would be wiser +simply to warn Pavannes, and then stand by him if necessary. +</P> + +<P> +We might have despatched a messenger. But our servants—Gil excepted, +and he was too old to bear the journey—were ignorant of Paris. Nor +could any one of them be trusted with a mission so delicate. We +thought of Pavannes' courier indeed. But he was a Rochellois, and a +stranger to the capital. There was nothing for it but to go ourselves. +</P> + +<P> +Yet we did not determine on this adventure with light hearts, I +remember. Paris loomed big and awesome in the eyes of all of us. The +glamour of the court rather frightened than allured us. We felt that +shrinking from contact with the world which a country life engenders, +as well as that dread of seeming unlike other people which is peculiar +to youth. It was a great plunge, and a dangerous which we meditated. +And we trembled. If we had known more—especially of the future—we +should have trembled more. +</P> + +<P> +But we were young, and with our fears mingled a delicious excitement. +We were going on an adventure of knight errantry in which we might win +our spurs. We were going to see the world and play men's parts in it! +to save a friend and make our mistress happy! +</P> + +<P> +We gave our orders. But we said nothing to Catherine or Madame Claude; +merely bidding Gil tell them after our departure. We arranged for the +immediate despatch of a message to the Vicomte at Bayonne, and charged +Gil until he should hear from him to keep the gates closed, and look +well to the shoot of the kitchen midden. Then, when all was ready, we +went to our pallets, but it was with hearts throbbing with excitement +and wakeful eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Anne! Anne!" said Croisette, rising on his elbow and speaking to me +some three hours later, "what do you think the Vidame meant this +morning when he said that about the ten days?" +</P> + +<P> +"What about the ten days?" I asked peevishly. He had roused me just +when I was at last falling asleep. +</P> + +<P> +"About the world seeing that his was the true faith—in ten days?" +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure I do not know. For goodness' sake let us go to sleep," I +replied. For I had no patience with Croisette, talking such nonsense, +when we had our own business to think about. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ROAD TO PARIS. +</H3> + +<P> +The sun had not yet risen above the hills when we three with a single +servant behind us drew rein at the end of the valley; and easing our +horses on the ascent, turned in the saddle to take a last look at +Caylus—at the huddled grey town, and the towers above it. A little +thoughtful we all were, I think. The times were rough and our errand +was serious. But youth and early morning are fine dispellers of care; +and once on the uplands we trotted gaily forward, now passing through +wide glades in the sparse oak forest, where the trees all leaned one +way, now over bare, wind-swept downs; or once and again descending into +a chalky bottom, where the stream bubbled through deep beds of fern, +and a lonely farmhouse nestled amid orchards. +</P> + +<P> +Four hours' riding, and we saw below us Cahors, filling the bend of the +river. We cantered over the Vallandre Bridge, which there crosses the +Lot, and so to my uncle's house of call in the square. Here we ordered +breakfast, and announced with pride that we were going to Paris. +</P> + +<P> +Our host raised his hands. "Now there!" he exclaimed, regret in his +voice. "And if you had arrived yesterday you could have travelled up +with the Vidame de Bezers! And you a small party—saving your +lordships' presence—and the roads but so-so!" +</P> + +<P> +"But the Vidame was riding with only half-a-dozen attendants also!" I +answered, flicking my boot in a careless way. +</P> + +<P> +The landlord shook his head. "Ah, M. le Vidame knows the world!" he +answered shrewdly. "He is not to be taken off his guard, not he! One +of his men whispered me that twenty staunch fellows would join him at +Chateauroux. They say the wars are over, but"—and the good man, +shrugging his shoulders, cast an expressive glance at some fine +flitches of bacon which were hanging in his chimney. "However, your +lordships know better than I do," he added briskly. "I am a poor man. +I only wish to live at peace with my neighbours, whether they go to +mass or sermon." +</P> + +<P> +This was a sentiment so common in those days and so heartily echoed by +most men of substance both in town and country, that we did not stay to +assent to it; but having received from the worthy fellow a token which +would insure our obtaining fresh cattle at Limoges, we took to the road +again, refreshed in body, and with some food for thought. +</P> + +<P> +Five-and-twenty attendants were more than even such a man as Bezers, +who had many enemies, travelled with in those days; unless accompanied +by ladies. That the Vidame had provided such a reinforcement seemed to +point to a wider scheme than the one with which we had credited him. +But we could not guess what his plans were; since he must have ordered +his people before he heard of Catherine's engagement. Either his +jealousy therefore had put him on the alert earlier, or his threatened +attack on Pavannes was only part of a larger plot. In either case our +errand seemed more urgent, but scarcely more hopeful. +</P> + +<P> +The varied sights and sounds however of the road—many of them new to +us—kept us from dwelling over much on this. Our eyes were young, and +whether it was a pretty girl lingering behind a troop of gipsies, or a +pair of strollers from Valencia—JONGLEURS they still called +themselves—singing in the old dialect of Provence, or a Norman +horse-dealer with his string of cattle tied head and tail, or the Puy +de Dome to the eastward over the Auvergne hills, or a tattered old +soldier wounded in the wars—fighting for either side, according as +their lordships inclined—we were pleased with all. +</P> + +<P> +Yet we never forgot our errand. We never I think rose in the +morning—too often stiff and sore—without thinking "To-day or +to-morrow or the next day—" as the case might be—"we shall make all +right for Kit!" For Kit! Perhaps it was the purest enthusiasm we were +ever to feel, the least selfish aim we were ever to pursue. For Kit! +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile we met few travellers of rank on the road. Half the nobility +of France were still in Paris enjoying the festivities which were being +held to mark the royal marriage. We obtained horses where we needed +them without difficulty. And though we had heard much of the dangers +of the way, infested as it was said to be by disbanded troopers, we +were not once stopped or annoyed. +</P> + +<P> +But it is not my intention to chronicle all the events of this my first +journey, though I dwell on them with pleasure; or to say what I thought +of the towns, all new and strange to me, through which we passed. +Enough that we went by way of Limoges, Chateauroux and Orleans, and +that at Chateauroux we learned the failure of one hope we had formed. +We had thought that Bezers when joined there by his troopers would not +be able to get relays; and that on this account we might by travelling +post overtake him; and possibly slip by him between that place and +Paris. But we learned at Chateauroux that his troop had received fresh +orders to go to Orleans and await him there; the result being that he +was able to push forward with relays so far. He was evidently in hot +haste. For leaving there with his horses fresh he passed through +Angerville, forty miles short of Paris, at noon, whereas we reached it +on the evening of the same day—the sixth after leaving Caylus. +</P> + +<P> +We rode into the yard of the inn—a large place, seeming larger in the +dusk—so tired that we could scarcely slip from our saddles. Jean, our +servant, took the four horses, and led them across to the stables, the +poor beasts hanging their heads, and following meekly. We stood a +moment stamping our feet, and stretching our legs. The place seemed in +a bustle, the clatter of pans and dishes proceeding from the windows +over the entrance, with a glow of light and the sound of feet hurrying +in the passages. There were men too, half-a-dozen or so standing at +the doors of the stables, while others leaned from the windows. One or +two lanthorns just kindled glimmered here and there in the +semi-darkness; and in a corner two smiths were shoeing a horse. +</P> + +<P> +We were turning from all this to go in, when we heard Jean's voice +raised in altercation, and thinking our rustic servant had fallen into +trouble, we walked across to the stables near which he and the horses +were still lingering. "Well, what is it?" I said sharply. +</P> + +<P> +"They say that there is no room for the horses," Jean answered +querulously, scratching his head; half sullen, half cowed, a country +servant all over. +</P> + +<P> +"And there is not!" cried the foremost of the gang about the door, +hastening to confront us in turn. His tone was insolent, and it needed +but half an eye to see that his fellows were inclined to back him up. +He stuck his arms akimbo and faced us with an impudent smile. A +lanthorn on the ground beside him throwing an uncertain light on the +group, I saw that they all wore the same badge. +</P> + +<P> +"Come," I said sternly, "the stables are large, and your horses cannot +fill them. Some room must be found for mine." +</P> + +<P> +"To be sure! Make way for the king!" he retorted. While one jeered +"VIVE LE ROI!" and the rest laughed. Not good-humouredly, but with a +touch of spitefulness. +</P> + +<P> +Quarrels between gentlemen's servants were as common then as they are +to-day. But the masters seldom condescended to interfere. "Let the +fellows fight it out," was the general sentiment. Here, however, poor +Jean was over-matched, and we had no choice but to see to it ourselves. +</P> + +<P> +"Come, men, have a care that you do not get into trouble," I urged, +restraining Croisette by a touch, for I by no means wished to have a +repetition of the catastrophe which had happened at Caylus. "These +horses belong to the Vicomte de Caylus. If your master be a friend of +his, as may very probably be the case, you will run the risk of getting +into trouble." +</P> + +<P> +I thought I heard, as I stopped speaking, a subdued muttering, and +fancied I caught the words, "PAPEGOT! Down with the Guises!" But the +spokesman's only answer aloud was "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" +"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" he repeated, flapping his arms in defiance. "Here +is a cock of a fine hackle!" And so on, and so forth, while he turned +grinning to his companions, looking for their applause. +</P> + +<P> +I was itching to chastise him, and yet hesitating, lest the thing +should have its serious side, when a new actor appeared. "Shame, you +brutes!" cried a shrill voice above us in the clouds it seemed. I +looked up, and saw two girls, coarse and handsome, standing at a window +over the stable, a light between them. "For shame! Don't you see that +they are mere children? Let them be," cried one. +</P> + +<P> +The men laughed louder than ever; and for me, I could not stand by and +be called a child. "Come here," I said, beckoning to the man in the +doorway. "Come here, you rascal, and I will give you the thrashing you +deserve for speaking to a gentleman!" +</P> + +<P> +He lounged forward, a heavy fellow, taller than myself and six inches +wider at the shoulders. My heart failed me a little as I measured him. +But the thing had to be done. If I was slight, I was wiry as a hound, +and in the excitement had forgotten my fatigue. I snatched from Marie +a loaded riding-whip he carried, and stepped forward. +</P> + +<P> +"Have a care, little man!" cried the girl gaily—yet half in pity, I +think. "Or that fat pig will kill you!" +</P> + +<P> +My antagonist did not join in the laugh this time. Indeed it struck me +that his eye wandered and that he was not so ready to enter the ring as +his mates were to form it. But before I could try his mettle, a hand +was laid on my shoulder. A man appearing from I do not know +where—from the dark fringe of the group, I suppose—pushed me aside, +roughly, but not discourteously. +</P> + +<P> +"Leave this to me!" he said, coolly stepping before me. "Do not dirty +your hands with the knave, master. I am pining for work and the job +will just suit me! I will fit him for the worms before the nuns above +can say an AVE!" +</P> + +<P> +I looked at the newcomer. He was a stout fellow; not over tall, nor +over big; swarthy, with prominent features. The plume of his bonnet +was broken, but he wore it in a rakish fashion; and altogether he +swaggered with so dare-devil an air, clinking his spurs and swinging +out his long sword recklessly, that it was no wonder three or four of +the nearest fellows gave back a foot. +</P> + +<P> +"Come on!" he cried, boisterously, forming a ring by the simple +process of sweeping his blade from side to side, while he made the +dagger in his left hand flash round his head. "Who is for the game? +Who will strike a blow for the little Admiral? Will you come one, two, +three at once; or all together? Anyway, come on, you—" And he closed +his challenge with a volley of frightful oaths, directed at the group +opposite. +</P> + +<P> +"It is no quarrel of yours," said the big man, sulkily; making no show +of drawing his sword, but rather drawing back himself. +</P> + +<P> +"All quarrels are my quarrels! and no quarrels are your quarrels. That +is about the truth, I fancy!" was the smart retort; which our champion +rendered more emphatic by a playful lunge that caused the big bully to +skip again. +</P> + +<P> +There was a loud laugh at this, even among the enemy's backers. "Bah, +the great pig!" ejaculated the girl above. "Spit him!" and she spat +down on the whilom Hector—who made no great figure now. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I bring you a slice of him, my dear?" asked my rakehelly +friend, looking up and making his sword play round the shrinking +wretch. "Just a tit-bit, my love?" he added persuasively. "A +mouthful of white liver and caper sauce?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not for me, the beast!" the girl cried, amid the laughter of the yard. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a bit? If I warrant him tender? Ladies' meat?" +</P> + +<P> +"Bah! no!" and she stolidly spat down again. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you hear? The lady has no taste for you," the tormentor cried. +"Pig of a Gascon!" And deftly sheathing his dagger, he seized the big +coward by the ear, and turning him round, gave him a heavy kick which +sent him spinning over a bucket, and down against the wall. There the +bully remained, swearing and rubbing himself by turns; while the victor +cried boastfully, "Enough of him. If anyone wants to take up his +quarrel, Blaise Bure is his man. If not, let us have an end of it. +Let someone find stalls for the gentlemen's horses before they catch a +chill; and have done with it. As for me," he added, and then he turned +to us and removed his hat with an exaggerated flourish, "I am your +lordship's servant to command." +</P> + +<P> +I thanked him with a heartiness, half-earnest, half-assumed. His cloak +was ragged, his trunk hose, which had once been fine enough, were +stained, and almost pointless, He swaggered inimitably, and had +led-captain written large upon him. But he had done us a service, for +Jean had no further trouble about the horses. And besides one has a +natural liking for a brave man, and this man was brave beyond question. +</P> + +<P> +"You are from Orleans," he said respectfully enough, but as one +asserting a fact, not asking a question. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," I answered, somewhat astonished, "Did you see us come in?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, but I looked at your boots, gentlemen," he replied. "White dust, +north; red dust, south. Do you see?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I see," I said, with admiration. "You must have been brought up +in a sharp school, M. Bure." +</P> + +<P> +"Sharp masters make sharp scholars," he replied, grinning. And that +answer I had occasion to remember afterwards. +</P> + +<P> +"You are from Orleans, also?" I asked, as we prepared to go in. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, from Orleans too, gentlemen. But earlier in the day. With +letters—letters of importance!" And bestowing something like a wink +of confidence on us, he drew himself up, looked sternly at the +stable-folk, patted himself twice on the chest, and finally twirled his +moustaches, and smirked at the girl above, who was chewing straws. +</P> + +<P> +I thought it likely enough that we might find it hard to get rid of +him. But this was not so. After listening with gratification to our +repeated thanks, he bowed with the same grotesque flourish, and marched +off as grave as a Spaniard, humming— +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Ce petit homme tant joli!<BR> + Qui toujours cause et toujours rit,<BR> + Qui toujours baise sa mignonne,<BR> + Dieu gard' de mal ce petit homme!"<BR> +</P> + +<P> +On our going in, the landlord met us politely, but with curiosity, and +a simmering of excitement also in his manner. "From Paris, my lords?" +he asked, rubbing his hands and bowing low. "Or from the south?" +</P> + +<P> +"From the south," I answered. "From Orleans, and hungry and tired, +Master Host." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" he replied, disregarding the latter part of my answer, while his +little eyes twinkled with satisfaction. "Then I dare swear, my lords, +you have not heard the news?" He halted in the narrow passage, and +lifting the candle he carried, scanned our faces closely, as if he +wished to learn something about us before he spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"News!" I answered brusquely, being both tired, and as I had told him, +hungry. "We have heard none, and the best you can give us will be that +our supper is ready to be served." +</P> + +<P> +But even this snub did not check his eagerness to tell his news. "The +Admiral de Coligny," he said, breathlessly, "you have not heard what +has happened to him?" +</P> + +<P> +"To the admiral? No, what?" I inquired rapidly. I was interested at +last. +</P> + +<P> +For a moment let me digress. The few of my age will remember, and the +many younger will have been told, that at this time the Italian +queen-mother was the ruling power in France. It was Catharine de' +Medici's first object to maintain her influence over Charles the +Ninth—her son; who, ricketty, weak, and passionate, was already doomed +to an early grave. Her second, to support the royal power by balancing +the extreme Catholics against the Huguenots. For the latter purpose +she would coquet first with one party, then with the other. At the +present moment she had committed herself more deeply than was her wont +to the Huguenots. Their leaders, the Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, the +King of Navarre, and the Prince of Conde, were supposed to be high in +favour, while the chiefs of the other party, the Duke of Guise, and the +two Cardinals of his house, the Cardinal of Lorraine and the Cardinal +of Guise, were in disgrace; which, as it seemed, even their friend at +court, the queen's favourite son, Henry of Anjou, was unable to +overcome. +</P> + +<P> +Such was the outward aspect of things in August, 1572, but there were +not wanting rumours that already Coligny, taking advantage of the +footing given him, had gained an influence over the young king, which +threatened Catharine de' Medici herself. The admiral, therefore, to +whom the Huguenot half of France had long looked as to its leader, was +now the object of the closest interest to all; the Guise faction, +hating him—as the alleged assassin of the Duke of Guise—with an +intensity which probably was not to be found in the affection of his +friends, popular with the latter as he was. +</P> + +<P> +Still, many who were not Huguenots had a regard for him as a great +Frenchman and a gallant soldier. We—though we were of the old faith, +and the other side—had heard much of him, and much good. The Vicomte +had spoken of him always as a great man, a man mistaken, but brave, +honest and capable in his error. Therefore it was that when the +landlord mentioned him, I forgot even my hunger. +</P> + +<P> +"He was shot, my lords, as he passed through the Rue des Fosses, +yesterday," the man declared with bated breath. "It is not known +whether he will live or die. Paris is in an uproar, and there are some +who fear the worst." +</P> + +<P> +"But," I said doubtfully, "who has dared to do this? He had a safe +conduct from the king himself." +</P> + +<P> +Our host did not answer; shrugging his shoulders instead, he opened the +door, and ushered us into the eating-room. +</P> + +<P> +Some preparations for our meal had already been made at one end of the +long board. At the other was seated a man past middle age; richly but +simply dressed. His grey hair, cut short about a massive head, and his +grave, resolute face, square-jawed, and deeply-lined, marked him as one +to whom respect was due apart from his clothes. We bowed to him as we +took our seats. +</P> + +<P> +He acknowledged the salute, fixing us a moment with a penetrating +glance; and then resumed his meal. I noticed that his sword and belt +were propped against a chair at his elbow, and a dag, apparently +loaded, lay close to his hand by the candlestick. Two lackeys waited +behind his chair, wearing the badge we had remarked in the inn yard. +</P> + +<P> +We began to talk, speaking in low tones that we might not disturb him. +The attack on Coligny had, if true, its bearing on our own business. +For if a Huguenot so great and famous and enjoying the king's special +favour still went in Paris in danger of his life, what must be the risk +that such an one as Pavannes ran? We had hoped to find the city quiet. +If instead it should be in a state of turmoil Bezers' chances were so +much the better; and ours—and Kit's, poor Kit's—so much the worse. +</P> + +<P> +Our companion had by this time finished his supper. But he still sat +at table, and seemed to be regarding us with some curiosity. At length +he spoke. "Are you going to Paris, young gentlemen?" he asked, his +tone harsh and high-pitched. +</P> + +<P> +We answered in the affirmative. "To-morrow?" he questioned. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," we answered; and expected him to continue the conversation. But +instead he became silent, gazing abstractedly at the table; and what +with our meal, and our own talk we had almost forgotten him again, when +looking up, I found him at my elbow, holding out in silence a small +piece of paper. +</P> + +<P> +I started his face was so grave. But seeing that there were +half-a-dozen guests of a meaner sort at another table close by, I +guessed that he merely wished to make a private communication to us; +and hastened to take the paper and read it. It contained a scrawl of +four words only— +</P> + +<P> + "Va chasser l'Idole."<BR> +</P> + +<P> +No more. I looked at him puzzled; able to make nothing out of it. St. +Croix wrinkled his brow over it with the same result. It was no good +handing it to Marie, therefore. +</P> + +<P> +"You do not understand?" the stranger continued, as he put the scrap +of paper back in his pouch. +</P> + +<P> +"No," I answered, shaking my head. We had all risen out of respect to +him, and were standing a little group about him. +</P> + +<P> +"Just so; it is all right then," he answered, looking at us as it +seemed to me with grave good-nature. "It is nothing. Go your way. +But—I have a son yonder not much younger than you, young gentlemen. +And if you had understood, I should have said to you, 'Do not go! +There are enough sheep for the shearer!'" +</P> + +<P> +He was turning away with this oracular saying when Croisette touched +his sleeve. "Pray can you tell us if it be true," the lad said +eagerly, "that the Admiral de Coligny was wounded yesterday?" +</P> + +<P> +"It is true," the other answered, turning his grave eyes on his +questioner, while for a moment his stern look failed him, "It is true, +my boy," he added with an air of strange solemnity. "Whom the Lord +loveth, He chasteneth. And, God forgive me for saying it, whom He +would destroy, He first maketh mad." +</P> + +<P> +He had gazed with peculiar favour at Croisette's girlish face, I +thought: Marie and I were dark and ugly by the side of the boy. But he +turned from him now with a queer, excited gesture, thumping his +gold-headed cane on the floor. He called his servants in a loud, +rasping voice, and left the room in seeming anger, driving them before +him, the one carrying his dag, and the other, two candles. +</P> + +<P> +When I came down early next morning, the first person I met was Blaise +Bure. He looked rather fiercer and more shabby by daylight than +candlelight. But he saluted me respectfully; and this, since it was +clear that he did not respect many people, inclined me to regard him +with favour. It is always so, the more savage the dog, the more highly +we prize its attentions. I asked him who the Huguenot noble was who +had supped with us. For a Huguenot we knew he must be. +</P> + +<P> +"The Baron de Rosny," he answered; adding with a sneer, "He is a +careful man! If they were all like him, with eyes on both sides of his +head and a dag by his candle—well, my lord, there would be one more +king in France—or one less! But they are a blind lot: as blind as +bats." He muttered something farther in which I caught the word +"to-night." But I did not hear it all; or understand any of it. +</P> + +<P> +"Your lordships are going to Paris?" he resumed in a different tone. +When I said that we were, he looked at me in a shamefaced way, half +timid, half arrogant. "I have a small favour to ask of you then," he +said. "I am going to Paris myself. I am not afraid of odds, as you +have seen. But the roads will be in a queer state if there be anything +on foot in the city, and—well, I would rather ride with you gentlemen +than alone." +</P> + +<P> +"You are welcome to join us," I said. "But we start in half-an-hour. +Do you know Paris well?" +</P> + +<P> +"As well as my sword-hilt," he replied briskly, relieved I thought by +my acquiescence, "And I have known that from my breeching. If you want +a game at PAUME, or a pretty girl to kiss, I can put you in the way for +the one or the other." +</P> + +<P> +The half rustic shrinking from the great city which I felt, suggested +to me that our swashbuckling friend might help us if he would. "Do you +know M. de Pavannes?" I asked impulsively, "Where he lives in Paris, I +mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"M. Louis de Pavannes?" quoth he. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"I know—" he replied slowly, rubbing his chin and looking at the +ground in thought—"where he had his lodgings in town a while ago, +before—Ah! I do know! I remember," he added, slapping his thigh, +"when I was in Paris a fortnight ago I was told that his steward had +taken lodgings for him in the Rue St. Antoine." +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" I answered overjoyed. "Then we want to dismount there, if you +can guide us straight to the house." +</P> + +<P> +"I can," he replied simply. "And you will not be the worse for my +company. Paris is a queer place when there is trouble to the fore, but +your lordships have got the right man to pilot you through it." +</P> + +<P> +I did not ask him what trouble he meant, but ran indoors to buckle on +my sword, and tell Marie and Croisette of the ally I had secured. They +were much pleased, as was natural; so that we took the road in +excellent spirits intending to reach the city in the afternoon. But +Marie's horse cast a shoe, and it was some time before we could find a +smith. Then at Etampes, where we stopped to lunch, we were kept an +unconscionable time waiting for it. And so we approached Paris for the +first time at sunset. A ruddy glow was at the moment warming the +eastern heights, and picking out with flame the twin towers of Notre +Dame, and the one tall tower of St. Jacques la Boucherie. A dozen +roofs higher than their neighbours shone hotly; and a great bank of +cloud, which lay north and south, and looked like a man's hand +stretched over the city, changed gradually from blood-red to violet, +and from violet to black, as evening fell. +</P> + +<P> +Passing within the gates and across first one bridge and then another, +we were astonished and utterly confused by the noise and hubbub through +which we rode. Hundreds seemed to be moving this way and that in the +narrow streets. Women screamed to one another from window to window. +The bells of half-a-dozen churches rang the curfew. Our country ears +were deafened. Still our eyes had leisure to take in the tall houses +with their high-pitched roofs, and here and there a tower built into +the wall; the quaint churches, and the groups of townsfolk—sullen +fellows some of them with a fierce gleam in their eyes—who, standing +in the mouths of reeking alleys, watched us go by. +</P> + +<P> +But presently we had to stop. A crowd had gathered to watch a little +cavalcade of six gentlemen pass across our path. They were riding two +and two, lounging in their saddles and chattering to one another, +disdainfully unconscious of the people about them, or the remarks they +excited. Their graceful bearing and the richness of their dress and +equipment surpassed anything I had ever seen. A dozen pages and +lackeys were attending them on foot, and the sound of their jests and +laughter came to us over the heads of the crowd. +</P> + +<P> +While I was gazing at them, some movement of the throng drove back +Bure's horse against mine. Bure himself uttered a savage oath; +uncalled for so far as I could see. But my attention was arrested the +next moment by Croisette, who tapped my arm with his riding whip. +"Look!" he cried in some excitement, "is not that he?" +</P> + +<P> +I followed the direction of the lad's finger—as well as I could for +the plunging of my horse which Bure's had frightened—and scrutinized +the last pair of the troop. They were crossing the street in which we +stood, and I had only a side view of them; or rather of the nearer +rider. He was a singularly handsome man, in age about twenty-two or +twenty-three with long lovelocks falling on his lace collar and cloak +of orange silk. His face was sweet and kindly and gracious to a +marvel. But he was a stranger to me. +</P> + +<P> +"I could have sworn," exclaimed Croisette, "that that was Louis +himself—M. de Pavannes!" +</P> + +<P> +"That?" I answered, as we began to move again, the crowd melting +before us. "Oh, dear, no!" +</P> + +<P> +"No! no! The farther man!" he explained. +</P> + +<P> +But I had not been able to get a good look at the farther of the two. +We turned in our saddles and peered after him. His back in the dusk +certainly reminded me of Louis. Bure, however, who said he knew M. de +Pavannes by sight, laughed at the idea. "Your friend," he said, "is a +wider man than that!" And I thought he was right there—but then it +might be the cut of the clothes. "They have been at the Louvre playing +paume, I'll be sworn!" he went on. "So the Admiral must be better. +The one next us was M. de Teligny, the Admiral's son-in-law. And the +other, whom you mean, was the Comte de la Rochefoucault." +</P> + +<P> +We turned as he spoke into a narrow street near the river, and could +see not far from us a mass of dark buildings which Bure told us was the +Louvre—the king's residence. Out of this street we turned into a +short one; and here Bure drew rein and rapped loudly at some heavy +gates. It was so dark that when, these being opened, he led the way +into a courtyard, we could see little more than a tall, sharp-gabled +house, projecting over us against a pale sky; and a group of men and +horses in one corner. Bure spoke to one of the men, and begging us to +dismount, said the footman would show us to M. de Pavannes. +</P> + +<P> +The thought that we were at the end of our long journey, and in time to +warn Louis of his danger, made us forget all our exertions, our fatigue +and stiffness. Gladly throwing the bridles to Jean we ran up the steps +after the servant. The thing was done. Hurrah! the thing was done! +</P> + +<P> +The house—as we passed through a long passage and up some +steps—seemed full of people. We heard voices and the ring of arms +more than once. But our guide, without pausing, led us to a small room +lighted by a hanging lamp. "I will inform M. de Pavannes of your +arrival," he said respectfully, and passed behind a curtain, which +seemed to hide the door of an inner apartment. As he did so the clink +of glasses and the hum of conversation reached us. +</P> + +<P> +"He has company supping with him," I said nervously. I tried to flip +some of the dust from my boots with my whip. I remembered that this +was Paris. +</P> + +<P> +"He will be surprised to see us," quoth Croisette, laughing—a little +shyly, too, I think. And so we stood waiting. +</P> + +<P> +I began to wonder as minutes passed by—the gay company we had seen +putting it in my mind, I suppose—whether M. de Pavannes, of Paris, +might not turn out to be a very different person from Louis de +Pavannes, of Caylus; whether the king's courtier would be as friendly +as Kit's lover. And I was still thinking of this without having +settled the point to my satisfaction, when the curtain was thrust aside +again. A very tall man, wearing a splendid suit of black and silver +and a stiff trencher-like ruff, came quickly in, and stood smiling at +us, a little dog in his arms. The little dog sat up and snarled: and +Croisette gasped. It was not our old friend Louis certainly! It was +not Louis de Pavannes at all. It was no old friend at all, It was the +Vidame de Bezers! +</P> + +<P> +"Welcome, gentlemen!" he said, smiling at us—and never had the cast +been so apparent in his eyes. "Welcome to Paris, M. Anne!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +ENTRAPPED! +</H3> + +<P> +There was a long silence. We stood glaring at him, and he smiled upon +us—as a cat smiles. Croisette told me afterwards that he could have +died of mortification—of shame and anger that we had been so +outwitted. For myself I did not at once grasp the position. I did not +understand. I could not disentangle myself in a moment from the belief +in which I had entered the house—that it was Louis de Pavannes' house. +But I seemed vaguely to suspect that Bezers had swept him aside and +taken his place. My first impulse therefore—obeyed on the +instant—was to stride to the Vidame's side and grasp his arm. "What +have you done?" I cried, my voice sounding hoarsely even in my own +ears. "What have you done with M. de Pavannes? Answer me!" +</P> + +<P> +He showed just a little more of his sharp white teeth as he looked down +at my face—a flushed and troubled face doubtless. "Nothing—yet," he +replied very mildly. And he shook me off. +</P> + +<P> +"Then," I retorted, "how do you come here?" +</P> + +<P> +He glanced at Croisette and shrugged his shoulders, as if I had been a +spoiled child. "M. Anne does not seem to understand," he said with +mock courtesy, "that I have the honour to welcome him to my house the +Hotel Bezers, Rue de Platriere." +</P> + +<P> +"The Hotel Bezers! Rue de Platriere!" I cried confusedly. "But +Blaise Bure told us that this was the Rue St. Antoine!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" he replied as if slowly enlightened—the hypocrite! "Ah! I +see!" and he smiled grimly. "So you have made the acquaintance of +Blaise Bure, my excellent master of the horse! Worthy Blaise! Indeed, +indeed, now I understand. And you thought, you whelps," he continued, +and as he spoke his tone changed strangely, and he fixed us suddenly +with angry eyes, "to play a rubber with me! With me, you imbeciles! +You thought the wolf of Bezers could be hunted down like any hare! +Then listen, and I will tell you the end of it. You are now in my +house and absolutely at my mercy. I have two score men within call who +would cut the throats of three babes at the breast, if I bade them! +Ay," he, added, a wicked exultation shining in his eyes, "they would, +and like the job!" +</P> + +<P> +He was going on to say more, but I interrupted him. The rage I felt, +caused as much by the thought of our folly as by his arrogance, would +let me be silent no longer. "First, M. de Bezers, first," I broke out +fiercely, my words leaping over one another in my haste, "a word with +you! Let me tell you what I think of you! You are a treacherous +hound, Vidame! A cur! a beast! And I spit upon you! Traitor and +assassin!" I shouted, "is that not enough? Will nothing provoke you? +If you call yourself a gentleman, draw!" +</P> + +<P> +He shook his head; he was still smiling, still unmoved. "I do not do +my own dirty work," he said quietly, "nor stint my footmen of their +sport, boy." +</P> + +<P> +"Very well!" I retorted. And with the words I drew my sword, and +sprang as quick as lightning to the curtain by which he had entered. +"Very well, we will kill you first!" I cried wrathfully, my eye on his +eye, and every savage passion in my breast aroused, "and take our +chance with the lackeys afterwards! Marie! Croisette!" I cried +shrilly, "on him, lads!" +</P> + +<P> +But they did not answer! They did not move or draw. For the moment +indeed the man was in my power. My wrist was raised, and I had my +point at his breast, I could have run him through by a single thrust. +And I hated him. Oh, how I hated him! But he did not stir. Had he +spoken, had he moved so much as an eyelid, or drawn back his foot, or +laid his hand on his hilt, I should have killed him there. But he did +not stir and I could not do it. My hand dropped. "Cowards!" I cried, +glancing bitterly from him to them—they had never failed me before. +"Cowards!" I muttered, seeming to shrink into myself as I said the +word. And I flung my sword clattering on the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"That is better!" he drawled quite unmoved, as if nothing more than +words had passed, as if he had not been in peril at all. "It was what I +was going to ask you to do. If the other young gentlemen will follow +your example, I shall be obliged. Thank you. Thank you." +</P> + +<P> +Croisette, and a minute later Marie, obeyed him to the letter! I could +not understand it. I folded my arms and gave up the game in despair, +and but for very shame I could have put my hands to my face and cried. +He stood in the middle under the lamp, a head taller than the tallest +of us; our master. And we stood round him trapped, beaten, for all the +world like children. Oh, I could have cried! This was the end of our +long ride, our aspirations, our knight-errantry! +</P> + +<P> +"Now perhaps you will listen to me," he went on smoothly, "and hear +what I am going to do. I shall keep you here, young gentlemen, until +you can serve me by carrying to mademoiselle, your cousin, some news of +her betrothed. Oh, I shall not detain you long," he added with an evil +smile. "You have arrived in Paris at a fortunate moment. There is +going to be a—well, there is a little scheme on foot appointed for +to-night—singularly lucky you are!—for removing some objectionable +people, some friends of ours perhaps among them, M. Anne. That is all. +You will hear shots, cries, perhaps screams. Take no notice. You will +be in no danger. For M. de Pavannes," he continued, his voice sinking, +"I think that by morning I shall be able to give you a—a more +particular account of him to take to Caylus—to Mademoiselle, you +understand." +</P> + +<P> +For a moment the mask was off. His face took a sombre brightness. He +moistened his lips with his tongue as though he saw his vengeance +worked out then and there before him, and were gloating over the +picture. The idea that this was so took such a hold upon me that I +shrank back, shuddering; reading too in Croisette's face the same +thought—and a late repentance. Nay, the malignity of Bezers' tone, +the savage gleam of joy in his eyes appalled me to such an extent that +I fancied for a moment I saw in him the devil incarnate! +</P> + +<P> +He recovered his composure very quickly, however; and turned carelessly +towards the door. "If you will follow me," he said, "I will see you +disposed of. You may have to complain of your lodging—I have other +things to think of to-night than hospitality, But you shall not need to +complain of your supper." +</P> + +<P> +He drew aside the curtain as he spoke, and passed into the next room +before us, not giving a thought apparently to the possibility that we +might strike him from behind. There certainly was an odd quality +apparent in him at times which seemed to contradict what we knew of him. +</P> + +<P> +The room we entered was rather long than wide, hung with tapestry, and +lighted by silver lamps. Rich plate, embossed, I afterwards learned, +by Cellini the Florentine—who died that year I remember—and richer +glass from Venice, with a crowd of meaner vessels filled with meats and +drinks covered the table; disordered as by the attacks of a numerous +party. But save a servant or two by the distant dresser, and an +ecclesiastic at the far end of the table, the room was empty. +</P> + +<P> +The priest rose as we entered, the Vidame saluting him as if they had +not met that day. "You are welcome M. le Coadjuteur," he said; saying +it coldly, however, I thought. And the two eyed one another with +little favour; rather as birds of prey about to quarrel over the spoil, +than as host and guest. Perhaps the Coadjutor's glittering eyes and +great beak-like nose made me think of this. +</P> + +<P> +"Ho! ho!" he said, looking piercingly at us—and no doubt we must +have seemed a miserable and dejected crew enough. "Who are these? Not +the first-fruits of the night, eh?" +</P> + +<P> +The Vidame looked darkly at him. "No," he answered brusquely. "They +are not. I am not particular out of doors, Coadjutor, as you know, but +this is my house, and we are going to supper. Perhaps you do not +comprehend the distinction. Still it exists—for me," with a sneer. +</P> + +<P> +This was as good as Greek to us. But I so shrank from the priest's +malignant eyes, which would not quit us, and felt so much disgust +mingled with my anger that when Bezers by a gesture invited me to sit +down, I drew back. "I will not eat with you," I said sullenly; +speaking out of a kind of dull obstinacy, or perhaps a childish +petulance. +</P> + +<P> +It did not occur to me that this would pierce the Vidame's armour. Yet +a dull red showed for an instant in his cheek, and he eyed me with a +look, that was not all ferocity, though the veins in his great temples +swelled. A moment, nevertheless, and he was himself again. "Armand," +he said quietly to the servant, "these gentlemen will not sup with me. +Lay for them at the other end." +</P> + +<P> +Men are odd. The moment he gave way to me I repented of my words. It +was almost with reluctance that I followed the servant to the lower +part of the table. More than this, mingled with the hatred I felt for +the Vidame, there was now a strange sentiment towards him—almost of +admiration; that had its birth I think in the moment, when I held his +life in my hand, and he had not flinched. +</P> + +<P> +We ate in silence; even after Croisette by grasping my hand under the +table had begged me not to judge him hastily. The two at the upper end +talked fast, and from the little that reached us, I judged that the +priest was pressing some course on his host, which the latter declined +to take. +</P> + +<P> +Once Bezers raised his voice. "I have my own ends to serve!" he broke +out angrily, adding a fierce oath which the priest did not rebuke, "and +I shall serve them. But there I stop. You have your own. Well, serve +them, but do not talk to me of the cause! The cause? To hell with the +cause! I have my cause, and you have yours, and my lord of Guise has +his! And you will not make me believe that there is any other!" +</P> + +<P> +"The king's?" suggested the priest, smiling sourly. +</P> + +<P> +"Say rather the Italian woman's!" the Vidame answered +recklessly—meaning the queen-mother, Catharine de' Medici, I supposed. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then, the cause of the Church?" the priest persisted. +</P> + +<P> +"Bah! The Church? It is you, my friend!" Bezers rejoined, rudely +tapping his companion—at that moment in the act of crossing +himself—on the chest. "The Church?" he continued; "no, no, my +friend. I will tell you what you are doing. You want me to help you +to get rid of your branch, and you offer in return to aid me with +mine—and then, say you, there will be no stick left to beat either of +us. But you may understand once for all"—and the Vidame struck his +hand heavily down among the glasses—"that I will have no interference +with my work, master Clerk! None! Do you hear? And as for yours, it +is no business of mine. That is plain speaking, is it not?" +</P> + +<P> +The priest's hand shook as he raised a full glass to his lips, but he +made no rejoinder, and the Vidame, seeing we had finished, rose. +"Armand!" he cried, his face still dark, "take these gentlemen to +their chamber. You understand?" +</P> + +<P> +We stiffly acknowledged his salute—the priest taking no notice of +us—and followed the servant from the room; going along a corridor and +up a steep flight of stairs, and seeing enough by the way to be sure +that resistance was hopeless. Doors opened silently as we passed, and +grim fellows, in corslets and padded coats, peered out. The clank of +arms and murmur of voices sounded continuously about us; and as we +passed a window the jingle of bits, and the hollow clang of a restless +hoof on the flags below, told us that the great house was for the time +a fortress. I wondered much. For this was Paris, a city with gates +and guards; the night a short August night. Yet the loneliest manor in +Quercy could scarcely have bristled with more pikes and musquetoons, on +a winter's night and in time of war. +</P> + +<P> +No doubt these signs impressed us all; and Croisette not least. For +suddenly I heard him stop, as he followed us up the narrow staircase, +and begin without warning to stumble down again as fast as he could. I +did not know what he was about; but muttering something to Marie, I +followed the lad to see. At the foot of the flight of stairs I looked +back, Marie and the servant were standing in suspense, where I had left +them. I heard the latter bid us angrily to return. +</P> + +<P> +But by this time Croisette was at the end of the corridor; and +reassuring the fellow by a gesture I hurried on, until brought to a +standstill by a man opening a door in my face. He had heard our +returning footsteps, and eyed me suspiciously; but gave way after a +moment with a grunt of doubt I hastened on, reaching the door of the +room in which we had supped in time to see something which filled me +with grim astonishment; so much so that I stood rooted where I was, too +proud at any rate to interfere. +</P> + +<P> +Bezers was standing, the leering priest at his elbow. And Croisette +was stooping forward, his hands stretched out in an attitude of +supplication. +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, but M. le Vidame," the lad cried, as I stood, the door in my +hand, "it were better to stab her at once than break her heart! Have +pity on her! If you kill him, you kill her!" +</P> + +<P> +The Vidame was silent, seeming to glower on the boy. The priest +sneered. "Hearts are soon mended—especially women's," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"But not Kit's!" Croisette said passionately—otherwise ignoring him. +"Not Kit's! You do not know her, Vidame! Indeed you do not!" +</P> + +<P> +The remark was ill-timed. I saw a spasm of anger distort Bezers' face. +"Get up, boy!" he snarled, "I wrote to Mademoiselle what I would do, +and that I shall do! A Bezers keeps his word. By the God above us—if +there be a God, and in the devil's name I doubt it to-night!—I shall +keep mine! Go!" +</P> + +<P> +His great face was full of rage. He looked over Croisette's head as he +spoke, as if appealing to the Great Registrar of his vow, in the very +moment in which he all but denied Him. I turned and stole back the way +I had come; and heard Croisette follow. +</P> + +<P> +That little scene completed my misery. After that I seemed to take no +heed of anything or anybody until I was aroused by the grating of our +gaoler's key in the lock, and became aware that he was gone, and that +we were alone in a small room under the tiles. He had left the candle +on the floor, and we three stood round it. Save for the long shadows we +cast on the walls and two pallets hastily thrown down in one corner, +the place was empty. I did not look much at it, and I would not look +at the others. I flung myself on one of the pallets and turned my face +to the wall, despairing. I thought bitterly of the failure we had made +of it, and of the Vidame's triumph. I cursed St. Croix especially for +that last touch of humiliation he had set to it. Then, forgetting +myself as my anger abated, I thought of Kit so far away at Caylus—of +Kit's pale, gentle face, and her sorrow. And little by little I +forgave Croisette. After all he had not begged for us—he had not +stooped for our sakes, but for hers. +</P> + +<P> +I do not know how long I lay at see-saw between these two moods. Or +whether during that time the others talked or were silent, moved about +the room or lay still. But it was Croisette's hand on my shoulder, +touching me with a quivering eagerness that instantly communicated +itself to my limbs, which recalled me to the room and its shadows. +"Anne!" he cried. "Anne! Are you awake?" +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" I said, sitting up and looking at him. +</P> + +<P> +"Marie," he began, "has—" +</P> + +<P> +But there was no need for him to finish. I saw that Marie was standing +at the far side of the room by the unglazed window; which, being in a +sloping part of the roof, inclined slightly also. He had raised the +shutter which closed it, and on his tip-toes—for the sill was almost +his own height from the floor—was peering out. I looked sharply at +Croisette. "Is there a gutter outside?" I whispered, beginning to +tingle all over as the thought of escape for the first time occurred to +me. +</P> + +<P> +"No," he answered in the same tone. "But Marie says he can see a beam +below, which he thinks we can reach." +</P> + +<P> +I sprang up, promptly displaced Marie, and looked out. When my eyes +grew accustomed to the gloom I discerned a dark chaos of roofs and +gables stretching as far as I could see before me. Nearer, immediately +under the window, yawned a chasm—a narrow street. Beyond this was a +house rather lower than that in which we were, the top of its roof not +quite reaching the level of my eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"I see no beam," I said. +</P> + +<P> +"Look below!" quoth Marie, stolidly, +</P> + +<P> +I did so, and then saw that fifteen or sixteen feet below our window +there was a narrow beam which ran from our house to the opposite +one—for the support of both, as is common in towns. In the shadow +near the far end of this—it was so directly under our window that I +could only see the other end of it—I made out a casement, faintly +illuminated from within. +</P> + +<P> +I shook my head. +</P> + +<P> +"We cannot get down to it," I said, measuring the distance to the beam +and the depth below it, and shivering. +</P> + +<P> +"Marie says we can, with a short rope," Croisette replied. His eyes +were glistening with excitement. +</P> + +<P> +"But we have no rope!" I retorted. I was dull—as usual. Marie made +no answer. Surely he was the most stolid and silent of brothers. I +turned to him. He was taking off his waistcoat and neckerchief. +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" I cried. I began to see now. Off came our scarves and +kerchiefs also, and fortunately they were of home make, long and +strong. And Marie had a hank of four-ply yarn in his pocket as it +turned out, and I had some stout new garters, and two or three yards of +thin cord, which I had brought to mend the girths, if need should +arise. In five minutes we had fastened them cunningly together. +</P> + +<P> +"I am the lightest," said Croisette. +</P> + +<P> +"But Marie has the steadiest head," I objected. We had learned that +long ago—that Marie could walk the coping-stones of the battlements +with as little concern as we paced a plank set on the ground. +</P> + +<P> +"True," Croisette had to admit. "But he must come last, because +whoever does so will have to let himself down." +</P> + +<P> +I had not thought of that, and I nodded. It seemed that the lead was +passing out of my hands and I might resign myself. Still one thing I +would have. As Marie was to come last, I would go first. My weight +would best test the rope. And accordingly it was so decided. +</P> + +<P> +There was no time to be lost. At any moment we might be interrupted. +So the plan was no sooner conceived than carried out. The rope was +made fast to my left wrist. Then I mounted on Marie's shoulders, and +climbed—not without quavering—through the window, taking as little +time over it as possible, for a bell was already proclaiming midnight. +</P> + +<P> +All this I had done on the spur of the moment. But outside, hanging by +my hands in the darkness, the strokes of the great bell in my ears, I +had a moment in which to think. The sense of the vibrating depth below +me, the airiness, the space and gloom around, frightened me. "Are you +ready?" muttered Marie, perhaps with a little impatience. He had not +a scrap of imagination, had Marie. +</P> + +<P> +"No! wait a minute!" I blurted out, clinging to the sill, and taking +a last look at the bare room, and the two dark figures between me and +the light. "No!" I added, hurriedly. "Croisette—boys, I called you +cowards just now. I take it back! I did not mean it! That is all!" I +gasped. "Let go!" +</P> + +<P> +A warm touch on my hand. Something like a sob. +</P> + +<P> +The next moment I felt myself sliding down the face of the house, down +into the depth. The light shot up. My head turned giddily. I clung, +oh, how I clung to that rope! Half way down the thought struck me that +in case of accident those above might not be strong enough to pull me +up again. But it was too late to think of that, and in another second +my feet touched the beam. I breathed again. Softly, very gingerly, I +made good my footing on the slender bridge, and, disengaging the rope, +let it go. Then, not without another qualm, I sat down astride of the +beam, and whistled in token of success. Success so far! +</P> + +<P> +It was a strange position, and I have often dreamed of it since. In the +darkness about me Paris lay to all seeming asleep. A veil, and not the +veil of night only, was stretched between it and me; between me, a mere +lad, and the strange secrets of a great city; stranger, grimmer, more +deadly that night than ever before or since. How many men were +watching under those dimly-seen roofs, with arms in their hands? How +many sat with murder at heart? How many were waking, who at dawn would +sleep for ever, or sleeping who would wake only at the knife's edge? +These things I could not know, any more than I could picture how many +boon-companions were parting at that instant, just risen from the dice, +one to go blindly—the other watching him—to his death? I could not +imagine, thank Heaven for it, these secrets, or a hundredth part of the +treachery and cruelty and greed that lurked at my feet, ready to burst +all bounds at a pistol-shot. It had no significance for me that the +past day was the 23rd of August, or that the morrow was St. +Bartholomew's feast! +</P> + +<P> +No. Yet mingled with the jubilation which the possibility of triumph +over our enemy raised in my breast, there was certainly a foreboding. +The Vidame's hints, no less than his open boasts, had pointed to +something to happen before morning—something wider than the mere +murder of a single man. The warning also which the Baron de Rosny had +given us at the inn occurred to me with new meaning. And I could not +shake the feeling off. I fancied, as I sat in the darkness astride of +my beam, that I could see, closing the narrow vista of the street, the +heavy mass of the Louvre; and that the murmur of voices and the tramp +of men assembling came from its courts, with now and again the stealthy +challenge of a sentry, the restrained voice of an officer. Scarcely a +wayfarer passed beneath me: so few, indeed, that I had no fear of +being detected from below. And yet unless I was mistaken, a furtive +step, a subdued whisper were borne to me on every breeze, from every +quarter. And the night was full of phantoms. +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps all this was mere nervousness, the outcome of my position. At +any rate I felt no more of it when Croisette joined me. We had our +daggers, and that gave me some comfort. If we could once gain entrance +to the house opposite, we had only to beg, or in the last resort force +our way downstairs and out, and then to hasten with what speed we might +to Pavannes' dwelling. Clearly it was a question of time only now; +whether Bezers' band or we should first reach it. And struck by this I +whispered Marie to be quick. He seemed to be long in coming. +</P> + +<P> +He scrambled down hand over hand at last, and then I saw that he had +not lingered above for nothing. He had contrived after getting out of +the window to let down the shutter. And more he had at some risk +lengthened our rope, and made a double line of it, so that it ran round +a hinge of the shutter; and when he stood beside us, he took it by one +end and disengaged it. Good, clever Marie! +</P> + +<P> +"Bravo!" I said softly, clapping him on the back. "Now they will not +know which way the birds have flown!" +</P> + +<P> +So there we all were, one of us, I confess, trembling. We slid easily +enough along the beam to the opposite house. But once there in a row +one behind the other with our faces to the wall, and the night air +blowing slantwise—well I am nervous on a height and I gasped. The +window was a good six feet above the beam, The casement—it was +unglazed—was open, veiled by a thin curtain, and alas! protected by +three horizontal bars—stout bars they looked. +</P> + +<P> +Yet we were bound to get up, and to get in; and I was preparing to rise +to my feet on the giddy bridge as gingerly as I could, when Marie +crawled quickly over us, and swung himself up to the narrow sill, much +as I should mount a horse on the level. He held out his foot to me, +and making an effort I reached the same dizzy perch. Croisette for the +time remained below. +</P> + +<P> +A narrow window-ledge sixty feet above the pavement, and three bars to +cling to! I cowered to my holdfasts, envying even Croisette. My legs +dangled airily, and the black chasm of the street seemed to yawn for +me. For a moment I turned sick. I recovered from that to feel +desperate. I remembered that go forward we must, bars or no bars. We +could not regain our old prison if we would. +</P> + +<P> +It was equally clear that we could not go forward if the inmates should +object. On that narrow perch even Marie was helpless. The bars of the +window were close together. A woman, a child, could disengage our +hands, and then—I turned sick again. I thought of the cruel stones. +I glued my face to the bars, and pushing aside a corner of the curtain, +looked in. +</P> + +<P> +There was only one person in the room—a woman, who was moving about +fully dressed, late as it was. The room was a mere attic, the +counterpart of that we had left. A box-bed with a canopy roughly +nailed over it stood in a corner. A couple of chairs were by the +hearth, and all seemed to speak of poverty and bareness. Yet the woman +whom we saw was richly dressed, though her silks and velvets were +disordered. I saw a jewel gleam in her hair, and others on her hands. +When she turned her face towards us—a wild, beautiful face, perplexed +and tear-stained—I knew her instantly for a gentlewoman, and when she +walked hastily to the door, and laid her hand upon it, and seemed to +listen—when she shook the latch and dropped her hands in despair and +went back to the hearth, I made another discovery I knew at once, +seeing her there, that we were likely but to change one prison for +another. Was every house in Paris then a dungeon? And did each roof +cover its tragedy? +</P> + +<P> +"Madame!" I said, speaking softly, to attract her attention. "Madame!" +</P> + +<P> +She started violently, not knowing whence the sound came, and looked +round, at the door first. Then she moved towards the window, and with +an affrighted gesture drew the curtain rapidly aside. +</P> + +<P> +Our eyes met. What if she screamed and aroused the house? What, +indeed? "Madame," I said again, speaking hurriedly, and striving to +reassure her by the softness of my voice, "we implore your help! +Unless you assist us we are lost." +</P> + +<P> +"You! Who are you?" she cried, glaring at us wildly, her hand to her +head. And then she murmured to herself, "Mon Dieu! what will become +of me?" +</P> + +<P> +"We have been imprisoned in the house opposite," I hastened to explain, +disjointedly I am afraid. "And we have escaped. We cannot get back if +we would. Unless you let us enter your room and give us shelter—" +</P> + +<P> +"We shall be dashed to pieces on the pavement," supplied Marie, with +perfect calmness—nay, with apparent enjoyment. +</P> + +<P> +"Let you in here?" she answered, starting back in new terror; "it is +impossible." +</P> + +<P> +She reminded me of our cousin, being, like her pale and dark-haired. +She wore her hair in a coronet, disordered now. But though she was +still beautiful, she was older than Kit, and lacked her pliant grace. +I saw all this, and judging her nature, I spoke out of my despair. +"Madame," I said piteously, "we are only boys. Croisette! Come up!" +Squeezing myself still more tightly into my corner of the ledge, I made +room for him between us. "See, Madame," I cried, craftily, "will you +not have pity on three boys?" +</P> + +<P> +St. Crois's boyish face and fair hair arrested her attention, as I had +expected. Her expression grew softer, and she murmured, "Poor boy!" +</P> + +<P> +I caught at the opportunity. "We do but seek a passage through your +room," I said fervently. Good heavens, what had we not at stake! What +if she should remain obdurate? "We are in trouble—in despair," I +panted. "So, I believe, are you. We will help you if you will first +save us. We are boys, but we can fight for you." +</P> + +<P> +"Whom am I to trust?" she exclaimed, with a shudder. "But heaven +forbid," she continued, her eyes on Croisette's face, "that, wanting +help, I should refuse to give it. Come in, if you will." +</P> + +<P> +I poured out my thanks, and had forced my head between the bars—at +imminent risk of its remaining there—before the words were well out of +her mouth. But to enter was no easy task after all. Croisette did, +indeed, squeeze through at last, and then by force pulled first one and +then the other of us after him. But only necessity and that chasm +behind could have nerved us, I think, to go through a process so +painful. When I stood, at length on the floor, I seemed to be one +great abrasion from head to foot. And before a lady, too! +</P> + +<P> +But what a joy I felt, nevertheless. A fig for Bezers now. He had +called us boys; and we were boys. But he should yet find that we could +thwart him. It could be scarcely half-an-hour after midnight; we might +still be in time. I stretched myself and trod the level door +jubilantly, and then noticed, while doing so, that our hostess had +retreated to the door and was eyeing us timidly—half-scared. +</P> + +<P> +I advanced to her with my lowest bow—sadly missing my sword. "Madame," +I said, "I am M. Anne de Caylus, and these are my brothers. And we are +at your service." +</P> + +<P> +"And I," she replied, smiling faintly—I do not know why—"am Madame de +Pavannes, I gratefully accept your offers of service." +</P> + +<P> +"De Pavannes?" I exclaimed, amazed and overjoyed. Madame de Pavannes! +Why, she must be Louis' kinswoman! No doubt she could tell us where he +was lodged, and so rid our task of half its difficulty. Could anything +have fallen out more happily? "You know then M. Louis de Pavannes?" I +continued eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly," she answered, smiling with a rare shy sweetness this time. +"Very well indeed. He is my husband." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A PRIEST AND A WOMAN. +</H3> + +<P> +"He is my husband!" +</P> + +<P> +The statement was made in the purest innocence; yet never, as may well +be imagined, did words fall with more stunning force. Not one of us +answered or, I believe, moved so much as a limb or an eyelid. We only +stared, wanting time to take in the astonishing meaning of the words, +and then more time to think what they meant to us in particular. +</P> + +<P> +Louis de Pavannes' wife! Louis de Pavannes married! If the statement +were true—and we could not doubt, looking in her face, that at least +she thought she was telling the truth—it meant that we had been fooled +indeed! That we had had this journey for nothing, and run this risk +for a villain. It meant that the Louis de Pavannes who had won our +boyish admiration was the meanest, the vilest of court-gallants. That +Mademoiselle de Caylus had been his sport and plaything. And that we +in trying to be beforehand with Bezers had been striving to save a +scoundrel from his due. It meant all that, as soon as we grasped it in +the least. +</P> + +<P> +"Madame," said Croisette gravely, after a pause so prolonged that her +smile faded pitifully from her face, scared by our strange looks. +"Your husband has been some time away from you? He only returned, I +think, a week or two ago?" +</P> + +<P> +"That is so," she answered, naively, and our last hope vanished. "But +what of that? He was back with me again, and only yesterday—only +yesterday!" she continued, clasping her hands, "we were so happy." +</P> + +<P> +"And now, madame?" +</P> + +<P> +She looked at me, not comprehending. +</P> + +<P> +"I mean," I hastened to explain, "we do not understand how you come to +be here. And a prisoner." I was really thinking that her story might +throw some light upon ours. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not know, myself," she said. "Yesterday, in the afternoon, I +paid a visit to the Abbess of the Ursulines." +</P> + +<P> +"Pardon me," Croisette interposed quickly, "but are you not of the new +faith? A Huguenot?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes," she answered eagerly. "But the Abbess is a very dear friend +of mine, and no bigot. Oh, nothing of that kind, I assure you. When I +am in Paris I visit her once a week. Yesterday, when I left her, she +begged me to call here and deliver a message." +</P> + +<P> +"Then," I said, "you know this house?" +</P> + +<P> +"Very well, indeed," she replied. "It is the sign of the 'Hand and +Glove,' one door out of the Rue Platriere. I have been in Master +Mirepoix's shop more than once before. I came here yesterday to +deliver the message, leaving my maid in the street, and I was asked to +come up stairs, and still up until I reached this room. Asked to wait +a moment, I began to think it strange that I should be brought to so +wretched a place, when I had merely a message for Mirepoix's ear about +some gauntlets. I tried the door; I found it locked. Then I was +terrified, and made a noise." +</P> + +<P> +We all nodded. We were busy building up theories—or it might be one +and the same theory—to explain this. "Yes," I said, eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"Mirepoix came to me then. 'What does this mean?' I demanded. He +looked ashamed of himself, but he barred my way. 'Only this,' he said +at last, 'that your ladyship must remain here a few hours—two days at +most. No harm whatever is intended to you. My wife will wait upon you, +and when you leave us, all shall be explained.' He would say no more, +and it was in vain I asked him if he did not take me for some one else; +if he thought I was mad. To all he answered, No. And when I dared him +to detain me he threatened force. Then I succumbed. I have been here +since, suspecting I know not what, but fearing everything." +</P> + +<P> +"That is ended, madame," I answered, my hand on my breast, my soul in +arms for her. Here, unless I was mistaken, was one more unhappy and +more deeply wronged even than Kit; one too who owed her misery to the +same villain. "Were there nine glovers on the stairs," I declared +roundly, "we would take you out and take you home! Where are your +husband's apartments?" +</P> + +<P> +"In the Rue de Saint Merri, close to the church. We have a house +there." +</P> + +<P> +"M. de Pavannes," I suggested cunningly, "is doubtless distracted by +your disappearance." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, surely," she answered with earnest simplicity, while the tears +sprang to her eyes. Her innocence—she had not the germ of a +suspicion—made me grind my teeth with wrath. Oh, the base wretch! +The miserable rascal! What did the women see, I wondered—what had we +all seen in this man, this Pavannes, that won for him our hearts, when +he had only a stone to give in return? +</P> + +<P> +I drew Croisette and Marie aside, apparently to consider how we might +force the door. "What is the meaning of this?" I said softly, +glancing at the unfortunate lady. "What do you think, Croisette?" +</P> + +<P> +I knew well what the answer would be. +</P> + +<P> +"Think!" he cried with fiery impatience. "What can any one think +except that that villain Pavannes has himself planned his wife's +abduction? Of course it is so! His wife out of the way he is free to +follow up his intrigues at Caylus. He may then marry Kit or—Curse +him!" +</P> + +<P> +"No," I said sternly, "cursing is no good. We must do something more. +And yet—we have promised Kit, you see, that we would save him—we must +keep our word. We must save him from Bezers at least." +</P> + +<P> +Marie groaned. +</P> + +<P> +But Croisette took up the thought with ardour. "From Bezers?" he +cried, his face aglow. "Ay, true! So we must! But then we will draw +lots, who shall fight him and kill him." +</P> + +<P> +I extinguished him by a look. "We shall fight him in turn," I said, +"until one of us kill him. There you are right. But your turn comes +last. Lots indeed! We have no need of lots to learn which is the +eldest." +</P> + +<P> +I was turning from him—having very properly crushed him—to look for +something which we could use to force the door, when he held up his +hand to arrest my attention. We listened, looking at one another. +Through the window came unmistakeable sounds of voices. "They have +discovered our flight," I said, my heart sinking. +</P> + +<P> +Luckily we had had the forethought to draw the curtain across the +casement. Bezers' people could therefore, from their window, see no +more than ours, dimly lighted and indistinct. Yet they would no doubt +guess the way we had escaped, and hasten to cut off our retreat below. +For a moment I looked at the door of our room, half-minded to attack +it, and fight our way out, taking the chance of reaching the street +before Bezers' folk should have recovered from their surprise and gone +down. But then I looked at Madame. How could we ensure her safety in +the struggle? While I hesitated the choice was taken from us. We heard +voices in the house below, and heavy feet on the stairs. +</P> + +<P> +We were between two fires. I glanced irresolutely round the bare +garret, with its sloping roof, searching for a better weapon. I had +only my dagger. But in vain. I saw nothing that would serve. "What +will you do?" Madame de Pavannes murmured, standing pale and trembling +by the hearth, and looking from one to another. Croisette plucked my +sleeve before I could answer, and pointed to the box-bed with its +scanty curtains. "If they see us in the room," he urged softly, "while +they are half in and half out, they will give the alarm. Let us hide +ourselves yonder. When they are inside—you understand?" +</P> + +<P> +He laid his hand on his dagger. The muscles of the lad's face grew +tense. I did understand him. "Madame," I said quickly, "you will not +betray us?" +</P> + +<P> +She shook her head. The colour returned to her cheek, and the +brightness to her eyes. She was a true woman. The sense that she was +protecting others deprived her of fear for herself. +</P> + +<P> +The footsteps were on the topmost stair now, and a key was thrust with +a rasping sound into the lock. But before it could be turned—it +fortunately fitted ill—we three had jumped on the bed and were +crouching in a row at the head of it, where the curtains of the alcove +concealed, and only just concealed us, from any one standing at the end +of the room near the door. +</P> + +<P> +I was the outermost, and through a chink could see what passed. One, +two, three people came in, and the door was closed behind them. Three +people, and one of them a woman! My heart—which had been in my +mouth—returned to its place, for the Vidame was not one. I breathed +freely; only I dared not communicate my relief to the others, lest my +voice should be heard. The first to come in was the woman closely +cloaked and hooded. Madame de Pavannes cast on her a single doubtful +glance, and then to my astonishment threw herself into her arms, +mingling her sobs with little joyous cries of "Oh, Diane! oh, Diane!" +</P> + +<P> +"My poor little one!" the newcomer exclaimed, soothing her with tender +touches on hair and shoulder. "You are safe now. Quite safe!" +</P> + +<P> +"You have come to take me away?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course we have!" Diane answered cheerfully, still caressing her. +"We have come to take you to your husband. He has been searching for +you everywhere. He is distracted with grief, little one." +</P> + +<P> +"Poor Louis!" ejaculated the wife. +</P> + +<P> +"Poor Louis, indeed!" the rescuer answered. "But you will see him +soon. We only learned at midnight where you were. You have to thank +M. le Coadjuteur here for that. He brought me the news, and at once +escorted me here to fetch you." +</P> + +<P> +"And to restore one sister to another," said the priest silkily, as he +advanced a step. He was the very same priest whom I had seen two hours +before with Bezers, and had so greatly disliked! I hated his pale face +as much now as I had then. Even the errand of good on which he had +come could not blind me to his thin-lipped mouth, to his mock humility +and crafty eyes. "I have had no task so pleasant for many days," added +he, with every appearance of a desire to propitiate. +</P> + +<P> +But, seemingly, Madame de Pavannes had something of the same feeling +towards him which I had myself; for she started at the sound of his +voice, and disengaging herself from her sister's arms—it seemed it was +her sister—shrank back from the pair. She bowed indeed in +acknowledgment of his words. But there was little gratitude in the +movement, and less warmth. I saw the sister's face—a brilliantly +beautiful face it was—brighter eyes and lips and more lovely auburn +hair I have never seen—even Kit would have been plain and dowdy beside +her—I saw it harden strangely. A moment before, the two had been in +one another's arms. Now they stood apart, somehow chilled and +disillusionised. The shadow of the priest had fallen upon them—had +come between them. +</P> + +<P> +At this crisis the fourth person present asserted himself. Hitherto he +had stood silent just within the door: a plain man, plainly dressed, +somewhat over sixty and grey-haired. He looked disconcerted and +embarrassed, and I took him for Mirepoix—rightly as it turned out. +</P> + +<P> +"I am sure," he now exclaimed, his voice trembling with anxiety, or it +might be with fear, "your ladyship will regret leaving here! You will +indeed! No harm would have happened to you. Madame d'O does not know +what she is doing, or she would not take you away. She does not know +what she is doing!" he repeated earnestly. +</P> + +<P> +"Madame d'O!" cried the beautiful Diane, her brown eyes darting fire +at the unlucky culprit, her voice full of angry disdain. "How dare +you—such as you—mention my name? Wretch!" +</P> + +<P> +She flung the last word at him, and the priest took it up. "Ay, +wretch! Wretched man indeed!" he repeated slowly, stretching out his +long thin hand and laying it like the claw of some bird of prey on the +tradesman's shoulder, which flinched, I saw, under the touch. "How +dare you—such as you—meddle with matters of the nobility? Matters +that do not concern you? Trouble! I see trouble hanging over this +house, Mirepoix! Much trouble!" +</P> + +<P> +The miserable fellow trembled visibly under the covert threat. His face +grew pale. His lips quivered. He seemed fascinated by the priest's +gaze. "I am a faithful son of the church," he muttered; but his voice +shook so that the words were scarcely audible. "I am known to be such! +None better known in Paris, M. le Coadjuteur." +</P> + +<P> +"Men are known by their works!" the priest retorted. "Now, now," he +continued, abruptly raising his voice, and lifting his hand in a kind +of exaltation, real or feigned, "is the appointed time! And now is the +day of salvation! and woe, Mirepoix, woe! woe! to the backslider, and +to him that putteth his hand to the plough and looketh back to-night!" +</P> + +<P> +The layman cowered and shrank before his fierce denunciation; while +Madame de Pavannes gazed from one to the other as if her dislike for +the priest were so great that seeing the two thus quarrelling, she +almost forgave Mirepoix his offence. "Mirepoix said he could explain," +she murmured irresolutely. +</P> + +<P> +The Coadjutor fixed his baleful eyes on him. "Mirepoix," he said +grimly, "can explain nothing! Nothing! I dare him to explain!" +</P> + +<P> +And certainly Mirepoix thus challenged was silent. "Come," the priest +continued peremptorily, turning to the lady who had entered with him, +"your sister must leave with us at once. We have no time to lose." +</P> + +<P> +"But what what does it mean!" Madame de Pavannes said, as though she +hesitated even now. "Is there danger still?" +</P> + +<P> +"Danger!" the priest exclaimed, his form seeming to swell, and the +exaltation I had before read in his voice and manner again asserting +itself. "I put myself at your service, Madame, and danger disappears! +I am as God to-night with powers of life and death! You do not +understand me? Presently you shall. But you are ready. We will go +then. Out of the way, fellow!" he thundered, advancing upon the door. +</P> + +<P> +But Mirepoix, who had placed himself with his back to it, to my +astonishment did not give way. His full bourgeois face was pale; yet +peeping through my chink, I read in it a desperate resolution. And +oddly—very oddly, because I knew that, in keeping Madame de Pavannes a +prisoner, he must be in the wrong—I sympathised with him. Low-bred +trader, tool of Pavannes though he was, I sympathised with him, when he +said firmly: +</P> + +<P> +"She shall not go!" +</P> + +<P> +"I say she shall!" the priest shrieked, losing all control over +himself. "Fool! Madman! You know not what you do!" As the words +passed his lips, he made an adroit forward movement, surprised the +other, clutched him by the arms, and with a strength I should never +have thought lay in his meagre frame, flung him some paces into the +room. "Fool!" he hissed, shaking his crooked fingers at him in +malignant triumph. "There is no man in Paris, do you hear—or woman +either—shall thwart me to-night!" +</P> + +<P> +"Is that so? Indeed?" +</P> + +<P> +The words, and the cold, cynical voice, were not those of Mirepoix; +they came from behind. The priest wheeled round, as if he had been +stabbed in the back. I clutched Croisette, and arrested the cramped +limb I was moving under cover of the noise. The speaker was Bezers! He +stood in the open door-way, his great form filling it from post to +post, the old gibing smile on his face. We had been so taken up, +actors and audience alike, with the altercation, that no one had heard +him ascend the stairs. He still wore the black and silver suit, but it +was half hidden now under a dark riding cloak which just disclosed the +glitter of his weapons. He was booted and spurred and gloved as for a +journey. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that so?" he repeated mockingly, as his gaze rested in turn on +each of the four, and then travelled sharply round the room. "So you +will not be thwarted by any man in Paris, to-night, eh? Have you +considered, my dear Coadjutor, what a large number of people there are +in Paris? It would amuse me very greatly now—and I'm sure it would +the ladies too, who must pardon my abrupt entrance—to see you put to +the test; pitted against—shall we say the Duke of Anjou? Or M. de +Guise, our great man? Or the Admiral? Say the Admiral foot to foot?" +</P> + +<P> +Rage and fear—rage at the intrusion, fear of the intruder—struggled +in the priest's face. "How do you come here, and what do you want?" +he inquired hoarsely. If looks and tones could kill, we three, +trembling behind our flimsy screen, had been freed at that moment from +our enemy. +</P> + +<P> +"I have come in search of the young birds whose necks you were for +stretching, my friend!" was Bezers' answer. "They have vanished. +Birds they must be, for unless they have come into this house by that +window, they have flown away with wings." +</P> + +<P> +"They have not passed this way," the priest declared stoutly, eager +only to get rid of the other and I blessed him for the words! "I have +been here since I left you." +</P> + +<P> +But the Vidame was not one to accept any man's statement. "Thank you; +I think I will see for myself," he answered coolly. "Madame," he +continued, speaking to Madame de Pavannes as he passed her, "permit me." +</P> + +<P> +He did not look at her, or see her emotion, or I think he must have +divined our presence. And happily the others did not suspect her of +knowing more than they did. He crossed the floor at his leisure, and +sauntered to the window, watched by them with impatience. He drew +aside the curtain, and tried each of the bars, and peered through the +opening both up and down, An oath and an expression of wonder escaped +him. The bars were standing, and firm and strong; and it did not occur +to him that we could have passed between them. I am afraid to say how +few inches they were apart. +</P> + +<P> +As he turned, he cast a casual glance at the bed—at us; and hesitated. +He had the candle in his hand, having taken it to the window the better +to examine the bars; and it obscured his sight. He did not see us. The +three crouching forms, the strained white faces, the starting eyes, +that lurked in the shadow of the curtain escaped him. The wild beating +of our hearts did not reach his ears. And it was well for him that it +was so. If he had come up to the bed I think that we should have +killed him, I know that we should have tried. All the blood in me had +gone to my head, and I saw him through a haze—larger than life. The +exact spot near the buckle of his cloak where I would strike him, +downwards and inwards, an inch above the collar-bone,—this only I saw +clearly. I could not have missed it. But he turned away, his face +darkening, and went back to the group near the door, and never knew the +risk he had run. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MADAME'S FRIGHT. +</H3> + +<P> +And we breathed again. The agony of suspense, which Bezers' pause had +created, passed away. But the night already seemed to us as a week of +nights. An age of experience, an aeon of adventures cut us off—as we +lay shaking behind the curtain—from Caylus and its life. Paris had +proved itself more treacherous than we had even expected to find it. +Everything and everyone shifted, and wore one face one minute, and one +another. We had come to save Pavannes' life at the risk of our own; we +found him to be a villain! Here was Mirepoix owning himself a +treacherous wretch, a conspirator against a woman; we sympathised with +him. The priest had come upon a work of charity and rescue; we loathed +the sound of his voice, and shrank from him, we knew not why, seeming +only to read a dark secret, a gloomy threat in each doubtful word he +uttered. He was the strangest enigma of all. Why did we fear him? Why +did Madame de Pavannes, who apparently had known him before, shudder at +the touch of his hand? Why did his shadow come even between her and +her sister, and estrange them? so that from the moment Pavannes' wife +saw him standing by Diane's side, she forgot that the latter had come +to save, and looked on her in doubt and sorrow, almost with repugnance. +</P> + +<P> +We left the Vidame going back to the fireplace. He stooped to set down +the candle by the hearth. "They are not here," he said, as he +straightened himself again, and looked curiously at his companions. He +had apparently been too much taken up with the pursuit to notice them +before. "That is certain, so I have the less time to lose," he +continued. "But I would—yes, my dear Coadjutor, I certainly would +like to know before I go, what you are doing here. Mirepoix—Mirepoix +is an honest man. I did not expect to find you in HIS house. And two +ladies? Two! Fie, Coadjutor. Ha! Madame d'O, is it? My dear lady," +he continued, addressing her in a whimsical tone, "do not start at the +sound of your own name! It would take a hundred hoods to hide your +eyes, or bleach your lips to the common colour; I should have known you +at once, had I looked at you. And your companion? Pheugh!" +</P> + +<P> +He broke off, whistling softly. It was clear that he recognised Madame +de Pavannes, and recognised her with astonishment. The bed creaked as +I craned my neck to see what would follow. Even the priest seemed to +think that some explanation was necessary, for he did not wait to be +questioned. +</P> + +<P> +"Madame de Pavannes," he said in a dry, husky voice, and without +looking up, "was spirited hither yesterday; and detained against her +will by this good man, who will have to answer for it. Madame d'O +discovered her whereabouts, and asked me to escort her here without +loss of time to enforce her sister's release." +</P> + +<P> +"And her restoration to her distracted husband?" +</P> + +<P> +"Just so," the priest assented, acquiring confidence, I thought. +</P> + +<P> +"And Madame desires to go?" +</P> + +<P> +"Surely! Why not?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well," the Vidame drawled, his manner such as to bring the blood to +Madame de Pavannes' cheek, "it depends on the person who—to use your +phrase, M. le Coadjuteur—spirited her hither." +</P> + +<P> +"And that," Madame herself retorted, raising her head, while her voice +quivered with indignation and anger, "was the Abbess of the Ursulines. +Your suspicions are base, worthy of you and unworthy of me, M. le +Vidame! Diane!" she continued sharply, taking her sister's arm, and +casting a disdainful glance at Bezers, "let us go. I want to be with +my husband. I am stifled in this room." +</P> + +<P> +"We are going, little one," Diane murmured reassuringly. But I noticed +that the speaker's animation, which had been as a soul to her beauty +when she entered the room, was gone. A strange stillness was it fear +of the Vidame? had taken its place. +</P> + +<P> +"The Abbess of the Ursulines?" Bezers continued thoughtfully. "SHE +brought you here, did she?" There was surprise, genuine surprise, in +his voice. "A good soul, and, I think I have heard, a friend of yours. +Umph!" +</P> + +<P> +"A very dear friend," Madame answered stiffly. "Now, Diane!" +</P> + +<P> +"A dear friend! And she spirited you hither yesterday!" commented the +Vidame, with the air of one solving an anagram. "And Mirepoix detained +you; respectable Mirepoix, who is said to have a well-filled stocking +under his pallet, and stands well with the bourgeoisie. He is in the +plot. Then at a very late hour, your affectionate sister, and my good +friend the Coadjutor, enter to save you. From what?" +</P> + +<P> +No one spoke. The priest looked down, his cheeks livid with anger. +</P> + +<P> +"From what?" Bezers continued with grim playfulness. "There is the +mystery. From the clutches of this profligate Mirepoix, I suppose. +From the dangerous Mirepoix. Upon my honour," with a sudden ring of +resolution in his tone, "I think you are safer here; I think you had +better stay where you are, Madame, until morning! And risk Mirepoix!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no! no!" Madame cried vehemently. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes! yes!" he replied. "What do you say, Coadjutor? Do you not +think so?" +</P> + +<P> +The priest looked down sullenly. His voice shook as he murmured in +answer, "Madame will please herself. She has a character, M. le +Vidame. But if she prefer to stay here—well!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, she has a character, has she?" rejoined the giant, his eyes +twinkling with evil mirth, "and she should go home with you, and my old +friend Madame d'O, to save it! That is it, is it? No, no," he +continued when he had had his silent laugh out, "Madame de Pavannes +will do very well here—very well here until morning. We have work to +do. Come. Let us go and do it." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean it?" said the priest, starting and looking up with a +subtle challenge—almost a threat—in his tone. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I do." +</P> + +<P> +Their eyes met: and seeing their looks, I chuckled, nudging Croisette. +No fear of their discovering us now. I recalled the old proverb which +says that when thieves fall out, honest men come by their own, and +speculated on the chance of the priest freeing us once for all from M. +de Bezers. +</P> + +<P> +But the two were ill-matched. The Vidame could have taken up the other +with one hand and dashed his head on the floor. And it did not end +there. I doubt if in craft the priest was his equal. Behind a frank +brutality Bezers—unless his reputation belied him—concealed an +Italian intellect. Under a cynical recklessness he veiled a rare +cunning and a constant suspicion; enjoying in that respect a +combination of apparently opposite qualities, which I have known no +other man to possess in an equal degree, unless it might be his late +majesty, Henry the Great. A child would have suspected the priest; a +veteran might have been taken in by the Vidame. +</P> + +<P> +And indeed the priest's eyes presently sank. "Our bargain is to go for +nothing?" he muttered sullenly. +</P> + +<P> +"I know of no bargain," quoth the Vidame. "And I have no time to lose, +splitting hairs here. Set it down to what you like. Say it is a whim +of mine, a fad, a caprice. Only understand that Madame de Pavannes +stays. We go. And—" he added this, as a sudden thought seemed to +strike him, "though I would not willingly use compulsion to a lady, I +think Madame d'O had better come too." +</P> + +<P> +"You speak masterfully," the priest said with a sneer, forgetting the +tone he had himself used a few minutes before to Mirepoix. +</P> + +<P> +"Just so. I have forty horsemen over the way," was the dry answer. +"For the moment, I am master of the legions, Coadjutor." +</P> + +<P> +"That is true," Madame d'O said; so softly that I started. She had +scarcely spoken since Bezers' entrance. As she spoke now, she shook +back the hood from her face and disclosed the chestnut hair clinging +about her temples—deep blots of colour on the abnormal whiteness of +her skin, "That is true, M. de Bezers," she said. "You have the +legions. You have the power. But you will not use it, I think, +against an old friend. You will not do us this hurt when I—But +listen." +</P> + +<P> +He would not. In the very middle of her appeal he cut her short—brute +that he was! "No Madame!" he burst out violently, disregarding the +beautiful face, the supplicating glance, that might have moved a stone, +"that is just what I will not do. I will not listen! We know one +another. Is not that enough?" +</P> + +<P> +She looked at him fixedly. He returned her gaze, not smiling now, but +eyeing her with a curious watchfulness. +</P> + +<P> +And after a long pause she turned from him. "Very well," she said +softly, and drew a deep, quivering breath, the sound of which reached +us. "Then let us go." And without—strangest thing of all—bestowing +a word or look on her sister, who was weeping bitterly in a chair, she +turned to the door and led the way out, a shrug of her shoulders the +last thing I marked. +</P> + +<P> +The poor lady heard her departing step however, and sprang up. It +dawned upon her that she was being deserted. "Diane! Diane!" she +cried distractedly—and I had to put my hand on Croisette to keep him +quiet, there was such fear and pain in her tone—"I will go! I will +not be left behind in this dreadful place! Do you hear? Come back to +me, Diane!" +</P> + +<P> +It made my blood run wildly. But Diane did not come back. Strange! +And Bezers too was unmoved. He stood between the poor woman and the +door, and by a gesture bid Mirepoix and the priest pass out before him. +"Madame," he said—and his voice, stern and hard as ever, expressed no +jot of compassion for her, rather such an impatient contempt as a +puling child might elicit—"you are safe here. And here you will stop! +Weep if you please," he added cynically, "you will have fewer tears to +shed to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +His last words—they certainly were odd ones—arrested her attention. +She checked her sobs, being frightened I think, and looked up at him. +Perhaps he had spoken with this in view, for while she still stood at +gaze, her hands pressed to her bosom, he slipped quickly out and closed +the door behind him. I heard a muttering for an instant outside, and +then the tramp of feet descending the stairs. They were gone, and we +were still undiscovered. +</P> + +<P> +For Madame, she had clean forgotten our presence—of that I am +sure—and the chance of escape we might afford. On finding herself +alone she gazed a short time in alarmed silence at the door, and then +ran to the window and peered out, still trembling, terrified, silent. +So she remained a while. +</P> + +<P> +She had not noticed that Bezers on going out had omitted to lock the +door behind him. I had. But I was unwilling to move hastily. Some +one might return to see to it before the Vidame left the house. And +besides the door was not over strong, and if locked would be no +obstacle to the three of us when we had only Mirepoix to deal with. So +I kept the others where they were by a nudge and a pinch, and held my +breath a moment, straining my ears to catch the closing of the door +below. I did not hear that. But I did catch a sound that otherwise +might have escaped me, but which now riveted my eyes to the door of our +room. Some one in the silence, which followed the trampling on the +stairs, had cautiously laid a hand on the latch. +</P> + +<P> +The light in the room was dim. Mirepoix had taken one of the candles +with him, and the other wanted snuffing. I could not see whether the +latch moved; whether or no it was rising. But watching intently, I +made out that the door was being opened—slowly, noiselessly. I saw +someone enter—a furtive gliding shadow. +</P> + +<P> +For a moment I felt nervous—then I recognised the dark hooded figure. +It was only Madame d'O. Brave woman! She had evaded the Vidame and +slipped back to the rescue. Ha, ha! We would defeat the Vidame yet! +Things were going better! +</P> + +<P> +But then something in her manner—as she stood holding the door and +peering into the room—something in her bearing startled and frightened +me. As she came forward her movements were so stealthy that her +footsteps made no sound. Her dark shadow, moving ahead of her across +the floor, was not more silent than she. An undefined desire to make a +noise, to give the alarm, seized me. +</P> + +<P> +Half-way across the room she stopped to listen, and looked round, +startled herself, I think, by the silence. She could not see her +sister, whose figure was blurred by the outlines of the curtain; and no +doubt she was puzzled to think what had become of her. The suspense +which I felt, but did not understand, was so great that at last I +moved, and the bed creaked. +</P> + +<P> +In a moment her face was turned our way, and she glided forwards, her +features still hidden by the hood of her cloak. She was close to us +now, bending over us. She raised her hand to her head—to shade her +eyes, as she looked more closely, I supposed, and I was wondering +whether she saw us—whether she took the shapelessness in the shadow of +the curtain for her sister, or could not make it out—I was thinking +how we could best apprise her of our presence without alarming +her—when Croisette dashed my thoughts to the winds! Croisette, with a +tremendous whoop and a crash, bounded over me on to the floor! +</P> + +<P> +She uttered a gasping cry—a cry of intense, awful fear. I have the +sound in my ears even now. With that she staggered back, clutching the +air. I heard the metallic clang and ring of something falling on the +floor. I heard an answering cry of alarm from the window; and then +Madame de Pavannes ran forward and caught her in her arms. +</P> + +<P> +It was strange to find the room lately so silent become at once alive +with whispering forms, as we came hastily to light. I cursed Croisette +for his folly, and was immeasurably angry with him, but I had no time +to waste words on him then. I hurried to the door to guard it. I +opened it a hand's breadth and listened. All was quiet below; the house +still. I took the key out of the lock and put it in my pocket and went +back. Marie and Croisette were standing a little apart from Madame de +Pavannes, who, hanging over her sister, was by turns bathing her face +and explaining our presence. +</P> + +<P> +In a very few minutes Madame d'O seemed to recover, and sat up. The +first shock of deadly terror had passed, but she was still pale. She +still trembled, and shrank from meeting our eyes, though I saw her, +when our attention was apparently directed elsewhere, glance at one and +another of us with a strange intentness, a shuddering curiosity. No +wonder, I thought. She must have had a terrible fright—one that might +have killed a more timid woman! +</P> + +<P> +"What on earth did you do that for!" I asked Croisette presently, my +anger certainly not decreasing the more I looked at her beautiful face. +"You might have killed her!" +</P> + +<P> +In charity I supposed his nerves had failed him, for he could not even +now give me a straightforward answer. His only reply was, "Let us get +away! Let us get away from this horrible house!" and this he kept +repeating with a shudder as he moved restlessly to and fro. +</P> + +<P> +"With all my heart!" I answered, looking at him with some contempt. +"That is exactly what we are going to do!" +</P> + +<P> +But all the same his words reminded me of something which in the +excitement of the scene I had momentarily forgotten, and that was our +duty. Pavannes must still be saved, though not for Kit; rather to +answer to us for his sins. But he must be saved! And now that the +road was open, every minute lost was reproach to us. "Yes," I added +roughly, my thoughts turned into a more rugged channel, "you are right. +This is no time for nursing. We must be going. Madame de Pavannes," I +went on, addressing myself to her, "you know the way home from here—to +your house!" "Oh, yes," she cried. +</P> + +<P> +"That is well," I answered. "Then we will start. Your sister is +sufficiently recovered now, I think. And we will not risk any further +delay." +</P> + +<P> +I did not tell her of her husband's danger, or that we suspected him of +wronging her, and being in fact the cause of her detention. I wanted +her services as a guide. That was the main point, though I was glad to +be able to put her in a place of safety at the same time that we +fulfilled our own mission. +</P> + +<P> +She rose eagerly. "You are sure that we can get out?" she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure," I replied with a brevity worthy of Bezers himself. +</P> + +<P> +And I was right. We trooped down stairs, making as little noise as +possible; with the result that Mirepoix only took the alarm, and came +upon us when we were at the outer door, bungling with the lock. Then I +made short work of him, checking his scared words of remonstrance by +flashing my dagger before his eyes. I induced him in the same +fashion—he was fairly taken by surprise—to undo the fastenings +himself; and so, bidding him follow us at his peril, we slipped out one +by one. We softly closed the door behind us. And lo! we were at last +free—free and in the streets of Paris, with the cool night air fanning +our brows. A church hard by tolled the hour of two; and the strokes +were echoed, before we had gone many steps along the ill-paved way, by +the solemn tones of the bell of Notre Dame. +</P> + +<P> +We were free and in the streets, with a guide who knew the way. If +Bezers had not gone straight from us to his vengeance, we might thwart +him yet. I strode along quickly, Madame d'O by my side the others a +little way in front. Here and there an oil-lamp, swinging from a +pulley in the middle of the road, enabled us to avoid some obstacle +more foul than usual, or to leap over a pool which had formed in the +kennel. Even in my excitement, my country-bred senses rebelled against +the sights, and smells, the noisome air and oppressive closeness of the +streets. +</P> + +<P> +The town was quiet, and very dark where the smoky lamps were not +hanging. Yet I wondered if it ever slept, for more than once we had to +stand aside to give passage to a party of men, hurrying along with +links and arms. Several times too, especially towards the end of our +walk, I was surprised by the flashing of bright lights in a courtyard, +the door of which stood half open to right or left. Once I saw the +glow of torches reflected ruddily in the windows of a tall and splendid +mansion, a little withdrawn from the street. The source of the light +was in the fore-court, hidden from us by a low wall, but I caught the +murmur of voices and stir of many feet. Once a gate was stealthily +opened and two armed men looked out, the act and their manner of doing +it, reminding me on the instant of those who had peeped out to inspect +us some hours before in Bezers' house. And once, nay twice, in the +mouth of a narrow alley I discerned a knot of men standing motionless +in the gloom. There was an air of mystery abroad, a feeling as of +solemn stir and preparation going on under cover of the darkness, which +awed and unnerved me. +</P> + +<P> +But I said nothing of this, and Madame d'O was equally silent. Like +most countrymen I was ready to believe in any exaggeration of the +city's late hours, the more as she made no remark. I supposed—shaking +off the momentary impression—that what I saw was innocent and normal. +Besides, I was thinking what I should say to Pavannes when I saw +him—in what terms I should warn him of his peril, and cast his perfidy +in his teeth. We had hurried along in this way—and in absolute +silence, save when some obstacle or pitfall drew from us an +exclamation—for about a quarter of a mile, when my companion, turning +into a slightly wider street, slackened her speed, and indicated by a +gesture that we had arrived. A lamp hung over the porch, to which she +pointed, and showed the small side gate half open. We were close +behind the other three now. I saw Croisette stoop to enter and as +quickly fall back a pace. Why? +</P> + +<P> +In a moment it flashed across my mind that we were too late that the +Vidame had been before us. +</P> + +<P> +And yet how quiet it all was. +</P> + +<P> +Then I breathed freely again. I saw that Croisette had only stepped +back to avoid some one who was coming out—the Coadjutor in fact. The +moment the entrance was clear, the lad shot in, and the others after +him, the priest taking no notice of them, nor they of him. +</P> + +<P> +I was for going in too, when I felt Madame d'O's hand tighten suddenly +on my arm, and then fall from it. Apprised of something by this, I +glanced at the priest's face, catching sight of it by chance just as +his eyes met hers. His face was white—nay it was ugly with +disappointment and rage, bitter snarling rage, that was hardly human. +He grasped her by the arm roughly and twisted her round without +ceremony, so as to draw her a few paces aside; yet not so far that I +could not hear what they said. +</P> + +<P> +"He is not here!" he hissed. "Do you understand? He crossed the +river to the Faubourg St. Germain at nightfall—searching for her. And +he has not come back! He is on the other side of the water, and +midnight has struck this hour past!" +</P> + +<P> +She stood silent for a moment as if she had received a blow—silent and +dismayed. Something serious had happened. I could see that. +</P> + +<P> +"He cannot recross the river now?" she said after a time. "The +gates—" +</P> + +<P> +"Shut!" he replied briefly. "The keys are at the Louvre." +</P> + +<P> +"And the boats are on this side?" +</P> + +<P> +"Every boat!" he answered, striking his one hand on the other with +violence. "Every boat! No one may cross until it is over." +</P> + +<P> +"And the Faubourg St. Germain?" she said in a lower voice. +</P> + +<P> +"There will be nothing done there. Nothing!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A YOUNG KNIGHT-ERRANT. +</H3> + +<P> +I would gladly have left the two together, and gone straight into the +house. I was eager now to discharge the errand on which I had come so +far; and apart from this I had no liking for the priest or wish to +overhear his talk. His anger, however, was so patent, and the rudeness +with which he treated Madame d'O so pronounced that I felt I could not +leave her with him unless she should dismiss me. So I stood patiently +enough—and awkwardly enough too, I daresay—by the door while they +talked on in subdued tones. Nevertheless, I felt heartily glad when at +length, the discussion ending Madame came back to me. I offered her my +arm to help her over the wooden foot of the side gate. She laid her +hand on it, but she stood still. +</P> + +<P> +"M. de Caylus," she said; and at that stopped. Naturally I looked at +her, and our eyes met. Hers brown and beautiful, shining in the light +of the lamp overhead looked into mine. Her lips were half parted, and +one fair tress of hair had escaped from her hood. "M. de Caylus, will +you do me a favour," she resumed, softly, "a favour for which I shall +always be grateful?" +</P> + +<P> +I sighed. "Madame," I said earnestly, for I felt the solemnity of the +occasion, "I swear that in ten minutes, if the task I now have in hand +be finished I will devote my life to your service. For the present—" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, for the present? But it is the present I want, Master +Discretion." +</P> + +<P> +"I must see M. de Pavannes! I am pledged to it," I ejaculated. +</P> + +<P> +"To see M. de Pavannes?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +I was conscious that she was looking at me with eyes of doubt, almost +of suspicion. +</P> + +<P> +"Why? Why?" she asked with evident surprise. "You have restored—and +nearly frightened me to death in doing it—his wife to her home; what +more do you want with him, most valiant knight-errant?" +</P> + +<P> +"I must see him," I said firmly. I would have told her all and been +thankful, but the priest was within hearing—or barely out of it; and I +had seen too much pass between him and Bezers to be willing to say +anything before him. +</P> + +<P> +"You must see M. de Pavannes?" she repeated, gazing at me. +</P> + +<P> +"I must," I replied with decision. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you shall. That is exactly what I am going to help you to do," +she exclaimed. "He is not here. That is what is the matter. He went +out at nightfall seeking news of his wife, and crossed the river, the +Coadjutor says, to the Faubourg St. Germain. Now it is of the utmost +importance that he should return before morning—return here." +</P> + +<P> +"But is he not here?" I said, finding all my calculations at fault. +"You are sure of it, Madame?" +</P> + +<P> +"Quite sure," she answered rapidly. "Your brothers will have by this +time discovered the fact. Now, M. de Caylus, Pavannes must be brought +here before morning, not only for his wife's sake—though she will be +wild with anxiety—but also—" +</P> + +<P> +"I know," I said, eagerly interrupting her, "for his own too! There is +a danger threatening him." +</P> + +<P> +She turned swiftly, as if startled, and I turned, and we looked at the +priest. I thought we understood one another. "There is," she answered +softly, "and I would save him from that danger; but he will only be +safe, as I happen to know, here! Here, you understand! He must be +brought here before daybreak, M. de Caylus. He must! He must!" she +exclaimed, her beautiful features hardening with the earnestness of her +feelings. "And the Coadjutor cannot go. I cannot go. There is only +one man who can save him, and that is yourself. There is, above all, +not a moment to be lost." +</P> + +<P> +My thoughts were in a whirl. Even as she spoke she began to walk back +the way we had come, her hand on my arm; and I, doubtful, and in a +confused way unwilling, went with her. I did not clearly understand +the position. I would have wished to go in and confer with Marie and +Croisette; but the juncture had occurred so quickly, and it might be +that time was as valuable as she said, and—well, it was hard for me, a +lad, to refuse her anything when she looked at me with appeal in her +eyes. I did manage to stammer, "But I do not know Paris. I could not +find my way, I am afraid, and it is night, Madame." +</P> + +<P> +She released my arm and stopped. "Night!" she cried, with a scornful +ring in her voice. "Night! I thought you were a man, not a boy! You +are afraid!" +</P> + +<P> +"Afraid," I said hotly; "we Cayluses are never afraid." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I can tell you the way, if that be your only difficulty. We turn +here. Now, come in with me a moment," she continued, "and I will give +you something you will need—and your directions." +</P> + +<P> +She had stopped at the door of a tall, narrow house, standing between +larger ones in a street which appeared to me to be more airy and +important than any I had yet seen. As she spoke, she rang the bell +once, twice, thrice. The silvery tinkle had scarcely died away the +third time before the door opened silently; I saw no one, but she drew +me into a narrow hall or passage. A taper in an embossed holder was +burning on a chest. She took it up, and telling me to follow her led +the way lightly up the stairs, and into a room, half-parlour, +half-bedroom—such a room as I had never seen before. It was richly +hung from ceiling to floor with blue silk, and lighted by the soft rays +of lamps shaded by Venetian globes of delicate hues. The scent of +cedar wood was in the air, and on the hearth in a velvet tray were some +tiny puppies. A dainty disorder reigned everywhere. On one table a +jewel-case stood open, on another lay some lace garments, two or three +masks and a fan. A gemmed riding-whip and a silver-hilted poniard hung +on the same peg. And, strangest of all, huddled away behind the door, +I espied a plain, black-sheathed sword, and a man's gauntlets. +</P> + +<P> +She did not wait a moment, but went at once to the jewel-case. She took +from it a gold ring—a heavy seal ring. She held this out to me in the +most matter-of-fact way—scarcely turning, in fact. "Put it on your +finger," she said hurriedly. "If you are stopped by soldiers, or if +they will not give you a boat to cross the river, say boldly that you +are on the king's service. Call for the officer and show that ring. +Play the man. Bid him stop you at his peril!" +</P> + +<P> +I hastily muttered my thanks, and she as hastily took something from a +drawer, and tore it into strips. Before I knew what she was doing she +was on her knees by me, fastening a white band of linen round my left +sleeve. Then she took my cap, and with the same precipitation fixed a +fragment of the stuff in it, in the form of a rough cross. +</P> + +<P> +"There," she said. "Now, listen, M. de Caylus. There is more afoot +to-night than you know of. Those badges will help you across to St. +Germain, but the moment you land tear them off: Tear them off, +remember. They will help you no longer. You will come back by the +same boat, and will not need them. If you are seen to wear them as you +return, they will command no respect, but on the contrary will bring +you—and perhaps me into trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"I understand," I said, "but—" +</P> + +<P> +"You must ask no questions," she retorted, waving one snowy finger +before my eyes. "My knight-errant must have faith in me, as I have in +him; or he would not be here at this time of night, and alone with me. +But remember this also. When you meet Pavannes do not say you come +from me. Keep that in your mind; I will explain the reason afterwards. +Say merely that his wife is found, and is wild with anxiety about him. +If you say anything as to his danger he may refuse to come. Men are +obstinate." +</P> + +<P> +I nodded a smiling assent, thinking I understood. At the same time I +permitted myself in my own mind a little discretion. Pavannes was not a +fool, and the name of the Vidame—but, however, I should see. I had +more to say to him than she knew of. Meanwhile she explained very +carefully the three turnings I had to take to reach the river, and the +wharf where boats most commonly lay, and the name of the house in which +I should find M. de Pavannes. +</P> + +<P> +"He is at the Hotel de Bailli," she said. "And there, I think that is +all." +</P> + +<P> +"No, not all," I said hardily. "There is one thing I have not got. +And that is a sword!" +</P> + +<P> +She followed the direction of my eyes, started, and laughed—a little +oddly. But she fetched the weapon. "Take it, and do not," she urged, +"do not lose time. Do not mention me to Pavannes. Do not let the +white badges be seen as you return. That is really all. And now good +luck!" She gave me her hand to kiss. "Good luck, my knight-errant, +good luck—and come back to me soon!" +</P> + +<P> +She smiled divinely, as it seemed to me, as she said these last words, +and the same smile followed me down stairs: for she leaned over the +stair-head with one of the lamps in her hand, and directed me how to +draw the bolts. I took one backward glance as I did so at the fair +stooping figure above me, the shining eyes, and tiny outstretched hand, +and then darting into the gloom I hurried on my way. +</P> + +<P> +I was in a strange mood. A few minutes before I had been at Pavannes' +door, at the end of our journey; on the verge of success. I had been +within an ace, as I supposed at least, of executing my errand. I had +held the cup of success in my hand. And it had slipped. Now the +conflict had to be fought over again; the danger to be faced. It would +have been no more than natural if I had felt the disappointment keenly: +if I had almost despaired. +</P> + +<P> +But it was otherwise—far otherwise. Never had my heart beat higher or +more proudly than as I now hurried through the streets, avoiding such +groups as were abroad in them, and intent only on observing the proper +turnings. Never in any moment of triumph in after days, in love or +war, did anything like the exhilaration, the energy, the spirit, of +those minutes come back to me. I had a woman's badge in my cap—for +the first time—the music of her voice in my ears. I had a magic ring +on my finger: a talisman on my arm. My sword was at my side again. +All round me lay a misty city of adventures, of danger and romance, +full of the richest and most beautiful possibilities; a city of real +witchery, such as I had read of in stories, through which those fairy +gifts and my right hand should guide me safely. I did not even regret +my brothers, or our separation. I was the eldest. It was fitting that +the cream of the enterprise should be reserved for me, Anne de Caylus. +And to what might it not lead? In fancy I saw myself already a duke and +peer of France—already I held the baton. +</P> + +<P> +Yet while I exulted boyishly, I did not forget what I was about. I kept +my eyes open, and soon remarked that the number of people passing to +and fro in the dark streets had much increased within the last half +hour. The silence in which in groups or singly these figures stole by +me was very striking. I heard no brawling, fighting or singing; yet if +it were too late for these things, why were so many people up and +about? I began to count presently, and found that at least half of +those I met wore badges in their hats and on their arms, similar to +mine, and that they all moved with a businesslike air, as if bound for +some rendezvous. +</P> + +<P> +I was not a fool, though I was young, and in some matters less quick +than Croisette. The hints which had been dropped by so many had not +been lost on me. "There is more afoot to-night than you know of!" +Madame d'O had said. And having eyes as well as ears I fully believed +it. Something was afoot. Something was going to happen in Paris +before morning. But what, I wondered. Could it be that a rebellion was +about to break out? If so I was on the king's service, and all was +well. I might even be going—and only eighteen—to make history! Or +was it only a brawl on a great scale between two parties of nobles? I +had heard of such things happening in Paris. Then—well I did not see +how I could act in that case. I must be guided by events. +</P> + +<P> +I did not imagine anything else which it could be. That is the truth, +though it may need explanation. I was accustomed only to the milder +religious differences, the more evenly balanced parties of Quercy, +where the peace between the Catholics and Huguenots had been welcome to +all save a very few. I could not gauge therefore the fanaticism of the +Parisian populace, and lost count of the factor, which made possible +that which was going to happen—was going to happen in Paris before +daylight as surely as the sun was going to rise! I knew that the +Huguenot nobles were present in the city in great numbers, but it did +not occur to me that they could as a body be in danger. They were many +and powerful, and as was said, in favour with the king. They were +under the protection of the King of Navarre—France's brother-in-law of +a week, and the Prince of Conde; and though these princes were young, +Coligny the sagacious admiral was old, and not much the worse I had +learned for his wound. He at least was high in royal favour, a trusted +counsellor. Had not the king visited him on his sick-bed and sat by +him for an hour together? +</P> + +<P> +Surely, I thought, if there were danger, these men would know of it. +And then the Huguenots' main enemy, Henri le Balafre, the splendid Duke +of Guise, "our great man," and "Lorraine," as the crowd called him—he, +it was rumoured, was in disgrace at court. In a word these things, to +say nothing of the peaceful and joyous occasion which had brought the +Huguenots to Paris, and which seemed to put treachery out of the +question, were more than enough to prevent me forecasting the event. +</P> + +<P> +If for a moment, indeed, as I hurried along towards the river, anything +like the truth occurred to me, I put it from me. I say with pride I +put it from me as a thing impossible. For God forbid—one may speak +out the truth these forty years back—God forbid, say I, that all +Frenchmen should bear the blood guiltiness which came of other than +French brains, though French were the hands that did the work. +</P> + +<P> +I was not greatly troubled by my forebodings therefore: and the state +of exaltation to which Madame d'O's confidence had raised my spirits +lasted until one of the narrow streets by the Louvre brought me +suddenly within sight of the river. Here faint moonlight bursting +momentarily through the clouds was shining on the placid surface of the +water. The fresh air played upon, and cooled my temples. And this +with the quiet scene so abruptly presented to me, gave check to my +thoughts, and somewhat sobered me. +</P> + +<P> +At some distance to my left I could distinguish in the middle of the +river the pile of buildings which crowd the Ile de la Cite, and could +follow the nearer arm of the stream as it swept landwards of these, +closely hemmed in by houses, but unbroken as yet by the arches of the +Pont Neuf which I have lived to see built. Not far from me on my +right—indeed within a stone's throw—the bulky mass of the Louvre rose +dark and shapeless against the sky. Only a narrow open space—the +foreshore—separated me from the water; beyond which I could see an +irregular line of buildings, that no doubt formed the Faubourg St. +Germain. +</P> + +<P> +I had been told that I should find stairs leading down to the water, +and boats moored at the foot of them, at this point. Accordingly I +walked quickly across the open space to a spot, where I made out a +couple of posts set up on the brink—doubtless to mark the landing +place. +</P> + +<P> +I had not gone ten paces, however, out of the shadow, before I chanced +to look round, and discerned with an unpleasant eerie feeling three +figures detach themselves from it, and advance in a row behind me, so +as the better to cut off my retreat. I was not to succeed in my +enterprise too easily then. That was clear. Still I thought it better +to act as if I had not seen my followers, and collecting myself, I +walked as quickly as I could down to the steps. The three were by that +time close upon me—within striking distance almost. I turned abruptly +and confronted them. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you, and what do you want?" I said, eyeing them warily, my +hand on my sword. +</P> + +<P> +They did not answer, but separated more widely so as to form a +half-circle: and one of them whistled. On the instant a knot of men +started out of the line of houses, and came quickly across the strip of +light towards us. +</P> + +<P> +The position seemed serious. If I could have run indeed—but I glanced +round, and found escape in that fashion impossible. There were men +crouching on the steps behind me, between me and the river. I had +fallen into a trap. Indeed, there was nothing for it now but to do as +Madame had bidden me, and play the man boldly. I had the words still +ringing in my ears. I had enough of the excitement I had lately felt +still bounding in my veins to give nerve and daring. I folded my arms +and drew myself up. +</P> + +<P> +"Knaves!" I said, with as much quiet contempt as I could muster, "you +mistake me. You do not know whom you have to deal with. Get me a boat, +and let two of you row me across. Hinder me, and your necks shall +answer for it—or your backs!" +</P> + +<P> +A laugh and an oath of derision formed the only response, and before I +could add more, the larger group arrived, and joined the three. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is it, Pierre?" asked one of these in a matter-of-fact way, which +showed I had not fallen amongst mere thieves. +</P> + +<P> +The speaker seemed to be the leader of the band. He had a feather in +his bonnet, and I saw a steel corslet gleam under his cloak, when some +one held up a lanthorn to examine me the better. His trunk-hose were +striped with black, white, and green—the livery as I learned +afterwards of Monsieur the King's brother, the Duke of Anjou, +afterwards Henry the Third; then a close friend of the Duke of Guise, +and later his murderer. The captain spoke with a foreign accent, and +his complexion was dark to swarthiness. His eyes sparkled and flashed +like black beads. It was easy to see that he was an Italian. +</P> + +<P> +"A gallant young cock enough," the soldier who had whistled answered; +"and not quite of the breed we expected." He held his lanthorn towards +me and pointed to the white badge on my sleeve. "It strikes me we have +caught a crow instead of a pigeon!" +</P> + +<P> +"How comes this?" the Italian asked harshly, addressing me. "Who are +you? And why do you wish to cross the river at this time of night, +young sir?" +</P> + +<P> +I acted on the inspiration of the moment. "Play the man boldly!" +Madame had said. I would: and I did with a vengeance. I sprang +forward and seizing the captain by the clasp of his cloak, shook him +violently, and flung him off with all my force, so that he reeled. +"Dog!" I exclaimed, advancing, as if I would seize him again. "Learn +how to speak to your betters! Am I to be stopped by such sweepings as +you? Hark ye, I am on the King's service!" +</P> + +<P> +He fairly spluttered with rage. "More like the devil's!" he +exclaimed, pronouncing his words abominably, and fumbling vainly for +his weapon. "King's service or no service you do not insult Andrea +Pallavicini!" +</P> + +<P> +I could only vindicate my daring by greater daring, and I saw this even +as, death staring me in the face, my heart seemed to stop. The man had +his mouth open and his hand raised to give an order which would +certainly have sent Anne de Caylus from the world, when I cried +passionately—it was my last chance, and I never wished to live more +strongly than at that moment—I cried passionately, "Andrea +Pallavicini, if such be your name, look at that! Look at that!" I +repeated, shaking my open hand with the ring on it before his face, +"and then hinder me if you dare! To-morrow if you have quarterings +enough, I will see to your quarrel! Now send me on my way, or your +fate be on your own head! Disobey—ay, do but hesitate—and I will +call on these very men of yours to cut you down!" +</P> + +<P> +It was a bold throw, for I staked all on a talisman of which I did not +know the value! To me it was the turn of a die, for I had had no +leisure to look at the ring, and knew no more than a babe whose it was. +But the venture was as happy as desperate. +</P> + +<P> +Andrea Pallavicini's expression—no pleasant one at the best of +times—changed on the instant. His face fell as he seized my hand, and +peered at the ring long and intently. Then he cast a quick glance of +suspicion at his men, of hatred at me. But I cared nothing for his +glance, or his hatred. I saw already that he had made up his mind to +obey the charm: and that for me was everything. "If you had shown +that to me a little earlier, young sir, it would, maybe, have been +better for both of us," he said, a surly menace in his voice. And +cursing his men for their stupidity he ordered two of them to unmoor a +boat. +</P> + +<P> +Apparently the craft had been secured with more care than skill, for to +loosen it seemed to be a work of time. Meanwhile I stood waiting in +the midst of the group, anxious and yet exultant; an object of +curiosity, and yet curious myself. I heard the guards whisper +together, and caught such phrases as "It is the Duc d'Aumale." +</P> + +<P> +"No, it is not D'Aumale. It is nothing like him." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he has the Duke's ring, fool!" +</P> + +<P> +"The Duke's?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay." +</P> + +<P> +"Then it is all right, God bless him!" This last was uttered with +extreme fervour. +</P> + +<P> +I was conscious too of being the object of many respectful glances; and +had just bidden the men on the steps below me to be quick, when I +discovered with alarm three figures moving across the open space +towards us, and coming apparently from the same point from which +Pallavicini and his men had emerged. +</P> + +<P> +In a moment I foresaw danger. "Now be quick there!" I cried again. +But scarcely had I spoken before I saw that it was impossible to get +afloat before these others came up, and I prepared to stand my ground +resolutely. +</P> + +<P> +The first words, however, with which Pallavicini saluted the new-comers +scattered my fears. "Well, what the foul fiend do you want?" he +exclaimed rudely; and he rapped out half-a-dozen CORPOS before they +could answer him. "What have you brought him here for, when I left him +in the guard-house? Imbeciles!" +</P> + +<P> +"Captain Pallavicini," interposed the midmost of the three, speaking +with patience—he was a man of about thirty, dressed with some +richness, though his clothes were now disordered as though by a +struggle—"I have induced these good men to bring me down—" +</P> + +<P> +"Then," cried the captain, brutally interrupting him, "you have lost +your labour, Monsieur." +</P> + +<P> +"You do not know me," replied the prisoner with sternness—a prisoner +he seemed to be. "You do not understand that I am a friend of the +Prince of Conde, and that—" +</P> + +<P> +He would have said more, but the Italian again cut him short. "A fig +for the Prince of Conde!" he cried; "I understand my duty. You may as +well take things easily. You cannot cross, and you cannot go home, and +you cannot have any explanation; except that it is the King's will! +Explanation?" he grumbled, in a lower tone, "you will get it soon +enough, I warrant! Before you want it!" +</P> + +<P> +"But there is a boat going to cross," said the other, controlling his +temper by an effort and speaking with dignity. "You told me that by +the King's order no one could cross; and you arrested me because, +having urgent need to visit St. Germain, I persisted. Now what does +this mean, Captain Pallavicini? Others are crossing. I ask what this +means?" +</P> + +<P> +"Whatever you please, M. de Pavannes," the Italian retorted +contemptuously. "Explain it for yourself!" +</P> + +<P> +I started as the name struck my ear, and at once cried out in surprise, +"M. de Pavannes!" Had I heard aright? +</P> + +<P> +Apparently I had, for the prisoner turned to me with a bow. "Yes, sir," +he said with dignity, "I am M. de Pavannes. I have not the honour of +knowing you, but you seem to be a gentleman." He cast a withering +glance at the captain as he said this. "Perhaps you will explain to me +why this violence has been done to me. If you can, I shall consider it +a favour; if not, pardon me." +</P> + +<P> +I did not answer him at once, for a good reason—that every faculty I +had was bent on a close scrutiny of the man himself. He was fair, and +of a ruddy complexion. His beard was cut in the short pointed fashion +of the court; and in these respects he bore a kind of likeness, a +curious likeness, to Louis de Pavannes. But his figure was shorter and +stouter. He was less martial in bearing, with more of the air of a +scholar than a soldier. "You are related to M. Louis de Pavannes?" I +said, my heart beginning to beat with an odd excitement. I think I +foresaw already what was coming. +</P> + +<P> +"I am Louis de Pavannes," he replied with impatience. +</P> + +<P> +I stared at him in silence: thinking—thinking—thinking. And then I +said slowly, "You have a cousin of the same name?" +</P> + +<P> +"I have." +</P> + +<P> +"He fell prisoner to the Vicomte de Caylus at Moncontour?" +</P> + +<P> +"He did," he answered curtly. "But what of that, sir?" +</P> + +<P> +Again I did not answer—at once. The murder was out. I remembered, in +the dim fashion in which one remembers such things after the event, +that I had heard Louis de Pavannes, when we first became acquainted +with him, mention this cousin of the same name; the head of a younger +branch. But our Louis living in Provence and the other in Normandy, +the distance between their homes, and the troubles of the times had +loosened a tie which their common religion might have strengthened. +They had scarcely ever seen one another. As Louis had spoken of his +namesake but once during his long stay with us, and I had not then +foreseen the connection to be formed between our families, it was no +wonder that in the course of months the chance word had passed out of +my head, and I had clean forgotten the subject of it. Here however, he +was before my eyes, and seeing him; I saw too what the discovery meant. +It meant a most joyful thing! a most wonderful thing which I longed to +tell Croisette and Marie. It meant that our Louis de Pavannes—my +cheek burned for my want of faith in him—was no villain after all, but +such a noble gentleman as we had always till this day thought him! It +meant that he was no court gallant bent on breaking a country heart for +sport, but Kit's own true lover! And—and it meant more—it meant that +he was yet in danger, and still ignorant of the vow that unchained +fiend Bezers had taken to have his life! In pursuing his namesake we +had been led astray, how sadly I only knew now! And had indeed lost +most precious time. +</P> + +<P> +"Your wife, M. de Pavannes"—I began in haste, seeing the necessity of +explaining matters with the utmost quickness. "Your wife is—" +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, my wife!" he cried interrupting me, with anxiety in his tone. +"What of her? You have seen her!" +</P> + +<P> +"I have. She is safe at your house in the Rue de St. Merri." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank Heaven for that!" he replied fervently. Before he could say +more Captain Andrea interrupted us. I could see that his suspicions +were aroused afresh. He pushed rudely between us, and addressing me +said, "Now, young sir, your boat is ready." +</P> + +<P> +"My boat?" I answered, while I rapidly considered the situation. Of +course I did not want to cross the river now. No doubt Pavannes—this +Pavannes—could guide me to Louis' address. "My boat?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it is waiting," the Italian replied, his black eyes roving from +one to the other of us. +</P> + +<P> +"Then let it wait!" I answered haughtily, speaking with an assumption +of anger. "Plague upon you for interrupting us! I shall not cross the +river now. This gentleman can give me the information I want. I shall +take him back with me." +</P> + +<P> +"To whom?" +</P> + +<P> +"To whom? To those who sent me, sirrah!" +</P> + +<P> +I thundered. "You do not seem to be much in the Duke's confidence, +captain," I went on; "now take a word of advice from me! There is +nothing: so easily cast off as an over-officious servant! He goes too +far—and he goes like an old glove! An old glove," I repeated grimly, +sneering in his face, "which saves the hand and suffers itself. Beware +of too much zeal, Captain Pallavicini! It is a dangerous thing!" +</P> + +<P> +He turned pale with anger at being thus treated by a beardless boy. +But he faltered all the same. What I said was unpleasant, but the +bravo knew it was true. +</P> + +<P> +I saw the impression I had made, and I turned to the soldiers standing +round. +</P> + +<P> +"Bring here, my friends," I said, "M. de Pavannes' sword!" +</P> + +<P> +One ran up to the guard house and brought it at once. They were +townsfolk, burgher guards or such like, and for some reason betrayed so +evident a respect for me, that I soberly believe they would have turned +on their temporary leader at my bidding. Pavannes took his sword, and +placed it under his arm. We both bowed ceremoniously to Pallavicini, +who scowled in response; and slowly, for I was afraid to show any signs +of haste, we walked across the moonlit space to the bottom of the +street by which I had come. There the gloom swallowed us up at once. +Pavannes touched my sleeve and stopped in the darkness. +</P> + +<P> +"I beg to be allowed to thank you for your aid," he said with emotion, +turning and facing me. "Whom have I the honour of addressing?" +</P> + +<P> +"M. Anne de Caylus, a friend of your cousin," I replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed?" he said "well, I thank you most heartily," and we embraced +with warmth. +</P> + +<P> +"But I could have done little," I answered modestly, "on your behalf, +if it had not been for this ring." +</P> + +<P> +"And the virtue of the ring lies in—" +</P> + +<P> +"In—I am sure I cannot say in what!" I confessed. And then, in the +sympathy which the scene had naturally created between us, I forgot one +portion of my lady's commands and I added impulsively, "All I know is +that Madame d'O gave it me; and that it has done all, and more than all +she said it would." +</P> + +<P> +"Who gave it to you?" he asked, grasping my arm so tightly as to hurt +me. +</P> + +<P> +"Madame d'O," I repeated. It was too late to draw back now. +</P> + +<P> +"That woman!" he ejaculated in a strange low whisper. "Is it +possible? That woman gave it you?" +</P> + +<P> +I wandered what on earth he meant, surprise, scorn and dislike were so +blended in his tone. It even seemed to me that he drew off from me +somewhat. "Yes, M. de Pavannes," I replied, offended and indignant, +"It is so far possible that it is the truth; and more, I think you +would not so speak of this lady if you knew all; and that it was +through her your wife was to-day freed from those who were detaining +her, and taken safely home!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ha!" he cried eagerly. "Then where has my wife been?" +</P> + +<P> +"At the house of Mirepoix, the glover," I answered coldly, "in the Rue +Platriere. Do you know him? You do. Well, she was kept there a +prisoner, until we helped her to escape an hour or so ago." +</P> + +<P> +He did not seem to comprehend even then. I could see little of his +face, but there was doubt and wonder in his tone when he spoke. +"Mirepoix the glover," he murmured. "He is an honest man enough, +though a Catholic. She was kept there! Who kept her there?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Abbess of the Ursulines seems to have been at the bottom of it," I +explained, fretting with impatience. This wonder was misplaced, I +thought; and time was passing. "Madame d'O found out where she was," I +continued, "and took her home, and then sent me to fetch you, hearing +you had crossed the river. That is the story in brief." +</P> + +<P> +"That woman sent you to fetch me?" he repeated again. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," I answered angrily. "She did, M. de Pavannes." +</P> + +<P> +"Then," he said slowly, and with an air of solemn conviction which +could not but impress me, "there is a trap laid for me! She is the +worst, the most wicked, the vilest of women! If she sent you, this is +a trap! And my wife has fallen into it already! Heaven help her—and +me—if it be so!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE PARISIAN MATINS. +</H3> + +<P> +There are some statements for which it is impossible to be prepared; +statements so strong and so startling that it is impossible to answer +them except by action—by a blow. And this of M. de Pavannes was one +of these. If there had been any one present, I think I should have +given him the lie and drawn upon him. But alone with him at midnight +in the shadow near the bottom of the Rue des Fosses, with no witnesses, +with every reason to feel friendly towards him, what was I to do? +</P> + +<P> +As a fact, I did nothing. I stood, silent and stupefied, waiting to +hear more. He did not keep me long. +</P> + +<P> +"She is my wife's sister," he continued grimly. "But I have no reason +to shield her on that account! Shield her? Had you lived at court +only a month I might shield her all I could, M. de Caylus, it would +avail nothing. Not Madame de Sauves is better known. And I would not +if I could! I know well, though my wife will not believe it, that +there is nothing so near Madame d'O's heart as to get rid of her sister +and me—of both of us—that she may succeed to Madeleine's inheritance! +Oh, yes, I had good grounds for being nervous yesterday, when my wife +did not return," he added excitedly. +</P> + +<P> +"But there at least you wrong Madame d'O!" I cried, shocked and +horrified by an accusation, which seemed so much more dreadful in the +silence and gloom—and withal so much less preposterous than it might +have seemed in the daylight. "There you certainly wrong her! For +shame! M. de Pavannes." +</P> + +<P> +He came a step nearer, and laying a hand on my sleeve peered into my +face. "Did you see a priest with her?" he asked slowly. "A man +called the Coadjutor—a down-looking dog?" +</P> + +<P> +I said—with a shiver of dread, a sudden revulsion of feeling, born of +his manner—that I had. And I explained the part the priest had taken. +</P> + +<P> +"Then," Pavannes rejoined, "I am right There IS a trap laid for me. +The Abbess of the Ursulines! She abduct my wife? Why, she is her +dearest friend, believe me. It is impossible. She would be more +likely to save her from danger than to—umph! wait a minute." I did: +I waited, dreading what he might discover, until he muttered, checking +himself—"Can that be it? Can it be that the Abbess did know of some +danger threatening us, and would have put Madeleine in a safe retreat? +I wonder!" +</P> + +<P> +And I wondered; and then—well, thoughts are like gunpowder. The least +spark will fire a train. His words were few, but they formed spark +enough to raise such a flare in my brain as for a moment blinded me, +and shook me so that I trembled. The shock over, I was left face to +face with a possibility of wickedness such as I could never have +suspected of myself. I remembered Mirepoix's distress and the priest's +eagerness. I re-called the gruff warning Bezers—even Bezers, and +there was something very odd in Bezers giving a warning!—had given +Madame de Pavannes when he told her that she would be better where she +was. I thought of the wakefulness which I had marked in the streets, +the silent hurrying to and fro, the signs of coming strife, and +contrasted these with the quietude and seeming safety of Mirepoix's +house; and I hastily asked Pavannes at what time he had been arrested. +</P> + +<P> +"About an hour before midnight," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you know nothing of what is happening?" I replied quickly. "Why, +even while we are loitering here—but listen!" +</P> + +<P> +And with all speed, stammering indeed in my haste and anxiety, I told +him what I had noticed in the streets, and the hints I had heard, and I +showed him the badges with which Madame had furnished me. +</P> + +<P> +His manner when he had heard me out frightened me still more. He drew +me on in a kind of fury to a house in the windows of which some lighted +candles had appeared not a minute before. +</P> + +<P> +"The ring!" he cried, "let me see the ring! Whose is it?" +</P> + +<P> +He held up my hand to this chance light and we looked at the ring. It +was a heavy gold signet, with one curious characteristic: it had two +facets. On one of these was engraved the letter "H," and above it a +crown. On the other was an eagle with outstretched wings. +</P> + +<P> +Pavannes let my hand drop and leaned against the wall in sudden +despair. "It is the Duke of Guise's," he muttered. "It is the eagle +of Lorraine." +</P> + +<P> +"Ha!" said I softly, seeing light. The Duke was the idol then, as +later, of the Parisian populace, and I understood now why the citizen +soldiers had shown me such respect. They had taken me for the Duke's +envoy and confidant. +</P> + +<P> +But I saw no farther. Pavannes did, and murmured bitterly, "We may say +our prayers, we Huguenots. That is our death-warrant. To-morrow night +there will not be one left in Paris, lad. Guise has his father's death +to avenge, and these cursed Parisians will do his bidding like the +wolves they are! The Baron de Rosny warned us of this, word for word. +I would to Heaven we had taken his advice!" +</P> + +<P> +"Stay!" I cried—he was going too fast for me—"stay!" His monstrous +conception, though it marched some way with my own suspicions, outran +them far! I saw no sufficient grounds for it. "The King—the king +would not permit such a thing, M. de Pavannes," I argued. +</P> + +<P> +"Boy, you are blind!" he rejoined impatiently, for now he saw all and +I nothing. "Yonder was the Duke of Anjou's captain—Monsieur's +officer, the follower of France's brother, mark you! And HE—he obeyed +the Duke's ring! The Duke has a free hand to-night, and he hates us. +And the river. Why are we not to cross the river? The King indeed! +The King has undone us. He has sold us to his brother and the Guises. +VA CHASSER L'IDOLE" for the second time I heard the quaint phrase, +which I learned afterwards was an anagram of the King's name, Charles +de Valois, used by the Protestants as a password—"VA CHASSER L'IDOLE +has betrayed us! I remember the very words he used to the Admiral, +'Now we have got you here we shall not let you go so easily!' Oh, the +traitor! The wretched traitor!" +</P> + +<P> +He leaned against the wall overcome by the horror of the conviction +which had burst upon him, and unnerved by the imminence of the peril. +At all times he was an unready man, I fancy, more fit, courage apart, +for the college than the field; and now he gave way to despair. +Perhaps the thought of his wife unmanned him. Perhaps the excitement +through which he had already gone tended to stupefy him, or the +suddenness of the discovery. +</P> + +<P> +At any rate, I was the first to gather my wits together, and my +earliest impulse was to tear into two parts a white handkerchief I had +in my pouch, and fasten one to his sleeve, the other in his hat, in +rough imitation of the badges I wore myself. +</P> + +<P> +It will appear from this that I no longer trusted Madame d'O. I was +not convinced, it is true, of her conscious guilt, still I did not +trust her entirely. "Do not wear them on your return," she had said +and that was odd; although I could not yet believe that she was such a +siren as Father Pierre had warned us of, telling tales from old poets. +Yet I doubted, shuddering as I did so. Her companionship with that +vile priest, her strange eagerness to secure Pavannes' return, her +mysterious directions to me, her anxiety to take her sister home—home, +where she would be exposed to danger, as being in a known Huguenot's +house—these things pointed to but one conclusion; still that one was +so horrible that I would not, even while I doubted and distrusted her, +I would not, I could not accept it. I put it from me, and refused to +believe it, although during the rest of that night it kept coming back +to me and knocking for admission at my brain. +</P> + +<P> +All this flashed through my mind while I was fixing on Pavannes' +badges. Not that I lost time about it, for from the moment I grasped +the position as he conceived it, every minute we had wasted on +explanations seemed to me an hour. I reproached myself for having +forgotten even for an instant that which had brought us to town—the +rescue of Kit's lover. We had small chance now of reaching him in +time, misled as we had been by this miserable mistake in identity. If +my companion's fears were well founded, Louis would fall in the general +massacre of the Huguenots, probably before we could reach him. If +ill-founded, still we had small reason to hope. Bezers' vengeance +would not wait. I knew him too well to think it. A Guise might spare +his foe, but the Vidame—the Vidame never! We had warned Madame de +Pavannes it was true; but that abnormal exercise of benevolence could +only, I cynically thought, have the more exasperated the devil within +him, which now would be ravening like a dog disappointed of its +victuals. +</P> + +<P> +I glanced up at the line of sky visible between the tall houses, and +lo! the dawn was coming. It wanted scarcely half-an-hour of daylight, +though down in the dark streets about us the night still reigned. Yes, +the morning was coming, bright and hopeful, and the city was quiet. +There were no signs, no sounds of riot or disorder. Surely, I thought, +surely Pavannes must be mistaken. Either the plot had never existed, +that was most likely, or it had been abandoned, or perhaps—Crack! +</P> + +<P> +A pistol shot! Short, sharp, ominous it rang out on the instant, a +solitary sound in the night! It was somewhere near us, and I stopped. +I had been speaking to my companion at the moment. "Where was it?" I +cried, looking behind me. +</P> + +<P> +"Close to us. Near the Louvre," he answered, listening intently. "See! +See! Ah, heavens!" he continued in a voice of despair, "it was a +signal!" +</P> + +<P> +It was. One, two, three! Before I could count so far, lights sprang +into brightness in the windows of nine out of ten houses in the short +street where we stood, as if lighted by a single hand. Before too I +could count as many more, or ask him what this meant, before indeed, we +could speak or stir from the spot, or think what we should do, with a +hurried clang and clash, as if brought into motion by furious frenzied +hands, a great bell just above our heads began to boom and whirr! It +hurled its notes into space, it suddenly filled all the silence. It +dashed its harsh sounds down upon the trembling city, till the air +heaved, and the houses about us rocked. It made in an instant a +pandemonium of the quiet night. +</P> + +<P> +We turned and hurried instinctively from the place, crouching and +amazed, looking upwards with bent shoulders and scared faces. "What is +it? What is it?" I cried, half in resentment; half in terror. It +deafened me. +</P> + +<P> +"The bell of St. Germain l'Auxerrois!" he shouted in answer. "The +Church of the Louvre. It is as I said. We are doomed!" +</P> + +<P> +"Doomed? No!" I replied fiercely, for my courage seemed to rise again +on the wave of sound and excitement as if rebounding from the momentary +shock. "Never! We wear the devil's livery, and he will look after his +own. Draw, man, and let him that stops us look to himself. You know +the way. Lead on!" I cried savagely. +</P> + +<P> +He caught the infection and drew his sword. So we started boldly, and +the result justified my confidence. We looked, no doubt, as like +murderers as any who were abroad that night. Moving in this desperate +guise we hastened up that street and into another—still pursued by the +din and clangour of the bell—and then a short distance along a third. +We were not stopped or addressed by anyone, though numbers, increasing +each moment as door after door opened, and we drew nearer to the heart +of the commotion, were hurrying in the same direction, side by side +with us; and though in front, where now and again lights gleamed on a +mass of weapons, or on white eager faces, filling some alley from wall +to wall, we heard the roar of voices rising and falling like the murmur +of an angry sea. +</P> + +<P> +All was blur, hurry, confusion, tumult. Yet I remember, as we pressed +onwards with the stream and part of it, certain sharp outlines. I +caught here and there a glimpse of a pale scared face at a window, a +half-clad form at a door, of the big, wondering eyes of a child held up +to see us pass, of a Christ at a corner ruddy in the smoky glare of a +link, of a woman armed, and in man's clothes, who walked some distance +side by side with us, and led off a ribald song. I retain a memory of +these things: of brief bursts of light and long intervals of darkness, +and always, as we tramped forwards, my hand on Pavannes' sleeve, of an +ever-growing tumult in front—an ever-rising flood of noise. +</P> + +<P> +At last we came to a standstill where a side street ran out of ours. +Into this the hurrying throng tried to wheel, and, unable to do so, +halted, and pressed about the head of the street, which was already +full to overflowing; and so sought with hungry eyes for places whence +they might look down it. Pavannes and I struggled only to get through +the crowd—to get on; but the efforts of those behind partly aiding and +partly thwarting our own, presently forced us to a position whence we +could not avoid seeing what was afoot. +</P> + +<P> +The street—this side street was ablaze with light. From end to end +every gable, every hatchment was glowing, every window was flickering +in the glare of torches. It was paved too with faces—human faces, yet +scarcely human—all looking one way, all looking upward; and the noise, +as from time to time this immense crowd groaned or howled in unison, +like a wild beast in its fury, was so appalling, that I clutched +Pavannes' arm and clung to him in momentary terror. I do not wonder +now that I quailed, though sometimes I have heard that sound since. +For there is nothing in the world so dreadful as that brute beast we +call the CANAILLE, when the chain is off and its cowardly soul is +roused. +</P> + +<P> +Near our end of the street a group of horsemen rising island-like from +the sea of heads, sat motionless in their saddles about a gateway. +They were silent, taking no notice of the rioting fiends shouting at +their girths, but watching in grim quiet what was passing within the +gates. They were handsomely dressed, although some wore corslets over +their satin coats or lace above buff jerkins. I could even at that +distance see the jewels gleam in the bonnet of one who seemed to be +their leader. He was in the centre of the band, a very young man, +perhaps twenty or twenty-one, of most splendid presence, sitting his +horse superbly. He wore a grey riding-coat, and was a head taller than +any of his companions. There was pride in the very air with which his +horse bore him. +</P> + +<P> +I did not need to ask Pavannes who he was. I KNEW that he was the Duke +of Guise, and that the house before which he stood was Coligny's. I +knew what was being done there. And in the same moment I sickened with +horror and rage. I had a vision of grey hairs and blood and fury +scarcely human, And I rebelled. I battled with the rabble about me. I +forced my way through them tooth and nail after Pavannes, intent only +on escaping, only on getting away from there. And so we neither halted +nor looked back until we were clear of the crowd and had left the blaze +of light and the work doing by it some way behind us. +</P> + +<P> +We found ourselves then in the mouth of an obscure alley which my +companion whispered would bring us to his house; and here we paused to +take breath and look back. The sky was red behind us, the air full of +the clash and din of the tocsin, and the flood of sounds which poured +from every tower and steeple. From the eastward came the rattle of +drums and random shots, and shrieks of "A BAS COLIGNY!" "A BAS LES +HUGUENOTS!" Meanwhile the city was rising as one man, pale at this +dread awakening. From every window men and women, frightened by the +uproar, were craning their necks, asking or answering questions or +hurriedly calling for and kindling tapers. But as yet the general +populace seemed to be taking no active part in the disorder. +</P> + +<P> +Pavannes raised his hat an instant as we stood in the shadow of the +houses. "The noblest man in France is dead," he said, softly and +reverently. "God rest his soul! They have had their way with him and +killed him like a dog. He was an old man and they did not spare him! +A noble, and they have called in the CANAILLE to tear him. But be +sure, my friend"—and as the speaker's tone changed and grew full and +proud, his form seemed to swell with it—"be sure the cruel shall not +live out half their days! No. He that takes the knife shall perish by +the knife! And go to his own place! I shall not see it, but you will!" +</P> + +<P> +His words made no great impression on me then. My hardihood was +returning. I was throbbing with fierce excitement, and tingling for +the fight. But years afterwards, when the two who stood highest in the +group about Coligny's threshold died, the one at thirty-eight, the +other at thirty-five—when Henry of Guise and Henry of Valois died +within six months of one another by the assassin's knife—I remembered +Pavannes' augury. And remembering it, I read the ways of Providence, +and saw that the very audacity of which Guise took advantage to entrap +Coligny led him too in his turn to trip smiling and bowing, a comfit +box in his hand and the kisses of his mistress damp on his lips, into a +king's closet—a king's closet at Blois! Led him to lift the +curtain—ah! to lift the curtain, what Frenchman does not know the +tale?—behind which stood the Admiral! +</P> + +<P> +To return to our own fortunes; after a hurried glance we resumed our +way, and sped through the alley, holding a brief consultation as we +went. Pavannes' first hasty instinct to seek shelter at home began to +lose its force, and he to consider whether his return would not +endanger his wife. The mob might be expected to spare her, he argued. +Her death would not benefit any private foes if he escaped. He was for +keeping away therefore. But I would not agree to this. The priest's +crew of desperadoes—assuming Pavannes' suspicions to be correct—would +wait some time, no doubt, to give the master of the house a chance to +return, but would certainly attack sooner or later out of greed, if +from no other motive. Then the lady's fate would at the best be +uncertain. I was anxious myself to rejoin my brothers, and take all +future chances, whether of saving our Louis, or escaping ourselves, +with them. United we should be four good swords, and might at least +protect Madame de Pavannes to a place of safety, if no opportunity of +succouring Louis should present itself. We had too the Duke's ring, +and this might be of service at a pinch. "No," I urged, "let us get +together. We two will slip in at the front gate, and bolt and bar it, +and then we will all escape in a body at the back, while they are +forcing the gateway." +</P> + +<P> +"There is no door at the back," he answered, shaking his head. +</P> + +<P> +"There are windows?" +</P> + +<P> +"They are too strongly barred. We could not break out in the time," he +explained, with a groan. +</P> + +<P> +I paused at that, crestfallen. But danger quickened my wits. In a +moment I had another plan, not so hopeful and more dangerous, yet worth +trying I thought, I told him of it, and he agreed to it. As he nodded +assent we emerged into a street, and I saw—for the grey light of +morning was beginning to penetrate between the houses—that we were +only a few yards from the gateway, and the small door by which I had +seen my brothers enter. Were they still in the house? Were they safe? +I had been away an hour at least. +</P> + +<P> +Anxious as I was about them, I looked round me very keenly as we +flitted across the road, and knocked gently at the door. I thought it +so likely that we should be fallen upon here, that I stood on my guard +while we waited. But we were not molested. The street, being at some +distance from the centre of the commotion, was still and empty, with no +signs of life apparent except the rows of heads poked through the +windows—all possessing eyes which watched us heedfully and in perfect +silence. Yes, the street was quite empty: except, ah! except, for +that lurking figure, which, even as I espied it, shot round a distant +angle of the wall, and was lost to sight. +</P> + +<P> +"There!" I cried, reckless now who might hear me, "knock! knock +louder! never mind the noise. The alarm is given. A score of people +are watching us, and yonder spy has gone off to summon his friends." +</P> + +<P> +The truth was my anger was rising. I could bear no longer the silent +regards of all those eyes at the windows. I writhed under them—cruel, +pitiless eyes they were. I read in them a morbid curiosity, a patient +anticipation that drove me wild. Those men and women gazing on us so +stonily knew my companion's rank and faith. They had watched him +riding in and out daily, one of the sights of their street, gay and +gallant; and now with the same eyes they were watching greedily for the +butchers to come. The very children took a fresh interest in him, as +one doomed and dying; and waited panting for the show to begin. So I +read them. +</P> + +<P> +"Knock!" I repeated angrily, losing all patience. Had I been foolish +in bringing him back to this part of the town where every soul knew +him? "Knock; we must get in, whether or no. They cannot all have left +the house!" +</P> + +<P> +I kicked the door desperately, and my relief was great when it opened. +A servant with a pale face stood before me, his knees visibly shaking. +And behind him was Croisette. +</P> + +<P> +I think we fell straightway into one another's arms. +</P> + +<P> +"And Marie," I cried, "Marie?" +</P> + +<P> +"Marie is within, and madame," he answered joyfully; "we are together +again and nothing matters, But oh, Anne, where have you been? And what +is the matter? Is it a great fire? Or is the king dead? Or what is +it?" +</P> + +<P> +I told him. I hastily poured out some of the things which had happened +to me, and some which I feared were in store for others. Naturally he +was surprised and shocked by the latter, though his fears had already +been aroused. But his joy and relief, when he heard the mystery of +Louis de Pavannes' marriage explained, were so great that they +swallowed up all other feelings. He could not say enough about it. He +pictured Louis again and again as Kit's lover, as our old friend, our +companion; as true, staunch, brave without fear, without reproach: and +it was long before his eyes ceased to sparkle, his tongue to run +merrily, the colour to mantle in his cheeks—long that is as time is +counted by minutes. But presently the remembrance of Louis' danger and +our own position returned more vividly. Our plan for rescuing him had +failed—failed! +</P> + +<P> +"No! no!" cried Croisette, stoutly. He would not hear of it. He +would not have it at any price. "No, we will not give up hope! We +will go shoulder to shoulder and find him. Louis is as brave as a lion +and as quick as a weasel. We will find him in time yet. We will go +when—I mean as soon as—" +</P> + +<P> +He faltered, and paused. His sudden silence as he looked round the +empty forecourt in which we stood was eloquent. The cold light, faint +and uncertain yet, was stealing into the court, disclosing a row of +stables on either side, and a tiny porter's hutch by the gates, and +fronting us a noble house of four storys, tall, grey, grim-looking. +</P> + +<P> +I assented; gloomily however. "Yes," I said, "we will go when—" +</P> + +<P> +And I too stopped. The same thought was in my mind. How could we +leave these people? How could we leave madame in her danger and +distress? How could we return her kindness by desertion? We could +not. No, not for Kit's sake. Because after all Louis, our Louis, was +a man, and must take his chance. He must take his chance. But I +groaned. +</P> + +<P> +So that was settled. I had already explained our plan to Croisette: +and now as we waited he began to tell me a story, a long, confused +story about Madame d'O. I thought he was talking for the sake of +talking—to keep up our spirits—and I did not attend much to him; so +that he had not reached the gist of it, or at least I had not grasped +it, when a noise without stayed his tongue. It was the tramp of +footsteps, apparently of a large party in the street. It forced him to +break off, and promptly drove us all to our posts. +</P> + +<P> +But before we separated a slight figure, hardly noticeable in that dim, +uncertain light, passed me quickly, laying for an instant a soft hand +in mine as I stood waiting by the gates. I have said I scarcely saw +the figure, though I did see the kind timid eyes, and the pale cheeks +under the hood; but I bent over the hand and kissed it, and felt, truth +to tell, no more regret nor doubt where our duty lay. But stood, +waiting patiently. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE HEAD OF ERASMUS. +</H3> + +<P> +Waiting, and waiting alone! The gates were almost down now. The gang +of ruffians without, reinforced each moment by volunteers eager for +plunder, rained blows unceasingly on hinge and socket; and still hotter +and faster through a dozen rifts in the timbers came the fire of their +threats and curses. Many grew tired, but others replaced them. Tools +broke, but they brought more and worked with savage energy. They had +shown at first a measure of prudence; looking to be fired on, and to be +resisted by men, surprised, indeed, but desperate; and the bolder of +them only had advanced. But now they pressed round unchecked, meeting +no resistance. They would scarcely stand back to let the sledges have +swing; but hallooed and ran in on the creaking beams and beat them with +their fists, whenever the gates swayed under a blow. +</P> + +<P> +One stout iron bar still held its place. And this I watched as if +fascinated. I was alone in the empty courtyard, standing a little +aside, sheltered by one of the stone pillars from which the gates hung. +Behind me the door of the house stood ajar. Candles, which the daylight +rendered garish, still burned in the rooms on the first floor, of which +the tall narrow windows were open. On the wide stone sill of one of +these stood Croisette, a boyish figure, looking silently down at me, +his hand on the latticed shutter. He looked pale, and I nodded and +smiled at him. I felt rather anger than fear myself; remembering, as +the fiendish cries half-deafened me, old tales of the Jacquerie and its +doings, and how we had trodden it out. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly the din and tumult flashed to a louder note; as when hounds on +the scent give tongue at sight. I turned quickly from the house, +recalled to a sense of the position and peril. The iron bar was +yielding to the pressure. Slowly the left wing of the gate was sinking +inwards. Through the widening chasm I caught a glimpse of wild, grimy +faces and bloodshot eyes, and heard above the noise a sharp cry from +Croisette—a cry of terror. Then I turned and ran, with a defiant +gesture and an answering yell, right across the forecourt and up the +steps to the door. +</P> + +<P> +I ran the faster for the sharp report of a pistol behind me, and the +whirr of a ball past my ear. But I was not scared by it: and as my +feet alighted with a bound on the topmost step, I glanced back. The +dogs were halfway across the court. I made a bungling attempt to shut +and lock the great door—failed in this; and heard behind me a roar of +coarse triumph. I waited for no more. I darted up the oak staircase +four steps at a time, and rushed into the great drawing-room on my +left, banging the door behind me. +</P> + +<P> +The once splendid room was in a state of strange disorder. Some of the +rich tapestry had been hastily torn down. One window was closed and +shuttered; no doubt Croisette had done it. The other two were open—as +if there had not been time to close them—and the cold light which they +admitted contrasted in ghastly fashion with the yellow rays of candles +still burning in the sconces. The furniture had been huddled aside or +piled into a barricade, a CHEVAUX DE FRISE of chairs and tables +stretching across the width of the room, its interstices stuffed with, +and its weakness partly screened by, the torn-down hangings. Behind +this frail defence their backs to a door which seemed to lead to an +inner room, stood Marie and Croisette, pale and defiant. The former +had a long pike; the latter levelled a heavy, bell-mouthed arquebuse +across the back of a chair, and blew up his match as I entered. Both +had in addition procured swords. I darted like a rabbit through a +little tunnel left on purpose for me in the rampart, and took my stand +by them. +</P> + +<P> +"Is all right?" ejaculated Croisette turning to me nervously. +</P> + +<P> +"All right, I think," I answered. I was breathless. +</P> + +<P> +"You are not hurt?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not touched!" +</P> + +<P> +I had just time then to draw my sword before the assailants streamed +into the room, a dozen ruffians, reeking and tattered, with flushed +faces and greedy, staring eyes. Once inside, however, suddenly—so +suddenly that an idle spectator might have found the change +ludicrous—they came to a stop. Their wild cries ceased, and tumbling +over one another with curses and oaths they halted, surveying us in +muddled surprise; seeing what was before them, and not liking it. +Their leader appeared to be a tall butcher with a pole-axe on his +half-naked shoulder; but there were among them two or three soldiers in +the royal livery and carrying pikes. They had looked for victims only, +having met with no resistance at the gate, and the foremost recoiled +now on finding themselves confronted by the muzzle of the arquebuse and +the lighted match. +</P> + +<P> +I seized the occasion. I knew, indeed, that the pause presented our +only chance, and I sprang on a chair and waved my hand for silence. +The instinct of obedience for the moment asserted itself; there was a +stillness in the room. +</P> + +<P> +"Beware!" I cried loudly—as loudly and confidently as I could, +considering that there was a quaver at my heart as I looked on those +savage faces, which met and yet avoided my eye. "Beware of what you +do! We are Catholics one and all like yourselves, and good sons of the +Church. Ay, and good subjects too! VIVE LE ROI, gentlemen! God save +the King! I say." And I struck the barricade with my sword until the +metal rang again. "God save the King!" +</P> + +<P> +"Cry VIVE LA MESSE!" shouted one. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly, gentlemen!" I replied, with politeness. "With all my +heart. VIVE LA MESSE! VIVE LA MESSE!" +</P> + +<P> +This took the butcher, who luckily was still sober, utterly aback. He +had never thought of this. He stared at us as if the ox he had been +about to fell had opened its mouth and spoken, and grievously at a +loss, he looked for help to his companions. +</P> + +<P> +Later in the day, some Catholics were killed by the mob. But their +deaths as far as could be learned afterwards were due to private feuds. +Save in such cases—and they were few—the cry of VIVE LA MESSE! +always obtained at least a respite: more easily of course in the +earlier hours of the morning when the mob were scarce at ease in their +liberty to kill, while killing still seemed murder, and men were not +yet drunk with bloodshed. +</P> + +<P> +I read the hesitation of the gang in their faces: and when one asked +roughly who we were, I replied with greater boldness, "I am M. Anne de +Caylus, nephew to the Vicomte de Caylus, Governor, under the King, of +Bayonne and the Landes!" This I said with what majesty I could. "And +these" I continued—"are my brothers. You will harm us at your peril, +gentlemen. The Vicomte, believe me, will avenge every hair of our +heads." +</P> + +<P> +I can shut my eyes now and see the stupid wonder, the baulked ferocity +of those gaping faces. Dull and savage as the men were they were +impressed; they saw reason indeed, and all seemed going well for us +when some one in the rear shouted, "Cursed whelps! Throw them over!" +</P> + +<P> +I looked swiftly in the direction whence the voice came—the darkest +corner of the room the corner by the shuttered window. I thought I +made out a slender figure, cloaked and masked—a woman's it might be +but I could not be certain and beside it a couple of sturdy fellows, +who kept apart from the herd and well behind their fugleman. +</P> + +<P> +The speaker's courage arose no doubt from his position at the back of +the room, for the foremost of the assailants seemed less determined. +We were only three, and we must have gone down, barricade and all, +before a rush. But three are three. And an arquebuse—Croisette's +match burned splendidly—well loaded with slugs is an ugly weapon at +five paces, and makes nasty wounds, besides scattering its charge +famously. This, a good many of them and the leaders in particular, +seemed to recognise. We might certainly take two or three lives: and +life is valuable to its owner when plunder is afoot. Besides most of +them had common sense enough to remember that there were scores of +Huguenots—genuine heretics—to be robbed for the killing, so why go +out of the way, they reasoned, to cut a Catholic throat, and perhaps +get into trouble. Why risk Montfaucon for a whim? and offend a man of +influence like the Vicomte de Caylus, for nothing! +</P> + +<P> +Unfortunately at this crisis their original design was recalled to +their minds by the same voice behind, crying out, "Pavannes! Where is +Pavannes?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay!" shouted the butcher, grasping the idea, and at the same time +spitting on his hands and taking a fresh grip of the axe, "Show us the +heretic dog, and go! Let us at him." +</P> + +<P> +"M. de Pavannes," I said coolly—but I could not take my eyes off the +shining blade of that man's axe, it was so very broad and sharp—"is +not here!" +</P> + +<P> +"That is a lie! He is in that room behind you!" the prudent gentleman +in the background called out. "Give him up!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, give him up!" echoed the man of the pole-axe almost good +humouredly, "or it will be the worse for you. Let us have at him and +get you gone!" +</P> + +<P> +This with an air of much reason, while a growl as of a chained beast +ran through the crowd, mingled with cries of "A MORT LES HUGUENOTS! +VIVE LORRAINE!"—cries which seemed to show that all did not approve of +the indulgence offered us. +</P> + +<P> +"Beware, gentlemen, beware," I urged, "I swear he is not here! I swear +it, do you hear?" +</P> + +<P> +A howl of impatience and then a sudden movement of the crowd as though +the rush were coming warned me to temporize no longer. "Stay! Stay!" +I added hastily. "One minute! Hear me! You are too many for us. +Will you swear to let us go safe and untouched, if we give you passage?" +</P> + +<P> +A dozen voices shrieked assent. But I looked at the butcher only. He +seemed to be an honest man, out of his profession. +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, I swear it!" he cried with a nod. +</P> + +<P> +"By the Mass?" +</P> + +<P> +"By the Mass." +</P> + +<P> +I twitched Croisette's sleeve, and he tore the fuse from his weapon, +and flung the gun—too heavy to be of use to us longer—to the ground. +It was done in a moment. While the mob swept over the barricade, and +smashed the rich furniture of it in wanton malice, we filed aside, and +nimbly slipped under it one by one. Then we hurried in single file to +the end of the room, no one taking much notice of us. All were +pressing on, intent on their prey. We gained the door as the butcher +struck his first blow on that which we had guarded—on that which we +had given up. We sprang down the stairs with bounding hearts, heard as +we reached the outer door the roar of many voices, but stayed not to +look behind—paused indeed for nothing. Fear, to speak candidly, lent +us wings. In three seconds we had leapt the prostrate gates, and were +in the street. A cripple, two or three dogs, a knot of women looking +timidly yet curiously in, a horse tethered to the staple—we saw +nothing else. No one stayed us. No one raised a hand, and in another +minute we had turned a corner, and were out of sight of the house. +</P> + +<P> +"They will take a gentleman's word another time," I said with a quiet +smile as I put up my sword. +</P> + +<P> +"I would like to see her face at this moment," Croisette replied. "You +saw Madame d'O?" +</P> + +<P> +I shook my head, not answering. I was not sure, and I had a queer, +sickening dread of the subject. If I had seen her, I had seen oh! it +was too horrible, too unnatural! Her own sister! Her own brother +in-law! +</P> + +<P> +I hastened to change the subject. "The Pavannes," I made shift to say, +"must have had five minutes' start." +</P> + +<P> +"More," Croisette answered, "if Madame and he got away at once. If all +has gone well with them, and they have not been stopped in the streets +they should be at Mirepoix's by now. They seemed to be pretty sure +that he would take them in." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" I sighed. "What fools we were to bring madame from that place! +If we had not meddled with her affairs we might have reached Louis long +ago our Louis, I mean." +</P> + +<P> +"True," Croisette answered softly, "but remember that then we should +not have saved the other Louis as I trust we have. He would still be +in Pallavicini's hands. Come, Anne, let us think it is all for the +best," he added, his face shining with a steady courage that shamed me. +"To the rescue! Heaven will help us to be in time yet!" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, to the rescue!" I replied, catching his spirit. "First to the +right, I think, second to the left, first on the right again. That was +the direction given us, was it not? The house opposite a book-shop +with the sign of the Head of Erasmus. Forward, boys! We may do it yet." +</P> + +<P> +But before I pursue our fortunes farther let me explain. The room we +had guarded so jealously was empty! The plan had been mine and I was +proud of it. For once Croisette had fallen into his rightful place. +My flight from the gate, the vain attempt to close the house, the +barricade before the inner door—these were all designed to draw the +assailants to one spot. Pavannes and his wife—the latter hastily +disguised as a boy—had hidden behind the door of the hutch by the +gates—the porter's hutch, and had slipped out and fled in the first +confusion of the attack. +</P> + +<P> +Even the servants, as we learned afterwards, who had hidden themselves +in the lower parts of the house got away in the same manner, though +some of them—they were but few in all were stopped as Huguenots and +killed before the day ended. I had the more reason to hope that +Pavannes and his wife would get clear off, inasmuch as I had given the +Duke's ring to him, thinking it might serve him in a strait, and +believing that we should have little to fear ourselves once clear of +his house; unless we should meet the Vidame indeed. +</P> + +<P> +We did not meet him as it turned out; but before we had traversed a +quarter of the distance we had to go we found that fears based on +reason were not the only terrors we had to resist. Pavannes' house, +where we had hitherto been, stood at some distance from the centre of +the blood-storm which was enwrapping unhappy Paris that morning. It +was several hundred paces from the Rue de Bethisy where the Admiral +lived, and what with this comparative remoteness and the excitement of +our own little drama, we had not attended much to the fury of the +bells, the shots and cries and uproar which proclaimed the state of the +city. We had not pictured the scenes which were happening so near. +Now in the streets the truth broke upon us, and drove the blood from +our cheeks. A hundred yards, the turning of a corner, sufficed. We +who but yesterday left the country, who only a week before were boys, +careless as other boys, not recking of death at all, were plunged now +into the midst of horrors I cannot describe. And the awful contrast +between the sky above and the things about us! Even now the lark was +singing not far from us; the sunshine was striking the topmost storeys +of the houses; the fleecy clouds were passing overhead, the freshness +of a summer morning was— +</P> + +<P> +Ah! where was it? Not here in the narrow lanes surely, that echoed and +re-echoed with shrieks and curses and frantic prayers: in which bands +of furious men rushed up and down, and where archers of the guard and +the more cruel rabble were breaking in doors and windows, and hurrying +with bloody weapons from house to house, seeking, pursuing, and at last +killing in some horrid corner, some place of darkness—killing with +blow on blow dealt on writhing bodies! Not here, surely, where each +minute a child, a woman died silently, a man snarling like a +wolf—happy if he had snatched his weapon and got his back to the wall: +where foul corpses dammed the very blood that ran down the kennel, and +children—little children—played with them! +</P> + +<P> +I was at Cahors in 1580 in the great street fight; and there women were +killed, I was with Chatillon nine years later, when he rode through the +Faubourgs of Paris, with this very day and his father Coligny in his +mind, and gave no quarter. I was at Courtas and Ivry, and more than +once have seen prisoners led out to be piked in batches—ay, and by +hundreds! But war is war, and these were its victims, dying for the +most part under God's heaven with arms in their hands: not men and +women fresh roused from their sleep. I felt on those occasions no such +horror, I have never felt such burning pity and indignation as on the +morning I am describing, that long-past summer morning when I first saw +the sun shining on the streets of Paris. Croisette clung to me, sick +and white, shutting his eyes and ears, and letting me guide him as I +would. Marie strode along on the other side of him, his lips closed, +his eyes sinister. Once a soldier of the guard whose blood-stained +hands betrayed the work he had done, came reeling—he was drunk, as +were many of the butchers—across our path, and I gave way a little. +Marie did not, but walked stolidly on as if he did not see him, as if +the way were clear, and there were no ugly thing in God's image +blocking it. +</P> + +<P> +Only his hand went as if by accident to the haft of his dagger. The +archer—fortunately for himself and for us too—reeled clear of us. We +escaped that danger. But to see women killed and pass by—it was +horrible! So horrible that if in those moments I had had the +wishing-cap, I would have asked but for five thousand riders, and leave +to charge with them through the streets of Paris! I would have had the +days of the Jacquerie back again, and my men-at-arms behind me! +</P> + +<P> +For ourselves, though the orgy was at its height when we passed, we +were not molested. We were stopped indeed three times—once in each of +the streets we traversed—by different bands of murderers. But as we +wore the same badges as themselves, and cried "VIVE LA MESSE!" and +gave our names, we were allowed to proceed. I can give no idea of the +confusion and uproar, and I scarcely believe myself now that we saw +some of the things we witnessed. Once a man gaily dressed, and +splendidly mounted, dashed past us, waving his naked sword and crying +in a frenzied way "Bleed them! Bleed them! Bleed in May, as good +to-day!" and never ceased crying out the same words until he passed +beyond our hearing. Once we came upon the bodies of a father and two +sons, which lay piled together in the kennel; partly stripped already. +The youngest boy could not have been more than thirteen, I mention this +group, not as surpassing others in pathos, but because it is well known +now that this boy, Jacques Nompar de Caumont, was not dead, but lives +to-day, my friend the Marshal de la Force. +</P> + +<P> +This reminds me too of the single act of kindness we were able to +perform. We found ourselves suddenly, on turning a corner, amid a gang +of seven or eight soldiers, who had stopped and surrounded a handsome +boy, apparently about fourteen. He wore a scholar's gown, and had some +books under his arm, to which he clung firmly—though only perhaps by +instinct—notwithstanding the furious air of the men who were +threatening him with death. They were loudly demanding his name, as we +paused opposite them. He either could not or would not give it, but +said several times in his fright that he was going to the College of +Burgundy. Was he a Catholic? they cried. He was silent. With an +oath the man who had hold of his collar lifted up his pike, and +naturally the lad raised the books to guard his face. A cry broke from +Croisette. We rushed forward to stay the blow. +</P> + +<P> +"See! see!" he exclaimed loudly, his voice arresting the man's arm in +the very act of falling. "He has a Mass Book! He has a Mass Book! He +is not a heretic! He is a Catholic!" +</P> + +<P> +The fellow lowered his weapon, and sullenly snatched the books. He +looked at them stupidly with bloodshot wandering eyes, the red cross on +the vellum bindings, the only thing he understood. But it was enough +for him; he bid the boy begone, and released him with a cuff and an +oath. +</P> + +<P> +Croisette was not satisfied with this, though I did not understand his +reason; only I saw him exchange a glance with the lad. "Come, come!" +he said lightly. "Give him his books! You do not want them!" +</P> + +<P> +But on that the men turned savagely upon us. They did not thank us for +the part we had already taken; and this they thought was going too far. +They were half drunk and quarrelsome, and being two to one, and two +over, began to flourish their weapons in our faces. Mischief would +certainly have been done, and very quickly, had not an unexpected ally +appeared on our side. +</P> + +<P> +"Put up! put up!" this gentleman cried in a boisterous voice—he was +already in our midst. "What is all this about? What is the use of +fighting amongst ourselves, when there is many a bonny throat to cut, +and heaven to be gained by it! put up, I say!" +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you?" they roared in chorus. +</P> + +<P> +"The Duke of Guise!" he answered coolly. "Let the gentlemen go, and +be hanged to you, you rascals!" +</P> + +<P> +The man's bearing was a stronger argument than his words, for I am sure +that a stouter or more reckless blade never swaggered in church or +street. I knew him instantly, and even the crew of butchers seemed to +see in him their master. They hung back a few curses at him, but +having nothing to gain they yielded. They threw down the books with +contempt—showing thereby their sense of true religion; and trooped off +roaring, "TUES! TUES! Aux Huguenots!" at the top of their voices. +</P> + +<P> +The newcomer thus left with us was Bure—Blaise Bure—the same who only +yesterday, though it seemed months and months back, had lured us into +Bezers' power. Since that moment we had not seen him. Now he had +wiped off part of the debt, and we looked at him, uncertain whether to +reproach him or no. He, however, was not one whit abashed, but +returned our regards with a not unkindly leer. +</P> + +<P> +"I bear no malice, young gentlemen," he said impudently. +</P> + +<P> +"No, I should think not," I answered. +</P> + +<P> +"And besides, we are quits now," the knave continued. +</P> + +<P> +"You are very kind," I said. +</P> + +<P> +"To be sure. You did me a good turn once," he answered, much to my +surprise. He seemed to be in earnest now. "You do not remember it, +young gentleman, but it was you and your brother here"—he pointed to +Croisette—"did it! And by the Pope and the King of Spain I have not +forgotten it!" +</P> + +<P> +"I have," I said. +</P> + +<P> +"What! You have forgotten spitting that fellow at Caylus ten days ago? +CA! SA! You remember. And very cleanly done, too! A pretty stroke! +Well, M. Anne, that was a clever fellow, a very clever fellow. He +thought so and I thought so, and what was more to the purpose the most +noble Raoul de Bezers thought so too. You understand!" +</P> + +<P> +He leered at me and I did understand. I understood that unwittingly I +had rid Blaise Bure of a rival. This accounted for the respectful, +almost the kindly way in which he had—well, deceived us. +</P> + +<P> +"That is all," he said. "If you want as much done for you, let me +know. For the present, gentlemen, farewell!" +</P> + +<P> +He cocked his hat fiercely, and went off at speed the way we had +ourselves been going; humming as he went, +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Ce petit homme tant joli,<BR> + Qui toujours cause et toujours rit,<BR> + Qui toujours baise sa mignonne<BR> + Dieu gard' de mal ce petit homme!"<BR> +</P> + +<P> +His reckless song came back to us on the summer breeze. We watched him +make a playful pass at a corpse which some one had propped in ghastly +fashion against a door—and miss it—and go on whistling the same +air—and then a corner hid him from view. +</P> + +<P> +We lingered only a moment ourselves; merely to speak to the boy we had +befriended. +</P> + +<P> +"Show the books if anyone challenges you," said Croisette to him +shrewdly. Croisette was so much of a boy himself, with his fair hair +like a halo about his white, excited face, that the picture of the two, +one advising the other, seemed to me a strangely pretty one. "Show the +books and point to the cross on them. And Heaven send you safe to your +college." +</P> + +<P> +"I would like to know your name, if you please," said the boy. His +coolness and dignity struck me as admirable under the circumstances. +"I am Maximilian de Bethune, son of the Baron de Rosny." +</P> + +<P> +"Then," said Croisette briskly, "one good turn has deserved another. +Your father, yesterday, at Etampes—no it was the day before, but we +have not been in bed—warned us—" +</P> + +<P> +He broke off suddenly; then cried, "Run! run!" +</P> + +<P> +The boy needed no second warning indeed. He was off like the wind down +the street, for we had seen and so had he, the stealthy approach of two +or three prowling rascals on the look out for a victim. They caught +sight of him and were strongly inclined to follow him; but we were +their match in numbers. The street was otherwise empty at the moment: +and we showed them three excellent reasons why they should give him a +clear start. +</P> + +<P> +His after adventures are well-known: for he, too, lives. He was +stopped twice after he left us. In each case he escaped by showing his +book of offices. On reaching the college the porter refused to admit +him, and he remained for some time in the open street exposed to +constant danger of losing his life, and knowing not what to do. At +length he induced the gatekeeper, by the present of some small pieces +of money, to call the principal of the college, and this man humanely +concealed him for three days. The massacre being then at an end, two +armed men in his father's pay sought him out and restored him to his +friends. So near was France to losing her greatest minister, the Duke +de Sully. +</P> + +<P> +To return to ourselves. The lad out of sight, we instantly resumed our +purpose, and trying to shut our eyes and ears to the cruelty, and +ribaldry, and uproar through which we had still to pass, we counted our +turnings with a desperate exactness, intent only on one thing—to reach +Louis de Pavannes, to reach the house opposite to the Head of Erasmus, +as quickly as we could. We presently entered a long, narrow street. +At the end of it the river was visible gleaming and sparkling in the +sunlight. The street was quiet; quiet and empty. There was no living +soul to be seen from end to end of it, only a prowling dog. The noise +of the tumult raging in other parts was softened here by distance and +the intervening houses. We seemed to be able to breathe more freely. +</P> + +<P> +"This should be our street," said Croisette. +</P> + +<P> +I nodded. At the same moment I espied, half-way down it, the sign we +needed and pointed to it, But ah! were we in time? Or too late? That +was the question. By a single impulse we broke into a run, and shot +down the roadway at speed. A few yards short of the Head of Erasmus we +came, one by one, Croisette first, to a full stop. A full stop! +</P> + +<P> +The house opposite the bookseller's was sacked! gutted from top to +bottom. It was a tall house, immediately fronting the street, and +every window in it was broken. The door hung forlornly on one hinge, +glaring cracks in its surface showing where the axe had splintered it. +Fragments of glass and ware, hung out and shattered in sheer +wantonness, strewed the steps: and down one corner of the latter a +dark red stream trickled—to curdle by and by in the gutter. Whence +came the stream? Alas! there was something more to be seen yet, +something our eyes instinctively sought last of all. The body of a man. +</P> + +<P> +It lay on the threshold, the head hanging back, the wide glazed eyes +looking up to the summer sky whence the sweltering heat would soon pour +down upon it. We looked shuddering at the face. It was that of a +servant, a valet who had been with Louis at Caylus. We recognised him +at once for we had known and liked him. He had carried our guns on the +hills a dozen times, and told us stories of the war. The blood crawled +slowly from him. He was dead. +</P> + +<P> +Croisette began to shake all over. He clutched one of the pillars, +which bore up the porch, and pressed his face against its cold surface, +hiding his eyes from the sight. The worst had come. In our hearts I +think we had always fancied some accident would save our friend, some +stranger warn him. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, poor, poor Kit!" Croisette cried, bursting suddenly into violent +sobs. "Oh, Kit! Kit!" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HAU, HAU, HUGUENOTS! +</H3> + +<P> +His late Majesty, Henry the Fourth, I remember—than whom no braver man +wore sword, who loved danger indeed for its own sake, and courted it as +a mistress—could never sleep on the night before an action. I have +heard him say himself that it was so before the fight at Arques. +Croisette partook of this nature too, being high-strung and apt to be +easily over-wrought, but never until the necessity for exertion had +passed away: while Marie and I, though not a whit stouter at a pinch, +were slower to feel and less easy to move—more Germanic in fact. +</P> + +<P> +I name this here partly lest it should be thought after what I have +just told of Croisette that there was anything of the woman about +him—save the tenderness; and partly to show that we acted at this +crisis each after his manner. While Croisette turned pale and +trembled, and hid his eyes, I stood dazed, looking from the desolate +house to the face stiffening in the sunshine, and back again; +wondering, though I had seen scores of dead faces since daybreak, and a +plenitude of suffering in all dreadful shapes, how Providence could let +this happen to us. To us! In his instincts man is as selfish as any +animal that lives. +</P> + +<P> +I saw nothing indeed of the dead face and dead house after the first +convincing glance. I saw instead with hot, hot eyes the old castle at +home, the green fields about the brook, and the grey hills rising from +them; and the terrace, and Kit coming to meet us, Kit with white face +and parted lips and avid eyes that questioned us! And we with no +comfort to give her, no lover to bring back to her! +</P> + +<P> +A faint noise behind as of a sign creaking in the wind, roused me from +this most painful reverie. I turned round, not quickly or in surprise +or fear. Rather in the same dull wonder. The upper part of the +bookseller's door was ajar. It was that I had heard opened. An old +woman was peering out at us. +</P> + +<P> +As our eyes met, she made a slight movement to close the door again. +But I did not stir, and seeming to be reassured by a second glance, she +nodded to me in a stealthy fashion. I drew a step nearer, listlessly. +"Pst! Pst!" she whispered. Her wrinkled old face, which was like a +Normandy apple long kept, was soft with pity as she looked at +Croisette. "Pst!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well!" I said, mechanically. +</P> + +<P> +"Is he taken?" she muttered. +</P> + +<P> +"Who taken?" I asked stupidly. +</P> + +<P> +She nodded towards the forsaken house, and answered, "The young lord +who lodged there? Ah! sirs," she continued, "he looked gay and +handsome, if you'll believe me, as he came from the king's court yester +even! As bonny a sight in his satin coat, and his ribbons, as my eyes +ever saw! And to think that they should be hunting him like a rat +to-day!" +</P> + +<P> +The woman's words were few and simple. But what a change they made in +my world! How my heart awoke from its stupor, and leapt up with a new +joy and a new-born hope! "Did he get away?" I cried eagerly. "Did he +escape, mother, then?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ay, that he did!" she replied quickly. "That poor fellow, yonder—he +lies quiet enough now God forgive him his heresy, say I!—kept the door +manfully while the gentleman got on the roof, and ran right down the +street on the tops of the houses, with them firing and hooting at him: +for all the world as if he had been a squirrel and they a pack of boys +with stones!" +</P> + +<P> +"And he escaped?" +</P> + +<P> +"Escaped!" she answered more slowly, shaking her old head in doubt. +"I do not know about that I fear they have got him by now, gentlemen. +I have been shivering and shaking up stairs with my husband—he is in +bed, good man, and the safest place for him—the saints have mercy upon +us! But I heard them go with their shouting and gunpowder right along +to the river, and I doubt they will take him between this and the +CHATELET! I doubt they will." +</P> + +<P> +"How long ago was it, dame?" I cried. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! may be half an hour. Perhaps you are friends of his?" she added +questioningly. +</P> + +<P> +But I did not stay to answer her. I shook Croisette, who had not heard +a word of this, by the shoulder. "There is a chance that he has +escaped!" I cried in his ear. "Escaped, do you hear?" And I told him +hastily what she had said. +</P> + +<P> +It was fine, indeed, and a sight, to see the blood rush to his cheeks, +and the tears dry in his eyes, and energy and decision spring to life +in every nerve and muscle of his face, "Then there is hope?" he cried, +grasping my arm. "Hope, Anne! Come! Come! Do not let us lose another +instant. If he be alive let us join him!" +</P> + +<P> +The old woman tried to detain us, but in vain. Nay, pitying us, and +fearing, I think, that we were rushing on our deaths, she cast aside +her caution, and called after us aloud. We took no heed, running after +Croisette, who had not waited for our answer, as fast as young limbs +could carry us down the street. The exhaustion we had felt a moment +before when all seemed lost be it remembered that we had not been to +bed or tasted food for many hours—fell from us on the instant, and was +clean gone and forgotten in the joy of this respite. Louis was living +and for the moment had escaped. +</P> + +<P> +Escaped! But for how long? We soon had our answer. The moment we +turned the corner by the river-side, the murmur of a multitude not loud +but continuous, struck our ears, even as the breeze off the water swept +our cheeks. Across the river lay the thousand roofs of the Ile de la +Cite, all sparkling in the sunshine. But we swept to the right, +thinking little of THAT sight, and checked our speed on finding +ourselves on the skirts of the crowd. Before us was a bridge—the Pont +au Change, I think—and at its head on our side of the water stood the +CHATELET, with its hoary turrets and battlements. Between us and the +latter, and backed only by the river, was a great open space +half-filled with people, mostly silent and watchful, come together as +to a show, and betraying, at present at least, no desire to take an +active part in what was going on. +</P> + +<P> +We hurriedly plunged into the throng, and soon caught the clue to the +quietness and the lack of movement which seemed to prevail, and which +at first sight had puzzled us. For a moment the absence of the +dreadful symptoms we had come to know so well—the flying and pursuing, +the random blows, the shrieks and curses and batterings on doors, the +tipsy yells, had reassured us. But the relief was short-lived. The +people before us were under control. A tighter grip seemed to close +upon our hearts as we discerned this, for we knew that the wild fury of +the populace, like the rush of a bull, might have given some chance of +escape—in this case as in others. But this cold-blooded ordered +search left none. +</P> + +<P> +Every face about us was turned in the same direction; away from the +river and towards a block of old houses which stood opposite to it. +The space immediately in front of these was empty, the people being +kept back by a score or so of archers of the guard set at intervals, +and by as many horsemen, who kept riding up and down, belabouring the +bolder spirits with the flat of their swords, and so preserving a line. +At each extremity of this—more noticeably on our left where the line +curved round the angle of the buildings—stood a handful of riders, +seven in a group perhaps. And alone in the middle of the space so kept +clear, walking his horse up and down and gazing at the houses rode a +man of great stature, booted and armed, the feather nodding in his +bonnet. I could not see his face, but I had no need to see it. I knew +him, and groaned aloud. It was Bezers! +</P> + +<P> +I understood the scene better now. The horsemen, stern, bearded +Switzers for the most part, who eyed the rabble about them with grim +disdain, and were by no means chary of their blows, were all in his +colours and armed to the teeth. The order and discipline were of his +making: the revenge of his seeking. A grasp as of steel had settled +upon our friend, and I felt that his last chance was gone. Louis de +Pavannes might as well be lying on his threshold with his dead servant +by his side, as be in hiding within that ring of ordered swords. +</P> + +<P> +It was with despairing eyes we looked at the old wooden houses. They +seemed to be bowing themselves towards us, their upper stories +projected so far, they were so decrepit. Their roofs were a wilderness +of gutters and crooked gables, of tottering chimneys and wooden +pinnacles and rotting beams, Amongst these I judged Kit's lover was +hiding. Well, it was a good place for hide and seek—with any other +player than DEATH. In the ground floors of the houses there were no +windows and no doors; by reason, I learned afterwards, of the frequent +flooding of the river. But a long wooden gallery raised on struts ran +along the front, rather more than the height of a man from the ground, +and access to this was gained by a wooden staircase at each end. Above +this first gallery was a second, and above that a line of windows set +between the gables. The block—it may have run for seventy or eighty +yards along the shore—contained four houses, each with a door opening +on to the lower gallery. I saw indeed that but for the Vidame's +precautions Louis might well have escaped. Had the mob once poured +helter-skelter into that labyrinth of rooms and passages he might with +luck have mingled with them, unheeded and unrecognized, and effected +his escape when they retreated. +</P> + +<P> +But now there were sentries on each gallery and more on the roof. +Whenever one of the latter moved or seemed to be looking inward—where +a search party, I understood, were at work—indeed, if he did but turn +his head, a thrill ran through the crowd and a murmur arose, which once +or twice swelled to a savage roar such as earlier had made me tremble. +When this happened the impulse came, it seemed to me, from the farther +end of the line. There the rougher elements were collected, and there +I more than once saw Bezers' troopers in conflict with the mob. In +that quarter too a savage chant was presently struck up, the whole +gathering joining in and yelling with an indescribably appalling effect: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> + "Hau! Hau! Huguenots!<BR> + Faites place aux Papegots!"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +in derision of the old song said to be popular amongst the Protestants. +But in the Huguenot version the last words were of course transposed. +</P> + +<P> +We had worked our way by this time to the front of the line, and +looking into one another's eyes, mutely asked a question; but not even +Croisette had an answer ready. There could be no answer but one. What +could we do? Nothing. We were too late. Too late again! And yet how +dreadful it was to stand still among the cruel, thoughtless mob and see +our friend, the touch of whose hand we knew so well, done to death for +their sport! Done to death as the old woman had said like any rat, not +a soul save ourselves pitying him! Not a soul to turn sick at his cry +of agony, or shudder at the glance of his dying eyes. It was dreadful +indeed. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, well," muttered a woman beside me to her companion—there were +many women in the crowd—"it is down with the Huguenots, say I! It is +Lorraine is the fine man! But after all yon is a bonny fellow and a +proper, Margot! I saw him leap from roof to roof over Love Lane, as if +the blessed saints had carried him. And him a heretic!" +</P> + +<P> +"It is the black art," the other answered, crossing herself. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe it is! But he will need it all to give that big man the slip +to-day," replied the first speaker comfortably. +</P> + +<P> +"That devil!" Margot exclaimed, pointing with a stealthy gesture of +hate at the Vidame. And then in a fierce whisper, with inarticulate +threats, she told a story of him, which made me shudder. "He did! And +she in religion too!" she concluded. "May our Lady of Loretto reward +him." +</P> + +<P> +The tale might be true for aught I knew, horrible as it was! I had +heard similar ones attributing things almost as fiendish to him, times +and again; from that poor fellow lying dead on Pavannes' doorstep for +one, and from others besides. As the Vidame in his pacing to and fro +turned towards us, I gazed at him fascinated by his grim visage and +that story. His eye rested on the crowd about us, and I trembled, lest +even at that distance he should recognise us. +</P> + +<P> +And he did! I had forgotten his keenness of sight. His face flashed +suddenly into a grim smile. The tail of his eye resting upon us, and +seeming to forbid us to move, he gave some orders. The colour fled from +my face. To escape indeed was impossible, for we were hemmed in by the +press and could scarcely stir a limb. Yet I did make one effort. +</P> + +<P> +"Croisette!" I muttered he was the rearmost—"stoop down. He may not +have seen you. Stoop down, lad!" +</P> + +<P> +But St. Croix was obstinate and would not stoop. Nay, when one of the +mounted men came, and roughly ordered us into the open, it was +Croisette who pushing past us stepped out first with a lordly air. I, +following him, saw that his lips were firmly compressed and that there +was an eager light in his eyes. As we emerged, the crowd in our wake +broke the line, and tried to pursue us; either hostilely or through +eagerness to see what it meant. But a dozen blows of the long pikes +drove them back, howling and cursing to their places. +</P> + +<P> +I expected to be taken to Bezers; and what would follow I could not +tell. But he did always it seemed what we least expected, for he only +scowled at us now, a grim mockery on his lip, and cried, "See that they +do not escape again! But do them no harm, sirrah, until I have the +batch of them!" +</P> + +<P> +He turned one way, and I another, my heart swelling with rage. Would he +dare to harm us? Would even the Vidame dare to murder a Caylus' nephew +openly and in cold blood? I did not think so. And yet—and yet— +</P> + +<P> +Croisette interrupted the train of my thoughts. I found that he was +not following me. He had sprung away, and in a dozen strides reached +the Vidame's stirrup, and was clasping his knee when I turned. I could +not hear at the distance at which I stood, what he said, and the +horseman to whom Bezers had committed us spurred between us. But I +heard the Vidame's answer. +</P> + +<P> +"No! no! no!" he cried with a ring of restrained fury in his voice. +"Let my plans alone! What do you know of them? And if you speak to me +again, M. St. Croix—I think that is your name, boy—I will—no, I will +not kill you. That might please you, you are stubborn, I can see. But +I will have you stripped and lashed like the meanest of my scullions! +Now go, and take care!" +</P> + +<P> +Impatience, hate and wild passion flamed in his face for the +moment—transfiguring it. Croisette came back to us slowly, +white-lipped and quiet. "Never mind," I said bitterly. "The third +time may bring luck." +</P> + +<P> +Not that I felt much indignation at the Vidame's insult, or any anger +with the lad for incurring it; as I had felt on that other occasion. +Life and death seemed to be everything on this morning. Words had +ceased to please and annoy, for what are words to the sheep in the +shambles? One man's life and one woman's happiness outside ourselves +we thought only of these now. And some day I reflected Croisette might +remember even with pleasure that he had, as a drowning man clutching at +straws, stooped to a last prayer for them. +</P> + +<P> +We were placed in the middle of a knot of troopers who closed the line +to the right. And presently Marie touched me. He was gazing intently +at the sentry on the roof of the third house from us; the farthest but +one. The man's back was to the parapet, and he was gesticulating +wildly. +</P> + +<P> +"He sees him!" Marie muttered. +</P> + +<P> +I nodded almost in apathy. But this passed away, and I started +involuntarily and shuddered, as a savage roar, breaking the silence, +rang along the front of the mob like a rolling volley of firearms. +What was it? A man posted at a window on the upper gallery had dropped +his pike's point, and was levelling it at some one inside: we could +see no more. +</P> + +<P> +But those in front of the window could; they saw too much for the +Vidame's precautions, as a moment showed. He had not laid his account +with the frenzy of a rabble, the passions of a mob which had tasted +blood. I saw the line at its farther end waver suddenly and toss to +and fro. Then a hundred hands went up, and confused angry cries rose +with them. The troopers struck about them, giving back slowly as they +did so. But their efforts were in vain. With a scream of triumph a +wild torrent of people broke through between them, leaving them +stranded; and rushed in a headlong cataract towards the steps. Bezers +was close to us at the time. "S'death!" he cried, swearing oaths +which even his sovereign could scarce have equalled. "They will snatch +him from me yet, the hell-hounds!" +</P> + +<P> +He whirled his horse round and spurred him in a dozen bounds to the +stairs at our end of the gallery. There he leaped from him, dropping +the bridle recklessly; and bounding up three steps at a time, he ran +along the gallery. Half-a-dozen of the troopers about us stayed only +to fling their reins to one of their number, and then followed, their +great boots clattering on the planks. +</P> + +<P> +My breath came fast and short, for I felt it was a crisis. It was a +race between the two parties, or rather between the Vidame and the +leaders of the mob. The latter had the shorter way to go. But on the +narrow steps they were carried off their feet by the press behind them, +and fell over and hampered one another and lost time. The Vidame, free +from this drawback, was some way along the gallery before they had set +foot on it. +</P> + +<P> +How I prayed—amid a scene of the wildest uproar and excitement—that +the mob might be first! Let there be only a short conflict between +Bezers' men and the people, and in the confusion Pavannes might yet +escape. Hope awoke in the turmoil. Above the yells of the crowd a +score of deep voices about me thundered "a Wolf! a Wolf!" And I too, +lost my head, and drew my sword, and screamed at the top of my voice, +"a Caylus! a Caylus!" with the maddest. +</P> + +<P> +Thousands of eyes besides mine were strained on the foremost figures on +either side. They met as it chanced precisely at the door of the +house. The mob leader was a slender man, I saw; a priest apparently, +though now he was girt with unpriestly weapons, his skirts were tucked +up, and his head was bare. So much my first glance showed me. It was +at the second look it was when I saw the blood forsake his pale +lowering face and leave it whiter than ever, when horror sprang along +with recognition to his eyes, when borne along by the crowd behind he +saw his position and who was before him—it was only then when his mean +figure shrank, and he quailed and would have turned but could not, that +I recognized the Coadjutor. +</P> + +<P> +I was silent now, my mouth agape. There are seconds which are minutes; +ay, and many minutes. A man may die, a man may come into life in such +a second. In one of these, it seemed to me, those two men paused, face +to face; though in fact a pause was for one of them impossible. He was +between—and I think he knew it—the devil and the deep sea. Yet he +seemed to pause, while all, even that yelling crowd below, held their +breath. The next moment, glaring askance at one another like two dogs +unevenly coupled, he and Bezers shot shoulder to shoulder into the +doorway, and in another jot of time would have been out of sight. But +then, in that instant, I saw something happen. The Vidame's hand +flashed up above the priest's head, and the cross-hilt of his sheathed +sword crashed down with awful force, and still more awful passion, on +the other's tonsure! The wretch went down like a log, without a word, +without a cry! Amid a roar of rage from a thousand throats, a roar +that might have shaken the stoutest heart, and blanched the swarthiest +cheek, Bezers disappeared within! +</P> + +<P> +It was then I saw the power of discipline and custom. Few as were the +troopers who had followed him—a mere handful—they fell without +hesitation on the foremost of the crowd, who were already in confusion, +stumbling and falling over their leader's body; and hurled them back +pell-mell along the gallery. The throng below had no firearms, and +could give no aid at the moment; the stage was narrow; in two minutes +the Vidame's people had swept it clear of the crowd and were in +possession of it. A tall fellow took up the priest's body, dead or +alive, I do not know which, and flung it as if it had been a sack of +corn over the rail. It fell with a heavy thud on the ground. I heard +a piercing scream that rose above that babel—one shrill scream! and +the mob closed round and hid the thing. +</P> + +<P> +If the rascals had had the wit to make at once for the right-hand +stairs, where we stood with two or three of Bezers' men who had kept +their saddles, I think they might easily have disposed of us, +encumbered as we were, by the horses; and then they could have attacked +the handful on the gallery on both flanks. But the mob had no leaders, +and no plan of operations. They seized indeed two or three of the +scattered troopers, and tearing them from their horses, wreaked their +passion upon them horribly. But most of the Switzers escaped, thanks +to the attention the mob paid to the houses and what was going forward +on the galleries; and these, extricating themselves joined us one by +one, so that gradually a little ring of stern faces gathered about the +stair-foot. A moment's hesitation, and seeing no help for it, we +ranged ourselves with them; and, unchecked as unbidden, sprang on three +of the led horses. +</P> + +<P> +All this passed more quickly than I can relate it: so that before our +feet were well in the stirrups a partial silence, then a mightier roar +of anger at once proclaimed and hailed the re-appearance of the Vidame. +Bigoted beyond belief were the mob of Paris of that day, cruel, +vengeful, and always athirst for blood; and this man had killed not +only their leader but a priest. He had committed sacrilege! What +would they do? I could just, by stooping forward, command a side view +of the gallery, and the scene passing there was such that I forgot in +it our own peril. +</P> + +<P> +For surely in all his reckless life Bezers had never been so +emphatically the man for the situation—had never shown to such +advantage as at this moment when he stood confronting the sea of faces, +the sneer on his lip, a smile in his eyes; and looked down unblenching, +a figure of scorn, on the men who were literally agape for his life. +The calm defiance of his steadfast look fascinated even me. Wonder and +admiration for the time took the place of dislike. I could scarcely +believe that there was not some atom of good in this man so fearless. +And no face but one no face I think in the world, but one—could have +drawn my eyes from him. But that one face was beside him. I clutched +Marie's arm, and pointed to the bareheaded figure at Bezers' right hand. +</P> + +<P> +It was Louis himself: our Louis de Pavannes, But he was changed indeed +from the gay cavalier I remembered, and whom I had last seen riding +down the street at Caylus, smiling back at us, and waving his adieux to +his mistress! Beside the Vidame he had the air of being slight, even +short. The face which I had known so bright and winning, was now white +and set. His fair, curling hair—scarce darker than Croisette's—hung +dank, bedabbled with blood which flowed from a wound in his head. His +sword was gone; his dress was torn and disordered and covered with +dust. His lips moved. But he held up his head, he bore himself +bravely with it all; so bravely, that I choked, and my heart seemed +bursting as I looked at him standing there forlorn and now unarmed. I +knew that Kit seeing him thus would gladly have died with him; and I +thanked God she did not see him. Yet there was a quietness in his +fortitude which made a great difference between his air and that of +Bezers. He lacked, as became one looking unarmed on certain death, the +sneer and smile of the giant beside him. +</P> + +<P> +What was the Vidame about to do? I shuddered as I asked myself. Not +surrender him, not fling him bodily to the people? No not that: I +felt sure he would let no others share his vengeance that his pride +would not suffer that. And even while I wondered the doubt was solved. +I saw Bezers raise his hand in a peculiar fashion. Simultaneously a +cry rang sharply out above the tumult, and down in headlong charge +towards the farther steps came the band of horsemen, who had got clear +of the crowd on that side. They were but ten or twelve, but under his +eye they charged, as if they had been a thousand. The rabble shrank +from the collision, and fled aside. Quick as thought the riders +swerved; and changing their course, galloped through the looser part of +the throng, and in a trice drew rein side by side with us, a laugh and +a jeer on their reckless lips. +</P> + +<P> +It was neatly done: and while it was being done the Vidame and his +knot of men, with those who had been searching the building, hurried +down the gallery towards us, their rear cleared for the moment by the +troopers' feint. The dismounted men came bundling down the steps, +their eyes aglow with the war-fire, and got horses as they could. +Among them I lost sight of Louis, but perceived him presently, pale and +bewildered, mounted behind a trooper. A man sprang up before each of +us too, greeting our appearance merely by a grunt of surprise. For it +was no time to ask or answer. The mob was recovering itself, and each +moment brought it reinforcements, while its fury was augmented by the +trick we had played it, and the prospect of our escape. +</P> + +<P> +We were under forty, all told; and some men were riding double. Bezers' +eye glanced hastily over his array, and lit on us three. He turned and +gave some order to his lieutenant. The fellow spurred his horse, a +splendid grey, as powerful as his master's, alongside of Croisette, +threw his arm round the lad, and dragged him dexterously on to his own +crupper. I did not understand the action, but I saw Croisette settle +himself behind Blaise Bure—for he it was—and supposed no harm was +intended. The next moment we had surged forward, and were swaying to +and fro in the midst of the crowd. +</P> + +<P> +What ensued I cannot tell. The outlook, so far as I was concerned, was +limited to wildly plunging horses—we were in the centre of the band +and riders swaying in the saddle—with a glimpse here and there of a +fringe of white scowling faces and tossing arms. Once, a lane opening, +I saw the Vidame's charger—he was in the van—stumble and fall among +the crowd and heard a great shout go up. But Bezers by a mighty effort +lifted it to its legs again. And once too, a minute later, those +riding on my right, swerved outwards, and I saw something I never +afterwards forgot. +</P> + +<P> +It was the body of the Coadjutor, lying face upwards, the eyes open and +the teeth bared in a last spasm. Prostrate on it lay a woman, a young +woman, with hair like red gold falling about her neck, and skin like +milk. I did not know whether she was alive or dead; but I noticed that +one arm stuck out stiffly and the crowd flying before the sudden impact +of the horses must have passed over her, even if she had escaped the +iron hoofs which followed. Still in the fleeting glance I had of her +as my horse bounded aside, I saw no wound or disfigurement. Her one +arm was cast about the priest's breast; her face was hidden on it. But +for all that, I knew her—knew her, shuddering for the woman whose +badges I was even now wearing, whose gift I bore at my side; and I +remembered the priest's vaunt of a few hours before, made in her +presence, "There is no man in Paris shall thwart me to-night!" +</P> + +<P> +It had been a vain boast indeed! No hand in all that host of thousands +was more feeble than his now: for good or ill! No brain more dull, no +voice less heeded. A righteous retribution indeed had overtaken him. +He had died by the sword he had drawn—died, a priest, by violence! +The cross he had renounced had crushed him. And all his schemes and +thoughts, and no doubt they had been many, had perished with him. It +had come to this, only this, the sum of the whole matter, that there +was one wicked man the less in Paris—one lump of breathless clay the +more. +</P> + +<P> +For her—the woman on his breast—what man can judge a woman, knowing +her? And not knowing her, how much less? For the present I put her +out of my mind, feeling for the moment faint and cold. +</P> + +<P> +We were clear of the crowd, and clattering unmolested down a paved +street before I fully recovered from the shock which this sight had +caused me. Wonder whither we were going took its place. To Bezers' +house? My heart sank at the prospect if that were so. Before I +thought of an alternative, a gateway flanked by huge round towers +appeared before us, and we pulled up suddenly, a confused jostling mass +in the narrow way; while some words passed between the Vidame and the +Captain of the Guard. A pause of several minutes followed; and then +the gates rolled slowly open, and two by two we passed under the arch. +Those gates might have belonged to a fortress or a prison, a dungeon or +a palace, for all I knew. +</P> + +<P> +They led, however, to none of these, but to an open space, dirty and +littered with rubbish, marked by a hundred ruts and tracks, and fringed +with disorderly cabins and make-shift booths. And beyond this—oh, ye +gods! the joy of it—beyond this, which we crossed at a rapid trot, +lay the open country! +</P> + +<P> +The transition and relief were so wonderful that I shall never forget +them. I gazed on the wide landscape before me, lying quiet and +peaceful in the sunlight, and could scarce believe in my happiness. I +drew the fresh air into my lungs, I threw up my sheathed sword and +caught it again in a frenzy of delight, while the gloomy men about me +smiled at my enthusiasm. I felt the horse beneath me move once more +like a thing of life. No enchanter with his wand, not Merlin nor +Virgil, could have made a greater change in my world, than had the +captain of the gate with his simple key! Or so it seemed to me in the +first moments of freedom, and escape—of removal from those loathsome +streets. +</P> + +<P> +I looked back at Paris—at the cloud of smoke which hung over the +towers and roofs; and it seemed to me the canopy of hell itself. I +fancied that my head still rang with the cries and screams and curses, +the sounds of death. In very fact, I could hear the dull reports of +firearms near the Louvre, and the jangle of the bells. Country-folk +were congregated at the cross-roads, and in the villages, listening and +gazing; asking timid questions of the more good-natured among us, and +showing that the rumour of the dreadful work doing in the town had +somehow spread abroad. And this though I learned afterwards that the +keys of the city had been taken the night before to the king, and that, +except a party with the Duke of Guise, who had left at eight in pursuit +of Montgomery and some of the Protestants—lodgers, happily for +themselves, in the Faubourg St. Germain—no one had left the town +before ourselves. +</P> + +<P> +While I am speaking of our departure from Paris, I may say what I have +to say of the dreadful excesses of those days, ay, and of the following +days; excesses of which France is now ashamed, and for which she +blushed even before the accession of his late Majesty. I am sometimes +asked, as one who witnessed them, what I think, and I answer that it +was not our country which was to blame. A something besides Queen +Catharine de' Medici had been brought from Italy forty years before, a +something invisible but very powerful; a spirit of cruelty and +treachery. In Italy it had done small harm. But grafted on French +daring and recklessness, and the rougher and more soldierly manners of +the north, this spirit of intrigue proved capable of very dreadful +things. For a time, until it wore itself out, it was the curse of +France. Two Dukes of Guise, Francis and Henry, a cardinal of Guise, +the Prince of Conde, Admiral Coligny, King Henry the Third all these +the foremost men of their day—died by assassination within little more +than a quarter of a century, to say nothing of the Prince of Orange, +and King Henry the Great. +</P> + +<P> +Then mark—a most curious thing—the extreme youth of those who were in +this business. France, subject to the Queen-Mother, of course, was +ruled at the time by boys scarce out of their tutors' hands. They were +mere lads, hot-blooded, reckless nobles, ready for any wild brawl, +without forethought or prudence. Of the four Frenchmen who it is +thought took the leading parts, one, the king, was twenty-two; +Monsieur, his brother, was only twenty; the Duke of Guise was +twenty-one. Only the Marshal de Tavannes was of mature age. For the +other conspirators, for the Queen-Mother, for her advisers Retz and +Nevers and Birague, they were Italians; and Italy may answer for them +if Florence, Mantua and Milan care to raise the glove. +</P> + +<P> +To return to our journey. A league from the town we halted at a large +inn, and some of us dismounted. Horses were brought out to fill the +places of those lost or left behind, and Bure had food served to us. +We were famished and exhausted, and ate it ravenously, as if we could +never have enough. +</P> + +<P> +The Vidame sat his horse apart, served by his page, I stole a glance at +him, and it struck me that even on his iron nature the events of the +night had made some impression. I read, or thought I read, in his +countenance, signs of emotions not quite in accordance with what I knew +of him—emotions strange and varied. I could almost have sworn that as +he looked at us a flicker of kindliness lit up his stern and cruel +gloom; I could almost have sworn he smiled with a curious sadness. As +for Louis, riding with a squad who stood in a different part of the +yard, he did not see us; had not yet seen us at all. His side face, +turned towards me, was pale and sad, his manner preoccupied, his mien +rather sorrowful than downcast. He was thinking, I judged, as much of +the many brave men who had yesterday been his friends—companions at +board and play-table—as of his own fate. When we presently, at a +signal from Bure, took to the road again, I asked no permission, but +thrusting my horse forward, rode to his side as he passed through the +gateway. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +A NIGHT OF SORROW. +</H3> + +<P> +"Louis! Louis!" +</P> + +<P> +He turned with a start at the sound of my voice, joy and +bewilderment—and no wonder—in his countenance. He had not supposed +us to be within a hundred leagues of him. And lo! here we were, knee +to knee, hand meeting hand in a long grasp, while his eyes, to which +tears sprang unbidden, dwelt on my face as though they could read in it +the features of his sweetheart. Some one had furnished him with a hat, +and enabled him to put his dress in order, and wash his wound, which +was very slight, and these changes had improved his appearance; so that +the shadow of grief and despondency passing for a moment from him in +the joy of seeing me, he looked once more his former self: as he had +looked in the old days at Caylus on his return from hawking, or from +some boyish escapade among the hills. Only, alas! he wore no sword. +</P> + +<P> +"And now tell me all," he cried, after his first exclamation of wonder +had found vent. "How on earth do you come here? Here, of all places, +and by my side? Is all well at Caylus? Surely Mademoiselle is not—" +</P> + +<P> +"Mademoiselle is well! perfectly well! And thinking of you, I swear!" +I answered passionately. "For us," I went on, eager for the moment to +escape that subject—how could I talk of it in the daylight and under +strange eyes?—"Marie and Croisette are behind. We left Caylus eight +days ago. We reached Paris yesterday evening. We have not been to +bed! We have passed, Louis, such a night as I never—" +</P> + +<P> +He stopped me with a gesture. "Hush!" he said, raising his hand. +"Don't speak of it, Anne!" and I saw that the fate of his friends was +still too recent, the horror of his awakening to those dreadful sights +and sounds was still too vivid for him to bear reference to them. Yet +after riding for a time in silence—though his lips moved—he asked me +again what had brought us up. +</P> + +<P> +"We came to warn you—of him," I answered, pointing to the solitary, +moody figure of the Vidame, who was riding ahead of the party. "He—he +said that Kit should never marry you, and boasted of what he would do +to you, and frightened her. So, learning he was going to Paris, we +followed him—to put you on your guard, you know." And I briefly +sketched our adventures, and the strange circumstances and mistakes +which had delayed us hour after hour, through all that strange night, +until the time had gone by when we could do good. +</P> + +<P> +His eyes glistened and his colour rose as I told the story. He wrung +my hand warmly, and looked back to smile at Marie and Croisette. "It +was like you!" he ejaculated with emotion. "It was like her cousins! +Brave, brave lads! The Vicomte will live to be proud of you! Some day +you will all do great things! I say it!" +</P> + +<P> +"But oh, Louis!" I exclaimed sorrowfully, though my heart was bounding +with pride at his words, "if we had only been in time! If we had only +come to you two hours earlier!" +</P> + +<P> +"You would have spoken to little purpose then, I fear," he replied, +shaking his head. "We were given over as a prey to the enemy. +Warnings? We had warnings in plenty. De Rosny warned us, and we +scoffed at him. The king's eye warned us, and we trusted him. But—" +and Louis' form dilated and his hand rose as he went on, and I thought +of his cousin's prediction—"it will never be so again in France, Anne! +Never! No man will after this trust another! There will be no honour, +no faith, no quarter, and no peace! And for the Valois who has done +this, the sword will never depart from his house! I believe it! I do +believe it!" +</P> + +<P> +How truly he spoke we know now. For two-and-twenty years after that +twenty-fourth of August, 1572, the sword was scarcely laid aside in +France for a single month. In the streets of Paris, at Arques, and +Coutras, and Ivry, blood flowed like water that the blood of the St. +Bartholomew might be forgotten—that blood which, by the grace of God, +Navarre saw fall from the dice box on the eve of the massacre. The +last of the Valois passed to the vaults of St. Denis: and a greater +king, the first of all Frenchmen, alive or dead, the bravest, gayest, +wisest of the land, succeeded him: yet even he had to fall by the +knife, in a moment most unhappy for his country, before France, +horror-stricken, put away the treachery and evil from her. +</P> + +<P> +Talking with Louis as we rode, it was not unnatural—nay, it was the +natural result of the situation—that I should avoid one subject. Yet +that subject was the uppermost in my thoughts. What were the Vidame's +intentions? What was the meaning of this strange journey? What was to +be Louis' fate? I shrank with good reason from asking him these +questions. There could be so little room for hope, even after that +smile which I had seen Bezers smile, that I dared not dwell upon them. +I should but torture him and myself. +</P> + +<P> +So it was he who first spoke about it. Not at that time, but after +sunset, when the dusk had fallen upon us, and found us still plodding +southward with tired horses; a link outwardly like other links in the +long chain of riders, toiling onwards. Then he said suddenly, "Do you +know whither we are going, Anne?" +</P> + +<P> +I started, and found myself struggling with a strange confusion before +I could reply. "Home," I suggested at random. +</P> + +<P> +"Home? No. And yet nearly home. To Cahors," he answered with an odd +quietude. "Your home, my boy, I shall never see again, Nor Kit! Nor +my own Kit!" It was the first time I had heard him call her by the +fond name we used ourselves. And the pathos in his tone as of the +past, not the present, as of pure memory—I was very thankful that I +could not in the dusk see his face—shook my self-control. I wept. +"Nay, my lad," he went on, speaking softly and leaning from his saddle +so that he could lay his hand on my shoulder "we are all men together. +We must be brave. Tears cannot help us, so we should leave them to +the—women." +</P> + +<P> +I cried more passionately at that. Indeed his own voice quavered over +the last word. But in a moment he was talking to me coolly and +quietly. I had muttered something to the effect that the Vidame would +not dare—it would be too public. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no question of daring in it," he replied. "And the more +public it is, the better he will like it. They have dared to take +thousands of lives since yesterday. There is no one to call him to +account since the king—our king forsooth!—has declared every Huguenot +an outlaw, to be killed wherever he be met with. No, when Bezers +disarmed me yonder," he pointed as he spoke to his wound, "I looked of +course for instant death. Anne! I saw blood in his eyes! But he did +not strike." +</P> + +<P> +"Why not?" I asked in suspense. +</P> + +<P> +"I can only guess," Louis answered with a sigh. "He told me that my +life was in his hands, but that he should take it at his own time. +Further that if I would not give my word to go with him without trying +to escape, he would throw me to those howling dogs outside. I gave my +word. We are on the road together. And oh, Anne! yesterday, only +yesterday, at this time I was riding home with Teligny from the Louvre, +where we had been playing at paume with the king! And the world—the +world was very fair." +</P> + +<P> +"I saw you, or rather Croisette did," I muttered as his sorrow—not for +himself, but his friends—forced him to stop. "Yet how, Louis, do you +know that we are going to Cahors?" +</P> + +<P> +"He told me, as we passed through the gates, that he was appointed +Lieutenant-Governor of Quercy to carry out the edict against the +religion. Do you not see, Anne?" my companion added bitterly, "to +kill me at once were too small a revenge for him! He must torture +me—or rather he would if he could—by the pains of anticipation. +</P> + +<P> +"Besides, my execution will so finely open his bed of justice. Bah!" +and Pavannes raised his head proudly, "I fear him not! I fear him not +a jot!" +</P> + +<P> +For a moment he forgot Kit, the loss of his friends, his own doom. He +snapped his fingers in derision of his foe. +</P> + +<P> +But my heart sank miserably. The Vidame's rage I remembered had been +directed rather against my cousin than her lover; and now by the light +of his threats I read Bezers' purpose more clearly than Louis could. +His aim was to punish the woman who had played with him. To do so he +was bringing her lover from Paris that he might execute him—AFTER +GIVING HER NOTICE! That was it: after giving her notice, it might be +in her very presence! He would lure her to Cahors, and then— +</P> + +<P> +I shuddered. I well might feel that a precipice was opening at my +feet. There was something in the plan so devilish, yet so accordant +with those stories I had heard of the Wolf, that I felt no doubt of my +insight. I read his evil mind, and saw in a moment why he had troubled +himself with us. He hoped to draw Mademoiselle to Cahors by our means. +</P> + +<P> +Of course I said nothing of this to Louis. I hid my feelings as well +as I could. But I vowed a great vow that at the eleventh hour we would +baulk the Vidame. Surely if all else failed we could kill him, and, +though we died ourselves, spare Kit this ordeal. My tears were dried +up as by a fire. My heart burned with a great and noble rage: or so +it seemed to me! +</P> + +<P> +I do not think that there was ever any journey so strange as this one +of ours. We met with the same incidents which had pleased us on the +road to Paris. But their novelty was gone. Gone too were the cosy +chats with old rogues of landlords and good-natured dames. We were +travelling now in such force that our coming was rather a terror to the +innkeeper than a boon. How much the Lieutenant-Governor of Quercy, +going down to his province, requisitioned in the king's name; and for +how much he paid, we could only judge from the gloomy looks which +followed us as we rode away each morning. Such looks were not solely +due I fear to the news from Paris, although for some time we were the +first bearers of the tidings. +</P> + +<P> +Presently, on the third day of our journey I think, couriers from the +Court passed us: and henceforth forestalled us. One of these +messengers—who I learned from the talk about me was bound for Cahors +with letters for the Lieutenant-Governor and the Count-Bishop—the +Vidame interviewed and stopped. How it was managed I do not know, but +I fear the Count-Bishop never got his letters, which I fancy would have +given him some joint authority. Certainly we left the messenger—a +prudent fellow with a care for his skin—in comfortable quarters at +Limoges, whence I do not doubt he presently returned to Paris at his +leisure. +</P> + +<P> +The strangeness of the journey however arose from none of these things, +but from the relations of our party to one another. After the first day +we four rode together, unmolested, so long as we kept near the centre +of the straggling cavalcade. The Vidame always rode alone, and in +front, brooding with bent head and sombre face over his revenge, as I +supposed. He would ride in this fashion, speaking to no one and giving +no orders, for a day together. At times I came near to pitying him. +He had loved Kit in his masterful way, the way of one not wont to be +thwarted, and he had lost her—lost her, whatever might happen. He +would get nothing after all by his revenge. Nothing but ashes in the +mouth. And so I saw in softer moments something inexpressibly +melancholy in that solitary giant-figure pacing always alone. +</P> + +<P> +He seldom spoke to us. More rarely to Louis. When he did, the +harshness of his voice and his cruel eyes betrayed the gloomy hatred in +which he held him. At meals he ate at one end of the table: we four +at the other, as three of us had done on that first evening in Paris. +And sometimes the covert looks, the grim sneer he shot at his +rival—his prisoner—made me shiver even in the sunshine. Sometimes, +on the other hand, when I took him unawares, I found an expression on +his face I could not read. +</P> + +<P> +I told Croisette, but warily, my suspicions of his purpose. He heard +me, less astounded to all appearance than I had expected. Presently I +learned the reason. He had his own view. "Do you not think it +possible, Anne?" he suggested timidly—we were of course alone at the +time—"that he thinks to make Louis resign Mademoiselle?" +</P> + +<P> +"Resign her!" I exclaimed obtusely. "How?" +</P> + +<P> +"By giving him a choice—you understand?" +</P> + +<P> +I did understand I saw it in a moment. I had been dull not to see it +before. Bezers might put it in this way: let M. de Pavannes resign +his mistress and live, or die and lose her. +</P> + +<P> +"I see," I answered. "But Louis would not give her up. Not to him!" +</P> + +<P> +"He would lose her either way," Croisette answered in a low tone. "That +is not however the worst of it. Louis is in his power. Suppose he +thinks to make Kit the arbiter, Anne, and puts Louis up to ransom, +setting Kit for the price? And gives her the option of accepting +himself, and saving Louis' life; or refusing, and leaving Louis to die?" +</P> + +<P> +"St. Croix!" I exclaimed fiercely. "He would not be so base!" And yet +was not even this better than the blind vengeance I had myself +attributed to him? +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps not," Croisette answered, while he gazed onwards through the +twilight. We were at the time the foremost of the party save the +Vidame; and there was nothing to interrupt our view of his gigantic +figure as he moved on alone before us with bowed shoulders. "Perhaps +not," Croisette repeated thoughtfully. "Sometimes I think we do not +understand him; and that after all there may be worse people in the +world than Bezers." +</P> + +<P> +I looked hard at the lad, for that was not what I had meant. "Worse?" +I said. "I do not think so. Hardly!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, worse," he replied, shaking his head. "Do you remember lying +under the curtain in the box-bed at Mirepoix's?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course I do! Do you think I shall ever forget it?" +</P> + +<P> +"And Madame d'O coming in?" +</P> + +<P> +"With the Coadjutor?" I said with a shudder. "Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"No, the second time," he answered, "when she came back alone. It was +pretty dark, you remember, and Madame de Pavannes was at the window, +and her sister did not see her?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well, I remember," I said impatiently. I knew from the tone of +his voice that he had something to tell me about Madame d'O, and I was +not anxious to hear it. I shrank, as a wounded man shrinks from the +cautery, from hearing anything about that woman; herself so beautiful, +yet moving in an atmosphere of suspicion and horror. Was it shame, or +fear, or some chivalrous feeling having its origin in that moment when +I had fancied myself her knight? I am not sure, for I had not made up +my mind even now whether I ought to pity or detest her; whether she had +made a tool of me, or I had been false to her. +</P> + +<P> +"She came up to the bed, you remember, Anne?" Croisette went on. "You +were next to her. She saw you indistinctly, and took you for her +sister. And then I sprang from the bed." +</P> + +<P> +"I know you did!" I exclaimed sharply. All this time I had forgotten +that grievance. "You nearly frightened her out of her wits, St. Croix. +I cannot think what possessed you—why you did it?" +</P> + +<P> +"To save your life, Anne," he answered solemnly, "and her from a crime! +an unutterable, an unnatural crime. She had come back to I can hardly +tell it you—to murder her sister. You start. You do not believe me. +It sounds too horrible. But I could see better than you could. She +was exactly between you and the light. I saw the knife raised. I saw +her wicked face! If I had not startled her as I did, she would have +stabbed you. She dropped the knife on the floor, and I picked it up +and have it. See!" +</P> + +<P> +I looked furtively, and turned away again, shivering. "Why," I +muttered, "why did she do it?" +</P> + +<P> +"She had failed you know to get her sister back to Pavannes' house, +where she would have fallen an easy victim. Bezers, who knew Madame +d'O, prevented that. Then that fiend slipped back with her knife; +thinking that in the common butchery the crime would be overlooked, and +never investigated, and that Mirepoix would be silent!" +</P> + +<P> +I said nothing. I was stunned. Yet I believed the story. When I went +over the facts in my mind I found that a dozen things, overlooked at +the time and almost forgotten in the hurry of events, sprang up to +confirm it. M. de Pavannes'—the other M. de Pavannes'—suspicions had +been well founded. Worse than Bezers was she? Ay! worse a hundred +times. As much worse as treachery ever is than violence; as the +pitiless fraud of the serpent is baser than the rage of the wolf. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought," Croisette added softly, not looking at me, "when I +discovered that you had gone off with her, that I should never see you +again, Anne. I gave you up for lost. The happiest moment of my life I +think was when I saw you come back." +</P> + +<P> +"Croisette," I whispered piteously, my cheeks burning, "let us never +speak of her again." +</P> + +<P> +And we never did—for years. But how strange is life. She and the +wicked man with whom her fate seemed bound up had just crossed our +lives when their own were at the darkest. They clashed with us, and, +strangers and boys as we were, we ruined them. I have often asked +myself what would have happened to me had I met her at some earlier and +less stormy period—in the brilliance of her beauty. And I find but +one answer. I should bitterly have rued the day. Providence was good +to me. Such men and such women, we may believe have ceased to exist +now. They flourished in those miserable days of war and divisions, and +passed away with them like the foul night-birds of the battle-field. +</P> + +<P> +To return to our journey. In the morning sunshine one could not but be +cheerful, and think good things possible. The worst trial I had came +with each sunset. For then—we generally rode late into the +evening—Louis sought my side to talk to me of his sweetheart. And how +he would talk of her! How many thousand messages he gave me for her! +How often he recalled old days among the hills, with each laugh and +jest and incident, when we five had been as children! Until I would +wonder passionately, the tears running down my face in the darkness, +how he could—how he could talk of her in that quiet voice which +betrayed no rebellion against fate, no cursing of Providence! How he +could plan for her and think of her when she should be alone! +</P> + +<P> +Now I understand it. He was still labouring under the shock of his +friends' murder. He was still partially stunned. Death seemed natural +and familiar to him, as to one who had seen his allies and companions +perish without warning or preparation. Death had come to be normal to +him, life the exception; as I have known it seem to a child brought +face to face with a corpse for the first time. +</P> + +<P> +One afternoon a strange thing happened. We could see the Auvergne +hills at no great distance on our left—the Puy de Dome above them—and +we four were riding together. We had fallen—an unusual thing—to the +rear of the party. Our road at the moment was a mere track running +across moorland, sprinkled here and there with gorse and brushwood. +The main company had straggled on out of sight. There were but half a +dozen riders to be seen an eighth of a league before us, a couple +almost as far behind. I looked every way with a sudden surging of the +heart. For the first time the possibility of flight occurred to me. +The rough Auvergne hills were within reach. Supposing we could get a +lead of a quarter of a league, we could hardly be caught before +darkness came and covered us. Why should we not put spurs to our +horses and ride off? +</P> + +<P> +"Impossible!" said Pavannes quietly, when I spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" I asked with warmth. +</P> + +<P> +"Firstly," he replied, "because I have given my word to go with the +Vidame to Cahors." +</P> + +<P> +My face flushed hotly. But I cried, "What of that? You were taken by +treachery! Your safe conduct was disregarded. Why should you be +scrupulous? Your enemies are not. This is folly?" +</P> + +<P> +"I think not. Nay," Louis answered, shaking his head, "you would not +do it yourself in my place." +</P> + +<P> +"I think I should," I stammered awkwardly. +</P> + +<P> +"No, you would not, lad," he said smiling. "I know you too well. But +if I would do it, it is impossible." He turned in the saddle and, +shading his eyes with his hand from the level rays of the sun, looked +back intently. "It is as I thought," he continued. "One of those men +is riding grey Margot, which Bure said yesterday was the fastest mare +in the troop. And the man on her is a light weight. The other fellow +has that Norman bay horse we were looking at this morning. It is a +trap laid by Bezers, Anne. If we turned aside a dozen yards, those two +would be after us like the wind." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean," I cried, "that Bezers has drawn his men forward on +purpose?" +</P> + +<P> +"Precisely;" was Louis's answer. "That is the fact. Nothing would +please him better than to take my honour first, and my life afterwards. +But, thank God, only the one is in his power." +</P> + +<P> +And when I came to look at the horsemen, immediately before us, they +confirmed Louis's view. They were the best mounted of the party: all +men of light weight too. One or other of them was constantly looking +back. As night fell they closed in upon us with their usual care. +When Bure joined us there was a gleam of intelligence in his bold eyes, +a flash of conscious trickery. He knew that we had found him out, and +cared nothing for it. +</P> + +<P> +And the others cared nothing. But the thought that if left to myself I +should have fallen into the Vidame's cunning trap filled me with new +hatred towards him; such hatred and such fear—for there was +humiliation mingled with them—as I had scarcely felt before. I +brooded over this, barely noticing what passed in our company for +hours—nay, not until the next day when, towards evening, the cry arose +round me that we were within sight of Cahors. Yes, there it lay below +us, in its shallow basin, surrounded by gentle hills. The domes of the +cathedral, the towers of the Vallandre Bridge, the bend of the Lot, +where its stream embraces the town—I knew them all. Our long journey +was over. +</P> + +<P> +And I had but one idea. I had some time before communicated to +Croisette the desperate design I had formed—to fall upon Bezers and +kill him in the midst of his men in the last resort. Now the time had +come if the thing was ever to be done: if we had not left it too long +already. And I looked about me. There was some confusion and jostling +as we halted on the brow of the hill, while two men were despatched +ahead to announce the governor's arrival, and Bure, with half a dozen +spears, rode out as an advanced guard. +</P> + +<P> +The road where we stood was narrow, a shallow cutting winding down the +declivity of the hills. The horses were tired, It was a bad time and +place for my design, and only the coming night was in my favour. But I +was desperate. +</P> + +<P> +Yet before I moved or gave a signal which nothing could recall, I +scanned the landscape eagerly, scrutinizing in turn the small, rich +plain below us, warmed by the last rays of the sun, the bare hills here +glowing, there dark, the scattered wood-clumps and spinneys that filled +the angles of the river, even the dusky line of helm-oaks that crowned +the ridge beyond—Caylus way. So near our own country there might be +help! If the messenger whom we had despatched to the Vicomte before +leaving home had reached him, our uncle might have returned, and even +be in Cahors to meet us. +</P> + +<P> +But no party appeared in sight: and I saw no place where an ambush +could be lying. I remembered that no tidings of our present plight or +of what had happened could have reached the Vicomte. The hope faded +out of life as soon as despair had given it birth. We must fend for +ourselves and for Kit. +</P> + +<P> +That was my justification. I leaned from my saddle towards +Croisette—I was riding by his side—and muttered, as I felt my horse's +head and settled myself firmly in the stirrups, "You remember what I +said? Are you ready?" +</P> + +<P> +He looked at me in a startled way, with a face showing white in the +shadow: and from me to the one solitary figure seated like a pillar a +score of paces in front with no one between us and it. "There need be +but two of us," I muttered, loosening my sword. "Shall it be you or +Marie? The others must leap their horses out of the road in the +confusion, cross the river at the Arembal Ford if they are not +overtaken, and make for Caylus." +</P> + +<P> +He hesitated. I do not know whether it had anything to do with his +hesitation that at that moment the cathedral bell in the town below us +began to ring slowly for Vespers. Yes, he hesitated. He—a Caylus. +Turning to him again, I repeated my question impatiently. "Which shall +it be? A moment, and we shall be moving on, and it will be too late." +</P> + +<P> +He laid his hand hurriedly on my bridle, and began a rambling answer. +Rambling as it was I gathered his meaning. It was enough for me! I +cut him short with one word of fiery indignation, and turned to Marie +and spoke quickly. "Will you, then?" I said. +</P> + +<P> +But Marie shook his head in perplexity, and answering little, said the +same. So it happened a second time. +</P> + +<P> +Strange! Yet strange as it seemed, I was not greatly surprised. Under +other circumstances I should have been beside myself with anger at the +defection. Now I felt as if I had half expected it, and without +further words of reproach I dropped my head and gave it up. I passed +again into the stupor of endurance. The Vidame was too strong for me. +It was useless to fight against him. We were under the spell. When +the troop moved forward, I went with them, silent and apathetic. +</P> + +<P> +We passed through the gate of Cahors, and no doubt the scene was worthy +of note; but I had only a listless eye for it—much such an eye as a +man about to be broken on the wheel must have for that curious +instrument, supposing him never to have seen it before. The whole +population had come out to line the streets through which we rode, and +stood gazing, with scarcely veiled looks of apprehension, at the +procession of troopers and the stern face of the new governor. +</P> + +<P> +We dismounted passively in the courtyard of the castle, and were for +going in together, when Bure intervened. "M. de Pavannes," he said, +pushing rather rudely between us, "will sup alone to-night. For you, +gentlemen, this way, if you please." +</P> + +<P> +I went without remonstrance. What was the use? I was conscious that +the Vidame from the top of the stairs leading to the grand entrance was +watching us with a wolfish glare in his eyes. I went quietly. But I +heard Croisette urging something with passionate energy. +</P> + +<P> +We were led through a low doorway to a room on the ground floor; a +place very like a cell. Were we took our meal in silence. When it was +over I flung myself on one of the beds prepared for us, shrinking from +my companions rather in misery than in resentment. +</P> + +<P> +No explanation had passed between us. Still I knew that the other two +from time to time eyed me doubtfully. I feigned therefore to be +asleep, but I heard Bure enter to bid us good-night—and see that we +had not escaped. And I was conscious too of the question Croisette put +to him, "Does M. de Pavannes lie alone to-night, Bure?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not entirely," the captain answered with gloomy meaning. Indeed he +seemed in bad spirits himself, or tired. "The Vidame is anxious for +his soul's welfare, and sends a priest to him." +</P> + +<P> +They sprang to their feet at that. But the light and its bearer, who +so far recovered himself as to chuckle at his master's pious thought, +had disappeared. They were left to pace the room, and reproach +themselves and curse the Vidame in an agony of late repentance. Not +even Marie could find a loop-hole of escape from here. The door was +double-locked; the windows so barred that a cat could scarcely pass +through them; the walls were of solid masonry. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile I lay and feigned to sleep, and lay feigning through long, +long hours; though my heart like theirs throbbed in response to the +dull hammering that presently began without, and not far from us, and +lasted until daybreak. From our windows, set low and facing a wall, we +could see nothing. But we could guess what the noise meant, the dull, +earthy thuds when posts were set in the ground, the brisk, wooden +clattering when one plank was laid to another. We could not see the +progress of the work, or hear the voices of the workmen, or catch the +glare of their lights. But we knew what they were doing. They were +raising the scaffold. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII. +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +JOY IN THE MORNING. +</H3> + +<P> +I was too weary with riding to go entirely without sleep. And moreover +it is anxiety and the tremor of excitement which make the pillow +sleepless, not, heaven be thanked, sorrow. God made man to lie awake +and hope: but never to lie awake and grieve. An hour or two before +daybreak I fell asleep, utterly worn out. When I awoke, the sun was +high, and shining slantwise on our window. The room was gay with the +morning rays, and soft with the morning freshness, and I lay a while, +my cheek on my hand, drinking in the cheerful influence as I had done +many and many a day in our room at Caylus. It was the touch of Marie's +hand, laid timidly on my arm, which roused me with a shock to +consciousness. The truth broke upon me. I remembered where we were, +and what was before us. "Will you get up, Anne?" Croisette said. "The +Vidame has sent for us." +</P> + +<P> +I got to my feet, and buckled on my sword. Croisette was leaning +against the wall, pale and downcast. Bure filled the open doorway, his +feathered cap in his hand, a queer smile on his face. "You are a good +sleeper, young gentleman," he said. "You should have a good +conscience." +</P> + +<P> +"Better than yours, no doubt!" I retorted, "or your master's." +</P> + +<P> +He shrugged his shoulders, and, bidding us by a sign to follow him, led +the way through several gloomy passages. At the end of these, a flight +of stone steps leading upwards seemed to promise something better; and +true enough, the door at the top being opened, the murmur of a crowd +reached our ears, with a burst of sunlight and warmth. We were in a +lofty room, with walls in some places painted, and elsewhere hung with +tapestry; well lighted by three old pointed windows reaching to the +rush-covered floor. The room was large, set here and there with stands +of arms, and had a dais with a raised carved chair at one end. The +ceiling was of blue, with gold stars set about it. Seeing this, I +remembered the place. I had been in it once, years ago, when I had +attended the Vicomte on a state visit to the governor. Ah! that the +Vicomte were here now! +</P> + +<P> +I advanced to the middle window, which was open. Then I started back, +for outside was the scaffold built level with the floor, and +rush-covered like it! Two or three people were lounging on it. My +eyes sought Louis among the group, but in vain. He was not there: and +while I looked for him, I heard a noise behind me, and he came in, +guarded by four soldiers with pikes. +</P> + +<P> +His face was pale and grave, but perfectly composed. There was a +wistful look in his eyes indeed, as if he were thinking of something or +some one far away—Kit's face on the sunny hills of Quercy where he had +ridden with her, perhaps; a look which seemed to say that the doings +here were nothing to him, and the parting was yonder where she was. +But his bearing was calm and collected, his step firm and fearless. +When he saw us, indeed his face lightened a moment and he greeted us +cheerfully, even acknowledging Bure's salutation with dignity and good +temper. Croisette sprang towards him impulsively, and cried his +name—Croisette ever the first to speak. But before Louis could grasp +his hand, the door at the bottom of the hall was swung open, and the +Vidame came hurriedly in. +</P> + +<P> +He was alone. He glanced round, his forbidding face, which was +somewhat flushed as if by haste, wearing a scowl. Then he saw us, and, +nodding haughtily, strode up the floor, his spurs clanking heavily on +the boards. We gave us no greeting, but by a short word dismissed Bure +and the soldiers to the lower end of the room. And then he stood and +looked at us four, but principally at his rival; and looked, and looked +with eyes of smouldering hate. And there was a silence, a long +silence, while the murmur of the crowd came almost cheerfully through +the window, and the sparrows under the eaves chirped and twittered, and +the heart that throbbed least painfully was, I do believe, Louis de +Pavannes'! +</P> + +<P> +At last Bezers broke the silence. +</P> + +<P> +"M. de Pavannes!" he began, speaking hoarsely, yet concealing all +passion under a cynical smile and a mock politeness, "M. de Pavannes, I +hold the king's commission to put to death all the Huguenots within my +province of Quercy. Have you anything to say, I beg, why I should not +begin with you? Or do you wish to return to the Church?" +</P> + +<P> +Louis shrugged his shoulders as in contempt, and held his peace, I saw +his captor's great hands twitch convulsively at this, but still the +Vidame mastered himself, and when he spoke again he spoke slowly. +"Very well," he continued, taking no heed of us, the silent witnesses +of this strange struggle between the two men, but eyeing Louis only. +"You have wronged me more than any man alive. Alive or dead! or dead! +You have thwarted me, M. de Pavannes, and taken from me the woman I +loved. Six days ago I might have killed you. I had it in my power. I +had but to leave you to the rabble, remember, and you would have been +rotting at Montfaucon to-day, M. de Pavannes." +</P> + +<P> +"That is true," said Louis quietly. "Why so many words?" +</P> + +<P> +But the Vidame went on as if he had not heard. "I did not leave you to +them," he resumed, "and yet I hate you—more than I ever hated any man +yet, and I am not apt to forgive. But now the time has come, sir, for +my revenge! The oath I swore to your mistress a fortnight ago I will +keep to the letter. I—Silence, babe!" he thundered, turning suddenly, +"or I will keep my word with you too!" +</P> + +<P> +Croisette had muttered something, and this had drawn on him the glare +of Bezers' eyes. But the threat was effectual. Croisette was silent. +The two were left henceforth to one another. +</P> + +<P> +Yet the Vidame seemed to be put out by the interruption. Muttering a +string of oaths he strode from us to the window and back again. The +cool cynicism, with which he was wont to veil his anger and impose on +other men, while it heightened the effect of his ruthless deeds, in +part fell from him. He showed himself as he was—masterful, and +violent, hating, with all the strength of a turbulent nature which had +never known a check. I quailed before him myself. I confess it. +</P> + +<P> +"Listen!" he continued harshly, coming back and taking his place in +front of us at last, his manner more violent than before the +interruption. "I might have left you to die in that hell yonder! And I +did not leave you. I had but to hold my hand and you would have been +torn to pieces! The wolf, however, does not hunt with the rats, and a +Bezers wants no help in his vengeance from king or CANAILLE! When I +hunt my enemy down I will hunt him alone, do you hear? And as there is +a heaven above me"—he paused a moment—"if I ever meet you face to +face again, M. de Pavannes, I will kill you where you stand!" +</P> + +<P> +He paused, and the murmur of the crowd without came to my ears; but +mingled with and heightened by some confusion in my thoughts. I +struggled feebly with this, seeing a rush of colour to Croisette's +face, a lightening in his eyes as if a veil had been raised from before +them. Some confusion—for I thought I grasped the Vidame's meaning; +yet there he was still glowering on his victim with the same grim +visage, still speaking in the same rough tone. "Listen, M. de +Pavannes," he continued, rising to his full height and waving his hand +with a certain majesty towards the window—no one had spoken. "The +doors are open! Your mistress is at Caylus. The road is clear, go to +her; go to her, and tell her that I have saved your life, and that I +give it to you not out of love, but out of hate! If you had flinched I +would have killed you, for so you would have suffered most, M. de +Pavannes. As it is, take your life—a gift! and suffer as I should if +I were saved and spared by my enemy!" +</P> + +<P> +Slowly the full sense of his words came home to me. Slowly; not in its +full completeness indeed until I heard Louis in broken phrases, phrases +half proud and half humble, thanking him for his generosity. Even then +I almost lost the true and wondrous meaning of the thing when I heard +his answer. For he cut Pavannes short with bitter caustic gibes, +spurned his proffered gratitude with insults, and replied to his +acknowledgments with threats. +</P> + +<P> +"Go! go!" he continued to cry violently. "Have I brought you so far +safely that you will cheat me of my vengeance at the last, and provoke +me to kill you? Away! and take these blind puppies with you! Reckon +me as much your enemy now as ever! And if I meet you, be sure you will +meet a foe! Begone, M. de Pavannes, begone!" +</P> + +<P> +"But, M. de Bezers," Louis persisted, "hear me. It takes two to—" +</P> + +<P> +"Begone! begone! before we do one another a mischief!" cried the +Vidame furiously. "Every word you say in that strain is an injury to +me. It robs me of my vengeance. Go! in God's name!" +</P> + +<P> +And we went; for there was no change, no promise of softening in his +malignant aspect as he spoke; nor any as he stood and watched us draw +off slowly from him. We went one by one, each lingering after the +other, striving, out of a natural desire to thank him, to break through +that stern reserve. But grim and unrelenting, a picture of scorn to +the last, he saw us go. +</P> + +<P> +My latest memory of that strange man—still fresh after a lapse of two +and fifty years—is of a huge form towering in the gloom below the +state canopy, the sunlight which poured in through the windows and +flooded us, falling short of him; of a pair of fierce cross eyes, that +seemed to glow as they covered us; of a lip that curled as in the +enjoyment of some cruel jest. And so I—and I think each of us four +saw the last of Raoul de Mar, Vidame de Bezers, in this life. +</P> + +<P> +He was a man whom we cannot judge by to-day's standard; for he was such +an one in his vices and his virtues as the present day does not know; +one who in his time did immense evil—and if his friends be believed, +little good. But the evil is forgotten; the good lives. And if all +that good save one act were buried with him, this one act alone, the +act of a French gentleman, would be told of him—ay! and will be +told—as long as the kingdom of France, and the gracious memory of the +late king, shall endure. +</P> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<P> +I see again by the simple process of shutting my eyes, the little party +of five—for Jean, our servant, had rejoined us—who on that summer day +rode over the hills to Caylus, threading the mazes of the holm-oaks, +and galloping down the rides, and hallooing the hare from her form, but +never pursuing her; arousing the nestling farmhouses from their sleepy +stillness by joyous shout and laugh, and sniffing, as we climbed the +hill-side again, the scent of the ferns that died crushed under our +horses' hoofs—died only that they might add one little pleasure more +to the happiness God had given us. Rare and sweet indeed are those few +days in life, when it seems that all creation lives only that we may +have pleasure in it, and thank God for it. It is well that we should +make the most of them, as we surely did of that day. +</P> + +<P> +It was nightfall when we reached the edge of the uplands, and looked +down on Caylus. The last rays of the sun lingered with us, but the +valley below was dark; so dark that even the rock about which our homes +clustered would have been invisible save for the half-dozen lights that +were beginning to twinkle into being on its summit. A silence fell +upon us as we slowly wended our way down the well-known path. +</P> + +<P> +All day long we had ridden in great joy; if thoughtless, yet innocent; +if selfish, yet thankful; and always blithely, with a great exultation +and relief at heart, a great rejoicing for our own sakes and for Kit's. +</P> + +<P> +Now with the nightfall and the darkness, now when we were near our +home, and on the eve of giving joy to another, we grew silent. There +arose other thoughts—thoughts of all that had happened since we had +last ascended that track; and so our minds turned naturally back to him +to whom we owed our happiness—to the giant left behind in his pride +and power and his loneliness. The others could think of him with full +hearts, yet without shame. But I reddened, reflecting how it would +have been with us if I had had my way; if I had resorted in my +shortsightedness to one last violent, cowardly deed, and killed him, as +I had twice wished to do. +</P> + +<P> +Pavannes would then have been lost almost certainly. Only the Vidame +with his powerful troop—we never knew whether he had gathered them for +that purpose or merely with an eye to his government—could have saved +him. And few men however powerful—perhaps Bezers only of all men in +Paris would have dared to snatch him from the mob when once it had +sighted him. I dwell on this now that my grandchildren may take +warning by it, though never will they see such days as I have seen. +</P> + +<P> +And so we clattered up the steep street of Caylus with a pleasant +melancholy upon us, and passed, not without a more serious thought, the +gloomy, frowning portals, all barred and shuttered, of the House of the +Wolf, and under the very window, sombre and vacant, from which Bezers +had incited the rabble in their attack on Pavannes' courier. We had +gone by day, and we came back by night. But we had gone trembling, and +we came back in joy. +</P> + +<P> +We did not need to ring the great bell. Jean's cry, "Ho! Gate there! +Open for my lords!" had scarcely passed his lips before we were +admitted. And ere we could mount the ramp, one person outran those who +came forth to see what the matter was; one outran Madame Claude, outran +old Gil, outran the hurrying servants, and the welcome of the house. I +saw a slender figure all in white break away from the little crowd and +dart towards us, disclosing as it reached me a face that seemed still +whiter than its robes, and yet a face that seemed all eyes—eyes that +asked the question the lips could not frame. +</P> + +<P> +I stood aside with a low bow, my hat in my hand; and said simply—it +was the great effect of my life—"VOILA Monsieur!" +</P> + +<P> +And then I saw the sun rise in a woman's face. +</P> + +<HR ALIGN="center" WIDTH="60%"> + +<P> +The Vidame de Bezers died as he had lived. He was still Governor of +Cahors when Henry the Great attacked it on the night of the 17th of +June, 1580. Taken by surprise and wounded in the first confusion of +the assault, he still defended himself and his charge with desperate +courage, fighting from street to street, and house to house for five +nights and as many days. While he lived Henry's destiny and the fate +of France trembled in the balance. But he fell at length, his brain +pierced by the ball of an arquebuse, and died an hour before sunset on +the 22nd of June. The garrison immediately surrendered. +</P> + +<P> +Marie and I were present in this action on the side of the King of +Navarre, and at the request of that prince hastened to pay such honours +to the body of the Vidame as were due to his renown and might serve to +evince our gratitude. A year later his remains were removed from +Cahors, and laid where they now rest in his own Abbey Church of Bezers, +under a monument which very briefly tells of his stormy life and his +valour. No matter. He has small need of a monument whose name lives +in the history of his country, and whose epitaph is written in the +lives of men. +</P> + +<P> +NOTE.—THE CHARACTER AND CONDUCT OF VIDAME DE BEZERS, AS THEY APPEAR IN +THE ABOVE MEMOIR FIND A PARALLEL IN AN ACCOUNT GIVEN BY DE THOU OF ONE +OF THE MOST REMARKABLE INCIDENTS IN THE MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW: +"AMID SUCH EXAMPLES," HE WRITES, "OF THE FEROCITY OF THE CITY, A THING +HAPPENED WORTHY TO BE RELATED, AND WHICH MAY PERHAPS IN SOME DEGREE +WEIGH AGAINST THESE ATROCITIES. THERE WAS A DEADLY HATRED, WHICH UP TO +THIS TIME THE INTERVENTION OF THEIR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS HAD FAILED +TO APPEASE, BETWEEN TWO MEN—VEZINS, THE LIEUTENANT OF HONORATUS OF +SAVOY, MARSHAL VILLARS, A MAN NOTABLE AMONG THE NOBILITY OF THE +PROVINCE FOR HIS VALOUR, BUT OBNOXIOUS TO MANY OWING TO HIS BRUTAL +DISPOSITION (ferina natura), AND REGNIER, A YOUNG MAN OF LIKE RANK AND +VIGOUR, BUT OF MILDER CHARACTER. WHEN REGNIER THEN, IN THE MIDDLE OF +THAT GREAT UPROAR, DEATH MEETING HIS EYE EVERYWHERE, WAS MAKING UP HIS +MIND TO THE WORST, HIS DOOR WAS SUDDENLY BURST OPEN, AND VEZINS, WITH +TWO OTHER MEN, STOOD BEFORE HIM SWORD IN HAND. UPON THIS REGNIER, +ASSURED OF DEATH, KNELT DOWN AND ASKED MERCY OF HEAVEN: BUT VEZINS IN +A HARSH VOICE BID HIM RISE FROM HIS PRAYERS AND MOUNT A PALFREY ALREADY +STANDING READY IN THE STREET FOR HIM. SO HE LED REGNIER—UNCERTAIN FOR +THE TIME WHITHER HE WAS BEING TAKEN—OUT OF THE CITY, AND PUT HIM ON +HIS HONOUR TO GO WITH HIM WITHOUT TRYING TO ESCAPE. AND TOGETHER, +WITHOUT PAUSING IN THEIR JOURNEY, THE TWO TRAVELLED ALL THE WAY TO +GUIENNE. DURING THIS TIME VEZINS HONOURED REGNIER WITH VERY LITTLE +CONVERSATION; BUT SO FAR CARED FOR HIM THAT FOOD WAS PREPARED FOR HIM +AT THE INNS BY HIS SERVANTS: AND SO THEY CAME TO QUERCY AND THE CASTLE +OF REGNIER. THERE VEZINS TURNED TO HIM AND SAID, "YOU KNOW HOW I HAVE +FOR A LONG TIME BACK SOUGHT TO AVENGE MYSELF ON YOU, AND HOW EASILY I +MIGHT NOW HAVE DONE IT TO THE FULL, HAD I BEEN WILLING TO USE THIS +OPPORTUNITY. BUT SHAME WOULD NOT SUFFER IT; AND BESIDES, YOUR COURAGE +SEEMED WORTHY TO BE SET AGAINST MINE ON EVEN TERMS. TAKE THEREFORE THE +LIFE WHICH YOU OWE TO MY KINDNESS." WITH MUCH MORE WHICH THE CURIOUS +WILL FIND IN THE 2ND (FOLIO) VOLUME OF DE THOU. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The House of the Wolf, by Stanley Weyman + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF *** + +***** This file should be named 2041-h.htm or 2041-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/4/2041/ + + + +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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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 House of the Wolf + A Romance + +Author: Stanley Weyman + +Posting Date: November 19, 2008 [EBook #2041] +Release Date: January, 2000 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF *** + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Note: + +In this Etext, text in italics has been written in capital letters. + +Many French words in the text have accents, etc. which have been +omitted. + + + + + +THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF + +A Romance + + +by + +STANLEY WEYMAN + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAP. + + I.--WARE WOLF! + II.--THE VIDAME'S THREAT. + III.--THE ROAD TO PARIS. + IV.--ENTRAPPED! + V.--A PRIEST AND A WOMAN. + VI.--MADAME'S FRIGHT. + VII.--A YOUNG KNIGHT ERRANT. + VIII.--THE PARISIAN MATINS. + IX.--THE HEAD OF ERASMUS. + X.--HAU, HAU, HUGUENOTS! + XI.--A NIGHT OF SORROW. + XII.--JOY IN THE MORNING. + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +The following is a modern English version of a curious French memoir, +or fragment of autobiography, apparently written about the year 1620 by +Anne, Vicomte de Caylus, and brought to this country--if, in fact, the +original ever existed in England--by one of his descendants after the +Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. This Anne, we learn from other +sources, was a principal figure at the Court of Henry IV., and, +therefore, in August, 1572, when the adventures here related took +place, he and his two younger brothers, Marie and Croisette, who shared +with him the honour and the danger, must have been little more than +boys. From the tone of his narrative, it appears that, in reviving old +recollections, the veteran renewed his youth also, and though his story +throws no fresh light upon the history of the time, it seems to possess +some human interest. + + + + +THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +WARE WOLF! + +I had afterwards such good reason to look back upon and remember the +events of that afternoon, that Catherine's voice seems to ring in my +brain even now. I can shut my eyes and see again, after all these +years, what I saw then--just the blue summer sky, and one grey angle of +the keep, from which a fleecy cloud was trailing like the smoke from a +chimney. I could see no more because I was lying on my back, my head +resting on my hands. Marie and Croisette, my brothers, were lying by me +in exactly the same posture, and a few yards away on the terrace, +Catherine was sitting on a stool Gil had brought out for her. It was +the second Thursday in August, and hot. Even the jackdaws were silent. +I had almost fallen asleep, watching my cloud grow longer and longer, +and thinner and thinner, when Croisette, who cared for heat no more +than a lizard, spoke up sharply, "Mademoiselle," he said, "why are you +watching the Cahors road?" + +I had not noticed that she was doing so. But something in the keenness +of Croisette's tone, taken perhaps with the fact that Catherine did not +at once answer him, aroused me; and I turned to her. And lo! she was +blushing in the most heavenly way, and her eyes were full of tears, and +she looked at us adorably. And we all three sat up on our elbows, like +three puppy dogs, and looked at her. And there was a long silence. +And then she said quite simply to us, "Boys, I am going to be married +to M. de Pavannes." + +I fell flat on my back and spread out my arms. "Oh, Mademoiselle!" I +cried reproachfully. + +"Oh, Mademoiselle!" cried Marie. And he fell flat on his back, and +spread out his arms and moaned. He was a good brother, was Marie, and +obedient. + +And Croisette cried, "Oh, mademoiselle!" too. But he was always +ridiculous in his ways. He fell flat on his back, and flopped his arms +and squealed like a pig. + +Yet he was sharp. It was he who first remembered our duty, and went to +Catherine, cap in hand, where she sat half angry and half confused, and +said with a fine redness in his cheeks, "Mademoiselle de Caylus, our +cousin, we give you joy, and wish you long life; and are your servants, +and the good friends and aiders of M. de Pavannes in all quarrels, as--" + +But I could not stand that. "Not so fast, St. Croix de Caylus" I said, +pushing him aside--he was ever getting before me in those days--and +taking his place. Then with my best bow I began, "Mademoiselle, we +give you joy and long life, and are your servants and the good friends +and aiders of M. de Pavannes in all quarrels, as--as--" + +"As becomes the cadets of your house," suggested Croisette, softly. + +"As becomes the cadets of your house," I repeated. And then Catherine +stood up and made me a low bow and we all kissed her hand in turn, +beginning with me and ending with Croisette, as was becoming. +Afterwards Catherine threw her handkerchief over her face--she was +crying--and we three sat down, Turkish fashion, just where we were, and +said "Oh, Kit!" very softly. + +But presently Croisette had something to add. "What will the Wolf +say?" he whispered to me. + +"Ah! To be sure!" I exclaimed aloud. I had been thinking of myself +before; but this opened quite another window. "What will the Vidame +say, Kit?" + +She dropped her kerchief from her face, and turned so pale that I was +sorry I had spoken--apart from the kick Croisette gave me. "Is M. de +Bezers at his house?" she asked anxiously. + +"Yes," Croisette answered. "He came in last night from St. Antonin, +with very small attendance." + +The news seemed to set her fears at rest instead of augmenting them as +I should have expected. I suppose they were rather for Louis de +Pavannes, than for herself. Not unnaturally, too, for even the Wolf +could scarcely have found it in his heart to hurt our cousin. Her +slight willowy figure, her pale oval face and gentle brown eyes, her +pleasant voice, her kindness, seemed to us boys and in those days, to +sum up all that was womanly. We could not remember, not even Croisette +the youngest of us--who was seventeen, a year junior to Marie and +myself--we were twins--the time when we had not been in love with her. + +But let me explain how we four, whose united ages scarce exceeded +seventy years, came to be lounging on the terrace in the holiday +stillness of that afternoon. It was the summer of 1572. The great +peace, it will be remembered, between the Catholics and the Huguenots +had not long been declared; the peace which in a day or two was to be +solemnized, and, as most Frenchmen hoped, to be cemented by the +marriage of Henry of Navarre with Margaret of Valois, the King's +sister. The Vicomte de Caylus, Catherine's father and our guardian, +was one of the governors appointed to see the peace enforced; the +respect in which he was held by both parties--he was a Catholic, but no +bigot, God rest his soul!--recommending him for this employment. He +had therefore gone a week or two before to Bayonne, his province. Most +of our neighbours in Quercy were likewise from home, having gone to +Paris to be witnesses on one side or the other of the royal wedding. +And consequently we young people, not greatly checked by the presence +of good-natured, sleepy Madame Claude, Catherine's duenna, were +disposed to make the most of our liberty; and to celebrate the peace in +our own fashion. + +We were country-folk. Not one of us had been to Pau, much less to +Paris. The Vicomte held stricter views than were common then, upon +young people's education; and though we had learned to ride and shoot, +to use our swords and toss a hawk, and to read and write, we knew +little more than Catherine herself of the world; little more of the +pleasures and sins of court life, and not one-tenth as much as she did +of its graces. Still she had taught us to dance and make a bow. Her +presence had softened our manners; and of late we had gained something +from the frank companionship of Louis de Pavannes, a Huguenot whom the +Vicomte had taken prisoner at Moncontour and held to ransom. We were +not, I think, mere clownish yokels. + +But we were shy. We disliked and shunned strangers. And when old Gil +appeared suddenly, while we were still chewing the melancholy cud of +Kit's announcement, and cried sepulchrally, "M. le Vidame de Bezers to +pay his respects to Mademoiselle!"--Well, there was something like a +panic, I confess! + +We scrambled to our feet, muttering, "The Wolf!" The entrance at +Caylus is by a ramp rising from the gateway to the level of the +terrace. This sunken way is fenced by low walls so that one may +not--when walking on the terrace--fall into it. Gil had spoken before +his head had well risen to view, and this gave us a moment, just a +moment. Croisette made a rush for the doorway into the house; but +failed to gain it, and drew himself up behind a buttress of the tower, +his finger on his lip. I am slow sometimes, and Marie waited for me, +so that we had barely got to our legs--looking, I dare say, awkward and +ungainly enough--before the Vidame's shadow fell darkly on the ground +at Catherine's feet. + +"Mademoiselle!" he said, advancing to her through the sunshine, and +bending over her slender hand with a magnificent grace that was born of +his size and manner combined, "I rode in late last night from Toulouse; +and I go to-morrow to Paris. I have but rested and washed off the +stains of travel that I may lay my--ah!" + +He seemed to see us for the first time and negligently broke off in his +compliment; raising himself and saluting us. "Ah," he continued +indolently, "two of the maidens of Caylus, I see. With an odd pair of +hands apiece, unless I am mistaken, Why do you not set them spinning, +Mademoiselle?" and he regarded us with that smile which--with other +things as evil--had made him famous. + +Croisette pulled horrible faces behind his back. We looked hotly at +him; but could find nothing to say. + +"You grow red!" he went on, pleasantly--the wretch!--playing with us +as a cat does with mice. "It offends your dignity, perhaps, that I bid +Mademoiselle set you spinning? I now would spin at Mademoiselle's +bidding, and think it happiness!" + +"We are not girls!" I blurted out, with the flush and tremor of a +boy's passion. "You had not called my godfather, Anne de Montmorenci a +girl, M. le Vidame!" For though we counted it a joke among ourselves +that we all bore girls' names, we were young enough to be sensitive +about it. + +He shrugged his shoulders. And how he dwarfed us all as he stood there +dominating our terrace! "M. de Montmorenci was a man," he said +scornfully. "M. Anne de Caylus is--" + +And the villain deliberately turned his great back upon us, taking his +seat on the low wall near Catherine's chair. It was clear even to our +vanity that he did not think us worth another word--that we had passed +absolutely from his mind. Madame Claude came waddling out at the same +moment, Gil carrying a chair behind her. And we--well we slunk away +and sat on the other side of the terrace, whence we could still glower +at the offender. + +Yet who were we to glower at him? To this day I shake at the thought +of him. It was not so much his height and bulk, though he was so big +that the clipped pointed fashion of his beard a fashion then new at +court--seemed on him incongruous and effeminate; nor so much the +sinister glance of his grey eyes--he had a slight cast in them; nor the +grim suavity of his manner, and the harsh threatening voice that +permitted of no disguise. It was the sum of these things, the great +brutal presence of the man--that was overpowering--that made the great +falter and the poor crouch. And then his reputation! Though we knew +little of the world's wickedness, all we did know had come to us linked +with his name. We had heard of him as a duellist, as a bully, an +employer of bravos. At Jarnac he had been the last to turn from the +shambles. Men called him cruel and vengeful even for those days--gone +by now, thank God!--and whispered his name when they spoke of +assassinations; saying commonly of him that he would not blench before +a Guise, nor blush before the Virgin. + +Such was our visitor and neighbour, Raoul de Mar, Vidame de Bezers. As +he sat on the terrace, now eyeing us askance, and now paying Catherine +a compliment, I likened him to a great cat before which a butterfly has +all unwittingly flirted her prettiness. Poor Catherine! No doubt she +had her own reasons for uneasiness; more reasons I fancy than I then +guessed. For she seemed to have lost her voice. She stammered and +made but poor replies; and Madame Claude being deaf and stupid, and we +boys too timid after the rebuff we had experienced to fill the gap, the +conversation languished. The Vidame was not for his part the man to +put himself out on a hot day. + +It was after one of these pauses--not the first but the longest--that I +started on finding his eyes fixed on mine. More, I shivered. It is +hard to describe, but there was a look in the Vidame's eyes at that +moment which I had never seen before. A look of pain almost: of dumb +savage alarm at any rate. From me they passed slowly to Marie and +mutely interrogated him. Then the Vidame's glance travelled back to +Catherine, and settled on her. + +Only a moment before she had been but too conscious of his presence. +Now, as it chanced by bad luck, or in the course of Providence, +something had drawn her attention elsewhere. She was unconscious of +his regard. Her own eyes were fixed in a far-away gaze. Her colour +was high, her lips were parted, her bosom heaved gently. + +The shadow deepened on the Vidame's face. Slowly he took his eyes from +hers, and looked northwards also. + +Caylus Castle stands on a rock in the middle of the narrow valley of +that name. The town clusters about the ledges of the rock so closely +that when I was a boy I could fling a stone clear of the houses. The +hills are scarcely five hundred yards distant on either side, rising in +tamer colours from the green fields about the brook. It is possible +from the terrace to see the whole valley, and the road which passes +through it lengthwise. Catherine's eyes were on the northern extremity +of the defile, where the highway from Cahors descends from the uplands. +She had been sitting with her face turned that way all the afternoon. + +I looked that way too. A solitary horseman was descending the steep +track from the hills. + +"Mademoiselle!" cried the Vidame suddenly. We all looked up. His tone +was such that the colour fled from Kit's face. There was something in +his voice she had never heard in any voice before--something that to a +woman was like a blow. "Mademoiselle," he snarled, "is expecting news +from Cahors, from her lover. I have the honour to congratulate M. de +Pavannes on his conquest." + +Ah! he had guessed it! As the words fell on the sleepy silence, an +insult in themselves, I sprang to my feet, amazed and angry, yet +astounded by his quickness of sight and wit. He must have recognized +the Pavannes badge at that distance. "M. le Vidame," I said +indignantly--Catherine was white and voiceless--"M. le Vidame--" but +there I stopped and faltered stammering. For behind him I could see +Croisette; and Croisette gave me no sign of encouragement or support. + +So we stood face to face for a moment; the boy and the man of the +world, the stripling and the ROUE. Then the Vidame bowed to me in +quite a new fashion. "M. Anne de Caylus desires to answer for M. de +Pavannes?" he asked smoothly; with a mocking smoothness. + +I understood what he meant. But something prompted me--Croisette said +afterwards that it was a happy thought, though now I know the crisis to +have been less serious than he fancied to answer, "Nay, not for M. de +Pavannes. Rather for my cousin." And I bowed. "I have the honour on +her behalf to acknowledge your congratulations, M. le Vidame. It +pleases her that our nearest neighbour should also be the first outside +the family to wish her well. You have divined truly in supposing that +she will shortly be united to M. de Pavannes." + +I suppose--for I saw the giant's colour change and his lip quiver as I +spoke--that his previous words had been only a guess. For a moment the +devil seemed to be glaring through his eyes; and he looked at Marie and +me as a wild animal at its keepers. Yet he maintained his cynical +politeness in part. "Mademoiselle desires my congratulations?" he +said, slowly, labouring with each word it seemed. "She shall have them +on the happy day. She shall certainly have them then. But these are +troublous times. And Mademoiselle's betrothed is I think a Huguenot, +and has gone to Paris. Paris--well, the air of Paris is not good for +Huguenots, I am told." + +I saw Catherine shiver; indeed she was on the point of fainting, I +broke in rudely, my passion getting the better of my fears. "M. de +Pavannes can take care of himself, believe me," I said brusquely. + +"Perhaps so," Bezers answered, his voice like the grating of steel on +steel. "But at any rate this will be a memorable day for Mademoiselle. +The day on which she receives her first congratulations--she will +remember it as long as she lives! Oh, yes, I will answer for that, M. +Anne," he said looking brightly at one and another of us, his eyes more +oblique than ever, "Mademoiselle will remember it, I am sure!" + +It would be impossible to describe the devilish glance he flung at the +poor sinking girl as he withdrew, the horrid emphasis he threw into +those last words, the covert deadly threat they conveyed to the dullest +ears. That he went then, was small mercy. He had done all the evil he +could do at present. If his desire had been to leave fear behind him, +he had certainly succeeded. + +Kit crying softly went into the house; her innocent coquetry more than +sufficiently punished already. And we three looked at one another with +blank faces, It was clear that we had made a dangerous enemy, and an +enemy at our own gates. As the Vidame had said, these were troublous +times when things were done to men--ay, and to women and +children--which we scarce dare to speak of now. "I wish the Vicomte +were here," Croisette said uneasily after we had discussed several +unpleasant contingencies. + +"Or even Malines the steward," I suggested. + +"He would not be much good," replied Croisette. + +"And he is at St. Antonin, and will not be back this week. Father +Pierre too is at Albi." + +"You do not think," said Marie, "that he will attack us?" + +"Certainly not!" Croisette retorted with contempt. "Even the Vidame +would not dare to do that in time of peace. Besides, he has not half a +score of men here," continued the lad, shrewdly, "and counting old Gil +and ourselves we have as many. And Pavannes always said that three men +could hold the gate at the bottom of the ramp against a score. Oh, he +will not try that!" + +"Certainly not!" I agreed. And so we crushed Marie. "But for Louis de +Pavannes--" + +Catherine interrupted me. She came out quickly looking a different +person; her face flushed with anger, her tears dried. + +"Anne!" she cried, imperiously, "what is the matter down below--will +you see?" + +I had no difficulty in doing that. All the sounds of town life came up +to us on the terrace. Lounging there we could hear the chaffering over +the wheat measures in the cloisters of the market-square, the yell of a +dog, the voice of a scold, the church bell, the watchman's cry. I had +only to step to the wall to overlook it all. On this summer afternoon +the town had been for the most part very quiet. If we had not been +engaged in our own affairs we should have taken the alarm before, +remarking in the silence the first beginnings of what was now a very +respectable tumult. It swelled louder even as we stepped to the wall. + +We could see--a bend in the street laying it open--part of the Vidame's +house; the gloomy square hold which had come to him from his mother. +His own chateau of Bezers lay far away in Franche Comte, but of late he +had shown a preference--Catherine could best account for it, +perhaps--for this mean house in Caylus. It was the only house in the +town which did not belong to us. It was known as the House of the +Wolf, and was a grim stone building surrounding a courtyard. Rows of +wolves' heads carved in stone flanked the windows, whence their bare +fangs grinned day and night at the church porch opposite. + +The noise drew our eyes in this direction; and there lolling in a +window over the door, looking out on the street with a laughing eye, +was Bezers himself. The cause of his merriment--we had not far to look +for it--was a horseman who was riding up the street under difficulties. +He was reining in his steed--no easy task on that steep greasy +pavement--so as to present some front to a score or so of ragged knaves +who were following close at his heels, hooting and throwing mud and +pebbles at him. The man had drawn his sword, and his oaths came up to +us, mingled with shrill cries of "VIVE LA MESSE!" and half drowned by +the clattering of the horse's hoofs. We saw a stone strike him in the +face, and draw blood, and heard him swear louder than before. + +"Oh!" cried Catherine, clasping her hands with a sudden shriek of +indignation, "my letter! They will get my letter!" + +"Death!" exclaimed Croisette, "She is right! It is M. de Pavannes' +courier! This must be stopped! We cannot stand this, Anne!" + +"They shall pay dearly for it, by our Lady!" I cried swearing myself. +"And in peace time too--the villains! Gil! Francis!" I shouted, +"where are you?" + +And I looked round for my fowling piece, while Croisette jumped on the +wall, and forming a trumpet with his hands, shrieked at the top of his +voice, "Back! he bears a letter from the Vicomte!" + +But the device did not succeed, and I could not find my gun. For a +moment we were helpless, and before I could have fetched the gun from +the house, the horseman and the hooting rabble at his heels, had turned +a corner and were hidden by the roofs. + +Another turn however would bring them out in front of the gateway, and +seeing this we hurried down the ramp to meet them. I stayed a moment to +tell Gil to collect the servants, and, this keeping me, Croisette +reached the narrow street outside before me. As I followed him I was +nearly knocked down by the rider, whose face was covered with, dirt and +blood, while fright had rendered his horse unmanageable. Darting aside +I let him pass--he was blinded and could not see me--and then found +that Croisette--brave lad! had collared the foremost of the ruffians, +and was beating him with his sheathed sword, while the rest of the +rabble stood back, ashamed, yet sullen, and with anger in their eyes. +A dangerous crew, I thought; not townsmen, most of them. + +"Down with the Huguenots!" cried one, as I appeared, one bolder than +the rest. + +"Down with the CANAILLE!" I retorted, sternly eyeing the ill-looking +ring. "Will you set yourselves above the king's peace, dirt that you +are? Go back to your kennels!" + +The words were scarcely out of my mouth, before I saw that the fellow +whom Croisette was punishing had got hold of a dagger. I shouted a +warning, but it came too late. The blade fell, and--thanks to +God--striking the buckle of the lad's belt, glanced off harmless. I +saw the steel flash up again--saw the spite in the man's eyes: but +this time I was a step nearer, and before the weapon fell, I passed my +sword clean through the wretch's body. He went down like a log, +Croisette falling with him, held fast by his stiffening fingers. + +I had never killed a man before, nor seen a man die; and if I had +stayed to think about it, I should have fallen sick perhaps. But it +was no time for thought; no time for sickness. The crowd were close +upon us, a line of flushed threatening faces from wall to wall. A +single glance downwards told me that the man was dead, and I set my +foot upon his neck. "Hounds! Beasts!" I cried, not loudly this time, +for though I was like one possessed with rage, it was inward rage, "go +to your kennels! Will you dare to raise a hand against a Caylus? +Go--or when the Vicomte returns, a dozen of you shall hang in the +market-place!" + +I suppose I looked fierce enough--I know I felt no fear, only a strange +exaltation--for they slunk away. Unwillingly, but with little delay +the group melted, Bezers' following--of whom I knew the dead man was +one--the last to go. While I still glared at them, lo! the street was +empty; the last had disappeared round the bend. I turned to find Gil +and half-a-dozen servants standing with pale faces at my back. +Croisette seized my hand with a sob. "Oh, my lord," cried Gil, +quaveringly. But I shook one off, I frowned at the other. + +"Take up this carrion!" I said, touching it with my foot, "And hang it +from the justice-elm. And then close the gates! See to it, knaves, +and lose no time." + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE VIDAME'S THREAT. + +Croisette used to tell a story, of the facts of which I have no +remembrance, save as a bad dream. He would have it that I left my +pallet that night--I had one to myself in the summer, being the eldest, +while he and Marie slept on another in the same room--and came to him +and awoke him, sobbing and shaking and clutching him; and begging him +in a fit of terror not to let me go. And that so I slept in his arms +until morning. But as I have said, I do not remember anything of this, +only that I had an ugly dream that night, and that when I awoke I was +lying with him and Marie; so I cannot say whether it really happened. + +At any rate, if I had any feeling of the kind it did not last long; on +the contrary--it would be idle to deny it--I was flattered by the +sudden respect, Gil and the servants showed me. What Catherine thought +of the matter I could not tell. She had her letter and apparently +found it satisfactory. At any rate we saw nothing of her. Madame +Claude was busy boiling simples, and tending the messenger's hurts. +And it seemed natural that I should take command. + +There could be no doubt--at any rate we had none that the assault on +the courier had taken place at the Vidame's instance. The only wonder +was that he had not simply cut his throat and taken the letter. But +looking back now it seems to me that grown men mingled some +childishness with their cruelty in those days--days when the religious +wars had aroused our worst passions. It was not enough to kill an +enemy. It pleased people to make--I speak literally--a football of his +head, to throw his heart to the dogs. And no doubt it had fallen in +with the Vidame's grim humour that the bearer of Pavannes' first love +letter should enter his mistress's presence, bleeding and plaistered +with mud. And that the riff-raff about our own gates should have part +in the insult. + +Bezers' wrath would be little abated by the issue of the affair, or the +justice I had done on one of his men. So we looked well to bolts, and +bars, and windows, although the castle is well-nigh impregnable, the +smooth rock falling twenty feet at least on every side from the base of +the walls. The gatehouse, Pavannes had shown us, might be blown up +with gunpowder indeed, but we prepared to close the iron grating which +barred the way half-way up the ramp. This done, even if the enemy +should succeed in forcing an entrance he would only find himself caught +in a trap--in a steep, narrow way exposed to a fire from the top of the +flanking walls, as well as from the front. We had a couple of +culverins, which the Vicomte had got twenty years before, at the time +of the battle of St. Quentin. We fixed one of these at the head of the +ramp, and placed the other on the terrace, where by moving it a few +paces forward we could train it on Bezers' house, which thus lay at our +mercy. + +Not that we really expected an attack. But we did not know what to +expect or what to fear. We had not ten servants, the Vicomte having +taken a score of the sturdiest lackeys and keepers to attend him at +Bayonne. And we felt immensely responsible. Our main hope was that +the Vidame would at once go on to Paris, and postpone his vengeance. +So again and again we cast longing glances at the House of the Wolf +hoping that each symptom of bustle heralded his departure. + +Consequently it was a shock to me, and a great downfall of hopes, when +Gil with a grave face came to me on the terrace and announced that M. +le Vidame was at the gate, asking to see Mademoiselle. + +"It is out of the question that he should see her," the old servant +added, scratching his head in grave perplexity. + +"Most certainly. I will see him instead," I answered stoutly. "Do you +leave Francis and another at the gate, Gil. Marie, keep within sight, +lad. And let Croisette stay with me." + +These preparations made--and they took up scarcely a moment--I met the +Vidame at the head of the ramp. "Mademoiselle de Caylus," I said, +bowing, "is, I regret to say, indisposed to-day, Vidame." + +"She will not see me?" he asked, eyeing me very unpleasantly. + +"Her indisposition deprives her of the pleasure," I answered with an +effort. He was certainly a wonderful man, for at sight of him, +three-fourths of my courage, and all my importance, oozed out at the +heels of my boots. + +"She will not see me. Very well," he replied, as if I had not spoken. +And the simple words sounded like a sentence of death. "Then, M. Anne, +I have a crow to pick with you. What compensation do you propose to +make for the death of my servant? A decent, quiet fellow, whom you +killed yesterday, poor man, because his enthusiasm for the true faith +carried him away a little." + +"Whom I killed because he drew a dagger on M. St. Croix de Caylus at +the Vicomte's gate," I answered steadily. I had thought about this of +course and was ready for it. "You are aware, M. de Bezers," I +continued, "that the Vicomte has jurisdiction extending to life and +death over all persons within the valley?" + +"My household excepted," he rejoined quietly. + +"Precisely; while they are within the curtilage of your house," I +retorted. "However as the punishment was summary, and the man had no +time to confess himself, I am willing to--" + +"Well?" + +"To pay Father Pierre to say ten masses for his soul." + +The way the Vidame received this surprised me. He broke into +boisterous laughter. "By our Lady, my friend," he cried with rough +merriment, "but you are a joker! You are indeed. Masses? Why the man +was a Protestant!" + +And that startled me more than anything which had gone before; more +indeed than I can explain. For it seemed to prove that this man, +laughing his unholy laugh was not like other men. He did not pick and +choose his servants for their religion. He was sure that the Huguenot +would stone his fellow at his bidding; the Catholic cry "Vive Coligny!" +I was so completely taken aback that I found no words to answer him, +and it was Croisette who said smartly, "Then how about his enthusiasm +for the true faith, M. le Vidame?" + +"The true faith," he answered--"for my servants is my faith." Then a +thought seemed to strike him. "What is more." he continued slowly, +"that it is the true and only faith for all, thousands will learn +before the world is ten days older. Bear my words in mind, boy! They +will come back to you. And now hear me," he went on in his usual tone, +"I am anxious to accommodate a neighbour. It goes without saying that +I would not think of putting you, M. Anne, to any trouble for the sake +of that rascal of mine. But my people will expect something. Let the +plaguy fellow who caused all this disturbance be given up to me, that I +may hang him; and let us cry quits." + +"That is impossible!" I answered coolly. I had no need to ask what he +meant. Give up Pavannes' messenger indeed! Never! + +He regarded me--unmoved by my refusal--with a smile under which I +chafed, while I was impotent to resent it. "Do not build too much on a +single blow, young gentleman," he said, shaking his head waggishly. "I +had fought a dozen times when I was your age. However, I understand +that you refuse to give me satisfaction?" + +"In the mode you mention, certainly," I replied. "But--" + +"Bah!" he exclaimed with a sneer, "business first and pleasure +afterwards! Bezers will obtain satisfaction in his own way, I promise +you that! And at his own time. And it will not be on unfledged +bantlings like you. But what is this for?" And he rudely kicked the +culverin which apparently he had not noticed before, "So! so! +understand," he continued, casting a sharp glance at one and another of +us. "You looked to be besieged! Why you, booby, there is the shoot of +your kitchen midden, twenty feet above the roof of old Fretis' store! +And open, I will be sworn! Do you think that I should have come this +way while there was a ladder in Caylus! Did you take the wolf for a +sheep?" + +With that he turned on his heel, swaggering away in the full enjoyment +of his triumph. For a triumph it was. We stood stunned; ashamed to +look one another in the face. Of course the shoot was open. We +remembered now that it was, and we were so sorely mortified by his +knowledge and our folly, that I failed in my courtesy, and did not see +him to the gate, as I should have done. We paid for that later. + +"He is the devil in person!" I exclaimed angrily, shaking my fist at +the House of the Wolf, as I strode up and down impatiently. "I hate +him worse!" + +"So do I!" said Croisette, mildly. "But that he hates us is a matter +of more importance. At any rate we will close the shoot." + +"Wait a moment!" I replied, as after another volley of complaints +directed at our visitor, the lad was moving off to see to it. "What is +going on down there?" + +"Upon my word, I believe he is leaving us!" Croisette rejoined sharply. + +For there was a noise of hoofs below us, clattering on the pavement. +Half-a-dozen horsemen were issuing from the House of the Wolf, the ring +of their bridles and the sound of their careless voices coming up to us +through the clear morning air Bezers' valet, whom we knew by sight, was +the last of them. He had a pair of great saddle-bags before him, and +at sight of these we uttered a glad exclamation. "He is going!" I +murmured, hardly able to believe my eyes. "He is going after all!" + +"Wait!" Croisette answered drily. + +But I was right. We had not to wait long. He WAS going. In another +moment he came out himself, riding a strong iron-grey horse: and we +could see that he had holsters to his saddle. His steward was running +beside him, to take I suppose his last orders. A cripple, whom the +bustle had attracted from his usual haunt, the church porch, held up +his hand for alms. The Vidame as he passed, cut him savagely across +the face with his whip, and cursed him audibly. + +"May the devil take him!" exclaimed Croisette in just rage. But I +said nothing, remembering that the cripple was a particular pet of +Catherine's. I thought instead of an occasion, not so very long ago, +when the Vicomte being at home, we had had a great hawking party. +Bezers and Catherine had ridden up the street together, and Catherine +giving the cripple a piece of money, Bezers had flung to him all his +share of the game. And my heart sank. + +Only for a moment, however. The man was gone; or was going at any +rate. We stood silent and motionless, all watching, until, after what +seemed a long interval, the little party of seven became visible on the +white road far below us--to the northward, and moving in that +direction. Still we watched them, muttering a word to one another, now +and again, until presently the riders slackened their pace, and began +to ascend the winding track that led to the hills and Cahors; and to +Paris also, if one went far enough. + +Then at length with a loud "Whoop!" we dashed across the terrace, +Croisette leading, and so through the courtyard to the parlour; where +we arrived breathless. "He is off!" Croisette cried shrilly. "He has +started for Paris! And bad luck go with him!" And we all flung up our +caps and shouted. + +But no answer, such as we expected, came from the women folk. When we +picked up our caps, and looked at Catherine, feeling rather foolish, +she was staring at us with a white face and great scornful eyes. +"Fools!" she said. "Fools!" + +And that was all. But it was enough to take me aback. I had looked to +see her face lighten at our news; instead it wore an expression I had +never seen on it before. Catherine, so kind and gentle, calling us +fools! And without cause! I did not understand it. I turned +confusedly to Croisette. He was looking at her, and I saw that he was +frightened. As for Madame Claude, she was crying in the corner. A +presentiment of evil made my heart sink like lead. What had happened? + +"Fools!" my cousin repeated with exceeding bitterness, her foot +tapping the parquet unceasingly. "Do you think he would have stooped +to avenge himself on YOU? On you! Or that he could hurt me one +hundredth part as much here as--as--" She broke off stammering. Her +scorn faltered for an instant. "Bah! he is a man! He knows!" she +exclaimed superbly, her chin in the air, "but you are boys. You do not +understand!" + +I looked amazedly at this angry woman. I had a difficulty in +associating her with my cousin. As for Croisette, he stepped forward +abruptly, and picked up a white object which was lying at her feet. + +"Yes, read it!" she cried, "read it! Ah!" and she clenched her +little hand, and in her passion struck the oak table beside her, so +that a stain of blood sprang out on her knuckles. "Why did you not +kill him? Why did you not do it when you had the chance? You were +three to one," she hissed. "You had him in your power! You could have +killed him, and you did not! Now he will kill me!" + +Madame Claude muttered something tearfully; something about Pavannes +and the saints. I looked over Croisette's shoulder, and read the +letter. It began abruptly without any term of address, and ran thus, +"I have a mission in Paris, Mademoiselle, which admits of no delay, +your mission, as well as my own--to see Pavannes. You have won his +heart. It is yours, and I will bring it you, or his right hand in +token that he has yielded up his claim to yours. And to this I pledge +myself." + +The thing bore no signature. It was written in some red fluid--blood +perhaps--a mean and sorry trick! On the outside was scrawled a +direction to Mademoiselle de Caylus. And the packet was sealed with +the Vidame's crest, a wolf's head. + +"The coward! the miserable coward!" Croisette cried. He was the +first to read the meaning of the thing. And his eyes were full of +tears--tears of rage. + +For me I was angry exceedingly. My veins seemed full of fire, as I +comprehended the mean cruelty which could thus torture a girl. + +"Who delivered this?" I thundered. "Who gave it to Mademoiselle? How +did it reach her hands? Speak, some one!" + +A maid, whimpering in the background, said that Francis had given it to +her to hand to Mademoiselle. + +I ground my teeth together, while Marie, unbidden, left the room to +seek Francis--and a stirrup leather. The Vidame had brought the note +in his pocket no doubt, rightly expecting that he would not get an +audience of my cousin. Returning to the gate alone he had seen his +opportunity, and given the note to Francis, probably with a small fee +to secure its transmission. + +Croisette and I looked at one another, apprehending all this. "He will +sleep at Cahors to-night," I said sullenly. + +The lad shook his head and answered in a low voice, "I am afraid not. +His horses are fresh. I think he will push on. He always travels +quickly. And now you know--" + +I nodded, understanding only too well. + +Catherine had flung herself into a chair. Her arms lay nerveless on +the table. Her face was hidden in them. But now, overhearing us, or +stung by some fresh thought, she sprang to her feet in anguish. Her +face twitched, her form seemed to stiffen as she drew herself up like +one in physical pain. "Oh, I cannot bear it!" she cried to us in +dreadful tones. "Oh, will no one do anything? I will go to him! I +will tell him I will give him up! I will do whatever he wishes if he +will only spare him!" + +Croisette went from the room crying. It was a dreadful sight for +us--this girl in agony. And it was impossible to reassure her! Not one +of us doubted the horrible meaning of the note, its covert threat. +Civil wars and religious hatred, and I fancy Italian modes of thought, +had for the time changed our countrymen to beasts. Far more dreadful +things were done then than this which Bezers threatened--even if he +meant it literally--far more dreadful things were suffered. But in the +fiendish ingenuity of his vengeance on her, the helpless, loving woman, +I thought Raoul de Bezers stood alone. Alas! it fares ill with the +butterfly when the cat has struck it down. Ill indeed! + +Madame Claude rose and put her arms round the girl, dismissing me by a +gesture. I went out, passing through two or three scared servants, and +made at once for the terrace. I felt as if I could only breathe there. +I found Marie and St. Croix together, silent, the marks of tears on +their faces. Our eyes met and they told one tale. + +We all spoke at the same time. "When?" we said. But the others +looked to me for an answer. + +I was somewhat sobered by that, and paused to consider before I +replied. "At daybreak to-morrow," I decided presently. "It is an hour +after noon already. We want money, and the horses are out. It will +take an hour to bring them in. After that we might still reach Cahors +to-night, perhaps; but more haste less speed you know. At daybreak +to-morrow we will start." + +They nodded assent. + +It was a great thing we meditated. No less than to go to Paris--the +unknown city so far beyond the hills--and seek out M. de Pavannes, and +warn him. It would be a race between the Vidame and ourselves; a race +for the life of Kit's suitor. Could we reach Paris first, or even +within twenty-four hours of Bezers' arrival, we should in all +probability be in time, and be able to put Pavannes on his guard. It +had been the first thought of all of us, to take such men as we could +get together and fall upon Bezers wherever we found him, making it our +simple object to kill him. But the lackeys M. le Vicomte had left with +us, the times being peaceful and the neighbours friendly, were +poor-spirited fellows. Bezers' handful, on the contrary, were reckless +Swiss riders--like master, like men. We decided that it would be wiser +simply to warn Pavannes, and then stand by him if necessary. + +We might have despatched a messenger. But our servants--Gil excepted, +and he was too old to bear the journey--were ignorant of Paris. Nor +could any one of them be trusted with a mission so delicate. We +thought of Pavannes' courier indeed. But he was a Rochellois, and a +stranger to the capital. There was nothing for it but to go ourselves. + +Yet we did not determine on this adventure with light hearts, I +remember. Paris loomed big and awesome in the eyes of all of us. The +glamour of the court rather frightened than allured us. We felt that +shrinking from contact with the world which a country life engenders, +as well as that dread of seeming unlike other people which is peculiar +to youth. It was a great plunge, and a dangerous which we meditated. +And we trembled. If we had known more--especially of the future--we +should have trembled more. + +But we were young, and with our fears mingled a delicious excitement. +We were going on an adventure of knight errantry in which we might win +our spurs. We were going to see the world and play men's parts in it! +to save a friend and make our mistress happy! + +We gave our orders. But we said nothing to Catherine or Madame Claude; +merely bidding Gil tell them after our departure. We arranged for the +immediate despatch of a message to the Vicomte at Bayonne, and charged +Gil until he should hear from him to keep the gates closed, and look +well to the shoot of the kitchen midden. Then, when all was ready, we +went to our pallets, but it was with hearts throbbing with excitement +and wakeful eyes. + +"Anne! Anne!" said Croisette, rising on his elbow and speaking to me +some three hours later, "what do you think the Vidame meant this +morning when he said that about the ten days?" + +"What about the ten days?" I asked peevishly. He had roused me just +when I was at last falling asleep. + +"About the world seeing that his was the true faith--in ten days?" + +"I am sure I do not know. For goodness' sake let us go to sleep," I +replied. For I had no patience with Croisette, talking such nonsense, +when we had our own business to think about. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE ROAD TO PARIS. + +The sun had not yet risen above the hills when we three with a single +servant behind us drew rein at the end of the valley; and easing our +horses on the ascent, turned in the saddle to take a last look at +Caylus--at the huddled grey town, and the towers above it. A little +thoughtful we all were, I think. The times were rough and our errand +was serious. But youth and early morning are fine dispellers of care; +and once on the uplands we trotted gaily forward, now passing through +wide glades in the sparse oak forest, where the trees all leaned one +way, now over bare, wind-swept downs; or once and again descending into +a chalky bottom, where the stream bubbled through deep beds of fern, +and a lonely farmhouse nestled amid orchards. + +Four hours' riding, and we saw below us Cahors, filling the bend of the +river. We cantered over the Vallandre Bridge, which there crosses the +Lot, and so to my uncle's house of call in the square. Here we ordered +breakfast, and announced with pride that we were going to Paris. + +Our host raised his hands. "Now there!" he exclaimed, regret in his +voice. "And if you had arrived yesterday you could have travelled up +with the Vidame de Bezers! And you a small party--saving your +lordships' presence--and the roads but so-so!" + +"But the Vidame was riding with only half-a-dozen attendants also!" I +answered, flicking my boot in a careless way. + +The landlord shook his head. "Ah, M. le Vidame knows the world!" he +answered shrewdly. "He is not to be taken off his guard, not he! One +of his men whispered me that twenty staunch fellows would join him at +Chateauroux. They say the wars are over, but"--and the good man, +shrugging his shoulders, cast an expressive glance at some fine +flitches of bacon which were hanging in his chimney. "However, your +lordships know better than I do," he added briskly. "I am a poor man. +I only wish to live at peace with my neighbours, whether they go to +mass or sermon." + +This was a sentiment so common in those days and so heartily echoed by +most men of substance both in town and country, that we did not stay to +assent to it; but having received from the worthy fellow a token which +would insure our obtaining fresh cattle at Limoges, we took to the road +again, refreshed in body, and with some food for thought. + +Five-and-twenty attendants were more than even such a man as Bezers, +who had many enemies, travelled with in those days; unless accompanied +by ladies. That the Vidame had provided such a reinforcement seemed to +point to a wider scheme than the one with which we had credited him. +But we could not guess what his plans were; since he must have ordered +his people before he heard of Catherine's engagement. Either his +jealousy therefore had put him on the alert earlier, or his threatened +attack on Pavannes was only part of a larger plot. In either case our +errand seemed more urgent, but scarcely more hopeful. + +The varied sights and sounds however of the road--many of them new to +us--kept us from dwelling over much on this. Our eyes were young, and +whether it was a pretty girl lingering behind a troop of gipsies, or a +pair of strollers from Valencia--JONGLEURS they still called +themselves--singing in the old dialect of Provence, or a Norman +horse-dealer with his string of cattle tied head and tail, or the Puy +de Dome to the eastward over the Auvergne hills, or a tattered old +soldier wounded in the wars--fighting for either side, according as +their lordships inclined--we were pleased with all. + +Yet we never forgot our errand. We never I think rose in the +morning--too often stiff and sore--without thinking "To-day or +to-morrow or the next day--" as the case might be--"we shall make all +right for Kit!" For Kit! Perhaps it was the purest enthusiasm we were +ever to feel, the least selfish aim we were ever to pursue. For Kit! + +Meanwhile we met few travellers of rank on the road. Half the nobility +of France were still in Paris enjoying the festivities which were being +held to mark the royal marriage. We obtained horses where we needed +them without difficulty. And though we had heard much of the dangers +of the way, infested as it was said to be by disbanded troopers, we +were not once stopped or annoyed. + +But it is not my intention to chronicle all the events of this my first +journey, though I dwell on them with pleasure; or to say what I thought +of the towns, all new and strange to me, through which we passed. +Enough that we went by way of Limoges, Chateauroux and Orleans, and +that at Chateauroux we learned the failure of one hope we had formed. +We had thought that Bezers when joined there by his troopers would not +be able to get relays; and that on this account we might by travelling +post overtake him; and possibly slip by him between that place and +Paris. But we learned at Chateauroux that his troop had received fresh +orders to go to Orleans and await him there; the result being that he +was able to push forward with relays so far. He was evidently in hot +haste. For leaving there with his horses fresh he passed through +Angerville, forty miles short of Paris, at noon, whereas we reached it +on the evening of the same day--the sixth after leaving Caylus. + +We rode into the yard of the inn--a large place, seeming larger in the +dusk--so tired that we could scarcely slip from our saddles. Jean, our +servant, took the four horses, and led them across to the stables, the +poor beasts hanging their heads, and following meekly. We stood a +moment stamping our feet, and stretching our legs. The place seemed in +a bustle, the clatter of pans and dishes proceeding from the windows +over the entrance, with a glow of light and the sound of feet hurrying +in the passages. There were men too, half-a-dozen or so standing at +the doors of the stables, while others leaned from the windows. One or +two lanthorns just kindled glimmered here and there in the +semi-darkness; and in a corner two smiths were shoeing a horse. + +We were turning from all this to go in, when we heard Jean's voice +raised in altercation, and thinking our rustic servant had fallen into +trouble, we walked across to the stables near which he and the horses +were still lingering. "Well, what is it?" I said sharply. + +"They say that there is no room for the horses," Jean answered +querulously, scratching his head; half sullen, half cowed, a country +servant all over. + +"And there is not!" cried the foremost of the gang about the door, +hastening to confront us in turn. His tone was insolent, and it needed +but half an eye to see that his fellows were inclined to back him up. +He stuck his arms akimbo and faced us with an impudent smile. A +lanthorn on the ground beside him throwing an uncertain light on the +group, I saw that they all wore the same badge. + +"Come," I said sternly, "the stables are large, and your horses cannot +fill them. Some room must be found for mine." + +"To be sure! Make way for the king!" he retorted. While one jeered +"VIVE LE ROI!" and the rest laughed. Not good-humouredly, but with a +touch of spitefulness. + +Quarrels between gentlemen's servants were as common then as they are +to-day. But the masters seldom condescended to interfere. "Let the +fellows fight it out," was the general sentiment. Here, however, poor +Jean was over-matched, and we had no choice but to see to it ourselves. + +"Come, men, have a care that you do not get into trouble," I urged, +restraining Croisette by a touch, for I by no means wished to have a +repetition of the catastrophe which had happened at Caylus. "These +horses belong to the Vicomte de Caylus. If your master be a friend of +his, as may very probably be the case, you will run the risk of getting +into trouble." + +I thought I heard, as I stopped speaking, a subdued muttering, and +fancied I caught the words, "PAPEGOT! Down with the Guises!" But the +spokesman's only answer aloud was "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" +"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" he repeated, flapping his arms in defiance. "Here +is a cock of a fine hackle!" And so on, and so forth, while he turned +grinning to his companions, looking for their applause. + +I was itching to chastise him, and yet hesitating, lest the thing +should have its serious side, when a new actor appeared. "Shame, you +brutes!" cried a shrill voice above us in the clouds it seemed. I +looked up, and saw two girls, coarse and handsome, standing at a window +over the stable, a light between them. "For shame! Don't you see that +they are mere children? Let them be," cried one. + +The men laughed louder than ever; and for me, I could not stand by and +be called a child. "Come here," I said, beckoning to the man in the +doorway. "Come here, you rascal, and I will give you the thrashing you +deserve for speaking to a gentleman!" + +He lounged forward, a heavy fellow, taller than myself and six inches +wider at the shoulders. My heart failed me a little as I measured him. +But the thing had to be done. If I was slight, I was wiry as a hound, +and in the excitement had forgotten my fatigue. I snatched from Marie +a loaded riding-whip he carried, and stepped forward. + +"Have a care, little man!" cried the girl gaily--yet half in pity, I +think. "Or that fat pig will kill you!" + +My antagonist did not join in the laugh this time. Indeed it struck me +that his eye wandered and that he was not so ready to enter the ring as +his mates were to form it. But before I could try his mettle, a hand +was laid on my shoulder. A man appearing from I do not know +where--from the dark fringe of the group, I suppose--pushed me aside, +roughly, but not discourteously. + +"Leave this to me!" he said, coolly stepping before me. "Do not dirty +your hands with the knave, master. I am pining for work and the job +will just suit me! I will fit him for the worms before the nuns above +can say an AVE!" + +I looked at the newcomer. He was a stout fellow; not over tall, nor +over big; swarthy, with prominent features. The plume of his bonnet +was broken, but he wore it in a rakish fashion; and altogether he +swaggered with so dare-devil an air, clinking his spurs and swinging +out his long sword recklessly, that it was no wonder three or four of +the nearest fellows gave back a foot. + +"Come on!" he cried, boisterously, forming a ring by the simple +process of sweeping his blade from side to side, while he made the +dagger in his left hand flash round his head. "Who is for the game? +Who will strike a blow for the little Admiral? Will you come one, two, +three at once; or all together? Anyway, come on, you--" And he closed +his challenge with a volley of frightful oaths, directed at the group +opposite. + +"It is no quarrel of yours," said the big man, sulkily; making no show +of drawing his sword, but rather drawing back himself. + +"All quarrels are my quarrels! and no quarrels are your quarrels. That +is about the truth, I fancy!" was the smart retort; which our champion +rendered more emphatic by a playful lunge that caused the big bully to +skip again. + +There was a loud laugh at this, even among the enemy's backers. "Bah, +the great pig!" ejaculated the girl above. "Spit him!" and she spat +down on the whilom Hector--who made no great figure now. + +"Shall I bring you a slice of him, my dear?" asked my rakehelly +friend, looking up and making his sword play round the shrinking +wretch. "Just a tit-bit, my love?" he added persuasively. "A +mouthful of white liver and caper sauce?" + +"Not for me, the beast!" the girl cried, amid the laughter of the yard. + +"Not a bit? If I warrant him tender? Ladies' meat?" + +"Bah! no!" and she stolidly spat down again. + +"Do you hear? The lady has no taste for you," the tormentor cried. +"Pig of a Gascon!" And deftly sheathing his dagger, he seized the big +coward by the ear, and turning him round, gave him a heavy kick which +sent him spinning over a bucket, and down against the wall. There the +bully remained, swearing and rubbing himself by turns; while the victor +cried boastfully, "Enough of him. If anyone wants to take up his +quarrel, Blaise Bure is his man. If not, let us have an end of it. +Let someone find stalls for the gentlemen's horses before they catch a +chill; and have done with it. As for me," he added, and then he turned +to us and removed his hat with an exaggerated flourish, "I am your +lordship's servant to command." + +I thanked him with a heartiness, half-earnest, half-assumed. His cloak +was ragged, his trunk hose, which had once been fine enough, were +stained, and almost pointless, He swaggered inimitably, and had +led-captain written large upon him. But he had done us a service, for +Jean had no further trouble about the horses. And besides one has a +natural liking for a brave man, and this man was brave beyond question. + +"You are from Orleans," he said respectfully enough, but as one +asserting a fact, not asking a question. + +"Yes," I answered, somewhat astonished, "Did you see us come in?" + +"No, but I looked at your boots, gentlemen," he replied. "White dust, +north; red dust, south. Do you see?" + +"Yes, I see," I said, with admiration. "You must have been brought up +in a sharp school, M. Bure." + +"Sharp masters make sharp scholars," he replied, grinning. And that +answer I had occasion to remember afterwards. + +"You are from Orleans, also?" I asked, as we prepared to go in. + +"Yes, from Orleans too, gentlemen. But earlier in the day. With +letters--letters of importance!" And bestowing something like a wink +of confidence on us, he drew himself up, looked sternly at the +stable-folk, patted himself twice on the chest, and finally twirled his +moustaches, and smirked at the girl above, who was chewing straws. + +I thought it likely enough that we might find it hard to get rid of +him. But this was not so. After listening with gratification to our +repeated thanks, he bowed with the same grotesque flourish, and marched +off as grave as a Spaniard, humming-- + + "Ce petit homme tant joli! + Qui toujours cause et toujours rit, + Qui toujours baise sa mignonne, + Dieu gard' de mal ce petit homme!" + +On our going in, the landlord met us politely, but with curiosity, and +a simmering of excitement also in his manner. "From Paris, my lords?" +he asked, rubbing his hands and bowing low. "Or from the south?" + +"From the south," I answered. "From Orleans, and hungry and tired, +Master Host." + +"Ah!" he replied, disregarding the latter part of my answer, while his +little eyes twinkled with satisfaction. "Then I dare swear, my lords, +you have not heard the news?" He halted in the narrow passage, and +lifting the candle he carried, scanned our faces closely, as if he +wished to learn something about us before he spoke. + +"News!" I answered brusquely, being both tired, and as I had told him, +hungry. "We have heard none, and the best you can give us will be that +our supper is ready to be served." + +But even this snub did not check his eagerness to tell his news. "The +Admiral de Coligny," he said, breathlessly, "you have not heard what +has happened to him?" + +"To the admiral? No, what?" I inquired rapidly. I was interested at +last. + +For a moment let me digress. The few of my age will remember, and the +many younger will have been told, that at this time the Italian +queen-mother was the ruling power in France. It was Catharine de' +Medici's first object to maintain her influence over Charles the +Ninth--her son; who, ricketty, weak, and passionate, was already doomed +to an early grave. Her second, to support the royal power by balancing +the extreme Catholics against the Huguenots. For the latter purpose +she would coquet first with one party, then with the other. At the +present moment she had committed herself more deeply than was her wont +to the Huguenots. Their leaders, the Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, the +King of Navarre, and the Prince of Conde, were supposed to be high in +favour, while the chiefs of the other party, the Duke of Guise, and the +two Cardinals of his house, the Cardinal of Lorraine and the Cardinal +of Guise, were in disgrace; which, as it seemed, even their friend at +court, the queen's favourite son, Henry of Anjou, was unable to +overcome. + +Such was the outward aspect of things in August, 1572, but there were +not wanting rumours that already Coligny, taking advantage of the +footing given him, had gained an influence over the young king, which +threatened Catharine de' Medici herself. The admiral, therefore, to +whom the Huguenot half of France had long looked as to its leader, was +now the object of the closest interest to all; the Guise faction, +hating him--as the alleged assassin of the Duke of Guise--with an +intensity which probably was not to be found in the affection of his +friends, popular with the latter as he was. + +Still, many who were not Huguenots had a regard for him as a great +Frenchman and a gallant soldier. We--though we were of the old faith, +and the other side--had heard much of him, and much good. The Vicomte +had spoken of him always as a great man, a man mistaken, but brave, +honest and capable in his error. Therefore it was that when the +landlord mentioned him, I forgot even my hunger. + +"He was shot, my lords, as he passed through the Rue des Fosses, +yesterday," the man declared with bated breath. "It is not known +whether he will live or die. Paris is in an uproar, and there are some +who fear the worst." + +"But," I said doubtfully, "who has dared to do this? He had a safe +conduct from the king himself." + +Our host did not answer; shrugging his shoulders instead, he opened the +door, and ushered us into the eating-room. + +Some preparations for our meal had already been made at one end of the +long board. At the other was seated a man past middle age; richly but +simply dressed. His grey hair, cut short about a massive head, and his +grave, resolute face, square-jawed, and deeply-lined, marked him as one +to whom respect was due apart from his clothes. We bowed to him as we +took our seats. + +He acknowledged the salute, fixing us a moment with a penetrating +glance; and then resumed his meal. I noticed that his sword and belt +were propped against a chair at his elbow, and a dag, apparently +loaded, lay close to his hand by the candlestick. Two lackeys waited +behind his chair, wearing the badge we had remarked in the inn yard. + +We began to talk, speaking in low tones that we might not disturb him. +The attack on Coligny had, if true, its bearing on our own business. +For if a Huguenot so great and famous and enjoying the king's special +favour still went in Paris in danger of his life, what must be the risk +that such an one as Pavannes ran? We had hoped to find the city quiet. +If instead it should be in a state of turmoil Bezers' chances were so +much the better; and ours--and Kit's, poor Kit's--so much the worse. + +Our companion had by this time finished his supper. But he still sat +at table, and seemed to be regarding us with some curiosity. At length +he spoke. "Are you going to Paris, young gentlemen?" he asked, his +tone harsh and high-pitched. + +We answered in the affirmative. "To-morrow?" he questioned. + +"Yes," we answered; and expected him to continue the conversation. But +instead he became silent, gazing abstractedly at the table; and what +with our meal, and our own talk we had almost forgotten him again, when +looking up, I found him at my elbow, holding out in silence a small +piece of paper. + +I started his face was so grave. But seeing that there were +half-a-dozen guests of a meaner sort at another table close by, I +guessed that he merely wished to make a private communication to us; +and hastened to take the paper and read it. It contained a scrawl of +four words only-- + + "Va chasser l'Idole." + +No more. I looked at him puzzled; able to make nothing out of it. St. +Croix wrinkled his brow over it with the same result. It was no good +handing it to Marie, therefore. + +"You do not understand?" the stranger continued, as he put the scrap +of paper back in his pouch. + +"No," I answered, shaking my head. We had all risen out of respect to +him, and were standing a little group about him. + +"Just so; it is all right then," he answered, looking at us as it +seemed to me with grave good-nature. "It is nothing. Go your way. +But--I have a son yonder not much younger than you, young gentlemen. +And if you had understood, I should have said to you, 'Do not go! +There are enough sheep for the shearer!'" + +He was turning away with this oracular saying when Croisette touched +his sleeve. "Pray can you tell us if it be true," the lad said +eagerly, "that the Admiral de Coligny was wounded yesterday?" + +"It is true," the other answered, turning his grave eyes on his +questioner, while for a moment his stern look failed him, "It is true, +my boy," he added with an air of strange solemnity. "Whom the Lord +loveth, He chasteneth. And, God forgive me for saying it, whom He +would destroy, He first maketh mad." + +He had gazed with peculiar favour at Croisette's girlish face, I +thought: Marie and I were dark and ugly by the side of the boy. But he +turned from him now with a queer, excited gesture, thumping his +gold-headed cane on the floor. He called his servants in a loud, +rasping voice, and left the room in seeming anger, driving them before +him, the one carrying his dag, and the other, two candles. + +When I came down early next morning, the first person I met was Blaise +Bure. He looked rather fiercer and more shabby by daylight than +candlelight. But he saluted me respectfully; and this, since it was +clear that he did not respect many people, inclined me to regard him +with favour. It is always so, the more savage the dog, the more highly +we prize its attentions. I asked him who the Huguenot noble was who +had supped with us. For a Huguenot we knew he must be. + +"The Baron de Rosny," he answered; adding with a sneer, "He is a +careful man! If they were all like him, with eyes on both sides of his +head and a dag by his candle--well, my lord, there would be one more +king in France--or one less! But they are a blind lot: as blind as +bats." He muttered something farther in which I caught the word +"to-night." But I did not hear it all; or understand any of it. + +"Your lordships are going to Paris?" he resumed in a different tone. +When I said that we were, he looked at me in a shamefaced way, half +timid, half arrogant. "I have a small favour to ask of you then," he +said. "I am going to Paris myself. I am not afraid of odds, as you +have seen. But the roads will be in a queer state if there be anything +on foot in the city, and--well, I would rather ride with you gentlemen +than alone." + +"You are welcome to join us," I said. "But we start in half-an-hour. +Do you know Paris well?" + +"As well as my sword-hilt," he replied briskly, relieved I thought by +my acquiescence, "And I have known that from my breeching. If you want +a game at PAUME, or a pretty girl to kiss, I can put you in the way for +the one or the other." + +The half rustic shrinking from the great city which I felt, suggested +to me that our swashbuckling friend might help us if he would. "Do you +know M. de Pavannes?" I asked impulsively, "Where he lives in Paris, I +mean?" + +"M. Louis de Pavannes?" quoth he. + +"Yes." + +"I know--" he replied slowly, rubbing his chin and looking at the +ground in thought--"where he had his lodgings in town a while ago, +before--Ah! I do know! I remember," he added, slapping his thigh, +"when I was in Paris a fortnight ago I was told that his steward had +taken lodgings for him in the Rue St. Antoine." + +"Good!" I answered overjoyed. "Then we want to dismount there, if you +can guide us straight to the house." + +"I can," he replied simply. "And you will not be the worse for my +company. Paris is a queer place when there is trouble to the fore, but +your lordships have got the right man to pilot you through it." + +I did not ask him what trouble he meant, but ran indoors to buckle on +my sword, and tell Marie and Croisette of the ally I had secured. They +were much pleased, as was natural; so that we took the road in +excellent spirits intending to reach the city in the afternoon. But +Marie's horse cast a shoe, and it was some time before we could find a +smith. Then at Etampes, where we stopped to lunch, we were kept an +unconscionable time waiting for it. And so we approached Paris for the +first time at sunset. A ruddy glow was at the moment warming the +eastern heights, and picking out with flame the twin towers of Notre +Dame, and the one tall tower of St. Jacques la Boucherie. A dozen +roofs higher than their neighbours shone hotly; and a great bank of +cloud, which lay north and south, and looked like a man's hand +stretched over the city, changed gradually from blood-red to violet, +and from violet to black, as evening fell. + +Passing within the gates and across first one bridge and then another, +we were astonished and utterly confused by the noise and hubbub through +which we rode. Hundreds seemed to be moving this way and that in the +narrow streets. Women screamed to one another from window to window. +The bells of half-a-dozen churches rang the curfew. Our country ears +were deafened. Still our eyes had leisure to take in the tall houses +with their high-pitched roofs, and here and there a tower built into +the wall; the quaint churches, and the groups of townsfolk--sullen +fellows some of them with a fierce gleam in their eyes--who, standing +in the mouths of reeking alleys, watched us go by. + +But presently we had to stop. A crowd had gathered to watch a little +cavalcade of six gentlemen pass across our path. They were riding two +and two, lounging in their saddles and chattering to one another, +disdainfully unconscious of the people about them, or the remarks they +excited. Their graceful bearing and the richness of their dress and +equipment surpassed anything I had ever seen. A dozen pages and +lackeys were attending them on foot, and the sound of their jests and +laughter came to us over the heads of the crowd. + +While I was gazing at them, some movement of the throng drove back +Bure's horse against mine. Bure himself uttered a savage oath; +uncalled for so far as I could see. But my attention was arrested the +next moment by Croisette, who tapped my arm with his riding whip. +"Look!" he cried in some excitement, "is not that he?" + +I followed the direction of the lad's finger--as well as I could for +the plunging of my horse which Bure's had frightened--and scrutinized +the last pair of the troop. They were crossing the street in which we +stood, and I had only a side view of them; or rather of the nearer +rider. He was a singularly handsome man, in age about twenty-two or +twenty-three with long lovelocks falling on his lace collar and cloak +of orange silk. His face was sweet and kindly and gracious to a +marvel. But he was a stranger to me. + +"I could have sworn," exclaimed Croisette, "that that was Louis +himself--M. de Pavannes!" + +"That?" I answered, as we began to move again, the crowd melting +before us. "Oh, dear, no!" + +"No! no! The farther man!" he explained. + +But I had not been able to get a good look at the farther of the two. +We turned in our saddles and peered after him. His back in the dusk +certainly reminded me of Louis. Bure, however, who said he knew M. de +Pavannes by sight, laughed at the idea. "Your friend," he said, "is a +wider man than that!" And I thought he was right there--but then it +might be the cut of the clothes. "They have been at the Louvre playing +paume, I'll be sworn!" he went on. "So the Admiral must be better. +The one next us was M. de Teligny, the Admiral's son-in-law. And the +other, whom you mean, was the Comte de la Rochefoucault." + +We turned as he spoke into a narrow street near the river, and could +see not far from us a mass of dark buildings which Bure told us was the +Louvre--the king's residence. Out of this street we turned into a +short one; and here Bure drew rein and rapped loudly at some heavy +gates. It was so dark that when, these being opened, he led the way +into a courtyard, we could see little more than a tall, sharp-gabled +house, projecting over us against a pale sky; and a group of men and +horses in one corner. Bure spoke to one of the men, and begging us to +dismount, said the footman would show us to M. de Pavannes. + +The thought that we were at the end of our long journey, and in time to +warn Louis of his danger, made us forget all our exertions, our fatigue +and stiffness. Gladly throwing the bridles to Jean we ran up the steps +after the servant. The thing was done. Hurrah! the thing was done! + +The house--as we passed through a long passage and up some +steps--seemed full of people. We heard voices and the ring of arms +more than once. But our guide, without pausing, led us to a small room +lighted by a hanging lamp. "I will inform M. de Pavannes of your +arrival," he said respectfully, and passed behind a curtain, which +seemed to hide the door of an inner apartment. As he did so the clink +of glasses and the hum of conversation reached us. + +"He has company supping with him," I said nervously. I tried to flip +some of the dust from my boots with my whip. I remembered that this +was Paris. + +"He will be surprised to see us," quoth Croisette, laughing--a little +shyly, too, I think. And so we stood waiting. + +I began to wonder as minutes passed by--the gay company we had seen +putting it in my mind, I suppose--whether M. de Pavannes, of Paris, +might not turn out to be a very different person from Louis de +Pavannes, of Caylus; whether the king's courtier would be as friendly +as Kit's lover. And I was still thinking of this without having +settled the point to my satisfaction, when the curtain was thrust aside +again. A very tall man, wearing a splendid suit of black and silver +and a stiff trencher-like ruff, came quickly in, and stood smiling at +us, a little dog in his arms. The little dog sat up and snarled: and +Croisette gasped. It was not our old friend Louis certainly! It was +not Louis de Pavannes at all. It was no old friend at all, It was the +Vidame de Bezers! + +"Welcome, gentlemen!" he said, smiling at us--and never had the cast +been so apparent in his eyes. "Welcome to Paris, M. Anne!" + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ENTRAPPED! + +There was a long silence. We stood glaring at him, and he smiled upon +us--as a cat smiles. Croisette told me afterwards that he could have +died of mortification--of shame and anger that we had been so +outwitted. For myself I did not at once grasp the position. I did not +understand. I could not disentangle myself in a moment from the belief +in which I had entered the house--that it was Louis de Pavannes' house. +But I seemed vaguely to suspect that Bezers had swept him aside and +taken his place. My first impulse therefore--obeyed on the +instant--was to stride to the Vidame's side and grasp his arm. "What +have you done?" I cried, my voice sounding hoarsely even in my own +ears. "What have you done with M. de Pavannes? Answer me!" + +He showed just a little more of his sharp white teeth as he looked down +at my face--a flushed and troubled face doubtless. "Nothing--yet," he +replied very mildly. And he shook me off. + +"Then," I retorted, "how do you come here?" + +He glanced at Croisette and shrugged his shoulders, as if I had been a +spoiled child. "M. Anne does not seem to understand," he said with +mock courtesy, "that I have the honour to welcome him to my house the +Hotel Bezers, Rue de Platriere." + +"The Hotel Bezers! Rue de Platriere!" I cried confusedly. "But +Blaise Bure told us that this was the Rue St. Antoine!" + +"Ah!" he replied as if slowly enlightened--the hypocrite! "Ah! I +see!" and he smiled grimly. "So you have made the acquaintance of +Blaise Bure, my excellent master of the horse! Worthy Blaise! Indeed, +indeed, now I understand. And you thought, you whelps," he continued, +and as he spoke his tone changed strangely, and he fixed us suddenly +with angry eyes, "to play a rubber with me! With me, you imbeciles! +You thought the wolf of Bezers could be hunted down like any hare! +Then listen, and I will tell you the end of it. You are now in my +house and absolutely at my mercy. I have two score men within call who +would cut the throats of three babes at the breast, if I bade them! +Ay," he, added, a wicked exultation shining in his eyes, "they would, +and like the job!" + +He was going on to say more, but I interrupted him. The rage I felt, +caused as much by the thought of our folly as by his arrogance, would +let me be silent no longer. "First, M. de Bezers, first," I broke out +fiercely, my words leaping over one another in my haste, "a word with +you! Let me tell you what I think of you! You are a treacherous +hound, Vidame! A cur! a beast! And I spit upon you! Traitor and +assassin!" I shouted, "is that not enough? Will nothing provoke you? +If you call yourself a gentleman, draw!" + +He shook his head; he was still smiling, still unmoved. "I do not do +my own dirty work," he said quietly, "nor stint my footmen of their +sport, boy." + +"Very well!" I retorted. And with the words I drew my sword, and +sprang as quick as lightning to the curtain by which he had entered. +"Very well, we will kill you first!" I cried wrathfully, my eye on his +eye, and every savage passion in my breast aroused, "and take our +chance with the lackeys afterwards! Marie! Croisette!" I cried +shrilly, "on him, lads!" + +But they did not answer! They did not move or draw. For the moment +indeed the man was in my power. My wrist was raised, and I had my +point at his breast, I could have run him through by a single thrust. +And I hated him. Oh, how I hated him! But he did not stir. Had he +spoken, had he moved so much as an eyelid, or drawn back his foot, or +laid his hand on his hilt, I should have killed him there. But he did +not stir and I could not do it. My hand dropped. "Cowards!" I cried, +glancing bitterly from him to them--they had never failed me before. +"Cowards!" I muttered, seeming to shrink into myself as I said the +word. And I flung my sword clattering on the floor. + +"That is better!" he drawled quite unmoved, as if nothing more than +words had passed, as if he had not been in peril at all. "It was what I +was going to ask you to do. If the other young gentlemen will follow +your example, I shall be obliged. Thank you. Thank you." + +Croisette, and a minute later Marie, obeyed him to the letter! I could +not understand it. I folded my arms and gave up the game in despair, +and but for very shame I could have put my hands to my face and cried. +He stood in the middle under the lamp, a head taller than the tallest +of us; our master. And we stood round him trapped, beaten, for all the +world like children. Oh, I could have cried! This was the end of our +long ride, our aspirations, our knight-errantry! + +"Now perhaps you will listen to me," he went on smoothly, "and hear +what I am going to do. I shall keep you here, young gentlemen, until +you can serve me by carrying to mademoiselle, your cousin, some news of +her betrothed. Oh, I shall not detain you long," he added with an evil +smile. "You have arrived in Paris at a fortunate moment. There is +going to be a--well, there is a little scheme on foot appointed for +to-night--singularly lucky you are!--for removing some objectionable +people, some friends of ours perhaps among them, M. Anne. That is all. +You will hear shots, cries, perhaps screams. Take no notice. You will +be in no danger. For M. de Pavannes," he continued, his voice sinking, +"I think that by morning I shall be able to give you a--a more +particular account of him to take to Caylus--to Mademoiselle, you +understand." + +For a moment the mask was off. His face took a sombre brightness. He +moistened his lips with his tongue as though he saw his vengeance +worked out then and there before him, and were gloating over the +picture. The idea that this was so took such a hold upon me that I +shrank back, shuddering; reading too in Croisette's face the same +thought--and a late repentance. Nay, the malignity of Bezers' tone, +the savage gleam of joy in his eyes appalled me to such an extent that +I fancied for a moment I saw in him the devil incarnate! + +He recovered his composure very quickly, however; and turned carelessly +towards the door. "If you will follow me," he said, "I will see you +disposed of. You may have to complain of your lodging--I have other +things to think of to-night than hospitality, But you shall not need to +complain of your supper." + +He drew aside the curtain as he spoke, and passed into the next room +before us, not giving a thought apparently to the possibility that we +might strike him from behind. There certainly was an odd quality +apparent in him at times which seemed to contradict what we knew of him. + +The room we entered was rather long than wide, hung with tapestry, and +lighted by silver lamps. Rich plate, embossed, I afterwards learned, +by Cellini the Florentine--who died that year I remember--and richer +glass from Venice, with a crowd of meaner vessels filled with meats and +drinks covered the table; disordered as by the attacks of a numerous +party. But save a servant or two by the distant dresser, and an +ecclesiastic at the far end of the table, the room was empty. + +The priest rose as we entered, the Vidame saluting him as if they had +not met that day. "You are welcome M. le Coadjuteur," he said; saying +it coldly, however, I thought. And the two eyed one another with +little favour; rather as birds of prey about to quarrel over the spoil, +than as host and guest. Perhaps the Coadjutor's glittering eyes and +great beak-like nose made me think of this. + +"Ho! ho!" he said, looking piercingly at us--and no doubt we must +have seemed a miserable and dejected crew enough. "Who are these? Not +the first-fruits of the night, eh?" + +The Vidame looked darkly at him. "No," he answered brusquely. "They +are not. I am not particular out of doors, Coadjutor, as you know, but +this is my house, and we are going to supper. Perhaps you do not +comprehend the distinction. Still it exists--for me," with a sneer. + +This was as good as Greek to us. But I so shrank from the priest's +malignant eyes, which would not quit us, and felt so much disgust +mingled with my anger that when Bezers by a gesture invited me to sit +down, I drew back. "I will not eat with you," I said sullenly; +speaking out of a kind of dull obstinacy, or perhaps a childish +petulance. + +It did not occur to me that this would pierce the Vidame's armour. Yet +a dull red showed for an instant in his cheek, and he eyed me with a +look, that was not all ferocity, though the veins in his great temples +swelled. A moment, nevertheless, and he was himself again. "Armand," +he said quietly to the servant, "these gentlemen will not sup with me. +Lay for them at the other end." + +Men are odd. The moment he gave way to me I repented of my words. It +was almost with reluctance that I followed the servant to the lower +part of the table. More than this, mingled with the hatred I felt for +the Vidame, there was now a strange sentiment towards him--almost of +admiration; that had its birth I think in the moment, when I held his +life in my hand, and he had not flinched. + +We ate in silence; even after Croisette by grasping my hand under the +table had begged me not to judge him hastily. The two at the upper end +talked fast, and from the little that reached us, I judged that the +priest was pressing some course on his host, which the latter declined +to take. + +Once Bezers raised his voice. "I have my own ends to serve!" he broke +out angrily, adding a fierce oath which the priest did not rebuke, "and +I shall serve them. But there I stop. You have your own. Well, serve +them, but do not talk to me of the cause! The cause? To hell with the +cause! I have my cause, and you have yours, and my lord of Guise has +his! And you will not make me believe that there is any other!" + +"The king's?" suggested the priest, smiling sourly. + +"Say rather the Italian woman's!" the Vidame answered +recklessly--meaning the queen-mother, Catharine de' Medici, I supposed. + +"Well, then, the cause of the Church?" the priest persisted. + +"Bah! The Church? It is you, my friend!" Bezers rejoined, rudely +tapping his companion--at that moment in the act of crossing +himself--on the chest. "The Church?" he continued; "no, no, my +friend. I will tell you what you are doing. You want me to help you +to get rid of your branch, and you offer in return to aid me with +mine--and then, say you, there will be no stick left to beat either of +us. But you may understand once for all"--and the Vidame struck his +hand heavily down among the glasses--"that I will have no interference +with my work, master Clerk! None! Do you hear? And as for yours, it +is no business of mine. That is plain speaking, is it not?" + +The priest's hand shook as he raised a full glass to his lips, but he +made no rejoinder, and the Vidame, seeing we had finished, rose. +"Armand!" he cried, his face still dark, "take these gentlemen to +their chamber. You understand?" + +We stiffly acknowledged his salute--the priest taking no notice of +us--and followed the servant from the room; going along a corridor and +up a steep flight of stairs, and seeing enough by the way to be sure +that resistance was hopeless. Doors opened silently as we passed, and +grim fellows, in corslets and padded coats, peered out. The clank of +arms and murmur of voices sounded continuously about us; and as we +passed a window the jingle of bits, and the hollow clang of a restless +hoof on the flags below, told us that the great house was for the time +a fortress. I wondered much. For this was Paris, a city with gates +and guards; the night a short August night. Yet the loneliest manor in +Quercy could scarcely have bristled with more pikes and musquetoons, on +a winter's night and in time of war. + +No doubt these signs impressed us all; and Croisette not least. For +suddenly I heard him stop, as he followed us up the narrow staircase, +and begin without warning to stumble down again as fast as he could. I +did not know what he was about; but muttering something to Marie, I +followed the lad to see. At the foot of the flight of stairs I looked +back, Marie and the servant were standing in suspense, where I had left +them. I heard the latter bid us angrily to return. + +But by this time Croisette was at the end of the corridor; and +reassuring the fellow by a gesture I hurried on, until brought to a +standstill by a man opening a door in my face. He had heard our +returning footsteps, and eyed me suspiciously; but gave way after a +moment with a grunt of doubt I hastened on, reaching the door of the +room in which we had supped in time to see something which filled me +with grim astonishment; so much so that I stood rooted where I was, too +proud at any rate to interfere. + +Bezers was standing, the leering priest at his elbow. And Croisette +was stooping forward, his hands stretched out in an attitude of +supplication. + +"Nay, but M. le Vidame," the lad cried, as I stood, the door in my +hand, "it were better to stab her at once than break her heart! Have +pity on her! If you kill him, you kill her!" + +The Vidame was silent, seeming to glower on the boy. The priest +sneered. "Hearts are soon mended--especially women's," he said. + +"But not Kit's!" Croisette said passionately--otherwise ignoring him. +"Not Kit's! You do not know her, Vidame! Indeed you do not!" + +The remark was ill-timed. I saw a spasm of anger distort Bezers' face. +"Get up, boy!" he snarled, "I wrote to Mademoiselle what I would do, +and that I shall do! A Bezers keeps his word. By the God above us--if +there be a God, and in the devil's name I doubt it to-night!--I shall +keep mine! Go!" + +His great face was full of rage. He looked over Croisette's head as he +spoke, as if appealing to the Great Registrar of his vow, in the very +moment in which he all but denied Him. I turned and stole back the way +I had come; and heard Croisette follow. + +That little scene completed my misery. After that I seemed to take no +heed of anything or anybody until I was aroused by the grating of our +gaoler's key in the lock, and became aware that he was gone, and that +we were alone in a small room under the tiles. He had left the candle +on the floor, and we three stood round it. Save for the long shadows we +cast on the walls and two pallets hastily thrown down in one corner, +the place was empty. I did not look much at it, and I would not look +at the others. I flung myself on one of the pallets and turned my face +to the wall, despairing. I thought bitterly of the failure we had made +of it, and of the Vidame's triumph. I cursed St. Croix especially for +that last touch of humiliation he had set to it. Then, forgetting +myself as my anger abated, I thought of Kit so far away at Caylus--of +Kit's pale, gentle face, and her sorrow. And little by little I +forgave Croisette. After all he had not begged for us--he had not +stooped for our sakes, but for hers. + +I do not know how long I lay at see-saw between these two moods. Or +whether during that time the others talked or were silent, moved about +the room or lay still. But it was Croisette's hand on my shoulder, +touching me with a quivering eagerness that instantly communicated +itself to my limbs, which recalled me to the room and its shadows. +"Anne!" he cried. "Anne! Are you awake?" + +"What is it?" I said, sitting up and looking at him. + +"Marie," he began, "has--" + +But there was no need for him to finish. I saw that Marie was standing +at the far side of the room by the unglazed window; which, being in a +sloping part of the roof, inclined slightly also. He had raised the +shutter which closed it, and on his tip-toes--for the sill was almost +his own height from the floor--was peering out. I looked sharply at +Croisette. "Is there a gutter outside?" I whispered, beginning to +tingle all over as the thought of escape for the first time occurred to +me. + +"No," he answered in the same tone. "But Marie says he can see a beam +below, which he thinks we can reach." + +I sprang up, promptly displaced Marie, and looked out. When my eyes +grew accustomed to the gloom I discerned a dark chaos of roofs and +gables stretching as far as I could see before me. Nearer, immediately +under the window, yawned a chasm--a narrow street. Beyond this was a +house rather lower than that in which we were, the top of its roof not +quite reaching the level of my eyes. + +"I see no beam," I said. + +"Look below!" quoth Marie, stolidly, + +I did so, and then saw that fifteen or sixteen feet below our window +there was a narrow beam which ran from our house to the opposite +one--for the support of both, as is common in towns. In the shadow +near the far end of this--it was so directly under our window that I +could only see the other end of it--I made out a casement, faintly +illuminated from within. + +I shook my head. + +"We cannot get down to it," I said, measuring the distance to the beam +and the depth below it, and shivering. + +"Marie says we can, with a short rope," Croisette replied. His eyes +were glistening with excitement. + +"But we have no rope!" I retorted. I was dull--as usual. Marie made +no answer. Surely he was the most stolid and silent of brothers. I +turned to him. He was taking off his waistcoat and neckerchief. + +"Good!" I cried. I began to see now. Off came our scarves and +kerchiefs also, and fortunately they were of home make, long and +strong. And Marie had a hank of four-ply yarn in his pocket as it +turned out, and I had some stout new garters, and two or three yards of +thin cord, which I had brought to mend the girths, if need should +arise. In five minutes we had fastened them cunningly together. + +"I am the lightest," said Croisette. + +"But Marie has the steadiest head," I objected. We had learned that +long ago--that Marie could walk the coping-stones of the battlements +with as little concern as we paced a plank set on the ground. + +"True," Croisette had to admit. "But he must come last, because +whoever does so will have to let himself down." + +I had not thought of that, and I nodded. It seemed that the lead was +passing out of my hands and I might resign myself. Still one thing I +would have. As Marie was to come last, I would go first. My weight +would best test the rope. And accordingly it was so decided. + +There was no time to be lost. At any moment we might be interrupted. +So the plan was no sooner conceived than carried out. The rope was +made fast to my left wrist. Then I mounted on Marie's shoulders, and +climbed--not without quavering--through the window, taking as little +time over it as possible, for a bell was already proclaiming midnight. + +All this I had done on the spur of the moment. But outside, hanging by +my hands in the darkness, the strokes of the great bell in my ears, I +had a moment in which to think. The sense of the vibrating depth below +me, the airiness, the space and gloom around, frightened me. "Are you +ready?" muttered Marie, perhaps with a little impatience. He had not +a scrap of imagination, had Marie. + +"No! wait a minute!" I blurted out, clinging to the sill, and taking +a last look at the bare room, and the two dark figures between me and +the light. "No!" I added, hurriedly. "Croisette--boys, I called you +cowards just now. I take it back! I did not mean it! That is all!" I +gasped. "Let go!" + +A warm touch on my hand. Something like a sob. + +The next moment I felt myself sliding down the face of the house, down +into the depth. The light shot up. My head turned giddily. I clung, +oh, how I clung to that rope! Half way down the thought struck me that +in case of accident those above might not be strong enough to pull me +up again. But it was too late to think of that, and in another second +my feet touched the beam. I breathed again. Softly, very gingerly, I +made good my footing on the slender bridge, and, disengaging the rope, +let it go. Then, not without another qualm, I sat down astride of the +beam, and whistled in token of success. Success so far! + +It was a strange position, and I have often dreamed of it since. In the +darkness about me Paris lay to all seeming asleep. A veil, and not the +veil of night only, was stretched between it and me; between me, a mere +lad, and the strange secrets of a great city; stranger, grimmer, more +deadly that night than ever before or since. How many men were +watching under those dimly-seen roofs, with arms in their hands? How +many sat with murder at heart? How many were waking, who at dawn would +sleep for ever, or sleeping who would wake only at the knife's edge? +These things I could not know, any more than I could picture how many +boon-companions were parting at that instant, just risen from the dice, +one to go blindly--the other watching him--to his death? I could not +imagine, thank Heaven for it, these secrets, or a hundredth part of the +treachery and cruelty and greed that lurked at my feet, ready to burst +all bounds at a pistol-shot. It had no significance for me that the +past day was the 23rd of August, or that the morrow was St. +Bartholomew's feast! + +No. Yet mingled with the jubilation which the possibility of triumph +over our enemy raised in my breast, there was certainly a foreboding. +The Vidame's hints, no less than his open boasts, had pointed to +something to happen before morning--something wider than the mere +murder of a single man. The warning also which the Baron de Rosny had +given us at the inn occurred to me with new meaning. And I could not +shake the feeling off. I fancied, as I sat in the darkness astride of +my beam, that I could see, closing the narrow vista of the street, the +heavy mass of the Louvre; and that the murmur of voices and the tramp +of men assembling came from its courts, with now and again the stealthy +challenge of a sentry, the restrained voice of an officer. Scarcely a +wayfarer passed beneath me: so few, indeed, that I had no fear of +being detected from below. And yet unless I was mistaken, a furtive +step, a subdued whisper were borne to me on every breeze, from every +quarter. And the night was full of phantoms. + +Perhaps all this was mere nervousness, the outcome of my position. At +any rate I felt no more of it when Croisette joined me. We had our +daggers, and that gave me some comfort. If we could once gain entrance +to the house opposite, we had only to beg, or in the last resort force +our way downstairs and out, and then to hasten with what speed we might +to Pavannes' dwelling. Clearly it was a question of time only now; +whether Bezers' band or we should first reach it. And struck by this I +whispered Marie to be quick. He seemed to be long in coming. + +He scrambled down hand over hand at last, and then I saw that he had +not lingered above for nothing. He had contrived after getting out of +the window to let down the shutter. And more he had at some risk +lengthened our rope, and made a double line of it, so that it ran round +a hinge of the shutter; and when he stood beside us, he took it by one +end and disengaged it. Good, clever Marie! + +"Bravo!" I said softly, clapping him on the back. "Now they will not +know which way the birds have flown!" + +So there we all were, one of us, I confess, trembling. We slid easily +enough along the beam to the opposite house. But once there in a row +one behind the other with our faces to the wall, and the night air +blowing slantwise--well I am nervous on a height and I gasped. The +window was a good six feet above the beam, The casement--it was +unglazed--was open, veiled by a thin curtain, and alas! protected by +three horizontal bars--stout bars they looked. + +Yet we were bound to get up, and to get in; and I was preparing to rise +to my feet on the giddy bridge as gingerly as I could, when Marie +crawled quickly over us, and swung himself up to the narrow sill, much +as I should mount a horse on the level. He held out his foot to me, +and making an effort I reached the same dizzy perch. Croisette for the +time remained below. + +A narrow window-ledge sixty feet above the pavement, and three bars to +cling to! I cowered to my holdfasts, envying even Croisette. My legs +dangled airily, and the black chasm of the street seemed to yawn for +me. For a moment I turned sick. I recovered from that to feel +desperate. I remembered that go forward we must, bars or no bars. We +could not regain our old prison if we would. + +It was equally clear that we could not go forward if the inmates should +object. On that narrow perch even Marie was helpless. The bars of the +window were close together. A woman, a child, could disengage our +hands, and then--I turned sick again. I thought of the cruel stones. +I glued my face to the bars, and pushing aside a corner of the curtain, +looked in. + +There was only one person in the room--a woman, who was moving about +fully dressed, late as it was. The room was a mere attic, the +counterpart of that we had left. A box-bed with a canopy roughly +nailed over it stood in a corner. A couple of chairs were by the +hearth, and all seemed to speak of poverty and bareness. Yet the woman +whom we saw was richly dressed, though her silks and velvets were +disordered. I saw a jewel gleam in her hair, and others on her hands. +When she turned her face towards us--a wild, beautiful face, perplexed +and tear-stained--I knew her instantly for a gentlewoman, and when she +walked hastily to the door, and laid her hand upon it, and seemed to +listen--when she shook the latch and dropped her hands in despair and +went back to the hearth, I made another discovery I knew at once, +seeing her there, that we were likely but to change one prison for +another. Was every house in Paris then a dungeon? And did each roof +cover its tragedy? + +"Madame!" I said, speaking softly, to attract her attention. "Madame!" + +She started violently, not knowing whence the sound came, and looked +round, at the door first. Then she moved towards the window, and with +an affrighted gesture drew the curtain rapidly aside. + +Our eyes met. What if she screamed and aroused the house? What, +indeed? "Madame," I said again, speaking hurriedly, and striving to +reassure her by the softness of my voice, "we implore your help! +Unless you assist us we are lost." + +"You! Who are you?" she cried, glaring at us wildly, her hand to her +head. And then she murmured to herself, "Mon Dieu! what will become +of me?" + +"We have been imprisoned in the house opposite," I hastened to explain, +disjointedly I am afraid. "And we have escaped. We cannot get back if +we would. Unless you let us enter your room and give us shelter--" + +"We shall be dashed to pieces on the pavement," supplied Marie, with +perfect calmness--nay, with apparent enjoyment. + +"Let you in here?" she answered, starting back in new terror; "it is +impossible." + +She reminded me of our cousin, being, like her pale and dark-haired. +She wore her hair in a coronet, disordered now. But though she was +still beautiful, she was older than Kit, and lacked her pliant grace. +I saw all this, and judging her nature, I spoke out of my despair. +"Madame," I said piteously, "we are only boys. Croisette! Come up!" +Squeezing myself still more tightly into my corner of the ledge, I made +room for him between us. "See, Madame," I cried, craftily, "will you +not have pity on three boys?" + +St. Crois's boyish face and fair hair arrested her attention, as I had +expected. Her expression grew softer, and she murmured, "Poor boy!" + +I caught at the opportunity. "We do but seek a passage through your +room," I said fervently. Good heavens, what had we not at stake! What +if she should remain obdurate? "We are in trouble--in despair," I +panted. "So, I believe, are you. We will help you if you will first +save us. We are boys, but we can fight for you." + +"Whom am I to trust?" she exclaimed, with a shudder. "But heaven +forbid," she continued, her eyes on Croisette's face, "that, wanting +help, I should refuse to give it. Come in, if you will." + +I poured out my thanks, and had forced my head between the bars--at +imminent risk of its remaining there--before the words were well out of +her mouth. But to enter was no easy task after all. Croisette did, +indeed, squeeze through at last, and then by force pulled first one and +then the other of us after him. But only necessity and that chasm +behind could have nerved us, I think, to go through a process so +painful. When I stood, at length on the floor, I seemed to be one +great abrasion from head to foot. And before a lady, too! + +But what a joy I felt, nevertheless. A fig for Bezers now. He had +called us boys; and we were boys. But he should yet find that we could +thwart him. It could be scarcely half-an-hour after midnight; we might +still be in time. I stretched myself and trod the level door +jubilantly, and then noticed, while doing so, that our hostess had +retreated to the door and was eyeing us timidly--half-scared. + +I advanced to her with my lowest bow--sadly missing my sword. "Madame," +I said, "I am M. Anne de Caylus, and these are my brothers. And we are +at your service." + +"And I," she replied, smiling faintly--I do not know why--"am Madame de +Pavannes, I gratefully accept your offers of service." + +"De Pavannes?" I exclaimed, amazed and overjoyed. Madame de Pavannes! +Why, she must be Louis' kinswoman! No doubt she could tell us where he +was lodged, and so rid our task of half its difficulty. Could anything +have fallen out more happily? "You know then M. Louis de Pavannes?" I +continued eagerly. + +"Certainly," she answered, smiling with a rare shy sweetness this time. +"Very well indeed. He is my husband." + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A PRIEST AND A WOMAN. + +"He is my husband!" + +The statement was made in the purest innocence; yet never, as may well +be imagined, did words fall with more stunning force. Not one of us +answered or, I believe, moved so much as a limb or an eyelid. We only +stared, wanting time to take in the astonishing meaning of the words, +and then more time to think what they meant to us in particular. + +Louis de Pavannes' wife! Louis de Pavannes married! If the statement +were true--and we could not doubt, looking in her face, that at least +she thought she was telling the truth--it meant that we had been fooled +indeed! That we had had this journey for nothing, and run this risk +for a villain. It meant that the Louis de Pavannes who had won our +boyish admiration was the meanest, the vilest of court-gallants. That +Mademoiselle de Caylus had been his sport and plaything. And that we +in trying to be beforehand with Bezers had been striving to save a +scoundrel from his due. It meant all that, as soon as we grasped it in +the least. + +"Madame," said Croisette gravely, after a pause so prolonged that her +smile faded pitifully from her face, scared by our strange looks. +"Your husband has been some time away from you? He only returned, I +think, a week or two ago?" + +"That is so," she answered, naively, and our last hope vanished. "But +what of that? He was back with me again, and only yesterday--only +yesterday!" she continued, clasping her hands, "we were so happy." + +"And now, madame?" + +She looked at me, not comprehending. + +"I mean," I hastened to explain, "we do not understand how you come to +be here. And a prisoner." I was really thinking that her story might +throw some light upon ours. + +"I do not know, myself," she said. "Yesterday, in the afternoon, I +paid a visit to the Abbess of the Ursulines." + +"Pardon me," Croisette interposed quickly, "but are you not of the new +faith? A Huguenot?" + +"Oh, yes," she answered eagerly. "But the Abbess is a very dear friend +of mine, and no bigot. Oh, nothing of that kind, I assure you. When I +am in Paris I visit her once a week. Yesterday, when I left her, she +begged me to call here and deliver a message." + +"Then," I said, "you know this house?" + +"Very well, indeed," she replied. "It is the sign of the 'Hand and +Glove,' one door out of the Rue Platriere. I have been in Master +Mirepoix's shop more than once before. I came here yesterday to +deliver the message, leaving my maid in the street, and I was asked to +come up stairs, and still up until I reached this room. Asked to wait +a moment, I began to think it strange that I should be brought to so +wretched a place, when I had merely a message for Mirepoix's ear about +some gauntlets. I tried the door; I found it locked. Then I was +terrified, and made a noise." + +We all nodded. We were busy building up theories--or it might be one +and the same theory--to explain this. "Yes," I said, eagerly. + +"Mirepoix came to me then. 'What does this mean?' I demanded. He +looked ashamed of himself, but he barred my way. 'Only this,' he said +at last, 'that your ladyship must remain here a few hours--two days at +most. No harm whatever is intended to you. My wife will wait upon you, +and when you leave us, all shall be explained.' He would say no more, +and it was in vain I asked him if he did not take me for some one else; +if he thought I was mad. To all he answered, No. And when I dared him +to detain me he threatened force. Then I succumbed. I have been here +since, suspecting I know not what, but fearing everything." + +"That is ended, madame," I answered, my hand on my breast, my soul in +arms for her. Here, unless I was mistaken, was one more unhappy and +more deeply wronged even than Kit; one too who owed her misery to the +same villain. "Were there nine glovers on the stairs," I declared +roundly, "we would take you out and take you home! Where are your +husband's apartments?" + +"In the Rue de Saint Merri, close to the church. We have a house +there." + +"M. de Pavannes," I suggested cunningly, "is doubtless distracted by +your disappearance." + +"Oh, surely," she answered with earnest simplicity, while the tears +sprang to her eyes. Her innocence--she had not the germ of a +suspicion--made me grind my teeth with wrath. Oh, the base wretch! +The miserable rascal! What did the women see, I wondered--what had we +all seen in this man, this Pavannes, that won for him our hearts, when +he had only a stone to give in return? + +I drew Croisette and Marie aside, apparently to consider how we might +force the door. "What is the meaning of this?" I said softly, +glancing at the unfortunate lady. "What do you think, Croisette?" + +I knew well what the answer would be. + +"Think!" he cried with fiery impatience. "What can any one think +except that that villain Pavannes has himself planned his wife's +abduction? Of course it is so! His wife out of the way he is free to +follow up his intrigues at Caylus. He may then marry Kit or--Curse +him!" + +"No," I said sternly, "cursing is no good. We must do something more. +And yet--we have promised Kit, you see, that we would save him--we must +keep our word. We must save him from Bezers at least." + +Marie groaned. + +But Croisette took up the thought with ardour. "From Bezers?" he +cried, his face aglow. "Ay, true! So we must! But then we will draw +lots, who shall fight him and kill him." + +I extinguished him by a look. "We shall fight him in turn," I said, +"until one of us kill him. There you are right. But your turn comes +last. Lots indeed! We have no need of lots to learn which is the +eldest." + +I was turning from him--having very properly crushed him--to look for +something which we could use to force the door, when he held up his +hand to arrest my attention. We listened, looking at one another. +Through the window came unmistakeable sounds of voices. "They have +discovered our flight," I said, my heart sinking. + +Luckily we had had the forethought to draw the curtain across the +casement. Bezers' people could therefore, from their window, see no +more than ours, dimly lighted and indistinct. Yet they would no doubt +guess the way we had escaped, and hasten to cut off our retreat below. +For a moment I looked at the door of our room, half-minded to attack +it, and fight our way out, taking the chance of reaching the street +before Bezers' folk should have recovered from their surprise and gone +down. But then I looked at Madame. How could we ensure her safety in +the struggle? While I hesitated the choice was taken from us. We heard +voices in the house below, and heavy feet on the stairs. + +We were between two fires. I glanced irresolutely round the bare +garret, with its sloping roof, searching for a better weapon. I had +only my dagger. But in vain. I saw nothing that would serve. "What +will you do?" Madame de Pavannes murmured, standing pale and trembling +by the hearth, and looking from one to another. Croisette plucked my +sleeve before I could answer, and pointed to the box-bed with its +scanty curtains. "If they see us in the room," he urged softly, "while +they are half in and half out, they will give the alarm. Let us hide +ourselves yonder. When they are inside--you understand?" + +He laid his hand on his dagger. The muscles of the lad's face grew +tense. I did understand him. "Madame," I said quickly, "you will not +betray us?" + +She shook her head. The colour returned to her cheek, and the +brightness to her eyes. She was a true woman. The sense that she was +protecting others deprived her of fear for herself. + +The footsteps were on the topmost stair now, and a key was thrust with +a rasping sound into the lock. But before it could be turned--it +fortunately fitted ill--we three had jumped on the bed and were +crouching in a row at the head of it, where the curtains of the alcove +concealed, and only just concealed us, from any one standing at the end +of the room near the door. + +I was the outermost, and through a chink could see what passed. One, +two, three people came in, and the door was closed behind them. Three +people, and one of them a woman! My heart--which had been in my +mouth--returned to its place, for the Vidame was not one. I breathed +freely; only I dared not communicate my relief to the others, lest my +voice should be heard. The first to come in was the woman closely +cloaked and hooded. Madame de Pavannes cast on her a single doubtful +glance, and then to my astonishment threw herself into her arms, +mingling her sobs with little joyous cries of "Oh, Diane! oh, Diane!" + +"My poor little one!" the newcomer exclaimed, soothing her with tender +touches on hair and shoulder. "You are safe now. Quite safe!" + +"You have come to take me away?" + +"Of course we have!" Diane answered cheerfully, still caressing her. +"We have come to take you to your husband. He has been searching for +you everywhere. He is distracted with grief, little one." + +"Poor Louis!" ejaculated the wife. + +"Poor Louis, indeed!" the rescuer answered. "But you will see him +soon. We only learned at midnight where you were. You have to thank +M. le Coadjuteur here for that. He brought me the news, and at once +escorted me here to fetch you." + +"And to restore one sister to another," said the priest silkily, as he +advanced a step. He was the very same priest whom I had seen two hours +before with Bezers, and had so greatly disliked! I hated his pale face +as much now as I had then. Even the errand of good on which he had +come could not blind me to his thin-lipped mouth, to his mock humility +and crafty eyes. "I have had no task so pleasant for many days," added +he, with every appearance of a desire to propitiate. + +But, seemingly, Madame de Pavannes had something of the same feeling +towards him which I had myself; for she started at the sound of his +voice, and disengaging herself from her sister's arms--it seemed it was +her sister--shrank back from the pair. She bowed indeed in +acknowledgment of his words. But there was little gratitude in the +movement, and less warmth. I saw the sister's face--a brilliantly +beautiful face it was--brighter eyes and lips and more lovely auburn +hair I have never seen--even Kit would have been plain and dowdy beside +her--I saw it harden strangely. A moment before, the two had been in +one another's arms. Now they stood apart, somehow chilled and +disillusionised. The shadow of the priest had fallen upon them--had +come between them. + +At this crisis the fourth person present asserted himself. Hitherto he +had stood silent just within the door: a plain man, plainly dressed, +somewhat over sixty and grey-haired. He looked disconcerted and +embarrassed, and I took him for Mirepoix--rightly as it turned out. + +"I am sure," he now exclaimed, his voice trembling with anxiety, or it +might be with fear, "your ladyship will regret leaving here! You will +indeed! No harm would have happened to you. Madame d'O does not know +what she is doing, or she would not take you away. She does not know +what she is doing!" he repeated earnestly. + +"Madame d'O!" cried the beautiful Diane, her brown eyes darting fire +at the unlucky culprit, her voice full of angry disdain. "How dare +you--such as you--mention my name? Wretch!" + +She flung the last word at him, and the priest took it up. "Ay, +wretch! Wretched man indeed!" he repeated slowly, stretching out his +long thin hand and laying it like the claw of some bird of prey on the +tradesman's shoulder, which flinched, I saw, under the touch. "How +dare you--such as you--meddle with matters of the nobility? Matters +that do not concern you? Trouble! I see trouble hanging over this +house, Mirepoix! Much trouble!" + +The miserable fellow trembled visibly under the covert threat. His face +grew pale. His lips quivered. He seemed fascinated by the priest's +gaze. "I am a faithful son of the church," he muttered; but his voice +shook so that the words were scarcely audible. "I am known to be such! +None better known in Paris, M. le Coadjuteur." + +"Men are known by their works!" the priest retorted. "Now, now," he +continued, abruptly raising his voice, and lifting his hand in a kind +of exaltation, real or feigned, "is the appointed time! And now is the +day of salvation! and woe, Mirepoix, woe! woe! to the backslider, and +to him that putteth his hand to the plough and looketh back to-night!" + +The layman cowered and shrank before his fierce denunciation; while +Madame de Pavannes gazed from one to the other as if her dislike for +the priest were so great that seeing the two thus quarrelling, she +almost forgave Mirepoix his offence. "Mirepoix said he could explain," +she murmured irresolutely. + +The Coadjutor fixed his baleful eyes on him. "Mirepoix," he said +grimly, "can explain nothing! Nothing! I dare him to explain!" + +And certainly Mirepoix thus challenged was silent. "Come," the priest +continued peremptorily, turning to the lady who had entered with him, +"your sister must leave with us at once. We have no time to lose." + +"But what what does it mean!" Madame de Pavannes said, as though she +hesitated even now. "Is there danger still?" + +"Danger!" the priest exclaimed, his form seeming to swell, and the +exaltation I had before read in his voice and manner again asserting +itself. "I put myself at your service, Madame, and danger disappears! +I am as God to-night with powers of life and death! You do not +understand me? Presently you shall. But you are ready. We will go +then. Out of the way, fellow!" he thundered, advancing upon the door. + +But Mirepoix, who had placed himself with his back to it, to my +astonishment did not give way. His full bourgeois face was pale; yet +peeping through my chink, I read in it a desperate resolution. And +oddly--very oddly, because I knew that, in keeping Madame de Pavannes a +prisoner, he must be in the wrong--I sympathised with him. Low-bred +trader, tool of Pavannes though he was, I sympathised with him, when he +said firmly: + +"She shall not go!" + +"I say she shall!" the priest shrieked, losing all control over +himself. "Fool! Madman! You know not what you do!" As the words +passed his lips, he made an adroit forward movement, surprised the +other, clutched him by the arms, and with a strength I should never +have thought lay in his meagre frame, flung him some paces into the +room. "Fool!" he hissed, shaking his crooked fingers at him in +malignant triumph. "There is no man in Paris, do you hear--or woman +either--shall thwart me to-night!" + +"Is that so? Indeed?" + +The words, and the cold, cynical voice, were not those of Mirepoix; +they came from behind. The priest wheeled round, as if he had been +stabbed in the back. I clutched Croisette, and arrested the cramped +limb I was moving under cover of the noise. The speaker was Bezers! He +stood in the open door-way, his great form filling it from post to +post, the old gibing smile on his face. We had been so taken up, +actors and audience alike, with the altercation, that no one had heard +him ascend the stairs. He still wore the black and silver suit, but it +was half hidden now under a dark riding cloak which just disclosed the +glitter of his weapons. He was booted and spurred and gloved as for a +journey. + +"Is that so?" he repeated mockingly, as his gaze rested in turn on +each of the four, and then travelled sharply round the room. "So you +will not be thwarted by any man in Paris, to-night, eh? Have you +considered, my dear Coadjutor, what a large number of people there are +in Paris? It would amuse me very greatly now--and I'm sure it would +the ladies too, who must pardon my abrupt entrance--to see you put to +the test; pitted against--shall we say the Duke of Anjou? Or M. de +Guise, our great man? Or the Admiral? Say the Admiral foot to foot?" + +Rage and fear--rage at the intrusion, fear of the intruder--struggled +in the priest's face. "How do you come here, and what do you want?" +he inquired hoarsely. If looks and tones could kill, we three, +trembling behind our flimsy screen, had been freed at that moment from +our enemy. + +"I have come in search of the young birds whose necks you were for +stretching, my friend!" was Bezers' answer. "They have vanished. +Birds they must be, for unless they have come into this house by that +window, they have flown away with wings." + +"They have not passed this way," the priest declared stoutly, eager +only to get rid of the other and I blessed him for the words! "I have +been here since I left you." + +But the Vidame was not one to accept any man's statement. "Thank you; +I think I will see for myself," he answered coolly. "Madame," he +continued, speaking to Madame de Pavannes as he passed her, "permit me." + +He did not look at her, or see her emotion, or I think he must have +divined our presence. And happily the others did not suspect her of +knowing more than they did. He crossed the floor at his leisure, and +sauntered to the window, watched by them with impatience. He drew +aside the curtain, and tried each of the bars, and peered through the +opening both up and down, An oath and an expression of wonder escaped +him. The bars were standing, and firm and strong; and it did not occur +to him that we could have passed between them. I am afraid to say how +few inches they were apart. + +As he turned, he cast a casual glance at the bed--at us; and hesitated. +He had the candle in his hand, having taken it to the window the better +to examine the bars; and it obscured his sight. He did not see us. The +three crouching forms, the strained white faces, the starting eyes, +that lurked in the shadow of the curtain escaped him. The wild beating +of our hearts did not reach his ears. And it was well for him that it +was so. If he had come up to the bed I think that we should have +killed him, I know that we should have tried. All the blood in me had +gone to my head, and I saw him through a haze--larger than life. The +exact spot near the buckle of his cloak where I would strike him, +downwards and inwards, an inch above the collar-bone,--this only I saw +clearly. I could not have missed it. But he turned away, his face +darkening, and went back to the group near the door, and never knew the +risk he had run. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MADAME'S FRIGHT. + +And we breathed again. The agony of suspense, which Bezers' pause had +created, passed away. But the night already seemed to us as a week of +nights. An age of experience, an aeon of adventures cut us off--as we +lay shaking behind the curtain--from Caylus and its life. Paris had +proved itself more treacherous than we had even expected to find it. +Everything and everyone shifted, and wore one face one minute, and one +another. We had come to save Pavannes' life at the risk of our own; we +found him to be a villain! Here was Mirepoix owning himself a +treacherous wretch, a conspirator against a woman; we sympathised with +him. The priest had come upon a work of charity and rescue; we loathed +the sound of his voice, and shrank from him, we knew not why, seeming +only to read a dark secret, a gloomy threat in each doubtful word he +uttered. He was the strangest enigma of all. Why did we fear him? Why +did Madame de Pavannes, who apparently had known him before, shudder at +the touch of his hand? Why did his shadow come even between her and +her sister, and estrange them? so that from the moment Pavannes' wife +saw him standing by Diane's side, she forgot that the latter had come +to save, and looked on her in doubt and sorrow, almost with repugnance. + +We left the Vidame going back to the fireplace. He stooped to set down +the candle by the hearth. "They are not here," he said, as he +straightened himself again, and looked curiously at his companions. He +had apparently been too much taken up with the pursuit to notice them +before. "That is certain, so I have the less time to lose," he +continued. "But I would--yes, my dear Coadjutor, I certainly would +like to know before I go, what you are doing here. Mirepoix--Mirepoix +is an honest man. I did not expect to find you in HIS house. And two +ladies? Two! Fie, Coadjutor. Ha! Madame d'O, is it? My dear lady," +he continued, addressing her in a whimsical tone, "do not start at the +sound of your own name! It would take a hundred hoods to hide your +eyes, or bleach your lips to the common colour; I should have known you +at once, had I looked at you. And your companion? Pheugh!" + +He broke off, whistling softly. It was clear that he recognised Madame +de Pavannes, and recognised her with astonishment. The bed creaked as +I craned my neck to see what would follow. Even the priest seemed to +think that some explanation was necessary, for he did not wait to be +questioned. + +"Madame de Pavannes," he said in a dry, husky voice, and without +looking up, "was spirited hither yesterday; and detained against her +will by this good man, who will have to answer for it. Madame d'O +discovered her whereabouts, and asked me to escort her here without +loss of time to enforce her sister's release." + +"And her restoration to her distracted husband?" + +"Just so," the priest assented, acquiring confidence, I thought. + +"And Madame desires to go?" + +"Surely! Why not?" + +"Well," the Vidame drawled, his manner such as to bring the blood to +Madame de Pavannes' cheek, "it depends on the person who--to use your +phrase, M. le Coadjuteur--spirited her hither." + +"And that," Madame herself retorted, raising her head, while her voice +quivered with indignation and anger, "was the Abbess of the Ursulines. +Your suspicions are base, worthy of you and unworthy of me, M. le +Vidame! Diane!" she continued sharply, taking her sister's arm, and +casting a disdainful glance at Bezers, "let us go. I want to be with +my husband. I am stifled in this room." + +"We are going, little one," Diane murmured reassuringly. But I noticed +that the speaker's animation, which had been as a soul to her beauty +when she entered the room, was gone. A strange stillness was it fear +of the Vidame? had taken its place. + +"The Abbess of the Ursulines?" Bezers continued thoughtfully. "SHE +brought you here, did she?" There was surprise, genuine surprise, in +his voice. "A good soul, and, I think I have heard, a friend of yours. +Umph!" + +"A very dear friend," Madame answered stiffly. "Now, Diane!" + +"A dear friend! And she spirited you hither yesterday!" commented the +Vidame, with the air of one solving an anagram. "And Mirepoix detained +you; respectable Mirepoix, who is said to have a well-filled stocking +under his pallet, and stands well with the bourgeoisie. He is in the +plot. Then at a very late hour, your affectionate sister, and my good +friend the Coadjutor, enter to save you. From what?" + +No one spoke. The priest looked down, his cheeks livid with anger. + +"From what?" Bezers continued with grim playfulness. "There is the +mystery. From the clutches of this profligate Mirepoix, I suppose. +From the dangerous Mirepoix. Upon my honour," with a sudden ring of +resolution in his tone, "I think you are safer here; I think you had +better stay where you are, Madame, until morning! And risk Mirepoix!" + +"Oh, no! no!" Madame cried vehemently. + +"Oh, yes! yes!" he replied. "What do you say, Coadjutor? Do you not +think so?" + +The priest looked down sullenly. His voice shook as he murmured in +answer, "Madame will please herself. She has a character, M. le +Vidame. But if she prefer to stay here--well!" + +"Oh, she has a character, has she?" rejoined the giant, his eyes +twinkling with evil mirth, "and she should go home with you, and my old +friend Madame d'O, to save it! That is it, is it? No, no," he +continued when he had had his silent laugh out, "Madame de Pavannes +will do very well here--very well here until morning. We have work to +do. Come. Let us go and do it." + +"Do you mean it?" said the priest, starting and looking up with a +subtle challenge--almost a threat--in his tone. + +"Yes, I do." + +Their eyes met: and seeing their looks, I chuckled, nudging Croisette. +No fear of their discovering us now. I recalled the old proverb which +says that when thieves fall out, honest men come by their own, and +speculated on the chance of the priest freeing us once for all from M. +de Bezers. + +But the two were ill-matched. The Vidame could have taken up the other +with one hand and dashed his head on the floor. And it did not end +there. I doubt if in craft the priest was his equal. Behind a frank +brutality Bezers--unless his reputation belied him--concealed an +Italian intellect. Under a cynical recklessness he veiled a rare +cunning and a constant suspicion; enjoying in that respect a +combination of apparently opposite qualities, which I have known no +other man to possess in an equal degree, unless it might be his late +majesty, Henry the Great. A child would have suspected the priest; a +veteran might have been taken in by the Vidame. + +And indeed the priest's eyes presently sank. "Our bargain is to go for +nothing?" he muttered sullenly. + +"I know of no bargain," quoth the Vidame. "And I have no time to lose, +splitting hairs here. Set it down to what you like. Say it is a whim +of mine, a fad, a caprice. Only understand that Madame de Pavannes +stays. We go. And--" he added this, as a sudden thought seemed to +strike him, "though I would not willingly use compulsion to a lady, I +think Madame d'O had better come too." + +"You speak masterfully," the priest said with a sneer, forgetting the +tone he had himself used a few minutes before to Mirepoix. + +"Just so. I have forty horsemen over the way," was the dry answer. +"For the moment, I am master of the legions, Coadjutor." + +"That is true," Madame d'O said; so softly that I started. She had +scarcely spoken since Bezers' entrance. As she spoke now, she shook +back the hood from her face and disclosed the chestnut hair clinging +about her temples--deep blots of colour on the abnormal whiteness of +her skin, "That is true, M. de Bezers," she said. "You have the +legions. You have the power. But you will not use it, I think, +against an old friend. You will not do us this hurt when I--But +listen." + +He would not. In the very middle of her appeal he cut her short--brute +that he was! "No Madame!" he burst out violently, disregarding the +beautiful face, the supplicating glance, that might have moved a stone, +"that is just what I will not do. I will not listen! We know one +another. Is not that enough?" + +She looked at him fixedly. He returned her gaze, not smiling now, but +eyeing her with a curious watchfulness. + +And after a long pause she turned from him. "Very well," she said +softly, and drew a deep, quivering breath, the sound of which reached +us. "Then let us go." And without--strangest thing of all--bestowing +a word or look on her sister, who was weeping bitterly in a chair, she +turned to the door and led the way out, a shrug of her shoulders the +last thing I marked. + +The poor lady heard her departing step however, and sprang up. It +dawned upon her that she was being deserted. "Diane! Diane!" she +cried distractedly--and I had to put my hand on Croisette to keep him +quiet, there was such fear and pain in her tone--"I will go! I will +not be left behind in this dreadful place! Do you hear? Come back to +me, Diane!" + +It made my blood run wildly. But Diane did not come back. Strange! +And Bezers too was unmoved. He stood between the poor woman and the +door, and by a gesture bid Mirepoix and the priest pass out before him. +"Madame," he said--and his voice, stern and hard as ever, expressed no +jot of compassion for her, rather such an impatient contempt as a +puling child might elicit--"you are safe here. And here you will stop! +Weep if you please," he added cynically, "you will have fewer tears to +shed to-morrow." + +His last words--they certainly were odd ones--arrested her attention. +She checked her sobs, being frightened I think, and looked up at him. +Perhaps he had spoken with this in view, for while she still stood at +gaze, her hands pressed to her bosom, he slipped quickly out and closed +the door behind him. I heard a muttering for an instant outside, and +then the tramp of feet descending the stairs. They were gone, and we +were still undiscovered. + +For Madame, she had clean forgotten our presence--of that I am +sure--and the chance of escape we might afford. On finding herself +alone she gazed a short time in alarmed silence at the door, and then +ran to the window and peered out, still trembling, terrified, silent. +So she remained a while. + +She had not noticed that Bezers on going out had omitted to lock the +door behind him. I had. But I was unwilling to move hastily. Some +one might return to see to it before the Vidame left the house. And +besides the door was not over strong, and if locked would be no +obstacle to the three of us when we had only Mirepoix to deal with. So +I kept the others where they were by a nudge and a pinch, and held my +breath a moment, straining my ears to catch the closing of the door +below. I did not hear that. But I did catch a sound that otherwise +might have escaped me, but which now riveted my eyes to the door of our +room. Some one in the silence, which followed the trampling on the +stairs, had cautiously laid a hand on the latch. + +The light in the room was dim. Mirepoix had taken one of the candles +with him, and the other wanted snuffing. I could not see whether the +latch moved; whether or no it was rising. But watching intently, I +made out that the door was being opened--slowly, noiselessly. I saw +someone enter--a furtive gliding shadow. + +For a moment I felt nervous--then I recognised the dark hooded figure. +It was only Madame d'O. Brave woman! She had evaded the Vidame and +slipped back to the rescue. Ha, ha! We would defeat the Vidame yet! +Things were going better! + +But then something in her manner--as she stood holding the door and +peering into the room--something in her bearing startled and frightened +me. As she came forward her movements were so stealthy that her +footsteps made no sound. Her dark shadow, moving ahead of her across +the floor, was not more silent than she. An undefined desire to make a +noise, to give the alarm, seized me. + +Half-way across the room she stopped to listen, and looked round, +startled herself, I think, by the silence. She could not see her +sister, whose figure was blurred by the outlines of the curtain; and no +doubt she was puzzled to think what had become of her. The suspense +which I felt, but did not understand, was so great that at last I +moved, and the bed creaked. + +In a moment her face was turned our way, and she glided forwards, her +features still hidden by the hood of her cloak. She was close to us +now, bending over us. She raised her hand to her head--to shade her +eyes, as she looked more closely, I supposed, and I was wondering +whether she saw us--whether she took the shapelessness in the shadow of +the curtain for her sister, or could not make it out--I was thinking +how we could best apprise her of our presence without alarming +her--when Croisette dashed my thoughts to the winds! Croisette, with a +tremendous whoop and a crash, bounded over me on to the floor! + +She uttered a gasping cry--a cry of intense, awful fear. I have the +sound in my ears even now. With that she staggered back, clutching the +air. I heard the metallic clang and ring of something falling on the +floor. I heard an answering cry of alarm from the window; and then +Madame de Pavannes ran forward and caught her in her arms. + +It was strange to find the room lately so silent become at once alive +with whispering forms, as we came hastily to light. I cursed Croisette +for his folly, and was immeasurably angry with him, but I had no time +to waste words on him then. I hurried to the door to guard it. I +opened it a hand's breadth and listened. All was quiet below; the house +still. I took the key out of the lock and put it in my pocket and went +back. Marie and Croisette were standing a little apart from Madame de +Pavannes, who, hanging over her sister, was by turns bathing her face +and explaining our presence. + +In a very few minutes Madame d'O seemed to recover, and sat up. The +first shock of deadly terror had passed, but she was still pale. She +still trembled, and shrank from meeting our eyes, though I saw her, +when our attention was apparently directed elsewhere, glance at one and +another of us with a strange intentness, a shuddering curiosity. No +wonder, I thought. She must have had a terrible fright--one that might +have killed a more timid woman! + +"What on earth did you do that for!" I asked Croisette presently, my +anger certainly not decreasing the more I looked at her beautiful face. +"You might have killed her!" + +In charity I supposed his nerves had failed him, for he could not even +now give me a straightforward answer. His only reply was, "Let us get +away! Let us get away from this horrible house!" and this he kept +repeating with a shudder as he moved restlessly to and fro. + +"With all my heart!" I answered, looking at him with some contempt. +"That is exactly what we are going to do!" + +But all the same his words reminded me of something which in the +excitement of the scene I had momentarily forgotten, and that was our +duty. Pavannes must still be saved, though not for Kit; rather to +answer to us for his sins. But he must be saved! And now that the +road was open, every minute lost was reproach to us. "Yes," I added +roughly, my thoughts turned into a more rugged channel, "you are right. +This is no time for nursing. We must be going. Madame de Pavannes," I +went on, addressing myself to her, "you know the way home from here--to +your house!" "Oh, yes," she cried. + +"That is well," I answered. "Then we will start. Your sister is +sufficiently recovered now, I think. And we will not risk any further +delay." + +I did not tell her of her husband's danger, or that we suspected him of +wronging her, and being in fact the cause of her detention. I wanted +her services as a guide. That was the main point, though I was glad to +be able to put her in a place of safety at the same time that we +fulfilled our own mission. + +She rose eagerly. "You are sure that we can get out?" she said. + +"Sure," I replied with a brevity worthy of Bezers himself. + +And I was right. We trooped down stairs, making as little noise as +possible; with the result that Mirepoix only took the alarm, and came +upon us when we were at the outer door, bungling with the lock. Then I +made short work of him, checking his scared words of remonstrance by +flashing my dagger before his eyes. I induced him in the same +fashion--he was fairly taken by surprise--to undo the fastenings +himself; and so, bidding him follow us at his peril, we slipped out one +by one. We softly closed the door behind us. And lo! we were at last +free--free and in the streets of Paris, with the cool night air fanning +our brows. A church hard by tolled the hour of two; and the strokes +were echoed, before we had gone many steps along the ill-paved way, by +the solemn tones of the bell of Notre Dame. + +We were free and in the streets, with a guide who knew the way. If +Bezers had not gone straight from us to his vengeance, we might thwart +him yet. I strode along quickly, Madame d'O by my side the others a +little way in front. Here and there an oil-lamp, swinging from a +pulley in the middle of the road, enabled us to avoid some obstacle +more foul than usual, or to leap over a pool which had formed in the +kennel. Even in my excitement, my country-bred senses rebelled against +the sights, and smells, the noisome air and oppressive closeness of the +streets. + +The town was quiet, and very dark where the smoky lamps were not +hanging. Yet I wondered if it ever slept, for more than once we had to +stand aside to give passage to a party of men, hurrying along with +links and arms. Several times too, especially towards the end of our +walk, I was surprised by the flashing of bright lights in a courtyard, +the door of which stood half open to right or left. Once I saw the +glow of torches reflected ruddily in the windows of a tall and splendid +mansion, a little withdrawn from the street. The source of the light +was in the fore-court, hidden from us by a low wall, but I caught the +murmur of voices and stir of many feet. Once a gate was stealthily +opened and two armed men looked out, the act and their manner of doing +it, reminding me on the instant of those who had peeped out to inspect +us some hours before in Bezers' house. And once, nay twice, in the +mouth of a narrow alley I discerned a knot of men standing motionless +in the gloom. There was an air of mystery abroad, a feeling as of +solemn stir and preparation going on under cover of the darkness, which +awed and unnerved me. + +But I said nothing of this, and Madame d'O was equally silent. Like +most countrymen I was ready to believe in any exaggeration of the +city's late hours, the more as she made no remark. I supposed--shaking +off the momentary impression--that what I saw was innocent and normal. +Besides, I was thinking what I should say to Pavannes when I saw +him--in what terms I should warn him of his peril, and cast his perfidy +in his teeth. We had hurried along in this way--and in absolute +silence, save when some obstacle or pitfall drew from us an +exclamation--for about a quarter of a mile, when my companion, turning +into a slightly wider street, slackened her speed, and indicated by a +gesture that we had arrived. A lamp hung over the porch, to which she +pointed, and showed the small side gate half open. We were close +behind the other three now. I saw Croisette stoop to enter and as +quickly fall back a pace. Why? + +In a moment it flashed across my mind that we were too late that the +Vidame had been before us. + +And yet how quiet it all was. + +Then I breathed freely again. I saw that Croisette had only stepped +back to avoid some one who was coming out--the Coadjutor in fact. The +moment the entrance was clear, the lad shot in, and the others after +him, the priest taking no notice of them, nor they of him. + +I was for going in too, when I felt Madame d'O's hand tighten suddenly +on my arm, and then fall from it. Apprised of something by this, I +glanced at the priest's face, catching sight of it by chance just as +his eyes met hers. His face was white--nay it was ugly with +disappointment and rage, bitter snarling rage, that was hardly human. +He grasped her by the arm roughly and twisted her round without +ceremony, so as to draw her a few paces aside; yet not so far that I +could not hear what they said. + +"He is not here!" he hissed. "Do you understand? He crossed the +river to the Faubourg St. Germain at nightfall--searching for her. And +he has not come back! He is on the other side of the water, and +midnight has struck this hour past!" + +She stood silent for a moment as if she had received a blow--silent and +dismayed. Something serious had happened. I could see that. + +"He cannot recross the river now?" she said after a time. "The +gates--" + +"Shut!" he replied briefly. "The keys are at the Louvre." + +"And the boats are on this side?" + +"Every boat!" he answered, striking his one hand on the other with +violence. "Every boat! No one may cross until it is over." + +"And the Faubourg St. Germain?" she said in a lower voice. + +"There will be nothing done there. Nothing!" + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A YOUNG KNIGHT-ERRANT. + +I would gladly have left the two together, and gone straight into the +house. I was eager now to discharge the errand on which I had come so +far; and apart from this I had no liking for the priest or wish to +overhear his talk. His anger, however, was so patent, and the rudeness +with which he treated Madame d'O so pronounced that I felt I could not +leave her with him unless she should dismiss me. So I stood patiently +enough--and awkwardly enough too, I daresay--by the door while they +talked on in subdued tones. Nevertheless, I felt heartily glad when at +length, the discussion ending Madame came back to me. I offered her my +arm to help her over the wooden foot of the side gate. She laid her +hand on it, but she stood still. + +"M. de Caylus," she said; and at that stopped. Naturally I looked at +her, and our eyes met. Hers brown and beautiful, shining in the light +of the lamp overhead looked into mine. Her lips were half parted, and +one fair tress of hair had escaped from her hood. "M. de Caylus, will +you do me a favour," she resumed, softly, "a favour for which I shall +always be grateful?" + +I sighed. "Madame," I said earnestly, for I felt the solemnity of the +occasion, "I swear that in ten minutes, if the task I now have in hand +be finished I will devote my life to your service. For the present--" + +"Well, for the present? But it is the present I want, Master +Discretion." + +"I must see M. de Pavannes! I am pledged to it," I ejaculated. + +"To see M. de Pavannes?" + +"Yes." + +I was conscious that she was looking at me with eyes of doubt, almost +of suspicion. + +"Why? Why?" she asked with evident surprise. "You have restored--and +nearly frightened me to death in doing it--his wife to her home; what +more do you want with him, most valiant knight-errant?" + +"I must see him," I said firmly. I would have told her all and been +thankful, but the priest was within hearing--or barely out of it; and I +had seen too much pass between him and Bezers to be willing to say +anything before him. + +"You must see M. de Pavannes?" she repeated, gazing at me. + +"I must," I replied with decision. + +"Then you shall. That is exactly what I am going to help you to do," +she exclaimed. "He is not here. That is what is the matter. He went +out at nightfall seeking news of his wife, and crossed the river, the +Coadjutor says, to the Faubourg St. Germain. Now it is of the utmost +importance that he should return before morning--return here." + +"But is he not here?" I said, finding all my calculations at fault. +"You are sure of it, Madame?" + +"Quite sure," she answered rapidly. "Your brothers will have by this +time discovered the fact. Now, M. de Caylus, Pavannes must be brought +here before morning, not only for his wife's sake--though she will be +wild with anxiety--but also--" + +"I know," I said, eagerly interrupting her, "for his own too! There is +a danger threatening him." + +She turned swiftly, as if startled, and I turned, and we looked at the +priest. I thought we understood one another. "There is," she answered +softly, "and I would save him from that danger; but he will only be +safe, as I happen to know, here! Here, you understand! He must be +brought here before daybreak, M. de Caylus. He must! He must!" she +exclaimed, her beautiful features hardening with the earnestness of her +feelings. "And the Coadjutor cannot go. I cannot go. There is only +one man who can save him, and that is yourself. There is, above all, +not a moment to be lost." + +My thoughts were in a whirl. Even as she spoke she began to walk back +the way we had come, her hand on my arm; and I, doubtful, and in a +confused way unwilling, went with her. I did not clearly understand +the position. I would have wished to go in and confer with Marie and +Croisette; but the juncture had occurred so quickly, and it might be +that time was as valuable as she said, and--well, it was hard for me, a +lad, to refuse her anything when she looked at me with appeal in her +eyes. I did manage to stammer, "But I do not know Paris. I could not +find my way, I am afraid, and it is night, Madame." + +She released my arm and stopped. "Night!" she cried, with a scornful +ring in her voice. "Night! I thought you were a man, not a boy! You +are afraid!" + +"Afraid," I said hotly; "we Cayluses are never afraid." + +"Then I can tell you the way, if that be your only difficulty. We turn +here. Now, come in with me a moment," she continued, "and I will give +you something you will need--and your directions." + +She had stopped at the door of a tall, narrow house, standing between +larger ones in a street which appeared to me to be more airy and +important than any I had yet seen. As she spoke, she rang the bell +once, twice, thrice. The silvery tinkle had scarcely died away the +third time before the door opened silently; I saw no one, but she drew +me into a narrow hall or passage. A taper in an embossed holder was +burning on a chest. She took it up, and telling me to follow her led +the way lightly up the stairs, and into a room, half-parlour, +half-bedroom--such a room as I had never seen before. It was richly +hung from ceiling to floor with blue silk, and lighted by the soft rays +of lamps shaded by Venetian globes of delicate hues. The scent of +cedar wood was in the air, and on the hearth in a velvet tray were some +tiny puppies. A dainty disorder reigned everywhere. On one table a +jewel-case stood open, on another lay some lace garments, two or three +masks and a fan. A gemmed riding-whip and a silver-hilted poniard hung +on the same peg. And, strangest of all, huddled away behind the door, +I espied a plain, black-sheathed sword, and a man's gauntlets. + +She did not wait a moment, but went at once to the jewel-case. She took +from it a gold ring--a heavy seal ring. She held this out to me in the +most matter-of-fact way--scarcely turning, in fact. "Put it on your +finger," she said hurriedly. "If you are stopped by soldiers, or if +they will not give you a boat to cross the river, say boldly that you +are on the king's service. Call for the officer and show that ring. +Play the man. Bid him stop you at his peril!" + +I hastily muttered my thanks, and she as hastily took something from a +drawer, and tore it into strips. Before I knew what she was doing she +was on her knees by me, fastening a white band of linen round my left +sleeve. Then she took my cap, and with the same precipitation fixed a +fragment of the stuff in it, in the form of a rough cross. + +"There," she said. "Now, listen, M. de Caylus. There is more afoot +to-night than you know of. Those badges will help you across to St. +Germain, but the moment you land tear them off: Tear them off, +remember. They will help you no longer. You will come back by the +same boat, and will not need them. If you are seen to wear them as you +return, they will command no respect, but on the contrary will bring +you--and perhaps me into trouble." + +"I understand," I said, "but--" + +"You must ask no questions," she retorted, waving one snowy finger +before my eyes. "My knight-errant must have faith in me, as I have in +him; or he would not be here at this time of night, and alone with me. +But remember this also. When you meet Pavannes do not say you come +from me. Keep that in your mind; I will explain the reason afterwards. +Say merely that his wife is found, and is wild with anxiety about him. +If you say anything as to his danger he may refuse to come. Men are +obstinate." + +I nodded a smiling assent, thinking I understood. At the same time I +permitted myself in my own mind a little discretion. Pavannes was not a +fool, and the name of the Vidame--but, however, I should see. I had +more to say to him than she knew of. Meanwhile she explained very +carefully the three turnings I had to take to reach the river, and the +wharf where boats most commonly lay, and the name of the house in which +I should find M. de Pavannes. + +"He is at the Hotel de Bailli," she said. "And there, I think that is +all." + +"No, not all," I said hardily. "There is one thing I have not got. +And that is a sword!" + +She followed the direction of my eyes, started, and laughed--a little +oddly. But she fetched the weapon. "Take it, and do not," she urged, +"do not lose time. Do not mention me to Pavannes. Do not let the +white badges be seen as you return. That is really all. And now good +luck!" She gave me her hand to kiss. "Good luck, my knight-errant, +good luck--and come back to me soon!" + +She smiled divinely, as it seemed to me, as she said these last words, +and the same smile followed me down stairs: for she leaned over the +stair-head with one of the lamps in her hand, and directed me how to +draw the bolts. I took one backward glance as I did so at the fair +stooping figure above me, the shining eyes, and tiny outstretched hand, +and then darting into the gloom I hurried on my way. + +I was in a strange mood. A few minutes before I had been at Pavannes' +door, at the end of our journey; on the verge of success. I had been +within an ace, as I supposed at least, of executing my errand. I had +held the cup of success in my hand. And it had slipped. Now the +conflict had to be fought over again; the danger to be faced. It would +have been no more than natural if I had felt the disappointment keenly: +if I had almost despaired. + +But it was otherwise--far otherwise. Never had my heart beat higher or +more proudly than as I now hurried through the streets, avoiding such +groups as were abroad in them, and intent only on observing the proper +turnings. Never in any moment of triumph in after days, in love or +war, did anything like the exhilaration, the energy, the spirit, of +those minutes come back to me. I had a woman's badge in my cap--for +the first time--the music of her voice in my ears. I had a magic ring +on my finger: a talisman on my arm. My sword was at my side again. +All round me lay a misty city of adventures, of danger and romance, +full of the richest and most beautiful possibilities; a city of real +witchery, such as I had read of in stories, through which those fairy +gifts and my right hand should guide me safely. I did not even regret +my brothers, or our separation. I was the eldest. It was fitting that +the cream of the enterprise should be reserved for me, Anne de Caylus. +And to what might it not lead? In fancy I saw myself already a duke and +peer of France--already I held the baton. + +Yet while I exulted boyishly, I did not forget what I was about. I kept +my eyes open, and soon remarked that the number of people passing to +and fro in the dark streets had much increased within the last half +hour. The silence in which in groups or singly these figures stole by +me was very striking. I heard no brawling, fighting or singing; yet if +it were too late for these things, why were so many people up and +about? I began to count presently, and found that at least half of +those I met wore badges in their hats and on their arms, similar to +mine, and that they all moved with a businesslike air, as if bound for +some rendezvous. + +I was not a fool, though I was young, and in some matters less quick +than Croisette. The hints which had been dropped by so many had not +been lost on me. "There is more afoot to-night than you know of!" +Madame d'O had said. And having eyes as well as ears I fully believed +it. Something was afoot. Something was going to happen in Paris +before morning. But what, I wondered. Could it be that a rebellion was +about to break out? If so I was on the king's service, and all was +well. I might even be going--and only eighteen--to make history! Or +was it only a brawl on a great scale between two parties of nobles? I +had heard of such things happening in Paris. Then--well I did not see +how I could act in that case. I must be guided by events. + +I did not imagine anything else which it could be. That is the truth, +though it may need explanation. I was accustomed only to the milder +religious differences, the more evenly balanced parties of Quercy, +where the peace between the Catholics and Huguenots had been welcome to +all save a very few. I could not gauge therefore the fanaticism of the +Parisian populace, and lost count of the factor, which made possible +that which was going to happen--was going to happen in Paris before +daylight as surely as the sun was going to rise! I knew that the +Huguenot nobles were present in the city in great numbers, but it did +not occur to me that they could as a body be in danger. They were many +and powerful, and as was said, in favour with the king. They were +under the protection of the King of Navarre--France's brother-in-law of +a week, and the Prince of Conde; and though these princes were young, +Coligny the sagacious admiral was old, and not much the worse I had +learned for his wound. He at least was high in royal favour, a trusted +counsellor. Had not the king visited him on his sick-bed and sat by +him for an hour together? + +Surely, I thought, if there were danger, these men would know of it. +And then the Huguenots' main enemy, Henri le Balafre, the splendid Duke +of Guise, "our great man," and "Lorraine," as the crowd called him--he, +it was rumoured, was in disgrace at court. In a word these things, to +say nothing of the peaceful and joyous occasion which had brought the +Huguenots to Paris, and which seemed to put treachery out of the +question, were more than enough to prevent me forecasting the event. + +If for a moment, indeed, as I hurried along towards the river, anything +like the truth occurred to me, I put it from me. I say with pride I +put it from me as a thing impossible. For God forbid--one may speak +out the truth these forty years back--God forbid, say I, that all +Frenchmen should bear the blood guiltiness which came of other than +French brains, though French were the hands that did the work. + +I was not greatly troubled by my forebodings therefore: and the state +of exaltation to which Madame d'O's confidence had raised my spirits +lasted until one of the narrow streets by the Louvre brought me +suddenly within sight of the river. Here faint moonlight bursting +momentarily through the clouds was shining on the placid surface of the +water. The fresh air played upon, and cooled my temples. And this +with the quiet scene so abruptly presented to me, gave check to my +thoughts, and somewhat sobered me. + +At some distance to my left I could distinguish in the middle of the +river the pile of buildings which crowd the Ile de la Cite, and could +follow the nearer arm of the stream as it swept landwards of these, +closely hemmed in by houses, but unbroken as yet by the arches of the +Pont Neuf which I have lived to see built. Not far from me on my +right--indeed within a stone's throw--the bulky mass of the Louvre rose +dark and shapeless against the sky. Only a narrow open space--the +foreshore--separated me from the water; beyond which I could see an +irregular line of buildings, that no doubt formed the Faubourg St. +Germain. + +I had been told that I should find stairs leading down to the water, +and boats moored at the foot of them, at this point. Accordingly I +walked quickly across the open space to a spot, where I made out a +couple of posts set up on the brink--doubtless to mark the landing +place. + +I had not gone ten paces, however, out of the shadow, before I chanced +to look round, and discerned with an unpleasant eerie feeling three +figures detach themselves from it, and advance in a row behind me, so +as the better to cut off my retreat. I was not to succeed in my +enterprise too easily then. That was clear. Still I thought it better +to act as if I had not seen my followers, and collecting myself, I +walked as quickly as I could down to the steps. The three were by that +time close upon me--within striking distance almost. I turned abruptly +and confronted them. + +"Who are you, and what do you want?" I said, eyeing them warily, my +hand on my sword. + +They did not answer, but separated more widely so as to form a +half-circle: and one of them whistled. On the instant a knot of men +started out of the line of houses, and came quickly across the strip of +light towards us. + +The position seemed serious. If I could have run indeed--but I glanced +round, and found escape in that fashion impossible. There were men +crouching on the steps behind me, between me and the river. I had +fallen into a trap. Indeed, there was nothing for it now but to do as +Madame had bidden me, and play the man boldly. I had the words still +ringing in my ears. I had enough of the excitement I had lately felt +still bounding in my veins to give nerve and daring. I folded my arms +and drew myself up. + +"Knaves!" I said, with as much quiet contempt as I could muster, "you +mistake me. You do not know whom you have to deal with. Get me a boat, +and let two of you row me across. Hinder me, and your necks shall +answer for it--or your backs!" + +A laugh and an oath of derision formed the only response, and before I +could add more, the larger group arrived, and joined the three. + +"Who is it, Pierre?" asked one of these in a matter-of-fact way, which +showed I had not fallen amongst mere thieves. + +The speaker seemed to be the leader of the band. He had a feather in +his bonnet, and I saw a steel corslet gleam under his cloak, when some +one held up a lanthorn to examine me the better. His trunk-hose were +striped with black, white, and green--the livery as I learned +afterwards of Monsieur the King's brother, the Duke of Anjou, +afterwards Henry the Third; then a close friend of the Duke of Guise, +and later his murderer. The captain spoke with a foreign accent, and +his complexion was dark to swarthiness. His eyes sparkled and flashed +like black beads. It was easy to see that he was an Italian. + +"A gallant young cock enough," the soldier who had whistled answered; +"and not quite of the breed we expected." He held his lanthorn towards +me and pointed to the white badge on my sleeve. "It strikes me we have +caught a crow instead of a pigeon!" + +"How comes this?" the Italian asked harshly, addressing me. "Who are +you? And why do you wish to cross the river at this time of night, +young sir?" + +I acted on the inspiration of the moment. "Play the man boldly!" +Madame had said. I would: and I did with a vengeance. I sprang +forward and seizing the captain by the clasp of his cloak, shook him +violently, and flung him off with all my force, so that he reeled. +"Dog!" I exclaimed, advancing, as if I would seize him again. "Learn +how to speak to your betters! Am I to be stopped by such sweepings as +you? Hark ye, I am on the King's service!" + +He fairly spluttered with rage. "More like the devil's!" he +exclaimed, pronouncing his words abominably, and fumbling vainly for +his weapon. "King's service or no service you do not insult Andrea +Pallavicini!" + +I could only vindicate my daring by greater daring, and I saw this even +as, death staring me in the face, my heart seemed to stop. The man had +his mouth open and his hand raised to give an order which would +certainly have sent Anne de Caylus from the world, when I cried +passionately--it was my last chance, and I never wished to live more +strongly than at that moment--I cried passionately, "Andrea +Pallavicini, if such be your name, look at that! Look at that!" I +repeated, shaking my open hand with the ring on it before his face, +"and then hinder me if you dare! To-morrow if you have quarterings +enough, I will see to your quarrel! Now send me on my way, or your +fate be on your own head! Disobey--ay, do but hesitate--and I will +call on these very men of yours to cut you down!" + +It was a bold throw, for I staked all on a talisman of which I did not +know the value! To me it was the turn of a die, for I had had no +leisure to look at the ring, and knew no more than a babe whose it was. +But the venture was as happy as desperate. + +Andrea Pallavicini's expression--no pleasant one at the best of +times--changed on the instant. His face fell as he seized my hand, and +peered at the ring long and intently. Then he cast a quick glance of +suspicion at his men, of hatred at me. But I cared nothing for his +glance, or his hatred. I saw already that he had made up his mind to +obey the charm: and that for me was everything. "If you had shown +that to me a little earlier, young sir, it would, maybe, have been +better for both of us," he said, a surly menace in his voice. And +cursing his men for their stupidity he ordered two of them to unmoor a +boat. + +Apparently the craft had been secured with more care than skill, for to +loosen it seemed to be a work of time. Meanwhile I stood waiting in +the midst of the group, anxious and yet exultant; an object of +curiosity, and yet curious myself. I heard the guards whisper +together, and caught such phrases as "It is the Duc d'Aumale." + +"No, it is not D'Aumale. It is nothing like him." + +"Well, he has the Duke's ring, fool!" + +"The Duke's?" + +"Ay." + +"Then it is all right, God bless him!" This last was uttered with +extreme fervour. + +I was conscious too of being the object of many respectful glances; and +had just bidden the men on the steps below me to be quick, when I +discovered with alarm three figures moving across the open space +towards us, and coming apparently from the same point from which +Pallavicini and his men had emerged. + +In a moment I foresaw danger. "Now be quick there!" I cried again. +But scarcely had I spoken before I saw that it was impossible to get +afloat before these others came up, and I prepared to stand my ground +resolutely. + +The first words, however, with which Pallavicini saluted the new-comers +scattered my fears. "Well, what the foul fiend do you want?" he +exclaimed rudely; and he rapped out half-a-dozen CORPOS before they +could answer him. "What have you brought him here for, when I left him +in the guard-house? Imbeciles!" + +"Captain Pallavicini," interposed the midmost of the three, speaking +with patience--he was a man of about thirty, dressed with some +richness, though his clothes were now disordered as though by a +struggle--"I have induced these good men to bring me down--" + +"Then," cried the captain, brutally interrupting him, "you have lost +your labour, Monsieur." + +"You do not know me," replied the prisoner with sternness--a prisoner +he seemed to be. "You do not understand that I am a friend of the +Prince of Conde, and that--" + +He would have said more, but the Italian again cut him short. "A fig +for the Prince of Conde!" he cried; "I understand my duty. You may as +well take things easily. You cannot cross, and you cannot go home, and +you cannot have any explanation; except that it is the King's will! +Explanation?" he grumbled, in a lower tone, "you will get it soon +enough, I warrant! Before you want it!" + +"But there is a boat going to cross," said the other, controlling his +temper by an effort and speaking with dignity. "You told me that by +the King's order no one could cross; and you arrested me because, +having urgent need to visit St. Germain, I persisted. Now what does +this mean, Captain Pallavicini? Others are crossing. I ask what this +means?" + +"Whatever you please, M. de Pavannes," the Italian retorted +contemptuously. "Explain it for yourself!" + +I started as the name struck my ear, and at once cried out in surprise, +"M. de Pavannes!" Had I heard aright? + +Apparently I had, for the prisoner turned to me with a bow. "Yes, sir," +he said with dignity, "I am M. de Pavannes. I have not the honour of +knowing you, but you seem to be a gentleman." He cast a withering +glance at the captain as he said this. "Perhaps you will explain to me +why this violence has been done to me. If you can, I shall consider it +a favour; if not, pardon me." + +I did not answer him at once, for a good reason--that every faculty I +had was bent on a close scrutiny of the man himself. He was fair, and +of a ruddy complexion. His beard was cut in the short pointed fashion +of the court; and in these respects he bore a kind of likeness, a +curious likeness, to Louis de Pavannes. But his figure was shorter and +stouter. He was less martial in bearing, with more of the air of a +scholar than a soldier. "You are related to M. Louis de Pavannes?" I +said, my heart beginning to beat with an odd excitement. I think I +foresaw already what was coming. + +"I am Louis de Pavannes," he replied with impatience. + +I stared at him in silence: thinking--thinking--thinking. And then I +said slowly, "You have a cousin of the same name?" + +"I have." + +"He fell prisoner to the Vicomte de Caylus at Moncontour?" + +"He did," he answered curtly. "But what of that, sir?" + +Again I did not answer--at once. The murder was out. I remembered, in +the dim fashion in which one remembers such things after the event, +that I had heard Louis de Pavannes, when we first became acquainted +with him, mention this cousin of the same name; the head of a younger +branch. But our Louis living in Provence and the other in Normandy, +the distance between their homes, and the troubles of the times had +loosened a tie which their common religion might have strengthened. +They had scarcely ever seen one another. As Louis had spoken of his +namesake but once during his long stay with us, and I had not then +foreseen the connection to be formed between our families, it was no +wonder that in the course of months the chance word had passed out of +my head, and I had clean forgotten the subject of it. Here however, he +was before my eyes, and seeing him; I saw too what the discovery meant. +It meant a most joyful thing! a most wonderful thing which I longed to +tell Croisette and Marie. It meant that our Louis de Pavannes--my +cheek burned for my want of faith in him--was no villain after all, but +such a noble gentleman as we had always till this day thought him! It +meant that he was no court gallant bent on breaking a country heart for +sport, but Kit's own true lover! And--and it meant more--it meant that +he was yet in danger, and still ignorant of the vow that unchained +fiend Bezers had taken to have his life! In pursuing his namesake we +had been led astray, how sadly I only knew now! And had indeed lost +most precious time. + +"Your wife, M. de Pavannes"--I began in haste, seeing the necessity of +explaining matters with the utmost quickness. "Your wife is--" + +"Ah, my wife!" he cried interrupting me, with anxiety in his tone. +"What of her? You have seen her!" + +"I have. She is safe at your house in the Rue de St. Merri." + +"Thank Heaven for that!" he replied fervently. Before he could say +more Captain Andrea interrupted us. I could see that his suspicions +were aroused afresh. He pushed rudely between us, and addressing me +said, "Now, young sir, your boat is ready." + +"My boat?" I answered, while I rapidly considered the situation. Of +course I did not want to cross the river now. No doubt Pavannes--this +Pavannes--could guide me to Louis' address. "My boat?" + +"Yes, it is waiting," the Italian replied, his black eyes roving from +one to the other of us. + +"Then let it wait!" I answered haughtily, speaking with an assumption +of anger. "Plague upon you for interrupting us! I shall not cross the +river now. This gentleman can give me the information I want. I shall +take him back with me." + +"To whom?" + +"To whom? To those who sent me, sirrah!" + +I thundered. "You do not seem to be much in the Duke's confidence, +captain," I went on; "now take a word of advice from me! There is +nothing: so easily cast off as an over-officious servant! He goes too +far--and he goes like an old glove! An old glove," I repeated grimly, +sneering in his face, "which saves the hand and suffers itself. Beware +of too much zeal, Captain Pallavicini! It is a dangerous thing!" + +He turned pale with anger at being thus treated by a beardless boy. +But he faltered all the same. What I said was unpleasant, but the +bravo knew it was true. + +I saw the impression I had made, and I turned to the soldiers standing +round. + +"Bring here, my friends," I said, "M. de Pavannes' sword!" + +One ran up to the guard house and brought it at once. They were +townsfolk, burgher guards or such like, and for some reason betrayed so +evident a respect for me, that I soberly believe they would have turned +on their temporary leader at my bidding. Pavannes took his sword, and +placed it under his arm. We both bowed ceremoniously to Pallavicini, +who scowled in response; and slowly, for I was afraid to show any signs +of haste, we walked across the moonlit space to the bottom of the +street by which I had come. There the gloom swallowed us up at once. +Pavannes touched my sleeve and stopped in the darkness. + +"I beg to be allowed to thank you for your aid," he said with emotion, +turning and facing me. "Whom have I the honour of addressing?" + +"M. Anne de Caylus, a friend of your cousin," I replied. + +"Indeed?" he said "well, I thank you most heartily," and we embraced +with warmth. + +"But I could have done little," I answered modestly, "on your behalf, +if it had not been for this ring." + +"And the virtue of the ring lies in--" + +"In--I am sure I cannot say in what!" I confessed. And then, in the +sympathy which the scene had naturally created between us, I forgot one +portion of my lady's commands and I added impulsively, "All I know is +that Madame d'O gave it me; and that it has done all, and more than all +she said it would." + +"Who gave it to you?" he asked, grasping my arm so tightly as to hurt +me. + +"Madame d'O," I repeated. It was too late to draw back now. + +"That woman!" he ejaculated in a strange low whisper. "Is it +possible? That woman gave it you?" + +I wandered what on earth he meant, surprise, scorn and dislike were so +blended in his tone. It even seemed to me that he drew off from me +somewhat. "Yes, M. de Pavannes," I replied, offended and indignant, +"It is so far possible that it is the truth; and more, I think you +would not so speak of this lady if you knew all; and that it was +through her your wife was to-day freed from those who were detaining +her, and taken safely home!" + +"Ha!" he cried eagerly. "Then where has my wife been?" + +"At the house of Mirepoix, the glover," I answered coldly, "in the Rue +Platriere. Do you know him? You do. Well, she was kept there a +prisoner, until we helped her to escape an hour or so ago." + +He did not seem to comprehend even then. I could see little of his +face, but there was doubt and wonder in his tone when he spoke. +"Mirepoix the glover," he murmured. "He is an honest man enough, +though a Catholic. She was kept there! Who kept her there?" + +"The Abbess of the Ursulines seems to have been at the bottom of it," I +explained, fretting with impatience. This wonder was misplaced, I +thought; and time was passing. "Madame d'O found out where she was," I +continued, "and took her home, and then sent me to fetch you, hearing +you had crossed the river. That is the story in brief." + +"That woman sent you to fetch me?" he repeated again. + +"Yes," I answered angrily. "She did, M. de Pavannes." + +"Then," he said slowly, and with an air of solemn conviction which +could not but impress me, "there is a trap laid for me! She is the +worst, the most wicked, the vilest of women! If she sent you, this is +a trap! And my wife has fallen into it already! Heaven help her--and +me--if it be so!" + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE PARISIAN MATINS. + +There are some statements for which it is impossible to be prepared; +statements so strong and so startling that it is impossible to answer +them except by action--by a blow. And this of M. de Pavannes was one +of these. If there had been any one present, I think I should have +given him the lie and drawn upon him. But alone with him at midnight +in the shadow near the bottom of the Rue des Fosses, with no witnesses, +with every reason to feel friendly towards him, what was I to do? + +As a fact, I did nothing. I stood, silent and stupefied, waiting to +hear more. He did not keep me long. + +"She is my wife's sister," he continued grimly. "But I have no reason +to shield her on that account! Shield her? Had you lived at court +only a month I might shield her all I could, M. de Caylus, it would +avail nothing. Not Madame de Sauves is better known. And I would not +if I could! I know well, though my wife will not believe it, that +there is nothing so near Madame d'O's heart as to get rid of her sister +and me--of both of us--that she may succeed to Madeleine's inheritance! +Oh, yes, I had good grounds for being nervous yesterday, when my wife +did not return," he added excitedly. + +"But there at least you wrong Madame d'O!" I cried, shocked and +horrified by an accusation, which seemed so much more dreadful in the +silence and gloom--and withal so much less preposterous than it might +have seemed in the daylight. "There you certainly wrong her! For +shame! M. de Pavannes." + +He came a step nearer, and laying a hand on my sleeve peered into my +face. "Did you see a priest with her?" he asked slowly. "A man +called the Coadjutor--a down-looking dog?" + +I said--with a shiver of dread, a sudden revulsion of feeling, born of +his manner--that I had. And I explained the part the priest had taken. + +"Then," Pavannes rejoined, "I am right There IS a trap laid for me. +The Abbess of the Ursulines! She abduct my wife? Why, she is her +dearest friend, believe me. It is impossible. She would be more +likely to save her from danger than to--umph! wait a minute." I did: +I waited, dreading what he might discover, until he muttered, checking +himself--"Can that be it? Can it be that the Abbess did know of some +danger threatening us, and would have put Madeleine in a safe retreat? +I wonder!" + +And I wondered; and then--well, thoughts are like gunpowder. The least +spark will fire a train. His words were few, but they formed spark +enough to raise such a flare in my brain as for a moment blinded me, +and shook me so that I trembled. The shock over, I was left face to +face with a possibility of wickedness such as I could never have +suspected of myself. I remembered Mirepoix's distress and the priest's +eagerness. I re-called the gruff warning Bezers--even Bezers, and +there was something very odd in Bezers giving a warning!--had given +Madame de Pavannes when he told her that she would be better where she +was. I thought of the wakefulness which I had marked in the streets, +the silent hurrying to and fro, the signs of coming strife, and +contrasted these with the quietude and seeming safety of Mirepoix's +house; and I hastily asked Pavannes at what time he had been arrested. + +"About an hour before midnight," he answered. + +"Then you know nothing of what is happening?" I replied quickly. "Why, +even while we are loitering here--but listen!" + +And with all speed, stammering indeed in my haste and anxiety, I told +him what I had noticed in the streets, and the hints I had heard, and I +showed him the badges with which Madame had furnished me. + +His manner when he had heard me out frightened me still more. He drew +me on in a kind of fury to a house in the windows of which some lighted +candles had appeared not a minute before. + +"The ring!" he cried, "let me see the ring! Whose is it?" + +He held up my hand to this chance light and we looked at the ring. It +was a heavy gold signet, with one curious characteristic: it had two +facets. On one of these was engraved the letter "H," and above it a +crown. On the other was an eagle with outstretched wings. + +Pavannes let my hand drop and leaned against the wall in sudden +despair. "It is the Duke of Guise's," he muttered. "It is the eagle +of Lorraine." + +"Ha!" said I softly, seeing light. The Duke was the idol then, as +later, of the Parisian populace, and I understood now why the citizen +soldiers had shown me such respect. They had taken me for the Duke's +envoy and confidant. + +But I saw no farther. Pavannes did, and murmured bitterly, "We may say +our prayers, we Huguenots. That is our death-warrant. To-morrow night +there will not be one left in Paris, lad. Guise has his father's death +to avenge, and these cursed Parisians will do his bidding like the +wolves they are! The Baron de Rosny warned us of this, word for word. +I would to Heaven we had taken his advice!" + +"Stay!" I cried--he was going too fast for me--"stay!" His monstrous +conception, though it marched some way with my own suspicions, outran +them far! I saw no sufficient grounds for it. "The King--the king +would not permit such a thing, M. de Pavannes," I argued. + +"Boy, you are blind!" he rejoined impatiently, for now he saw all and +I nothing. "Yonder was the Duke of Anjou's captain--Monsieur's +officer, the follower of France's brother, mark you! And HE--he obeyed +the Duke's ring! The Duke has a free hand to-night, and he hates us. +And the river. Why are we not to cross the river? The King indeed! +The King has undone us. He has sold us to his brother and the Guises. +VA CHASSER L'IDOLE" for the second time I heard the quaint phrase, +which I learned afterwards was an anagram of the King's name, Charles +de Valois, used by the Protestants as a password--"VA CHASSER L'IDOLE +has betrayed us! I remember the very words he used to the Admiral, +'Now we have got you here we shall not let you go so easily!' Oh, the +traitor! The wretched traitor!" + +He leaned against the wall overcome by the horror of the conviction +which had burst upon him, and unnerved by the imminence of the peril. +At all times he was an unready man, I fancy, more fit, courage apart, +for the college than the field; and now he gave way to despair. +Perhaps the thought of his wife unmanned him. Perhaps the excitement +through which he had already gone tended to stupefy him, or the +suddenness of the discovery. + +At any rate, I was the first to gather my wits together, and my +earliest impulse was to tear into two parts a white handkerchief I had +in my pouch, and fasten one to his sleeve, the other in his hat, in +rough imitation of the badges I wore myself. + +It will appear from this that I no longer trusted Madame d'O. I was +not convinced, it is true, of her conscious guilt, still I did not +trust her entirely. "Do not wear them on your return," she had said +and that was odd; although I could not yet believe that she was such a +siren as Father Pierre had warned us of, telling tales from old poets. +Yet I doubted, shuddering as I did so. Her companionship with that +vile priest, her strange eagerness to secure Pavannes' return, her +mysterious directions to me, her anxiety to take her sister home--home, +where she would be exposed to danger, as being in a known Huguenot's +house--these things pointed to but one conclusion; still that one was +so horrible that I would not, even while I doubted and distrusted her, +I would not, I could not accept it. I put it from me, and refused to +believe it, although during the rest of that night it kept coming back +to me and knocking for admission at my brain. + +All this flashed through my mind while I was fixing on Pavannes' +badges. Not that I lost time about it, for from the moment I grasped +the position as he conceived it, every minute we had wasted on +explanations seemed to me an hour. I reproached myself for having +forgotten even for an instant that which had brought us to town--the +rescue of Kit's lover. We had small chance now of reaching him in +time, misled as we had been by this miserable mistake in identity. If +my companion's fears were well founded, Louis would fall in the general +massacre of the Huguenots, probably before we could reach him. If +ill-founded, still we had small reason to hope. Bezers' vengeance +would not wait. I knew him too well to think it. A Guise might spare +his foe, but the Vidame--the Vidame never! We had warned Madame de +Pavannes it was true; but that abnormal exercise of benevolence could +only, I cynically thought, have the more exasperated the devil within +him, which now would be ravening like a dog disappointed of its +victuals. + +I glanced up at the line of sky visible between the tall houses, and +lo! the dawn was coming. It wanted scarcely half-an-hour of daylight, +though down in the dark streets about us the night still reigned. Yes, +the morning was coming, bright and hopeful, and the city was quiet. +There were no signs, no sounds of riot or disorder. Surely, I thought, +surely Pavannes must be mistaken. Either the plot had never existed, +that was most likely, or it had been abandoned, or perhaps--Crack! + +A pistol shot! Short, sharp, ominous it rang out on the instant, a +solitary sound in the night! It was somewhere near us, and I stopped. +I had been speaking to my companion at the moment. "Where was it?" I +cried, looking behind me. + +"Close to us. Near the Louvre," he answered, listening intently. "See! +See! Ah, heavens!" he continued in a voice of despair, "it was a +signal!" + +It was. One, two, three! Before I could count so far, lights sprang +into brightness in the windows of nine out of ten houses in the short +street where we stood, as if lighted by a single hand. Before too I +could count as many more, or ask him what this meant, before indeed, we +could speak or stir from the spot, or think what we should do, with a +hurried clang and clash, as if brought into motion by furious frenzied +hands, a great bell just above our heads began to boom and whirr! It +hurled its notes into space, it suddenly filled all the silence. It +dashed its harsh sounds down upon the trembling city, till the air +heaved, and the houses about us rocked. It made in an instant a +pandemonium of the quiet night. + +We turned and hurried instinctively from the place, crouching and +amazed, looking upwards with bent shoulders and scared faces. "What is +it? What is it?" I cried, half in resentment; half in terror. It +deafened me. + +"The bell of St. Germain l'Auxerrois!" he shouted in answer. "The +Church of the Louvre. It is as I said. We are doomed!" + +"Doomed? No!" I replied fiercely, for my courage seemed to rise again +on the wave of sound and excitement as if rebounding from the momentary +shock. "Never! We wear the devil's livery, and he will look after his +own. Draw, man, and let him that stops us look to himself. You know +the way. Lead on!" I cried savagely. + +He caught the infection and drew his sword. So we started boldly, and +the result justified my confidence. We looked, no doubt, as like +murderers as any who were abroad that night. Moving in this desperate +guise we hastened up that street and into another--still pursued by the +din and clangour of the bell--and then a short distance along a third. +We were not stopped or addressed by anyone, though numbers, increasing +each moment as door after door opened, and we drew nearer to the heart +of the commotion, were hurrying in the same direction, side by side +with us; and though in front, where now and again lights gleamed on a +mass of weapons, or on white eager faces, filling some alley from wall +to wall, we heard the roar of voices rising and falling like the murmur +of an angry sea. + +All was blur, hurry, confusion, tumult. Yet I remember, as we pressed +onwards with the stream and part of it, certain sharp outlines. I +caught here and there a glimpse of a pale scared face at a window, a +half-clad form at a door, of the big, wondering eyes of a child held up +to see us pass, of a Christ at a corner ruddy in the smoky glare of a +link, of a woman armed, and in man's clothes, who walked some distance +side by side with us, and led off a ribald song. I retain a memory of +these things: of brief bursts of light and long intervals of darkness, +and always, as we tramped forwards, my hand on Pavannes' sleeve, of an +ever-growing tumult in front--an ever-rising flood of noise. + +At last we came to a standstill where a side street ran out of ours. +Into this the hurrying throng tried to wheel, and, unable to do so, +halted, and pressed about the head of the street, which was already +full to overflowing; and so sought with hungry eyes for places whence +they might look down it. Pavannes and I struggled only to get through +the crowd--to get on; but the efforts of those behind partly aiding and +partly thwarting our own, presently forced us to a position whence we +could not avoid seeing what was afoot. + +The street--this side street was ablaze with light. From end to end +every gable, every hatchment was glowing, every window was flickering +in the glare of torches. It was paved too with faces--human faces, yet +scarcely human--all looking one way, all looking upward; and the noise, +as from time to time this immense crowd groaned or howled in unison, +like a wild beast in its fury, was so appalling, that I clutched +Pavannes' arm and clung to him in momentary terror. I do not wonder +now that I quailed, though sometimes I have heard that sound since. +For there is nothing in the world so dreadful as that brute beast we +call the CANAILLE, when the chain is off and its cowardly soul is +roused. + +Near our end of the street a group of horsemen rising island-like from +the sea of heads, sat motionless in their saddles about a gateway. +They were silent, taking no notice of the rioting fiends shouting at +their girths, but watching in grim quiet what was passing within the +gates. They were handsomely dressed, although some wore corslets over +their satin coats or lace above buff jerkins. I could even at that +distance see the jewels gleam in the bonnet of one who seemed to be +their leader. He was in the centre of the band, a very young man, +perhaps twenty or twenty-one, of most splendid presence, sitting his +horse superbly. He wore a grey riding-coat, and was a head taller than +any of his companions. There was pride in the very air with which his +horse bore him. + +I did not need to ask Pavannes who he was. I KNEW that he was the Duke +of Guise, and that the house before which he stood was Coligny's. I +knew what was being done there. And in the same moment I sickened with +horror and rage. I had a vision of grey hairs and blood and fury +scarcely human, And I rebelled. I battled with the rabble about me. I +forced my way through them tooth and nail after Pavannes, intent only +on escaping, only on getting away from there. And so we neither halted +nor looked back until we were clear of the crowd and had left the blaze +of light and the work doing by it some way behind us. + +We found ourselves then in the mouth of an obscure alley which my +companion whispered would bring us to his house; and here we paused to +take breath and look back. The sky was red behind us, the air full of +the clash and din of the tocsin, and the flood of sounds which poured +from every tower and steeple. From the eastward came the rattle of +drums and random shots, and shrieks of "A BAS COLIGNY!" "A BAS LES +HUGUENOTS!" Meanwhile the city was rising as one man, pale at this +dread awakening. From every window men and women, frightened by the +uproar, were craning their necks, asking or answering questions or +hurriedly calling for and kindling tapers. But as yet the general +populace seemed to be taking no active part in the disorder. + +Pavannes raised his hat an instant as we stood in the shadow of the +houses. "The noblest man in France is dead," he said, softly and +reverently. "God rest his soul! They have had their way with him and +killed him like a dog. He was an old man and they did not spare him! +A noble, and they have called in the CANAILLE to tear him. But be +sure, my friend"--and as the speaker's tone changed and grew full and +proud, his form seemed to swell with it--"be sure the cruel shall not +live out half their days! No. He that takes the knife shall perish by +the knife! And go to his own place! I shall not see it, but you will!" + +His words made no great impression on me then. My hardihood was +returning. I was throbbing with fierce excitement, and tingling for +the fight. But years afterwards, when the two who stood highest in the +group about Coligny's threshold died, the one at thirty-eight, the +other at thirty-five--when Henry of Guise and Henry of Valois died +within six months of one another by the assassin's knife--I remembered +Pavannes' augury. And remembering it, I read the ways of Providence, +and saw that the very audacity of which Guise took advantage to entrap +Coligny led him too in his turn to trip smiling and bowing, a comfit +box in his hand and the kisses of his mistress damp on his lips, into a +king's closet--a king's closet at Blois! Led him to lift the +curtain--ah! to lift the curtain, what Frenchman does not know the +tale?--behind which stood the Admiral! + +To return to our own fortunes; after a hurried glance we resumed our +way, and sped through the alley, holding a brief consultation as we +went. Pavannes' first hasty instinct to seek shelter at home began to +lose its force, and he to consider whether his return would not +endanger his wife. The mob might be expected to spare her, he argued. +Her death would not benefit any private foes if he escaped. He was for +keeping away therefore. But I would not agree to this. The priest's +crew of desperadoes--assuming Pavannes' suspicions to be correct--would +wait some time, no doubt, to give the master of the house a chance to +return, but would certainly attack sooner or later out of greed, if +from no other motive. Then the lady's fate would at the best be +uncertain. I was anxious myself to rejoin my brothers, and take all +future chances, whether of saving our Louis, or escaping ourselves, +with them. United we should be four good swords, and might at least +protect Madame de Pavannes to a place of safety, if no opportunity of +succouring Louis should present itself. We had too the Duke's ring, +and this might be of service at a pinch. "No," I urged, "let us get +together. We two will slip in at the front gate, and bolt and bar it, +and then we will all escape in a body at the back, while they are +forcing the gateway." + +"There is no door at the back," he answered, shaking his head. + +"There are windows?" + +"They are too strongly barred. We could not break out in the time," he +explained, with a groan. + +I paused at that, crestfallen. But danger quickened my wits. In a +moment I had another plan, not so hopeful and more dangerous, yet worth +trying I thought, I told him of it, and he agreed to it. As he nodded +assent we emerged into a street, and I saw--for the grey light of +morning was beginning to penetrate between the houses--that we were +only a few yards from the gateway, and the small door by which I had +seen my brothers enter. Were they still in the house? Were they safe? +I had been away an hour at least. + +Anxious as I was about them, I looked round me very keenly as we +flitted across the road, and knocked gently at the door. I thought it +so likely that we should be fallen upon here, that I stood on my guard +while we waited. But we were not molested. The street, being at some +distance from the centre of the commotion, was still and empty, with no +signs of life apparent except the rows of heads poked through the +windows--all possessing eyes which watched us heedfully and in perfect +silence. Yes, the street was quite empty: except, ah! except, for +that lurking figure, which, even as I espied it, shot round a distant +angle of the wall, and was lost to sight. + +"There!" I cried, reckless now who might hear me, "knock! knock +louder! never mind the noise. The alarm is given. A score of people +are watching us, and yonder spy has gone off to summon his friends." + +The truth was my anger was rising. I could bear no longer the silent +regards of all those eyes at the windows. I writhed under them--cruel, +pitiless eyes they were. I read in them a morbid curiosity, a patient +anticipation that drove me wild. Those men and women gazing on us so +stonily knew my companion's rank and faith. They had watched him +riding in and out daily, one of the sights of their street, gay and +gallant; and now with the same eyes they were watching greedily for the +butchers to come. The very children took a fresh interest in him, as +one doomed and dying; and waited panting for the show to begin. So I +read them. + +"Knock!" I repeated angrily, losing all patience. Had I been foolish +in bringing him back to this part of the town where every soul knew +him? "Knock; we must get in, whether or no. They cannot all have left +the house!" + +I kicked the door desperately, and my relief was great when it opened. +A servant with a pale face stood before me, his knees visibly shaking. +And behind him was Croisette. + +I think we fell straightway into one another's arms. + +"And Marie," I cried, "Marie?" + +"Marie is within, and madame," he answered joyfully; "we are together +again and nothing matters, But oh, Anne, where have you been? And what +is the matter? Is it a great fire? Or is the king dead? Or what is +it?" + +I told him. I hastily poured out some of the things which had happened +to me, and some which I feared were in store for others. Naturally he +was surprised and shocked by the latter, though his fears had already +been aroused. But his joy and relief, when he heard the mystery of +Louis de Pavannes' marriage explained, were so great that they +swallowed up all other feelings. He could not say enough about it. He +pictured Louis again and again as Kit's lover, as our old friend, our +companion; as true, staunch, brave without fear, without reproach: and +it was long before his eyes ceased to sparkle, his tongue to run +merrily, the colour to mantle in his cheeks--long that is as time is +counted by minutes. But presently the remembrance of Louis' danger and +our own position returned more vividly. Our plan for rescuing him had +failed--failed! + +"No! no!" cried Croisette, stoutly. He would not hear of it. He +would not have it at any price. "No, we will not give up hope! We +will go shoulder to shoulder and find him. Louis is as brave as a lion +and as quick as a weasel. We will find him in time yet. We will go +when--I mean as soon as--" + +He faltered, and paused. His sudden silence as he looked round the +empty forecourt in which we stood was eloquent. The cold light, faint +and uncertain yet, was stealing into the court, disclosing a row of +stables on either side, and a tiny porter's hutch by the gates, and +fronting us a noble house of four storys, tall, grey, grim-looking. + +I assented; gloomily however. "Yes," I said, "we will go when--" + +And I too stopped. The same thought was in my mind. How could we +leave these people? How could we leave madame in her danger and +distress? How could we return her kindness by desertion? We could +not. No, not for Kit's sake. Because after all Louis, our Louis, was +a man, and must take his chance. He must take his chance. But I +groaned. + +So that was settled. I had already explained our plan to Croisette: +and now as we waited he began to tell me a story, a long, confused +story about Madame d'O. I thought he was talking for the sake of +talking--to keep up our spirits--and I did not attend much to him; so +that he had not reached the gist of it, or at least I had not grasped +it, when a noise without stayed his tongue. It was the tramp of +footsteps, apparently of a large party in the street. It forced him to +break off, and promptly drove us all to our posts. + +But before we separated a slight figure, hardly noticeable in that dim, +uncertain light, passed me quickly, laying for an instant a soft hand +in mine as I stood waiting by the gates. I have said I scarcely saw +the figure, though I did see the kind timid eyes, and the pale cheeks +under the hood; but I bent over the hand and kissed it, and felt, truth +to tell, no more regret nor doubt where our duty lay. But stood, +waiting patiently. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE HEAD OF ERASMUS. + +Waiting, and waiting alone! The gates were almost down now. The gang +of ruffians without, reinforced each moment by volunteers eager for +plunder, rained blows unceasingly on hinge and socket; and still hotter +and faster through a dozen rifts in the timbers came the fire of their +threats and curses. Many grew tired, but others replaced them. Tools +broke, but they brought more and worked with savage energy. They had +shown at first a measure of prudence; looking to be fired on, and to be +resisted by men, surprised, indeed, but desperate; and the bolder of +them only had advanced. But now they pressed round unchecked, meeting +no resistance. They would scarcely stand back to let the sledges have +swing; but hallooed and ran in on the creaking beams and beat them with +their fists, whenever the gates swayed under a blow. + +One stout iron bar still held its place. And this I watched as if +fascinated. I was alone in the empty courtyard, standing a little +aside, sheltered by one of the stone pillars from which the gates hung. +Behind me the door of the house stood ajar. Candles, which the daylight +rendered garish, still burned in the rooms on the first floor, of which +the tall narrow windows were open. On the wide stone sill of one of +these stood Croisette, a boyish figure, looking silently down at me, +his hand on the latticed shutter. He looked pale, and I nodded and +smiled at him. I felt rather anger than fear myself; remembering, as +the fiendish cries half-deafened me, old tales of the Jacquerie and its +doings, and how we had trodden it out. + +Suddenly the din and tumult flashed to a louder note; as when hounds on +the scent give tongue at sight. I turned quickly from the house, +recalled to a sense of the position and peril. The iron bar was +yielding to the pressure. Slowly the left wing of the gate was sinking +inwards. Through the widening chasm I caught a glimpse of wild, grimy +faces and bloodshot eyes, and heard above the noise a sharp cry from +Croisette--a cry of terror. Then I turned and ran, with a defiant +gesture and an answering yell, right across the forecourt and up the +steps to the door. + +I ran the faster for the sharp report of a pistol behind me, and the +whirr of a ball past my ear. But I was not scared by it: and as my +feet alighted with a bound on the topmost step, I glanced back. The +dogs were halfway across the court. I made a bungling attempt to shut +and lock the great door--failed in this; and heard behind me a roar of +coarse triumph. I waited for no more. I darted up the oak staircase +four steps at a time, and rushed into the great drawing-room on my +left, banging the door behind me. + +The once splendid room was in a state of strange disorder. Some of the +rich tapestry had been hastily torn down. One window was closed and +shuttered; no doubt Croisette had done it. The other two were open--as +if there had not been time to close them--and the cold light which they +admitted contrasted in ghastly fashion with the yellow rays of candles +still burning in the sconces. The furniture had been huddled aside or +piled into a barricade, a CHEVAUX DE FRISE of chairs and tables +stretching across the width of the room, its interstices stuffed with, +and its weakness partly screened by, the torn-down hangings. Behind +this frail defence their backs to a door which seemed to lead to an +inner room, stood Marie and Croisette, pale and defiant. The former +had a long pike; the latter levelled a heavy, bell-mouthed arquebuse +across the back of a chair, and blew up his match as I entered. Both +had in addition procured swords. I darted like a rabbit through a +little tunnel left on purpose for me in the rampart, and took my stand +by them. + +"Is all right?" ejaculated Croisette turning to me nervously. + +"All right, I think," I answered. I was breathless. + +"You are not hurt?" + +"Not touched!" + +I had just time then to draw my sword before the assailants streamed +into the room, a dozen ruffians, reeking and tattered, with flushed +faces and greedy, staring eyes. Once inside, however, suddenly--so +suddenly that an idle spectator might have found the change +ludicrous--they came to a stop. Their wild cries ceased, and tumbling +over one another with curses and oaths they halted, surveying us in +muddled surprise; seeing what was before them, and not liking it. +Their leader appeared to be a tall butcher with a pole-axe on his +half-naked shoulder; but there were among them two or three soldiers in +the royal livery and carrying pikes. They had looked for victims only, +having met with no resistance at the gate, and the foremost recoiled +now on finding themselves confronted by the muzzle of the arquebuse and +the lighted match. + +I seized the occasion. I knew, indeed, that the pause presented our +only chance, and I sprang on a chair and waved my hand for silence. +The instinct of obedience for the moment asserted itself; there was a +stillness in the room. + +"Beware!" I cried loudly--as loudly and confidently as I could, +considering that there was a quaver at my heart as I looked on those +savage faces, which met and yet avoided my eye. "Beware of what you +do! We are Catholics one and all like yourselves, and good sons of the +Church. Ay, and good subjects too! VIVE LE ROI, gentlemen! God save +the King! I say." And I struck the barricade with my sword until the +metal rang again. "God save the King!" + +"Cry VIVE LA MESSE!" shouted one. + +"Certainly, gentlemen!" I replied, with politeness. "With all my +heart. VIVE LA MESSE! VIVE LA MESSE!" + +This took the butcher, who luckily was still sober, utterly aback. He +had never thought of this. He stared at us as if the ox he had been +about to fell had opened its mouth and spoken, and grievously at a +loss, he looked for help to his companions. + +Later in the day, some Catholics were killed by the mob. But their +deaths as far as could be learned afterwards were due to private feuds. +Save in such cases--and they were few--the cry of VIVE LA MESSE! +always obtained at least a respite: more easily of course in the +earlier hours of the morning when the mob were scarce at ease in their +liberty to kill, while killing still seemed murder, and men were not +yet drunk with bloodshed. + +I read the hesitation of the gang in their faces: and when one asked +roughly who we were, I replied with greater boldness, "I am M. Anne de +Caylus, nephew to the Vicomte de Caylus, Governor, under the King, of +Bayonne and the Landes!" This I said with what majesty I could. "And +these" I continued--"are my brothers. You will harm us at your peril, +gentlemen. The Vicomte, believe me, will avenge every hair of our +heads." + +I can shut my eyes now and see the stupid wonder, the baulked ferocity +of those gaping faces. Dull and savage as the men were they were +impressed; they saw reason indeed, and all seemed going well for us +when some one in the rear shouted, "Cursed whelps! Throw them over!" + +I looked swiftly in the direction whence the voice came--the darkest +corner of the room the corner by the shuttered window. I thought I +made out a slender figure, cloaked and masked--a woman's it might be +but I could not be certain and beside it a couple of sturdy fellows, +who kept apart from the herd and well behind their fugleman. + +The speaker's courage arose no doubt from his position at the back of +the room, for the foremost of the assailants seemed less determined. +We were only three, and we must have gone down, barricade and all, +before a rush. But three are three. And an arquebuse--Croisette's +match burned splendidly--well loaded with slugs is an ugly weapon at +five paces, and makes nasty wounds, besides scattering its charge +famously. This, a good many of them and the leaders in particular, +seemed to recognise. We might certainly take two or three lives: and +life is valuable to its owner when plunder is afoot. Besides most of +them had common sense enough to remember that there were scores of +Huguenots--genuine heretics--to be robbed for the killing, so why go +out of the way, they reasoned, to cut a Catholic throat, and perhaps +get into trouble. Why risk Montfaucon for a whim? and offend a man of +influence like the Vicomte de Caylus, for nothing! + +Unfortunately at this crisis their original design was recalled to +their minds by the same voice behind, crying out, "Pavannes! Where is +Pavannes?" + +"Ay!" shouted the butcher, grasping the idea, and at the same time +spitting on his hands and taking a fresh grip of the axe, "Show us the +heretic dog, and go! Let us at him." + +"M. de Pavannes," I said coolly--but I could not take my eyes off the +shining blade of that man's axe, it was so very broad and sharp--"is +not here!" + +"That is a lie! He is in that room behind you!" the prudent gentleman +in the background called out. "Give him up!" + +"Ay, give him up!" echoed the man of the pole-axe almost good +humouredly, "or it will be the worse for you. Let us have at him and +get you gone!" + +This with an air of much reason, while a growl as of a chained beast +ran through the crowd, mingled with cries of "A MORT LES HUGUENOTS! +VIVE LORRAINE!"--cries which seemed to show that all did not approve of +the indulgence offered us. + +"Beware, gentlemen, beware," I urged, "I swear he is not here! I swear +it, do you hear?" + +A howl of impatience and then a sudden movement of the crowd as though +the rush were coming warned me to temporize no longer. "Stay! Stay!" +I added hastily. "One minute! Hear me! You are too many for us. +Will you swear to let us go safe and untouched, if we give you passage?" + +A dozen voices shrieked assent. But I looked at the butcher only. He +seemed to be an honest man, out of his profession. + +"Ay, I swear it!" he cried with a nod. + +"By the Mass?" + +"By the Mass." + +I twitched Croisette's sleeve, and he tore the fuse from his weapon, +and flung the gun--too heavy to be of use to us longer--to the ground. +It was done in a moment. While the mob swept over the barricade, and +smashed the rich furniture of it in wanton malice, we filed aside, and +nimbly slipped under it one by one. Then we hurried in single file to +the end of the room, no one taking much notice of us. All were +pressing on, intent on their prey. We gained the door as the butcher +struck his first blow on that which we had guarded--on that which we +had given up. We sprang down the stairs with bounding hearts, heard as +we reached the outer door the roar of many voices, but stayed not to +look behind--paused indeed for nothing. Fear, to speak candidly, lent +us wings. In three seconds we had leapt the prostrate gates, and were +in the street. A cripple, two or three dogs, a knot of women looking +timidly yet curiously in, a horse tethered to the staple--we saw +nothing else. No one stayed us. No one raised a hand, and in another +minute we had turned a corner, and were out of sight of the house. + +"They will take a gentleman's word another time," I said with a quiet +smile as I put up my sword. + +"I would like to see her face at this moment," Croisette replied. "You +saw Madame d'O?" + +I shook my head, not answering. I was not sure, and I had a queer, +sickening dread of the subject. If I had seen her, I had seen oh! it +was too horrible, too unnatural! Her own sister! Her own brother +in-law! + +I hastened to change the subject. "The Pavannes," I made shift to say, +"must have had five minutes' start." + +"More," Croisette answered, "if Madame and he got away at once. If all +has gone well with them, and they have not been stopped in the streets +they should be at Mirepoix's by now. They seemed to be pretty sure +that he would take them in." + +"Ah!" I sighed. "What fools we were to bring madame from that place! +If we had not meddled with her affairs we might have reached Louis long +ago our Louis, I mean." + +"True," Croisette answered softly, "but remember that then we should +not have saved the other Louis as I trust we have. He would still be +in Pallavicini's hands. Come, Anne, let us think it is all for the +best," he added, his face shining with a steady courage that shamed me. +"To the rescue! Heaven will help us to be in time yet!" + +"Ay, to the rescue!" I replied, catching his spirit. "First to the +right, I think, second to the left, first on the right again. That was +the direction given us, was it not? The house opposite a book-shop +with the sign of the Head of Erasmus. Forward, boys! We may do it yet." + +But before I pursue our fortunes farther let me explain. The room we +had guarded so jealously was empty! The plan had been mine and I was +proud of it. For once Croisette had fallen into his rightful place. +My flight from the gate, the vain attempt to close the house, the +barricade before the inner door--these were all designed to draw the +assailants to one spot. Pavannes and his wife--the latter hastily +disguised as a boy--had hidden behind the door of the hutch by the +gates--the porter's hutch, and had slipped out and fled in the first +confusion of the attack. + +Even the servants, as we learned afterwards, who had hidden themselves +in the lower parts of the house got away in the same manner, though +some of them--they were but few in all were stopped as Huguenots and +killed before the day ended. I had the more reason to hope that +Pavannes and his wife would get clear off, inasmuch as I had given the +Duke's ring to him, thinking it might serve him in a strait, and +believing that we should have little to fear ourselves once clear of +his house; unless we should meet the Vidame indeed. + +We did not meet him as it turned out; but before we had traversed a +quarter of the distance we had to go we found that fears based on +reason were not the only terrors we had to resist. Pavannes' house, +where we had hitherto been, stood at some distance from the centre of +the blood-storm which was enwrapping unhappy Paris that morning. It +was several hundred paces from the Rue de Bethisy where the Admiral +lived, and what with this comparative remoteness and the excitement of +our own little drama, we had not attended much to the fury of the +bells, the shots and cries and uproar which proclaimed the state of the +city. We had not pictured the scenes which were happening so near. +Now in the streets the truth broke upon us, and drove the blood from +our cheeks. A hundred yards, the turning of a corner, sufficed. We +who but yesterday left the country, who only a week before were boys, +careless as other boys, not recking of death at all, were plunged now +into the midst of horrors I cannot describe. And the awful contrast +between the sky above and the things about us! Even now the lark was +singing not far from us; the sunshine was striking the topmost storeys +of the houses; the fleecy clouds were passing overhead, the freshness +of a summer morning was-- + +Ah! where was it? Not here in the narrow lanes surely, that echoed and +re-echoed with shrieks and curses and frantic prayers: in which bands +of furious men rushed up and down, and where archers of the guard and +the more cruel rabble were breaking in doors and windows, and hurrying +with bloody weapons from house to house, seeking, pursuing, and at last +killing in some horrid corner, some place of darkness--killing with +blow on blow dealt on writhing bodies! Not here, surely, where each +minute a child, a woman died silently, a man snarling like a +wolf--happy if he had snatched his weapon and got his back to the wall: +where foul corpses dammed the very blood that ran down the kennel, and +children--little children--played with them! + +I was at Cahors in 1580 in the great street fight; and there women were +killed, I was with Chatillon nine years later, when he rode through the +Faubourgs of Paris, with this very day and his father Coligny in his +mind, and gave no quarter. I was at Courtas and Ivry, and more than +once have seen prisoners led out to be piked in batches--ay, and by +hundreds! But war is war, and these were its victims, dying for the +most part under God's heaven with arms in their hands: not men and +women fresh roused from their sleep. I felt on those occasions no such +horror, I have never felt such burning pity and indignation as on the +morning I am describing, that long-past summer morning when I first saw +the sun shining on the streets of Paris. Croisette clung to me, sick +and white, shutting his eyes and ears, and letting me guide him as I +would. Marie strode along on the other side of him, his lips closed, +his eyes sinister. Once a soldier of the guard whose blood-stained +hands betrayed the work he had done, came reeling--he was drunk, as +were many of the butchers--across our path, and I gave way a little. +Marie did not, but walked stolidly on as if he did not see him, as if +the way were clear, and there were no ugly thing in God's image +blocking it. + +Only his hand went as if by accident to the haft of his dagger. The +archer--fortunately for himself and for us too--reeled clear of us. We +escaped that danger. But to see women killed and pass by--it was +horrible! So horrible that if in those moments I had had the +wishing-cap, I would have asked but for five thousand riders, and leave +to charge with them through the streets of Paris! I would have had the +days of the Jacquerie back again, and my men-at-arms behind me! + +For ourselves, though the orgy was at its height when we passed, we +were not molested. We were stopped indeed three times--once in each of +the streets we traversed--by different bands of murderers. But as we +wore the same badges as themselves, and cried "VIVE LA MESSE!" and +gave our names, we were allowed to proceed. I can give no idea of the +confusion and uproar, and I scarcely believe myself now that we saw +some of the things we witnessed. Once a man gaily dressed, and +splendidly mounted, dashed past us, waving his naked sword and crying +in a frenzied way "Bleed them! Bleed them! Bleed in May, as good +to-day!" and never ceased crying out the same words until he passed +beyond our hearing. Once we came upon the bodies of a father and two +sons, which lay piled together in the kennel; partly stripped already. +The youngest boy could not have been more than thirteen, I mention this +group, not as surpassing others in pathos, but because it is well known +now that this boy, Jacques Nompar de Caumont, was not dead, but lives +to-day, my friend the Marshal de la Force. + +This reminds me too of the single act of kindness we were able to +perform. We found ourselves suddenly, on turning a corner, amid a gang +of seven or eight soldiers, who had stopped and surrounded a handsome +boy, apparently about fourteen. He wore a scholar's gown, and had some +books under his arm, to which he clung firmly--though only perhaps by +instinct--notwithstanding the furious air of the men who were +threatening him with death. They were loudly demanding his name, as we +paused opposite them. He either could not or would not give it, but +said several times in his fright that he was going to the College of +Burgundy. Was he a Catholic? they cried. He was silent. With an +oath the man who had hold of his collar lifted up his pike, and +naturally the lad raised the books to guard his face. A cry broke from +Croisette. We rushed forward to stay the blow. + +"See! see!" he exclaimed loudly, his voice arresting the man's arm in +the very act of falling. "He has a Mass Book! He has a Mass Book! He +is not a heretic! He is a Catholic!" + +The fellow lowered his weapon, and sullenly snatched the books. He +looked at them stupidly with bloodshot wandering eyes, the red cross on +the vellum bindings, the only thing he understood. But it was enough +for him; he bid the boy begone, and released him with a cuff and an +oath. + +Croisette was not satisfied with this, though I did not understand his +reason; only I saw him exchange a glance with the lad. "Come, come!" +he said lightly. "Give him his books! You do not want them!" + +But on that the men turned savagely upon us. They did not thank us for +the part we had already taken; and this they thought was going too far. +They were half drunk and quarrelsome, and being two to one, and two +over, began to flourish their weapons in our faces. Mischief would +certainly have been done, and very quickly, had not an unexpected ally +appeared on our side. + +"Put up! put up!" this gentleman cried in a boisterous voice--he was +already in our midst. "What is all this about? What is the use of +fighting amongst ourselves, when there is many a bonny throat to cut, +and heaven to be gained by it! put up, I say!" + +"Who are you?" they roared in chorus. + +"The Duke of Guise!" he answered coolly. "Let the gentlemen go, and +be hanged to you, you rascals!" + +The man's bearing was a stronger argument than his words, for I am sure +that a stouter or more reckless blade never swaggered in church or +street. I knew him instantly, and even the crew of butchers seemed to +see in him their master. They hung back a few curses at him, but +having nothing to gain they yielded. They threw down the books with +contempt--showing thereby their sense of true religion; and trooped off +roaring, "TUES! TUES! Aux Huguenots!" at the top of their voices. + +The newcomer thus left with us was Bure--Blaise Bure--the same who only +yesterday, though it seemed months and months back, had lured us into +Bezers' power. Since that moment we had not seen him. Now he had +wiped off part of the debt, and we looked at him, uncertain whether to +reproach him or no. He, however, was not one whit abashed, but +returned our regards with a not unkindly leer. + +"I bear no malice, young gentlemen," he said impudently. + +"No, I should think not," I answered. + +"And besides, we are quits now," the knave continued. + +"You are very kind," I said. + +"To be sure. You did me a good turn once," he answered, much to my +surprise. He seemed to be in earnest now. "You do not remember it, +young gentleman, but it was you and your brother here"--he pointed to +Croisette--"did it! And by the Pope and the King of Spain I have not +forgotten it!" + +"I have," I said. + +"What! You have forgotten spitting that fellow at Caylus ten days ago? +CA! SA! You remember. And very cleanly done, too! A pretty stroke! +Well, M. Anne, that was a clever fellow, a very clever fellow. He +thought so and I thought so, and what was more to the purpose the most +noble Raoul de Bezers thought so too. You understand!" + +He leered at me and I did understand. I understood that unwittingly I +had rid Blaise Bure of a rival. This accounted for the respectful, +almost the kindly way in which he had--well, deceived us. + +"That is all," he said. "If you want as much done for you, let me +know. For the present, gentlemen, farewell!" + +He cocked his hat fiercely, and went off at speed the way we had +ourselves been going; humming as he went, + + "Ce petit homme tant joli, + Qui toujours cause et toujours rit, + Qui toujours baise sa mignonne + Dieu gard' de mal ce petit homme!" + +His reckless song came back to us on the summer breeze. We watched him +make a playful pass at a corpse which some one had propped in ghastly +fashion against a door--and miss it--and go on whistling the same +air--and then a corner hid him from view. + +We lingered only a moment ourselves; merely to speak to the boy we had +befriended. + +"Show the books if anyone challenges you," said Croisette to him +shrewdly. Croisette was so much of a boy himself, with his fair hair +like a halo about his white, excited face, that the picture of the two, +one advising the other, seemed to me a strangely pretty one. "Show the +books and point to the cross on them. And Heaven send you safe to your +college." + +"I would like to know your name, if you please," said the boy. His +coolness and dignity struck me as admirable under the circumstances. +"I am Maximilian de Bethune, son of the Baron de Rosny." + +"Then," said Croisette briskly, "one good turn has deserved another. +Your father, yesterday, at Etampes--no it was the day before, but we +have not been in bed--warned us--" + +He broke off suddenly; then cried, "Run! run!" + +The boy needed no second warning indeed. He was off like the wind down +the street, for we had seen and so had he, the stealthy approach of two +or three prowling rascals on the look out for a victim. They caught +sight of him and were strongly inclined to follow him; but we were +their match in numbers. The street was otherwise empty at the moment: +and we showed them three excellent reasons why they should give him a +clear start. + +His after adventures are well-known: for he, too, lives. He was +stopped twice after he left us. In each case he escaped by showing his +book of offices. On reaching the college the porter refused to admit +him, and he remained for some time in the open street exposed to +constant danger of losing his life, and knowing not what to do. At +length he induced the gatekeeper, by the present of some small pieces +of money, to call the principal of the college, and this man humanely +concealed him for three days. The massacre being then at an end, two +armed men in his father's pay sought him out and restored him to his +friends. So near was France to losing her greatest minister, the Duke +de Sully. + +To return to ourselves. The lad out of sight, we instantly resumed our +purpose, and trying to shut our eyes and ears to the cruelty, and +ribaldry, and uproar through which we had still to pass, we counted our +turnings with a desperate exactness, intent only on one thing--to reach +Louis de Pavannes, to reach the house opposite to the Head of Erasmus, +as quickly as we could. We presently entered a long, narrow street. +At the end of it the river was visible gleaming and sparkling in the +sunlight. The street was quiet; quiet and empty. There was no living +soul to be seen from end to end of it, only a prowling dog. The noise +of the tumult raging in other parts was softened here by distance and +the intervening houses. We seemed to be able to breathe more freely. + +"This should be our street," said Croisette. + +I nodded. At the same moment I espied, half-way down it, the sign we +needed and pointed to it, But ah! were we in time? Or too late? That +was the question. By a single impulse we broke into a run, and shot +down the roadway at speed. A few yards short of the Head of Erasmus we +came, one by one, Croisette first, to a full stop. A full stop! + +The house opposite the bookseller's was sacked! gutted from top to +bottom. It was a tall house, immediately fronting the street, and +every window in it was broken. The door hung forlornly on one hinge, +glaring cracks in its surface showing where the axe had splintered it. +Fragments of glass and ware, hung out and shattered in sheer +wantonness, strewed the steps: and down one corner of the latter a +dark red stream trickled--to curdle by and by in the gutter. Whence +came the stream? Alas! there was something more to be seen yet, +something our eyes instinctively sought last of all. The body of a man. + +It lay on the threshold, the head hanging back, the wide glazed eyes +looking up to the summer sky whence the sweltering heat would soon pour +down upon it. We looked shuddering at the face. It was that of a +servant, a valet who had been with Louis at Caylus. We recognised him +at once for we had known and liked him. He had carried our guns on the +hills a dozen times, and told us stories of the war. The blood crawled +slowly from him. He was dead. + +Croisette began to shake all over. He clutched one of the pillars, +which bore up the porch, and pressed his face against its cold surface, +hiding his eyes from the sight. The worst had come. In our hearts I +think we had always fancied some accident would save our friend, some +stranger warn him. + +"Oh, poor, poor Kit!" Croisette cried, bursting suddenly into violent +sobs. "Oh, Kit! Kit!" + + + +CHAPTER X. + +HAU, HAU, HUGUENOTS! + +His late Majesty, Henry the Fourth, I remember--than whom no braver man +wore sword, who loved danger indeed for its own sake, and courted it as +a mistress--could never sleep on the night before an action. I have +heard him say himself that it was so before the fight at Arques. +Croisette partook of this nature too, being high-strung and apt to be +easily over-wrought, but never until the necessity for exertion had +passed away: while Marie and I, though not a whit stouter at a pinch, +were slower to feel and less easy to move--more Germanic in fact. + +I name this here partly lest it should be thought after what I have +just told of Croisette that there was anything of the woman about +him--save the tenderness; and partly to show that we acted at this +crisis each after his manner. While Croisette turned pale and +trembled, and hid his eyes, I stood dazed, looking from the desolate +house to the face stiffening in the sunshine, and back again; +wondering, though I had seen scores of dead faces since daybreak, and a +plenitude of suffering in all dreadful shapes, how Providence could let +this happen to us. To us! In his instincts man is as selfish as any +animal that lives. + +I saw nothing indeed of the dead face and dead house after the first +convincing glance. I saw instead with hot, hot eyes the old castle at +home, the green fields about the brook, and the grey hills rising from +them; and the terrace, and Kit coming to meet us, Kit with white face +and parted lips and avid eyes that questioned us! And we with no +comfort to give her, no lover to bring back to her! + +A faint noise behind as of a sign creaking in the wind, roused me from +this most painful reverie. I turned round, not quickly or in surprise +or fear. Rather in the same dull wonder. The upper part of the +bookseller's door was ajar. It was that I had heard opened. An old +woman was peering out at us. + +As our eyes met, she made a slight movement to close the door again. +But I did not stir, and seeming to be reassured by a second glance, she +nodded to me in a stealthy fashion. I drew a step nearer, listlessly. +"Pst! Pst!" she whispered. Her wrinkled old face, which was like a +Normandy apple long kept, was soft with pity as she looked at +Croisette. "Pst!" + +"Well!" I said, mechanically. + +"Is he taken?" she muttered. + +"Who taken?" I asked stupidly. + +She nodded towards the forsaken house, and answered, "The young lord +who lodged there? Ah! sirs," she continued, "he looked gay and +handsome, if you'll believe me, as he came from the king's court yester +even! As bonny a sight in his satin coat, and his ribbons, as my eyes +ever saw! And to think that they should be hunting him like a rat +to-day!" + +The woman's words were few and simple. But what a change they made in +my world! How my heart awoke from its stupor, and leapt up with a new +joy and a new-born hope! "Did he get away?" I cried eagerly. "Did he +escape, mother, then?" + +"Ay, that he did!" she replied quickly. "That poor fellow, yonder--he +lies quiet enough now God forgive him his heresy, say I!--kept the door +manfully while the gentleman got on the roof, and ran right down the +street on the tops of the houses, with them firing and hooting at him: +for all the world as if he had been a squirrel and they a pack of boys +with stones!" + +"And he escaped?" + +"Escaped!" she answered more slowly, shaking her old head in doubt. +"I do not know about that I fear they have got him by now, gentlemen. +I have been shivering and shaking up stairs with my husband--he is in +bed, good man, and the safest place for him--the saints have mercy upon +us! But I heard them go with their shouting and gunpowder right along +to the river, and I doubt they will take him between this and the +CHATELET! I doubt they will." + +"How long ago was it, dame?" I cried. + +"Oh! may be half an hour. Perhaps you are friends of his?" she added +questioningly. + +But I did not stay to answer her. I shook Croisette, who had not heard +a word of this, by the shoulder. "There is a chance that he has +escaped!" I cried in his ear. "Escaped, do you hear?" And I told him +hastily what she had said. + +It was fine, indeed, and a sight, to see the blood rush to his cheeks, +and the tears dry in his eyes, and energy and decision spring to life +in every nerve and muscle of his face, "Then there is hope?" he cried, +grasping my arm. "Hope, Anne! Come! Come! Do not let us lose another +instant. If he be alive let us join him!" + +The old woman tried to detain us, but in vain. Nay, pitying us, and +fearing, I think, that we were rushing on our deaths, she cast aside +her caution, and called after us aloud. We took no heed, running after +Croisette, who had not waited for our answer, as fast as young limbs +could carry us down the street. The exhaustion we had felt a moment +before when all seemed lost be it remembered that we had not been to +bed or tasted food for many hours--fell from us on the instant, and was +clean gone and forgotten in the joy of this respite. Louis was living +and for the moment had escaped. + +Escaped! But for how long? We soon had our answer. The moment we +turned the corner by the river-side, the murmur of a multitude not loud +but continuous, struck our ears, even as the breeze off the water swept +our cheeks. Across the river lay the thousand roofs of the Ile de la +Cite, all sparkling in the sunshine. But we swept to the right, +thinking little of THAT sight, and checked our speed on finding +ourselves on the skirts of the crowd. Before us was a bridge--the Pont +au Change, I think--and at its head on our side of the water stood the +CHATELET, with its hoary turrets and battlements. Between us and the +latter, and backed only by the river, was a great open space +half-filled with people, mostly silent and watchful, come together as +to a show, and betraying, at present at least, no desire to take an +active part in what was going on. + +We hurriedly plunged into the throng, and soon caught the clue to the +quietness and the lack of movement which seemed to prevail, and which +at first sight had puzzled us. For a moment the absence of the +dreadful symptoms we had come to know so well--the flying and pursuing, +the random blows, the shrieks and curses and batterings on doors, the +tipsy yells, had reassured us. But the relief was short-lived. The +people before us were under control. A tighter grip seemed to close +upon our hearts as we discerned this, for we knew that the wild fury of +the populace, like the rush of a bull, might have given some chance of +escape--in this case as in others. But this cold-blooded ordered +search left none. + +Every face about us was turned in the same direction; away from the +river and towards a block of old houses which stood opposite to it. +The space immediately in front of these was empty, the people being +kept back by a score or so of archers of the guard set at intervals, +and by as many horsemen, who kept riding up and down, belabouring the +bolder spirits with the flat of their swords, and so preserving a line. +At each extremity of this--more noticeably on our left where the line +curved round the angle of the buildings--stood a handful of riders, +seven in a group perhaps. And alone in the middle of the space so kept +clear, walking his horse up and down and gazing at the houses rode a +man of great stature, booted and armed, the feather nodding in his +bonnet. I could not see his face, but I had no need to see it. I knew +him, and groaned aloud. It was Bezers! + +I understood the scene better now. The horsemen, stern, bearded +Switzers for the most part, who eyed the rabble about them with grim +disdain, and were by no means chary of their blows, were all in his +colours and armed to the teeth. The order and discipline were of his +making: the revenge of his seeking. A grasp as of steel had settled +upon our friend, and I felt that his last chance was gone. Louis de +Pavannes might as well be lying on his threshold with his dead servant +by his side, as be in hiding within that ring of ordered swords. + +It was with despairing eyes we looked at the old wooden houses. They +seemed to be bowing themselves towards us, their upper stories +projected so far, they were so decrepit. Their roofs were a wilderness +of gutters and crooked gables, of tottering chimneys and wooden +pinnacles and rotting beams, Amongst these I judged Kit's lover was +hiding. Well, it was a good place for hide and seek--with any other +player than DEATH. In the ground floors of the houses there were no +windows and no doors; by reason, I learned afterwards, of the frequent +flooding of the river. But a long wooden gallery raised on struts ran +along the front, rather more than the height of a man from the ground, +and access to this was gained by a wooden staircase at each end. Above +this first gallery was a second, and above that a line of windows set +between the gables. The block--it may have run for seventy or eighty +yards along the shore--contained four houses, each with a door opening +on to the lower gallery. I saw indeed that but for the Vidame's +precautions Louis might well have escaped. Had the mob once poured +helter-skelter into that labyrinth of rooms and passages he might with +luck have mingled with them, unheeded and unrecognized, and effected +his escape when they retreated. + +But now there were sentries on each gallery and more on the roof. +Whenever one of the latter moved or seemed to be looking inward--where +a search party, I understood, were at work--indeed, if he did but turn +his head, a thrill ran through the crowd and a murmur arose, which once +or twice swelled to a savage roar such as earlier had made me tremble. +When this happened the impulse came, it seemed to me, from the farther +end of the line. There the rougher elements were collected, and there +I more than once saw Bezers' troopers in conflict with the mob. In +that quarter too a savage chant was presently struck up, the whole +gathering joining in and yelling with an indescribably appalling effect: + + "Hau! Hau! Huguenots! + Faites place aux Papegots!" + +in derision of the old song said to be popular amongst the Protestants. +But in the Huguenot version the last words were of course transposed. + +We had worked our way by this time to the front of the line, and +looking into one another's eyes, mutely asked a question; but not even +Croisette had an answer ready. There could be no answer but one. What +could we do? Nothing. We were too late. Too late again! And yet how +dreadful it was to stand still among the cruel, thoughtless mob and see +our friend, the touch of whose hand we knew so well, done to death for +their sport! Done to death as the old woman had said like any rat, not +a soul save ourselves pitying him! Not a soul to turn sick at his cry +of agony, or shudder at the glance of his dying eyes. It was dreadful +indeed. + +"Ah, well," muttered a woman beside me to her companion--there were +many women in the crowd--"it is down with the Huguenots, say I! It is +Lorraine is the fine man! But after all yon is a bonny fellow and a +proper, Margot! I saw him leap from roof to roof over Love Lane, as if +the blessed saints had carried him. And him a heretic!" + +"It is the black art," the other answered, crossing herself. + +"Maybe it is! But he will need it all to give that big man the slip +to-day," replied the first speaker comfortably. + +"That devil!" Margot exclaimed, pointing with a stealthy gesture of +hate at the Vidame. And then in a fierce whisper, with inarticulate +threats, she told a story of him, which made me shudder. "He did! And +she in religion too!" she concluded. "May our Lady of Loretto reward +him." + +The tale might be true for aught I knew, horrible as it was! I had +heard similar ones attributing things almost as fiendish to him, times +and again; from that poor fellow lying dead on Pavannes' doorstep for +one, and from others besides. As the Vidame in his pacing to and fro +turned towards us, I gazed at him fascinated by his grim visage and +that story. His eye rested on the crowd about us, and I trembled, lest +even at that distance he should recognise us. + +And he did! I had forgotten his keenness of sight. His face flashed +suddenly into a grim smile. The tail of his eye resting upon us, and +seeming to forbid us to move, he gave some orders. The colour fled from +my face. To escape indeed was impossible, for we were hemmed in by the +press and could scarcely stir a limb. Yet I did make one effort. + +"Croisette!" I muttered he was the rearmost--"stoop down. He may not +have seen you. Stoop down, lad!" + +But St. Croix was obstinate and would not stoop. Nay, when one of the +mounted men came, and roughly ordered us into the open, it was +Croisette who pushing past us stepped out first with a lordly air. I, +following him, saw that his lips were firmly compressed and that there +was an eager light in his eyes. As we emerged, the crowd in our wake +broke the line, and tried to pursue us; either hostilely or through +eagerness to see what it meant. But a dozen blows of the long pikes +drove them back, howling and cursing to their places. + +I expected to be taken to Bezers; and what would follow I could not +tell. But he did always it seemed what we least expected, for he only +scowled at us now, a grim mockery on his lip, and cried, "See that they +do not escape again! But do them no harm, sirrah, until I have the +batch of them!" + +He turned one way, and I another, my heart swelling with rage. Would he +dare to harm us? Would even the Vidame dare to murder a Caylus' nephew +openly and in cold blood? I did not think so. And yet--and yet-- + +Croisette interrupted the train of my thoughts. I found that he was +not following me. He had sprung away, and in a dozen strides reached +the Vidame's stirrup, and was clasping his knee when I turned. I could +not hear at the distance at which I stood, what he said, and the +horseman to whom Bezers had committed us spurred between us. But I +heard the Vidame's answer. + +"No! no! no!" he cried with a ring of restrained fury in his voice. +"Let my plans alone! What do you know of them? And if you speak to me +again, M. St. Croix--I think that is your name, boy--I will--no, I will +not kill you. That might please you, you are stubborn, I can see. But +I will have you stripped and lashed like the meanest of my scullions! +Now go, and take care!" + +Impatience, hate and wild passion flamed in his face for the +moment--transfiguring it. Croisette came back to us slowly, +white-lipped and quiet. "Never mind," I said bitterly. "The third +time may bring luck." + +Not that I felt much indignation at the Vidame's insult, or any anger +with the lad for incurring it; as I had felt on that other occasion. +Life and death seemed to be everything on this morning. Words had +ceased to please and annoy, for what are words to the sheep in the +shambles? One man's life and one woman's happiness outside ourselves +we thought only of these now. And some day I reflected Croisette might +remember even with pleasure that he had, as a drowning man clutching at +straws, stooped to a last prayer for them. + +We were placed in the middle of a knot of troopers who closed the line +to the right. And presently Marie touched me. He was gazing intently +at the sentry on the roof of the third house from us; the farthest but +one. The man's back was to the parapet, and he was gesticulating +wildly. + +"He sees him!" Marie muttered. + +I nodded almost in apathy. But this passed away, and I started +involuntarily and shuddered, as a savage roar, breaking the silence, +rang along the front of the mob like a rolling volley of firearms. +What was it? A man posted at a window on the upper gallery had dropped +his pike's point, and was levelling it at some one inside: we could +see no more. + +But those in front of the window could; they saw too much for the +Vidame's precautions, as a moment showed. He had not laid his account +with the frenzy of a rabble, the passions of a mob which had tasted +blood. I saw the line at its farther end waver suddenly and toss to +and fro. Then a hundred hands went up, and confused angry cries rose +with them. The troopers struck about them, giving back slowly as they +did so. But their efforts were in vain. With a scream of triumph a +wild torrent of people broke through between them, leaving them +stranded; and rushed in a headlong cataract towards the steps. Bezers +was close to us at the time. "S'death!" he cried, swearing oaths +which even his sovereign could scarce have equalled. "They will snatch +him from me yet, the hell-hounds!" + +He whirled his horse round and spurred him in a dozen bounds to the +stairs at our end of the gallery. There he leaped from him, dropping +the bridle recklessly; and bounding up three steps at a time, he ran +along the gallery. Half-a-dozen of the troopers about us stayed only +to fling their reins to one of their number, and then followed, their +great boots clattering on the planks. + +My breath came fast and short, for I felt it was a crisis. It was a +race between the two parties, or rather between the Vidame and the +leaders of the mob. The latter had the shorter way to go. But on the +narrow steps they were carried off their feet by the press behind them, +and fell over and hampered one another and lost time. The Vidame, free +from this drawback, was some way along the gallery before they had set +foot on it. + +How I prayed--amid a scene of the wildest uproar and excitement--that +the mob might be first! Let there be only a short conflict between +Bezers' men and the people, and in the confusion Pavannes might yet +escape. Hope awoke in the turmoil. Above the yells of the crowd a +score of deep voices about me thundered "a Wolf! a Wolf!" And I too, +lost my head, and drew my sword, and screamed at the top of my voice, +"a Caylus! a Caylus!" with the maddest. + +Thousands of eyes besides mine were strained on the foremost figures on +either side. They met as it chanced precisely at the door of the +house. The mob leader was a slender man, I saw; a priest apparently, +though now he was girt with unpriestly weapons, his skirts were tucked +up, and his head was bare. So much my first glance showed me. It was +at the second look it was when I saw the blood forsake his pale +lowering face and leave it whiter than ever, when horror sprang along +with recognition to his eyes, when borne along by the crowd behind he +saw his position and who was before him--it was only then when his mean +figure shrank, and he quailed and would have turned but could not, that +I recognized the Coadjutor. + +I was silent now, my mouth agape. There are seconds which are minutes; +ay, and many minutes. A man may die, a man may come into life in such +a second. In one of these, it seemed to me, those two men paused, face +to face; though in fact a pause was for one of them impossible. He was +between--and I think he knew it--the devil and the deep sea. Yet he +seemed to pause, while all, even that yelling crowd below, held their +breath. The next moment, glaring askance at one another like two dogs +unevenly coupled, he and Bezers shot shoulder to shoulder into the +doorway, and in another jot of time would have been out of sight. But +then, in that instant, I saw something happen. The Vidame's hand +flashed up above the priest's head, and the cross-hilt of his sheathed +sword crashed down with awful force, and still more awful passion, on +the other's tonsure! The wretch went down like a log, without a word, +without a cry! Amid a roar of rage from a thousand throats, a roar +that might have shaken the stoutest heart, and blanched the swarthiest +cheek, Bezers disappeared within! + +It was then I saw the power of discipline and custom. Few as were the +troopers who had followed him--a mere handful--they fell without +hesitation on the foremost of the crowd, who were already in confusion, +stumbling and falling over their leader's body; and hurled them back +pell-mell along the gallery. The throng below had no firearms, and +could give no aid at the moment; the stage was narrow; in two minutes +the Vidame's people had swept it clear of the crowd and were in +possession of it. A tall fellow took up the priest's body, dead or +alive, I do not know which, and flung it as if it had been a sack of +corn over the rail. It fell with a heavy thud on the ground. I heard +a piercing scream that rose above that babel--one shrill scream! and +the mob closed round and hid the thing. + +If the rascals had had the wit to make at once for the right-hand +stairs, where we stood with two or three of Bezers' men who had kept +their saddles, I think they might easily have disposed of us, +encumbered as we were, by the horses; and then they could have attacked +the handful on the gallery on both flanks. But the mob had no leaders, +and no plan of operations. They seized indeed two or three of the +scattered troopers, and tearing them from their horses, wreaked their +passion upon them horribly. But most of the Switzers escaped, thanks +to the attention the mob paid to the houses and what was going forward +on the galleries; and these, extricating themselves joined us one by +one, so that gradually a little ring of stern faces gathered about the +stair-foot. A moment's hesitation, and seeing no help for it, we +ranged ourselves with them; and, unchecked as unbidden, sprang on three +of the led horses. + +All this passed more quickly than I can relate it: so that before our +feet were well in the stirrups a partial silence, then a mightier roar +of anger at once proclaimed and hailed the re-appearance of the Vidame. +Bigoted beyond belief were the mob of Paris of that day, cruel, +vengeful, and always athirst for blood; and this man had killed not +only their leader but a priest. He had committed sacrilege! What +would they do? I could just, by stooping forward, command a side view +of the gallery, and the scene passing there was such that I forgot in +it our own peril. + +For surely in all his reckless life Bezers had never been so +emphatically the man for the situation--had never shown to such +advantage as at this moment when he stood confronting the sea of faces, +the sneer on his lip, a smile in his eyes; and looked down unblenching, +a figure of scorn, on the men who were literally agape for his life. +The calm defiance of his steadfast look fascinated even me. Wonder and +admiration for the time took the place of dislike. I could scarcely +believe that there was not some atom of good in this man so fearless. +And no face but one no face I think in the world, but one--could have +drawn my eyes from him. But that one face was beside him. I clutched +Marie's arm, and pointed to the bareheaded figure at Bezers' right hand. + +It was Louis himself: our Louis de Pavannes, But he was changed indeed +from the gay cavalier I remembered, and whom I had last seen riding +down the street at Caylus, smiling back at us, and waving his adieux to +his mistress! Beside the Vidame he had the air of being slight, even +short. The face which I had known so bright and winning, was now white +and set. His fair, curling hair--scarce darker than Croisette's--hung +dank, bedabbled with blood which flowed from a wound in his head. His +sword was gone; his dress was torn and disordered and covered with +dust. His lips moved. But he held up his head, he bore himself +bravely with it all; so bravely, that I choked, and my heart seemed +bursting as I looked at him standing there forlorn and now unarmed. I +knew that Kit seeing him thus would gladly have died with him; and I +thanked God she did not see him. Yet there was a quietness in his +fortitude which made a great difference between his air and that of +Bezers. He lacked, as became one looking unarmed on certain death, the +sneer and smile of the giant beside him. + +What was the Vidame about to do? I shuddered as I asked myself. Not +surrender him, not fling him bodily to the people? No not that: I +felt sure he would let no others share his vengeance that his pride +would not suffer that. And even while I wondered the doubt was solved. +I saw Bezers raise his hand in a peculiar fashion. Simultaneously a +cry rang sharply out above the tumult, and down in headlong charge +towards the farther steps came the band of horsemen, who had got clear +of the crowd on that side. They were but ten or twelve, but under his +eye they charged, as if they had been a thousand. The rabble shrank +from the collision, and fled aside. Quick as thought the riders +swerved; and changing their course, galloped through the looser part of +the throng, and in a trice drew rein side by side with us, a laugh and +a jeer on their reckless lips. + +It was neatly done: and while it was being done the Vidame and his +knot of men, with those who had been searching the building, hurried +down the gallery towards us, their rear cleared for the moment by the +troopers' feint. The dismounted men came bundling down the steps, +their eyes aglow with the war-fire, and got horses as they could. +Among them I lost sight of Louis, but perceived him presently, pale and +bewildered, mounted behind a trooper. A man sprang up before each of +us too, greeting our appearance merely by a grunt of surprise. For it +was no time to ask or answer. The mob was recovering itself, and each +moment brought it reinforcements, while its fury was augmented by the +trick we had played it, and the prospect of our escape. + +We were under forty, all told; and some men were riding double. Bezers' +eye glanced hastily over his array, and lit on us three. He turned and +gave some order to his lieutenant. The fellow spurred his horse, a +splendid grey, as powerful as his master's, alongside of Croisette, +threw his arm round the lad, and dragged him dexterously on to his own +crupper. I did not understand the action, but I saw Croisette settle +himself behind Blaise Bure--for he it was--and supposed no harm was +intended. The next moment we had surged forward, and were swaying to +and fro in the midst of the crowd. + +What ensued I cannot tell. The outlook, so far as I was concerned, was +limited to wildly plunging horses--we were in the centre of the band +and riders swaying in the saddle--with a glimpse here and there of a +fringe of white scowling faces and tossing arms. Once, a lane opening, +I saw the Vidame's charger--he was in the van--stumble and fall among +the crowd and heard a great shout go up. But Bezers by a mighty effort +lifted it to its legs again. And once too, a minute later, those +riding on my right, swerved outwards, and I saw something I never +afterwards forgot. + +It was the body of the Coadjutor, lying face upwards, the eyes open and +the teeth bared in a last spasm. Prostrate on it lay a woman, a young +woman, with hair like red gold falling about her neck, and skin like +milk. I did not know whether she was alive or dead; but I noticed that +one arm stuck out stiffly and the crowd flying before the sudden impact +of the horses must have passed over her, even if she had escaped the +iron hoofs which followed. Still in the fleeting glance I had of her +as my horse bounded aside, I saw no wound or disfigurement. Her one +arm was cast about the priest's breast; her face was hidden on it. But +for all that, I knew her--knew her, shuddering for the woman whose +badges I was even now wearing, whose gift I bore at my side; and I +remembered the priest's vaunt of a few hours before, made in her +presence, "There is no man in Paris shall thwart me to-night!" + +It had been a vain boast indeed! No hand in all that host of thousands +was more feeble than his now: for good or ill! No brain more dull, no +voice less heeded. A righteous retribution indeed had overtaken him. +He had died by the sword he had drawn--died, a priest, by violence! +The cross he had renounced had crushed him. And all his schemes and +thoughts, and no doubt they had been many, had perished with him. It +had come to this, only this, the sum of the whole matter, that there +was one wicked man the less in Paris--one lump of breathless clay the +more. + +For her--the woman on his breast--what man can judge a woman, knowing +her? And not knowing her, how much less? For the present I put her +out of my mind, feeling for the moment faint and cold. + +We were clear of the crowd, and clattering unmolested down a paved +street before I fully recovered from the shock which this sight had +caused me. Wonder whither we were going took its place. To Bezers' +house? My heart sank at the prospect if that were so. Before I +thought of an alternative, a gateway flanked by huge round towers +appeared before us, and we pulled up suddenly, a confused jostling mass +in the narrow way; while some words passed between the Vidame and the +Captain of the Guard. A pause of several minutes followed; and then +the gates rolled slowly open, and two by two we passed under the arch. +Those gates might have belonged to a fortress or a prison, a dungeon or +a palace, for all I knew. + +They led, however, to none of these, but to an open space, dirty and +littered with rubbish, marked by a hundred ruts and tracks, and fringed +with disorderly cabins and make-shift booths. And beyond this--oh, ye +gods! the joy of it--beyond this, which we crossed at a rapid trot, +lay the open country! + +The transition and relief were so wonderful that I shall never forget +them. I gazed on the wide landscape before me, lying quiet and +peaceful in the sunlight, and could scarce believe in my happiness. I +drew the fresh air into my lungs, I threw up my sheathed sword and +caught it again in a frenzy of delight, while the gloomy men about me +smiled at my enthusiasm. I felt the horse beneath me move once more +like a thing of life. No enchanter with his wand, not Merlin nor +Virgil, could have made a greater change in my world, than had the +captain of the gate with his simple key! Or so it seemed to me in the +first moments of freedom, and escape--of removal from those loathsome +streets. + +I looked back at Paris--at the cloud of smoke which hung over the +towers and roofs; and it seemed to me the canopy of hell itself. I +fancied that my head still rang with the cries and screams and curses, +the sounds of death. In very fact, I could hear the dull reports of +firearms near the Louvre, and the jangle of the bells. Country-folk +were congregated at the cross-roads, and in the villages, listening and +gazing; asking timid questions of the more good-natured among us, and +showing that the rumour of the dreadful work doing in the town had +somehow spread abroad. And this though I learned afterwards that the +keys of the city had been taken the night before to the king, and that, +except a party with the Duke of Guise, who had left at eight in pursuit +of Montgomery and some of the Protestants--lodgers, happily for +themselves, in the Faubourg St. Germain--no one had left the town +before ourselves. + +While I am speaking of our departure from Paris, I may say what I have +to say of the dreadful excesses of those days, ay, and of the following +days; excesses of which France is now ashamed, and for which she +blushed even before the accession of his late Majesty. I am sometimes +asked, as one who witnessed them, what I think, and I answer that it +was not our country which was to blame. A something besides Queen +Catharine de' Medici had been brought from Italy forty years before, a +something invisible but very powerful; a spirit of cruelty and +treachery. In Italy it had done small harm. But grafted on French +daring and recklessness, and the rougher and more soldierly manners of +the north, this spirit of intrigue proved capable of very dreadful +things. For a time, until it wore itself out, it was the curse of +France. Two Dukes of Guise, Francis and Henry, a cardinal of Guise, +the Prince of Conde, Admiral Coligny, King Henry the Third all these +the foremost men of their day--died by assassination within little more +than a quarter of a century, to say nothing of the Prince of Orange, +and King Henry the Great. + +Then mark--a most curious thing--the extreme youth of those who were in +this business. France, subject to the Queen-Mother, of course, was +ruled at the time by boys scarce out of their tutors' hands. They were +mere lads, hot-blooded, reckless nobles, ready for any wild brawl, +without forethought or prudence. Of the four Frenchmen who it is +thought took the leading parts, one, the king, was twenty-two; +Monsieur, his brother, was only twenty; the Duke of Guise was +twenty-one. Only the Marshal de Tavannes was of mature age. For the +other conspirators, for the Queen-Mother, for her advisers Retz and +Nevers and Birague, they were Italians; and Italy may answer for them +if Florence, Mantua and Milan care to raise the glove. + +To return to our journey. A league from the town we halted at a large +inn, and some of us dismounted. Horses were brought out to fill the +places of those lost or left behind, and Bure had food served to us. +We were famished and exhausted, and ate it ravenously, as if we could +never have enough. + +The Vidame sat his horse apart, served by his page, I stole a glance at +him, and it struck me that even on his iron nature the events of the +night had made some impression. I read, or thought I read, in his +countenance, signs of emotions not quite in accordance with what I knew +of him--emotions strange and varied. I could almost have sworn that as +he looked at us a flicker of kindliness lit up his stern and cruel +gloom; I could almost have sworn he smiled with a curious sadness. As +for Louis, riding with a squad who stood in a different part of the +yard, he did not see us; had not yet seen us at all. His side face, +turned towards me, was pale and sad, his manner preoccupied, his mien +rather sorrowful than downcast. He was thinking, I judged, as much of +the many brave men who had yesterday been his friends--companions at +board and play-table--as of his own fate. When we presently, at a +signal from Bure, took to the road again, I asked no permission, but +thrusting my horse forward, rode to his side as he passed through the +gateway. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +A NIGHT OF SORROW. + +"Louis! Louis!" + +He turned with a start at the sound of my voice, joy and +bewilderment--and no wonder--in his countenance. He had not supposed +us to be within a hundred leagues of him. And lo! here we were, knee +to knee, hand meeting hand in a long grasp, while his eyes, to which +tears sprang unbidden, dwelt on my face as though they could read in it +the features of his sweetheart. Some one had furnished him with a hat, +and enabled him to put his dress in order, and wash his wound, which +was very slight, and these changes had improved his appearance; so that +the shadow of grief and despondency passing for a moment from him in +the joy of seeing me, he looked once more his former self: as he had +looked in the old days at Caylus on his return from hawking, or from +some boyish escapade among the hills. Only, alas! he wore no sword. + +"And now tell me all," he cried, after his first exclamation of wonder +had found vent. "How on earth do you come here? Here, of all places, +and by my side? Is all well at Caylus? Surely Mademoiselle is not--" + +"Mademoiselle is well! perfectly well! And thinking of you, I swear!" +I answered passionately. "For us," I went on, eager for the moment to +escape that subject--how could I talk of it in the daylight and under +strange eyes?--"Marie and Croisette are behind. We left Caylus eight +days ago. We reached Paris yesterday evening. We have not been to +bed! We have passed, Louis, such a night as I never--" + +He stopped me with a gesture. "Hush!" he said, raising his hand. +"Don't speak of it, Anne!" and I saw that the fate of his friends was +still too recent, the horror of his awakening to those dreadful sights +and sounds was still too vivid for him to bear reference to them. Yet +after riding for a time in silence--though his lips moved--he asked me +again what had brought us up. + +"We came to warn you--of him," I answered, pointing to the solitary, +moody figure of the Vidame, who was riding ahead of the party. "He--he +said that Kit should never marry you, and boasted of what he would do +to you, and frightened her. So, learning he was going to Paris, we +followed him--to put you on your guard, you know." And I briefly +sketched our adventures, and the strange circumstances and mistakes +which had delayed us hour after hour, through all that strange night, +until the time had gone by when we could do good. + +His eyes glistened and his colour rose as I told the story. He wrung +my hand warmly, and looked back to smile at Marie and Croisette. "It +was like you!" he ejaculated with emotion. "It was like her cousins! +Brave, brave lads! The Vicomte will live to be proud of you! Some day +you will all do great things! I say it!" + +"But oh, Louis!" I exclaimed sorrowfully, though my heart was bounding +with pride at his words, "if we had only been in time! If we had only +come to you two hours earlier!" + +"You would have spoken to little purpose then, I fear," he replied, +shaking his head. "We were given over as a prey to the enemy. +Warnings? We had warnings in plenty. De Rosny warned us, and we +scoffed at him. The king's eye warned us, and we trusted him. But--" +and Louis' form dilated and his hand rose as he went on, and I thought +of his cousin's prediction--"it will never be so again in France, Anne! +Never! No man will after this trust another! There will be no honour, +no faith, no quarter, and no peace! And for the Valois who has done +this, the sword will never depart from his house! I believe it! I do +believe it!" + +How truly he spoke we know now. For two-and-twenty years after that +twenty-fourth of August, 1572, the sword was scarcely laid aside in +France for a single month. In the streets of Paris, at Arques, and +Coutras, and Ivry, blood flowed like water that the blood of the St. +Bartholomew might be forgotten--that blood which, by the grace of God, +Navarre saw fall from the dice box on the eve of the massacre. The +last of the Valois passed to the vaults of St. Denis: and a greater +king, the first of all Frenchmen, alive or dead, the bravest, gayest, +wisest of the land, succeeded him: yet even he had to fall by the +knife, in a moment most unhappy for his country, before France, +horror-stricken, put away the treachery and evil from her. + +Talking with Louis as we rode, it was not unnatural--nay, it was the +natural result of the situation--that I should avoid one subject. Yet +that subject was the uppermost in my thoughts. What were the Vidame's +intentions? What was the meaning of this strange journey? What was to +be Louis' fate? I shrank with good reason from asking him these +questions. There could be so little room for hope, even after that +smile which I had seen Bezers smile, that I dared not dwell upon them. +I should but torture him and myself. + +So it was he who first spoke about it. Not at that time, but after +sunset, when the dusk had fallen upon us, and found us still plodding +southward with tired horses; a link outwardly like other links in the +long chain of riders, toiling onwards. Then he said suddenly, "Do you +know whither we are going, Anne?" + +I started, and found myself struggling with a strange confusion before +I could reply. "Home," I suggested at random. + +"Home? No. And yet nearly home. To Cahors," he answered with an odd +quietude. "Your home, my boy, I shall never see again, Nor Kit! Nor +my own Kit!" It was the first time I had heard him call her by the +fond name we used ourselves. And the pathos in his tone as of the +past, not the present, as of pure memory--I was very thankful that I +could not in the dusk see his face--shook my self-control. I wept. +"Nay, my lad," he went on, speaking softly and leaning from his saddle +so that he could lay his hand on my shoulder "we are all men together. +We must be brave. Tears cannot help us, so we should leave them to +the--women." + +I cried more passionately at that. Indeed his own voice quavered over +the last word. But in a moment he was talking to me coolly and +quietly. I had muttered something to the effect that the Vidame would +not dare--it would be too public. + +"There is no question of daring in it," he replied. "And the more +public it is, the better he will like it. They have dared to take +thousands of lives since yesterday. There is no one to call him to +account since the king--our king forsooth!--has declared every Huguenot +an outlaw, to be killed wherever he be met with. No, when Bezers +disarmed me yonder," he pointed as he spoke to his wound, "I looked of +course for instant death. Anne! I saw blood in his eyes! But he did +not strike." + +"Why not?" I asked in suspense. + +"I can only guess," Louis answered with a sigh. "He told me that my +life was in his hands, but that he should take it at his own time. +Further that if I would not give my word to go with him without trying +to escape, he would throw me to those howling dogs outside. I gave my +word. We are on the road together. And oh, Anne! yesterday, only +yesterday, at this time I was riding home with Teligny from the Louvre, +where we had been playing at paume with the king! And the world--the +world was very fair." + +"I saw you, or rather Croisette did," I muttered as his sorrow--not for +himself, but his friends--forced him to stop. "Yet how, Louis, do you +know that we are going to Cahors?" + +"He told me, as we passed through the gates, that he was appointed +Lieutenant-Governor of Quercy to carry out the edict against the +religion. Do you not see, Anne?" my companion added bitterly, "to +kill me at once were too small a revenge for him! He must torture +me--or rather he would if he could--by the pains of anticipation. + +"Besides, my execution will so finely open his bed of justice. Bah!" +and Pavannes raised his head proudly, "I fear him not! I fear him not +a jot!" + +For a moment he forgot Kit, the loss of his friends, his own doom. He +snapped his fingers in derision of his foe. + +But my heart sank miserably. The Vidame's rage I remembered had been +directed rather against my cousin than her lover; and now by the light +of his threats I read Bezers' purpose more clearly than Louis could. +His aim was to punish the woman who had played with him. To do so he +was bringing her lover from Paris that he might execute him--AFTER +GIVING HER NOTICE! That was it: after giving her notice, it might be +in her very presence! He would lure her to Cahors, and then-- + +I shuddered. I well might feel that a precipice was opening at my +feet. There was something in the plan so devilish, yet so accordant +with those stories I had heard of the Wolf, that I felt no doubt of my +insight. I read his evil mind, and saw in a moment why he had troubled +himself with us. He hoped to draw Mademoiselle to Cahors by our means. + +Of course I said nothing of this to Louis. I hid my feelings as well +as I could. But I vowed a great vow that at the eleventh hour we would +baulk the Vidame. Surely if all else failed we could kill him, and, +though we died ourselves, spare Kit this ordeal. My tears were dried +up as by a fire. My heart burned with a great and noble rage: or so +it seemed to me! + +I do not think that there was ever any journey so strange as this one +of ours. We met with the same incidents which had pleased us on the +road to Paris. But their novelty was gone. Gone too were the cosy +chats with old rogues of landlords and good-natured dames. We were +travelling now in such force that our coming was rather a terror to the +innkeeper than a boon. How much the Lieutenant-Governor of Quercy, +going down to his province, requisitioned in the king's name; and for +how much he paid, we could only judge from the gloomy looks which +followed us as we rode away each morning. Such looks were not solely +due I fear to the news from Paris, although for some time we were the +first bearers of the tidings. + +Presently, on the third day of our journey I think, couriers from the +Court passed us: and henceforth forestalled us. One of these +messengers--who I learned from the talk about me was bound for Cahors +with letters for the Lieutenant-Governor and the Count-Bishop--the +Vidame interviewed and stopped. How it was managed I do not know, but +I fear the Count-Bishop never got his letters, which I fancy would have +given him some joint authority. Certainly we left the messenger--a +prudent fellow with a care for his skin--in comfortable quarters at +Limoges, whence I do not doubt he presently returned to Paris at his +leisure. + +The strangeness of the journey however arose from none of these things, +but from the relations of our party to one another. After the first day +we four rode together, unmolested, so long as we kept near the centre +of the straggling cavalcade. The Vidame always rode alone, and in +front, brooding with bent head and sombre face over his revenge, as I +supposed. He would ride in this fashion, speaking to no one and giving +no orders, for a day together. At times I came near to pitying him. +He had loved Kit in his masterful way, the way of one not wont to be +thwarted, and he had lost her--lost her, whatever might happen. He +would get nothing after all by his revenge. Nothing but ashes in the +mouth. And so I saw in softer moments something inexpressibly +melancholy in that solitary giant-figure pacing always alone. + +He seldom spoke to us. More rarely to Louis. When he did, the +harshness of his voice and his cruel eyes betrayed the gloomy hatred in +which he held him. At meals he ate at one end of the table: we four +at the other, as three of us had done on that first evening in Paris. +And sometimes the covert looks, the grim sneer he shot at his +rival--his prisoner--made me shiver even in the sunshine. Sometimes, +on the other hand, when I took him unawares, I found an expression on +his face I could not read. + +I told Croisette, but warily, my suspicions of his purpose. He heard +me, less astounded to all appearance than I had expected. Presently I +learned the reason. He had his own view. "Do you not think it +possible, Anne?" he suggested timidly--we were of course alone at the +time--"that he thinks to make Louis resign Mademoiselle?" + +"Resign her!" I exclaimed obtusely. "How?" + +"By giving him a choice--you understand?" + +I did understand I saw it in a moment. I had been dull not to see it +before. Bezers might put it in this way: let M. de Pavannes resign +his mistress and live, or die and lose her. + +"I see," I answered. "But Louis would not give her up. Not to him!" + +"He would lose her either way," Croisette answered in a low tone. "That +is not however the worst of it. Louis is in his power. Suppose he +thinks to make Kit the arbiter, Anne, and puts Louis up to ransom, +setting Kit for the price? And gives her the option of accepting +himself, and saving Louis' life; or refusing, and leaving Louis to die?" + +"St. Croix!" I exclaimed fiercely. "He would not be so base!" And yet +was not even this better than the blind vengeance I had myself +attributed to him? + +"Perhaps not," Croisette answered, while he gazed onwards through the +twilight. We were at the time the foremost of the party save the +Vidame; and there was nothing to interrupt our view of his gigantic +figure as he moved on alone before us with bowed shoulders. "Perhaps +not," Croisette repeated thoughtfully. "Sometimes I think we do not +understand him; and that after all there may be worse people in the +world than Bezers." + +I looked hard at the lad, for that was not what I had meant. "Worse?" +I said. "I do not think so. Hardly!" + +"Yes, worse," he replied, shaking his head. "Do you remember lying +under the curtain in the box-bed at Mirepoix's?" + +"Of course I do! Do you think I shall ever forget it?" + +"And Madame d'O coming in?" + +"With the Coadjutor?" I said with a shudder. "Yes." + +"No, the second time," he answered, "when she came back alone. It was +pretty dark, you remember, and Madame de Pavannes was at the window, +and her sister did not see her?" + +"Well, well, I remember," I said impatiently. I knew from the tone of +his voice that he had something to tell me about Madame d'O, and I was +not anxious to hear it. I shrank, as a wounded man shrinks from the +cautery, from hearing anything about that woman; herself so beautiful, +yet moving in an atmosphere of suspicion and horror. Was it shame, or +fear, or some chivalrous feeling having its origin in that moment when +I had fancied myself her knight? I am not sure, for I had not made up +my mind even now whether I ought to pity or detest her; whether she had +made a tool of me, or I had been false to her. + +"She came up to the bed, you remember, Anne?" Croisette went on. "You +were next to her. She saw you indistinctly, and took you for her +sister. And then I sprang from the bed." + +"I know you did!" I exclaimed sharply. All this time I had forgotten +that grievance. "You nearly frightened her out of her wits, St. Croix. +I cannot think what possessed you--why you did it?" + +"To save your life, Anne," he answered solemnly, "and her from a crime! +an unutterable, an unnatural crime. She had come back to I can hardly +tell it you--to murder her sister. You start. You do not believe me. +It sounds too horrible. But I could see better than you could. She +was exactly between you and the light. I saw the knife raised. I saw +her wicked face! If I had not startled her as I did, she would have +stabbed you. She dropped the knife on the floor, and I picked it up +and have it. See!" + +I looked furtively, and turned away again, shivering. "Why," I +muttered, "why did she do it?" + +"She had failed you know to get her sister back to Pavannes' house, +where she would have fallen an easy victim. Bezers, who knew Madame +d'O, prevented that. Then that fiend slipped back with her knife; +thinking that in the common butchery the crime would be overlooked, and +never investigated, and that Mirepoix would be silent!" + +I said nothing. I was stunned. Yet I believed the story. When I went +over the facts in my mind I found that a dozen things, overlooked at +the time and almost forgotten in the hurry of events, sprang up to +confirm it. M. de Pavannes'--the other M. de Pavannes'--suspicions had +been well founded. Worse than Bezers was she? Ay! worse a hundred +times. As much worse as treachery ever is than violence; as the +pitiless fraud of the serpent is baser than the rage of the wolf. + +"I thought," Croisette added softly, not looking at me, "when I +discovered that you had gone off with her, that I should never see you +again, Anne. I gave you up for lost. The happiest moment of my life I +think was when I saw you come back." + +"Croisette," I whispered piteously, my cheeks burning, "let us never +speak of her again." + +And we never did--for years. But how strange is life. She and the +wicked man with whom her fate seemed bound up had just crossed our +lives when their own were at the darkest. They clashed with us, and, +strangers and boys as we were, we ruined them. I have often asked +myself what would have happened to me had I met her at some earlier and +less stormy period--in the brilliance of her beauty. And I find but +one answer. I should bitterly have rued the day. Providence was good +to me. Such men and such women, we may believe have ceased to exist +now. They flourished in those miserable days of war and divisions, and +passed away with them like the foul night-birds of the battle-field. + +To return to our journey. In the morning sunshine one could not but be +cheerful, and think good things possible. The worst trial I had came +with each sunset. For then--we generally rode late into the +evening--Louis sought my side to talk to me of his sweetheart. And how +he would talk of her! How many thousand messages he gave me for her! +How often he recalled old days among the hills, with each laugh and +jest and incident, when we five had been as children! Until I would +wonder passionately, the tears running down my face in the darkness, +how he could--how he could talk of her in that quiet voice which +betrayed no rebellion against fate, no cursing of Providence! How he +could plan for her and think of her when she should be alone! + +Now I understand it. He was still labouring under the shock of his +friends' murder. He was still partially stunned. Death seemed natural +and familiar to him, as to one who had seen his allies and companions +perish without warning or preparation. Death had come to be normal to +him, life the exception; as I have known it seem to a child brought +face to face with a corpse for the first time. + +One afternoon a strange thing happened. We could see the Auvergne +hills at no great distance on our left--the Puy de Dome above them--and +we four were riding together. We had fallen--an unusual thing--to the +rear of the party. Our road at the moment was a mere track running +across moorland, sprinkled here and there with gorse and brushwood. +The main company had straggled on out of sight. There were but half a +dozen riders to be seen an eighth of a league before us, a couple +almost as far behind. I looked every way with a sudden surging of the +heart. For the first time the possibility of flight occurred to me. +The rough Auvergne hills were within reach. Supposing we could get a +lead of a quarter of a league, we could hardly be caught before +darkness came and covered us. Why should we not put spurs to our +horses and ride off? + +"Impossible!" said Pavannes quietly, when I spoke. + +"Why?" I asked with warmth. + +"Firstly," he replied, "because I have given my word to go with the +Vidame to Cahors." + +My face flushed hotly. But I cried, "What of that? You were taken by +treachery! Your safe conduct was disregarded. Why should you be +scrupulous? Your enemies are not. This is folly?" + +"I think not. Nay," Louis answered, shaking his head, "you would not +do it yourself in my place." + +"I think I should," I stammered awkwardly. + +"No, you would not, lad," he said smiling. "I know you too well. But +if I would do it, it is impossible." He turned in the saddle and, +shading his eyes with his hand from the level rays of the sun, looked +back intently. "It is as I thought," he continued. "One of those men +is riding grey Margot, which Bure said yesterday was the fastest mare +in the troop. And the man on her is a light weight. The other fellow +has that Norman bay horse we were looking at this morning. It is a +trap laid by Bezers, Anne. If we turned aside a dozen yards, those two +would be after us like the wind." + +"Do you mean," I cried, "that Bezers has drawn his men forward on +purpose?" + +"Precisely;" was Louis's answer. "That is the fact. Nothing would +please him better than to take my honour first, and my life afterwards. +But, thank God, only the one is in his power." + +And when I came to look at the horsemen, immediately before us, they +confirmed Louis's view. They were the best mounted of the party: all +men of light weight too. One or other of them was constantly looking +back. As night fell they closed in upon us with their usual care. +When Bure joined us there was a gleam of intelligence in his bold eyes, +a flash of conscious trickery. He knew that we had found him out, and +cared nothing for it. + +And the others cared nothing. But the thought that if left to myself I +should have fallen into the Vidame's cunning trap filled me with new +hatred towards him; such hatred and such fear--for there was +humiliation mingled with them--as I had scarcely felt before. I +brooded over this, barely noticing what passed in our company for +hours--nay, not until the next day when, towards evening, the cry arose +round me that we were within sight of Cahors. Yes, there it lay below +us, in its shallow basin, surrounded by gentle hills. The domes of the +cathedral, the towers of the Vallandre Bridge, the bend of the Lot, +where its stream embraces the town--I knew them all. Our long journey +was over. + +And I had but one idea. I had some time before communicated to +Croisette the desperate design I had formed--to fall upon Bezers and +kill him in the midst of his men in the last resort. Now the time had +come if the thing was ever to be done: if we had not left it too long +already. And I looked about me. There was some confusion and jostling +as we halted on the brow of the hill, while two men were despatched +ahead to announce the governor's arrival, and Bure, with half a dozen +spears, rode out as an advanced guard. + +The road where we stood was narrow, a shallow cutting winding down the +declivity of the hills. The horses were tired, It was a bad time and +place for my design, and only the coming night was in my favour. But I +was desperate. + +Yet before I moved or gave a signal which nothing could recall, I +scanned the landscape eagerly, scrutinizing in turn the small, rich +plain below us, warmed by the last rays of the sun, the bare hills here +glowing, there dark, the scattered wood-clumps and spinneys that filled +the angles of the river, even the dusky line of helm-oaks that crowned +the ridge beyond--Caylus way. So near our own country there might be +help! If the messenger whom we had despatched to the Vicomte before +leaving home had reached him, our uncle might have returned, and even +be in Cahors to meet us. + +But no party appeared in sight: and I saw no place where an ambush +could be lying. I remembered that no tidings of our present plight or +of what had happened could have reached the Vicomte. The hope faded +out of life as soon as despair had given it birth. We must fend for +ourselves and for Kit. + +That was my justification. I leaned from my saddle towards +Croisette--I was riding by his side--and muttered, as I felt my horse's +head and settled myself firmly in the stirrups, "You remember what I +said? Are you ready?" + +He looked at me in a startled way, with a face showing white in the +shadow: and from me to the one solitary figure seated like a pillar a +score of paces in front with no one between us and it. "There need be +but two of us," I muttered, loosening my sword. "Shall it be you or +Marie? The others must leap their horses out of the road in the +confusion, cross the river at the Arembal Ford if they are not +overtaken, and make for Caylus." + +He hesitated. I do not know whether it had anything to do with his +hesitation that at that moment the cathedral bell in the town below us +began to ring slowly for Vespers. Yes, he hesitated. He--a Caylus. +Turning to him again, I repeated my question impatiently. "Which shall +it be? A moment, and we shall be moving on, and it will be too late." + +He laid his hand hurriedly on my bridle, and began a rambling answer. +Rambling as it was I gathered his meaning. It was enough for me! I +cut him short with one word of fiery indignation, and turned to Marie +and spoke quickly. "Will you, then?" I said. + +But Marie shook his head in perplexity, and answering little, said the +same. So it happened a second time. + +Strange! Yet strange as it seemed, I was not greatly surprised. Under +other circumstances I should have been beside myself with anger at the +defection. Now I felt as if I had half expected it, and without +further words of reproach I dropped my head and gave it up. I passed +again into the stupor of endurance. The Vidame was too strong for me. +It was useless to fight against him. We were under the spell. When +the troop moved forward, I went with them, silent and apathetic. + +We passed through the gate of Cahors, and no doubt the scene was worthy +of note; but I had only a listless eye for it--much such an eye as a +man about to be broken on the wheel must have for that curious +instrument, supposing him never to have seen it before. The whole +population had come out to line the streets through which we rode, and +stood gazing, with scarcely veiled looks of apprehension, at the +procession of troopers and the stern face of the new governor. + +We dismounted passively in the courtyard of the castle, and were for +going in together, when Bure intervened. "M. de Pavannes," he said, +pushing rather rudely between us, "will sup alone to-night. For you, +gentlemen, this way, if you please." + +I went without remonstrance. What was the use? I was conscious that +the Vidame from the top of the stairs leading to the grand entrance was +watching us with a wolfish glare in his eyes. I went quietly. But I +heard Croisette urging something with passionate energy. + +We were led through a low doorway to a room on the ground floor; a +place very like a cell. Were we took our meal in silence. When it was +over I flung myself on one of the beds prepared for us, shrinking from +my companions rather in misery than in resentment. + +No explanation had passed between us. Still I knew that the other two +from time to time eyed me doubtfully. I feigned therefore to be +asleep, but I heard Bure enter to bid us good-night--and see that we +had not escaped. And I was conscious too of the question Croisette put +to him, "Does M. de Pavannes lie alone to-night, Bure?" + +"Not entirely," the captain answered with gloomy meaning. Indeed he +seemed in bad spirits himself, or tired. "The Vidame is anxious for +his soul's welfare, and sends a priest to him." + +They sprang to their feet at that. But the light and its bearer, who +so far recovered himself as to chuckle at his master's pious thought, +had disappeared. They were left to pace the room, and reproach +themselves and curse the Vidame in an agony of late repentance. Not +even Marie could find a loop-hole of escape from here. The door was +double-locked; the windows so barred that a cat could scarcely pass +through them; the walls were of solid masonry. + +Meanwhile I lay and feigned to sleep, and lay feigning through long, +long hours; though my heart like theirs throbbed in response to the +dull hammering that presently began without, and not far from us, and +lasted until daybreak. From our windows, set low and facing a wall, we +could see nothing. But we could guess what the noise meant, the dull, +earthy thuds when posts were set in the ground, the brisk, wooden +clattering when one plank was laid to another. We could not see the +progress of the work, or hear the voices of the workmen, or catch the +glare of their lights. But we knew what they were doing. They were +raising the scaffold. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +JOY IN THE MORNING. + +I was too weary with riding to go entirely without sleep. And moreover +it is anxiety and the tremor of excitement which make the pillow +sleepless, not, heaven be thanked, sorrow. God made man to lie awake +and hope: but never to lie awake and grieve. An hour or two before +daybreak I fell asleep, utterly worn out. When I awoke, the sun was +high, and shining slantwise on our window. The room was gay with the +morning rays, and soft with the morning freshness, and I lay a while, +my cheek on my hand, drinking in the cheerful influence as I had done +many and many a day in our room at Caylus. It was the touch of Marie's +hand, laid timidly on my arm, which roused me with a shock to +consciousness. The truth broke upon me. I remembered where we were, +and what was before us. "Will you get up, Anne?" Croisette said. "The +Vidame has sent for us." + +I got to my feet, and buckled on my sword. Croisette was leaning +against the wall, pale and downcast. Bure filled the open doorway, his +feathered cap in his hand, a queer smile on his face. "You are a good +sleeper, young gentleman," he said. "You should have a good +conscience." + +"Better than yours, no doubt!" I retorted, "or your master's." + +He shrugged his shoulders, and, bidding us by a sign to follow him, led +the way through several gloomy passages. At the end of these, a flight +of stone steps leading upwards seemed to promise something better; and +true enough, the door at the top being opened, the murmur of a crowd +reached our ears, with a burst of sunlight and warmth. We were in a +lofty room, with walls in some places painted, and elsewhere hung with +tapestry; well lighted by three old pointed windows reaching to the +rush-covered floor. The room was large, set here and there with stands +of arms, and had a dais with a raised carved chair at one end. The +ceiling was of blue, with gold stars set about it. Seeing this, I +remembered the place. I had been in it once, years ago, when I had +attended the Vicomte on a state visit to the governor. Ah! that the +Vicomte were here now! + +I advanced to the middle window, which was open. Then I started back, +for outside was the scaffold built level with the floor, and +rush-covered like it! Two or three people were lounging on it. My +eyes sought Louis among the group, but in vain. He was not there: and +while I looked for him, I heard a noise behind me, and he came in, +guarded by four soldiers with pikes. + +His face was pale and grave, but perfectly composed. There was a +wistful look in his eyes indeed, as if he were thinking of something or +some one far away--Kit's face on the sunny hills of Quercy where he had +ridden with her, perhaps; a look which seemed to say that the doings +here were nothing to him, and the parting was yonder where she was. +But his bearing was calm and collected, his step firm and fearless. +When he saw us, indeed his face lightened a moment and he greeted us +cheerfully, even acknowledging Bure's salutation with dignity and good +temper. Croisette sprang towards him impulsively, and cried his +name--Croisette ever the first to speak. But before Louis could grasp +his hand, the door at the bottom of the hall was swung open, and the +Vidame came hurriedly in. + +He was alone. He glanced round, his forbidding face, which was +somewhat flushed as if by haste, wearing a scowl. Then he saw us, and, +nodding haughtily, strode up the floor, his spurs clanking heavily on +the boards. We gave us no greeting, but by a short word dismissed Bure +and the soldiers to the lower end of the room. And then he stood and +looked at us four, but principally at his rival; and looked, and looked +with eyes of smouldering hate. And there was a silence, a long +silence, while the murmur of the crowd came almost cheerfully through +the window, and the sparrows under the eaves chirped and twittered, and +the heart that throbbed least painfully was, I do believe, Louis de +Pavannes'! + +At last Bezers broke the silence. + +"M. de Pavannes!" he began, speaking hoarsely, yet concealing all +passion under a cynical smile and a mock politeness, "M. de Pavannes, I +hold the king's commission to put to death all the Huguenots within my +province of Quercy. Have you anything to say, I beg, why I should not +begin with you? Or do you wish to return to the Church?" + +Louis shrugged his shoulders as in contempt, and held his peace, I saw +his captor's great hands twitch convulsively at this, but still the +Vidame mastered himself, and when he spoke again he spoke slowly. +"Very well," he continued, taking no heed of us, the silent witnesses +of this strange struggle between the two men, but eyeing Louis only. +"You have wronged me more than any man alive. Alive or dead! or dead! +You have thwarted me, M. de Pavannes, and taken from me the woman I +loved. Six days ago I might have killed you. I had it in my power. I +had but to leave you to the rabble, remember, and you would have been +rotting at Montfaucon to-day, M. de Pavannes." + +"That is true," said Louis quietly. "Why so many words?" + +But the Vidame went on as if he had not heard. "I did not leave you to +them," he resumed, "and yet I hate you--more than I ever hated any man +yet, and I am not apt to forgive. But now the time has come, sir, for +my revenge! The oath I swore to your mistress a fortnight ago I will +keep to the letter. I--Silence, babe!" he thundered, turning suddenly, +"or I will keep my word with you too!" + +Croisette had muttered something, and this had drawn on him the glare +of Bezers' eyes. But the threat was effectual. Croisette was silent. +The two were left henceforth to one another. + +Yet the Vidame seemed to be put out by the interruption. Muttering a +string of oaths he strode from us to the window and back again. The +cool cynicism, with which he was wont to veil his anger and impose on +other men, while it heightened the effect of his ruthless deeds, in +part fell from him. He showed himself as he was--masterful, and +violent, hating, with all the strength of a turbulent nature which had +never known a check. I quailed before him myself. I confess it. + +"Listen!" he continued harshly, coming back and taking his place in +front of us at last, his manner more violent than before the +interruption. "I might have left you to die in that hell yonder! And I +did not leave you. I had but to hold my hand and you would have been +torn to pieces! The wolf, however, does not hunt with the rats, and a +Bezers wants no help in his vengeance from king or CANAILLE! When I +hunt my enemy down I will hunt him alone, do you hear? And as there is +a heaven above me"--he paused a moment--"if I ever meet you face to +face again, M. de Pavannes, I will kill you where you stand!" + +He paused, and the murmur of the crowd without came to my ears; but +mingled with and heightened by some confusion in my thoughts. I +struggled feebly with this, seeing a rush of colour to Croisette's +face, a lightening in his eyes as if a veil had been raised from before +them. Some confusion--for I thought I grasped the Vidame's meaning; +yet there he was still glowering on his victim with the same grim +visage, still speaking in the same rough tone. "Listen, M. de +Pavannes," he continued, rising to his full height and waving his hand +with a certain majesty towards the window--no one had spoken. "The +doors are open! Your mistress is at Caylus. The road is clear, go to +her; go to her, and tell her that I have saved your life, and that I +give it to you not out of love, but out of hate! If you had flinched I +would have killed you, for so you would have suffered most, M. de +Pavannes. As it is, take your life--a gift! and suffer as I should if +I were saved and spared by my enemy!" + +Slowly the full sense of his words came home to me. Slowly; not in its +full completeness indeed until I heard Louis in broken phrases, phrases +half proud and half humble, thanking him for his generosity. Even then +I almost lost the true and wondrous meaning of the thing when I heard +his answer. For he cut Pavannes short with bitter caustic gibes, +spurned his proffered gratitude with insults, and replied to his +acknowledgments with threats. + +"Go! go!" he continued to cry violently. "Have I brought you so far +safely that you will cheat me of my vengeance at the last, and provoke +me to kill you? Away! and take these blind puppies with you! Reckon +me as much your enemy now as ever! And if I meet you, be sure you will +meet a foe! Begone, M. de Pavannes, begone!" + +"But, M. de Bezers," Louis persisted, "hear me. It takes two to--" + +"Begone! begone! before we do one another a mischief!" cried the +Vidame furiously. "Every word you say in that strain is an injury to +me. It robs me of my vengeance. Go! in God's name!" + +And we went; for there was no change, no promise of softening in his +malignant aspect as he spoke; nor any as he stood and watched us draw +off slowly from him. We went one by one, each lingering after the +other, striving, out of a natural desire to thank him, to break through +that stern reserve. But grim and unrelenting, a picture of scorn to +the last, he saw us go. + +My latest memory of that strange man--still fresh after a lapse of two +and fifty years--is of a huge form towering in the gloom below the +state canopy, the sunlight which poured in through the windows and +flooded us, falling short of him; of a pair of fierce cross eyes, that +seemed to glow as they covered us; of a lip that curled as in the +enjoyment of some cruel jest. And so I--and I think each of us four +saw the last of Raoul de Mar, Vidame de Bezers, in this life. + +He was a man whom we cannot judge by to-day's standard; for he was such +an one in his vices and his virtues as the present day does not know; +one who in his time did immense evil--and if his friends be believed, +little good. But the evil is forgotten; the good lives. And if all +that good save one act were buried with him, this one act alone, the +act of a French gentleman, would be told of him--ay! and will be +told--as long as the kingdom of France, and the gracious memory of the +late king, shall endure. + +* * * * * + +I see again by the simple process of shutting my eyes, the little party +of five--for Jean, our servant, had rejoined us--who on that summer day +rode over the hills to Caylus, threading the mazes of the holm-oaks, +and galloping down the rides, and hallooing the hare from her form, but +never pursuing her; arousing the nestling farmhouses from their sleepy +stillness by joyous shout and laugh, and sniffing, as we climbed the +hill-side again, the scent of the ferns that died crushed under our +horses' hoofs--died only that they might add one little pleasure more +to the happiness God had given us. Rare and sweet indeed are those few +days in life, when it seems that all creation lives only that we may +have pleasure in it, and thank God for it. It is well that we should +make the most of them, as we surely did of that day. + +It was nightfall when we reached the edge of the uplands, and looked +down on Caylus. The last rays of the sun lingered with us, but the +valley below was dark; so dark that even the rock about which our homes +clustered would have been invisible save for the half-dozen lights that +were beginning to twinkle into being on its summit. A silence fell +upon us as we slowly wended our way down the well-known path. + +All day long we had ridden in great joy; if thoughtless, yet innocent; +if selfish, yet thankful; and always blithely, with a great exultation +and relief at heart, a great rejoicing for our own sakes and for Kit's. + +Now with the nightfall and the darkness, now when we were near our +home, and on the eve of giving joy to another, we grew silent. There +arose other thoughts--thoughts of all that had happened since we had +last ascended that track; and so our minds turned naturally back to him +to whom we owed our happiness--to the giant left behind in his pride +and power and his loneliness. The others could think of him with full +hearts, yet without shame. But I reddened, reflecting how it would +have been with us if I had had my way; if I had resorted in my +shortsightedness to one last violent, cowardly deed, and killed him, as +I had twice wished to do. + +Pavannes would then have been lost almost certainly. Only the Vidame +with his powerful troop--we never knew whether he had gathered them for +that purpose or merely with an eye to his government--could have saved +him. And few men however powerful--perhaps Bezers only of all men in +Paris would have dared to snatch him from the mob when once it had +sighted him. I dwell on this now that my grandchildren may take +warning by it, though never will they see such days as I have seen. + +And so we clattered up the steep street of Caylus with a pleasant +melancholy upon us, and passed, not without a more serious thought, the +gloomy, frowning portals, all barred and shuttered, of the House of the +Wolf, and under the very window, sombre and vacant, from which Bezers +had incited the rabble in their attack on Pavannes' courier. We had +gone by day, and we came back by night. But we had gone trembling, and +we came back in joy. + +We did not need to ring the great bell. Jean's cry, "Ho! Gate there! +Open for my lords!" had scarcely passed his lips before we were +admitted. And ere we could mount the ramp, one person outran those who +came forth to see what the matter was; one outran Madame Claude, outran +old Gil, outran the hurrying servants, and the welcome of the house. I +saw a slender figure all in white break away from the little crowd and +dart towards us, disclosing as it reached me a face that seemed still +whiter than its robes, and yet a face that seemed all eyes--eyes that +asked the question the lips could not frame. + +I stood aside with a low bow, my hat in my hand; and said simply--it +was the great effect of my life--"VOILA Monsieur!" + +And then I saw the sun rise in a woman's face. + +* * * * * + +The Vidame de Bezers died as he had lived. He was still Governor of +Cahors when Henry the Great attacked it on the night of the 17th of +June, 1580. Taken by surprise and wounded in the first confusion of +the assault, he still defended himself and his charge with desperate +courage, fighting from street to street, and house to house for five +nights and as many days. While he lived Henry's destiny and the fate +of France trembled in the balance. But he fell at length, his brain +pierced by the ball of an arquebuse, and died an hour before sunset on +the 22nd of June. The garrison immediately surrendered. + +Marie and I were present in this action on the side of the King of +Navarre, and at the request of that prince hastened to pay such honours +to the body of the Vidame as were due to his renown and might serve to +evince our gratitude. A year later his remains were removed from +Cahors, and laid where they now rest in his own Abbey Church of Bezers, +under a monument which very briefly tells of his stormy life and his +valour. No matter. He has small need of a monument whose name lives +in the history of his country, and whose epitaph is written in the +lives of men. + +NOTE.--THE CHARACTER AND CONDUCT OF VIDAME DE BEZERS, AS THEY APPEAR IN +THE ABOVE MEMOIR FIND A PARALLEL IN AN ACCOUNT GIVEN BY DE THOU OF ONE +OF THE MOST REMARKABLE INCIDENTS IN THE MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW: +"AMID SUCH EXAMPLES," HE WRITES, "OF THE FEROCITY OF THE CITY, A THING +HAPPENED WORTHY TO BE RELATED, AND WHICH MAY PERHAPS IN SOME DEGREE +WEIGH AGAINST THESE ATROCITIES. THERE WAS A DEADLY HATRED, WHICH UP TO +THIS TIME THE INTERVENTION OF THEIR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS HAD FAILED +TO APPEASE, BETWEEN TWO MEN--VEZINS, THE LIEUTENANT OF HONORATUS OF +SAVOY, MARSHAL VILLARS, A MAN NOTABLE AMONG THE NOBILITY OF THE +PROVINCE FOR HIS VALOUR, BUT OBNOXIOUS TO MANY OWING TO HIS BRUTAL +DISPOSITION (ferina natura), AND REGNIER, A YOUNG MAN OF LIKE RANK AND +VIGOUR, BUT OF MILDER CHARACTER. WHEN REGNIER THEN, IN THE MIDDLE OF +THAT GREAT UPROAR, DEATH MEETING HIS EYE EVERYWHERE, WAS MAKING UP HIS +MIND TO THE WORST, HIS DOOR WAS SUDDENLY BURST OPEN, AND VEZINS, WITH +TWO OTHER MEN, STOOD BEFORE HIM SWORD IN HAND. UPON THIS REGNIER, +ASSURED OF DEATH, KNELT DOWN AND ASKED MERCY OF HEAVEN: BUT VEZINS IN +A HARSH VOICE BID HIM RISE FROM HIS PRAYERS AND MOUNT A PALFREY ALREADY +STANDING READY IN THE STREET FOR HIM. SO HE LED REGNIER--UNCERTAIN FOR +THE TIME WHITHER HE WAS BEING TAKEN--OUT OF THE CITY, AND PUT HIM ON +HIS HONOUR TO GO WITH HIM WITHOUT TRYING TO ESCAPE. AND TOGETHER, +WITHOUT PAUSING IN THEIR JOURNEY, THE TWO TRAVELLED ALL THE WAY TO +GUIENNE. DURING THIS TIME VEZINS HONOURED REGNIER WITH VERY LITTLE +CONVERSATION; BUT SO FAR CARED FOR HIM THAT FOOD WAS PREPARED FOR HIM +AT THE INNS BY HIS SERVANTS: AND SO THEY CAME TO QUERCY AND THE CASTLE +OF REGNIER. THERE VEZINS TURNED TO HIM AND SAID, "YOU KNOW HOW I HAVE +FOR A LONG TIME BACK SOUGHT TO AVENGE MYSELF ON YOU, AND HOW EASILY I +MIGHT NOW HAVE DONE IT TO THE FULL, HAD I BEEN WILLING TO USE THIS +OPPORTUNITY. BUT SHAME WOULD NOT SUFFER IT; AND BESIDES, YOUR COURAGE +SEEMED WORTHY TO BE SET AGAINST MINE ON EVEN TERMS. TAKE THEREFORE THE +LIFE WHICH YOU OWE TO MY KINDNESS." WITH MUCH MORE WHICH THE CURIOUS +WILL FIND IN THE 2ND (FOLIO) VOLUME OF DE THOU. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The House of the Wolf, by Stanley Weyman + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF *** + +***** This file should be named 2041.txt or 2041.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/4/2041/ + + + +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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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Note: + +In this Etext, text in italics has been written in capital +letters. + +Many French words in the text have accents, etc. which have been +omitted. + + + + + +THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF + +A Romance + +by STANLEY WEYMAN + + + + +CONTENTS. + + CHAP. + I.--WARE WOLF! + II.--THE VIDAME'S THREAT. + III.--THE ROAD TO PARIS. + IV.--ENTRAPPED! + V.--A PRIEST AND A WOMAN. + VI.--MADAME'S FRIGHT. + VII.--A YOUNG KNIGHT ERRANT. +VIII.--THE PARISIAN MATINS. + IX.--THE HEAD OF ERASMUS. + X.--HAU, HAU, HUGUENOTS! + XI.--A NIGHT OF SORROW. + XII.--JOY IN THE MORNING. + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +The following is a modern English version of a curious French +memoir, or fragment of autobiography, apparently written about +the year 1620 by Anne, Vicomte de Caylus, and brought to this +country--if, in fact, the original ever existed in England--by +one of his descendants after the Revocation of the Edict of +Nantes. This Anne, we learn from other sources, was a principal +figure at the Court of Henry IV., and, therefore, in August, +1572, when the adventures here related took place, he and his two +younger brothers, Marie and Croisette, who shared with him the +honour and the danger, must have been little more than boys. +From the tone of his narrative, it appears that, in reviving old +recollections, the veteran renewed his youth also, and though his +story throws no fresh light upon the history of the time, it +seems to possess some human interest. + + + + +THE HOUSE OF THE WOLF. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +WARE WOLF! + +I had afterwards such good reason to look back upon and remember +the events of that afternoon, that Catherine's voice seems to +ring in my brain even now. I can shut my eyes and see again, +after all these years, what I saw then--just the blue summer sky, +and one grey angle of the keep, from which a fleecy cloud was +trailing like the smoke from a chimney. I could see no more +because I was lying on my back, my head resting on my hands. +Marie and Croisette, my brothers, were lying by me in exactly the +same posture, and a few yards away on the terrace, Catherine was +sitting on a stool Gil had brought out for her. It was the +second Thursday in August, and hot. Even the jackdaws were +silent. I had almost fallen asleep, watching my cloud grow +longer and longer, and thinner and thinner, when Croisette, who +cared for heat no more than a lizard, spoke up sharply, +"Mademoiselle," he said, "why are you watching the Cahors road?" + +I had not noticed that she was doing so. But something in the +keenness of Croisette's tone, taken perhaps with the fact that +Catherine did not at once answer him, aroused me; and I turned to +her. And lo! she was blushing in the most heavenly way, and her +eyes were full of tears, and she looked at us adorably. And we +all three sat up on our elbows, like three puppy dogs, and looked +at her. And there was a long silence. And then she said quite +simply to us, "Boys, I am going to be married to M. de Pavannes." + +I fell flat on my back and spread out my arms. "Oh, +Mademoiselle!" I cried reproachfully. + +"Oh, Mademoiselle!" cried Marie. And he fell flat on his back, +and spread out his arms and moaned. He was a good brother, was +Marie, and obedient. + +And Croisette cried, "Oh, mademoiselle!" too. But he was always +ridiculous in his ways. He fell flat on his back, and flopped his +arms and squealed like a pig. + +Yet he was sharp. It was he who first remembered our duty, and +went to Catherine, cap in hand, where she sat half angry and half +confused, and said with a fine redness in his cheeks, +"Mademoiselle de Caylus, our cousin, we give you joy, and wish +you long life; and are your servants, and the good friends and +aiders of M. de Pavannes in all quarrels, as--" + +But I could not stand that. "Not so fast, St. Croix de Caylus" I +said, pushing him aside--he was ever getting before me in those +days--and taking his place. Then with my best bow I began, +"Mademoiselle, we give you joy and long life, and are your +servants and the good friends and aiders of M. de Pavannes in all +quarrels, as--as--" + +"As becomes the cadets of your house," suggested Croisette, +softly. + +"As becomes the cadets of your house," I repeated. And then +Catherine stood up and made me a low bow and we all kissed her +hand in turn, beginning with me and ending with Croisette, as was +becoming. Afterwards Catherine threw her handkerchief over her +face--she was crying--and we three sat down, Turkish fashion, +just where we were, and said "Oh, Kit!" very softly. + +But presently Croisette had something to add. "What will the +Wolf say?" he whispered to me. + +"Ah! To be sure!" I exclaimed aloud. I had been thinking of +myself before; but this opened quite another window. "What will +the Vidame say, Kit?" + +She dropped her kerchief from her face, and turned so pale that I +was sorry I had spoken--apart from the kick Croisette gave me. +"Is M. de Bezers at his house?" she asked anxiously. + +"Yes" Croisette answered. "He came in last night from St. +Antonin, with very small attendance." + +The news seemed to set her fears at rest instead of augmenting +them as I should have expected. I suppose they were rather for +Louis de Pavannes, than for herself. Not unnaturally, too, for +even the Wolf could scarcely have found it in his heart to hurt +our cousin. Her slight willowy figure, her pale oval face and +gentle brown eyes, her pleasant voice, her kindness, seemed to us +boys and in those days, to sum up all that was womanly. We could +not remember, not even Croisette the youngest of us--who was +seventeen, a year junior to Marie and myself--we were twins--the +time when we had not been in love with her. + +But let me explain how we four, whose united ages scarce exceeded +seventy years, came to be lounging on the terrace in the holiday +stillness of that afternoon. It was the summer of 1572. The +great peace, it will be remembered, between the Catholics and the +Huguenots had not long been declared; the peace which in a day or +two was to be solemnized, and, as most Frenchmen hoped, to be +cemented by the marriage of Henry of Navarre with Margaret of +Valois, the King's sister. The Vicomte de Caylus, Catherine's +father and our guardian, was one of the governors appointed to +see the peace enforced; the respect in which he was held by both +parties--he was a Catholic, but no bigot, God rest his soul!-- +recommending him for this employment. He had therefore gone a +week or two before to Bayonne, his province. Most of our +neighbours in Quercy were likewise from home, having gone to +Paris to be witnesses on one side or the other of the royal +wedding. And consequently we young people, not greatly checked +by the presence of good-natured, sleepy Madame Claude, +Catherine's duenna, were disposed to make the most of our +liberty; and to celebrate the peace in our own fashion. + +We were country-folk. Not one of us had been to Pau, much less +to Paris. The Vicomte held stricter views than were common then, +upon young people's education; and though we had learned to ride +and shoot, to use our swords and toss a hawk, and to read and +write, we knew little more than Catherine herself of the world; +little more of the pleasures and sins of court life, and not one- +tenth as much as she did of its graces. Still she had taught us +to dance and make a bow. Her presence had softened our manners; +and of late we had gained something from the frank companionship +of Louis de Pavannes, a Huguenot whom the Vicomte had taken +prisoner at Moncontour and held to ransom. We were not, I +think, mere clownish yokels. + +But we were shy. We disliked and shunned strangers. And when +old Gil appeared suddenly, while we were still chewing the +melancholy cud of Kit's announcement, and cried sepulchrally, "M. +le Vidame de Bezers to pay his respects to Mademoiselle!"--Well, +there was something like a panic, I confess! + +We scrambled to our feet, muttering, "The Wolf!" The entrance at +Caylus is by a ramp rising from the gateway to the level of the +terrace. This sunken way is fenced by low walls so that one may +not--when walking on the terrace--fall into it. Gil had spoken +before his head had well risen to view, and this gave us a +moment, just a moment. Croisette made a rush for the doorway +into the house; but failed to gain it, and drew himself up behind +a buttress of the tower, his finger on his lip. I am slow +sometimes, and Marie waited for me, so that we had barely got to +our legs--looking, I dare say, awkward and ungainly enough-- +before the Vidame's shadow fell darkly on the ground at +Catherine's feet. + +"Mademoiselle!" he said, advancing to her through the sunshine, +and bending over her slender hand with a magnificent grace that +was born of his size and manner combined, "I rode in late last +night from Toulouse; and I go to-morrow to Paris. I have but +rested and washed off the stains of travel that I may lay my-- +ah!" + +He seemed to see us for the first time and negligently broke off +in his compliment; raising himself and saluting us. "Ah," he +continued indolently, "two of the maidens of Caylus, I see. With +an odd pair of hands apiece, unless I am mistaken, Why do you not +set them spinning, Mademoiselle?" and he regarded us with that +smile which--with other things as evil--had made him famous. + +Croisette pulled horrible faces behind his back. We looked hotly +at him; but could find nothing to say. + +"You grow red!" he went on, pleasantly--the wretch!--playing +with us as a cat does with mice. "It offends your dignity, +perhaps, that I bid Mademoiselle set you spinning? I now would +spin at Mademoiselle's bidding, and think it happiness!" + +"We are not girls!" I blurted out, with the flush and tremor of +a boy's passion. "You had not called my godfather, Anne de +Montmorenci a girl, M. le Vidame!" For though we counted it a +joke among ourselves that we all bore girls' names, we were young +enough to be sensitive about it. + +He shrugged his shoulders. And how he dwarfed us all as he stood +there dominating our terrace! "M. de Montmorenci was a man," he +said scornfully. "M. Anne de Caylus is--" + +And the villain deliberately turned his great back upon us, +taking his seat on the low wall near Catherine's chair. It was +clear even to our vanity that he did not think us worth another +word--that we had passed absolutely from his mind. Madame Claude +came waddling out at the same moment, Gil carrying a chair behind +her. And we--well we slunk away and sat on the other side of the +terrace, whence we could still glower at the offender. + +Yet who were we to glower at him? To this day I shake at the +thought of him. It was not so much his height and bulk, though +he was so big that the clipped pointed fashion of his beard a +fashion then new at court--seemed on him incongruous and +effeminate; nor so much the sinister glance of his grey eyes--he +had a slight cast in them; nor the grim suavity of his manner, +and the harsh threatening voice that permitted of no disguise. +It was the sum of these things, the great brutal presence of the +man--that was overpowering--that made the great falter and the +poor crouch. And then his reputation! Though we knew little of +the world's wickedness, all we did know had come to us linked +with his name. We had heard of him as a duellist, as a bully, an +employer of bravos. At Jarnac he had been the last to turn from +the shambles. Men called him cruel and vengeful even for those +days--gone by now, thank God!--and whispered his name when they +spoke of assassinations; saying commonly of him that he would not +blench before a Guise, nor blush before the Virgin. + +Such was our visitor and neighbour, Raoul de Mar, Vidame de +Bezers. As he sat on the terrace, now eyeing us askance, and now +paying Catherine a compliment, I likened him to a great cat +before which a butterfly has all unwittingly flirted her +prettiness. Poor Catherine! No doubt she had her own reasons +for uneasiness; more reasons I fancy than I then guessed. For +she seemed to have lost her voice. She stammered and made but +poor replies; and Madame Claude being deaf and stupid, and we +boys too timid after the rebuff we had experienced to fill the +gap, the conversation languished. The Vidame was not for his +part the man to put himself out on a hot day. + +It was after one of these pauses--not the first but the longest-- +that I started on finding his eyes fixed on mine. More, I +shivered. It is hard to describe, but there was a look in the +Vidame's eyes at that moment which I had never seen before. A +look of pain almost: of dumb savage alarm at any rate. From me +they passed slowly to Marie and mutely interrogated him. Then +the Vidame's glance travelled back to Catherine, and settled on +her. + +Only a moment before she had been but too conscious of his +presence. Now, as it chanced by bad luck, or in the course of +Providence, something had drawn her attention elsewhere. She was +unconscious of his regard. Her own eyes were fixed in a far-away +gaze. Her colour was high, her lips were parted, her bosom +heaved gently. + +The shadow deepened on the Vidame's face. Slowly he took his +eyes from hers, and looked northwards also. + +Caylus Castle stands on a rock in the middle of the narrow valley +of that name. The town clusters about the ledges of the rock so +closely that when I was a boy I could fling a stone clear of the +houses. The hills are scarcely five hundred yards distant on +either side, rising in tamer colours from the green fields about +the brook. It is possible from the terrace to see the whole +valley, and the road which passes through it lengthwise. +Catherine's eyes were on the northern extremity of the defile, +where the highway from Cahors descends from the uplands. She had +been sitting with her face turned that way all the afternoon. + +I looked that way too. A solitary horseman was descending the +steep track from the hills. + +"Mademoiselle!" cried the Vidame suddenly. We all looked up. +His tone was such that the colour fled from Kit's face. There +was something in his voice she had never heard in any voice +before--something that to a woman was like a blow. +"Mademoiselle," he snarled, "is expecting news from Cahors, from +her lover. I have the honour to congratulate M. de Pavannes on +his conquest." + +Ah! he had guessed it! As the words fell on the sleepy silence, +an insult in themselves, I sprang to my feet, amazed and angry, +yet astounded by his quickness of sight and wit. He must have +recognized the Pavannes badge at that distance. "M. le Vidame," +I said indignantly--Catherine was white and voiceless--"M. le +Vidame--" but there I stopped and faltered stammering. For +behind him I could see Croisette; and Croisette gave me no sign +of encouragement or support. + +So we stood face to face for a moment; the boy and the man of the +world, the stripling and the ROUE. Then the Vidame bowed to me +in quite a new fashion. "M. Anne de Caylus desires to answer for +M. de Pavannes?" he asked smoothly; with a mocking smoothness. + +I understood what he meant. But something prompted me--Croisette +said afterwards that it was a happy thought, though now I know +the crisis to have been less serious than he fancied to answer, +"Nay, not for M. de Pavannes. Rather for my cousin." And I +bowed. "I have the honour on her behalf to acknowledge your +congratulations, M. le Vidame. It pleases her that our nearest +neighbour should also be the first outside the family to wish her +well. You have divined truly in supposing that she will shortly +be united to M. de Pavannes." + +I suppose--for I saw the giant's colour change and his lip quiver +as I spoke--that his previous words had been only a guess. For a +moment the devil seemed to be glaring through his eyes; and he +looked at Marie and me as a wild animal at its keepers. Yet he +maintained his cynical politeness in part. "Mademoiselle desires +my congratulations?" he said, slowly, labouring with each word +it seemed. "She shall have them on the happy day. She shall +certainly have them then. But these are troublous times. And +Mademoiselle's betrothed is I think a Huguenot, and has gone to +Paris. Paris--well, the air of Paris is not good for Huguenots, +I am told." + +I saw Catherine shiver; indeed she was on the point of fainting, +I broke in rudely, my passion getting the better of my fears. +"M. de Pavannes can take care of himself, believe me," I said +brusquely. + +"Perhaps so," Bezers answered, his voice like the grating of +steel on steel. "But at any rate this will be a memorable day +for Mademoiselle. The day on which she receives her first +congratulations--she will remember it as long as she lives! Oh, +yes, I will answer for that, M. Anne," he said looking brightly +at one and another of us, his eyes more oblique than ever, +"Mademoiselle will remember it, I am sure!" + +It would be impossible to describe the devilish glance he flung +at the poor sinking girl as he withdrew, the horrid emphasis he +threw into those last words, the covert deadly threat they +conveyed to the dullest ears. That he went then, was small +mercy. He had done all the evil he could do at present. If his +desire had been to leave fear behind him, he had certainly +succeeded. + +Kit crying softly went into the house; her innocent coquetry more +than sufficiently punished already. And we three looked at one +another with blank faces, It was clear that we had made a +dangerous enemy, and an enemy at our own gates. As the Vidame +had said, these were troublous times when things were done to +men--ay, and to women and children--which we scarce dare to speak +of now. "I wish the Vicomte were here," Croisette said uneasily +after we had discussed several unpleasant contingencies. + +"Or even Malines the steward," I suggested. + +"He would not be much good," replied Croisette. + +"And he is at St. Antonin, and will not be back this week. +Father Pierre too is at Albi." + +"You do not think," said Marie, "that he will attack us?" + +"Certainly not!" Croisette retorted with contempt. "Even the +Vidame would not dare to do that in time of peace. Besides, he +has not half a score of men here," continued the lad, shrewdly, +"and counting old Gil and ourselves we have as many. And +Pavannes always said that three men could hold the gate at the +bottom of the ramp against a score. Oh, he will not try that!" + +"Certainly not!" I agreed. And so we crushed Marie. "But for +Louis de Pavannes--" + +Catherine interrupted me. She came out quickly looking a +different person; her face flushed with anger, her tears dried. + +"Anne!" she cried, imperiously, "what is the matter down below +--will you see?" + +I had no difficulty in doing that. All the sounds of town life +came up to us on the terrace. Lounging there we could hear the +chaffering over the wheat measures in the cloisters of the +market-square, the yell of a dog, the voice of a scold, the +church bell, the watchman's cry. I had only to step to the wall +to overlook it all. On this summer afternoon the town had been +for the most part very quiet. If we had not been engaged in our +own affairs we should have taken the alarm before, remarking in +the silence the first beginnings of what was now a very +respectable tumult. It swelled louder even as we stepped to the +wall. + +We could see--a bend in the street laying it open--part of the +Vidame's house; the gloomy square hold which had come to him from +his mother. His own chateau of Bezers lay far away in Franche +Comte, but of late he had shown a preference--Catherine could +best account for it, perhaps--for this mean house in Caylus. It +was the only house in the town which did not belong to us. It +was known as the House of the Wolf, and was a grim stone building +surrounding a courtyard. Rows of wolves' heads carved in stone +flanked the windows, whence their bare fangs grinned day and +night at the church porch opposite. + +The noise drew our eyes in this direction; and there lolling in a +window over the door, looking out on the street with a laughing +eye, was Bezers himself. The cause of his merriment--we had not +far to look for it--was a horseman who was riding up the street +under difficulties. He was reining in his steed--no easy task on +that steep greasy pavement--so as to present some front to a +score or so of ragged knaves who were following close at his +heels, hooting and throwing mud and pebbles at him. The man had +drawn his sword, and his oaths came up to us, mingled with shrill +cries of "VIVE LA MESSE!" and half drowned by the clattering of +the horse's hoofs. We saw a stone strike him in the face, and +draw blood, and heard him swear louder than before. + +"Oh!" cried Catherine, clasping her hands with a sudden shriek +of indignation, "my letter! They will get my letter!" + +"Death!" exclaimed Croisette, "She is right! It is M. de +Pavannes' courier! This must be stopped! We cannot stand this, +Anne!" + +"They shall pay dearly for it, by our Lady!" I cried swearing +myself. "And in peace time too--the villains! Gil! Francis!" I +shouted, "where are you?" + +And I looked round for my fowling piece, while Croisette jumped +on the wall, and forming a trumpet with his hands, shrieked at +the top of his voice, "Back! he bears a letter from the +Vicomte!" + +But the device did not succeed, and I could not find my gun. For +a moment we were helpless, and before I could have fetched the +gun from the house, the horseman and the hooting rabble at his +heels, had turned a corner and were hidden by the roofs. + +Another turn however would bring them out in front of the +gateway, and seeing this we hurried down the ramp to meet them. +I stayed a moment to tell Gil to collect the servants, and, this +keeping me, Croisette reached the narrow street outside before +me. As I followed him I was nearly knocked down by the rider, +whose face was covered with, dirt and blood, while fright had +rendered his horse unmanageable. Darting aside I let him pass +--he was blinded and could not see me--and then found that +Croisette--brave lad! had collared the foremost of the ruffians, +and was beating him with his sheathed sword, while the rest of +the rabble stood back, ashamed, yet sullen, and with anger in +their eyes. A dangerous crew, I thought; not townsmen, most of +them. + +"Down with the Huguenots!" cried one, as I appeared, one bolder +than the rest. + +"Down with the CANAILLE!" I retorted, sternly eyeing the ill- +looking ring. "Will you set yourselves above the king's peace, +dirt that you are? Go back to your kennels!" + +The words were scarcely out of my mouth, before I saw that the +fellow whom Croisette was punishing had got hold of a dagger. I +shouted a warning, but it came too late. The blade fell, and-- +thanks to God--striking the buckle of the lad's belt, glanced off +harmless. I saw the steel flash up again--saw the spite in the +man's eyes: but this time I was a step nearer, and before the +weapon fell, I passed my sword clean through the wretch's body. +He went down like a log, Croisette falling with him, held fast by +his stiffening fingers. + +I had never killed a man before, nor seen a man die; and if I had +stayed to think about it, I should have fallen sick perhaps. But +it was no time for thought; no time for sickness. The crowd were +close upon us, a line of flushed threatening faces from wall to +wall. A single glance downwards told me that the man was dead, +and I set my foot upon his neck. "Hounds! Beasts!" I cried, +not loudly this time, for though I was like one possessed with +rage, it was inward rage, "go to your kennels! Will you dare to +raise a hand against a Caylus? Go--or when the Vicomte returns, +a dozen of you shall hang in the market-place!" + +I suppose I looked fierce enough--I know I felt no fear, only a +strange exaltation--for they slunk away. Unwillingly, but with +little delay the group melted, Bezers' following--of whom I knew +the dead man was one--the last to go. While I still glared at +them, lo! the street was empty; the last had disappeared round +the bend. I turned to find Gil and half-a-dozen servants +standing with pale faces at my back. Croisette seized my hand +with a sob. "Oh, my lord," cried Gil, quaveringly. But I shook +one off, I frowned at the other. + +"Take up this carrion!" I said, touching it with my foot, "And +hang it from the justice-elm. And then close the gates! See to +it, knaves, and lose no time." + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE VIDAME'S THREAT. + +Croisette used to tell a story, of the facts of which I have no +remembrance, save as a bad dream. He would have it that I left +my pallet that night--I had one to myself in the summer, being +the eldest, while he and Marie slept on another in the same room +--and came to him and awoke him, sobbing and shaking and +clutching him; and begging him in a fit of terror not to let me +go. And that so I slept in his arms until morning. But as I +have said, I do not remember anything of this, only that I had an +ugly dream that night, and that when I awoke I was lying with him +and Marie; so I cannot say whether it really happened. + +At any rate, if I had any feeling of the kind it did not last +long; on the contrary--it would be idle to deny it--I was +flattered by the sudden respect, Gil and the servants showed me. +What Catherine thought of the matter I could not tell. She had +her letter and apparently found it satisfactory. At any rate we +saw nothing of her. Madame Claude was busy boiling simples, and +tending the messenger's hurts. And it seemed natural that I +should take command. + +There could be no doubt--at any rate we had none that the assault +on the courier had taken place at the Vidame's instance. The +only wonder was that he had not simply cut his throat and taken +the letter. But looking back now it seems to me that grown men +mingled some childishness with their cruelty in those days--days +when the religious wars had aroused our worst passions. It was +not enough to kill an enemy. It pleased people to make--I speak +literally--a football of his head, to throw his heart to the +dogs. And no doubt it had fallen in with the Vidame's grim +humour that the bearer of Pavannes' first love letter should +enter his mistress's presence, bleeding and plaistered with mud. +And that the riff-raff about our own gates should have part in +the insult. + +Bezers' wrath would be little abated by the issue of the affair, +or the justice I had done on one of his men. So we looked well +to bolts, and bars, and windows, although the castle is well-nigh +impregnable, the smooth rock falling twenty feet at least on +every side from the base of the walls. The gatehouse, Pavannes +had shown us, might be blown up with gunpowder indeed, but we +prepared to close the iron grating which barred the way half-way +up the ramp. This done, even if the enemy should succeed in +forcing an entrance he would only find himself caught in a trap-- +in a steep, narrow way exposed to a fire from the top of the +flanking walls, as well as from the front. We had a couple of +culverins, which the Vicomte had got twenty years before, at the +time of the battle of St. Quentin. We fixed one of these at the +head of the ramp, and placed the other on the terrace, where by +moving it a few paces forward we could train it on Bezers' house, +which thus lay at our mercy. + +Not that we really expected an attack. But we did not know what +to expect or what to fear. We had not ten servants, the Vicomte +having taken a score of the sturdiest lackeys and keepers to +attend him at Bayonne. And we felt immensely responsible. Our +main hope was that the Vidame would at once go on to Paris, and +postpone his vengeance. So again and again we cast longing +glances at the House of the Wolf hoping that each symptom of +bustle heralded his departure. + +Consequently it was a shock to me, and a great downfall of hopes, +when Gil with a grave face came to me on the terrace and +announced that M. le Vidame was at the gate, asking to see +Mademoiselle. + +"It is out of the question that he should see her," the old +servant added, scratching his head in grave perplexity. + +"Most certainly. I will see him instead," I answered stoutly. +"Do you leave Francis and another at the gate, Gil. Marie, keep +within sight, lad. And let Croisette stay with me." + +These preparations made--and they took up scarcely a moment--I +met the Vidame at the head of the ramp. "Mademoiselle de +Caylus," I said, bowing, "is, I regret to say, indisposed to-day, +Vidame." + +"She will not see me?" he asked, eyeing me very unpleasantly. + +"Her indisposition deprives her of the pleasure," I answered with +an effort. He was certainly a wonderful man, for at sight of +him, three-fourths of my courage, and all my importance, oozed +out at the heels of my boots. + +"She will not see me. Very well," he replied, as if I had not +spoken. And the simple words sounded like a sentence of death. +"Then, M. Anne, I have a crow to pick with you. What +compensation do you propose to make for the death of my servant? +A decent, quiet fellow, whom you killed yesterday, poor man, +because his enthusiasm for the true faith carried him away a +little." + +"Whom I killed because he drew a dagger on M. St. Croix de Caylus +at the Vicomte's gate," I answered steadily. I had thought about +this of course and was ready for it. "You are aware, M. de +Bezers," I continued, "that the Vicomte has jurisdiction +extending to life and death over all persons within the valley?" + +"My household excepted," he rejoined quietly. + +"Precisely; while they are within the curtilage of your house," I +retorted. "However as the punishment was summary, and the man +had no time to confess himself, I am willing to--" + +"Well?" + +"To pay Father Pierre to say ten masses for his soul." + +The way the Vidame received this surprised me. He broke into +boisterous laughter. "By our Lady, my friend," he cried with +rough merriment, "but you are a joker! You are indeed. Masses? +Why the man was a Protestant!" + +And that startled me more than anything which had gone before; +more indeed than I can explain. For it seemed to prove that this +man, laughing his unholy laugh was not like other men. He did +not pick and choose his servants for their religion. He was sure +that the Huguenot would stone his fellow at his bidding; the +Catholic cry "Vive Coligny!" I was so completely taken aback +that I found no words to answer him, and it was Croisette who +said smartly, "Then how about his enthusiasm for the true faith, +M. le Vidame?" + +"The true faith," he answered--"for my servants is my faith." +Then a thought seemed to strike him. "What is more." he +continued slowly, "that it is the true and only faith for all, +thousands will learn before the world is ten days older. Bear my +words in mind, boy! They will come back to you. And now hear +me," he went on in his usual tone, "I am anxious to accommodate a +neighbour. It goes without saying that I would not think of +putting you, M. Anne, to any trouble for the sake of that rascal +of mine. But my people will expect something. Let the plaguy +fellow who caused all this disturbance be given up to me, that I +may hang him; and let us cry quits." + +"That is impossible!" I answered coolly. I had no need to ask +what he meant. Give up Pavannes' messenger indeed! Never! + +He regarded me--unmoved by my refusal--with a smile under which I +chafed, while I was impotent to resent it. "Do not build too +much on a single blow, young gentleman," he said, shaking his +head waggishly. "I had fought a dozen times when I was your age. +However, I understand that you refuse to give me satisfaction?" + +"In the mode you mention, certainly," I replied. "But--" + +"Bah!" he exclaimed with a sneer, "business first and pleasure +afterwards! Bezers will obtain satisfaction in his own way, I +promise you that! And at his own time. And it will not be on +unfledged bantlings like you. But what is this for?" And he +rudely kicked the culverin which apparently he had not noticed +before, "So! so! understand," he continued, casting a sharp +glance at one and another of us. "You looked to be besieged! +Why you, booby, there is the shoot of your kitchen midden, twenty +feet above the roof of old Fretis' store! And open, I will be +sworn! Do you think that I should have come this way while there +was a ladder in Caylus! Did you take the wolf for a sheep?" + +With that he turned on his heel, swaggering away in the full +enjoyment of his triumph. For a triumph it was. We stood +stunned; ashamed to look one another in the face. Of course the +shoot was open. We remembered now that it was, and we were so +sorely mortified by his knowledge and our folly, that I failed in +my courtesy, and did not see him to the gate, as I should have +done. We paid for that later. + +"He is the devil in person!" I exclaimed angrily, shaking my +fist at the House of the Wolf, as I strode up and down +impatiently. "I hate him worse!" + +"So do I!" said Croisette, mildly. "But that he hates us is a +matter of more importance. At any rate we will close the shoot." + +"Wait a moment!" I replied, as after another volley of +complaints directed at our visitor, the lad was moving off to see +to it. "What is going on down there?" + +"Upon my word, I believe he is leaving us!" Croisette rejoined +sharply. + +For there was a noise of hoofs below us, clattering on the +pavement. Half-a-dozen horsemen were issuing from the House of +the Wolf, the ring of their bridles and the sound of their +careless voices coming up to us through the clear morning air +Bezers' valet, whom we knew by sight, was the last of them. He +had a pair of great saddle-bags before him, and at sight of these +we uttered a glad exclamation. "He is going!" I murmured, +hardly able to believe my eyes. "He is going after all!" + +"Wait!" Croisette answered drily. + +But I was right. We had not to wait long. He WAS going. In +another moment he came out himself, riding a strong iron-grey +horse: and we could see that he had holsters to his saddle. His +steward was running beside him, to take I suppose his last +orders. A cripple, whom the bustle had attracted from his usual +haunt, the church porch, held up his hand for alms. The Vidame +as he passed, cut him savagely across the face with his whip, and +cursed him audibly. + +"May the devil take him!" exclaimed Croisette in just rage. But +I said nothing, remembering that the cripple was a particular pet +of Catherine's. I thought instead of an occasion, not so very +long ago, when the Vicomte being at home, we had had a great +hawking party. Bezers and Catherine had ridden up the street +together, and Catherine giving the cripple a piece of money, +Bezers had flung to him all his share of the game. And my heart +sank. + +Only for a moment, however. The man was gone; or was going at +any rate. We stood silent and motionless, all watching, until, +after what seemed a long interval, the little party of seven +became visible on the white road far below us--to the northward, +and moving in that direction. Still we watched them, muttering a +word to one another, now and again, until presently the riders +slackened their pace, and began to ascend the winding track that +led to the hills and Cahors; and to Paris also, if one went far +enough. + +Then at length with a loud "Whoop!" we dashed across the +terrace, Croisette leading, and so through the courtyard to the +parlour; where we arrived breathless. "He is off!" Croisette +cried shrilly. "He has started for Paris! And bad luck go with +him!" And we all flung up our caps and shouted. + +But no answer, such as we expected, came from the women folk. +When we picked up our caps, and looked at Catherine, feeling +rather foolish, she was staring at us with a white face and great +scornful eyes. "Fools!" she said. "Fools!" + +And that was all. But it was enough to take me aback. I had +looked to see her face lighten at our news; instead it wore an +expression I had never seen on it before. Catherine, so kind and +gentle, calling us fools! And without cause! I did not +understand it. I turned confusedly to Croisette. He was looking +at her, and I saw that he was frightened. As for Madame Claude, +she was crying in the corner. A presentiment of evil made my +heart sink like lead. What had happened? + +"Fools!" my cousin repeated with exceeding bitterness, her foot +tapping the parquet unceasingly. "Do you think he would have +stooped to avenge himself on YOU? On you! Or that he could hurt +me one hundredth part as much here as--as--" She broke off +stammering. Her scorn faltered for an instant. "Bah! he is a +man! He knows!" she exclaimed superbly, her chin in the air, +"but you are boys. You do not understand!" + +I looked amazedly at this angry woman. I had a difficulty in +associating her with my cousin. As for Croisette, he stepped +forward abruptly, and picked up a white object which was lying at +her feet. + +"Yes, read it!" she cried, "read it! Ah!" and she clenched her +little hand, and in her passion struck the oak table beside her, +so that a stain of blood sprang out on her knuckles. "Why did you +not kill him? Why did you not do it when you had the chance? +You were three to one," she hissed. "You had him in your power! +You could have killed him, and you did not! Now he will kill +me!" + +Madame Claude muttered something tearfully; something about +Pavannes and the saints. I looked over Croisette's shoulder, and +read the letter. It began abruptly without any term of address, +and ran thus, "I have a mission in Paris, Mademoiselle, which +admits of no delay, your mission, as well as my own--to see +Pavannes. You have won his heart. It is yours, and I will bring +it you, or his right hand in token that he has yielded up his +claim to yours. And to this I pledge myself." + +The thing bore no signature. It was written in some red fluid-- +blood perhaps--a mean and sorry trick! On the outside was +scrawled a direction to Mademoiselle de Caylus. And the packet +was sealed with the Vidame's crest, a wolf's head. + +"The coward! the miserable coward!" Croisette cried. He was +the first to read the meaning of the thing. And his eyes were +full of tears--tears of rage. + +For me I was angry exceedingly. My veins seemed full of fire, as +I comprehended the mean cruelty which could thus torture a girl. + +"Who delivered this?" I thundered. "Who gave it to +Mademoiselle? How did it reach her hands? Speak, some one!" + +A maid, whimpering in the background, said that Francis had given +it to her to hand to Mademoiselle. + +I ground my teeth together, while Marie, unbidden, left the room +to seek Francis--and a stirrup leather. The Vidame had brought +the note in his pocket no doubt, rightly expecting that he would +not get an audience of my cousin. Returning to the gate alone he +had seen his opportunity, and given the note to Francis, probably +with a small fee to secure its transmission. + +Croisette and I looked at one another, apprehending all this. +"He will sleep at Cahors to-night," I said sullenly. + +The lad shook his head and answered in a low voice, "I am afraid +not. His horses are fresh. I think he will push on. He always +travels quickly. And now you know--" + +I nodded, understanding only too well. + +Catherine had flung herself into a chair. Her arms lay nerveless +on the table. Her face was hidden in them. But now, overhearing +us, or stung by some fresh thought, she sprang to her feet in +anguish. Her face twitched, her form seemed to stiffen as she +drew herself up like one in physical pain. "Oh, I cannot bear +it!" she cried to us in dreadful tones. "Oh, will no one do +anything? I will go to him! I will tell him I will give him up! +I will do whatever he wishes if he will only spare him!" + +Croisette went from the room crying. It was a dreadful sight for +us--this girl in agony. And it was impossible to reassure her! +Not one of us doubted the horrible meaning of the note, its +covert threat. Civil wars and religious hatred, and I fancy +Italian modes of thought, had for the time changed our countrymen +to beasts. Far more dreadful things were done then than this +which Bezers threatened--even if he meant it literally--far more +dreadful things were suffered. But in the fiendish ingenuity of +his vengeance on her, the helpless, loving woman, I thought Raoul +de Bezers stood alone. Alas! it fares ill with the butterfly +when the cat has struck it down. Ill indeed! + +Madame Claude rose and put her arms round the girl, dismissing me +by a gesture. I went out, passing through two or three scared +servants, and made at once for the terrace. I felt as if I could +only breathe there. I found Marie and St. Croix together, +silent, the marks of tears on their faces. Our eyes met and they +told one tale. + +We all spoke at the same time. "When?" we said. But the others +looked to me for an answer. + +I was somewhat sobered by that, and paused to consider before I +replied. "At daybreak to-morrow," I decided presently. "It is +an hour after noon already. We want money, and the horses are +out. It will take an hour to bring them in. After that we might +still reach Cahors to-night, perhaps; but more haste less speed +you know. At daybreak to-morrow we will start." + +They nodded assent. + +It was a great thing we meditated. No less than to go to Paris-- +the unknown city so far beyond the hills--and seek out M. de +Pavannes, and warn him. It would be a race between the Vidame +and ourselves; a race for the life of Kit's suitor. Could we +reach Paris first, or even within twenty-four hours of Bezers' +arrival, we should in all probability be in time, and be able to +put Pavannes on his guard. It had been the first thought of all +of us, to take such men as we could get together and fall upon +Bezers wherever we found him, making it our simple object to kill +him. But the lackeys M. le Vicomte had left with us, the times +being peaceful and the neighbours friendly, were poor-spirited +fellows. Bezers' handful, on the contrary, were reckless Swiss +riders--like master, like men. We decided that it would be wiser +simply to warn Pavannes, and then stand by him if necessary. + +We might have despatched a messenger. But our servants--Gil +excepted, and he was too old to bear the journey--were ignorant +of Paris. Nor could any one of them be trusted with a mission so +delicate. We thought of Pavannes' courier indeed. But he was a +Rochellois, and a stranger to the capital. There was nothing for +it but to go ourselves. + +Yet we did not determine on this adventure with light hearts, I +remember. Paris loomed big and awesome in the eyes of all of us. +The glamour of the court rather frightened than allured us. We +felt that shrinking from contact with the world which a country +life engenders, as well as that dread of seeming unlike other +people which is peculiar to youth. It was a great plunge, and a +dangerous which we meditated. And we trembled. If we had known +more--especially of the future--we should have trembled more. + +But we were young, and with our fears mingled a delicious +excitement. We were going on an adventure of knight errantry in +which we might win our spurs. We were going to see the world and +play men's parts in it! to save a friend and make our mistress +happy! + +We gave our orders. But we said nothing to Catherine or Madame +Claude; merely bidding Gil tell them after our departure. We +arranged for the immediate despatch of a message to the Vicomte +at Bayonne, and charged Gil until he should hear from him to keep +the gates closed, and look well to the shoot of the kitchen +midden. Then, when all was ready, we went to our pallets, but it +was with hearts throbbing with excitement and wakeful eyes. + +"Anne! Anne!" said Croisette, rising on his elbow and speaking +to me some three hours later, "what do you think the Vidame meant +this morning when he said that about the ten days?" + +"What about the ten days?" I asked peevishly. He had roused me +just when I was at last falling asleep. + +"About the world seeing that his was the true faith--in ten +days?" + +"I am sure I do not know. For goodness' sake let us go to +sleep," I replied. For I had no patience with Croisette, talking +such nonsense, when we had our own business to think about. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE ROAD TO PARIS. + +The sun had not yet risen above the hills when we three with a +single servant behind us drew rein at the end of the valley; and +easing our horses on the ascent, turned in the saddle to take a +last look at Caylus--at the huddled grey town, and the towers +above it. A little thoughtful we all were, I think. The times +were rough and our errand was serious. But youth and early +morning are fine dispellers of care; and once on the uplands we +trotted gaily forward, now passing through wide glades in the +sparse oak forest, where the trees all leaned one way, now over +bare, wind-swept downs; or once and again descending into a +chalky bottom, where the stream bubbled through deep beds of +fern, and a lonely farmhouse nestled amid orchards. + +Four hours' riding, and we saw below us Cahors, filling the bend +of the river. We cantered over the Vallandre Bridge, which there +crosses the Lot, and so to my uncle's house of call in the +square. Here we ordered breakfast, and announced with pride that +we were going to Paris. + +Our host raised his hands. "Now there!" he exclaimed, regret in +his voice. "And if you had arrived yesterday you could have +travelled up with the Vidame de Bezers! And you a small party-- +saving your lordships' presence--and the roads but so-so!" + +"But the Vidame was riding with only half-a-dozen attendants +also!" I answered, flicking my boot in a careless way. + +The landlord shook his head. "Ah, M. le Vidame knows the world!" +he answered shrewdly. "He is not to be taken off his guard, not +he! One of his men whispered me that twenty staunch fellows +would join him at Chateauroux. They say the wars are over, but" +--and the good man, shrugging his shoulders, cast an expressive +glance at some fine flitches of bacon which were hanging in his +chimney. "However, your lordships know better than I do," he +added briskly. "I am a poor man. I only wish to live at peace +with my neighbours, whether they go to mass or sermon." + +This was a sentiment so common in those days and so heartily +echoed by most men of substance both in town and country, that we +did not stay to assent to it; but having received from the worthy +fellow a token which would insure our obtaining fresh cattle at +Limoges, we took to the road again, refreshed in body, and with +some food for thought. + +Five-and-twenty attendants were more than even such a man as +Bezers, who had many enemies, travelled with in those days; +unless accompanied by ladies. That the Vidame had provided such +a reinforcement seemed to point to a wider scheme than the one +with which we had credited him. But we could not guess what his +plans were; since he must have ordered his people before he heard +of Catherine's engagement. Either his jealousy therefore had put +him on the alert earlier, or his threatened attack on Pavannes +was only part of a larger plot. In either case our errand seemed +more urgent, but scarcely more hopeful. + +The varied sights and sounds however of the road--many of them +new to us--kept us from dwelling over much on this. Our eyes +were young, and whether it was a pretty girl lingering behind a +troop of gipsies, or a pair of strollers from Valencia +--JONGLEURS they still called themselves--singing in the old +dialect of Provence, or a Norman horse-dealer with his string of +cattle tied head and tail, or the Puy de Dome to the eastward +over the Auvergne hills, or a tattered old soldier wounded in the +wars--fighting for either side, according as their lordships +inclined--we were pleased with all. + +Yet we never forgot our errand. We never I think rose in the +morning--too often stiff and sore--without thinking "To-day or +to-morrow or the next day--" as the case might be--"we shall make +all right for Kit!" For Kit! Perhaps it was the purest +enthusiasm we were ever to feel, the least selfish aim we were +ever to pursue. For Kit! + +Meanwhile we met few travellers of rank on the road. Half the +nobility of France were still in Paris enjoying the festivities +which were being held to mark the royal marriage. We obtained +horses where we needed them without difficulty. And though we +had heard much of the dangers of the way, infested as it was said +to be by disbanded troopers, we were not once stopped or annoyed. + +But it is not my intention to chronicle all the events of this my +first journey, though I dwell on them with pleasure; or to say +what I thought of the towns, all new and strange to me, through +which we passed. Enough that we went by way of Limoges, +Chateauroux and Orleans, and that at Chateauroux we learned the +failure of one hope we had formed. We had thought that Bezers +when joined there by his troopers would not be able to get +relays; and that on this account we might by travelling post +overtake him; and possibly slip by him between that place and +Paris. But we learned at Chateauroux that his troop had received +fresh orders to go to Orleans and await him there; the result +being that he was able to push forward with relays so far. He +was evidently in hot haste. For leaving there with his horses +fresh he passed through Angerville, forty miles short of Paris, +at noon, whereas we reached it on the evening of the same day-- +the sixth after leaving Caylus. + +We rode into the yard of the inn--a large place, seeming larger +in the dusk--so tired that we could scarcely slip from our +saddles. Jean, our servant, took the four horses, and led them +across to the stables, the poor beasts hanging their heads, and +following meekly. We stood a moment stamping our feet, and +stretching our legs. The place seemed in a bustle, the clatter +of pans and dishes proceeding from the windows over the entrance, +with a glow of light and the sound of feet hurrying in the +passages. There were men too, half-a-dozen or so standing at the +doors of the stables, while others leaned from the windows. One +or two lanthorns just kindled glimmered here and there in the +semi-darkness; and in a corner two smiths were shoeing a horse. + +We were turning from all this to go in, when we heard Jean's +voice raised in altercation, and thinking our rustic servant had +fallen into trouble, we walked across to the stables near which +he and the horses were still lingering. "Well, what is it?" I +said sharply. + +"They say that there is no room for the horses," Jean answered +querulously, scratching his head; half sullen, half cowed, a +country servant all over. + +"And there is not!" cried the foremost of the gang about the +door, hastening to confront us in turn. His tone was insolent, +and it needed but half an eye to see that his fellows were +inclined to back him up. He stuck his arms akimbo and faced us +with an impudent smile. A lanthorn on the ground beside him +throwing an uncertain light on the group, I saw that they all +wore the same badge. + +"Come," I said sternly, "the stables are large, and your horses +cannot fill them. Some room must be found for mine." + +"To be sure! Make way for the king!" he retorted. While one +jeered "VIVE LE ROI!" and the rest laughed. Not good- +humouredly, but with a touch of spitefulness. + +Quarrels between gentlemen's servants were as common then as they +are to-day. But the masters seldom condescended to interfere. +"Let the fellows fight it out," was the general sentiment. Here, +however, poor Jean was over-matched, and we had no choice but to +see to it ourselves. + +"Come, men, have a care that you do not get into trouble," I +urged, restraining Croisette by a touch, for I by no means wished +to have a repetition of the catastrophe which had happened at +Caylus. "These horses belong to the Vicomte de Caylus. If your +master be a friend of his, as may very probably be the case, you +will run the risk of getting into trouble." + +I thought I heard, as I stopped speaking, a subdued muttering, +and fancied I caught the words, "PAPEGOT! Down with the Guises!" +But the spokesman's only answer aloud was "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" +"Cock-a-doodle-doo!" he repeated, flapping his arms in defiance. +"Here is a cock of a fine hackle!" And so on, and so forth, +while he turned grinning to his companions, looking for their +applause. + +I was itching to chastise him, and yet hesitating, lest the thing +should have its serious side, when a new actor appeared. "Shame, +you brutes!" cried a shrill voice above us in the clouds it +seemed. I looked up, and saw two girls, coarse and handsome, +standing at a window over the stable, a light between them. "For +shame! Don't you see that they are mere children? Let them be," +cried one. + +The men laughed louder than ever; and for me, I could not stand +by and be called a child. "Come here," I said, beckoning to the +man in the doorway. "Come here, you rascal, and I will give you +the thrashing you deserve for speaking to a gentleman!" + +He lounged forward, a heavy fellow, taller than myself and six +inches wider at the shoulders. My heart failed me a little as I +measured him. But the thing had to be done. If I was slight, I +was wiry as a hound, and in the excitement had forgotten my +fatigue. I snatched from Marie a loaded riding-whip he carried, +and stepped forward. + +"Have a care, little man!" cried the girl gaily--yet half in +pity, I think. "Or that fat pig will kill you!" + +My antagonist did not join in the laugh this time. Indeed it +struck me that his eye wandered and that he was not so ready to +enter the ring as his mates were to form it. But before I could +try his mettle, a hand was laid on my shoulder. A man appearing +from I do not know where--from the dark fringe of the group, I +suppose--pushed me aside, roughly, but not discourteously. + +"Leave this to me!" he said, coolly stepping before me. "Do not +dirty your hands with the knave, master. I am pining for work +and the job will just suit me! I will fit him for the worms +before the nuns above can say an AVE!" + +I looked at the newcomer. He was a stout fellow; not over tall, +nor over big; swarthy, with prominent features. The plume of his +bonnet was broken, but he wore it in a rakish fashion; and +altogether he swaggered with so dare-devil an air, clinking his +spurs and swinging out his long sword recklessly, that it was no +wonder three or four of the nearest fellows gave back a foot. + +"Come on!" he cried, boisterously, forming a ring by the simple +process of sweeping his blade from side to side, while he made +the dagger in his left hand flash round his head. "Who is for +the game? Who will strike a blow for the little Admiral? Will +you come one, two, three at once; or all together? Anyway, come +on, you--" And he closed his challenge with a volley of frightful +oaths, directed at the group opposite. + +"It is no quarrel of yours," said the big man, sulkily; making no +show of drawing his sword, but rather drawing back himself. + +"All quarrels are my quarrels! and no quarrels are your +quarrels. That is about the truth, I fancy!" was the smart +retort; which our champion rendered more emphatic by a playful +lunge that caused the big bully to skip again. + +There was a loud laugh at this, even among the enemy's backers. +"Bah, the great pig!" ejaculated the girl above. "Spit him!" +and she spat down on the whilom Hector--who made no great figure +now. + +"Shall I bring you a slice of him, my dear?" asked my rakehelly +friend, looking up and making his sword play round the shrinking +wretch. "Just a tit-bit, my love?" he added persuasively. "A +mouthful of white liver and caper sauce?" + +"Not for me, the beast!" the girl cried, amid the laughter of +the yard. + +"Not a bit? If I warrant him tender? Ladies' meat?" + +"Bah! no!" and she stolidly spat down again. + +"Do you hear? The lady has no taste for you," the tormentor +cried. "Pig of a Gascon!" And deftly sheathing his dagger, he +seized the big coward by the ear, and turning him round, gave him +a heavy kick which sent him spinning over a bucket, and down +against the wall. There the bully remained, swearing and rubbing +himself by turns; while the victor cried boastfully, "Enough of +him. If anyone wants to take up his quarrel, Blaise Bure is his +man. If not, let us have an end of it. Let someone find stalls +for the gentlemen's horses before they catch a chill; and have +done with it. As for me," he added, and then he turned to us and +removed his hat with an exaggerated flourish, "I am your +lordship's servant to command." + +I thanked him with a heartiness, half-earnest, half-assumed. His +cloak was ragged, his trunk hose, which had once been fine +enough, were stained, and almost pointless, He swaggered +inimitably, and had led-captain written large upon him. But he +had done us a service, for Jean had no further trouble about the +horses. And besides one has a natural liking for a brave man, +and this man was brave beyond question. + +"You are from Orleans," he said respectfully enough, but as one +asserting a fact, not asking a question. + +"Yes," I answered, somewhat astonished, "Did you see us come in?" + +"No, but I looked at your boots, gentlemen," he replied. "White +dust, north; red dust, south. Do you see?" + +"Yes, I see," I said, with admiration. "You must have been +brought up in a sharp school, M. Bure." + +"Sharp masters make sharp scholars," he replied, grinning. And +that answer I had occasion to remember afterwards. + +"You are from Orleans, also?" I asked, as we prepared to go in. + +"Yes, from Orleans too, gentlemen. But earlier in the day. With +letters--letters of importance!" And bestowing something like a +wink of confidence on us, he drew himself up, looked sternly at +the stable-folk, patted himself twice on the chest, and finally +twirled his moustaches, and smirked at the girl above, who was +chewing straws. + +I thought it likely enough that we might find it hard to get rid +of him. But this was not so. After listening with gratification +to our repeated thanks, he bowed with the same grotesque +flourish, and marched off as grave as a Spaniard, humming-- + + "Ce petit homme tant joli! + Qui toujours cause et toujours rit, + Qui toujours baise sa mignonne, + Dieu gard' de mal ce petit homme!" + +On our going in, the landlord met us politely, but with +curiosity, and a simmering of excitement also in his manner. +"From Paris, my lords?" he asked, rubbing his hands and bowing +low. "Or from the south?" + +"From the south," I answered. "From Orleans, and hungry and +tired, Master Host." + +"Ah!" he replied, disregarding the latter part of my answer, +while his little eyes twinkled with satisfaction. "Then I dare +swear, my lords, you have not heard the news?" He halted in the +narrow passage, and lifting the candle he carried, scanned our +faces closely, as if he wished to learn something about us before +he spoke. + +"News!" I answered brusquely, being both tired, and as I had +told him, hungry. "We have heard none, and the best you can give +us will be that our supper is ready to be served." + +But even this snub did not check his eagerness to tell his news. +"The Admiral de Coligny," he said, breathlessly, "you have not +heard what has happened to him?" + +"To the admiral? No, what?" I inquired rapidly. I was +interested at last. + +For a moment let me digress. The few of my age will remember, +and the many younger will have been told, that at this time the +Italian queen-mother was the ruling power in France. It was +Catharine de' Medici's first object to maintain her influence +over Charles the Ninth--her son; who, ricketty, weak, and +passionate, was already doomed to an early grave. Her second, to +support the royal power by balancing the extreme Catholics +against the Huguenots. For the latter purpose she would coquet +first with one party, then with the other. At the present moment +she had committed herself more deeply than was her wont to the +Huguenots. Their leaders, the Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, the +King of Navarre, and the Prince of Conde, were supposed to be +high in favour, while the chiefs of the other party, the Duke of +Guise, and the two Cardinals of his house, the Cardinal of +Lorraine and the Cardinal of Guise, were in disgrace; which, as +it seemed, even their friend at court, the queen's favourite son, +Henry of Anjou, was unable to overcome. + +Such was the outward aspect of things in August, 1572, but there +were not wanting rumours that already Coligny, taking advantage +of the footing given him, had gained an influence over the young +king, which threatened Catharine de' Medici herself. The +admiral, therefore, to whom the Huguenot half of France had long +looked as to its leader, was now the object of the closest +interest to all; the Guise faction, hating him--as the alleged +assassin of the Duke of Guise--with an intensity which probably +was not to be found in the affection of his friends, popular with +the latter as he was. + +Still, many who were not Huguenots had a regard for him as a +great Frenchman and a gallant soldier. We--though we were of the +old faith, and the other side--had heard much of him, and much +good. The Vicomte had spoken of him always as a great man, a man +mistaken, but brave, honest and capable in his error. Therefore +it was that when the landlord mentioned him, I forgot even my +hunger. + +"He was shot, my lords, as he passed through the Rue des Fosses, +yesterday," the man declared with bated breath. "It is not known +whether he will live or die. Paris is in an uproar, and there +are some who fear the worst." + +"But," I said doubtfully, "who has dared to do this? He had a +safe conduct from the king himself." + +Our host did not answer; shrugging his shoulders instead, he +opened the door, and ushered us into the eating-room. + +Some preparations for our meal had already been made at one end +of the long board. At the other was seated a man past middle +age; richly but simply dressed. His grey hair, cut short about a +massive head, and his grave, resolute face, square-jawed, and +deeply-lined, marked him as one to whom respect was due apart +from his clothes. We bowed to him as we took our seats. + +He acknowledged the salute, fixing us a moment with a penetrating +glance; and then resumed his meal. I noticed that his sword and +belt were propped against a chair at his elbow, and a dag, +apparently loaded, lay close to his hand by the candlestick. Two +lackeys waited behind his chair, wearing the badge we had +remarked in the inn yard. + +We began to talk, speaking in low tones that we might not disturb +him. The attack on Coligny had, if true, its bearing on our own +business. For if a Huguenot so great and famous and enjoying the +king's special favour still went in Paris in danger of his life, +what must be the risk that such an one as Pavannes ran? We had +hoped to find the city quiet. If instead it should be in a state +of turmoil Bezers' chances were so much the better; and ours +--and Kit's, poor Kit's--so much the worse. + +Our companion had by this time finished his supper. But he still +sat at table, and seemed to be regarding us with some curiosity. +At length he spoke. "Are you going to Paris, young gentlemen?" +he asked, his tone harsh and high-pitched. + +We answered in the affirmative. "To-morrow?" he questioned. + +"Yes," we answered; and expected him to continue the +conversation. But instead he became silent, gazing abstractedly +at the table; and what with our meal, and our own talk we had +almost forgotten him again, when looking up, I found him at my +elbow, holding out in silence a small piece of paper. + +I started his face was so grave. But seeing that there were +half-a-dozen guests of a meaner sort at another table close by, I +guessed that he merely wished to make a private communication to +us; and hastened to take the paper and read it. It contained a +scrawl of four words only-- + + "Va chasser l'Idole." + +No more. I looked at him puzzled; able to make nothing out of +it. St. Croix wrinkled his brow over it with the same result. +It was no good handing it to Marie, therefore. + +"You do not understand?" the stranger continued, as he put the +scrap of paper back in his pouch. + +"No," I answered, shaking my head. We had all risen out of +respect to him, and were standing a little group about him. + +"Just so; it is all right then," he answered, looking at us as it +seemed to me with grave good-nature. "It is nothing. Go your +way. But--I have a son yonder not much younger than you, young +gentlemen. And if you had understood, I should have said to you, +'Do not go! There are enough sheep for the shearer!'" + +He was turning away with this oracular saying when Croisette +touched his sleeve. "Pray can you tell us if it be true," the +lad said eagerly, "that the Admiral de Coligny was wounded +yesterday?" + +"It is true," the other answered, turning his grave eyes on his +questioner, while for a moment his stern look failed him, "It is +true, my boy," he added with an air of strange solemnity. "Whom +the Lord loveth, He chasteneth. And, God forgive me for saying +it, whom He would destroy, He first maketh mad." + +He had gazed with peculiar favour at Croisette's girlish face, I +thought: Marie and I were dark and ugly by the side of the boy. +But he turned from him now with a queer, excited gesture, +thumping his gold-headed cane on the floor. He called his +servants in a loud, rasping voice, and left the room in seeming +anger, driving them before him, the one carrying his dag, and the +other, two candles. + +When I came down early next morning, the first person I met was +Blaise Bure. He looked rather fiercer and more shabby by +daylight than candlelight. But he saluted me respectfully; and +this, since it was clear that he did not respect many people, +inclined me to regard him with favour. It is always so, the more +savage the dog, the more highly we prize its attentions. I asked +him who the Huguenot noble was who had supped with us. For a +Huguenot we knew he must be. + +"The Baron de Rosny," he answered; adding with a sneer, "He is a +careful man! If they were all like him, with eyes on both sides +of his head and a dag by his candle--well, my lord, there would +be one more king in France--or one less! But they are a blind +lot: as blind as bats." He muttered something farther in which +I caught the word "to-night." But I did not hear it all; or +understand any of it. + +"Your lordships are going to Paris?" he resumed in a different +tone. When I said that we were, he looked at me in a shamefaced +way, half timid, half arrogant. "I have a small favour to ask of +you then," he said. "I am going to Paris myself. I am not +afraid of odds, as you have seen. But the roads will be in a +queer state if there be anything on foot in the city, and--well, +I would rather ride with you gentlemen than alone." + +"You are welcome to join us," I said. "But we start in half-an- +hour. Do you know Paris well?" + +"As well as my sword-hilt," he replied briskly, relieved I +thought by my acquiescence, "And I have known that from my +breeching. If you want a game at PAUME, or a pretty girl to +kiss, I can put you in the way for the one or the other." + +The half rustic shrinking from the great city which I felt, +suggested to me that our swashbuckling friend might help us if he +would. "Do you know M. de Pavannes?" I asked impulsively, +"Where he lives in Paris, I mean?" + +"M. Louis de Pavannes?" quoth he. + +"Yes." + +"I know--" he replied slowly, rubbing his chin and looking at the +ground in thought--"where he had his lodgings in town a while +ago, before--Ah! I do know! I remember," he added, slapping his +thigh, "when I was in Paris a fortnight ago I was told that his +steward had taken lodgings for him in the Rue St. Antoine." + +"Good!" I answered overjoyed. "Then we want to dismount there, +if you can guide us straight to the house." + +"I can," he replied simply. "And you will not be the worse for +my company. Paris is a queer place when there is trouble to the +fore, but your lordships have got the right man to pilot you +through it." + +I did not ask him what trouble he meant, but ran indoors to +buckle on my sword, and tell Marie and Croisette of the ally I +had secured. They were much pleased, as was natural; so that we +took the road in excellent spirits intending to reach the city in +the afternoon. But Marie's horse cast a shoe, and it was some +time before we could find a smith. Then at Etampes, where we +stopped to lunch, we were kept an unconscionable time waiting for +it. And so we approached Paris for the first time at sunset. A +ruddy glow was at the moment warming the eastern heights, and +picking out with flame the twin towers of Notre Dame, and the one +tall tower of St. Jacques la Boucherie. A dozen roofs higher +than their neighbours shone hotly; and a great bank of cloud, +which lay north and south, and looked like a man's hand stretched +over the city, changed gradually from blood-red to violet, and +from violet to black, as evening fell. + +Passing within the gates and across first one bridge and then +another, we were astonished and utterly confused by the noise and +hubbub through which we rode. Hundreds seemed to be moving this +way and that in the narrow streets. Women screamed to one +another from window to window. The bells of half-a-dozen +churches rang the curfew. Our country ears were deafened. Still +our eyes had leisure to take in the tall houses with their high- +pitched roofs, and here and there a tower built into the wall; +the quaint churches, and the groups of townsfolk--sullen fellows +some of them with a fierce gleam in their eyes---who, standing in +the mouths of reeking alleys, watched us go by. + +But presently we had to stop. A crowd had gathered to watch a +little cavalcade of six gentlemen pass across our path. They +were riding two and two, lounging in their saddles and chattering +to one another, distainfully unconscious of the people about +them, or the remarks they excited. Their graceful bearing and +the richness of their dress and equipment surpassed anything I +had ever seen. A dozen pages and lackeys were attending them on +foot, and the sound of their jests and laughter came to us over +the heads of the crowd. + +While I was gazing at them, some movement of the throng drove +back Bure's horse against mine. Bure himself uttered a savage +oath; uncalled for so far as I could see. But my attention was +arrested the next moment by Croisette, who tapped my arm with his +riding whip. "Look!" he cried in some excitement, "is not that +he?" + +I followed the direction of the lad's finger--as well as I could +for the plunging of my horse which Bure's had frightened--and +scrutinized the last pair of the troop. They were crossing the +street in which we stood, and I had only a side view of them; or +rather of the nearer rider. He was a singularly handsome man, in +age about twenty-two or twenty-three with long lovelocks falling +on his lace collar and cloak of orange silk. His face was sweet +and kindly and gracious to a marvel. But he was a stranger to +me. + +"I could have sworn," exclaimed Croisette, "that that was Louis +himself--M. de Pavannes!" + +"That?" I answered, as we began to move again, the crowd melting +before us. "Oh, dear, no!" + +"No! no! The farther man!" he explained. + +But I had not been able to get a good look at the farther of the +two. We turned in our saddles and peered after him. His back in +the dusk certainly reminded me of Louis. Bure, however, who said +he knew M. de Pavannes by sight, laughed at the idea. "Your +friend," he said, "is a wider man than that!" And I thought he +was right there--but then it might be the cut of the clothes. +"They have been at the Louvre playing paume, I'll be sworn!" he +went on. "So the Admiral must be better. The one next us was M. +de Teligny, the Admiral's son-in-law. And the other, whom you +mean, was the Comte de la Rochefoucault." + +We turned as he spoke into a narrow street near the river, and +could see not far from us a mass of dark buildings which Bure +told us was the Louvre--the king's residence. Out of this street +we turned into a short one; and here Bure drew rein and rapped +loudly at some heavy gates. It was so dark that when, these +being opened, he led the way into a courtyard, we could see +little more than a tall, sharp-gabled house, projecting over us +against a pale sky; and a group of men and horses in one corner. +Bure spoke to one of the men, and begging us to dismount, said +the footman would show us to M. de Pavannes. + +The thought that we were at the end of our long journey, and in +time to warn Louis of his danger, made us forget all our +exertions, our fatigue and stiffness. Gladly throwing the +bridles to Jean we ran up the steps after the servant. The thing +was done. Hurrah! the thing was done! + +The house--as we passed through a long passage and up some steps +--seemed full of people. We heard voices and the ring of arms +more than once. But our guide, without pausing, led us to a +small room lighted by a hanging lamp. "I will inform M. de +Pavannes of your arrival," he said respectfully, and passed +behind a curtain, which seemed to hide the door of an inner +apartment. As he did so the clink of glasses and the hum of +conversation reached us. + +"He has company supping with him," I said nervously. I tried to +flip some of the dust from my boots with my whip. I remembered +that this was Paris. + +"He will be surprised to see us," quoth Croisette, laughing--a +little shyly, too, I think. And so we stood waiting. + +I began to wonder as minutes passed by--the gay company we had +seen putting it in my mind, I suppose--whether M. de Pavannes, of +Paris, might not turn out to be a very different person from +Louis de Pavannes, of Caylus; whether the king's courtier would +be as friendly as Kit's lover. And I was still thinking of this +without having settled the point to my satisfaction, when the +curtain was thrust aside again. A very tall man, wearing a +splendid suit of black and silver and a stiff trencher-like ruff, +came quickly in, and stood smiling at us, a little dog in his +arms. The little dog sat up and snarled: and Croisette gasped. +It was not our old friend Louis certainly! It was not Louis de +Pavannes at all. It was no old friend at all, It was the Vidame +de Bezers! + +"Welcome, gentlemen!" he said, smiling at us--and never had the +cast been so apparent in his eyes. "Welcome to Paris, M. Anne!" + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ENTRAPPED! + +There was a long silence. We stood glaring at him, and he smiled +upon us--as a cat smiles. Croisette told me afterwards that he +could have died of mortification--of shame and anger that we had +been so outwitted. For myself I did not at once grasp the +position. I did not understand. I could not disentangle myself +in a moment from the belief in which I had entered the house-- +that it was Louis de Pavannes' house. But I seemed vaguely to +suspect that Bezers had swept him aside and taken his place. My +first impulse therefore--obeyed on the instant--was to stride to +the Vidame's side and grasp his arm. "What have you done?" I +cried, my voice sounding hoarsely even in my own ears. "What +have you done with M. de Pavannes? Answer me!" + +He showed just a little more of his sharp white teeth as he +looked down at my face--a flushed and troubled face doubtless. +"Nothing--yet," he replied very mildly. And he shook me off. + +"Then," I retorted, "how do you come here?" + +He glanced at Croisette and shrugged his shoulders, as if I had +been a spoiled child. "M. Anne does not seem to understand," he +said with mock courtesy, "that I have the honour to welcome him +to my house the Hotel Bezers, Rue de Platriere." + +"The Hotel Bezers! Rue de Platriere!" I cried confusedly. "But +Blaise Bure told us that this was the Rue St. Antoine!" + +"Ah!" he replied as if slowly enlightened--the hypocrite! "Ah! +I see!" and he smiled grimly. "So you have made the +acquaintance of Blaise Bure, my excellent master of the horse! +Worthy Blaise! Indeed, indeed, now I understand. And you +thought, you whelps," he continued, and as he spoke his tone +changed strangely, and he fixed us suddenly with angry eyes, "to +play a rubber with me! With me, you imbeciles! You thought the +wolf of Bezers could be hunted down like any hare! Then listen, +and I will tell you the end of it. You are now in my house and +absolutely at my mercy. I have two score men within call who +would cut the throats of three babes at the breast, if I bade +them! Ay," he, added, a wicked exultation shining in his eyes, +"they would, and like the job!" + +He was going on to say more, but I interrupted him. The rage I +felt, caused as much by the thought of our folly as by his +arrogance, would let me be silent no longer. "First, M. de +Bezers, first," I broke out fiercely, my words leaping over one +another in my haste, "a word with you! Let me tell you what I +think of you! You are a treacherous hound, Vidame! A cur! a +beast! And I spit upon you! Traitor and assassin!" I shouted, +"is that not enough? Will nothing provoke you? If you call +yourself a gentleman, draw!" + +He shook his head; he was still smiling, still unmoved. "I do +not do my own dirty work," he said quietly, "nor stint my footmen +of their sport, boy." + +"Very well!" I retorted. And with the words I drew my sword, +and sprang as quick as lightning to the curtain by which he had +entered. "Very well, we will kill you first!" I cried +wrathfully, my eye on his eye, and every savage passion in my +breast aroused, "and take our chance with the lackeys afterwards! +Marie! Croisette!" I cried shrilly, "on him, lads!" + +But they did not answer! They did not move or draw. For the +moment indeed the man was in my power. My wrist was raised, and +I had my point at his breast, I could have run him through by a +single thrust. And I hated him. Oh, how I hated him! But he +did not stir. Had he spoken, had he moved so much as an eyelid, +or drawn back his foot, or laid his hand on his hilt, I should +have killed him there. But he did not stir and I could not do +it. My hand dropped. "Cowards!" I cried, glancing bitterly +from him to them--they had never failed me before. "Cowards!" I +muttered, seeming to shrink into myself as I said the word. And +I flung my sword clattering on the floor. + +"That is better!" he drawled quite unmoved, as if nothing more +than words had passed, as if he had not been in peril at all. +"It was what I was going to ask you to do. If the other young +gentlemen will follow your example, I shall be obliged. Thank +you. Thank you." + +Croisette, and a minute later Marie, obeyed him to the letter! I +could not understand it. I folded my arms and gave up the game +in despair, and but for very shame I could have put my hands to +my face and cried. He stood in the middle under the lamp, a head +taller than the tallest of us; our master. And we stood round +him trapped, beaten, for all the world like children. Oh, I +could have cried! This was the end of our long ride, our +aspirations, our knight-errantry! + +"Now perhaps you will listen to me," he went on smoothly, "and +hear what I am going to do. I shall keep you here, young +gentlemen, until you can serve me by carrying to mademoiselle, +your cousin, some news of her betrothed. Oh, I shall not detain +you long," he added with an evil smile. "You have arrived in +Paris at a fortunate moment. There is going to be a--well, there +is a little scheme on foot appointed for to-night--singularly +lucky you are!--for removing some objectionable people, some +friends of ours perhaps among them, M. Anne. That is all. You +will hear shots, cries, perhaps screams. Take no notice. You +will be in no danger. For M. de Pavannes," he continued, his +voice sinking, "I think that by morning I shall be able to give +you a--a more particular account of him to take to Caylus--to +Mademoiselle, you understand." + +For a moment the mask was off. His face took a sombre +brightness. He moistened his lips with his tongue as though he +saw his vengeance worked out then and there before him, and were +gloating over the picture. The idea that this was so took such a +hold upon me that I shrank back, shuddering; reading too in +Croisette's face the same thought--and a late repentance. Nay, +the malignity of Bezers' tone, the savage gleam of joy in his +eyes appalled me to such an extent that I fancied for a moment I +saw in him the devil incarnate! + +He recovered his composure very quickly, however; and turned +carelessly towards the door. "If you will follow me," he said, +"I will see you disposed of. You may have to complain of your +lodging--I have other things to think of to-night than +hospitality, But you shall not need to complain of your supper." + +He drew aside the curtain as he spoke, and passed into the next +room before us, not giving a thought apparently to the +possibility that we might strike him from behind. There +certainly was an odd quality apparent in him at times which +seemed to contradict what we knew of him. + +The room we entered was rather long than wide, hung with +tapestry, and lighted by silver lamps. Rich plate, embossed, I +afterwards learned, by Cellini the Florentine--who died that year +I remember--and richer glass from Venice, with a crowd of meaner +vessels filled with meats and drinks covered the table; +disordered as by the attacks of a numerous party. But save a +servant or two by the distant dresser, and an ecclesiastic at the +far end of the table, the room was empty. + +The priest rose as we entered, the Vidame saluting him as if they +had not met that day. "You are welcome M. le Coadjuteur," he +said; saying it coldly, however, I thought. And the two eyed one +another with little favour; rather as birds of prey about to +quarrel over the spoil, than as host and guest. Perhaps the +Coadjutor's glittering eyes and great beak-like nose made me +think of this. + +"Ho! ho!" he said, looking piercingly at us--and no doubt we +must have seemed a miserable and dejected crew enough. "Who are +these? Not the first-fruits of the night, eh?" + +The Vidame looked darkly at him. "No," he answered brusquely. +"They are not. I am not particular out of doors, Coadjutor, as +you know, but this is my house, and we are going to supper. +Perhaps you do not comprehend the distinction. Still it exists +--for me," with a sneer. + +This was as good as Greek to us. But I so shrank from the +priest's malignant eyes, which would not quit us, and felt so +much disgust mingled with my anger that when Bezers by a gesture +invited me to sit down, I drew back. "I will not eat with you," +I said sullenly; speaking out of a kind of dull obstinacy, or +perhaps a childish petulance. + +It did not occur to me that this would pierce the Vidame's +armour. Yet a dull red showed for an instant in his cheek, and +he eyed me with a look, that was not all ferocity, though the +veins in his great temples swelled. A moment, nevertheless, and +he was himself again. "Armand," he said quietly to the servant, +"these gentlemen will not sup with me. Lay for them at the other +end." + +Men are odd. The moment he gave way to me I repented of my +words. It was almost with reluctance that I followed the servant +to the lower part of the table. More than this, mingled with the +hatred I felt for the Vidame, there was now a strange sentiment +towards him--almost of admiration; that had its birth I think in +the moment, when I held his life in my hand, and he had not +flinched. + +We ate in silence; even after Croisette by grasping my hand under +the table had begged me not to judge him hastily. The two at the +upper end talked fast, and from the little that reached us, I +judged that the priest was pressing some course on his host, +which the latter declined to take. + +Once Bezers raised his voice. "I have my own ends to serve!" he +broke out angrily, adding a fierce oath which the priest did not +rebuke, "and I shall serve them. But there I stop. You have +your own. Well, serve them, but do not talk to me of the cause! +The cause? To hell with the cause! I have my cause, and you +have yours, and my lord of Guise has his! And you will not make +me believe that there is any other!" + +"The king's?" suggested the priest, smiling sourly. + +"Say rather the Italian woman's!" the Vidame answered +recklessly--meaning the queen-mother, Catharine de' Medici, I +supposed. + +"Well, then, the cause of the Church?" the priest persisted. + +"Bah! The Church? It is you, my friend!" Bezers rejoined, +rudely tapping his companion--at that moment in the act of +crossing himself--on the chest. "The Church?" he continued; +"no, no, my friend. I will tell you what you are doing. You +want me to help you to get rid of your branch, and you offer in +return to aid me with mine--and then, say you, there will be no +stick left to beat either of us. But you may understand once for +all"--and the Vidame struck his hand heavily down among the +glasses--"that I will have no interference with my work, master +Clerk! None! Do you hear? And as for yours, it is no business +of mine. That is plain speaking, is it not?" + +The priest's hand shook as he raised a full glass to his lips, +but he made no rejoinder, and the Vidame, seeing we had finished, +rose. "Armand!" he cried, his face still dark, "take these +gentlemen to their chamber. You understand?" + +We stiffly acknowledged his salute--the priest taking no notice +of us--and followed the servant from the room; going along a +corridor and up a steep flight of stairs, and seeing enough by +the way to be sure that resistance was hopeless. Doors opened +silently as we passed, and grim fellows, in corslets and padded +coats, peered out. The clank of arms and murmur of voices +sounded continuously about us; and as we passed a window the +jingle of bits, and the hollow clang of a restless hoof on the +flags below, told us that the great house was for the time a +fortress. I wondered much. For this was Paris, a city with +gates and guards; the night a short August night. Yet the +loneliest manor in Quercy could scarcely have bristled with more +pikes and musquetoons, on a winter's night and in time of war. + +No doubt these signs impressed us all; and Croisette not least. +For suddenly I heard him stop, as he followed us up the narrow +staircase, and begin without warning to stumble down again as +fast as he could. I did not know what he was about; but +muttering something to Marie, I followed the lad to see. At the +foot of the flight of stairs I looked back, Marie and the servant +were standing in suspense, where I had left them. I heard the +latter bid us angrily to return. + +But by this time Croisette was at the end of the corridor; and +reassuring the fellow by a gesture I hurried on, until brought to +a standstill by a man opening a door in my face. He had heard +our returning footsteps, and eyed me suspiciously; but gave way +after a moment with a grunt of doubt I hastened on, reaching the +door of the room in which we had supped in time to see something +which filled me with grim astonishment; so much so that I stood +rooted where I was, too proud at any rate to interfere. + +Bezers was standing, the leering priest at his elbow. And +Croisette was stooping forward, his hands stretched out in an +attitude of supplication. + +"Nay, but M. le Vidame," the lad cried, as I stood, the door in +my hand, "it were better to stab her at once than break her +heart! Have pity on her! If you kill him, you kill her!" + +The Vidame was silent, seeming to glower on the boy. The priest +sneered. "Hearts are soon mended--especially women's," he said. + +"But not Kit's!" Croisette said passionately--otherwise ignoring +him. "Not Kit's! You do not know her, Vidame! Indeed you do +not!" + +The remark was ill-timed. I saw a spasm of anger distort Bezers' +face. "Get up, boy!" he snarled, "I wrote to Mademoiselle what +I would do, and that I shall do! A Bezers keeps his word. By +the God above us--if there be a God, and in the devil's name I +doubt it to-night!--I shall keep mine! Go!" + +His great face was full of rage. He looked over Croisette's head +as he spoke, as if appealing to the Great Registrar of his vow, +in the very moment in which he all but denied Him. I turned and +stole back the way I had come; and heard Croisette follow. + +That little scene completed my misery. After that I seemed to +take no heed of anything or anybody until I was aroused by the +grating of our gaoler's key in the lock, and became aware that he +was gone, and that we were alone in a small room under the tiles. +He had left the candle on the floor, and we three stood round it. +Save for the long shadows we cast on the walls and two pallets +hastily thrown down in one corner, the place was empty. I did +not look much at it, and I would not look at the others. I flung +myself on one of the pallets and turned my face to the wall, +despairing. I thought bitterly of the failure we had made of it, +and of the Vidame's triumph. I cursed St. Croix especially for +that last touch of humiliation he had set to it. Then, +forgetting myself as my anger abated, I thought of Kit so far +away at Caylus--of Kit's pale, gentle face, and her sorrow. And +little by little I forgave Croisette. After all he had not +begged for us--he had not stooped for our sakes, but for hers. + +I do not know how long I lay at see-saw between these two moods. +Or whether during that time the others talked or were silent, +moved about the room or lay still. But it was Croisette's hand +on my shoulder, touching me with a quivering eagerness that +instantly communicated itself to my limbs, which recalled me to +the room and its shadows. "Anne!" he cried. "Anne! Are you +awake?" + +"What is it?" I said, sitting up and looking at him. + +"Marie," he began, "has--" + +But there was no need for him to finish. I saw that Marie was +standing at the far side of the room by the unglazed window; +which, being in a sloping part of the roof, inclined slightly +also. He had raised the shutter which closed it, and on his tip- +toes--for the sill was almost his own height from the floor--was +peering out. I looked sharply at Croisette. "Is there a gutter +outside?" I whispered, beginning to tingle all over as the +thought of escape for the first time occurred to me. + +"No," he answered in the same tone. "But Marie says he can see a +beam below, which he thinks we can reach." + +I sprang up, promptly displaced Marie, and looked out. When my +eyes grew accustomed to the gloom I discerned a dark chaos of +roofs and gables stretching as far as I could see before me. +Nearer, immediately under the window, yawned a chasm--a narrow +street. Beyond this was a house rather lower than that in which +we were, the top of its roof not quite reaching the level of my +eyes. + +"I see no beam," I said. + +"Look below!" quoth Marie, stolidly, + +I did so, and then saw that fifteen or sixteen feet below our +window there was a narrow beam which ran from our house to the +opposite one--for the support of both, as is common in towns. In +the shadow near the far end of this--it was so directly under our +window that I could only see the other end of it--I made out a +casement, faintly illuminated from within. + +I shook my head. + +"We cannot get down to it," I said, measuring the distance to the +beam and the depth below it, and shivering. + +"Marie says we can, with a short rope," Croisette replied. His +eyes were glistening with excitement. + +"But we have no rope!" I retorted. I was dull--as usual. Marie +made no answer. Surely he was the most stolid and silent of +brothers. I turned to him. He was taking off his waistcoat and +neckerchief. + +"Good!" I cried. I began to see now. Off came our scarves and +kerchiefs also, and fortunately they were of home make, long and +strong. And Marie had a hank of four-ply yarn in his pocket as +it turned out, and I had some stout new garters, and two or three +yards of thin cord, which I had brought to mend the girths, if +need should arise. In five minutes we had fastened them +cunningly together. + +"I am the lightest," said Croisette. + +"But Marie has the steadiest head," I objected. We had learned +that long ago--that Marie could walk the coping-stones of the +battlements with as little concern as we paced a plank set on the +ground. + +"True," Croisette had to admit. "But he must come last, because +whoever does so will have to let himself down." + +I had not thought of that, and I nodded. It seemed that the lead +was passing out of my hands and I might resign myself. Still one +thing I would have. As Marie was to come last, I would go first. +My weight would best test the rope. And accordingly it was so +decided. + +There was no time to be lost. At any moment we might be +interrupted. So the plan was no sooner conceived than carried +out. The rope was made fast to my left wrist. Then I mounted on +Marie's shoulders, and climbed--not without quavering--through +the window, taking as little time over it as possible, for a bell +was already proclaiming midnight. + +All this I had done on the spur of the moment. But outside, +hanging by my hands in the darkness, the strokes of the great +bell in my ears, I had a moment in which to think. The sense of +the vibrating depth below me, the airiness, the space and gloom +around, frightened me. "Are you ready?" muttered Marie, perhaps +with a little impatience. He had not a scrap of imagination, had +Marie. + +"No! wait a minute!" I blurted out, clinging to the sill, and +taking a last look at the bare room, and the two dark figures +between me and the light. "No!" I added, hurriedly. +"Croisette--boys, I called you cowards just now. I take it back! +I did not mean it! That is all!" I gasped. "Let go!" + +A warm touch on my hand. Something like a sob. + +The next moment I felt myself sliding down the face of the house, +down into the depth. The light shot up. My head turned giddily. +I clung, oh, how I clung to that rope! Half way down the thought +struck me that in case of accident those above might not be +strong enough to pull me up again. But it was too late to think +of that, and in another second my feet touched the beam. I +breathed again. Softly, very gingerly, I made good my footing on +the slender bridge, and, disengaging the rope, let it go. Then, +not without another qualm, I sat down astride of the beam, and +whistled in token of success. Success so far! + +It was a strange position, and I have often dreamed of it since. +In the darkness about me Paris lay to all seeming asleep. A +veil, and not the veil of night only, was stretched between it +and me; between me, a mere lad, and the strange secrets of a +great city; stranger, grimmer, more deadly that night than ever +before or since. How many men were watching under those dimly- +seen roofs, with arms in their hands? How many sat with murder +at heart? How many were waking, who at dawn would sleep for +ever, or sleeping who would wake only at the knife's edge? These +things I could not know, any more than I could picture how many +boon-companions were parting at that instant, just risen from the +dice, one to go blindly--the other watching him--to his death? I +could not imagine, thank Heaven for it, these secrets, or a +hundredth part of the treachery and cruelty and greed that lurked +at my feet, ready to burst all bounds at a pistol-shot. It had +no significance for me that the past day was the 23rd of August, +or that the morrow was St. Bartholomew's feast! + +No. Yet mingled with the jubilation which the possibility of +triumph over our enemy raised in my breast, there was certainly a +foreboding. The Vidame's hints, no less than his open boasts, +had pointed to something to happen before morning--something +wider than the mere murder of a single man. The warning also +which the Baron de Rosny had given us at the inn occurred to me +with new meaning. And I could not shake the feeling off. I +fancied, as I sat in the darkness astride of my beam, that I +could see, closing the narrow vista of the street, the heavy mass +of the Louvre; and that the murmur of voices and the tramp of men +assembling came from its courts, with now and again the stealthy +challenge of a sentry, the restrained voice of an officer. +Scarcely a wayfarer passed beneath me: so few, indeed, that I +had no fear of being detected from below. And yet unless I was +mistaken, a furtive step, a subdued whisper were borne to me on +every breeze, from every quarter. And the night was full of +phantoms. + +Perhaps all this was mere nervousness, the outcome of my +position. At any rate I felt no more of it when Croisette joined +me. We had our daggers, and that gave me some comfort. If we +could once gain entrance to the house opposite, we had only to +beg, or in the last resort force our way downstairs and out, and +then to hasten with what speed we might to Pavannes' dwelling. +Clearly it was a question of time only now; whether Bezers' band +or we should first reach it. And struck by this I whispered +Marie to be quick. He seemed to be long in coming. + +He scrambled down hand over hand at last, and then I saw that he +had not lingered above for nothing. He had contrived after +getting out of the window to let down the shutter. And more he +had at some risk lengthened our rope, and made a double line of +it, so that it ran round a hinge of the shutter; and when he +stood beside us, he took it by one end and disengaged it. Good, +clever Marie! + +"Bravo!" I said softly, clapping him on the back. "Now they +will not know which way the birds have flown!" + +So there we all were, one of us, I confess, trembling. We slid +easily enough along the beam to the opposite house. But once +there in a row one behind the other with our faces to the wall, +and the night air blowing slantwise--well I am nervous on a +height and I gasped. The window was a good six feet above the +beam, The casement--it was unglazed--was open, veiled by a thin +curtain, and alas! protected by three horizontal bars--stout +bars they looked. + +Yet we were bound to get up, and to get in; and I was preparing +to rise to my feet on the giddy bridge as gingerly as I could, +when Marie crawled quickly over us, and swung himself up to the +narrow sill, much as I should mount a horse on the level. He +held out his foot to me, and making an effort I reached the same +dizzy perch. Croisette for the time remained below. + +A narrow window-ledge sixty feet above the pavement, and three +bars to cling to! I cowered to my holdfasts, envying even +Croisette. My legs dangled airily, and the black chasm of the +street seemed to yawn for me. For a moment I turned sick. I +recovered from that to feel desperate. I remembered that go +forward we must, bars or no bars. We could not regain our old +prison if we would. + +It was equally clear that we could not go forward if the inmates +should object. On that narrow perch even Marie was helpless. +The bars of the window were close together. A woman, a child, +could disengage our hands, and then--I turned sick again. I +thought of the cruel stones. I glued my face to the bars, and +pushing aside a corner of the curtain, looked in. + +There was only one person in the room--a woman, who was moving +about fully dressed, late as it was. The room was a mere attic, +the counterpart of that we had left. A box-bed with a canopy +roughly nailed over it stood in a corner. A couple of chairs +were by the hearth, and all seemed to speak of poverty and +bareness. Yet the woman whom we saw was richly dressed, though +her silks and velvets were disordered. I saw a jewel gleam in +her hair, and others on her hands. When she turned her face +towards us--a wild, beautiful face, perplexed and tear-stained--I +knew her instantly for a gentlewoman, and when she walked hastily +to the door, and laid her hand upon it, and seemed to listen-- +when she shook the latch and dropped her hands in despair and +went back to the hearth, I made another discovery I knew at once, +seeing her there, that we were likely but to change one prison +for another. Was every house in Paris then a dungeon? And did +each roof cover its tragedy? + +"Madame!" I said, speaking softly, to attract her attention. +"Madame!" + +She started violently, not knowing whence the sound came, and +looked round, at the door first. Then she moved towards the +window, and with an affrighted gesture drew the curtain rapidly +aside. + +Our eyes met. What if she screamed and aroused the house? What, +indeed? "Madame," I said again, speaking hurriedly, and striving +to reassure her by the softness of my voice, "we implore your +help! Unless you assist us we are lost." + +"You! Who are you?" she cried, glaring at us wildly, her hand +to her head. And then she murmured to herself, "Mon Dieu! what +will become of me?" + +"We have been imprisoned in the house opposite," I hastened to +explain, disjointedly I am afraid. "And we have escaped. We +cannot get back if we would. Unless you let us enter your room +and give us shelter--" + +"We shall be dashed to pieces on the pavement," supplied Marie, +with perfect calmness--nay, with apparent enjoyment. + +"Let you in here?" she answered, starting back in new terror; +"it is impossible." + +She reminded me of our cousin, being, like her pale and dark- +haired. She wore her hair in a coronet, disordered now. But +though she was still beautiful, she was older than Kit, and +lacked her pliant grace. I saw all this, and judging her nature, +I spoke out of my despair. "Madame," I said piteously, "we are +only boys. Croisette! Come up!" Squeezing myself still more +tightly into my corner of the ledge, I made room for him between +us. "See, Madame," I cried, craftily, "will you not have pity on +three boys?" + +St. Crois's boyish face and fair hair arrested her attention, as +I had expected. Her expression grew softer, and she murmured, +"Poor boy!" + +I caught at the opportunity. "We do but seek a passage through +your room," I said fervently. Good heavens, what had we not at +stake! What if she should remain obdurate? "We are in trouble +--in despair," I panted. "So, I believe, are you. We will help +you if you will first save us. We are boys, but we can fight for +you." + +"Whom am I to trust?" she exclaimed, with a shudder. "But +heaven forbid," she continued, her eyes on Croisette's face, +"that, wanting help, I should refuse to give it. Come in, if you +will." + +I poured out my thanks, and had forced my head between the bars +--at imminent risk of its remaining there--before the words were +well out of her mouth. But to enter was no easy task after all. +Croisette did, indeed, squeeze through at last, and then by force +pulled first one and then the other of us after him. But only +necessity and that chasm behind could have nerved us, I think, to +go through a process so painful. When I stood, at length on the +floor, I seemed to be one great abrasion from head to foot. And +before a lady, too! + +But what a joy I felt, nevertheless. A fig for Bezers now. He +had called us boys; and we were boys. But he should yet find +that we could thwart him. It could be scarcely half-an-hour +after midnight; we might still be in time. I stretched myself +and trod the level door jubilantly, and then noticed, while doing +so, that our hostess had retreated to the door and was eyeing us +timidly--half-scared. + +I advanced to her with my lowest bow--sadly missing my sword. +"Madame," I said, "I am M. Anne de Caylus, and these are my +brothers. And we are at your service." + +"And I," she replied, smiling faintly--I do not know why--"am +Madame de Pavannes, I gratefully accept your offers of service." + +"De Pavannes?" I exclaimed, amazed and overjoyed. Madame de +Pavannes! Why, she must be Louis' kinswoman! No doubt she could +tell us where he was lodged, and so rid our task of half its +difficulty. Could anything have fallen out more happily? "You +know then M. Louis de Pavannes?" I continued eagerly. + +"Certainly," she answered, smiling with a rare shy sweetness this +time. "Very well indeed. He is my husband." + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A PRIEST AND A WOMAN. + +"He is my husband!" + +The statement was made in the purest innocence; yet never, as may +well be imagined, did words fall with more stunning force. Not +one of us answered or, I believe, moved so much as a limb or an +eyelid. We only stared, wanting time to take in the astonishing +meaning of the words, and then more time to think what they meant +to us in particular. + +Louis de Pavannes' wife! Louis de Pavannes married! If the +statement were true--and we could not doubt, looking in her face, +that at least she thought she was telling the truth--it meant +that we had been fooled indeed! That we had had this journey for +nothing, and run this risk for a villain. It meant that the +Louis de Pavannes who had won our boyish admiration was the +meanest, the vilest of court-gallants. That Mademoiselle de +Caylus had been his sport and plaything. And that we in trying +to be beforehand with Bezers had been striving to save a +scoundrel from his due. It meant all that, as soon as we grasped +it in the least. + +"Madame," said Croisette gravely, after a pause so prolonged that +her smile faded pitifully from her face, scared by our strange +looks. "Your husband has been some time away from you? He only +returned, I think, a week or two ago?" + +"That is so," she answered, naively, and our last hope vanished. +"But what of that? He was back with me again, and only +yesterday--only yesterday!" she continued, clasping her hands, +"we were so happy." + +"And now, madame?" + +She looked at me, not comprehending. + +"I mean," I hastened to explain, "we do not understand how you +come to be here. And a prisoner." I was really thinking that +her story might throw some light upon ours. + +"I do not know, myself," she said. "Yesterday, in the afternoon, +I paid a visit to the Abbess of the Ursulines." + +"Pardon me," Croisette interposed quickly, "but are you not of +the new faith? A Huguenot?" + +"Oh, yes," she answered eagerly. "But the Abbess is a very dear +friend of mine, and no bigot. Oh, nothing of that kind, I assure +you. When I am in Paris I visit her once a week. Yesterday, +when I left her, she begged me to call here and deliver a +message." + +"Then," I said, "you know this house?" + +"Very well, indeed," she replied. "It is the sign of the 'Hand +and Glove,' one door out of the Rue Platriere. I have been in +Master Mirepoix's shop more than once before. I came here +yesterday to deliver the message, leaving my maid in the street, +and I was asked to come up stairs, and still up until I reached +this room. Asked to wait a moment, I began to think it strange +that I should be brought to so wretched a place, when I had +merely a message for Mirepoix's ear about some gauntlets. I +tried the door; I found it locked. Then I was terrified, and +made a noise." + +We all nodded. We were busy building up theories--or it might be +one and the same theory--to explain this. "Yes," I said, +eagerly. + +"Mirepoix came to me then. 'What does this mean?' I demanded. +He looked ashamed of himself, but he barred my way. 'Only this,' +he said at last, 'that your ladyship must remain here a few +hours--two days at most. No harm whatever is intended to you. +My wife will wait upon you, and when you leave us, all shall be +explained.' He would say no more, and it was in vain I asked him +if he did not take me for some one else; if he thought I was mad. +To all he answered, No. And when I dared him to detain me he +threatened force. Then I succumbed. I have been here since, +suspecting I know not what, but fearing everything." + +"That is ended, madame," I answered, my hand on my breast, my +soul in arms for her. Here, unless I was mistaken, was one more +unhappy and more deeply wronged even than Kit; one too who owed +her misery to the same villain. "Were there nine glovers on the +stairs," I declared roundly, "we would take you out and take you +home! Where are your husband's apartments?" + +"In the Rue de Saint Merri, close to the church. We have a house +there." + +"M. de Pavannes," I suggested cunningly, "is doubtless distracted +by your disappearance." + +"Oh, surely," she answered with earnest simplicity, while the +tears sprang to her eyes. Her innocence--she had not the germ of +a suspicion--made me grind my teeth with wrath. Oh, the base +wretch! The miserable rascal! What did the women see, I +wondered--what had we all seen in this man, this Pavannes, that +won for him our hearts, when he had only a stone to give in +return? + +I drew Croisette and Marie aside, apparently to consider how we +might force the door. "What is the meaning of this?" I said +softly, glancing at the unfortunate lady. "What do you think, +Croisette?" + +I knew well what the answer would be. + +"Think!" he cried with fiery impatience. "What can any one +think except that that villain Pavannes has himself planned his +wife's abduction? Of course it is so! His wife out of the way +he is free to follow up his intrigues at Caylus. He may then +marry Kit or--Curse him!" + +"No," I said sternly, "cursing is no good. We must do something +more. And yet--we have promised Kit, you see, that we would save +him--we must keep our word. We must save him from Bezers at +least." + +Marie groaned. + +But Croisette took up the thought with ardour. "From Bezers?" +he cried, his face aglow. "Ay, true! So we must! But then we +will draw lots, who shall fight him and kill him." + +I extinguished him by a look. "We shall fight him in turn," I +said, "until one of us kill him. There you are right. But your +turn comes last. Lots indeed! We have no need of lots to learn +which is the eldest." + +I was turning from him--having very properly crushed him--to look +for something which we could use to force the door, when he held +up his hand to arrest my attention. We listened, looking at one +another. Through the window came unmistakeable sounds of voices. +"They have discovered our flight," I said, my heart sinking. + +Luckily we had had the forethought to draw the curtain across the +casement. Bezers' people could therefore, from their window, see +no more than ours, dimly lighted and indistinct. Yet they would +no doubt guess the way we had escaped, and hasten to cut off our +retreat below. For a moment I looked at the door of our room, +half-minded to attack it, and fight our way out, taking the +chance of reaching the street before Bezers' folk should have +recovered from their surprise and gone down. But then I looked +at Madame. How could we ensure her safety in the struggle? +While I hesitated the choice was taken from us. We heard voices +in the house below, and heavy feet on the stairs. + +We were between two fires. I glanced irresolutely round the bare +garret, with its sloping roof, searching for a better weapon. I +had only my dagger. But in vain. I saw nothing that would +serve. "What will you do?" Madame de Pavannes murmured, +standing pale and trembling by the hearth, and looking from one +to another. Croisette plucked my sleeve before I could answer, +and pointed to the box-bed with its scanty curtains. "If they +see us in the room," he urged softly, "while they are half in and +half out, they will give the alarm. Let us hide ourselves +yonder. When they are inside--you understand?" + +He laid his hand on his dagger. The muscles of the lad's face +grew tense. I did understand him. "Madame," I said quickly, +"you will not betray us?" + +She shook her head. The colour returned to her cheek, and the +brightness to her eyes. She was a true woman. The sense that +she was protecting others deprived her of fear for herself. + +The footsteps were on the topmost stair now, and a key was thrust +with a rasping sound into the lock. But before it could be +turned--it fortunately fitted ill--we three had jumped on the bed +and were crouching in a row at the head of it, where the curtains +of the alcove concealed, and only just concealed us, from any one +standing at the end of the room near the door. + +I was the outermost, and through a chink could see what passed. +One, two, three people came in, and the door was closed behind +them. Three people, and one of them a woman! My heart--which +had been in my mouth--returned to its place, for the Vidame was +not one. I breathed freely; only I dared not communicate my +relief to the others, lest my voice should be heard. The first +to come in was the woman closely cloaked and hooded. Madame de +Pavannes cast on her a single doubtful glance, and then to my +astonishment threw herself into her arms, mingling her sobs with +little joyous cries of "Oh, Diane! oh, Diane!" + +"My poor little one!" the newcomer exclaimed, soothing her with +tender touches on hair and shoulder. "You are safe now. Quite +safe!" + +"You have come to take me away?" + +"Of course we have!" Diane answered cheerfully, still caressing +her. "We have come to take you to your husband. He has been +searching for you everywhere. He is distracted with grief, +little one." + +"Poor Louis!" ejaculated the wife. + +"Poor Louis, indeed!" the rescuer answered. "But you will see +him soon. We only learned at midnight where you were. You have +to thank M. le Coadjuteur here for that. He brought me the news, +and at once escorted me here to fetch you." + +"And to restore one sister to another," said the priest silkily, +as he advanced a step. He was the very same priest whom I had +seen two hours before with Bezers, and had so greatly disliked! +I hated his pale face as much now as I had then. Even the errand +of good on which he had come could not blind me to his thin- +lipped mouth, to his mock humility and crafty eyes. "I have had +no task so pleasant for many days," added he, with every +appearance of a desire to propitiate. + +But, seemingly, Madame de Pavannes had something of the same +feeling towards him which I had myself; for she started at the +sound of his voice, and disengaging herself from her sister's +arms--it seemed it was her sister--shrank back from the pair. +She bowed indeed in acknowledgment of his words. But there was +little gratitude in the movement, and less warmth. I saw the +sister's face--a brilliantly beautiful face it was--brighter eyes +and lips and more lovely auburn hair I have never seen--even Kit +would have been plain and dowdy beside her--I saw it harden +strangely. A moment before, the two had been in one another's +arms. Now they stood apart, somehow chilled and disillusionised. +The shadow of the priest had fallen upon them--had come between +them. + +At this crisis the fourth person present asserted himself. +Hitherto he had stood silent just within the door: a plain man, +plainly dressed, somewhat over sixty and grey-haired. He looked +disconcerted and embarrassed, and I took him for Mirepoix-- +rightly as it turned out. + +"I am sure," he now exclaimed, his voice trembling with anxiety, +or it might be with fear, "your ladyship will regret leaving +here! You will indeed! No harm would have happened to you. +Madame d'O does not know what she is doing, or she would not take +you away. She does not know what she is doing!" he repeated +earnestly. + +"Madame d'O!" cried the beautiful Diane, her brown eyes darting +fire at the unlucky culprit, her voice full of angry disdain. +"How dare you--such as you--mention my name? Wretch!" + +She flung the last word at him, and the priest took it up. "Ay, +wretch! Wretched man indeed!" he repeated slowly, stretching +out his long thin hand and laying it like the claw of some bird +of prey on the tradesman's shoulder, which flinched, I saw, under +the touch. "How dare you--such as you--meddle with matters of +the nobility? Matters that do not concern you? Trouble! I see +trouble hanging over this house, Mirepoix! Much trouble!" + +The miserable fellow trembled visibly under the covert threat. +His face grew pale. His lips quivered. He seemed fascinated by +the priest's gaze. "I am a faithful son of the church," he +muttered; but his voice shook so that the words were scarcely +audible. "I am known to be such! None better known in Paris, M. +le Coadjuteur." + +"Men are known by their works!" the priest retorted. "Now, +now," he continued, abruptly raising his voice, and lifting his +hand in a kind of exaltation, real or feigned, "is the appointed +time! And now is the day of salvation! and woe, Mirepoix, woe! +woe! to the backslider, and to him that putteth his hand to the +plough and looketh back to-night!" + +The layman cowered and shrank before his fierce denunciation; +while Madame de Pavannes gazed from one to the other as if her +dislike for the priest were so great that seeing the two thus +quarrelling, she almost forgave Mirepoix his offence. "Mirepoix +said he could explain," she murmured irresolutely. + +The Coadjutor fixed his baleful eyes on him. "Mirepoix," he said +grimly, "can explain nothing! Nothing! I dare him to explain!" + +And certainly Mirepoix thus challenged was silent. "Come," the +priest continued peremptorily, turning to the lady who had +entered with him, "your sister must leave with us at once. We +have no time to lose." + +"But what what does it mean!" Madame de Pavannes said, as though +she hesitated even now. "Is there danger still?" + +"Danger!" the priest exclaimed, his form seeming to swell, and +the exaltation I had before read in his voice and manner again +asserting itself. "I put myself at your service, Madame, and +danger disappears! I am as God to-night with powers of life and +death! You do not understand me? Presently you shall. But you +are ready. We will go then. Out of the way, fellow!" he +thundered, advancing upon the door. + +But Mirepoix, who had placed himself with his back to it, to my +astonishment did not give way. His full bourgeois face was pale; +yet peeping through my chink, I read in it a desperate +resolution. And oddly--very oddly, because I knew that, in +keeping Madame de Pavannes a prisoner, he must be in the wrong--I +sympathised with him. Low-bred trader, tool of Pavannes though +he was, I sympathised with him, when he said firmly: + +"She shall not go!" + +"I say she shall!" the priest shrieked, losing all control over +himself. "Fool! Madman! You know not what you do!" As the +words passed his lips, he made an adroit forward movement, +surprised the other, clutched him by the arms, and with a +strength I should never have thought lay in his meagre frame, +flung him some paces into the room. "Fool!" he hissed, shaking +his crooked fingers at him in malignant triumph. "There is no +man in Paris, do you hear--or woman either--shall thwart me to- +night!" + +"Is that so? Indeed?" + +The words, and the cold, cynical voice, were not those of +Mirepoix; they came from behind. The priest wheeled round, as if +he had been stabbed in the back. I clutched Croisette, and +arrested the cramped limb I was moving under cover of the noise. +The speaker was Bezers! He stood in the open door-way, his great +form filling it from post to post, the old gibing smile on his +face. We had been so taken up, actors and audience alike, with +the altercation, that no one had heard him ascend the stairs. He +still wore the black and silver suit, but it was half hidden now +under a dark riding cloak which just disclosed the glitter of his +weapons. He was booted and spurred and gloved as for a journey. + +"Is that so?" he repeated mockingly, as his gaze rested in turn +on each of the four, and then travelled sharply round the room. +"So you will not be thwarted by any man in Paris, to-night, eh? +Have you considered, my dear Coadjutor, what a large number of +people there are in Paris? It would amuse me very greatly now-- +and I'm sure it would the ladies too, who must pardon my abrupt +entrance--to see you put to the test; pitted against--shall we +say the Duke of Anjou? Or M. de Guise, our great man? Or the +Admiral? Say the Admiral foot to foot?" + +Rage and fear--rage at the intrusion, fear of the intruder-- +struggled in the priest's face. "How do you come here, and what +do you want?" he inquired hoarsely. If looks and tones could +kill, we three, trembling behind our flimsy screen, had been +freed at that moment from our enemy. + +"I have come in search of the young birds whose necks you were +for stretching, my friend!" was Bezers' answer. "They have +vanished. Birds they must be, for unless they have come into +this house by that window, they have flown away with wings." + +"They have not passed this way," the priest declared stoutly, +eager only to get rid of the other and I blessed him for the +words! "I have been here since I left you." + +But the Vidame was not one to accept any man's statement. "Thank +you; I think I will see for myself," he answered coolly. +"Madame," he continued, speaking to Madame de Pavannes as he +passed her, "permit me." + +He did not look at her, or see her emotion, or I think he must +have divined our presence. And happily the others did not +suspect her of knowing more than they did. He crossed the floor +at his leisure, and sauntered to the window, watched by them with +impatience. He drew aside the curtain, and tried each of the +bars, and peered through the opening both up and down, An oath +and an expression of wonder escaped him. The bars were standing, +and firm and strong; and it did not occur to him that we could +have passed between them. I am afraid to say how few inches they +were apart. + +As he turned, he cast a casual glance at the bed--at us; and +hesitated. He had the candle in his hand, having taken it to the +window the better to examine the bars; and it obscured his sight. +He did not see us. The three crouching forms, the strained white +faces, the starting eyes, that lurked in the shadow of the +curtain escaped him. The wild beating of our hearts did not +reach his ears. And it was well for him that it was so. If he +had come up to the bed I think that we should have killed him, I +know that we should have tried. All the blood in me had gone to +my head, and I saw him through a haze--larger than life. The +exact spot near the buckle of his cloak where I would strike him, +downwards and inwards, an inch above the collar-bone,--this only +I saw clearly. I could not have missed it. But he turned away, +his face darkening, and went back to the group near the door, and +never knew the risk he had run. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MADAME'S FRIGHT. + +And we breathed again. The agony of suspense, which Bezers' +pause had created, passed away. But the night already seemed to +us as a week of nights. An age of experience, an aeon of +adventures cut us off--as we lay shaking behind the curtain--from +Caylus and its life. Paris had proved itself more treacherous +than we had even expected to find it. Everything and everyone +shifted, and wore one face one minute, and one another. We had +come to save Pavannes' life at the risk of our own; we found him +to be a villain! Here was Mirepoix owning himself a treacherous +wretch, a conspirator against a woman; we sympathised with him. +The priest had come upon a work of charity and rescue; we loathed +the sound of his voice, and shrank from him, we knew not why, +seeming only to read a dark secret, a gloomy threat in each +doubtful word he uttered. He was the strangest enigma of all. +Why did we fear him? Why did Madame de Pavannes, who apparently +had known him before, shudder at the touch of his hand? Why did +his shadow come even between her and her sister, and estrange +them? so that from the moment Pavannes' wife saw him standing by +Diane's side, she forgot that the latter had come to save, and +looked on her in doubt and sorrow, almost with repugnance. + +We left the Vidame going back to the fireplace. He stooped to +set down the candle by the hearth. "They are not here," he said, +as he straightened himself again, and looked curiously at his +companions. He had apparently been too much taken up with the +pursuit to notice them before. "That is certain, so I have the +less time to lose," he continued. "But I would--yes, my dear +Coadjutor, I certainly would like to know before I go, what you +are doing here. Mirepoix--Mirepoix is an honest man. I did not +expect to find you in HIS house. And two ladies? Two! Fie, +Coadjutor. Ha! Madame d'O, is it? My dear lady," he continued, +addressing her in a whimsical tone, "do not start at the sound of +your own name! It would take a hundred hoods to hide your eyes, +or bleach your lips to the common colour; I should have known you +at once, had I looked at you. And your companion? Pheugh!" + +He broke off, whistling softly. It was clear that he recognised +Madame de Pavannes, and recognised her with astonishment. The +bed creaked as I craned my neck to see what would follow. Even +the priest seemed to think that some explanation was necessary, +for he did not wait to be questioned. + +"Madame de Pavannes," he said in a dry, husky voice, and without +looking up, "was spirited hither yesterday; and detained against +her will by this good man, who will have to answer for it. +Madame d'O discovered her whereabouts, and asked me to escort her +here without loss of time to enforce her sister's release." + +"And her restoration to her distracted husband?" + +"Just so," the priest assented, acquiring confidence, I thought. + +"And Madame desires to go?" + +"Surely! Why not?" + +"Well," the Vidame drawled, his manner such as to bring the blood +to Madame de Pavannes' cheek, "it depends on the person who--to +use your phrase, M. le Coadjuteur--spirited her hither." + +"And that," Madame herself retorted, raising her head, while her +voice quivered with indignation and anger, "was the Abbess of the +Ursulines. Your suspicions are base, worthy of you and unworthy +of me, M. le Vidame! Diane!" she continued sharply, taking her +sister's arm, and casting a disdainful glance at Bezers, "let us +go. I want to be with my husband. I am stifled in this room." + +"We are going, little one," Diane murmured reassuringly. But I +noticed that the speaker's animation, which had been as a soul to +her beauty when she entered the room, was gone. A strange +stillness was it fear of the Vidame? had taken its place. + +"The Abbess of the Ursulines?" Bezers continued thoughtfully. +"SHE brought you here, did she?" There was surprise, genuine +surprise, in his voice. "A good soul, and, I think I have heard, +a friend of yours. Umph!" + +"A very dear friend," Madame answered stiffly. "Now, Diane!" + +"A dear friend! And she spirited you hither yesterday!" +commented the Vidame, with the air of one solving an anagram. +"And Mirepoix detained you; respectable Mirepoix, who is said to +have a well-filled stocking under his pallet, and stands well +with the bourgeoisie. He is in the plot. Then at a very late +hour, your affectionate sister, and my good friend the Coadjutor, +enter to save you. From what?" + +No one spoke. The priest looked down, his cheeks livid with +anger. + +"From what?" Bezers continued with grim playfulness. "There is +the mystery. From the clutches of this profligate Mirepoix, I +suppose. From the dangerous Mirepoix. Upon my honour," with a +sudden ring of resolution in his tone, "I think you are safer +here; I think you had better stay where you are, Madame, until +morning! And risk Mirepoix!" + +"Oh, no! no!" Madame cried vehemently. + +"Oh, yes! yes!" he replied. "What do you say, Coadjutor? Do +you not think so?" + +The priest looked down sullenly. His voice shook as he murmured +in answer, "Madame will please herself. She has a character, M. +le Vidame. But if she prefer to stay here--well!" + +"Oh, she has a character, has she?" rejoined the giant, his eyes +twinkling with evil mirth, "and she should go home with you, and +my old friend Madame d'O, to save it! That is it, is it? No, +no," he continued when he had had his silent laugh out, "Madame +de Pavannes will do very well here--very well here until morning. +We have work to do. Come. Let us go and do it." + +"Do you mean it?" said the priest, starting and looking up with +a subtle challenge--almost a threat--in his tone. + +"Yes, I do." + +Their eyes met: and seeing their looks, I chuckled, nudging +Croisette. No fear of their discovering us now. I recalled the +old proverb which says that when thieves fall out, honest men +come by their own, and speculated on the chance of the priest +freeing us once for all from M. de Bezers. + +But the two were ill-matched. The Vidame could have taken up the +other with one hand and dashed his head on the floor. And it did +not end there. I doubt if in craft the priest was his equal. +Behind a frank brutality Bezers--unless his reputation belied +him--concealed an Italian intellect. Under a cynical +recklessness he veiled a rare cunning and a constant suspicion; +enjoying in that respect a combination of apparently opposite +qualities, which I have known no other man to possess in an equal +degree, unless it might be his late majesty, Henry the Great. A +child would have suspected the priest; a veteran might have been +taken in by the Vidame. + +And indeed the priest's eyes presently sank. "Our bargain is to +go for nothing?" he muttered sullenly. + +"I know of no bargain," quoth the Vidame. "And I have no time to +lose, splitting hairs here. Set it down to what you like. Say +it is a whim of mine, a fad, a caprice. Only understand that +Madame de Pavannes stays. We go. And--" he added this, as a +sudden thought seemed to strike him, "though I would not +willingly use compulsion to a lady, I think Madame d'O had better +come too." + +"You speak masterfully," the priest said with a sneer, forgetting +the tone he had himself used a few minutes before to Mirepoix. + +"Just so. I have forty horsemen over the way," was the dry +answer. "For the moment, I am master of the legions, Coadjutor." + +"That is true," Madame d'O said; so softly that I started. She +had scarcely spoken since Bezers' entrance. As she spoke now, +she shook back the hood from her face and disclosed the chestnut +hair clinging about her temples--deep blots of colour on the +abnormal whiteness of her skin, "That is true, M. de Bezers," she +said. "You have the legions. You have the power. But you will +not use it, I think, against an old friend. You will not do us +this hurt when I--But listen." + +He would not. In the very middle of her appeal he cut her short +--brute that he was! "No Madame!" he burst out violently, +disregarding the beautiful face, the supplicating glance, that +might have moved a stone, "that is just what I will not do. I +will not listen! We know one another. Is not that enough?" + +She looked at him fixedly. He returned her gaze, not smiling +now, but eyeing her with a curious watchfulness. + +And after a long pause she turned from him. "Very well," she +said softly, and drew a deep, quivering breath, the sound of +which reached us. "Then let us go." And without--strangest +thing of all--bestowing a word or look on her sister, who was +weeping bitterly in a chair, she turned to the door and led the +way out, a shrug of her shoulders the last thing I marked. + +The poor lady heard her departing step however, +and sprang up. It dawned upon her that she was being deserted. +"Diane! Diane!" she cried distractedly--and I had to put my +hand on Croisette to keep him quiet, there was such fear and pain +in her tone--"I will go! I will not be left behind in this +dreadful place! Do you hear? Come back to me, Diane!" + +It made my blood run wildly. But Diane did not come back. +Strange! And Bezers too was unmoved. He stood between the poor +woman and the door, and by a gesture bid Mirepoix and the priest +pass out before him. "Madame," he said--and his voice, stern and +hard as ever, expressed no jot of compassion for her, rather such +an impatient contempt as a puling child might elicit--"you are +safe here. And here you will stop! Weep if you please," he +added cynically, "you will have fewer tears to shed to-morrow." + +His last words--they certainly were odd ones--arrested her +attention. She checked her sobs, being frightened I think, and +looked up at him. Perhaps he had spoken with this in view, for +while she still stood at gaze, her hands pressed to her bosom, he +slipped quickly out and closed the door behind him. I heard a +muttering for an instant outside, and then the tramp of feet +descending the stairs. They were gone, and we were still +undiscovered. + +For Madame, she had clean forgotten our presence--of that I am +sure--and the chance of escape we might afford. On finding +herself alone she gazed a short time in alarmed silence at the +door, and then ran to the window and peered out, still trembling, +terrified, silent. So she remained a while. + +She had not noticed that Bezers on going out had omitted to lock +the door behind him. I had. But I was unwilling to move +hastily. Some one might return to see to it before the Vidame +left the house. And besides the door was not over strong, and if +locked would be no obstacle to the three of us when we had only +Mirepoix to deal with. So I kept the others where they were by a +nudge and a pinch, and held my breath a moment, straining my ears +to catch the closing of the door below. I did not hear that. +But I did catch a sound that otherwise might have escaped me, but +which now riveted my eyes to the door of our room. Some one in +the silence, which followed the trampling on the stairs, had +cautiously laid a hand on the latch. + +The light in the room was dim. Mirepoix had taken one of the +candles with him, and the other wanted snuffing. I could not see +whether the latch moved; whether or no it was rising. But +watching intently, I made out that the door was being opened-- +slowly, noiselessly. I saw someone enter--a furtive gliding +shadow. + +For a moment I felt nervous--then I recognised the dark hooded +figure. It was only Madame d'O. Brave woman! She had evaded +the Vidame and slipped back to the rescue. Ha, ha! We would +defeat the Vidame yet! Things were going better! + +But then something in her manner--as she stood holding the door +and peering into the room--something in her bearing startled and +frightened me. As she came forward her movements were so +stealthy that her footsteps made no sound. Her dark shadow, +moving ahead of her across the floor, was not more silent than +she. An undefined desire to make a noise, to give the alarm, +seized me. + +Half-way across the room she stopped to listen, and looked round, +startled herself, I think, by the silence. She could not see her +sister, whose figure was blurred by the outlines of the curtain; +and no doubt she was puzzled to think what had become of her. +The suspense which I felt, but did not understand, was so great +that at last I moved, and the bed creaked. + +In a moment her face was turned our way, and she glided forwards, +her features still hidden by the hood of her cloak. She was +close to us now, bending over us. She raised her hand to her +head--to shade her eyes, as she looked more closely, I supposed, +and I was wondering whether she saw us--whether she took the +shapelessness in the shadow of the curtain for her sister, or +could not make it out--I was thinking how we could best apprise +her of our presence without alarming her--when Croisette dashed +my thoughts to the winds! Croisette, with a tremendous whoop and +a crash, bounded over me on to the floor! + +She uttered a gasping cry--a cry of intense, awful fear. I have +the sound in my ears even now. With that she staggered back, +clutching the air. I heard the metallic clang and ring of +something falling on the floor. I heard an answering cry of +alarm from the window; and then Madame de Pavannes ran forward +and caught her in her arms. + +It was strange to find the room lately so silent become at once +alive with whispering forms, as we came hastily to light. I +cursed Croisette for his folly, and was immeasurably angry with +him, but I had no time to waste words on him then. I hurried to +the door to guard it. I opened it a hand's breadth and listened. +All was quiet below; the house still. I took the key out of the +lock and put it in my pocket and went back. Marie and Croisette +were standing a little apart from Madame de Pavannes, who, +hanging over her sister, was by turns bathing her face and +explaining our presence. + +In a very few minutes Madame d'O seemed to recover, and sat up. +The first shock of deadly terror had passed, but she was still +pale. She still trembled, and shrank from meeting our eyes, +though I saw her, when our attention was apparently directed +elsewhere, glance at one and another of us with a strange +intentness, a shuddering curiosity. No wonder, I thought. She +must have had a terrible fright--one that might have killed a +more timid woman! + +"What on earth did you do that for!" I asked Croisette +presently, my anger certainly not decreasing the more I looked at +her beautiful face. "You might have killed her!" + +In charity I supposed his nerves had failed him, for he could not +even now give me a straightforward answer. His only reply was, +"Let us get away! Let us get away from this horrible house!" +and this he kept repeating with a shudder as he moved restlessly +to and fro. + +"With all my heart!" I answered, looking at him with some +contempt. "That is exactly what we are going to do!" + +But all the same his words reminded me of something which in the +excitement of the scene I had momentarily forgotten, and that was +our duty. Pavannes must still be saved, though not for Kit; +rather to answer to us for his sins. But he must be saved! And +now that the road was open, every minute lost was reproach to us. +"Yes," I added roughly, my thoughts turned into a more rugged +channel, "you are right. This is no time for nursing. We must +be going. Madame de Pavannes," I went on, addressing myself to +her, "you know the way home from here--to your house!" "Oh, +yes," she cried. + +"That is well," I answered. "Then we will start. Your sister is +sufficiently recovered now, I think. And we will not risk any +further delay." + +I did not tell her of her husband's danger, or that we suspected +him of wronging her, and being in fact the cause of her +detention. I wanted her services as a guide. That was the main +point, though I was glad to be able to put her in a place of +safety at the same time that we fulfilled our own mission. + +She rose eagerly. "You are sure that we can get out?" she said. + +"Sure," I replied with a brevity worthy of Bezers himself. + +And I was right. We trooped down stairs, making as little noise +as possible; with the result that Mirepoix only took the alarm, +and came upon us when we were at the outer door, bungling with +the lock. Then I made short work of him, checking his scared +words of remonstrance by flashing my dagger before his eyes. I +induced him in the same fashion--he was fairly taken by surprise +--to undo the fastenings himself; and so, bidding him follow us +at his peril, we slipped out one by one. We softly closed the +door behind us. And lo! we were at last free--free and in the +streets of Paris, with the cool night air fanning our brows. A +church hard by tolled the hour of two; and the strokes were +echoed, before we had gone many steps along the ill-paved way, by +the solemn tones of the bell of Notre Dame. + +We were free and in the streets, with a guide who knew the way. +If Bezers had not gone straight from us to his vengeance, we +might thwart him yet. I strode along quickly, Madame d'O by my +side the others a little way in front. Here and there an oil- +lamp, swinging from a pulley in the middle of the road, enabled +us to avoid some obstacle more foul than usual, or to leap over a +pool which had formed in the kennel. Even in my excitement, my +country-bred senses rebelled against the sights, and smells, the +noisome air and oppressive closeness of the streets. + +The town was quiet, and very dark where the smoky lamps were not +hanging. Yet I wondered if it ever slept, for more than once we +had to stand aside to give passage to a party of men, hurrying +along with links and arms. Several times too, especially towards +the end of our walk, I was surprised by the flashing of bright +lights in a courtyard, the door of which stood half open to right +or left. Once I saw the glow of torches reflected ruddily in the +windows of a tall and splendid mansion, a little withdrawn from +the street. The source of the light was in the fore-court, +hidden from us by a low wall, but I caught the murmur of voices +and stir of many feet. Once a gate was stealthily opened and two +armed men looked out, the act and their manner of doing it, +reminding me on the instant of those who had peeped out to +inspect us some hours before in Bezers' house. And once, nay +twice, in the mouth of a narrow alley I discerned a knot of men +standing motionless in the gloom. There was an air of mystery +abroad, a feeling as of solemn stir and preparation going on +under cover of the darkness, which awed and unnerved me. + +But I said nothing of this, and Madame d'O was equally silent. +Like most countrymen I was ready to believe in any exaggeration +of the city's late hours, the more as she made no remark. I +supposed--shaking off the momentary impression--that what I saw +was innocent and normal. Besides, I was thinking what I should +say to Pavannes when I saw him---in what terms I should warn him +of his peril, and cast his perfidy in his teeth. We had hurried +along in this way--and in absolute silence, save when some +obstacle or pitfall drew from us an exclamation--for about a +quarter of a mile, when my companion, turning into a slightly +wider street, slackened her speed, and indicated by a gesture +that we had arrived. A lamp hung over the porch, to which she +pointed, and showed the small side gate half open. We were close +behind the other three now. I saw Croisette stoop to enter and +as quickly fall back a pace. Why? + +In a moment it flashed across my mind that we were too late that +the Vidame had been before us. + +And yet how quiet it all was. + +Then I breathed freely again. I saw that Croisette had only +stepped back to avoid some one who was coming out--the Coadjutor +in fact. The moment the entrance was clear, the lad shot in, and +the others after him, the priest taking no notice of them, nor +they of him. + +I was for going in too, when I felt Madame d'O's hand tighten +suddenly on my arm, and then fall from it. Apprised of something +by this, I glanced at the priest's face, catching sight of it by +chance just as his eyes met hers. His face was white--nay it was +ugly with disappointment and rage, bitter snarling rage, that was +hardly human. He grasped her by the arm roughly and twisted her +round without ceremony, so as to draw her a few paces aside; yet +not so far that I could not hear what they said. + +"He is not here!" he hissed. "Do you understand? He crossed +the river to the Faubourg St. Germain at nightfall--searching for +her. And he has not come back! He is on the other side of the +water, and midnight has struck this hour past!" + +She stood silent for a moment as if she had received a blow-- +silent and dismayed. Something serious had happened. I could +see that. + +"He cannot recross the river now?" she said after a time. "The +gates--" + +"Shut!" he replied briefly. "The keys are at the Louvre." + +"And the boats are on this side?" + +"Every boat!" he answered, striking his one hand on the other +with violence. "Every boat! No one may cross until it is over." + +"And the Faubourg St. Germain?" she said in a lower voice. + +"There will be nothing done there. Nothing!" + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A YOUNG KNIGHT-ERRANT. + +I would gladly have left the two together, and gone straight into +the house. I was eager now to discharge the errand on which I +had come so far; and apart from this I had no liking for the +priest or wish to overhear his talk. His anger, however, was so +patent, and the rudeness with which he treated Madame d'O so +pronounced that I felt I could not leave her with him unless she +should dismiss me. So I stood patiently enough--and awkwardly +enough too, I daresay--by the door while they talked on in +subdued tones. Nevertheless, I felt heartily glad when at +length, the discussion ending Madame came back to me. I offered +her my arm to help her over the wooden foot of the side gate. +She laid her hand on it, but she stood still. + +"M. de Caylus," she said; and at that stopped. Naturally I +looked at her, and our eyes met. Hers brown and beautiful, +shining in the light of the lamp overhead looked into mine. Her +lips were half parted, and one fair tress of hair had escaped +from her hood. "M. de Caylus, will you do me a favour," she +resumed, softly, "a favour for which I shall always be grateful?" + +I sighed. "Madame," I said earnestly, for I felt the solemnity +of the occasion, "I swear that in ten minutes, if the task I now +have in hand be finished I will devote my life to your service. +For the present--" + +"Well, for the present? But it is the present I want, Master +Discretion." + +"I must see M. de Pavannes! I am pledged to it," I ejaculated. + +"To see M. de Pavannes?" + +"Yes." + +I was conscious that she was looking at me with eyes of doubt, +almost of suspicion. + +"Why? Why?" she asked with evident surprise. "You have +restored--and nearly frightened me to death in doing it--his wife +to her home; what more do you want with him, most valiant knight- +errant?" + +"I must see him," I said firmly. I would have told her all and +been thankful, but the priest was within hearing--or barely out +of it; and I had seen too much pass between him and Bezers to be +willing to say anything before him. + +"You must see M. de Pavannes?" she repeated, gazing at me. + +"I must," I replied with decision. + +"Then you shall. That is exactly what I am going to help you to +do," she exclaimed. "He is not here. That is what is the +matter. He went out at nightfall seeking news of his wife, and +crossed the river, the Coadjutor says, to the Faubourg St. +Germain. Now it is of the utmost importance that he should +return before morning--return here." + +"But is he not here?" I said, finding all my calculations at +fault. "You are sure of it, Madame?" + +"Quite sure," she answered rapidly. "Your brothers will have by +this time discovered the fact. Now, M. de Caylus, Pavannes must +be brought here before morning, not only for his wife's sake-- +though she will be wild with anxiety--but also--" + +"I know," I said, eagerly interrupting her, "for his own too! +There is a danger threatening him." + +She turned swiftly, as if startled, and I turned, and we looked +at the priest. I thought we understood one another. "There is," +she answered softly, "and I would save him from that danger; but +he will only be safe, as I happen to know, here! Here, you +understand! He must be brought here before daybreak, M. de +Caylus. He must! He must!" she exclaimed, her beautiful +features hardening with the earnestness of her feelings. "And +the Coadjutor cannot go. I cannot go. There is only one man who +can save him, and that is yourself. There is, above all, not a +moment to be lost." + +My thoughts were in a whirl. Even as she spoke she began to walk +back the way we had come, her hand on my arm; and I, doubtful, +and in a confused way unwilling, went with her. I did not +clearly understand the position. I would have wished to go in +and confer with Marie and Croisette; but the juncture had +occurred so quickly, and it might be that time was as valuable as +she said, and--well, it was hard for me, a lad, to refuse her +anything when she looked at me with appeal in her eyes. I did +manage to stammer, "But I do not know Paris. I could not find +my way, I am afraid, and it is night, Madame." + +She released my arm and stopped. "Night!" she cried, with a +scornful ring in her voice. "Night! I thought you were a man, +not a boy! You are afraid!" + +"Afraid," I said hotly; "we Cayluses are never afraid." + +"Then I can tell you the way, if that be your only difficulty. +We turn here. Now, come in with me a moment," she continued, +"and I will give you something you will need--and your +directions." + +She had stopped at the door of a tall, narrow house, standing +between larger ones in a street which appeared to me to be more +airy and important than any I had yet seen. As she spoke, she +rang the bell once, twice, thrice. The silvery tinkle had +scarcely died away the third time before the door opened +silently; I saw no one, but she drew me into a narrow hall or +passage. A taper in an embossed holder was burning on a chest. +She took it up, and telling me to follow her led the way lightly +up the stairs, and into a room, half-parlour, half-bedroom--such +a room as I had never seen before. It was richly hung from +ceiling to floor with blue silk, and lighted by the soft rays of +lamps shaded by Venetian globes of delicate hues. The scent of +cedar wood was in the air, and on the hearth in a velvet tray +were some tiny puppies. A dainty disorder reigned everywhere. +On one table a jewel-case stood open, on another lay some lace +garments, two or three masks and a fan. A gemmed riding-whip and +a silver-hilted poniard hung on the same peg. And, strangest of +all, huddled away behind the door, I espied a plain, black- +sheathed sword, and a man's gauntlets. + +She did not wait a moment, but went at once to the jewel-case. +She took from it a gold ring--a heavy seal ring. She held this +out to me in the most matter-of-fact way--scarcely turning, in +fact. "Put it on your finger," she said hurriedly. "If you are +stopped by soldiers, or if they will not give you a boat to cross +the river, say boldly that you are on the king's service. Call +for the officer and show that ring. Play the man. Bid him stop +you at his peril!" + +I hastily muttered my thanks, and she as hastily took something +from a drawer, and tore it into strips. Before I knew what she +was doing she was on her knees by me, fastening a white band of +linen round my left sleeve. Then she took my cap, and with the +same precipitation fixed a fragment of the stuff in it, in the +form of a rough cross. + +"There," she said. "Now, listen, M. de Caylus. There is more +afoot to-night than you know of. Those badges will help you +across to St. Germain, but the moment you land tear them off: +Tear them off, remember. They will help you no longer. You will +come back by the same boat, and will not need them. If you are +seen to wear them as you return, they will command no respect, +but on the contrary will bring you--and perhaps me into trouble." + +"I understand," I said, "but--" + +"You must ask no questions," she retorted, waving one snowy +finger before my eyes. "My knight-errant must have faith in me, +as I have in him; or he would not be here at this time of night, +and alone with me. But remember this also. When you meet +Pavannes do not say you come from me. Keep that in your mind; I +will explain the reason afterwards. Say merely that his wife is +found, and is wild with anxiety about him. If you say anything +as to his danger he may refuse to come. Men are obstinate." + +I nodded a smiling assent, thinking I understood. At the same +time I permitted myself in my own mind a little discretion. +Pavannes was not a fool, and the name of the Vidame--but, +however, I should see. I had more to say to him than she knew +of. Meanwhile she explained very carefully the three turnings I +had to take to reach the river, and the wharf where boats most +commonly lay, and the name of the house in which I should find M. +de Pavannes. + +"He is at the Hotel de Bailli," she said. "And there, I think +that is all." + +"No, not all," I said hardily. "There is one thing I have not +got. And that is a sword!" + +She followed the direction of my eyes, started, and laughed--a +little oddly. But she fetched the weapon. "Take it, and do +not," she urged, "do not lose time. Do not mention me to +Pavannes. Do not let the white badges be seen as you return. +That is really all. And now good luck!" She gave me her hand to +kiss. "Good luck, my knight-errant, good luck--and come back to +me soon!" + +She smiled divinely, as it seemed to me, as she said these last +words, and the same smile followed me down stairs: for she +leaned over the stair-head with one of the lamps in her hand, and +directed me how to draw the bolts. I took one backward glance as +I did so at the fair stooping figure above me, the shining eyes, +and tiny outstretched hand, and then darting into the gloom I +hurried on my way. + +I was in a strange mood. A few minutes before I had been at +Pavannes' door, at the end of our journey; on the verge of +success. I had been within an ace, as I supposed at least, of +executing my errand. I had held the cup of success in my hand. +And it had slipped. Now the conflict had to be fought over +again; the danger to be faced. It would have been no more than +natural if I had felt the disappointment keenly: if I had almost +despaired. + +But it was otherwise--far otherwise. Never had my heart beat +higher or more proudly than as I now hurried through the streets, +avoiding such groups as were abroad in them, and intent only on +observing the proper turnings. Never in any moment of triumph in +after days, in love or war, did anything like the exhilaration, +the energy, the spirit, of those minutes come back to me. I had +a woman's badge in my cap--for the first time--the music of her +voice in my ears. I had a magic ring on my finger: a talisman +on my arm. My sword was at my side again. All round me lay a +misty city of adventures, of danger and romance, full of the +richest and most beautiful possibilities; a city of real +witchery, such as I had read of in stories, through which those +fairy gifts and my right hand should guide me safely. I did not +even regret my brothers, or our separation. I was the eldest. +It was fitting that the cream of the enterprise should be +reserved for me, Anne de Caylus. And to what might it not lead? +In fancy I saw myself already a duke and peer of France--already +I held the baton. + +Yet while I exulted boyishly, I did not forget what I was about. +I kept my eyes open, and soon remarked that the number of people +passing to and fro in the dark streets had much increased within +the last half hour. The silence in which in groups or singly +these figures stole by me was very striking. I heard no +brawling, fighting or singing; yet if it were too late for these +things, why were so many people up and about? I began to count +presently, and found that at least half of those I met wore +badges in their hats and on their arms, similar to mine, and that +they all moved with a businesslike air, as if bound for some +rendezvous. + +I was not a fool, though I was young, and in some matters less +quick than Croisette. The hints which had been dropped by so +many had not been lost on me. "There is more afoot to-night than +you know of!" Madame d'O had said. And having eyes as well as +ears I fully believed it. Something was afoot. Something was +going to happen in Paris before morning. But what, I wondered. +Could it be that a rebellion was about to break out? If so I was +on the king's service, and all was well. I might even be going-- +and only eighteen--to make history! Or was it only a brawl on a +great scale between two parties of nobles? I had heard of such +things happening in Paris. Then--well I did not see how I could +act in that case. I must be guided by events. + +I did not imagine anything else which it could be. That is the +truth, though it may need explanation. I was accustomed only to +the milder religious differences, the more evenly balanced +parties of Quercy, where the peace between the Catholics and +Huguenots had been welcome to all save a very few. I could not +gauge therefore the fanaticism of the Parisian populace, and lost +count of the factor, which made possible that which was going to +happen--was going to happen in Paris before daylight as surely as +the sun was going to rise! I knew that the Huguenot nobles were +present in the city in great numbers, but it did not occur to me +that they could as a body be in danger. They were many and +powerful, and as was said, in favour with the king. They were +under the protection of the King of Navarre--France's brother- +in-law of a week, and the Prince of Conde; and though these +princes were young, Coligny the sagacious admiral was old, and +not much the worse I had learned for his wound. He at least was +high in royal favour, a trusted counsellor. Had not the king +visited him on his sick-bed and sat by him for an hour together? + +Surely, I thought, if there were danger, these men would know of +it. And then the Huguenots' main enemy, Henri le Balafre, the +splendid Duke of Guise, "our great man," and "Lorraine," as the +crowd called him--he, it was rumoured, was in disgrace at court. +In a word these things, to say nothing of the peaceful and joyous +occasion which had brought the Huguenots to Paris, and which +seemed to put treachery out of the question, were more than +enough to prevent me forecasting the event. + +If for a moment, indeed, as I hurried along towards the river, +anything like the truth occurred to me, I put it from me. I say +with pride I put it from me as a thing impossible. For God +forbid--one may speak out the truth these forty years back--God +forbid, say I, that all Frenchmen should bear the blood +guiltiness which came of other than French brains, though French +were the hands that did the work. + +I was not greatly troubled by my forebodings therefore: and the +state of exaltation to which Madame d'O's confidence had raised +my spirits lasted until one of the narrow streets by the Louvre +brought me suddenly within sight of the river. Here faint +moonlight bursting momentarily through the clouds was shining on +the placid surface of the water. The fresh air played upon, and +cooled my temples. And this with the quiet scene so abruptly +presented to me, gave check to my thoughts, and somewhat sobered +me. + +At some distance to my left I could distinguish in the middle of +the river the pile of buildings which crowd the Ile de la Cite, +and could follow the nearer arm of the stream as it swept +landwards of these, closely hemmed in by houses, but unbroken as +yet by the arches of the Pont Neuf which I have lived to see +built. Not far from me on my right--indeed within a stone's +throw--the bulky mass of the Louvre rose dark and shapeless +against the sky. Only a narrow open space--the foreshore-- +separated me from the water; beyond which I could see an +irregular line of buildings, that no doubt formed the Faubourg +St. Germain. + +I had been told that I should find stairs leading down to the +water, and boats moored at the foot of them, at this point. +Accordingly I walked quickly across the open space to a spot, +where I made out a couple of posts set up on the brink-- +doubtless to mark the landing place. + +I had not gone ten paces, however, out of the shadow, before I +chanced to look round, and discerned with an unpleasant eerie +feeling three figures detach themselves from it, and advance in a +row behind me, so as the better to cut off my retreat. I was not +to succeed in my enterprise too easily then. That was clear. +Still I thought it better to act as if I had not seen my +followers, and collecting myself, I walked as quickly as I could +down to the steps. The three were by that time close upon me-- +within striking distance almost. I turned abruptly and +confronted them. + +"Who are you, and what do you want?" I said, eyeing them warily, +my hand on my sword. + +They did not answer, but separated more widely so as to form a +half-circle: and one of them whistled. On the instant a knot of +men started out of the line of houses, and came quickly across +the strip of light towards us. + +The position seemed serious. If I could have run indeed--but I +glanced round, and found escape in that fashion impossible. +There were men crouching on the steps behind me, between me and +the river. I had fallen into a trap. Indeed, there was nothing +for it now but to do as Madame had bidden me, and play the man +boldly. I had the words still ringing in my ears. I had enough +of the excitement I had lately felt still bounding in my veins to +give nerve and daring. I folded my arms and drew myself up. + +"Knaves!" I said, with as much quiet contempt as I could muster, +"you mistake me. You do not know whom you have to deal with. +Get me a boat, and let two of you row me across. Hinder me, and +your necks shall answer for it--or your backs!" + +A laugh and an oath of derision formed the only response, and +before I could add more, the larger group arrived, and joined the +three. + +"Who is it, Pierre?" asked one of these in a matter-of-fact way, +which showed I had not fallen amongst mere thieves. + +The speaker seemed to be the leader of the band. He had a +feather in his bonnet, and I saw a steel corslet gleam under his +cloak, when some one held up a lanthorn to examine me the better. +His trunk-hose were striped with black, white, and green--the +livery as I learned afterwards of Monsieur the King's brother, +the Duke of Anjou, afterwards Henry the Third; then a close +friend of the Duke of Guise, and later his murderer. The captain +spoke with a foreign accent, and his complexion was dark to +swarthiness. His eyes sparkled and flashed like black beads. It +was easy to see that he was an Italian. + +"A gallant young cock enough," the soldier who had whistled +answered; "and not quite of the breed we expected." He held his +lanthorn towards me and pointed to the white badge on my sleeve. +"It strikes me we have caught a crow instead of a pigeon!" + +"How comes this?" the Italian asked harshly, addressing me. +"Who are you? And why do you wish to cross the river at this +time of night, young sir?" + +I acted on the inspiration of the moment. "Play the man boldly!" +Madame had said. I would: and I did with a vengeance. I sprang +forward and seizing the captain by the clasp of his cloak, shook +him violently, and flung him off with all my force, so that he +reeled. "Dog!" I exclaimed, advancing, as if I would seize him +again. "Learn how to speak to your betters! Am I to be stopped +by such sweepings as you? Hark ye, I am on the King's service!" + +He fairly spluttered with rage. "More like the devil's!" he +exclaimed, pronouncing his words abominably, and fumbling vainly +for his weapon. "King's service or no service you do not insult +Andrea Pallavicini!" + +I could only vindicate my daring by greater daring, and I saw +this even as, death staring me in the face, my heart seemed to +stop. The man had his mouth open and his hand raised to give an +order which would certainly have sent Anne de Caylus from the +world, when I cried passionately--it was my last chance, and I +never wished to live more strongly than at that moment--I cried +passionately, "Andrea Pallavicini, if such be your name, look at +that! Look at that!" I repeated, shaking my open hand with the +ring on it before his face, "and then hinder me if you dare! To- +morrow if you have quarterings enough, I will see to your +quarrel! Now send me on my way, or your fate be on your own +head! Disobey--ay, do but hesitate--and I will call on these +very men of yours to cut you down!" + +It was a bold throw, for I staked all on a talisman of which I +did not know the value! To me it was the turn of a die, for I +had had no leisure to look at the ring, and knew no more than a +babe whose it was. But the venture was as happy as desperate. + +Andrea Pallavicini's expression--no pleasant one at the best of +times--changed on the instant. His face fell as he seized my +hand, and peered at the ring long and intently. Then he cast a +quick glance of suspicion at his men, of hatred at me. But I +cared nothing for his glance, or his hatred. I saw already that +he had made up his mind to obey the charm: and that for me was +everything. "If you had shown that to me a little earlier, young +sir, it would, maybe, have been better for both of us," he said, +a surly menace in his voice. And cursing his men for their +stupidity he ordered two of them to unmoor a boat. + +Apparently the craft had been secured with more care than skill, +for to loosen it seemed to be a work of time. Meanwhile I stood +waiting in the midst of the group, anxious and yet exultant; an +object of curiosity, and yet curious myself. I heard the guards +whisper together, and caught such phrases as "It is the Duc +d'Aumale." + +"No, it is not D'Aumale. It is nothing like him." + +"Well, he has the Duke's ring, fool!" + +"The Duke's?" + +"Ay." + +"Then it is all right, God bless him!" This last was uttered +with extreme fervour. + +I was conscious too of being the object of many respectful +glances; and had just bidden the men on the steps below me to be +quick, when I discovered with alarm three figures moving across +the open space towards us, and coming apparently from the same +point from which Pallavicini and his men had emerged. + +In a moment I foresaw danger. "Now be quick there!" I cried +again. But scarcely had I spoken before I saw that it was +impossible to get afloat before these others came up, and I +prepared to stand my ground resolutely. + +The first words, however, with which Pallavicini saluted the new- +comers scattered my fears. "Well, what the foul fiend do you +want?" he exclaimed rudely; and he rapped out half-a-dozen +CORPOS before they could answer him. "What have you brought him +here for, when I left him in the guard-house? Imbeciles!" + +"Captain Pallavicini," interposed the midmost of the three, +speaking with patience--he was a man of about thirty, dressed +with some richness, though his clothes were now disordered as +though by a struggle--"I have induced these good men to bring me +down--" + +"Then," cried the captain, brutally interrupting him, "you have +lost your labour, Monsieur." + +"You do not know me," replied the prisoner with sternness--a +prisoner he seemed to be. "You do not understand that I am a +friend of the Prince of Conde, and that--" + +He would have said more, but the Italian again cut him short. "A +fig for the Prince of Conde!" he cried; "I understand my duty. +You may as well take things easily. You cannot cross, and you +cannot go home, and you cannot have any explanation; except that +it is the King's will! Explanation?" he grumbled, in a lower +tone, "you will get it soon enough, I warrant! Before you want +it!" + +"But there is a boat going to cross," said the other, controlling +his temper by an effort and speaking with dignity. "You told me +that by the King's order no one could cross; and you arrested me +because, having urgent need to visit St. Germain, I persisted. +Now what does this mean, Captain Pallavicini? Others are +crossing. I ask what this means?" + +"Whatever you please, M. de Pavannes," the Italian retorted +contemptuously. "Explain it for yourself!" + +I started as the name struck my ear, and at once cried out in +surprise, "M. de Pavannes!" Had I heard aright? + +Apparently I had, for the prisoner turned to me with a bow. +"Yes, sir," he said with dignity, "I am M. de Pavannes. I have +not the honour of knowing you, but you seem to be a gentleman." +He cast a withering glance at the captain as he said this. +"Perhaps you will explain to me why this violence has been done +to me. If you can, I shall consider it a favour; if not, pardon +me." + +I did not answer him at once, for a good reason--that every +faculty I had was bent on a close scrutiny of the man himself. +He was fair, and of a ruddy complexion. His beard was cut in the +short pointed fashion of the court; and in these respects he bore +a kind of likeness, a curious likeness, to Louis de Pavannes. +But his figure was shorter and stouter. He was less martial in +bearing, with more of the air of a scholar than a soldier. "You +are related to M. Louis de Pavannes?" I said, my heart beginning +to beat with an odd excitement. I think I foresaw already what +was coming. + +"I am Louis de Pavannes," he replied with impatience. + +I stared at him in silence: thinking--thinking--thinking. And +then I said slowly, "You have a cousin of the same name?" + +"I have." + +"He fell prisoner to the Vicomte de Caylus at Moncontour?" + +"He did," he answered curtly. "But what of that, sir?" + +Again I did not answer--at once. The murder was out. I +remembered, in the dim fashion in which one remembers such things +after the event, that I had heard Louis de Pavannes, when we +first became acquainted with him, mention this cousin of the same +name; the head of a younger branch. But our Louis living in +Provence and the other in Normandy, the distance between their +homes, and the troubles of the times had loosened a tie which +their common religion might have strengthened. They had scarcely +ever seen one another. As Louis had spoken of his namesake but +once during his long stay with us, and I had not then foreseen +the connection to be formed between our families, it was no +wonder that in the course of months the chance word had passed +out of my head, and I had clean forgotten the subject of it. +Here however, he was before my eyes, and seeing him; I saw too +what the discovery meant. It meant a most joyful thing! a most +wonderful thing which I longed to tell Croisette and Marie. It +meant that our Louis de Pavannes--my cheek burned for my want of +faith in him--was no villain after all, but such a noble +gentleman as we had always till this day thought him! It meant +that he was no court gallant bent on breaking a country heart for +sport, but Kit's own true lover! And--and it meant more--it +meant that he was yet in danger, and still ignorant of the vow +that unchained fiend Bezers had taken to have his life! In +pursuing his namesake we had been led astray, how sadly I only +knew now! And had indeed lost most precious time. + +"Your wife, M. de Pavannes"--I began in haste, seeing the +necessity of explaining matters with the utmost quickness. "Your +wife is--" + +"Ah, my wife!" he cried interrupting me, with anxiety in his +tone. "What of her? You have seen her!" + +"I have. She is safe at your house in the Rue de St. Merri." + +"Thank Heaven for that!" he replied fervently. Before he could +say more Captain Andrea interrupted us. I could see that his +suspicions were aroused afresh. He pushed rudely between us, and +addressing me said, "Now, young sir, your boat is ready." + +"My boat?" I answered, while I rapidly considered the situation. +Of course I did not want to cross the river now. No doubt +Pavannes---this Pavannes--could guide me to Louis' address. "My +boat?" + +"Yes, it is waiting," the Italian replied, his black eyes roving +from one to the other of us. + +"Then let it wait!" I answered haughtily, speaking with an +assumption of anger. "Plague upon you for interrupting us! I +shall not cross the river now. This gentleman can give me the +information I want. I shall take him back with me." + +"To whom?" + +"To whom? To those who sent me, sirrah!" + +I thundered. "You do not seem to be much in the Duke's +confidence, captain," I went on; "now take a word of advice from +me! There is nothing: so easily cast off as an over-officious +servant! He goes too far--and he goes like an old glove! An old +glove," I repeated grimly, sneering in his face, "which saves the +hand and suffers itself. Beware of too much zeal, Captain +Pallavicini! It is a dangerous thing!" + +He turned pale with anger at being thus treated by a beardless +boy. But he faltered all the same. What I said was unpleasant, +but the bravo knew it was true. + +I saw the impression I had made, and I turned to the soldiers +standing round. + +"Bring here, my friends," I said, "M. de Pavannes' sword!" + +One ran up to the guard house and brought it at once. They were +townsfolk, burgher guards or such like, and for some reason +betrayed so evident a respect for me, that I soberly believe they +would have turned on their temporary leader at my bidding. +Pavannes took his sword, and placed it under his arm. We both +bowed ceremoniously to Pallavicini, who scowled in response; and +slowly, for I was afraid to show any signs of haste, we walked +across the moonlit space to the bottom of the street by which I +had come. There the gloom swallowed us up at once. Pavannes +touched my sleeve and stopped in the darkness. + +"I beg to be allowed to thank you for your aid," he said with +emotion, turning and facing me. "Whom have I the honour of +addressing?" + +"M. Anne de Caylus, a friend of your cousin," I replied. + +"Indeed?" he said "well, I thank you most heartily," and we +embraced with warmth. + +"But I could have done little," I answered modestly, "on your +behalf, if it had not been for this ring." + +"And the virtue of the ring lies in--" + +"In--I am sure I cannot say in what!" I confessed. And then, in +the sympathy which the scene had naturally created between us, I +forgot one portion of my lady's commands and I added impulsively, +"All I know is that Madame d'O gave it me; and that it has done +all, and more than all she said it would." + +"Who gave it to you?" he asked, grasping my arm so tightly as to +hurt me. + +"Madame d'O," I repeated. It was too late to draw back now. + +"That woman!" he ejaculated in a strange low whisper. "Is it +possible? That woman gave it you?" + +I wandered what on earth he meant, surprise, scorn and dislike +were so blended in his tone. It even seemed to me that he drew +off from me somewhat. "Yes, M. de Pavannes," I replied, offended +and indignant, "It is so far possible that it is the truth; and +more, I think you would not so speak of this lady if you knew +all; and that it was through her your wife was to-day freed from +those who were detaining her, and taken safely home!" + +"Ha!" he cried eagerly. "Then where has my wife been?" + +"At the house of Mirepoix, the glover," I answered coldly, "in +the Rue Platriere. Do you know him? You do. Well, she was kept +there a prisoner, until we helped her to escape an hour or so +ago." + +He did not seem to comprehend even then. I could see little of +his face, but there was doubt and wonder in his tone when he +spoke. "Mirepoix the glover," he murmured. "He is an honest man +enough, though a Catholic. She was kept there! Who kept her +there?" + +"The Abbess of the Ursulines seems to have been at the bottom of +it," I explained, fretting with impatience. This wonder was +misplaced, I thought; and time was passing. "Madame d'O found +out where she was," I continued, "and took her home, and then +sent me to fetch you, hearing you had crossed the river. That is +the story in brief." + +"That woman sent you to fetch me?" he repeated again. + +"Yes," I answered angrily. "She did, M. de Pavannes." + +"Then," he said slowly, and with an air of solemn conviction +which could not but impress me, "there is a trap laid for me! +She is the worst, the most wicked, the vilest of women! If she +sent you, this is a trap! And my wife has fallen into it +already! Heaven help her--and me--if it be so!" + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE PARISIAN MATINS. + +There are some statements for which it is impossible to be +prepared; statements so strong and so startling that it is +impossible to answer them except by action--by a blow. And this +of M. de Pavannes was one of these. If there had been any one +present, I think I should have given him the lie and drawn upon +him. But alone with him at midnight in the shadow near the +bottom of the Rue des Fosses, with no witnesses, with every +reason to feel friendly towards him, what was I to do? + +As a fact, I did nothing. I stood, silent and stupefied, waiting +to hear more. He did not keep me long. + +"She is my wife's sister," he continued grimly. "But I have no +reason to shield her on that account! Shield her? Had you lived +at court only a month I might shield her all I could, M. de +Caylus, it would avail nothing. Not Madame de Sauves is better +known. And I would not if I could! I know well, though my wife +will not believe it, that there is nothing so near Madame d'O's +heart as to get rid of her sister and me--of both of us--that she +may succeed to Madeleine's inheritance! Oh, yes, I had good +grounds for being nervous yesterday, when my wife did not +return," he added excitedly. + +"But there at least you wrong Madame d'O!" I cried, shocked and +horrified by an accusation, which seemed so much more dreadful in +the silence and gloom--and withal so much less preposterous than +it might have seemed in the daylight. "There you certainly wrong +her! For shame! M. de Pavannes." + +He came a step nearer, and laying a hand on my sleeve peered into +my face. "Did you see a priest with her?" he asked slowly. "A +man called the Coadjutor--a down-looking dog?" + +I said--with a shiver of dread, a sudden revulsion of feeling, +born of his manner--that I had. And I explained the part the +priest had taken. + +"Then," Pavannes rejoined, "I am right There IS a trap laid for +me. The Abbess of the Ursulines! She abduct my wife? Why, she +is her dearest friend, believe me. It is impossible. She would +be more likely to save her from danger than to--umph! wait a +minute." I did: I waited, dreading what he might discover, +until he muttered, checking himself--"Can that be it? Can it be +that the Abbess did know of some danger threatening us, and would +have put Madeleine in a safe retreat? I wonder!" + +And I wondered; and then--well, thoughts are like gunpowder. The +least spark will fire a train. His words were few, but they +formed spark enough to raise such a flare in my brain as for a +moment blinded me, and shook me so that I trembled. The shock +over, I was left face to face with a possibility of wickedness +such as I could never have suspected of myself. I remembered +Mirepoix's distress and the priest's eagerness. I re-called the +gruff warning Bezers--even Bezers, and there was something very +odd in Bezers giving a warning!--had given Madame de Pavannes +when he told her that she would be better where she was. I +thought of the wakefulness which I had marked in the streets, the +silent hurrying to and fro, the signs of coming strife, and +contrasted these with the quietude and seeming safety of +Mirepoix's house; and I hastily asked Pavannes at what time he +had been arrested. + +"About an hour before midnight," he answered. + +"Then you know nothing of what is happening?" I replied quickly. +"Why, even while we are loitering here--but listen!" + +And with all speed, stammering indeed in my haste and anxiety, I +told him what I had noticed in the streets, and the hints I had +heard, and I showed him the badges with which Madame had +furnished me. + +His manner when he had heard me out frightened me still more. He +drew me on in a kind of fury to a house in the windows of which +some lighted candles had appeared not a minute before. + +"The ring!" he cried, "let me see the ring! Whose is it?" + +He held up my hand to this chance light and we looked at the +ring. It was a heavy gold signet, with one curious +characteristic: it had two facets. On one of these was engraved +the letter "H," and above it a crown. On the other was an eagle +with outstretched wings. + +Pavannes let my hand drop and leaned against the wall in sudden +despair. "It is the Duke of Guise's," he muttered. "It is the +eagle of Lorraine." + +"Ha!" said I softly, seeing light. The Duke was the idol then, +as later, of the Parisian populace, and I understood now why the +citizen soldiers had shown me such respect. They had taken me +for the Duke's envoy and confidant. + +But I saw no farther. Pavannes did, and murmured bitterly, "We +may say our prayers, we Huguenots. That is our death-warrant. +To-morrow night there will not be one left in Paris, lad. Guise +has his father's death to avenge, and these cursed Parisians will +do his bidding like the wolves they are! The Baron de Rosny +warned us of this, word for word. I would to Heaven we had taken +his advice!" + +"Stay!" I cried--he was going too fast for me--"stay!" His +monstrous conception, though it marched some way with my own +suspicions, outran them far! I saw no sufficient grounds for it. +"The King--the king would not permit such a thing, M. de +Pavannes," I argued. + +"Boy, you are blind!" he rejoined impatiently, for now he saw +all and I nothing. "Yonder was the Duke of Anjou's captain-- +Monsieur's officer, the follower of France's brother, mark you! +And HE--he obeyed the Duke's ring! The Duke has a free hand to- +night, and he hates us. And the river. Why are we not to cross +the river? The King indeed! The King has undone us. He has +sold us to his brother and the Guises. VA CHASSER L'IDOLE" for +the second time I heard the quaint phrase, which I learned +afterwards was an anagram of the King's name, Charles de Valois, +used by the Protestants as a password--"VA CHASSER L'IDOLE has +betrayed us! I remember the very words he used to the Admiral, +'Now we have got you here we shall not let you go so easily!' +Oh, the traitor! The wretched traitor!" + +He leaned against the wall overcome by the horror of the +conviction which had burst upon him, and unnerved by the +imminence of the peril. At all times he was an unready man, I +fancy, more fit, courage apart, for the college than the field; +and now he gave way to despair. Perhaps the thought of his wife +unmanned him. Perhaps the excitement through which he had +already gone tended to stupefy him, or the suddenness of the +discovery. + +At any rate, I was the first to gather my wits together, and my +earliest impulse was to tear into two parts a white handkerchief +I had in my pouch, and fasten one to his sleeve, the other in his +hat, in rough imitation of the badges I wore myself. + +It will appear from this that I no longer trusted Madame d'O. I +was not convinced, it is true, of her conscious guilt, still I +did not trust her entirely. "Do not wear them on your return," +she had said and that was odd; although I could not yet believe +that she was such a siren as Father Pierre had warned us of, +telling tales from old poets. Yet I doubted, shuddering as I did +so. Her companionship with that vile priest, her strange +eagerness to secure Pavannes' return, her mysterious directions +to me, her anxiety to take her sister home--home, where she would +be exposed to danger, as being in a known Huguenot's house-- +these things pointed to but one conclusion; still that one was so +horrible that I would not, even while I doubted and distrusted +her, I would not, I could not accept it. I put it from me, and +refused to believe it, although during the rest of that night it +kept coming back to me and knocking for admission at my brain. + +All this flashed through my mind while I was fixing on Pavannes' +badges. Not that I lost time about it, for from the moment I +grasped the position as he conceived it, every minute we had +wasted on explanations seemed to me an hour. I reproached myself +for having forgotten even for an instant that which had brought +us to town--the rescue of Kit's lover. We had small chance now +of reaching him in time, misled as we had been by this miserable +mistake in identity. If my companion's fears were well founded, +Louis would fall in the general massacre of the Huguenots, +probably before we could reach him. If ill-founded, still we had +small reason to hope. Bezers' vengeance would not wait. I knew +him too well to think it. A Guise might spare his foe, but the +Vidame--the Vidame never! We had warned Madame de Pavannes it +was true; but that abnormal exercise of benevolence could only, I +cynically thought, have the more exasperated the devil within +him, which now would be ravening like a dog disappointed of its +victuals. + +I glanced up at the line of sky visible between the tall houses, +and lo! the dawn was coming. It wanted scarcely half-an-hour of +daylight, though down in the dark streets about us the night +still reigned. Yes, the morning was coming, bright and hopeful, +and the city was quiet. There were no signs, no sounds of riot +or disorder. Surely, I thought, surely Pavannes must be +mistaken. Either the plot had never existed, that was most +likely, or it had been abandoned, or perhaps--Crack! + +A pistol shot! Short, sharp, ominous it rang out on the instant, +a solitary sound in the night! It was somewhere near us, and I +stopped. I had been speaking to my companion at the moment. +"Where was it?" I cried, looking behind me. + +"Close to us. Near the Louvre," he answered, listening intently. +"See! See! Ah, heavens!" he continued in a voice of despair, +"it was a signal!" + +It was. One, two, three! Before I could count so far, lights +sprang into brightness in the windows of nine out of ten houses +in the short street where we stood, as if lighted by a single +hand. Before too I could count as many more, or ask him what +this meant, before indeed, we could speak or stir from the spot, +or think what we should do, with a hurried clang and clash, as if +brought into motion by furious frenzied hands, a great bell just +above our heads began to boom and whirr! It hurled its notes +into space, it suddenly filled all the silence. It dashed its +harsh sounds down upon the trembling city, till the air heaved, +and the houses about us rocked. It made in an instant a +pandemonium of the quiet night. + +We turned and hurried instinctively from the place, crouching and +amazed, looking upwards with bent shoulders and scared faces. +"What is it? What is it?" I cried, half in resentment; half in +terror. It deafened me. + +"The bell of St. Germain l'Auxerrois!" he shouted in answer. +"The Church of the Louvre. It is as I said. We are doomed!" + +"Doomed? No!" I replied fiercely, for my courage seemed to rise +again on the wave of sound and excitement as if rebounding from +the momentary shock. "Never! We wear the devil's livery, and he +will look after his own. Draw, man, and let him that stops us +look to himself. You know the way. Lead on!" I cried savagely. + +He caught the infection and drew his sword. So we started +boldly, and the result justified my confidence. We looked, no +doubt, as like murderers as any who were abroad that night. +Moving in this desperate guise we hastened up that street and +into another--still pursued by the din and clangour of the bell +--and then a short distance along a third. We were not stopped +or addressed by anyone, though numbers, increasing each moment as +door after door opened, and we drew nearer to the heart of the +commotion, were hurrying in the same direction, side by side with +us; and though in front, where now and again lights gleamed on a +mass of weapons, or on white eager faces, filling some alley from +wall to wall, we heard the roar of voices rising and falling like +the murmur of an angry sea. + +All was blur, hurry, confusion, tumult. Yet I remember, as we +pressed onwards with the stream and part of it, certain sharp +outlines. I caught here and there a glimpse of a pale scared +face at a window, a half-clad form at a door, of the big, +wondering eyes of a child held up to see us pass, of a Christ at +a corner ruddy in the smoky glare of a link, of a woman armed, +and in man's clothes, who walked some distance side by side with +us, and led off a ribald song. I retain a memory of these +things: of brief bursts of light and long intervals of darkness, +and always, as we tramped forwards, my hand on Pavannes' sleeve, +of an ever-growing tumult in front--an ever-rising flood of +noise. + +At last we came to a standstill where a side street ran out of +ours. Into this the hurrying throng tried to wheel, and, unable +to do so, halted, and pressed about the head of the street, which +was already full to overflowing; and so sought with hungry eyes +for places whence they might look down it. Pavannes and I +struggled only to get through the crowd--to get on; but the +efforts of those behind partly aiding and partly thwarting our +own, presently forced us to a position whence we could not avoid +seeing what was afoot. + +The street--this side street was ablaze with light. From end to +end every gable, every hatchment was glowing, every window was +flickering in the glare of torches. It was paved too with faces +--human faces, yet scarcely human--all looking one way, all +looking upward; and the noise, as from time to time this immense +crowd groaned or howled in unison, like a wild beast in its fury, +was so appalling, that I clutched Pavannes' arm and clung to him +in momentary terror. I do not wonder now that I quailed, though +sometimes I have heard that sound since. For there is nothing in +the world so dreadful as that brute beast we call the CANAILLE, +when the chain is off and its cowardly soul is roused. + +Near our end of the street a group of horsemen rising island-like +from the sea of heads, sat motionless in their saddles about a +gateway. They were silent, taking no notice of the rioting +fiends shouting at their girths, but watching in grim quiet what +was passing within the gates. They were handsomely dressed, +although some wore corslets over their satin coats or lace above +buff jerkins. I could even at that distance see the jewels gleam +in the bonnet of one who seemed to be their leader. He was in +the centre of the band, a very young man, perhaps twenty or +twenty-one, of most splendid presence, sitting his horse +superbly. He wore a grey riding-coat, and was a head taller than +any of his companions. There was pride in the very air with +which his horse bore him. + +I did not need to ask Pavannes who he was. I KNEW that he was +the Duke of Guise, and that the house before which he stood was +Coligny's. I knew what was being done there. And in the same +moment I sickened with horror and rage. I had a vision of grey +hairs and blood and fury scarcely human, And I rebelled. I +battled with the rabble about me. I forced my way through them +tooth and nail after Pavannes, intent only on escaping, only on +getting away from there. And so we neither halted nor looked +back until we were clear of the crowd and had left the blaze of +light and the work doing by it some way behind us. + +We found ourselves then in the mouth of an obscure alley which my +companion whispered would bring us to his house; and here we +paused to take breath and look back. The sky was red behind us, +the air full of the clash and din of the tocsin, and the flood of +sounds which poured from every tower and steeple. From the +eastward came the rattle of drums and random shots, and shrieks +of "A BAS COLIGNY!" "A BAS LES HUGUENOTS!" Meanwhile the city +was rising as one man, pale at this dread awakening. From every +window men and women, frightened by the uproar, were craning +their necks, asking or answering questions or hurriedly calling +for and kindling tapers. But as yet the general populace seemed +to be taking no active part in the disorder. + +Pavannes raised his hat an instant as we stood in the shadow of +the houses. "The noblest man in France is dead," he said, softly +and reverently. "God rest his soul! They have had their way +with him and killed him like a dog. He was an old man and they +did not spare him! A noble, and they have called in the CANAILLE +to tear him. But be sure, my friend"--and as the speaker's tone +changed and grew full and proud, his form seemed to swell with +it--"be sure the cruel shall not live out half their days! No. +He that takes the knife shall perish by the knife! And go to his +own place! I shall not see it, but you will!" + +His words made no great impression on me then. My hardihood was +returning. I was throbbing with fierce excitement, and tingling +for the fight. But years afterwards, when the two who stood +highest in the group about Coligny's threshold died, the one at +thirty-eight, the other at thirty-five--when Henry of Guise and +Henry of Valois died within six months of one another by the +assassin's knife--I remembered Pavannes' augury. And remembering +it, I read the ways of Providence, and saw that the very audacity +of which Guise took advantage to entrap Coligny led him too in +his turn to trip smiling and bowing, a comfit box in his hand and +the kisses of his mistress damp on his lips, into a king's +closet--a king's closet at Blois! Led him to lift the curtain-- +ah! to lift the curtain, what Frenchman does not know the tale? +--behind which stood the Admiral! + +To return to our own fortunes; after a hurried glance we resumed +our way, and sped through the alley, holding a brief consultation +as we went. Pavannes' first hasty instinct to seek shelter at +home began to lose its force, and he to consider whether his +return would not endanger his wife. The mob might be expected to +spare her, he argued. Her death would not benefit any private +foes if he escaped. He was for keeping away therefore. But I +would not agree to this. The priest's crew of desperadoes-- +assuming Pavannes' suspicions to be correct--would wait some +time, no doubt, to give the master of the house a chance to +return, but would certainly attack sooner or later out of greed, +if from no other motive. Then the lady's fate would at the best +be uncertain. I was anxious myself to rejoin my brothers, and +take all future chances, whether of saving our Louis, or escaping +ourselves, with them. United we should be four good swords, and +might at least protect Madame de Pavannes to a place of safety, +if no opportunity of succouring Louis should present itself. We +had too the Duke's ring, and this might be of service at a pinch. +"No," I urged, "let us get together. We two will slip in at the +front gate, and bolt and bar it, and then we will all escape in a +body at the back, while they are forcing the gateway." + +"There is no door at the back," he answered, shaking his head. + +"There are windows?" + +"They are too strongly barred. We could not break out in the +time," he explained, with a groan. + +I paused at that, crestfallen. But danger quickened my wits. In +a moment I had another plan, not so hopeful and more dangerous, +yet worth trying I thought, I told him of it, and he agreed to +it. As he nodded assent we emerged into a street, and I saw--for +the grey light of morning was beginning to penetrate between the +houses--that we were only a few yards from the gateway, and the +small door by which I had seen my brothers enter. Were they +still in the house? Were they safe? I had been away an hour at +least. + +Anxious as I was about them, I looked round me very keenly as we +flitted across the road, and knocked gently at the door. I +thought it so likely that we should be fallen upon here, that I +stood on my guard while we waited. But we were not molested. +The street, being at some distance from the centre of the +commotion, was still and empty, with no signs of life apparent +except the rows of heads poked through the windows--all +possessing eyes which watched us heedfully and in perfect +silence. Yes, the street was quite empty: except, ah! except, +for that lurking figure, which, even as I espied it, shot round a +distant angle of the wall, and was lost to sight. + +"There!" I cried, reckless now who might hear me, "knock! knock +louder! never mind the noise. The alarm is given. A score of +people are watching us, and yonder spy has gone off to summon his +friends." + +The truth was my anger was rising. I could bear no longer the +silent regards of all those eyes at the windows. I writhed under +them--cruel, pitiless eyes they were. I read in them a morbid +curiosity, a patient anticipation that drove me wild. Those men +and women gazing on us so stonily knew my companion's rank and +faith. They had watched him riding in and out daily, one of the +sights of their street, gay and gallant; and now with the same +eyes they were watching greedily for the butchers to come. The +very children took a fresh interest in him, as one doomed and +dying; and waited panting for the show to begin. So I read them. + +"Knock!" I repeated angrily, losing all patience. Had I been +foolish in bringing him back to this part of the town where every +soul knew him? "Knock; we must get in, whether or no. They +cannot all have left the house!" + +I kicked the door desperately, and my relief was great when it +opened. A servant with a pale face stood before me, his knees +visibly shaking. And behind him was Croisette. + +I think we fell straightway into one another's arms. + +"And Marie," I cried, "Marie?" + +"Marie is within, and madame," he answered joyfully; "we are +together again and nothing matters, But oh, Anne, where have you +been? And what is the matter? Is it a great fire? Or is the +king dead? Or what is it?" + +I told him. I hastily poured out some of the things which had +happened to me, and some which I feared were in store for others. +Naturally he was surprised and shocked by the latter, though his +fears had already been aroused. But his joy and relief, when he +heard the mystery of Louis de Pavannes' marriage explained, were +so great that they swallowed up all other feelings. He could not +say enough about it. He pictured Louis again and again as Kit's +lover, as our old friend, our companion; as true, staunch, brave +without fear, without reproach: and it was long before his eyes +ceased to sparkle, his tongue to run merrily, the colour to +mantle in his cheeks--long that is as time is counted by minutes. +But presently the remembrance of Louis' danger and our own +position returned more vividly. Our plan for rescuing him had +failed--failed! + +"No! no!" cried Croisette, stoutly. He would not hear of it. +He would not have it at any price. "No, we will not give up +hope! We will go shoulder to shoulder and find him. Louis is as +brave as a lion and as quick as a weasel. We will find him in +time yet. We will go when--I mean as soon as--" + +He faltered, and paused. His sudden silence as he looked round +the empty forecourt in which we stood was eloquent. The cold +light, faint and uncertain yet, was stealing into the court, +disclosing a row of stables on either side, and a tiny porter's +hutch by the gates, and fronting us a noble house of four storys, +tall, grey, grim-looking. + +I assented; gloomily however. "Yes," I said, "we will go when--" + +And I too stopped. The same thought was in my mind. How could +we leave these people? How could we leave madame in her danger +and distress? How could we return her kindness by desertion? We +could not. No, not for Kit's sake. Because after all Louis, our +Louis, was a man, and must take his chance. He must take his +chance. But I groaned. + +So that was settled. I had already explained our plan to +Croisette: and now as we waited he began to tell me a story, a +long, confused story about Madame d'O. I thought he was talking +for the sake of talking--to keep up our spirits--and I did not +attend much to him; so that he had not reached the gist of it, or +at least I had not grasped it, when a noise without stayed his +tongue. It was the tramp of footsteps, apparently of a large +party in the street. It forced him to break off, and promptly +drove us all to our posts. + +But before we separated a slight figure, hardly noticeable in +that dim, uncertain light, passed me quickly, laying for an +instant a soft hand in mine as I stood waiting by the gates. I +have said I scarcely saw the figure, though I did see the kind +timid eyes, and the pale cheeks under the hood; but I bent over +the hand and kissed it, and felt, truth to tell, no more regret +nor doubt where our duty lay. But stood, waiting patiently. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE HEAD OF ERASMUS. + +Waiting, and waiting alone! The gates were almost down now. The +gang of ruffians without, reinforced each moment by volunteers +eager for plunder, rained blows unceasingly on hinge and socket; +and still hotter and faster through a dozen rifts in the timbers +came the fire of their threats and curses. Many grew tired, but +others replaced them. Tools broke, but they brought more and +worked with savage energy. They had shown at first a measure of +prudence; looking to be fired on, and to be resisted by men, +surprised, indeed, but desperate; and the bolder of them only had +advanced. But now they pressed round unchecked, meeting no +resistance. They would scarcely stand back to let the sledges +have swing; but hallooed and ran in on the creaking beams and +beat them with their fists, whenever the gates swayed under a +blow. + +One stout iron bar still held its place. And this I watched as +if fascinated. I was alone in the empty courtyard, standing a +little aside, sheltered by one of the stone pillars from which +the gates hung. Behind me the door of the house stood ajar. +Candles, which the daylight rendered garish, still burned in the +rooms on the first floor, of which the tall narrow windows were +open. On the wide stone sill of one of these stood Croisette, a +boyish figure, looking silently down at me, his hand on the +latticed shutter. He looked pale, and I nodded and smiled at +him. I felt rather anger than fear myself; remembering, as the +fiendish cries half-deafened me, old tales of the Jacquerie and +its doings, and how we had trodden it out. + +Suddenly the din and tumult flashed to a louder note; as when +hounds on the scent give tongue at sight. I turned quickly from +the house, recalled to a sense of the position and peril. The +iron bar was yielding to the pressure. Slowly the left wing of +the gate was sinking inwards. Through the widening chasm I +caught a glimpse of wild, grimy faces and bloodshot eyes, and +heard above the noise a sharp cry from Croisette--a cry of +terror. Then I turned and ran, with a defiant gesture and an +answering yell, right across the forecourt and up the steps to +the door. + +I ran the faster for the sharp report of a pistol behind me, and +the whirr of a ball past my ear. But I was not scared by it: +and as my feet alighted with a bound on the topmost step, I +glanced back. The dogs were halfway across the court. I made a +bungling attempt to shut and lock the great door--failed in this; +and heard behind me a roar of coarse triumph. I waited for no +more. I darted up the oak staircase four steps at a time, and +rushed into the great drawing-room on my left, banging the door +behind me. + +The once splendid room was in a state of strange disorder. Some +of the rich tapestry had been hastily torn down. One window was +closed and shuttered; no doubt Croisette had done it. The other +two were open--as if there had not been time to close them--and +the cold light which they admitted contrasted in ghastly fashion +with the yellow rays of candles still burning in the sconces. +The furniture had been huddled aside or piled into a barricade, a +CHEVAUX DE FRISE of chairs and tables stretching across the width +of the room, its interstices stuffed with, and its weakness +partly screened by, the torn-down hangings. Behind this frail +defence their backs to a door which seemed to lead to an inner +room, stood Marie and Croisette, pale and defiant. The former +had a long pike; the latter levelled a heavy, bell-mouthed +arquebuse across the back of a chair, and blew up his match as I +entered. Both had in addition procured swords. I darted like a +rabbit through a little tunnel left on purpose for me in the +rampart, and took my stand by them. + +"Is all right?" ejaculated Croisette turning to me nervously. + +"All right, I think," I answered. I was breathless. + +"You are not hurt?" + +"Not touched!" + +I had just time then to draw my sword before the assailants +streamed into the room, a dozen ruffians, reeking and tattered, +with flushed faces and greedy, staring eyes. Once inside, +however, suddenly--so suddenly that an idle spectator might have +found the change ludicrous--they came to a stop. Their wild +cries ceased, and tumbling over one another with curses and oaths +they halted, surveying us in muddled surprise; seeing what was +before them, and not liking it. Their leader appeared to be a +tall butcher with a pole-axe on his half-naked shoulder; but +there were among them two or three soldiers in the royal livery +and carrying pikes. They had looked for victims only, having met +with no resistance at the gate, and the foremost recoiled now on +finding themselves confronted by the muzzle of the arquebuse and +the lighted match. + +I seized the occasion. I knew, indeed, that the pause presented +our only chance, and I sprang on a chair and waved my hand for +silence. The instinct of obedience for the moment asserted +itself; there was a stillness in the room. + +"Beware!" I cried loudly--as loudly and confidently as I could, +considering that there was a quaver at my heart as I looked on +those savage faces, which met and yet avoided my eye. "Beware of +what you do! We are Catholics one and all like yourselves, and +good sons of the Church. Ay, and good subjects too! VIVE LE +ROI, gentlemen! God save the King! I say." And I struck the +barricade with my sword until the metal rang again. "God save +the King!" + +"Cry VIVE LA MESSE!" shouted one. + +"Certainly, gentlemen!" I replied, with politeness. "With all +my heart. VIVE LA MESSE! VIVE LA MESSE!" + +This took the butcher, who luckily was still sober, utterly +aback. He had never thought of this. He stared at us as if the +ox he had been about to fell had opened its mouth and spoken, and +grievously at a loss, he looked for help to his companions. + +Later in the day, some Catholics were killed by the mob. But +their deaths as far as could be learned afterwards were due to +private feuds. Save in such cases--and they were few--the cry of +VIVE LA MESSE! always obtained at least a respite: more easily +of course in the earlier hours of the morning when the mob were +scarce at ease in their liberty to kill, while killing still +seemed murder, and men were not yet drunk with bloodshed. + +I read the hesitation of the gang in their faces: and when one +asked roughly who we were, I replied with greater boldness, "I am +M. Anne de Caylus, nephew to the Vicomte de Caylus, Governor, +under the King, of Bayonne and the Landes!" This I said with +what majesty I could. "And these" I continued--"are my brothers. +You will harm us at your peril, gentlemen. The Vicomte, believe +me, will avenge every hair of our heads." + +I can shut my eyes now and see the stupid wonder, the baulked +ferocity of those gaping faces. Dull and savage as the men were +they were impressed; they saw reason indeed, and all seemed going +well for us when some one in the rear shouted, "Cursed whelps! +Throw them over!" + +I looked swiftly in the direction whence the voice came--the +darkest corner of the room the corner by the shuttered window. I +thought I made out a slender figure, cloaked and masked--a +woman's it might be but I could not be certain and beside it a +couple of sturdy fellows, who kept apart from the herd and well +behind their fugleman. + +The speaker's courage arose no doubt from his position at the +back of the room, for the foremost of the assailants seemed less +determined. We were only three, and we must have gone down, +barricade and all, before a rush. But three are three. And an +arquebuse--Croisette's match burned splendidly--well loaded with +slugs is an ugly weapon at five paces, and makes nasty wounds, +besides scattering its charge famously. This, a good many of +them and the leaders in particular, seemed to recognise. We +might certainly take two or three lives: and life is valuable to +its owner when plunder is afoot. Besides most of them had common +sense enough to remember that there were scores of Huguenots +--genuine heretics--to be robbed for the killing, so why go out +of the way, they reasoned, to cut a Catholic throat, and perhaps +get into trouble. Why risk Montfaucon for a whim? and offend a +man of influence like the Vicomte de Caylus, for nothing! + +Unfortunately at this crisis their original design was recalled +to their minds by the same voice behind, crying out, "Pavannes! +Where is Pavannes?" + +"Ay!" shouted the butcher, grasping the idea, and at the same +time spitting on his hands and taking a fresh grip of the axe, +"Show us the heretic dog, and go! Let us at him." + +"M. de Pavannes," I said coolly--but I could not take my eyes off +the shining blade of that man's axe, it was so very broad and +sharp--"is not here!" + +"That is a lie! He is in that room behind you!" the prudent +gentleman in the background called out. "Give him up!" + +"Ay, give him up!" echoed the man of the pole-axe almost good +humouredly, "or it will be the worse for you. Let us have at him +and get you gone!" + +This with an air of much reason, while a growl as of a chained +beast ran through the crowd, mingled with cries of "A MORT LES +HUGUENOTS! VIVE LORRAINE!"--cries which seemed to show that all +did not approve of the indulgence offered us. + +"Beware, gentlemen, beware," I urged, "I swear he is not here! I +swear it, do you hear?" + +A howl of impatience and then a sudden movement of the crowd as +though the rush were coming warned me to temporize no longer. +"Stay! Stay!" I added hastily. "One minute! Hear me! You are +too many for us. Will you swear to let us go safe and untouched, +if we give you passage?" + +A dozen voices shrieked assent. But I looked at the butcher +only. He seemed to be an honest man, out of his profession. + +"Ay, I swear it!" he cried with a nod. + +"By the Mass?" + +"By the Mass." + +I twitched Croisette's sleeve, and he tore the fuse from his +weapon, and flung the gun--too heavy to be of use to us longer-- +to the ground. It was done in a moment. While the mob swept +over the barricade, and smashed the rich furniture of it in +wanton malice, we filed aside, and nimbly slipped under it one by +one. Then we hurried in single file to the end of the room, no +one taking much notice of us. All were pressing on, intent on +their prey. We gained the door as the butcher struck his first +blow on that which we had guarded--on that which we had given up. +We sprang down the stairs with bounding hearts, heard as we +reached the outer door the roar of many voices, but stayed not to +look behind--paused indeed for nothing. Fear, to speak candidly, +lent us wings. In three seconds we had leapt the prostrate +gates, and were in the street. A cripple, two or three dogs, a +knot of women looking timidly yet curiously in, a horse tethered +to the staple--we saw nothing else. No one stayed us. No one +raised a hand, and in another minute we had turned a corner, and +were out of sight of the house. + +"They will take a gentleman's word another time," I said with a +quiet smile as I put up my sword. + +"I would like to see her face at this moment," Croisette replied. +"You saw Madame d'O?" + +I shook my head, not answering. I was not sure, and I had a +queer, sickening dread of the subject. If I had seen her, I had +seen oh! it was too horrible, too unnatural! Her own sister! +Her own brother in-law! + +I hastened to change the subject. "The Pavannes," I made shift +to say, "must have had five minutes' start." + +"More," Croisette answered, "if Madame and he got away at once. +If all has gone well with them, and they have not been stopped in +the streets they should be at Mirepoix's by now. They seemed to +be pretty sure that he would take them in." + +"Ah!" I sighed. "What fools we were to bring madame from that +place! If we had not meddled with her affairs we might have +reached Louis long ago our Louis, I mean." + +"True," Croisette answered softly, "but remember that then we +should not have saved the other Louis as I trust we have. He +would still be in Pallavicini's hands. Come, Anne, let us think +it is all for the best," he added, his face shining with a steady +courage that shamed me. "To the rescue! Heaven will help us to +be in time yet!" + +"Ay, to the rescue!" I replied, catching his spirit. "First to +the right, I think, second to the left, first on the right again. +That was the direction given us, was it not? The house opposite +a book-shop with the sign of the Head of Erasmus. Forward, boys! +We may do it yet." + +But before I pursue our fortunes farther let me explain. The +room we had guarded so jealously was empty! The plan had been +mine and I was proud of it. For once Croisette had fallen into +his rightful place. My flight from the gate, the vain attempt to +close the house, the barricade before the inner door--these were +all designed to draw the assailants to one spot. Pavannes and +his wife--the latter hastily disguised as a boy--had hidden +behind the door of the hutch by the gates--the porter's hutch, +and had slipped out and fled in the first confusion of the +attack. + +Even the servants, as we learned afterwards, who had hidden +themselves in the lower parts of the house got away in the same +manner, though some of them--they were but few in all were +stopped as Huguenots and killed before the day ended. I had the +more reason to hope that Pavannes and his wife would get clear +off, inasmuch as I had given the Duke's ring to him, thinking it +might serve him in a strait, and believing that we should have +little to fear ourselves once clear of his house; unless we +should meet the Vidame indeed. + +We did not meet him as it turned out; but before we had traversed +a quarter of the distance we had to go we found that fears based +on reason were not the only terrors we had to resist. Pavannes' +house, where we had hitherto been, stood at some distance from +the centre of the blood-storm which was enwrapping unhappy Paris +that morning. It was several hundred paces from the Rue de +Bethisy where the Admiral lived, and what with this comparative +remoteness and the excitement of our own little drama, we had not +attended much to the fury of the bells, the shots and cries and +uproar which proclaimed the state of the city. We had not +pictured the scenes which were happening so near. Now in the +streets the truth broke upon us, and drove the blood from our +cheeks. A hundred yards, the turning of a corner, sufficed. We +who but yesterday left the country, who only a week before were +boys, careless as other boys, not recking of death at all, were +plunged now into the midst of horrors I cannot describe. And the +awful contrast between the sky above and the things about us! +Even now the lark was singing not far from us; the sunshine was +striking the topmost storeys of the houses; the fleecy clouds +were passing overhead, the freshness of a summer morning was-- + +Ah! where was it? Not here in the narrow lanes surely, that +echoed and re-echoed with shrieks and curses and frantic prayers: +in which bands of furious men rushed up and down, and where +archers of the guard and the more cruel rabble were breaking in +doors and windows, and hurrying with bloody weapons from house to +house, seeking, pursuing, and at last killing in some horrid +corner, some place of darkness--killing with blow on blow dealt +on writhing bodies! Not here, surely, where each minute a child, +a woman died silently, a man snarling like a wolf--happy if he +had snatched his weapon and got his back to the wall: where foul +corpses dammed the very blood that ran down the kennel, and +children--little children--played with them! + +I was at Cahors in 1580 in the great street fight; and there +women were killed, I was with Chatillon nine years later, when he +rode through the Faubourgs of Paris, with this very day and his +father Coligny in his mind, and gave no quarter. I was at +Courtas and Ivry, and more than once have seen prisoners led out +to be piked in batches--ay, and by hundreds! But war is war, and +these were its victims, dying for the most part under God's +heaven with arms in their hands: not men and women fresh roused +from their sleep. I felt on those occasions no such horror, I +have never felt such burning pity and indignation as on the +morning I am describing, that long-past summer morning when I +first saw the sun shining on the streets of Paris. Croisette +clung to me, sick and white, shutting his eyes and ears, and +letting me guide him as I would. Marie strode along on the other +side of him, his lips closed, his eyes sinister. Once a soldier +of the guard whose blood-stained hands betrayed the work he had +done, came reeling--he was drunk, as were many of the butchers-- +across our path, and I gave way a little. Marie did not, but +walked stolidly on as if he did not see him, as if the way were +clear, and there were no ugly thing in God's image blocking it. + +Only his hand went as if by accident to the haft of his dagger. +The archer--fortunately for himself and for us too--reeled clear +of us. We escaped that danger. But to see women killed and pass +by--it was horrible! So horrible that if in those moments I had +had the wishing-cap, I would have asked but for five thousand +riders, and leave to charge with them through the streets of +Paris! I would have had the days of the Jacquerie back again, +and my men-at-arms behind me! + +For ourselves, though the orgy was at its height when we passed, +we were not molested. We were stopped indeed three times--once +in each of the streets we traversed--by different bands of +murderers. But as we wore the same badges as themselves, and +cried "VIVE LA MESSE!" and gave our names, we were allowed to +proceed. I can give no idea of the confusion and uproar, and I +scarcely believe myself now that we saw some of the things we +witnessed. Once a man gaily dressed, and splendidly mounted, +dashed past us, waving his naked sword and crying in a frenzied +way "Bleed them! Bleed them! Bleed in May, as good to-day!" +and never ceased crying out the same words until he passed beyond +our hearing. Once we came upon the bodies of a father and two +sons, which lay piled together in the kennel; partly stripped +already. The youngest boy could not have been more than thirteen, +I mention this group, not as surpassing others in pathos, but +because it is well known now that this boy, Jacques Nompar de +Caumont, was not dead, but lives to-day, my friend the Marshal de +la Force. + +This reminds me too of the single act of kindness we were able to +perform. We found ourselves suddenly, on turning a corner, amid +a gang of seven or eight soldiers, who had stopped and surrounded +a handsome boy, apparently about fourteen. He wore a scholar's +gown, and had some books under his arm, to which he clung firmly +--though only perhaps by instinct--notwithstanding the furious +air of the men who were threatening him with death. They were +loudly demanding his name, as we paused opposite them. He either +could not or would not give it, but said several times in his +fright that he was going to the College of Burgundy. Was he a +Catholic? they cried. He was silent. With an oath the man who +had hold of his collar lifted up his pike, and naturally the lad +raised the books to guard his face. A cry broke from Croisette. +We rushed forward to stay the blow. + +"See! see!" he exclaimed loudly, his voice arresting the man's +arm in the very act of falling. "He has a Mass Book! He has a +Mass Book! He is not a heretic! He is a Catholic!" + +The fellow lowered his weapon, and sullenly snatched the books. +He looked at them stupidly with bloodshot wandering eyes, the red +cross on the vellum bindings, the only thing he understood. But +it was enough for him; he bid the boy begone, and released him +with a cuff and an oath. + +Croisette was not satisfied with this, though I did not +understand his reason; only I saw him exchange a glance with the +lad. "Come, come!" he said lightly. "Give him his books! You +do not want them!" + +But on that the men turned savagely upon us. They did not thank +us for the part we had already taken; and this they thought was +going too far. They were half drunk and quarrelsome, and being +two to one, and two over, began to flourish their weapons in our +faces. Mischief would certainly have been done, and very +quickly, had not an unexpected ally appeared on our side. + +"Put up! put up!" this gentleman cried in a boisterous voice-- +he was already in our midst. "What is all this about? What is +the use of fighting amongst ourselves, when there is many a bonny +throat to cut, and heaven to be gained by it! put up, I say!" + +"Who are you?" they roared in chorus. + +"The Duke of Guise!" he answered coolly. "Let the gentlemen go, +and be hanged to you, you rascals!" + +The man's bearing was a stronger argument than his words, for I +am sure that a stouter or more reckless blade never swaggered in +church or street. I knew him instantly, and even the crew of +butchers seemed to see in him their master. They hung back a few +curses at him, but having nothing to gain they yielded. They +threw down the books with contempt--showing thereby their sense +of true religion; and trooped off roaring, "TUES! TUES! Aux +Huguenots!" at the top of their voices. + +The newcomer thus left with us was Bure--Blaise Bure--the same +who only yesterday, though it seemed months and months back, had +lured us into Bezers' power. Since that moment we had not seen +him. Now he had wiped off part of the debt, and we looked at +him, uncertain whether to reproach him or no. He, however, was +not one whit abashed, but returned our regards with a not +unkindly leer. + +"I bear no malice, young gentlemen," he said impudently. + +"No, I should think not," I answered. + +"And besides, we are quits now," the knave continued. + +"You are very kind," I said. + +"To be sure. You did me a good turn once," he answered, much to +my surprise. He seemed to be in earnest now. "You do not +remember it, young gentleman, but it was you and your brother +here"--he pointed to Croisette--"did it! And by the Pope and the +King of Spain I have not forgotten it!" + +"I have," I said. + +"What! You have forgotten spitting that fellow at Caylus ten +days ago? CA! SA! You remember. And very cleanly done, too! +A pretty stroke! Well, M. Anne, that was a clever fellow, a very +clever fellow. He thought so and I thought so, and what was more +to the purpose the most noble Raoul de Bezers thought so too. +You understand!" + +He leered at me and I did understand. I understood that +unwittingly I had rid Blaise Bure of a rival. This accounted for +the respectful, almost the kindly way in which he had--well, +deceived us. + +"That is all," he said. "If you want as much done for you, let +me know. For the present, gentlemen, farewell!" + +He cocked his hat fiercely, and went off at speed the way we had +ourselves been going; humming as he went, + + "Ce petit homme tant joli, + Qui toujours cause et toujours rit, + Qui toujours baise sa mignonne + Dieu gard' de mal ce petit homme!" + +His reckless song came back to us on the summer breeze. We +watched him make a playful pass at a corpse which some one had +propped in ghastly fashion against a door--and miss it--and go on +whistling the same air--and then a corner hid him from view. + +We lingered only a moment ourselves; merely to speak to the boy +we had befriended. + +"Show the books if anyone challenges you," said Croisette to him +shrewdly. Croisette was so much of a boy himself, with his fair +hair like a halo about his white, excited face, that the picture +of the two, one advising the other, seemed to me a strangely +pretty one. "Show the books and point to the cross on them. And +Heaven send you safe to your college." + +"I would like to know your name, if you please," said the boy. +His coolness and dignity struck me as admirable under the +circumstances. "I am Maximilian de Bethune, son of the Baron de +Rosny." + +"Then," said Croisette briskly, "one good turn has deserved +another. Your father, yesterday, at Etampes--no it was the day +before, but we have not been in bed--warned us--" + +He broke off suddenly; then cried, "Run! run!" + +The boy needed no second warning indeed. He was off like the +wind down the street, for we had seen and so had he, the stealthy +approach of two or three prowling rascals on the look out for a +victim. They caught sight of him and were strongly inclined to +follow him; but we were their match in numbers. The street was +otherwise empty at the moment: and we showed them three +excellent reasons why they should give him a clear start. + +His after adventures are well-known: for he, too, lives. He was +stopped twice after he left us. In each case he escaped by +showing his book of offices. On reaching the college the porter +refused to admit him, and he remained for some time in the open +street exposed to constant danger of losing his life, and knowing +not what to do. At length he induced the gatekeeper, by the +present of some small pieces of money, to call the principal of +the college, and this man humanely concealed him for three days. +The massacre being then at an end, two armed men in his father's +pay sought him out and restored him to his friends. So near was +France to losing her greatest minister, the Duke de Sully. + +To return to ourselves. The lad out of sight, we instantly +resumed our purpose, and trying to shut our eyes and ears to the +cruelty, and ribaldry, and uproar through which we had still to +pass, we counted our turnings with a desperate exactness, intent +only on one thing--to reach Louis de Pavannes, to reach the house +opposite to the Head of Erasmus, as quickly as we could. We +presently entered a long, narrow street. At the end of it the +river was visible gleaming and sparkling in the sunlight. The +street was quiet; quiet and empty. There was no living soul to +be seen from end to end of it, only a prowling dog. The noise of +the tumult raging in other parts was softened here by distance +and the intervening houses. We seemed to be able to breathe more +freely. + +"This should be our street," said Croisette. + +I nodded. At the same moment I espied, half-way down it, the +sign we needed and pointed to it, But ah! were we in time? Or +too late? That was the question. By a single impulse we broke +into a run, and shot down the roadway at speed. A few yards +short of the Head of Erasmus we came, one by one, Croisette +first, to a full stop. A full stop! + +The house opposite the bookseller's was sacked! gutted from top +to bottom. It was a tall house, immediately fronting the street, +and every window in it was broken. The door hung forlornly on +one hinge, glaring cracks in its surface showing where the axe +had splintered it. Fragments of glass and ware, hung out and +shattered in sheer wantonness, strewed the steps: and down one +corner of the latter a dark red stream trickled--to curdle by and +by in the gutter. Whence came the stream? Alas! there was +something more to be seen yet, something our eyes instinctively +sought last of all. The body of a man. + +It lay on the threshold, the head hanging back, the wide glazed +eyes looking up to the summer sky whence the sweltering heat +would soon pour down upon it. We looked shuddering at the face. +It was that of a servant, a valet who had been with Louis at +Caylus. We recognised him at once for we had known and liked +him. He had carried our guns on the hills a dozen times, and +told us stories of the war. The blood crawled slowly from him. +He was dead. + +Croisette began to shake all over. He clutched one of the +pillars, which bore up the porch, and pressed his face against +its cold surface, hiding his eyes from the sight. The worst had +come. In our hearts I think we had always fancied some accident +would save our friend, some stranger warn him. + +"Oh, poor, poor Kit!" Croisette cried, bursting suddenly into +violent sobs. "Oh, Kit! Kit!" + + + +CHAPTER X. + +HAU, HAU, HUGUENOTS! + +His late Majesty, Henry the Fourth, I remember--than whom no +braver man wore sword, who loved danger indeed for its own sake, +and courted it as a mistress--could never sleep on the night +before an action. I have heard him say himself that it was so +before the fight at Arques. Croisette partook of this nature +too, being high-strung and apt to be easily over-wrought, but +never until the necessity for exertion had passed away: while +Marie and I, though not a whit stouter at a pinch, were slower to +feel and less easy to move--more Germanic in fact. + +I name this here partly lest it should be thought after what I +have just told of Croisette that there was anything of the woman +about him--save the tenderness; and partly to show that we acted +at this crisis each after his manner. While Croisette turned +pale and trembled, and hid his eyes, I stood dazed, looking from +the desolate house to the face stiffening in the sunshine, and +back again; wondering, though I had seen scores of dead faces +since daybreak, and a plenitude of suffering in all dreadful +shapes, how Providence could let this happen to us. To us! In +his instincts man is as selfish as any animal that lives. + +I saw nothing indeed of the dead face and dead house after the +first convincing glance. I saw instead with hot, hot eyes the +old castle at home, the green fields about the brook, and the +grey hills rising from them; and the terrace, and Kit coming to +meet us, Kit with white face and parted lips and avid eyes that +questioned us! And we with no comfort to give her, no lover to +bring back to her! + +A faint noise behind as of a sign creaking in the wind, roused me +from this most painful reverie. I turned round, not quickly or +in surprise or fear. Rather in the same dull wonder. The upper +part of the bookseller's door was ajar. It was that I had heard +opened. An old woman was peering out at us. + +As our eyes met, she made a slight movement to close the door +again. But I did not stir, and seeming to be reassured by a +second glance, she nodded to me in a stealthy fashion. I drew a +step nearer, listlessly. "Pst! Pst!" she whispered. Her +wrinkled old face, which was like a Normandy apple long kept, was +soft with pity as she looked at Croisette. "Pst!" + +"Well!" I said, mechanically. + +"Is he taken?" she muttered. + +"Who taken?" I asked stupidly. + +She nodded towards the forsaken house, and answered, "The young +lord who lodged there? Ah! sirs," she continued, "he looked gay +and handsome, if you'll believe me, as he came from the king's +court yester even! As bonny a sight in his satin coat, and his +ribbons, as my eyes ever saw! And to think that they should be +hunting him like a rat to-day!" + +The woman's words were few and simple. But what a change they +made in my world! How my heart awoke from its stupor, and leapt +up with a new joy and a new-born hope! "Did he get away?" I +cried eagerly. "Did he escape, mother, then?" + +"Ay, that he did!" she replied quickly. "That poor fellow, +yonder--he lies quiet enough now God forgive him his heresy, say +I!--kept the door manfully while the gentleman got on the roof, +and ran right down the street on the tops of the houses, with +them firing and hooting at him: for all the world as if he had +been a squirrel and they a pack of boys with stones!" + +"And he escaped?" + +"Escaped!" she answered more slowly, shaking her old head in +doubt. "I do not know about that I fear they have got him by +now, gentlemen. I have been shivering and shaking up stairs with +my husband--he is in bed, good man, and the safest place for him +--the saints have mercy upon us! But I heard them go with their +shouting and gunpowder right along to the river, and I doubt they +will take him between this and the CHATELET! I doubt they will." + +"How long ago was it, dame?" I cried. + +"Oh! may be half an hour. Perhaps you are friends of his?" she +added questioningly. + +But I did not stay to answer her. I shook Croisette, who had not +heard a word of this, by the shoulder. "There is a chance that he +has escaped!" I cried in his ear. "Escaped, do you hear?" And I +told him hastily what she had said. + +It was fine, indeed, and a sight, to see the blood rush to his +cheeks, and the tears dry in his eyes, and energy and decision +spring to life in every nerve and muscle of his face, "Then there +is hope?" he cried, grasping my arm. "Hope, Anne! Come! Come! +Do not let us lose another instant. If he be alive let us join +him!" + +The old woman tried to detain us, but in vain. Nay, pitying us, +and fearing, I think, that we were rushing on our deaths, she +cast aside her caution, and called after us aloud. We took no +heed, running after Croisette, who had not waited for our answer, +as fast as young limbs could carry us down the street. The +exhaustion we had felt a moment before when all seemed lost be it +remembered that we had not been to bed or tasted food for many +hours--fell from us on the instant, and was clean gone and +forgotten in the joy of this respite. Louis was living and for +the moment had escaped. + +Escaped! But for how long? We soon had our answer. The moment +we turned the corner by the river-side, the murmur of a multitude +not loud but continuous, struck our ears, even as the breeze off +the water swept our cheeks. Across the river lay the thousand +roofs of the Ile de la Cite, all sparkling in the sunshine. But +we swept to the right, thinking little of THAT sight, and checked +our speed on finding ourselves on the skirts of the crowd. +Before us was a bridge--the Pont au Change, I think--and at its +head on our side of the water stood the CHATELET, with its hoary +turrets and battlements. Between us and the latter, and backed +only by the river, was a great open space half-filled with +people, mostly silent and watchful, come together as to a show, +and betraying, at present at least, no desire to take an active +part in what was going on. + +We hurriedly plunged into the throng, and soon caught the clue to +the quietness and the lack of movement which seemed to prevail, +and which at first sight had puzzled us. For a moment the +absence of the dreadful symptoms we had come to know so well--the +flying and pursuing, the random blows, the shrieks and curses and +batterings on doors, the tipsy yells, had reassured us. But the +relief was short-lived. The people before us were under control. +A tighter grip seemed to close upon our hearts as we discerned +this, for we knew that the wild fury of the populace, like the +rush of a bull, might have given some chance of escape--in this +case as in others. But this cold-blooded ordered search left +none. + +Every face about us was turned in the same direction; away from +the river and towards a block of old houses which stood opposite +to it. The space immediately in front of these was empty, the +people being kept back by a score or so of archers of the guard +set at intervals, and by as many horsemen, who kept riding up and +down, belabouring the bolder spirits with the flat of their +swords, and so preserving a line. At each extremity of this--more +noticeably on our left where the line curved round the angle of +the buildings--stood a handful of riders, seven in a group +perhaps. And alone in the middle of the space so kept clear, +walking his horse up and down and gazing at the houses rode a man +of great stature, booted and armed, the feather nodding in his +bonnet. I could not see his face, but I had no need to see it. +I knew him, and groaned aloud. It was Bezers! + +I understood the scene better now. The horsemen, stern, bearded +Switzers for the most part, who eyed the rabble about them with +grim disdain, and were by no means chary of their blows, were all +in his colours and armed to the teeth. The order and discipline +were of his making: the revenge of his seeking. A grasp as of +steel had settled upon our friend, and I felt that his last +chance was gone. Louis de Pavannes might as well be lying on his +threshold with his dead servant by his side, as be in hiding +within that ring of ordered swords. + +It was with despairing eyes we looked at the old wooden houses. +They seemed to be bowing themselves towards us, their upper +stories projected so far, they were so decrepit. Their roofs +were a wilderness of gutters and crooked gables, of tottering +chimneys and wooden pinnacles and rotting beams, Amongst these I +judged Kit's lover was hiding. Well, it was a good place for +hide and seek--with any other player than DEATH. In the ground +floors of the houses there were no windows and no doors; by +reason, I learned afterwards, of the frequent flooding of the +river. But a long wooden gallery raised on struts ran along the +front, rather more than the height of a man from the ground, and +access to this was gained by a wooden staircase at each end. +Above this first gallery was a second, and above that a line of +windows set between the gables. The block--it may have run for +seventy or eighty yards along the shore--contained four houses, +each with a door opening on to the lower gallery. I saw indeed +that but for the Vidame's precautions Louis might well have +escaped. Had the mob once poured helter-skelter into that +labyrinth of rooms and passages he might with luck have mingled +with them, unheeded and unrecognized, and effected his escape +when they retreated. + +But now there were sentries on each gallery and more on the roof. +Whenever one of the latter moved or seemed to be looking inward-- +where a search party, I understood, were at work--indeed, if he +did but turn his head, a thrill ran through the crowd and a +murmur arose, which once or twice swelled to a savage roar such +as earlier had made me tremble. When this happened the impulse +came, it seemed to me, from the farther end of the line. There +the rougher elements were collected, and there I more than once +saw Bezers' troopers in conflict with the mob. In that quarter +too a savage chant was presently struck up, the whole gathering +joining in and yelling with an indescribably appalling effect: + + "Hau! Hau! Huguenots! + Faites place aux Papegots!" + +in derision of the old song said to be popular amongst the +Protestants. But in the Huguenot version the last words were of +course transposed. + +We had worked our way by this time to the front of the line, and +looking into one another's eyes, mutely asked a question; but not +even Croisette had an answer ready. There could be no answer but +one. What could we do? Nothing. We were too late. Too late +again! And yet how dreadful it was to stand still among the +cruel, thoughtless mob and see our friend, the touch of whose +hand we knew so well, done to death for their sport! Done to +death as the old woman had said like any rat, not a soul save +ourselves pitying him! Not a soul to turn sick at his cry of +agony, or shudder at the glance of his dying eyes. It was +dreadful indeed. + +"Ah, well," muttered a woman beside me to her companion--there +were many women in the crowd--"it is down with the Huguenots, say +I! It is Lorraine is the fine man! But after all yon is a bonny +fellow and a proper, Margot! I saw him leap from roof to roof +over Love Lane, as if the blessed saints had carried him. And him +a heretic!" + +"It is the black art," the other answered, crossing herself. + +"Maybe it is! But he will need it all to give that big man the +slip to-day," replied the first speaker comfortably. + +"That devil!" Margot exclaimed, pointing with a stealthy gesture +of hate at the Vidame. And then in a fierce whisper, with +inarticulate threats, she told a story of him, which made me +shudder. "He did! And she in religion too!" she concluded. +"May our Lady of Loretto reward him." + +The tale might be true for aught I knew, horrible as it was! I +had heard similar ones attributing things almost as fiendish to +him, times and again; from that poor fellow lying dead on +Pavannes' doorstep for one, and from others besides. As the +Vidame in his pacing to and fro turned towards us, I gazed at him +fascinated by his grim visage and that story. His eye rested on +the crowd about us, and I trembled, lest even at that distance he +should recognise us. + +And he did! I had forgotten his keenness of sight. His face +flashed suddenly into a grim smile. The tail of his eye resting +upon us, and seeming to forbid us to move, he gave some orders. +The colour fled from my face. To escape indeed was impossible, +for we were hemmed in by the press and could scarcely stir a +limb. Yet I did make one effort. + +"Croisette!" I muttered he was the rearmost--"stoop down. He +may not have seen you. Stoop down, lad!" + +But St. Croix was obstinate and would not stoop. Nay, when one +of the mounted men came, and roughly ordered us into the open, it +was Croisette who pushing past us stepped out first with a lordly +air. I, following him, saw that his lips were firmly compressed +and that there was an eager light in his eyes. As we emerged, +the crowd in our wake broke the line, and tried to pursue us; +either hostilely or through eagerness to see what it meant. But +a dozen blows of the long pikes drove them back, howling and +cursing to their places. + +I expected to be taken to Bezers; and what would follow I could +not tell. But he did always it seemed what we least expected, +for he only scowled at us now, a grim mockery on his lip, and +cried, "See that they do not escape again! But do them no harm, +sirrah, until I have the batch of them!" + +He turned one way, and I another, my heart swelling with rage. +Would he dare to harm us? Would even the Vidame dare to murder a +Caylus' nephew openly and in cold blood? I did not think so. +And yet--and yet-- + +Croisette interrupted the train of my thoughts. I found that he +was not following me. He had sprung away, and in a dozen strides +reached the Vidame's stirrup, and was clasping his knee when I +turned. I could not hear at the distance at which I stood, what +he said, and the horseman to whom Bezers had committed us spurred +between us. But I heard the Vidame's answer. + +"No! no! no!" he cried with a ring of restrained fury in his +voice. "Let my plans alone! What do you know of them? And if +you speak to me again, M. St. Croix--I think that is your name, +boy--I will--no, I will not kill you. That might please you, you +are stubborn, I can see. But I will have you stripped and lashed +like the meanest of my scullions! Now go, and take care!" + +Impatience, hate and wild passion flamed in his face for the +moment--transfiguring it. Croisette came back to us slowly, +white-lipped and quiet. "Never mind," I said bitterly. "The +third time may bring luck." + +Not that I felt much indignation at the Vidame's insult, or any +anger with the lad for incurring it; as I had felt on that other +occasion. Life and death seemed to be everything on this +morning. Words had ceased to please and annoy, for what are +words to the sheep in the shambles? One man's life and one +woman's happiness outside ourselves we thought only of these now. +And some day I reflected Croisette might remember even with +pleasure that he had, as a drowning man clutching at straws, +stooped to a last prayer for them. + +We were placed in the middle of a knot of troopers who closed the +line to the right. And presently Marie touched me. He was +gazing intently at the sentry on the roof of the third house from +us; the farthest but one. The man's back was to the parapet, and +he was gesticulating wildly. + +"He sees him!" Marie muttered. + +I nodded almost in apathy. But this passed away, and I started +involuntarily and shuddered, as a savage roar, breaking the +silence, rang along the front of the mob like a rolling volley of +firearms. What was it? A man posted at a window on the upper +gallery had dropped his pike's point, and was levelling it at +some one inside: we could see no more. + +But those in front of the window could; they saw too much for the +Vidame's precautions, as a moment showed. He had not laid his +account with the frenzy of a rabble, the passions of a mob which +had tasted blood. I saw the line at its farther end waver +suddenly and toss to and fro. Then a hundred hands went up, and +confused angry cries rose with them. The troopers struck about +them, giving back slowly as they did so. But their efforts were +in vain. With a scream of triumph a wild torrent of people broke +through between them, leaving them stranded; and rushed in a +headlong cataract towards the steps. Bezers was close to us at +the time. "S'death!" he cried, swearing oaths which even his +sovereign could scarce have equalled. "They will snatch him from +me yet, the hell-hounds!" + +He whirled his horse round and spurred him in a dozen bounds to +the stairs at our end of the gallery. There he leaped from him, +dropping the bridle recklessly; and bounding up three steps at a +time, he ran along the gallery. Half-a-dozen of the troopers +about us stayed only to fling their reins to one of their number, +and then followed, their great boots clattering on the planks. + +My breath came fast and short, for I felt it was a crisis. It +was a race between the two parties, or rather between the Vidame +and the leaders of the mob. The latter had the shorter way to +go. But on the narrow steps they were carried off their feet by +the press behind them, and fell over and hampered one another and +lost time. The Vidame, free from this drawback, was some way +along the gallery before they had set foot on it. + +How I prayed--amid a scene of the wildest uproar and excitement-- +that the mob might be first! Let there be only a short conflict +between Bezers' men and the people, and in the confusion Pavannes +might yet escape. Hope awoke in the turmoil. Above the yells of +the crowd a score of deep voices about me thundered "a Wolf! a +Wolf!" And I too, lost my head, and drew my sword, and screamed +at the top of my voice, "a Caylus! a Caylus!" with the maddest. + +Thousands of eyes besides mine were strained on the foremost +figures on either side. They met as it chanced precisely at the +door of the house. The mob leader was a slender man, I saw; a +priest apparently, though now he was girt with unpriestly +weapons, his skirts were tucked up, and his head was bare. So +much my first glance showed me. It was at the second look it was +when I saw the blood forsake his pale lowering face and leave it +whiter than ever, when horror sprang along with recognition to +his eyes, when borne along by the crowd behind he saw his +position and who was before him--it was only then when his mean +figure shrank, and he quailed and would have turned but could +not, that I recognized the Coadjutor. + +I was silent now, my mouth agape. There are seconds which are +minutes; ay, and many minutes. A man may die, a man may come +into life in such a second. In one of these, it seemed to me, +those two men paused, face to face; though in fact a pause was +for one of them impossible. He was between--and I think he knew +it--the devil and the deep sea. Yet he seemed to pause, while +all, even that yelling crowd below, held their breath. The next +moment, glaring askance at one another like two dogs unevenly +coupled, he and Bezers shot shoulder to shoulder into the +doorway, and in another jot of time would have been out of sight. +But then, in that instant, I saw something happen. The Vidame's +hand flashed up above the priest's head, and the cross-hilt of +his sheathed sword crashed down with awful force, and still more +awful passion, on the other's tonsure! The wretch went down like +a log, without a word, without a cry! Amid a roar of rage from a +thousand throats, a roar that might have shaken the stoutest +heart, and blanched the swarthiest cheek, Bezers disappeared +within! + +It was then I saw the power of discipline and custom. Few as +were the troopers who had followed him--a mere handful--they fell +without hesitation on the foremost of the crowd, who were already +in confusion, stumbling and falling over their leader's body; and +hurled them back pell-mell along the gallery. The throng below +had no firearms, and could give no aid at the moment; the stage +was narrow; in two minutes the Vidame's people had swept it clear +of the crowd and were in possession of it. A tall fellow took up +the priest's body, dead or alive, I do not know which, and flung +it as if it had been a sack of corn over the rail. It fell with +a heavy thud on the ground. I heard a piercing scream that rose +above that babel--one shrill scream! and the mob closed round +and hid the thing. + +If the rascals had had the wit to make at once for the right-hand +stairs, where we stood with two or three of Bezers' men who had +kept their saddles, I think they might easily have disposed of +us, encumbered as we were, by the horses; and then they could +have attacked the handful on the gallery on both flanks. But the +mob had no leaders, and no plan of operations. They seized +indeed two or three of the scattered troopers, and tearing them +from their horses, wreaked their passion upon them horribly. But +most of the Switzers escaped, thanks to the attention the mob +paid to the houses and what was going forward on the galleries; +and these, extricating themselves joined us one by one, so that +gradually a little ring of stern faces gathered about the stair- +foot. A moment's hesitation, and seeing no help for it, we +ranged ourselves with them; and, unchecked as unbidden, sprang on +three of the led horses. + +All this passed more quickly than I can relate it: so that +before our feet were well in the stirrups a partial silence, then +a mightier roar of anger at once proclaimed and hailed the re- +appearance of the Vidame. Bigoted beyond belief were the mob of +Paris of that day, cruel, vengeful, and always athirst for blood; +and this man had killed not only their leader but a priest. He +had committed sacrilege! What would they do? I could just, by +stooping forward, command a side view of the gallery, and the +scene passing there was such that I forgot in it our own peril. + +For surely in all his reckless life Bezers had never been so +emphatically the man for the situation--had never shown to such +advantage as at this moment when he stood confronting the sea of +faces, the sneer on his lip, a smile in his eyes; and looked down +unblenching, a figure of scorn, on the men who were literally +agape for his life. The calm defiance of his steadfast look +fascinated even me. Wonder and admiration for the time took the +place of dislike. I could scarcely believe that there was not +some atom of good in this man so fearless. And no face but one +no face I think in the world, but one--could have drawn my eyes +from him. But that one face was beside him. I clutched Marie's +arm, and pointed to the bareheaded figure at Bezers' right hand. + +It was Louis himself: our Louis de Pavannes, But he was changed +indeed from the gay cavalier I remembered, and whom I had last +seen riding down the street at Caylus, smiling back at us, and +waving his adieux to his mistress! Beside the Vidame he had the +air of being slight, even short. The face which I had known so +bright and winning, was now white and set. His fair, curling +hair--scarce darker than Croisette's--hung dank, bedabbled with +blood which flowed from a wound in his head. His sword was gone; +his dress was torn and disordered and covered with dust. His +lips moved. But he held up his head, he bore himself bravely +with it all; so bravely, that I choked, and my heart seemed +bursting as I looked at him standing there forlorn and now +unarmed. I knew that Kit seeing him thus would gladly have died +with him; and I thanked God she did not see him. Yet there was a +quietness in his fortitude which made a great difference between +his air and that of Bezers. He lacked, as became one looking +unarmed on certain death, the sneer and smile of the giant beside +him. + +What was the Vidame about to do? I shuddered as I asked myself. +Not surrender him, not fling him bodily to the people? No not +that: I felt sure he would let no others share his vengeance +that his pride would not suffer that. And even while I wondered +the doubt was solved. I saw Bezers raise his hand in a peculiar +fashion. Simultaneously a cry rang sharply out above the tumult, +and down in headlong charge towards the farther steps came the +band of horsemen, who had got clear of the crowd on that side. +They were but ten or twelve, but under his eye they charged, as +if they had been a thousand. The rabble shrank from the +collision, and fled aside. Quick as thought the riders swerved; +and changing their course, galloped through the looser part of +the throng, and in a trice drew rein side by side with us, a +laugh and a jeer on their reckless lips. + +It was neatly done: and while it was being done the Vidame and +his knot of men, with those who had been searching the building, +hurried down the gallery towards us, their rear cleared for the +moment by the troopers' feint. The dismounted men came bundling +down the steps, their eyes aglow with the war-fire, and got +horses as they could. Among them I lost sight of Louis, but +perceived him presently, pale and bewildered, mounted behind a +trooper. A man sprang up before each of us too, greeting our +appearance merely by a grunt of surprise. For it was no time to +ask or answer. The mob was recovering itself, and each moment +brought it reinforcements, while its fury was augmented by the +trick we had played it, and the prospect of our escape. + +We were under forty, all told; and some men were riding double. +Bezers' eye glanced hastily over his array, and lit on us three. +He turned and gave some order to his lieutenant. The fellow +spurred his horse, a splendid grey, as powerful as his master's, +alongside of Croisette, threw his arm round the lad, and dragged +him dexterously on to his own crupper. I did not understand the +action, but I saw Croisette settle himself behind Blaise Bure-- +for he it was--and supposed no harm was intended. The next +moment we had surged forward, and were swaying to and fro in the +midst of the crowd. + +What ensued I cannot tell. The outlook, so far as I was +concerned, was limited to wildly plunging horses--we were in the +centre of the band and riders swaying in the saddle--with a +glimpse here and there of a fringe of white scowling faces and +tossing arms. Once, a lane opening, I saw the Vidame's charger +--he was in the van--stumble and fall among the crowd and heard a +great shout go up. But Bezers by a mighty effort lifted it to +its legs again. And once too, a minute later, those riding on my +right, swerved outwards, and I saw something I never afterwards +forgot. + +It was the body of the Coadjutor, lying face upwards, the eyes +open and the teeth bared in a last spasm. Prostrate on it lay a +woman, a young woman, with hair like red gold falling about her +neck, and skin like milk. I did not know whether she was alive +or dead; but I noticed that one arm stuck out stiffly and the +crowd flying before the sudden impact of the horses must have +passed over her, even if she had escaped the iron hoofs which +followed. Still in the fleeting glance I had of her as my horse +bounded aside, I saw no wound or disfigurement. Her one arm was +cast about the priest's breast; her face was hidden on it. But +for all that, I knew her--knew her, shuddering for the woman +whose badges I was even now wearing, whose gift I bore at my +side; and I remembered the priest's vaunt of a few hours before, +made in her presence, "There is no man in Paris shall thwart me +to-night!" + +It had been a vain boast indeed! No hand in all that host of +thousands was more feeble than his now: for good or ill! No +brain more dull, no voice less heeded. A righteous retribution +indeed had overtaken him. He had died by the sword he had drawn +--died, a priest, by violence! The cross he had renounced had +crushed him. And all his schemes and thoughts, and no doubt they +had been many, had perished with him. It had come to this, only +this, the sum of the whole matter, that there was one wicked man +the less in Paris--one lump of breathless clay the more. + +For her--the woman on his breast--what man can judge a woman, +knowing her? And not knowing her, how much less? For the +present I put her out of my mind, feeling for the moment faint +and cold. + +We were clear of the crowd, and clattering unmolested down a +paved street before I fully recovered from the shock which this +sight had caused me. Wonder whither we were going took its +place. To Bezers' house? My heart sank at the prospect if that +were so. Before I thought of an alternative, a gateway flanked +by huge round towers appeared before us, and we pulled up +suddenly, a confused jostling mass in the narrow way; while some +words passed between the Vidame and the Captain of the Guard. A +pause of several minutes followed; and then the gates rolled +slowly open, and two by two we passed under the arch. Those +gates might have belonged to a fortress or a prison, a dungeon or +a palace, for all I knew. + +They led, however, to none of these, but to an open space, dirty +and littered with rubbish, marked by a hundred ruts and tracks, +and fringed with disorderly cabins and make-shift booths. And +beyond this--oh, ye gods! the joy of it--beyond this, which we +crossed at a rapid trot, lay the open country! + +The transition and relief were so wonderful that I shall never +forget them. I gazed on the wide landscape before me, lying +quiet and peaceful in the sunlight, and could scarce believe in +my happiness. I drew the fresh air into my lungs, I threw up my +sheathed sword and caught it again in a frenzy of delight, while +the gloomy men about me smiled at my enthusiasm. I felt the +horse beneath me move once more like a thing of life. No +enchanter with his wand, not Merlin nor Virgil, could have made a +greater change in my world, than had the captain of the gate with +his simple key! Or so it seemed to me in the first moments of +freedom, and escape--of removal from those loathsome streets. + +I looked back at Paris--at the cloud of smoke which hung over the +towers and roofs; and it seemed to me the canopy of hell itself. +I fancied that my head still rang with the cries and screams and +curses, the sounds of death. In very fact, I could hear the dull +reports of firearms near the Louvre, and the jangle of the bells. +Country-folk were congregated at the cross-roads, and in the +villages, listening and gazing; asking timid questions of the +more good-natured among us, and showing that the rumour of the +dreadful work doing in the town had somehow spread abroad. And +this though I learned afterwards that the keys of the city had +been taken the night before to the king, and that, except a party +with the Duke of Guise, who had left at eight in pursuit of +Montgomery and some of the Protestants--lodgers, happily for +themselves, in the Faubourg St. Germain--no one had left the town +before ourselves. + +While I am speaking of our departure from Paris, I may say what I +have to say of the dreadful excesses of those days, ay, and of +the following days; excesses of which France is now ashamed, and +for which she blushed even before the accession of his late +Majesty. I am sometimes asked, as one who witnessed them, what I +think, and I answer that it was not our country which was to +blame. A something besides Queen Catharine de' Medici had been +brought from Italy forty years before, a something invisible but +very powerful; a spirit of cruelty and treachery. In Italy it +had done small harm. But grafted on French daring and +recklessness, and the rougher and more soldierly manners of the +north, this spirit of intrigue proved capable of very dreadful +things. For a time, until it wore itself out, it was the curse +of France. Two Dukes of Guise, Francis and Henry, a cardinal of +Guise, the Prince of Conde, Admiral Coligny, King Henry the Third +all these the foremost men of their day--died by assassination +within little more than a quarter of a century, to say nothing of +the Prince of Orange, and King Henry the Great. + +Then mark--a most curious thing--the extreme youth of those who +were in this business. France, subject to the Queen-Mother, of +course, was ruled at the time by boys scarce out of their tutors' +hands. They were mere lads, hot-blooded, reckless nobles, ready +for any wild brawl, without forethought or prudence. Of the four +Frenchmen who it is thought took the leading parts, one, the +king, was twenty-two; Monsieur, his brother, was only twenty; the +Duke of Guise was twenty-one. Only the Marshal de Tavannes was +of mature age. For the other conspirators, for the Queen-Mother, +for her advisers Retz and Nevers and Birague, they were Italians; +and Italy may answer for them if Florence, Mantua and Milan care +to raise the glove. + +To return to our journey. A league from the town we halted at a +large inn, and some of us dismounted. Horses were brought out to +fill the places of those lost or left behind, and Bure had food +served to us. We were famished and exhausted, and ate it +ravenously, as if we could never have enough. + +The Vidame sat his horse apart, served by his page, I stole a +glance at him, and it struck me that even on his iron nature the +events of the night had made some impression. I read, or thought +I read, in his countenance, signs of emotions not quite in +accordance with what I knew of him--emotions strange and varied. +I could almost have sworn that as he looked at us a flicker of +kindliness lit up his stern and cruel gloom; I could almost have +sworn he smiled with a curious sadness. As for Louis, riding +with a squad who stood in a different part of the yard, he did +not see us; had not yet seen us at all. His side face, turned +towards me, was pale and sad, his manner preoccupied, his mien +rather sorrowful than downcast. He was thinking, I judged, as +much of the many brave men who had yesterday been his friends-- +companions at board and play-table--as of his own fate. When we +presently, at a signal from Bure, took to the road again, I asked +no permission, but thrusting my horse forward, rode to his side +as he passed through the gateway. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +A NIGHT OF SORROW. + +"Louis! Louis!" + +He turned with a start at the sound of my voice, joy and +bewilderment--and no wonder--in his countenance. He had not +supposed us to be within a hundred leagues of him. And lo! here +we were, knee to knee, hand meeting hand in a long grasp, while +his eyes, to which tears sprang unbidden, dwelt on my face as +though they could read in it the features of his sweetheart. +Some one had furnished him with a hat, and enabled him to put his +dress in order, and wash his wound, which was very slight, and +these changes had improved his appearance; so that the shadow of +grief and despondency passing for a moment from him in the joy of +seeing me, he looked once more his former self: as he had looked +in the old days at Caylus on his return from hawking, or from +some boyish escapade among the hills. Only, alas! he wore no +sword. + +"And now tell me all," he cried, after his first exclamation of +wonder had found vent. "How on earth do you come here? Here, of +all places, and by my side? Is all well at Caylus? Surely +Mademoiselle is not--" + +"Mademoiselle is well! perfectly well! And thinking of you, I +swear!" I answered passionately. "For us," I went on, eager for +the moment to escape that subject--how could I talk of it in the +daylight and under strange eyes?--"Marie and Croisette are +behind. We left Caylus eight days ago. We reached Paris +yesterday evening. We have not been to bed! We have passed, +Louis, such a night as I never--" + +He stopped me with a gesture. "Hush!" he said, raising his +hand. "Don't speak of it, Anne!" and I saw that the fate of his +friends was still too recent, the horror of his awakening to +those dreadful sights and sounds was still too vivid for him to +bear reference to them. Yet after riding for a time in silence-- +though his lips moved--he asked me again what had brought us up. + +"We came to warn you--of him," I answered, pointing to the +solitary, moody figure of the Vidame, who was riding ahead of the +party. "He--he said that Kit should never marry you, and +boasted of what he would do to you, and frightened her. So, +learning he was going to Paris, we followed him--to put you on +your guard, you know." And I briefly sketched our adventures, +and the strange circumstances and mistakes which had delayed us +hour after hour, through all that strange night, until the time +had gone by when we could do good. + +His eyes glistened and his colour rose as I told the story. He +wrung my hand warmly, and looked back to smile at Marie and +Croisette. "It was like you!" he ejaculated with emotion. "It +was like her cousins! Brave, brave lads! The Vicomte will live +to be proud of you! Some day you will all do great things! I +say it!" + +"But oh, Louis!" I exclaimed sorrowfully, though my heart was +bounding with pride at his words, "if we had only been in time! +If we had only come to you two hours earlier!" + +"You would have spoken to little purpose then, I fear," he +replied, shaking his head. "We were given over as a prey to the +enemy. Warnings? We had warnings in plenty. De Rosny warned +us, and we scoffed at him. The king's eye warned us, and we +trusted him. But--" and Louis' form dilated and his hand rose as +he went on, and I thought of his cousin's prediction--"it will +never be so again in France, Anne! Never! No man will after +this trust another! There will be no honour, no faith, no +quarter, and no peace! And for the Valois who has done this, the +sword will never depart from his house! I believe it! I do +believe it!" + +How truly he spoke we know now. For two-and-twenty years after +that twenty-fourth of August, 1572, the sword was scarcely laid +aside in France for a single month. In the streets of Paris, at +Arques, and Coutras, and Ivry, blood flowed like water that the +blood of the St. Bartholomew might be forgotten--that blood +which, by the grace of God, Navarre saw fall from the dice box on +the eve of the massacre. The last of the Valois passed to the +vaults of St. Denis: and a greater king, the first of all +Frenchmen, alive or dead, the bravest, gayest, wisest of the +land, succeeded him: yet even he had to fall by the knife, in a +moment most unhappy for his country, before France, horror- +stricken, put away the treachery and evil from her. + +Talking with Louis as we rode, it was not unnatural--nay, it was +the natural result of the situation--that I should avoid one +subject. Yet that subject was the uppermost in my thoughts. +What were the Vidame's intentions? What was the meaning of this +strange journey? What was to be Louis' fate? I shrank with good +reason from asking him these questions. There could be so little +room for hope, even after that smile which I had seen Bezers +smile, that I dared not dwell upon them. I should but torture +him and myself. + +So it was he who first spoke about it. Not at that time, but +after sunset, when the dusk had fallen upon us, and found us +still plodding southward with tired horses; a link outwardly like +other links in the long chain of riders, toiling onwards. Then +he said suddenly, "Do you know whither we are going, Anne?" + +I started, and found myself struggling with a strange confusion +before I could reply. "Home," I suggested at random. + +"Home? No. And yet nearly home. To Cahors," he answered with +an odd quietude. "Your home, my boy, I shall never see again, +Nor Kit! Nor my own Kit!" It was the first time I had heard him +call her by the fond name we used ourselves. And the pathos in +his tone as of the past, not the present, as of pure memory--I +was very thankful that I could not in the dusk see his face +--shook my self-control. I wept. "Nay, my lad," he went on, +speaking softly and leaning from his saddle so that he could lay +his hand on my shoulder "we are all men together. We must be +brave. Tears cannot help us, so we should leave them to the-- +women." + +I cried more passionately at that. Indeed his own voice quavered +over the last word. But in a moment he was talking to me coolly +and quietly. I had muttered something to the effect that the +Vidame would not dare--it would be too public. + +"There is no question of daring in it," he replied. "And the +more public it is, the better he will like it. They have dared +to take thousands of lives since yesterday. There is no one to +call him to account since the king--our king forsooth!--has +declared every Huguenot an outlaw, to be killed wherever he be +met with. No, when Bezers disarmed me yonder," he pointed as he +spoke to his wound, "I looked of course for instant death. Anne! +I saw blood in his eyes! But he did not strike." + +"Why not?" I asked in suspense. + +"I can only guess," Louis answered with a sigh. "He told me that +my life was in his hands, but that he should take it at his own +time. Further that if I would not give my word to go with him +without trying to escape, he would throw me to those howling dogs +outside. I gave my word. We are on the road together. And oh, +Anne! yesterday, only yesterday, at this time I was riding home +with Teligny from the Louvre, where we had been playing at paume +with the king! And the world--the world was very fair." + +"I saw you, or rather Croisette did," I muttered as his sorrow-- +not for himself, but his friends--forced him to stop. "Yet how, +Louis, do you know that we are going to Cahors?" + +"He told me, as we passed through the gates, that he was +appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Quercy to carry out the edict +against the religion. Do you not see, Anne?" my companion added +bitterly, "to kill me at once were too small a revenge for him! +He must torture me--or rather he would if he could--by the pains +of anticipation. + +"Besides, my execution will so finely open his bed of justice. +Bah!" and Pavannes raised his head proudly, "I fear him not! I +fear him not a jot!" + +For a moment he forgot Kit, the loss of his friends, his own +doom. He snapped his fingers in derision of his foe. + +But my heart sank miserably. The Vidame's rage I remembered had +been directed rather against my cousin than her lover; and now by +the light of his threats I read Bezers' purpose more clearly than +Louis could. His aim was to punish the woman who had played with +him. To do so he was bringing her lover from Paris that he might +execute him--AFTER GIVING HER NOTICE! That was it: after giving +her notice, it might be in her very presence! He would lure her +to Cahors, and then-- + +I shuddered. I well might feel that a precipice was opening at +my feet. There was something in the plan so devilish, yet so +accordant with those stories I had heard of the Wolf, that I felt +no doubt of my insight. I read his evil mind, and saw in a +moment why he had troubled himself with us. He hoped to draw +Mademoiselle to Cahors by our means. + +Of course I said nothing of this to Louis. I hid my feelings as +well as I could. But I vowed a great vow that at the eleventh +hour we would baulk the Vidame. Surely if all else failed we +could kill him, and, though we died ourselves, spare Kit this +ordeal. My tears were dried up as by a fire. My heart burned +with a great and noble rage: or so it seemed to me! + +I do not think that there was ever any journey so strange as this +one of ours. We met with the same incidents which had pleased us +on the road to Paris. But their novelty was gone. Gone too were +the cosy chats with old rogues of landlords and good-natured +dames. We were travelling now in such force that our coming was +rather a terror to the innkeeper than a boon. How much the +Lieutenant-Governor of Quercy, going down to his province, +requisitioned in the king's name; and for how much he paid, we +could only judge from the gloomy looks which followed us as we +rode away each morning. Such looks were not solely due I fear to +the news from Paris, although for some time we were the first +bearers of the tidings. + +Presently, on the third day of our journey I think, couriers from +the Court passed us: and henceforth forestalled us. One of +these messengers--who I learned from the talk about me was bound +for Cahors with letters for the Lieutenant-Governor and the +Count-Bishop--the Vidame interviewed and stopped. How it was +managed I do not know, but I fear the Count-Bishop never got his +letters, which I fancy would have given him some joint authority. +Certainly we left the messenger--a prudent fellow with a care for +his skin--in comfortable quarters at Limoges, whence I do not +doubt he presently returned to Paris at his leisure. + +The strangeness of the journey however arose from none of these +things, but from the relations of our party to one another. +After the first day we four rode together, unmolested, so long as +we kept near the centre of the straggling cavalcade. The Vidame +always rode alone, and in front, brooding with bent head and +sombre face over his revenge, as I supposed. He would ride in +this fashion, speaking to no one and giving no orders, for a day +together. At times I came near to pitying him. He had loved Kit +in his masterful way, the way of one not wont to be thwarted, and +he had lost her--lost her, whatever might happen. He would get +nothing after all by his revenge. Nothing but ashes in the +mouth. And so I saw in softer moments something inexpressibly +melancholy in that solitary giant-figure pacing always alone. + +He seldom spoke to us. More rarely to Louis. When he did, the +harshness of his voice and his cruel eyes betrayed the gloomy +hatred in which he held him. At meals he ate at one end of the +table: we four at the other, as three of us had done on that +first evening in Paris. And sometimes the covert looks, the grim +sneer he shot at his rival--his prisoner--made me shiver even in +the sunshine. Sometimes, on the other hand, when I took him +unawares, I found an expression on his face I could not read. + +I told Croisette, but warily, my suspicions of his purpose. He +heard me, less astounded to all appearance than I had expected. +Presently I learned the reason. He had his own view. "Do you +not think it possible, Anne?" he suggested timidly--we were of +course alone at the time--"that he thinks to make Louis resign +Mademoiselle?" + +"Resign her!" I exclaimed obtusely. "How?" + +"By giving him a choice--you understand?" + +I did understand I saw it in a moment. I had been dull not to +see it before. Bezers might put it in this way: let M. de +Pavannes resign his mistress and live, or die and lose her. + +"I see," I answered. "But Louis would not give her up. Not to +him!" + +"He would lose her either way," Croisette answered in a low tone. +"That is not however the worst of it. Louis is in his power. +Suppose he thinks to make Kit the arbiter, Anne, and puts Louis +up to ransom, setting Kit for the price? And gives her the +option of accepting himself, and saving Louis' life; or refusing, +and leaving Louis to die?" + +"St. Croix!" I exclaimed fiercely. "He would not be so base!" +And yet was not even this better than the blind vengeance I had +myself attributed to him? + +"Perhaps not," Croisette answered, while he gazed onwards through +the twilight. We were at the time the foremost of the party save +the Vidame; and there was nothing to interrupt our view of his +gigantic figure as he moved on alone before us with bowed +shoulders. "Perhaps not," Croisette repeated thoughtfully. +"Sometimes I think we do not understand him; and that after all +there may be worse people in the world than Bezers." + +I looked hard at the lad, for that was not what I had meant. +"Worse?" I said. "I do not think so. Hardly!" + +"Yes, worse," he replied, shaking his head. "Do you remember +lying under the curtain in the box-bed at Mirepoix's?" + +"Of course I do! Do you think I shall ever forget it?" + +"And Madame d'O coming in?" + +"With the Coadjutor?" I said with a shudder. "Yes." + +"No, the second time," he answered, "when she came back alone. +It was pretty dark, you remember, and Madame de Pavannes was at +the window, and her sister did not see her?" + +"Well, well, I remember," I said impatiently. I knew from the +tone of his voice that he had something to tell me about Madame +d'O, and I was not anxious to hear it. I shrank, as a wounded +man shrinks from the cautery, from hearing anything about that +woman; herself so beautiful, yet moving in an atmosphere of +suspicion and horror. Was it shame, or fear, or some chivalrous +feeling having its origin in that moment when I had fancied +myself her knight? I am not sure, for I had not made up my mind +even now whether I ought to pity or detest her; whether she had +made a tool of me, or I had been false to her. + +"She came up to the bed, you remember, Anne?" Croisette went on. +"You were next to her. She saw you indistinctly, and took you +for her sister. And then I sprang from the bed." + +"I know you did!" I exclaimed sharply. All this time I had +forgotten that grievance. "You nearly frightened her out of her +wits, St. Croix. I cannot think what possessed you--why you did +it?" + +"To save your life, Anne" he answered solemnly, "and her from a +crime! an unutterable, an unnatural crime. She had come back to +I can hardly tell it you--to murder her sister. You start. You +do not believe me. It sounds too horrible. But I could see +better than you could. She was exactly between you and the +light. I saw the knife raised. I saw her wicked face! If I had +not startled her as I did, she would have stabbed you. She +dropped the knife on the floor, and I picked it up and have it. +See!" + +I looked furtively, and turned away again, shivering. "Why," I +muttered, "why did she do it?" + +"She had failed you know to get her sister back to Pavannes' +house, where she would have fallen an easy victim. Bezers, who +knew Madame d'O, prevented that. Then that fiend slipped back +with her knife; thinking that in the common butchery the crime +would be overlooked, and never investigated, and that Mirepoix +would be silent!" + +I said nothing. I was stunned. Yet I believed the story. When +I went over the facts in my mind I found that a dozen things, +overlooked at the time and almost forgotten in the hurry of +events, sprang up to confirm it. M. de Pavannes'--the other M. +de Pavannes'--suspicions had been well founded. Worse than +Bezers was she? Ay! worse a hundred times. As much worse as +treachery ever is than violence; as the pitiless fraud of the +serpent is baser than the rage of the wolf. + +"I thought," Croisette added softly, not looking at me, "when I +discovered that you had gone off with her, that I should never +see you again, Anne. I gave you up for lost. The happiest +moment of my life I think was when I saw you come back." + +"Croisette," I whispered piteously, my cheeks burning, "let us +never speak of her again." + +And we never did--for years. But how strange is life. She and +the wicked man with whom her fate seemed bound up had just +crossed our lives when their own were at the darkest. They +clashed with us, and, strangers and boys as we were, we ruined +them. I have often asked myself what would have happened to me +had I met her at some earlier and less stormy period--in the +brilliance of her beauty. And I find but one answer. I should +bitterly have rued the day. Providence was good to me. Such men +and such women, we may believe have ceased to exist now. They +flourished in those miserable days of war and divisions, and +passed away with them like the foul night-birds of the battle- +field. + +To return to our journey. In the morning sunshine one could not +but be cheerful, and think good things possible. The worst trial +I had came with each sunset. For then--we generally rode late +into the evening--Louis sought my side to talk to me of his +sweetheart. And how he would talk of her! How many thousand +messages he gave me for her! How often he recalled old days +among the hills, with each laugh and jest and incident, when we +five had been as children! Until I would wonder passionately, +the tears running down my face in the darkness, how he could--how +he could talk of her in that quiet voice which betrayed no +rebellion against fate, no cursing of Providence! How he could +plan for her and think of her when she should be alone! + +Now I understand it. He was still labouring under the shock of +his friends' murder. He was still partially stunned. Death +seemed natural and familiar to him, as to one who had seen his +allies and companions perish without warning or preparation. +Death had come to be normal to him, life the exception; as I have +known it seem to a child brought face to face with a corpse for +the first time. + +One afternoon a strange thing happened. We could see the +Auvergne hills at no great distance on our left--the Puy de Dome +above them--and we four were riding together. We had fallen--an +unusual thing--to the rear of the party. Our road at the moment +was a mere track running across moorland, sprinkled here and +there with gorse and brushwood. The main company had straggled +on out of sight. There were but half a dozen riders to be seen +an eighth of a league before us, a couple almost as far behind. +I looked every way with a sudden surging of the heart. For the +first time the possibility of flight occurred to me. The rough +Auvergne hills were within reach. Supposing we could get a lead +of a quarter of a league, we could hardly be caught before +darkness came and covered us. Why should we not put spurs to our +horses and ride off? + +"Impossible!" said Pavannes quietly, when I spoke. + +"Why?" I asked with warmth. + +"Firstly," he replied, "because I have given my word to go with +the Vidame to Cahors." + +My face flushed hotly. But I cried, "What of that? You were +taken by treachery! Your safe conduct was disregarded. Why +should you be scrupulous? Your enemies are not. This is folly?" + +"I think not. Nay," Louis answered, shaking his head, "you would +not do it yourself in my place." + +"I think I should," I stammered awkwardly. + +"No, you would not, lad," he said smiling. "I know you too well. +But if I would do it, it is impossible." He turned in the saddle +and, shading his eyes with his hand from the level rays of the +sun, looked back intently. "It is as I thought," he continued. +"One of those men is riding grey Margot, which Bure said +yesterday was the fastest mare in the troop. And the man on her +is a light weight. The other fellow has that Norman bay horse we +were looking at this morning. It is a trap laid by Bezers, Anne. +If we turned aside a dozen yards, those two would be after us +like the wind." + +"Do you mean," I cried, "that Bezers has drawn his men forward on +purpose?" + +"Precisely;" was Louis's answer. "That is the fact. Nothing +would please him better than to take my honour first, and my life +afterwards. But, thank God, only the one is in his power." + +And when I came to look at the horsemen, immediately before us, +they confirmed Louis's view. They were the best mounted of the +party: all men of light weight too. One or other of them was +constantly looking back. As night fell they closed in upon us +with their usual care. When Bure joined us there was a gleam of +intelligence in his bold eyes, a flash of conscious trickery. He +knew that we had found him out, and cared nothing for it. + +And the others cared nothing. But the thought that if left to +myself I should have fallen into the Vidame's cunning trap filled +me with new hatred towards him; such hatred and such fear--for +there was humiliation mingled with them--as I had scarcely felt +before. I brooded over this, barely noticing what passed in our +company for hours--nay, not until the next day when, towards +evening, the cry arose round me that we were within sight of +Cahors. Yes, there it lay below us, in its shallow basin, +surrounded by gentle hills. The domes of the cathedral, the +towers of the Vallandre Bridge, the bend of the Lot, where its +stream embraces the town--I knew them all. Our long journey was +over. + +And I had but one idea. I had some time before communicated to +Croisette the desperate design I had formed--to fall upon Bezers +and kill him in the midst of his men in the last resort. Now the +time had come if the thing was ever to be done: if we had not +left it too long already. And I looked about me. There was some +confusion and jostling as we halted on the brow of the hill, +while two men were despatched ahead to announce the governor's +arrival, and Bure, with half a dozen spears, rode out as an +advanced guard. + +The road where we stood was narrow, a shallow cutting winding +down the declivity of the hills. The horses were tired, It was a +bad time and place for my design, and only the coming night was +in my favour. But I was desperate. + +Yet before I moved or gave a signal which nothing could recall, I +scanned the landscape eagerly, scrutinizing in turn the small, +rich plain below us, warmed by the last rays of the sun, the bare +hills here glowing, there dark, the scattered wood-clumps and +spinneys that filled the angles of the river, even the dusky line +of helm-oaks that crowned the ridge beyond--Caylus way. So near +our own country there might be help! If the messenger whom we +had despatched to the Vicomte before leaving home had reached +him, our uncle might have returned, and even be in Cahors to meet +us. + +But no party appeared in sight: and I saw no place where an +ambush could be lying. I remembered that no tidings of our +present plight or of what had happened could have reached the +Vicomte. The hope faded out of life as soon as despair had given +it birth. We must fend for ourselves and for Kit. + +That was my justification. I leaned from my saddle towards +Croisette--I was riding by his side--and muttered, as I felt my +horse's head and settled myself firmly in the stirrups, "You +remember what I said? Are you ready?" + +He looked at me in a startled way, with a face showing white in +the shadow: and from me to the one solitary figure seated like a +pillar a score of paces in front with no one between us and it. +"There need be but two of us," I muttered, loosening my sword. +"Shall it be you or Marie? The others must leap their horses out +of the road in the confusion, cross the river at the Arembal Ford +if they are not overtaken, and make for Caylus." + +He hesitated. I do not know whether it had anything to do with +his hesitation that at that moment the cathedral bell in the town +below us began to ring slowly for Vespers. Yes, he hesitated. +He--a Caylus. Turning to him again, I repeated my question +impatiently. "Which shall it be? A moment, and we shall be +moving on, and it will be too late." + +He laid his hand hurriedly on my bridle, and began a rambling +answer. Rambling as it was I gathered his meaning. It was +enough for me! I cut him short with one word of fiery +indignation, and turned to Marie and spoke quickly. "Will you, +then?" I said. + +But Marie shook his head in perplexity, and answering little, +said the same. So it happened a second time. + +Strange! Yet strange as it seemed, I was not greatly surprised. +Under other circumstances I should have been beside myself with +anger at the defection. Now I felt as if I had half expected it, +and without further words of reproach I dropped my head and gave +it up. I passed again into the stupor of endurance. The Vidame +was too strong for me. It was useless to fight against him. We +were under the spell. When the troop moved forward, I went with +them, silent and apathetic. + +We passed through the gate of Cahors, and no doubt the scene was +worthy of note; but I had only a listless eye for it--much such +an eye as a man about to be broken on the wheel must have for +that curious instrument, supposing him never to have seen it +before. The whole population had come out to line the streets +through which we rode, and stood gazing, with scarcely veiled +looks of apprehension, at the procession of troopers and the +stern face of the new governor. + +We dismounted passively in the courtyard of the castle, and were +for going in together, when Bure intervened. "M. de Pavannes," +he said, pushing rather rudely between us, "will sup alone to- +night. For you, gentlemen, this way, if you please." + +I went without remonstrance. What was the use? I was conscious +that the Vidame from the top of the stairs leading to the grand +entrance was watching us with a wolfish glare in his eyes. I +went quietly. But I heard Croisette urging something with +passionate energy. + +We were led through a low doorway to a room on the ground floor; +a place very like a cell. Were we took our meal in silence. +When it was over I flung myself on one of the beds prepared for +us, shrinking from my companions rather in misery than in +resentment. + +No explanation had passed between us. Still I knew that the +other two from time to time eyed me doubtfully. I feigned +therefore to be asleep, but I heard Bure enter to bid us good- +night--and see that we had not escaped. And I was conscious too +of the question Croisette put to him, "Does M. de Pavannes lie +alone to-night, Bure?" + +"Not entirely," the captain answered with gloomy meaning. Indeed +he seemed in bad spirits himself, or tired. "The Vidame is +anxious for his soul's welfare, and sends a priest to him." + +They sprang to their feet at that. But the light and its bearer, +who so far recovered himself as to chuckle at his master's pious +thought, had disappeared. They were left to pace the room, and +reproach themselves and curse the Vidame in an agony of late +repentance. Not even Marie could find a loop-hole of escape from +here. The door was double-locked; the windows so barred that a +cat could scarcely pass through them; the walls were of solid +masonry. + +Meanwhile I lay and feigned to sleep, and lay feigning through +long, long hours; though my heart like theirs throbbed in +response to the dull hammering that presently began without, and +not far from us, and lasted until daybreak. From our windows, +set low and facing a wall, we could see nothing. But we could +guess what the noise meant, the dull, earthy thuds when posts +were set in the ground, the brisk, wooden clattering when one +plank was laid to another. We could not see the progress of the +work, or hear the voices of the workmen, or catch the glare of +their lights. But we knew what they were doing. They were +raising the scaffold. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +JOY IN THE MORNING. + +I was too weary with riding to go entirely without sleep. And +moreover it is anxiety and the tremor of excitement which make +the pillow sleepless, not, heaven be thanked, sorrow. God made +man to lie awake and hope: but never to lie awake and grieve. +An hour or two before daybreak I fell asleep, utterly worn out. +When I awoke, the sun was high, and shining slantwise on our +window. The room was gay with the morning rays, and soft with +the morning freshness, and I lay a while, my cheek on my hand, +drinking in the cheerful influence as I had done many and many a +day in our room at Caylus. It was the touch of Marie's hand, +laid timidly on my arm, which roused me with a shock to +consciousness. The truth broke upon me. I remembered where we +were, and what was before us. "Will you get up, Anne?" +Croisette said. "The Vidame has sent for us." + +I got to my feet, and buckled on my sword. Croisette was leaning +against the wall, pale and downcast. Bure filled the open +doorway, his feathered cap in his hand, a queer smile on his +face. "You are a good sleeper, young gentleman," he said. "You +should have a good conscience." + +"Better than yours, no doubt!" I retorted, "or your master's." + +He shrugged his shoulders, and, bidding us by a sign to follow +him, led the way through several gloomy passages. At the end of +these, a flight of stone steps leading upwards seemed to promise +something better; and true enough, the door at the top being +opened, the murmur of a crowd reached our ears, with a burst of +sunlight and warmth. We were in a lofty room, with walls in some +places painted, and elsewhere hung with tapestry; well lighted by +three old pointed windows reaching to the rush-covered floor. +The room was large, set here and there with stands of arms, and +had a dais with a raised carved chair at one end. The ceiling +was of blue, with gold stars set about it. Seeing this, I +remembered the place. I had been in it once, years ago, when I +had attended the Vicomte on a state visit to the governor. Ah! +that the Vicomte were here now! + +I advanced to the middle window, which was open. Then I started +back, for outside was the scaffold built level with the floor, +and rush-covered like it! Two or three people were lounging on +it. My eyes sought Louis among the group, but in vain. He was +not there: and while I looked for him, I heard a noise behind +me, and he came in, guarded by four soldiers with pikes. + +His face was pale and grave, but perfectly composed. There was a +wistful look in his eyes indeed, as if he were thinking of +something or some one far away--Kit's face on the sunny hills of +Quercy where he had ridden with her, perhaps; a look which seemed +to say that the doings here were nothing to him, and the parting +was yonder where she was. But his bearing was calm and +collected, his step firm and fearless. When he saw us, indeed +his face lightened a moment and he greeted us cheerfully, even +acknowledging Bure's salutation with dignity and good temper. +Croisette sprang towards him impulsively, and cried his name-- +Croisette ever the first to speak. But before Louis could grasp +his hand, the door at the bottom of the hall was swung open, and +the Vidame came hurriedly in. + +He was alone. He glanced round, his forbidding face, which was +somewhat flushed as if by haste, wearing a scowl. Then he saw +us, and, nodding haughtily, strode up the floor, his spurs +clanking heavily on the boards. We gave us no greeting, but by a +short word dismissed Bure and the soldiers to the lower end of +the room. And then he stood and looked at us four, but +principally at his rival; and looked, and looked with eyes of +smouldering hate. And there was a silence, a long silence, while +the murmur of the crowd came almost cheerfully through the +window, and the sparrows under the eaves chirped and twittered, +and the heart that throbbed least painfully was, I do believe, +Louis de Pavannes'! + +At last Bezers broke the silence. + +"M. de Pavannes!" he began, speaking hoarsely, yet concealing +all passion under a cynical smile and a mock politeness, "M. de +Pavannes, I hold the king's commission to put to death all the +Huguenots within my province of Quercy. Have you anything to +say, I beg, why I should not begin with you? Or do you wish to +return to the Church?" + +Louis shrugged his shoulders as in contempt, and held his peace, +I saw his captor's great hands twitch convulsively at this, but +still the Vidame mastered himself, and when he spoke again he +spoke slowly. "Very well," he continued, taking no heed of us, +the silent witnesses of this strange struggle between the two +men, but eyeing Louis only. "You have wronged me more than any +man alive. Alive or dead! or dead! You have thwarted me, M. de +Pavannes, and taken from me the woman I loved. Six days ago I +might have killed you. I had it in my power. I had but to leave +you to the rabble, remember, and you would have been rotting at +Montfaucon to-day, M. de Pavannes." + +"That is true," said Louis quietly. "Why so many words?" + +But the Vidame went on as if he had not heard. "I did not leave +you to them," he resumed, "and yet I hate you--more than I ever +hated any man yet, and I am not apt to forgive. But now the time +has come, sir, for my revenge! The oath I swore to your mistress +a fortnight ago I will keep to the letter. I--Silence, babe!" +he thundered, turning suddenly, "or I will keep my word with you +too!" + +Croisette had muttered something, and this had drawn on him the +glare of Bezers' eyes. But the threat was effectual. Croisette +was silent. The two were left henceforth to one another. + +Yet the Vidame seemed to be put out by the interruption. +Muttering a string of oaths he strode from us to the window and +back again. The cool cynicism, with which he was wont to veil +his anger and impose on other men, while it heightened the effect +of his ruthless deeds, in part fell from him. He showed himself +as he was--masterful, and violent, hating, with all the strength +of a turbulent nature which had never known a check. I quailed +before him myself. I confess it. + +"Listen!" he continued harshly, coming back and taking his place +in front of us at last, his manner more violent than before the +interruption. "I might have left you to die in that hell yonder! +And I did not leave you. I had but to hold my hand and you would +have been torn to pieces! The wolf, however, does not hunt with +the rats, and a Bezers wants no help in his vengeance from king +or CANAILLE! When I hunt my enemy down I will hunt him alone, do +you hear? And as there is a heaven above me"--he paused a +moment--"if I ever meet you face to face again, M. de Pavannes, I +will kill you where you stand!" + +He paused, and the murmur of the crowd without came to my ears; +but mingled with and heightened by some confusion in my thoughts. +I struggled feebly with this, seeing a rush of colour to +Croisette's face, a lightening in his eyes as if a veil had been +raised from before them. Some confusion--for I thought I grasped +the Vidame's meaning; yet there he was still glowering on his +victim with the same grim visage, still speaking in the same +rough tone. "Listen, M. de Pavannes," he continued, rising to +his full height and waving his hand with a certain majesty +towards the window--no one had spoken. "The doors are open! Your +mistress is at Caylus. The road is clear, go to her; go to her, +and tell her that I have saved your life, and that I give it to +you not out of love, but out of hate! If you had flinched I +would have killed you, for so you would have suffered most, M. de +Pavannes. As it is, take your life--a gift! and suffer as I +should if I were saved and spared by my enemy!" + +Slowly the full sense of his words came home to me. Slowly; not +in its full completeness indeed until I heard Louis in broken +phrases, phrases half proud and half humble, thanking him for his +generosity. Even then I almost lost the true and wondrous +meaning of the thing when I heard his answer. For he cut +Pavannes short with bitter caustic gibes, spurned his proffered +gratitude with insults, and replied to his acknowledgments with +threats. + +"Go! go!" he continued to cry violently. "Have I brought you +so far safely that you will cheat me of my vengeance at the last, +and provoke me to kill you? Away! and take these blind puppies +with you! Reckon me as much your enemy now as ever! And if I +meet you, be sure you will meet a foe! Begone, M. de Pavannes, +begone!" + +"But, M. de Bezers," Louis persisted, "hear me. It takes two +to--" + +"Begone! begone! before we do one another a mischief!" cried +the Vidame furiously. "Every word you say in that strain is an +injury to me. It robs me of my vengeance. Go! in God's name!" + +And we went; for there was no change, no promise of softening in +his malignant aspect as he spoke; nor any as he stood and watched +us draw off slowly from him. We went one by one, each lingering +after the other, striving, out of a natural desire to thank him, +to break through that stern reserve. But grim and unrelenting, a +picture of scorn to the last, he saw us go. + +My latest memory of that strange man--still fresh after a lapse +of two and fifty years--is of a huge form towering in the gloom +below the state canopy, the sunlight which poured in through the +windows and flooded us, falling short of him; of a pair of fierce +cross eyes, that seemed to glow as they covered us; of a lip that +curled as in the enjoyment of some cruel jest. And so I--and I +think each of us four saw the last of Raoul de Mar, Vidame de +Bezers, in this life. + +He was a man whom we cannot judge by to-day's standard; for he +was such an one in his vices and his virtues as the present day +does not know; one who in his time did immense evil--and if his +friends be believed, little good. But the evil is forgotten; the +good lives. And if all that good save one act were buried with +him, this one act alone, the act of a French gentleman, would be +told of him--ay! and will be told--as long as the kingdom of +France, and the gracious memory of the late king, shall endure. + +* * * * * * + +I see again by the simple process of shutting my eyes, the little +party of five--for Jean, our servant, had rejoined us--who on +that summer day rode over the hills to Caylus, threading the +mazes of the holm-oaks, and galloping down the rides, and +hallooing the hare from her form, but never pursuing her; +arousing the nestling farmhouses from their sleepy stillness by +joyous shout and laugh, and sniffing, as we climbed the hill-side +again, the scent of the ferns that died crushed under our horses' +hoofs--died only that they might add one little pleasure more to +the happiness God had given us. Rare and sweet indeed are those +few days in life, when it seems that all creation lives only that +we may have pleasure in it, and thank God for it. It is well +that we should make the most of them, as we surely did of that +day. + +It was nightfall when we reached the edge of the uplands, and +looked down on Caylus. The last rays of the sun lingered with +us, but the valley below was dark; so dark that even the rock +about which our homes clustered would have been invisible save +for the half-dozen lights that were beginning to twinkle into +being on its summit. A silence fell upon us as we slowly wended +our way down the well-known path. + +All day long we had ridden in great joy; if thoughtless, yet +innocent; if selfish, yet thankful; and always blithely, with a +great exultation and relief at heart, a great rejoicing for our +own sakes and for Kit's. + +Now with the nightfall and the darkness, now when we were near +our home, and on the eve of giving joy to another, we grew +silent. There arose other thoughts--thoughts of all that had +happened since we had last ascended that track; and so our minds +turned naturally back to him to whom we owed our happiness--to +the giant left behind in his pride and power and his loneliness. +The others could think of him with full hearts, yet without +shame. But I reddened, reflecting how it would have been with us +if I had had my way; if I had resorted in my shortsightedness to +one last violent, cowardly deed, and killed him, as I had twice +wished to do. + +Pavannes would then have been lost almost certainly. Only the +Vidame with his powerful troop--we never knew whether he had +gathered them for that purpose or merely with an eye to his +government--could have saved him. And few men however powerful-- +perhaps Bezers only of all men in Paris would have dared to +snatch him from the mob when once it had sighted him. I dwell on +this now that my grandchildren may take warning by it, though +never will they see such days as I have seen. + +And so we clattered up the steep street of Caylus with a pleasant +melancholy upon us, and passed, not without a more serious +thought, the gloomy, frowning portals, all barred and shuttered, +of the House of the Wolf, and under the very window, sombre and +vacant, from which Bezers had incited the rabble in their attack +on Pavannes' courier. We had gone by day, and we came back by +night. But we had gone trembling, and we came back in joy. + +We did not need to ring the great bell. Jean's cry, "Ho! Gate +there! Open for my lords!" had scarcely passed his lips before +we were admitted. And ere we could mount the ramp, one person +outran those who came forth to see what the matter was; one +outran Madame Claude, outran old Gil, outran the hurrying +servants, and the welcome of the house. I saw a slender figure +all in white break away from the little crowd and dart towards +us, disclosing as it reached me a face that seemed still whiter +than its robes, and yet a face that seemed all eyes--eyes that +asked the question the lips could not frame. + +I stood aside with a low bow, my hat in my hand; and said simply +--it was the great effect of my life--"VOILA Monsieur!" + +And then I saw the sun rise in a woman's face. + +* * * * * * + +The Vidame de Bezers died as he had lived. He was still Governor +of Cahors when Henry the Great attacked it on the night of the +17th of June, 1580. Taken by surprise and wounded in the first +confusion of the assault, he still defended himself and his +charge with desperate courage, fighting from street to street, +and house to house for five nights and as many days. While he +lived Henry's destiny and the fate of France trembled in the +balance. But he fell at length, his brain pierced by the ball of +an arquebuse, and died an hour before sunset on the 22nd of June. +The garrison immediately surrendered. + +Marie and I were present in this action on the side of the King +of Navarre, and at the request of that prince hastened to pay +such honours to the body of the Vidame as were due to his renown +and might serve to evince our gratitude. A year later his +remains were removed from Cahors, and laid where they now rest in +his own Abbey Church of Bezers, under a monument which very +briefly tells of his stormy life and his valour. No matter. He +has small need of a monument whose name lives in the history of +his country, and whose epitaph is written in the lives of men. + +NOTE.--THE CHARACTER AND CONDUCT OF VIDAME DE BEZERS, AS THEY +APPEAR IN THE ABOVE MEMOIR FIND A PARALLEL IN AN ACCOUNT GIVEN BY +DE THOU OF ONE OF THE MOST REMARKABLE INCIDENTS IN THE MASSACRE +OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW: "AMID SUCH EXAMPLES," HE WRITES, "OF THE +FEROCITY OF THE CITY, A THING HAPPENED WORTHY TO BE RELATED, AND +WHICH MAY PERHAPS IN SOME DEGREE WEIGH AGAINST THESE ATROCITIES. +THERE WAS A DEADLY HATRED, WHICH UP TO THIS TIME THE INTERVENTION +OF THEIR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS HAD FAILED TO APPEASE, BETWEEN +TWO MEN--VEZINS, THE LIEUTENANT OF HONORATUS OF SAVOY, MARSHAL +VILLARS, A MAN NOTABLE AMONG THE NOBILITY OF THE PROVINCE FOR HIS +VALOUR, BUT OBNOXIOUS TO MANY OWING TO HIS BRUTAL DISPOSITION +(ferina natura), AND REGNIER, A YOUNG MAN OF LIKE RANK AND +VIGOUR, BUT OF MILDER CHARACTER. WHEN REGNIER THEN, IN THE +MIDDLE OF THAT GREAT UPROAR, DEATH MEETING HIS EYE EVERYWHERE, +WAS MAKING UP HIS MIND TO THE WORST, HIS DOOR WAS SUDDENLY BURST +OPEN, AND VEZINS, WITH TWO OTHER MEN, STOOD BEFORE HIM SWORD IN +HAND. UPON THIS REGNIER, ASSURED OF DEATH, KNELT DOWN AND ASKED +MERCY OF HEAVEN: BUT VEZINS IN A HARSH VOICE BID HIM RISE FROM +HIS PRAYERS AND MOUNT A PALFREY ALREADY STANDING READY IN THE +STREET FOR HIM. SO HE LED REGNIER--UNCERTAIN FOR THE TIME +WHITHER HE WAS BEING TAKEN--OUT OF THE CITY, AND PUT HIM ON HIS +HONOUR TO GO WITH HIM WITHOUT TRYING TO ESCAPE. AND TOGETHER, +WITHOUT PAUSING IN THEIR JOURNEY, THE TWO TRAVELLED ALL THE WAY +TO GUIENNE. DURING THIS TIME VEZINS HONOURED REGNIER WITH VERY +LITTLE CONVERSATION; BUT SO FAR CARED FOR HIM THAT FOOD WAS +PREPARED FOR HIM AT THE INNS BY HIS SERVANTS: AND SO THEY CAME +TO QUERCY AND THE CASTLE OF REGNIER. THERE VEZINS TURNED TO HIM +AND SAID, "YOU KNOW HOW I HAVE FOR A LONG TIME BACK SOUGHT TO +AVENGE MYSELF ON YOU, AND HOW EASILY I MIGHT NOW HAVE DONE IT TO +THE FULL, HAD I BEEN WILLING TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY. BUT SHAME +WOULD NOT SUFFER IT; AND BESIDES, YOUR COURAGE SEEMED WORTHY TO +BE SET AGAINST MINE ON EVEN TERMS. TAKE THEREFORE THE LIFE WHICH +YOU OWE TO MY KINDNESS." WITH MUCH MORE WHICH THE CURIOUS WILL +FIND IN THE 2ND (FOLIO) VOLUME OF DE THOU. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext The House of the Wolf, by Stanley Weyman + diff --git a/old/hwolf10.zip b/old/hwolf10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d0a177 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/hwolf10.zip |