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diff --git a/old/moamf10.txt b/old/moamf10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5992400 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/moamf10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9186 @@ +Project Gutenberg Etext From the Memoirs of a Minister of France +by Stanley Weyman. + +#4 in our series by Stanley Weyman.[Plus one short entry] + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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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. + + + + + +FROM THE MEMOIRS OF A MINISTER OF FRANCE + +BY + +STANLEY WEYMAN + + + + +CONTENTS. + + I.--THE CLOCKMAKER OF POISSY + II.--THE TENNIS BALLS + III.--TWO MAYORS OF BOTTITORT + IV.--LA TOUSSAINT + V.--THE LOST CIPHER + VI.--THE MAN OF MONCEAUX + VII.--THE GOVERNOR OF GUERET +VIII.--THE OPEN SHUTTER + IX.--THE MAID OF HONOUR + X.--FARMING THE TAXES + XI.--THE CAT AND THE KING + XII.--AT FONTAINEBLEAU + + + + +I. THE CLOCKMAKER OF POISSY. + +Foreseeing that some who do not love me will be swift to allege +that in the preparation of these memoirs I have set down only +such things as redound to my credit, and have suppressed the many +experiences not so propitious which fall to the lot of the most +sagacious while in power, I take this opportunity of refuting +that calumny. For the truth stands so far the other way that my +respect for the King's person has led me to omit many things +creditable to me; and some, it may be, that place me in a higher +light than any I have set down. And not only that: but I +propose in this very place to narrate the curious details of an +adventure wherein I showed to less advantage than usual; and on +which I should, were I moved by the petty feelings imputed to me +by malice, be absolutely silent. + +One day, about a fortnight after the quarrel between the King and +the Duchess of Beaufort, which I have described, and which arose, +it will be remembered, out of my refusal to pay the christening +expenses of her second son on the scale of a child of France, I +was sitting in my lodgings at St. Germains when Maignan announced +that M. de Perrot desired to see me. Knowing Perrot to be one of +the most notorious beggars about the court, with an insatiable +maw of his own and an endless train of nephews and nieces, I was +at first for being employed; but, reflecting that in the crisis +in the King's affairs which I saw approaching--and which must, if +he pursued his expressed intention of marrying the Duchess, be +fraught with infinite danger to the State and himself--the least +help might be of the greatest moment, I bade them admit him; +privately determining to throw the odium of any refusal upon the +overweening influence of Madame de Sourdis, the Duchess's aunt. + +Accordingly I met him with civility, and was not surprised when, +with his second speech, he brought out the word FAVOUR. But I +was surprised--for, as I have said, I knew him to be the best +practised beggar in the world--to note in his manner some +indications of embarrassment and nervousness; which, when I did +not immediately assent, increased to a sensible extent. + +"It is a very small thing, M. de Rosny," he said, breathing hard. + +On that hint I declared my willingness to serve him. "But," I +added, shrugging my shoulders and speaking in a confidential +tone, "no one knows the Court better than you do, M. de Perrot. +You are in all our secrets, and you must be aware that at +present--I say nothing of the Duchess, she is a good woman, and +devoted to his Majesty--but there are others--" + +"I know," he answered, with a flash of malevolence that did not +escape me. "But this is a private favour, M. de Rosny. It is +nothing that Madame de Sourdis can desire, either for herself or +for others." + +That aroused my curiosity. Only the week before, Madame de +Sourdis had obtained a Hat for her son, and the post of assistant +Deputy Comptroller of Buildings for her Groom of the Chambers. +For her niece the Duchess she meditated obtaining nothing less +than a crown. I was at pains, therefore, to think of any office, +post, or pension that could be beyond the pale of her desires; +and in a fit of gaiety I bade M. de Perrot speak out and explain +his riddle. + +"It is a small thing," he said, with ill-disguised nervousness. +"The King hunts to-morrow." + +"Yes," I said. + +"And very commonly he rides back in your company, M. le Marquis." + +"Sometimes," I said; "or with M. d'Epernon. Or, if he is in a +mood for scandal, with M. la Varenne or Vitry." + +"But with you, if you wish it, and care to contrive it so," he +persisted, with a cunning look. + +I shrugged my shoulders. "Well?" I said, wondering more and +more what he would be at. + +"I have a house on the farther side of Poissy," he continued. +"And I should take it as a favour, M. de Rosny, if you could +induce the King to dismount there to-morrow and take a cup of +wine." + +"That is a very small thing," I said bluntly, wondering much why +he had made so great a parade of the matter, and still more why +he seemed so ill at ease. "Yet, after such a prelude, if any but +a friend of your tried loyalty asked it, I might expect to find +Spanish liquorice in the cup." + +"That is out of the question, in my case," he answered with a +slight assumption of offence, which he immediately dropped. "And +you say it is a small thing; it is the more easily granted, M. de +Rosny." + +"But the King goes and comes at his pleasure," I replied warily. +"Of course, he might-take it into his head to descend at your +house. There would be nothing surprising in such a visit. I +think that he has paid you one before, M. de Perrot?" + +He assented eagerly. + +"And he may do so," I said, smiling, "to-morrow. But then, +again, he may not. The chase may lead him another way; or he may +be late in returning; or--in fine, a hundred things may happen." + +I had no mind to go farther than that; and I supposed that it +would satisfy him, and that he would thank me and take his leave. +To my surprise, however, he stood his ground, and even pressed me +more than was polite; while his countenance, when I again eluded +him, assumed an expression of chagrin and vexation so much in +excess of the occasion as to awaken fresh doubts in my mind. But +these only the more confirmed me in my resolution to commit +myself no farther, especially as he was not a man I loved or +could trust; and in the end he had to retire with such comfort as +I had already given him. + +In itself, and on the surface, the thing seemed to be a trifle, +unworthy of the serious consideration of any man. But in so far +as it touched the King's person and movements, I was inclined to +view it in another light; and this the more, as I still had fresh +in my memory the remarkable manner in which Father Cotton, the +Jesuit, had given me a warning by a word about a boxwood fire. +After a moment's thought, therefore, I summoned Boisrueil, one of +my gentlemen, who had an acknowledged talent for collecting +gossip; and I told him in a casual way that M. de Perrot had been +with me. + +"He has not been at Court for a week," he remarked. + +"Indeed?" I said. + +"He applied for the post of Assistant Deputy Comptroller of +Buildings for his nephew, and took offence when it was given to +Madame de Sourdis' Groom of the Chambers." + +"Ha!" I said; "a dangerous malcontent." + +Boisrueil smiled. "He has lived a week out of the sunshine of +his Majesty's countenance, your excellency. After that, all +things are possible." + +This was my own estimate of the man, whom I took to be one of +those smug, pliant self-seekers whom Courts and peace breed up. +I could imagine no danger that could threaten the King from such +a quarter; while curiosity inclined me to grant his request. As +it happened, the deer the next day took us in the direction of +Poissy, and the King, who was always itching to discuss with me +the question of his projected marriage, and as constantly, since +our long talk in the garden at Rennes, avoiding the subject when +with me, bade me ride home with him. On coming within half a +mile of Perrot's I let fall his name, and in a very natural way +suggested that the King should alight there for a few minutes. + +It was one of the things Henry delighted to do, for, endowed with +the easiest manners, and able in a moment to exchange the +formality of the Louvre for the freedom of the camp, he could +give to such cheap favours their full value. He consented on the +instant, therefore; and turning our horses into a by-road, we +sauntered down it with no greater attendance than a couple of +pages. + +The sun was near setting, and its rays, which still gilded the +tree-tops, left the wood below pensive and melancholy. The house +stood in a solitary place on the edge of the forest, half a mile +from Poissy; and these two things had their effect on my mind. I +began to wish that we had brought with us half a troop of horse, +or at least two or three gentlemen; and, startled by the thought +of the unknown chances to which, out of mere idle curiosity, I +was exposing the King, I would gladly have turned back. But +without explanation I could not do so; and while I hesitated +Henry cried out gaily that we were there. + +A short avenue of limes led from the forest road to the door. I +looked curiously before us as we rode under the trees, in some +fear lest M. de Perrot's preparations should discover my +complicity, and apprise the King that he was expected. But so +far was this from being the case that no one appeared; the house +rose still and silent in the mellow light of sunset, and, for all +that we could see, might have been the fabled palace of +enchantment. + +"'He is Jean de Nivelle's dog; he runs away when you call him,'" +the King quoted. "Get down, Rosny. We have reached the palace +of the Sleeping Princess. It remains only to sound the horn, +and--" + +I was in the act of dismounting, with my back to him, when his +words came to this sudden stop. I turned to learn what caused +it, and saw standing in the aperture of the wicket, which had +been silently opened, a girl, little more than a child, of the +most striking beauty. Surprise shone in her eyes, and shyness +and alarm had brought the colour to her cheeks; while the level +rays of the sun, which forced her to screen her eyes with one +small hand, clothed her figure in a robe of lucent glory. I +heard the King whistle low. Before I could speak he had flung +himself from his horse and, throwing the reins to one of the +pages, was bowing before her. + +"We were about to sound the horn, Mademoiselle," he said, +smiling. + +"The horn, Monsieur?" she exclaimed, opening her eyes in wonder, +and staring at him with the prettiest face of astonishment. + +"Yes, Mademoiselle; to awaken the sleeping princess," he +rejoined. "But I see that she is already awake." + +Through the innocence of her eyes flashed a sudden gleam of +archness. "Monsieur flatters himself," she said, with a smile +that just revealed the whiteness of her teeth. + +It was such an answer as delighted the King; who loved, above all +things, a combination of wit and beauty, and never for any long +time wore the chains of a woman who did not unite sense to more +showy attractions. From the effect which the grace and freshness +of the girl had on me, I could judge in a degree of the +impression made on him; his next words showed not only its depth, +but that he was determined to enjoy the adventure to the full. +He presented me to her as M. de Sage, and inquiring +affectionately after Perrot, learned in a trice that she was his +niece, not long from a convent at Loches; finally, begging to be +allowed to rest awhile, he dropped a gallant hint that a cup of +wine from her hands would be acceptable. + +All this, and her innocent doubt what she ought to do, thus +brought face to face with two strange cavaliers, threw the girl +into such a state of blushing confusion as redoubled her charms. +It appeared that her uncle had been summoned unexpectedly to +Marly, and had taken his son with him; and that the household had +seized the occasion to go to a village FETE at Acheres. Only an +old servant remained in the house; who presently appeared and +took her orders. I saw from the man's start of consternation +that he knew the King; but a glance from Henry's eyes bidding me +keep up the illusion, I followed the fellow and charged him not +to betray the King's incognito. When I returned, I found that +Mademoiselle had conducted her visitor to a grassy terrace which +ran along the south side of the house, and was screened from the +forest by an alley of apple trees, and from the east wind by a +hedge of yew. Here, where the last rays of the sun threw sinuous +shadows on the turf, and Paris seemed a million miles away, they +were walking up and down, the sound of their laughter breaking +the woodland silence. Mademoiselle had a fan, with which and an +air of convent coquetry she occasionally shaded her eyes. The +King carried his hat in his hand. It was such an adventure as he +loved, with all his heart; and I stood a little way off, smiling, +and thinking grimly of M. de Perrot. + +On a sudden, hearing a step behind me, I turned, and saw a young +man in a riding-dress come quickly through an opening in the yew +hedge. As I turned, he stopped; his jaw fell, and he stood +rooted to the ground, gazing at the two on the terrace, while his +face, which a moment before had worn an air of pleased +expectancy, grew on a sudden dark with passion, and put on such a +look as made me move towards him. Before I reached him, However, +M. de Perrot himself appeared at his side. The young man flashed +round on him. "MON DIEU, sir!" he cried, in a voice choked with +anger; "I see it all now! I understand why I was carried away to +Marly! I--but it shall not be! I swear it shall not!" + +Between him and me--for, needless to say, I, too, understood all +--M. de Perrot was awkwardly placed. But he showed the presence +of mind of the old courtier. "Silence, sir!" He exclaimed +imperatively. "Do you not see M. de Rosny? Go to him at once +and pay your respects to him, and request him to honour you with +his protection. Or--I see that you are overcome by the honour +which the King does us. Go, first, and change your dress. Go, +boy!" + +The lad retired sullenly, and M. de Perrot, free to deal with me +alone, approached me, smiling assiduously, and trying hard to +hide some consciousness and a little shame under a mask of +cordiality. "A thousand pardons, M. de Rosny," he cried with +effusion, "for an absence quite unpardonable. But I so little +expected to see his Majesty after what you said, and--" + +"Are in no hurry to interrupt him now you are here," I replied +bluntly, determined that, whoever he deceived, he should not +flatter himself he deceived me. "Pooh, man! I am not a fool," I +continued. + +"What is this?" he cried, with a desperate attempt to keep up +the farce. "I don't understand you!" + +"No, the shoe is on the other foot--I understand you," I replied +drily. "Chut, man!" I continued, "you don't make a cats-paw of +me. I see the game. You are for sitting in Madame de Sourdis' +seat, and giving your son a Hat, and your groom a +Comptrollership, and your niece a--" + +"Hush, hush, M. de Rosny," he muttered, turning white and red, +and wiping his brow with his kerchief. "MON DIEU! your words +might--" + +"If overheard, make things very unpleasant for M. de Perrot," I +said. + +"And M. de Rosny?" + +I shrugged my shoulders contemptuously. "Tush, man!" I said. +"Do you think that I sit in no safer seat than that?" + +"Ah! But when Madame de Beaufort is Queen?" he said slily. + +"If she ever is," I replied, affecting greater confidence than I +at that time felt. + +"Well, to be sure," he said slowly, "if she ever is." And he +looked towards the King and his companion, who were still +chatting gaily. Then he stole a crafty glance at me. "Do you +wish her to be?" he muttered. + +"Queen?" I said, "God forbid!" + +"It would be a disgrace to France?" he whispered; and he laid +his hand on my arm, and looked eagerly into my face. + +"Yes," I said. + +"A blot on his fame?" + +I nodded. + +"A--a slur on a score of noble families?" + +I could not deny it. + +"Then--is it not worth while to avoid all that?" he murmured, +his face pale, and his small eyes glued to mine. "Is it not +worth a little--sacrifice, M. de Rosny?" + +"And risk?" I said. "Possibly." + +While the words were still on my lips, something stirred close to +us, behind the yew hedge beside which we were standing. Perrot +darted in a moment to the opening, and I after him. We were just +in time to catch a glimpse of a figure disappearing round the +corner of the house. "Well," I said grimly, "what about being +overheard now?" + +M. de Perrot wiped his face. "Thank Heaven!" he said, "it was +only my son. Now let me explain to you--" + +But our hasty movement had caught the King's eye, and he came +towards us, covering himself as he approached. I had now an +opportunity of learning whether the girl was, in fact, as +innocent as she seemed, and as every particular of our reception +had declared her; and I watched her closely when Perrot's mode of +address betrayed the King's identity. Suffice it that the vivid +blush which on the instant suffused her face, and the lively +emotion which almost overcame her, left me in no doubt. With a +charming air of bashfulness, and just so much timid awkwardness +as rendered her doubly bewitching, she tried to kneel and kiss +the King's hand. He would not permit this, however, but saluted +her cheek. + +"It seems that you were right, sire," she murmured, curtseying in +a pretty confusion, "The princess was not awake." + +Henry laughed gaily. "Come now; tell me frankly, Mademoiselle," +he said. "For whom did you take me?" + +"Not for the King, sire," she answered, with a gleam of +roguishness. "You told me that the King was a good man, whose +benevolent impulses were constantly checked--" + +"Ah!" + +"By M. de Rosny, his Minister." + +The outburst of laughter which greeted this apprised her that she +was again at fault; and Henry, who liked nothing better than such +mystifications, introducing me by my proper name, we diverted +ourselves for some minutes with her alarm and excuses. After +that it was time to take leave, if we would sup at home and the +King would not be missed; and accordingly, but not without some +further badinage, in which Mademoiselle de Brut displayed wit +equal to her beauty, and an agreeable refinement not always found +with either, we departed. + +It should be clearly understood at this point, that, +notwithstanding all I have set down, I was fully determined (in +accordance with a rule I have constantly followed, and would +enjoin on all who do not desire to find themselves one day +saddled with an ugly name) to have no part in the affair; and +this though the advantage of altering the King's intentions +towards Madame de Beaufort was never more vividly present to my +mind. As we rode, indeed, he put several questions concerning +the Baron, and his family, and connections; and, falling into a +reverie, and smiling a good deal at his thoughts, left me in no +doubt as to the impression made upon him. But being engaged at +the time with the Spanish treaty, and resolved, as I have said, +to steer a course uninfluenced by such intrigues, I did not let +my mind dwell upon the matter; nor gave it, indeed, a second +thought until the next afternoon, when, sitting at an open window +of my lodging, I heard a voice in the street ask where the +Duchess de Beaufort had her apartment. + +The voice struck a chord in my memory, and I looked out. The man +who had put the question, and who was now being directed on his +way--by Maignan, my equerry, as it chanced had his back to me, +and I could see only that he was young, shabbily dressed, and +with the air of a workman carried a small frail of tools on his +shoulder. But presently, in the act of thanking Maignan, he +turned so that I saw his face, and with that it flashed upon me +in a moment who he was. + +Accustomed to follow a train of thought quickly, and to act; on +its conclusion with energy, I had Maignan called and furnished +with his instructions before the man had gone twenty paces; and +within the minute I had the satisfaction of seeing the two return +together. As they passed under the window I heard my servant +explaining with the utmost naturalness that he had misunderstood +the stranger, and that this was Madame de Beaufort's; after which +scarce a minute elapsed before the door of my room opened, and he +appeared ushering in young Perrot! + +Or so it seemed to me; and the start of surprise and +consternation which escaped the stranger when he first saw me +confirmed me in the impression. But a moment later I doubted; so +natural was the posture into which the man fell, and so stupid +the look of inquiry which he turned first on me and then on +Maignan. As he stood before me, shifting his feet and staring +about him in vacant wonder, I began to think that I had made a +mistake; and, clearly, either I had done so or this young man was +possessed of talents and a power of controlling his features +beyond the ordinary. He unslung his tools, and saluting me +abjectly waited in silence. After a moment's thought, I asked +him peremptorily what was his errand with the Duchess de +Beaufort. + +"To show her a watch, your excellency," he stammered, his mouth +open, his eyes staring. I could detect no flaw in his acting. + +"What are you, then?" I said. + +"A clockmaker, my lord." + +"Has Madame sent for you?" + +"No, my lord," he stuttered, trembling. + +"Do you want to sell her the watch?" + +He muttered that he did; and that he meant no harm by it. + +"Show it to me, then," I said curtly. + +He grew red at that, and seemed for an instant not to understand. +But on my repeating the order he thrust his hand into his breast, +and producing a parcel began to unfasten it. This he did so +slowly that I was soon for thinking that there was no watch in +it; but in the end he found one and handed it to me. + +"You did not make this," I said, opening it. + +"No, my lord," he answered; "it is German, and old." + +I saw that it was of excellent workmanship, and I was about to +hand it back to him, almost persuaded that I had made a mistake, +when in a second my doubts were solved. Engraved on the thick +end of the egg, and partly erased by wear, was a dog's head, +which I knew to be the crest of the Perrots. + +"So," I said, preparing to return it to him, "you are a +clockmaker?" + +"Yes, your excellency," he muttered. And I thought that I caught +the sound of a sigh of relief. + +I gave the watch to Maignan to hand to him. "Very well," I said. +"I have need of one. The clock in the next room--a gift from his +Majesty--is out of order, and at a standstill. You can go and +attend to it; and see that you do so skilfully. And do you, +Maignan," I continued with meaning, "go with him. When he has +made the clock go, let him go; and not before, or you answer for +it. You understand, sirrah?" + +Maignan saluted obsequiously, and in a moment hurried young +Perrot from the room; leaving me to congratulate myself on the +strange and fortuitous circumstance that had thrown him in my +way, and enabled me to guard against a RENCONTRE that might have +had the most embarassing consequences. + +It required no great sagacity to foresee the, next move; and I +was not surprised when, about an hour later, I heard a clatter of +hoofs outside, and a voice inquiring hurriedly for the Marquis de +Rosny. One of my people announced M. de Perrot, and I bade them +admit him. In a twinkling he came up, pale with heat, and +covered with dust, his eyes almost starting from his head and his +cheeks trembling with agitation. Almost before the door was +shut, he cried out that we were undone. + +I was willing to divert myself with him for a time, and I +pretended to know nothing. "What?" I said, rising. "Has the +King met with an accident?" + +"Worse! worse!" he cried, waving his hat with a gesture of +despair. "My son--you saw my son yesterday?" + +"Yes," I said. + +"He overheard us!" + +"Not us," I said drily. "You. But what then, M. de Perrot? You +are master in your own house." + +"But he is not in my house," he wailed. "He has gone! Fled! +Decamped! I had words with him this morning, you understand." + +"About your niece?" + +M. de Perrot's face took a delicate shade of red, and he nodded; +he could not speak. He seemed for an instant in danger of some +kind of fit. Then he found his voice again. "The fool prated of +love! Of love!" he said with such a look--like that of a dying +fowl--that I could have laughed aloud. "And when I bade him +remember his duty he threatened me. He, that unnatural boy, +threatened to betray me, to ruin me, to go to Madame de Beaufort +and tell her all--all, you understand. And I doing so much, and +making such sacrifices for him!" + +"Yes," I said, "I see that. And what did you do?" + +"I broke my cane on his back," M. de Perrot answered with +unction, "and locked him in his room. But what is the use? The +boy has no natural feelings!" + +"He got out through the window?" + +Perrot nodded; and being at leisure, now that he had explained +his woes, to feel their full depth, shed actual tears of rage and +terror; now moaning that Madame would never forgive him, and that +if he escaped the Bastille he would lose all his employments and +be the laughing-stock of the Court; and now striving to show that +his peril was mine, and that it was to my interest to help him. + +I allowed him to go on in this strain for some time, and then, +having sufficiently diverted myself with his forebodings, I bade +him in an altered voice to take courage. "For I think I know," I +said, "where your son is." + +"At Madame's?" he groaned. + +"No; here," I said. + +"MON DIEU! Where?" he cried. And he sprang up, startled out of +his lamentations. + +"Here; in my lodging," I answered. + +"My son is here?" he said. + +"In the next room," I replied, smiling indulgently at his +astonishment, which was only less amusing than his terror. "I +have but to touch this bell, and Maignan will bring him to you." + +Full of wonder and admiration, he implored me to ring and have +him brought immediately; since until he had set eyes on him he +could not feel safe. Accordingly I rang my hand-bell, and +Maignan opened the door. "The clockmaker," I said nodding. + +He looked at me stupidly. "The clock-maker, your excellency?" + +"Yes; bring him in," I said. + +"But--he has gone!" he exclaimed. + +"Gone?" I cried, scarcely able to believe my ears. "Gone, +sirrah! and I told you to detain him!" + +"Until he had mended the clock, my lord," Maignan stammered, +quite out of countenance. "But he set it going half-an-hour ago; +and I let him go, according to your order." + +It is in the face of such CONTRETEMPS as these that the low-bred +man betrays himself. Yet such was my chagrin on this occasion, +and so sudden the shock, that it was all I could do to maintain +my SANGFROID, and, dismissing Maignan with a look, be content to +punish M. de Perrot with a sneer. "I did not know that your son +was a tradesman," I said. He wrung his hands. "He has low +tastes," he cried. "He always had. He has amused himself that +way, And now by this time he is with Madame de Beaufort and we +are undone!" + +"Not we," I answered curtly; "speak for yourself, M. de Perrot." + +But though, having no mind to appear in his eyes dependent on +Madame's favour or caprice, I thus checked his familiarity, I am +free to confess that my calmness was partly assumed; and that, +though I knew my position to be unassailable--based as it was on +solid services rendered to the King, my master, and on the +familiar affection with which he honoured me through so many +years--I could not view the prospect of a fresh collision with +Madame without some misgiving. Having gained the mastery in the +two quarrels we had had, I was the less inclined to excite her to +fresh intrigues; and as unwilling to give the King reason to +think that we could not live at peace. Accordingly, after a +moment's consideration, I told Perrot that, rather than he should +suffer, I would go to Madame de Beaufort myself, and give such +explanations as would place another complexion on the matter. + +He overwhelmed me with thanks, and, besides, to show his +gratitude--for he was still on thorns, picturing her wrath and +resentment he insisted on accompanying me to the Cloitre de St. +Germain, where Madame had her apartment. By the way, he asked me +what I should say to her. + +"Whatever will get you out of the scrape," I answered curtly. + +"Then anything!" he cried with fervour. "Anything, my dear +friend. Oh, that unnatural boy!" + +"I suppose that the girl is as big a fool?" I said. + +"Bigger! bigger!" he answered. "I don't know where she learned +such things!" + +"She prated of love, too, then?" + +"To be sure," he groaned, "and without a sou of DOT!" + +"Well, well," I said, "here we are. I will do what I can." + +Fortunately the King was not there, and Madame would receive me. +I thought, indeed, that her doors flew open with suspicious +speed, and that way was made for me more easily than usual; and I +soon found that I was not wrong in the inference I drew from +these facts. For when I entered her chamber that remarkable +woman, who, whatever her enemies may say, combined with her +beauty a very uncommon degree of sense and discretion, met me +with a low courtesy and a smile of derision. "So," she said, "M. +de Rosny, not satisfied with furnishing me with evidence, gives +me proof." + +"How, Madame?" I said; though I well understood. + +"By his presence here," she answered. "An hour ago," she +continued, "the King was with me. I had not then the slightest +ground to expect this honour, or I am sure that his Majesty would +have stayed to share it. But I have since seen reason to expect +it, and you observe that I am not unprepared." + +She spoke with a sparkling eye, and an expression of the most +lively resentment; so that, had M. de Perrot been in my place I +think that he would have shed more tears. I was myself somewhat +dashed, though I knew the prudence that governed her in her most +impetuous sallies; still, to avoid the risk of hearing things +which we might both afterwards wish unsaid, I came to the point. +"I fear that I have timed my visit ill, Madame," I said. "You +have some complaint against me." + +"Only that you are like the others," she answered with a fine +contempt. "You profess one thing and do another." + +"As for example?" + +"For example!" she replied, with a scornful laugh. "How many +times have you told me that you left women, and intrigues in +which women had part, on one side?" + +I bowed. + +"And now I find you--you and that Perrot, that creature!-- +intriguing against me; intriguing with some country chit to--" + +"Madame!" I said, cutting her short with a show of temper, +"where did you get this?" + +"Do you deny it?" she cried, looking so beautiful in her anger +that I thought I had never seen her to such advantage. "Do you +deny that you took the King there?" + +"No. Certainly I took the King there." + +"To Perrot's? You admit it?" + +"Certainly," I said, "for a purpose." + +"A purpose!" she cried with withering scorn. "Was it not that +the King might see that girl?" + +"Yes," I replied patiently, "it was." + +She stared at me. "And you can tell me that to my face!" she +said. + +"I see no reason why I should not, Madame," I replied easily--"I +cannot conceive why you should object to the union--and many why +you should desire to see two people happy. Otherwise, if I had +had any idea, even the slightest, that the matter was obnoxious +to you, I would not have engaged in it." + +"But--what was your purpose then?" she muttered, in a different +tone. + +"To obtain the King's good word with M. de Perrot to permit the +marriage of his son with his niece; who is, unfortunately, +without a portion." + +Madame uttered a low exclamation, and her eyes wandering from me, +she took up--as if her thoughts strayed also--a small ornament; +from the table beside her. "Ah!" she said, looking at it +closely. "But Perrot's son did he know of this?" + +"No," I answered, smiling. "But I have heard that women can love +as well as men, Madame. And sometimes ingenuously." + +I heard her draw a sigh of relief, and I knew that if I had not +persuaded her I had accomplished much. I was not surprised when, +laying down the ornament with which she had been toying, she +turned on me one of those rare smiles to which the King could +refuse nothing; and wherein wit, tenderness, and gaiety were so +happily blended that no conceivable beauty of feature, uninspired +by sensibility, could vie with them. "Good friend, I have +sinned," she said. "But I am a woman, and I love. Pardon me. +As for your PROTEGEE, from this moment she is mine also. I will +speak to the King this evening; and if he does not at once," +Madame continued, with a gleam of archness that showed me that +she was not yet free from suspicion, "issue his commands to M. de +Perrot, I shall know what to think; and his Majesty will +suffer!" + +I thanked her profusely, and in fitting terms. Then, after a +word or two about some assignments for the expenses of her +household, in settling which there had been delay--a matter +wherein, also, I contrived to do her pleasure and the King's +service no wrong--I very willingly took my leave, and, calling my +people, started homewards on foot. I had not gone twenty paces, +however, before M. de Perrot, whose impatience had chained him to +the spot, crossed the street and joined himself to me. "My dear +friend," he cried, embracing me fervently, "is all well?" + +"Yes," I said. + +"She is appeased?" + +"Absolutely." + +He heaved a deep sigh of relief, and, almost crying in his joy, +began to thank me, with all the extravagance of phrase and +gesture to which men of his mean spirit are prone. Through all I +heard him silently, and with secret amusement, knowing that the +end was not yet. At length he asked me what explanation I had +given. + +"The only explanation possible," I answered bluntly. "I had to +combat Madame's jealousy. I did it in the only way in which it +could be done: by stating that your niece loved your son, and by +imploring her good word on their behalf." + +He sprang a pace from me with a cry of rage and astonishment. +"You did that?" he screamed. + +"Softly, softly, M. de Perrot," I said, in a voice which brought +him somewhat to his senses. "Certainly I did. You bade me say +whatever was necessary, and I did so. No more. If you wish, +however," I added grimly, "to explain to Madame that--" + +But with a wail of lamentation he rushed from me, and in a moment +was lost in the darkness; leaving me to smile at this odd +termination of an intrigue that, but for a lad's adroitness, +might have altered the fortunes not of M. de Perrot only but of +the King my master and of France. + + + +II. THE TENNIS BALLS. + +A few weeks before the death of the Duchess of Beaufort, on +Easter Eve, 1599, made so great a change in the relations of all +at Court that "Sourdis mourning" came to be a phrase for grief, +genuine because interested, an affair that might have had a +serious issue began, imperceptibly at the time, in the veriest +trifle. + +One day, while the King was still absent from Paris, I had a mind +to play tennis, and for that purpose summoned La Trape, who had +the charge of my balls, and sometimes, in the absence of better +company, played with me. Of late the balls he bought had given +me small satisfaction, and I bade him bring me the bag, that I +might choose the best. He did so, and I had not handled half-a- +dozen before I found one, and later three others, so much more +neatly sewn than the rest, and in all points so superior, that +even an untrained eye could not fail to detect the difference. + +"Look, man!" I said, holding out one of these for his +inspection. "These are balls; the rest are rubbish. Cannot you +see the difference? Where did you buy these? At Constant's?" + +He muttered, "No, my lord," and looked confused. + +This roused my curiosity. "Where, then?" I said sharply. + +"Of a man who was at the gate yesterday." + +"Oh!" I said. "Selling tennis balls?" + +"Yes, my lord." + +"Some rogue of a marker," I exclaimed, "from whom you bought +filched goods! Who was it, man?" + +"I don't know his name," La Trape answered. "He was a Spaniard." + +"Well?" + +"Who wanted to have an audience of your excellency." + +"Ho!" I said drily. "Now I understand. Bring me your book. +Or, tell me, what have you charged me for these balls?" + +"Two francs," he muttered reluctantly. + +"And never gave a sou, I'll swear!" I retorted. "You took the +poor devil's balls, and left him at the gate! Ay, it is rogues +like you get me a bad name!" I continued, affecting more anger +than I felt--for, in truth, I was rather pleased with my +quickness in discovering the cheat. "You steal and I bear the +blame, and pay to boot! Off with you and find the fellow, and +bring him to me, or it will be the worse for you!" + +Glad to escape so easily, La Trape ran to the gate; but he failed +to find his friend, and two or three days elapsed before I +thought again of the matter, such petty rogueries being ingrained +in a great man's VALETAILLE, and being no more to be removed than +the hairs from a man's arm. At the end of that time La Trape +came to me, bringing the Spaniard; who had appeared again at the +gate. The stranger proved to be a small, slight man, pale and +yet brown, with quick-glancing eyes. His dress was decent, but +very poor, with more than one rent neatly darned. He made me a +profound reverence, and stood waiting, with his cap in his hand, +to be addressed; but, with all his humility, I did not fail to +detect an easiness of deportment and a propriety that did not +seem absolutely strange since he was a Spaniard, but which struck +me, nevertheless, as requiring some explanation. I asked him, +civilly, who he was. He answered that his name was Diego. + +"You speak French?" + +"I am of Guipuzcoa, my lord," he answered, "where we sometimes +speak three tongues." + +"That is true," I said. "And it is your trade to make tennis +balls?" + +"No, my lord; to use them," he answered with a certain dignity. + +"You are a player, then?" + +"If it please your excellency." + +"Where have you played?" + +"At Madrid, where I was the keeper of the Duke of Segovia's +court; and at Toledo, where I frequently had the honour of +playing against M. de Montserrat." + +"You are a good player?" + +"If your excellency," he answered impulsively, "will give me an +opportunity--" + +"Softly, softly," I said, somewhat taken aback by his +earnestness. "Granted that you are a player, you seem to have +played to small purpose.. Why are you here, my friend, and not in +Madrid?" + +He drew up his sleeves, and showed me that his wrists were deeply +scarred. + +I shrugged my shoulders. "You have been in the hands of the Holy +Brotherhood?" I said. + +"No, my lord," he answered bitterly. "Of the Holy Inquisition." + +"You are a Protestant?" + +He bowed. + +On that I fell to considering him with more attention, but at the +same time with some distrust; reflecting that he was a Spaniard, +and recalling the numberless plots against his Majesty of which +that nation had been guilty. Still, if his tale were true he +deserved support; with a view therefore to testing this I +questioned him farther, and learned that he had for a long time +disguised his opinions, until, opening them in an easy moment to +a fellow servant, he found himself upon the first occasion of +quarrel betrayed to the Fathers. After suffering much, and +giving himself up for lost in their dungeons, he made his escape +in a manner sufficiently remarkable, if I might believe his +story. In the prison with him lay a Moor, for whose exchange +against a Christian taken by the Sallee pirates an order came +down. It arrived in the evening; the Moor was to be removed in +the morning. An hour after the arrival of the news, however, and +when the two had just been locked up for the night, the Moor, +overcome with excess of joy, suddenly expired. At first the +Spaniard was for giving the alarm; but, being an ingenious +fellow, in a few minutes he summoned all his wits together and +made a plan. Contriving to blacken his face and hands with +charcoal he changed clothes with the corpse, and muffling himself +up after the fashion of the Moors in a cold climate he succeeded +in the early morning in passing out in his place. Those who had +charge of him had no reason to expect an escape, and once on the +road he had little difficulty in getting away, and eventually +reached France after a succession of narrow chances. + +All this the man told me so simply that I knew not which to +admire more, the daring of his device--since for a white man to +pass for a brown is beyond the common scope of such disguises--or +his present modesty in relating it. However, neither of these +things seemed to my mind a good reason for disbelief. As to the +one, I considered that an impostor would have put forward +something more simple; and as to the other, I have all my life +long observed that those who have had strange experiences tell +them in a very ordinary way. Besides, I had fresh in my mind the +diverting escape of the Duke of Nemours from Lyons, which I have +elsewhere related. On the other hand, and despite all these +things, the story might be false; so with a view to testing one +part of it, at least, I bade him come and play with me that +afternoon. + +"My lord," he said bluntly, "I had rather not. For if I defeat +your excellency, I may defeat also your good intentions. And if +I permit you to win, I shall seem to be an impostor." + +Somewhat surprised by his forethought, I reassured him on this +point; and his game, which proved to be one of remarkable +strength and finesse, and fairly on an equality, as it seemed to +me, with that of the best French players, persuaded me that at +any rate the first part of his tale was true. Accordingly I made +him a present, and, in addition, bade Maignan pay him a small +allowance for a while. For this he showed his gratitude by +attaching himself to my household; and as it was the fashion at +that time to keep tennis masters of this class, I found it +occasionally amusing to pit him against other well-known players. +In the course of a few weeks he gained me great credit; and +though I am not so foolish as to attach importance to such +trifles, but, on the contrary, think an old soldier who stood +fast at Coutras, or even a clerk who has served the King +honestly--if such a prodigy there be--more deserving than these +professors, still I do not err on the other side; but count him a +fool who, because he has solid cause to value himself, disdains +the ECLAT which the attachment of such persons gives him in the +public eye. + +The man went by the name of Diego the Spaniard, and his story, +which gradually became known, together with the excellence of his +play, made him so much the fashion that more than one tried to +detach him from my service. The King heard of him, and would +have played with him, but the sudden death of Madame de Beaufort, +which occurred soon afterwards, threw the Court into mourning; +and for a while, in pursuing the negotiations for the King's +divorce, and in conducting a correspondence of the most delicate +character with the Queen, I lost sight of my player--insomuch, +that I scarcely knew whether he still formed part of my suite or +not. + +My attention was presently recalled to him, however, in a rather +remarkable manner. One morning Don Antonio d'Evora, Secretary to +the Spanish Embassy, and a brother of that d'Evora who commanded +the Spanish Foot at Paris in '94, called on me at the Arsenal, to +which I had just removed, and desired to see me. I bade them +admit him; but as my secretaries were at the time at work with +me, I left them and received him in the garden--supposing that +he wished to speak to me, about the affair of Saluces, and +preferring, like the King my master, to talk of matters of State +in the open air. + +However, I was mistaken. Don Antonio said nothing about Savoy, +but after the usual preliminaries, which a Spaniard never omits, +plunged into a long harangue upon the comity which, now that +peace reigned, should exist between the two nations. For some +time I waited patiently to learn what he would be at; but he +seemed to be lost in his own eloquence, and at last I took him +up. + +"All this is very well, M. d'Evora," I said. "I quite agree with +you that the times are changed, that amity is not the same thing +as war, and that a grain of sand in the eye is unpleasant," for +he had said all of these things. "But I fail, being a plain man +and no diplomatist, to see what you want me to do." + +"It is the smallest matter," he said, waving his hand gracefully. + +"And yet," I retorted, "you seem to find a difficulty in coming +at it." + +"As you do at the grain of sand in the eye," he answered wittily. +"After all, however, in what you say, M. de Rosny, there is some +truth. I feel that I am, on delicate ground; but I am sure that +you will pardon me. You have in your suite a certain Diego." + +"It may be so," I said, masking my surprise, and affecting +indifference. + +"A tennis-player." + +I shrugged my shoulders. "The man is known," I said. + +"A Protestant?" + +"It is not impossible." + +"And a subject of the King, my master. A man," Don Antonio +continued, with increasing stiffness, "in fine, M. de Rosny, who, +after committing various offences, murdered his comrade in +prison, and, escaping in his clothes, took refuge in this +country." + +I shrugged my shoulders again. + +"I have no knowledge of that," I said coldly. + +"No, or I am sure that you would not harbour the fellow," the +secretary answered. "Now that you do know it, however, I take it +for granted that you will dismiss him? If you held any but the +great place you do hold, M. de Rosny, it would be different; but +all the world see who follow you, and this man's presence stains +you, and is an offence to my master." + +"Softly, softly, M. d'Evora," I said, with a little warmth. "You +go too fast. Let me tell you first, that, for my honour, I take +care of it myself; and, secondly, for your master, I do not allow +even my own to meddle with my household." + +"But, my lord," he said pompously, "the King of Spain--" + +"Is the King of Spain," I answered, cutting him short without +much ceremony. "But in the Arsenal of Paris, which, for the +present, is my house, I am king. And I brook no usurpers, M. +d'Evora." + +He assented to that with a constrained smile. + +"Then I can say no more," he answered. "I have warned you that +the man is a rogue. If you will still entertain him, I wash my +hands of it. But I fear the consequences, M. de Rosny, and, +frankly, it lessens my opinion of your sagacity." + +Thereat I bowed in my turn, and after the exchange of some +civilities he took his leave. Considering his application after +he was gone, I confess that I found nothing surprising in it; and +had it come from a man whom I held in greater respect I might +have complied with it in an indirect fashion. But though it +might have led me under some circumstances to discard Diego, +naturally, since it confirmed his story in some points, and +proved besides that he was not a persona grata at the Spanish +Embassy, it did not lead me to value him less. And as within the +week he was so fortunate as to defeat La Varenne's champion in a +great match at the Louvre, and won also a match, at M. de +Montpensier's which put fifty crowns into my pocket, I thought +less and less of d'Evora's remonstrance; until the king's return +put it quite out of my head. The entanglement with Mademoiselle +d'Entragues, which was destined to be the most fatal of all +Henry's attachments, was then in the forming; and the king +plunged into every kind of amusement with fresh zest. The very +day after his return he matched his marker, a rogue, but an +excellent player, against my man; and laid me twenty crowns on +the event, the match to be played on the following Saturday after +a dinner which M. de Lude was giving in honour of the lady. + +On the Thursday, however, who should come in to me, while I was +sitting alone after supper, but Maignan: who, closing the door +and dismissing the page who waited there, told me with a very +long face and an air of vast importance that he had discovered +something. + +"Something?" I said, being inclined at the moment to be merry. +"What? A plot to reduce your perquisites, you rascal?" + +"No, my lord," he answered stoutly. "But to tap your +excellency's secrets." + +"Indeed," I said pleasantly, not believing a word of it. "And +who is to hang?" + +"The Spaniard," he answered in a low voice. + +That sobered me, by putting the matter in a new light; and I sat +a moment looking at him and reviewing Diego's story, which +assumed on the instant an aspect so uncommon and almost +incredible that I wondered how I had ever allowed it to pass. +But when I proceeded from this to the substance of Maignan's +charge I found an IMPASSE in this direction also, and I smiled. +"So it is Diego, is it?" I said. "You think that he is a spy?" + +Maignan nodded. + +"Then, tell me," I asked, "what opportunity has he of learning +more than all the world knows? He has not been in my apartments +since I engaged him. He has seen none of my papers. The +youngest footboy could tell all he has learned." + +"True, my lord," Maignan answered slowly; "but--" + +"Well?" + +"I saw him this evening, talking with a Priest in the Rue Petits +Pois; and he calls himself a Protestant." + +"Ah! You are sure that the man was a priest?" + +"I know him." + +"For whom?" + +"One of the chaplains at the Spanish Embassy." + +It was natural that after this I should take a more serious view +of the matter; and I did so. But my former difficulty still +remained, for, assuming this to be a cunning plot, and d'Evora's +application to me a ruse to throw me off my guard, I could not +see where their advantage lay; since the Spaniard's occupation +was not of a nature to give him the entry to my confidence or the +chance of ransacking my papers. I questioned Maignan further, +therefore, but without result. He had seen the two together in a +secret kind of way, viewing them himself from the window of a +house where he had an assignation. He had not been near enough +to hear what they said, but he was sure that no quarrel took +place between them, and equally certain that it was no chance +meeting that brought them together. + +Infected by his assurance, I could still see no issue; and no +object in such an intrigue. And in the end I contented myself +with bidding him watch the Spaniard closely, and report to me the +following evening; adding that he might confide the matter to La +Trape, who was a supple fellow, and of the two the easier +companion. + +Accordingly, next evening Maignan again appeared, this time with +a face even longer; so that at first I supposed him to have +discovered a plot worse than Chastel's; but it turned out that he +had discovered nothing. The Spaniard had spent the morning in +lounging and the afternoon in practice at the Louvre, and from +first to last had conducted himself in the most innocent manner +possible. On this I rallied Maignan on his mare's nest, and was +inclined to dismiss the matter as such; still, before doing so, I +thought I would see La Trape, and dismissing Maignan I sent for +him. + +When he was come, "Well," I said, "have you anything to say?" + +"One little thing only, your excellency," he answered slyly, "and +of no importance." + +"But you did not tell it to Maignan?" + +"No, my Lord," he replied, his face relaxing in a cunning smile. + +"Well?" + +"Once to-day I saw Diego where he should not have been." + +"Where?" + +"In the King's dressing-room at the tennis-court." + +"You saw him there?" + +"I saw him coming out," he answered. + +It may be imagined how I felt on hearing this; for although I +might have thought nothing of the matter before my suspicions +were aroused--since any man might visit such a place out of +curiosity--now, my mind being disturbed, I was quick to conceive +the worst, and saw with horror my beloved master already +destroyed through my carelessness. I questioned La Trape in a +fury, but could learn nothing more. He had seen the man slip +out, and that was all. + +"But did you not go in yourself?" I said, restraining my +impatience with difficulty. + +"Afterwards? Yes, my lord." + +"And made no discovery?" + +He shook his head. + +"Was anything prepared for his Majesty?" + +"There was sherbet; and some water." + +"You tried them?" + +La Trape grinned. "No, my lord," he said. "But I gave some to +Maignan." + +"Not explaining?" + +"No, my lord." + +"You sacrilegious rascal!" I cried, amused in spite of my +anxiety. "And he was none the worse?" + +"No, my lord." + +Not satisfied yet, I continued to press him, but with so little +success that I still found myself unable to decide whether the +Spaniard had wandered in innocently or to explore his ground. In +the end, therefore, I made up my mind to see things for myself; +and early next morning, at an hour when I was not likely to be +observed, I went out by a back door, and with my face muffled and +no other attendance than Maignan and La Trape, went to the +tennis-court and examined the dressing-room. + +This was a small closet on the first floor, of a size to hold two +or three persons, and with a casement through which the King, if +he wished to be private, might watch the game. Its sole +furniture consisted of a little table with a mirror, a seat for +his Majesty, and a couple of stools, so that it offered small +scope for investigation. True, the stale sherbet and the water +were still there, the carafes standing on the table beside an +empty comfit box, and a few toilet necessaries; and it will be +believed that I lost no time in examining them. But I made no +discovery, and when I had passed my eye over everything else that +the room contained, and noticed nothing that seemed in the +slightest degree suspicious, I found myself completely at a loss. +I went to the window, and for a moment looked idly into the +court. + +But neither did any light come thence, and I had turned again and +was about to leave, when my eye alighted on a certain thing and I +stopped. + +"What is that?" I said. It was a thin case, book-shaped, of +Genoa velvet, somewhat worn. + +"Plaister," Maignan, who was waiting at the door, answered. "His +Majesty's hand is not well yet, and as your excellency knows, +he--" + +"Silence, fool!" I cried. and I stood rooted to the spot, +overwhelmed by the conviction that I held the clue to the +mystery, and so shaken by the horror which that conviction +naturally brought with it that I could not move a finger. A +design so fiendish and monstrous as that which I suspected might +rouse the dullest sensibilities, in a case where it threatened +the meanest; but being aimed in this at the King, my master, from +whom I had received so many benefits, and on whose life the well- +being of all depended, it goaded me to the warmest resentment. I +looked round the tennis-court--which, empty, shadowy and silent, +seemed a fit place for such horrors--with rage and repulsion; +apprehending in a moment of sad presage all the accursed strokes +of an enemy whom nothing could propitiate, and who, sooner or +later, must set all my care at nought, and take from France her +greatest benefactor. + +But, it will be said, I had no proof, only a conjecture; and this +is true, but of it hereafter. Suffice it that, as soon as I had +swallowed my indignation, I took all the precautions affection +could suggest or duty enjoin, omitting nothing; and then, +confiding the matter to no one the two men who were with me +excepted--I prepared to observe the issue with gloomy +satisfaction. + +The match was to take place at three in the afternoon. A little +after that hour, I arrived at the tennis-court, attended by La +Font and other gentlemen, and M. l'Huillier, the councillor, who +had dined with me. L'Huillier's business had detained me +somewhat, and the men had begun; but as I had anticipated this, I +had begged my good friend De Vic to have an eye to my interests. +The King, who was in the gallery, had with him M. de Montpensier, +the Comte de Lude, Vitry, Varennes, and the Florentine +Ambassador, with Sancy and some others. Mademoiselle d'Entragues +and two ladies had taken possession of his closet, and from the +casement were pouring forth a perpetual fire of badinage and BONS +MOTS. The tennis-court, in a word, presented as different an +aspect as possible from that which it had worn in the morning. +The sharp crack of the ball, as it bounded from side to side, was +almost lost in the crisp laughter and babel of voices; which as I +entered rose into a perfect uproar, Mademoiselle having just +flung a whole lapful of roses across the court in return for some +witticism. These falling short of the gallery had lighted on the +head of the astonished Diego, causing a temporary cessation of +play, during which I took my seat. + +Madame de Lude's saucy eye picked me out in a moment. "Oh, the +grave man!" she cried. "Crown him, too, with roses." + +"As they crowned the skull at the feast, madame?" I answered, +saluting her gallantly. + +"No, but as the man whom the King delighteth to honour," she +answered, making a face at me. "Ha! ha! I am not afraid! I am +not afraid! I am not afraid!" + +There was a good deal of laughter at this. "What shall I do to +her, M. de Rosny?" Mademoiselle cried out, coming to my rescue. + +"If you will have the goodness to kiss her, mademoiselle," I +answered, "I will consider it an advance, and as one of the +council of the King's finances, my credit should be good for the +re--" + +"Thank you!" the King cried, nimbly cutting me short. "But as +my finances seem to be the security, faith, I will see to the +repayment myself! Let them start again; but I am afraid that my +twenty crowns are yours, Grand Master; your man is in fine play." + +I looked into the court. Diego, lithe and sinewy, with his +cropped black hair, high colour, and quick shallow eyes, bounded +here and there, swift and active as a panther. Seeing him thus, +with his heart in his returns, I could not but doubt; more, as +the game proceeded, amid the laughter and jests and witty sallies +of the courtiers, I felt the doubt grow; the riddle became each +minute more abstruse, the man more mysterious. But that was of +no moment now. + +A little after four o'clock the match ended in my favour; on +which the King, tired of inaction, sprang up, and declaring that +he would try Diego's strength himself, entered the court. I +followed, with Vitry and others, and several strokes which had +been made were tested and discussed. Presently, the King going +to talk with Mademoiselle at her window, I remarked the Spaniard +and Maignan, with the King's marker, and one or two others +waiting at the further door. Almost at the same moment I +observed a sudden movement among them, and voices raised higher +than was decent, and I called out sharply to know what it was. + +"An accident, my lord," one of the men answered respectfully. + +"It is nothing," another muttered. "Maignan was playing tricks, +your excellency, and cut Diego's hand a little; that is all." + +"Cut his hand now!" I exclaimed angrily "And the King about to +play with him. Let me see it!" + +Diego sulkily held up his hand, and I saw a cut, ugly but of no +importance. + +"Pooh!" I said; "it is nothing. Get some plaister. Here, you," +I continued wrathfully, turning to Maignan, "since you have done +the mischief, booby, you must repair it. Get some plaister, do +you hear? He cannot play in that state." + +Diego muttered something, and Maignan that he had not got any; +but before I could answer that he must get some, La Trape thrust +his may to the front, and producing a small piece from his +pocket, proceeded with a droll air of extreme carefulness to +treat the hand. The other knaves fell into the joke, and the +Spaniard had no option but to submit; though his scowling face +showed that he bore Maignan no good-will, and that but for my +presence he might not have been so complaisant. La Trape was +bringing his surgery to an end by demanding a fee, in the most +comical manner possible, when the King returned to our part of +the court. "What is it?" he said. "Is anything the matter?" + +"No, sire," I said. "My man has cut his hand a little, but it is +nothing." + +"Can he play?" Henry asked with his accustomed good-nature. + +"Oh, yes, sire," I answered. "I have bound it up with a strip of +plaister from the case in your Majesty's closet." + +"He has not lost blood?" + +"No, sire." + +And he had not. But it was small wonder that the King asked; +small wonder, for the man's face had changed in the last ten +seconds to a strange leaden colour; a terror like that of a wild +beast that sees itself trapped had leapt into his eyes. He shot +a furtive glance round him, and I saw him slide his hand behind +him. But I was prepared for that, and as the King moved off a +space I slipped to the man's side, as if to give him some +directions about his game. + +"Listen," I said, in a voice heard only by him; "take the +dressing off your hand, and I have you broken on the wheel. You +understand? Now play." + +Assuring myself that he did understand, and that Maignan and La +Trape were at hand if he should attempt anything, I went back to +my place, and sitting down by De Vic began to watch that strange +game; while Mademoiselle's laughter and Madame de Lude's gibes +floated across the court, and mingled with the eager applause and +more dexterous criticisms of the courtiers. The light was +beginning to sink, and for this reason, perhaps, no one perceived +the Spaniard's pallor; but De Vic, after a rally or two, remarked +that he was not playing his full strength. + +"Wise man!" he added. + +"Yes," I said. "Who plays well against kings plays ill." + +De Vic laughed. "How he sweats!" he said, "and he never turned +a hair when he played Colet. I suppose he is nervous." + +"Probably," I said. + +And so they chattered and laughed--chattered and laughed, seeing +an ordinary game between the King and a marker; while I, for whom +the court had grown sombre as a dungeon, saw a villain struggling +in his own toils, livid with the fear of death, and tortured by +horrible apprehensions. Use and habit were still so powerful +with the man that he played on mechanically with his hands, but +his eyes every now and then sought mine with the look of the +trapped beast; and on these occasions I could see his lips move +in prayer or cursing. The sweat poured down his face as he moved +to and fro, and I, fancied that his features were beginning to +twitch. Presently--I have said that the light was failing, so +that it was not in my imagination only that the court was sombre +--the King held his ball. "My friend, your man is not well," he +said, turning to me. + +"It is nothing, sire; the honour you do him makes him nervous," I +answered. "Play up, sirrah," I continued; "you make too good a +courtier." + +Mademoiselle d'Entragues clapped her hands and laughed at the +hit; and I saw Diego glare at her with an indescribable look, in +which hatred and despair and a horror of reproach were so nicely +mingled with something as exceptional as his position, that the +whole baffled words. Doubtless the gibes and laughter he heard, +the trifling that went on round him, the very game in which he +was engaged, and from which he dared not draw back, seemed in his +eyes the most appalling mockery; but ignorant who were in the +secret, unable to guess how his diabolical plot had been +discovered, uncertain even whether the whole were not a concerted +piece, he went on playing his part mechanically; with starting +eyes and labouring chest, and lips that, twitching and working, +lost colour each minute. At length he missed a stroke, and +staggering leaned against the wall, his-face livid and ghastly. +The King took the alarm at that, and cried out that something was +wrong. Those who were sitting rose. I nodded to Maignan to go +to the man. + +"It is a fit," I said. "He is subject to them, and doubtless the +excitement--but I am sorry that it has spoiled your Majesty's +game. + +"It has not," Henry answered kindly. "The light is gone. But +have him looked to, will you, my friend? If La Riviere were here +he might do something for him." + +While he spoke, the servants had gathered round the man, but with +the timidity which characterises that class in such emergencies, +they would not touch him. As I crossed the court, and they made +way for me, the Spaniard, who was still standing, though in a +strange and distorted fashion, turned his bloodshot eyes on me. + +"A priest!" he muttered, framing the words with difficulty, "a +priest!" + +I directed Maignan to fetch one. "And do you," I continued to +the other servants, "take him into a room somewhere." + +They obeyed, reluctantly. As they carried him out, the King, +content with my statement, was giving his hand to Mademoiselle to +descend the stairs; and neither he nor any, save the two men in +my confidence, had the slightest suspicion that aught was the +matter beyond a natural illness. But I shuddered when I +considered how narrow had been the King's escape, how trifling +the circumstance which had led to suspicion, how fortuitous the +inspiration by which I had chanced on discovery. The delay of a +single day, the occurrence of the slightest mishap, might have +been fatal not to him only but to the best interests of France; +which his death at a time when he was still childless must have +plunged into the most melancholy of wars. + +Of the wretched Spaniard I need say little more. Caught in his +own snare, he was no sooner withdrawn from the court than he fell +into violent convulsions, which held him until midnight when he +died with symptoms and under circumstances so nearly resembling +those which had attended the death of Madame de Beaufort at +Easter, that I have several times dwelt on the strange +coincidence, and striven to find the connecting link. But I +never hit on it; and the King's death, and that unexplained +tendency to imitate great crimes under which the vulgar labour, +prevailed with me to keep the matter secret. Nay, as I believed +that d'Evora had played the part of an unconscious tool, and as a +hint pressed home sufficed to procure the withdrawal of the +chaplain whom Maignan had named, I did not think it necessary to +disclose the matter even to the King my master. + + + +III. TWO MAYORS OF BOTTITORT. + +Believing that I have now set down all those particulars of the +treaty with Epernon and the consequent pacification of Brittany +in the year 1598 which it will be of advantage to the public to +know, that it may the better distinguish in the future those who +have selfishly impoverished the State from those who, in its +behalf, have incurred obloquy and high looks, I proceed next to +the events which followed the King's return to Paris. + +But, first, and by way of sampling the diverting episodes that +will occur from time to time in the most laborious existence, and +for the moment reduce the minister to the level of the man, I am +tempted to narrate an adventure that befell me on my return, +between Rennes and Vitre; when the King having preceded me at +speed under the pretext of urgency, but really that he might +avoid the prolix addresses that awaited him in every town, I +found myself no more minded to suffer. Having sacrificed my +ease, therefore, in two of the more important places, and come +within as many stages of Vitre, I determined also on a holiday. +Accordingly, directing my baggage and the numerous escort and +suite that attended me to the full tale of four-score horses--to +keep the high road, I struck myself into a byway, intending to +seek hospitality for the night at a house of M. de Laval's; and +on the second evening to render myself with a good grace to the +eulogia and tedious mercies of the Vitre townsfolk. + +I kept with me only La Font and two servants. The day was fine, +and the air brisk; the country open, affording many distant +prospects which the sun rendered cheerful. We rode for some +time, therefore, with the gaiety of schoolboys released from +their tasks, and dining at noon in the lee of one of the great +boulders that there dot the plain, took pleasure in applying to +the life of courts every evil epithet that came to mind. For a +little time afterwards we rode as cheerfully; but about three in +the afternoon the sky became overcast, and almost at the same +moment we discovered that we had strayed from the track. The +country in that district resembles the more western parts of +Brittany, in consisting of huge tracts of bog and moorland strewn +with rocks and covered with gorse; which present a cheerful +aspect in sunshine, but are savage and barren to a degree when +viewed through sheets of rain or under a sombre sky. + +The position, therefore, was not without its discomforts. I had +taken care to choose a servant who was familiar with the country, +but his knowledge seemed now at fault. However, under his +direction we retraced our steps, but still without regaining the +road; and as a small rain presently began to fall and the day to +decline, the landscape which in the morning had flaunted a wild +and rugged beauty, changed to a brown and dreary waste set here +and there with ghost-like stones. Once astray on this, we found +our path beset with sloughs and morasses; among which we saw +every prospect of passing the night, when La Font espied at a +little distance a wind-swept wood that, clothing a low shoulder +of the moor, promised at least a change and shelter. We made +towards it, and discovered not only all that we had expected to +see, but a path and a guide. + +The latter was as much surprised to see us as we to see her, for +when we came upon her she was sitting on the bank beside the path +weeping bitterly. On hearing us, however, she sprang up and +discovered the form of a young girl, bare-foot and bareheaded, +wearing only a short ragged frock of homespun. Nevertheless, her +face was neither stupid nor uncomely; and though, at the first +alarm, supposing us to be either robbers or hobgoblins--of which +last the people of that country are peculiarly fearful--she made +as if she would escape across the moor, she stopped as soon as +she heard my voice. I asked her gently where we were. + +At first she did not understand, but the servant who had played +the guide so ill, speaking to her in the PATOIS of the country, +she answered that we were near St. Brieuc, a hamlet not far from +Bottitort, and considerably off our road. Asked how far it was +to Bottitort, she answered--between two and three leagues, and an +indifferent road. + +We could ride the distance in a couple of hours, and there +remained almost as much daylight. But the horses were tired, so, +resigning myself to the prospect of some discomfort, I asked her +if there was an inn at St. Brieuc. + +"A poor place for your honours," she answered, staring at us in +innocent wonder, the forgotten tears not dry on her cheeks. + +"Never mind; take us to it," I answered. + +She turned at the word and tripped on before us. I bade the +servant ask her, as we went, why she had been crying, and learned +through him that she had been to her uncle's two leagues away to +borrow money for her mother; that the uncle would not lend it, +and that now they would be turned out of their house; that her +father was lately dead, and that her mother kept the inn, and +owed the money for meal and cider. + +"At least, she says that she does not owe it," the man corrected +himself, "for her father paid as usual at Corpus Christi; but +after his death M. Grabot said that he had not paid, and--" + +"M. Grabot?" I said. "Who is he?" + +"The Mayor of Bottitort." + +"The creditor?" + +"Yes." + +"And how much is owing?" I asked. + +"Nothing, she says." + +"But how much does he say?" + +"Twenty crowns." + +Doubtless some will view my conduct on this occasion with +surprise; and wonder why I troubled myself with inquiries so +minute upon a matter so mean. But these do not consider that +ministers are the King's eyes; and that in a State no class is so +unimportant that it can be safely overlooked. Moreover, as the +settlement of the finances was one of the objects of my stay in +those parts--and I seldom had the opportunity of checking the +statements made to me by the farmers and lessees of the taxes, +the receivers, gatherers, and, in a word, all the corrupt class +that imparts such views of a province as suit its interests--I +was glad to learn anything that threw light on the real condition +of the country: the more, as I had to receive at Vitre a +deputation of the notables and officials of the district. + +Accordingly, I continued to put questions to her until, crossing +a ridge, we came at last within sight of the inn, a lonely house +of stone, standing in the hollow of the moor and sheltered on one +side by a few gnarled trees that took off in a degree from the +bleakness of its aspect. The house was of one story only, with a +window on either side of the door, and no other appeared in +sight; but a little smoke rising from the chimney seemed to +promise a better reception than the desolate landscape and the +girl's scanty dress had led us to expect. + +As we drew nearer, however, a thing happened so remarkable as to +draw our attention in a moment from all these points, and bring +us, gaping, to a standstill. The shutters of the two windows +were suddenly closed before our eyes with a clap that came +sharply on the wind. Then, in a twinkling, one window flew open +again and a man, seemingly naked, bounded from it, fled with +inconceivable rapidity across the front of the house and vanished +through the other window, which opened to receive him. He had +scarcely gained that shelter before a coal-black figure followed +him, leaping out of the one window and in at the other with the +same astonishing swiftness--a swiftness which was so great that +before any of us could utter more than an exclamation, the two +figures appeared again round the corner of the house, in the same +order, but this time with so small an interval that the fugitive +barely saved himself through the window. Once more, while we +stared in stupefaction, they flashed out and in; and this time it +seemed to me that as they vanished the black spectre seized its +victim. + +When I say that all this time the two figures uttered no sound, +that there was no other living being in sight, and that on every +side of the solitary house the moor, growing each minute more +eerie as the day waned, spread to the horizon, the more +superstitious among us may be pardoned if they gave way to their +fears. La Font was the first to speak. + +"MON DIEU!" he cried--while the girl moaned in terror, the +Breton crossed himself, and La Trape looked uncomfortable--"the +place is bewitched!" + +"Nonsense!" I said. "Who is in the house, girl?" + +"Only my mother," she wailed. "Oh, my poor mother!" + +I silenced her, scolding them all for fools, and her first; and +La Font, recovering himself, did the same. But this was the year +of that strange appearance of the spectre horseman at +Fontainebleau of which so much has been said; and my servants, +when we had approached the house a little nearer, and it still +remained silent and, as it were, dead to the eye, would go no +farther, but stood in sheer terror and permitted me to go on +alone with La Font. I confess that the loneliness of the house, +and the dreary waste that surrounded it (which seemed to exclude +the idea of trickery) were not without their effect on my +spirits; and that as I dismounted and approached the door, I felt +a kind of chill not remarkable under the circumstances. + +But the courage of the gentleman differs from that of the vulgar +in that he fears yet goes; and I lifted the latch, and entered +boldly. The scene which met my eyes inside was sufficiently +commonplace to reassure me. At the farther end of a long bare +room, draughty, half-lighted, and having an earthen floor, yet +possessing that air of homeliness which a wood fire never fails +to impart, sat a single traveller; who had drawn his small table +under the open chimney, and there, with his feet almost in the +fire, was partaking of a poor meal of black bread and onions. He +was a tall, spare man, with sloping shoulders and a long sour +face, of which, as I entered, he gave me the full benefit. + +I looked round the room, but look as I might I could see no one +else, nor anything that explained what we had witnessed and I +accosted the man civilly, wishing him good evening. He made an +answer, but indistinctly, and, this done, went on with his meal +like one who viewed our arrival with little pleasure; while I, +puzzled and astonished by the ordinary look of things and the +stillness of the house, affected to warm my feet at the logs. At +length, espying no signs of disturbance anywhere, I asked him if +he was alone. + +"I was, sir," he answered gravely. + +I was going on to tell him, though reluctantly, what we had seen +outside, and to question him upon it, when on a sudden, before I +could speak again, he leaned towards me and accosted me with +startling abruptness. "Sir," he said, "I should like to have +your opinion of Louis Eleven." + +I stared at him in the most perfect astonishment; and was for a +moment so completely taken aback that I mechanically repeated his +words. For answer, he did so also. + +"The Eleventh Louis?" I said. + +"Yes," he rejoined, turning his pale visage full upon me. "What +is your opinion of him, sir? He was a man?" + +"Well," I said, shrugging my shoulders, "I take that for +granted." I began to think that the traveller was demented. + +"And a king?" + +"Yes, I suppose so," I answered contemptuously. "I never heard +it doubted." + +He leaned towards me, and spoke with the most eager +impressiveness. "A man--and a king!" he said. "Yet neither a +manly king, nor a kingly man! You take me?" + +"Yes," I said impatiently. "I see what you mean. + +"Neither a kingly man, nor a manly king!" he repeated with +solemn gusto. "You take me clearly, I think?" + +I had no stomach for further fooleries, and I was about to answer +him with some sharpness--though I could not for the life of me +tell whether he was mad or an eccentric when a harsh voice +shrieked in my ear, "Bob!" and in a twinkling a red figure +appeared bounding and whirling in the middle of the kitchen; now +springing into the air until its head touched the rafters, now +eddying round and round the floor in the giddiest gyrations. At +the first glance, startled by the voice in my ear, I recoiled; +but a second disclosing what it was, and the secret of our alarm +outside, I masked my movement; and when the man brought his +performance to a sudden stop, and falling on one knee in an +attitude of exaggerated respect held out his cap, I was ready for +him. + +"Why, you knave," I said, "you should be whipped, not rewarded. +Who gave you leave to play pranks on travellers?" + +He looked at me with a droll smile on his round merry face, which +at its gravest was a thing to laugh at. "Let him whip who is +scared," he said, with roguish impudence. "Or if there is to be +whipping, my lord, whip Louis XI." + +Thus reminded, I turned to the solemn traveller; but my eyes had +no sooner met his than he twisted his visage into so wry a smile +--if smile it could be called--that wherever there was a horse +collar he must have won the prize. To hide my amusement, I asked +them what they were. "Mountebanks?" I said curtly. + +"Your lordship has pricked the garter offhand," the merry man +answered cheerfully. "You see before you the renowned Pierre +Paladin VOILA!--and Philibert Le Grand! of the Breton fairs, +monsieur." + +"But why this foolery--here?" I said. + +"We took you for another, monsieur," he answered. + +"Whom you intended to frighten?" + +"Precisely, your grace." + +"Well, you are nice rogues," I said, looking at him. + +"So is he," he answered, undaunted. + +I left the matter there for a moment, while I summoned La Font +and the servants; whose rage, when, entering a-tiptoe and with +some misgiving, they discovered how they had been deceived, and +by whom, was scarcely to be restrained even by my presence. +However, aided by Philibert's comicalities, I presently secured a +truce, and the two strollers vacating in my honour the table by +the fire--though they had not the slightest notion who I was we +were soon on terms. I had taken the precaution to bring a meal +with me, and while La Trape and his companion unpacked it, and I +dried my riding boots, I asked the players who it was they had +meant to frighten. + +They were not very willing to tell me, but at length confessed, +to my astonishment, that it was M. Grabot. + +"Grabot--Grabot!" I said, striving to recollect where I had +heard the name. "The Mayor of Bottitort?" + +The solemn man made an atrocious grimace. Then, "Yes, monsieur, +the Mayor of Bottitort," he said frankly. "A year ago he put +Philibert in the stocks for a riddle; that is his affair. And +the woman of this house has more than once befriended me, and he +is for turning her out for a debt she does not owe; and that is +my affair. However, your lordship's arrival has saved him for +this time." + +"You expected him here this evening, then?" + +"He is coming," he answered, with more than his usual gloom. "He +passed this way this morning, and announced that on his return he +should spend the night here. We found the goodwife all of a +tremble when we arrived. He is a hard man, monsieur," the +mountebank continued bitterly. "She cried after him that she +hoped that God would change his heart, but he only answered that +even if St. Brieuc changed his body--you know the legend, +monseigneur, doubtless--he should be here." + +"And here he is," the other, who had been looking out of one of +the windows, cried. "I see his lanthorn coming down the hill. +And by St. Brieuc, I have it! I have it," the droll continued, +suddenly spinning round in a wild dance of triumph on the floor, +and then as suddenly stopping and falling into an attitude before +us. "Monsieur, if you will help us, I have the richest jest ever +played. Pierre, listen. You, gentlemen all, listen! We will +pretend that he is changed. He is a pompous man; he thinks the +Mayor of Bottitort equal to the Saint Pere. Well, Pierre shall +be M. Grabot, Mayor of Bottitort. You, monsieur, that we may +give him enough of mayors, shall be the Mayor of Gol, and I will +be the Mayor of St. Just. This gentleman shall swear to us, so +shall the servants. For him, he does not exist. Oh, we will +punish him finely." + +"But," I said, astounded by the very audacity of the rogue's +proposition, "you do not flatter yourself that you will deceive +him?" + +"We shall, monsieur, if you will help," he answered confidently. +"I will be warrant for it we shall." + +The thing had little of dignity in it, and I wonder now that I +complied; but I have always shared with the King, my master, a +taste for drolleries of the kind suggested; while nothing that I +had as yet heard of this Grabot was of a nature to induce me to +spare him. Seeing that La Font was tickled with the idea, and +that the servants were a-grin, and the more eager to trick others +as they had just been tricked themselves, I was tempted to +consent. + +After this, the preparations took not a minute. Philibert +covered his fool's clothes with a cloak, and their table was +drawn nearer to the fire, so as, with mine, to take up the whole +hearth. La Trape fell into an attitude behind me; and the +Breton, adopting a refinement suggested at the last moment, was +sent out to intercept Grabot before he entered, and tell him that +the inn was full, and that he had better pass on. + +The knave did his business so well that Grabot, being just such a +man as the stroller had described to us, the altercation on the +threshold was of itself the most amusing thing in the world. +"Who?" we heard a loud, coarse voice exclaim. "Who d'ye say are +here, man?" + +"The Mayor of Bottitort." + +"MILLE DIABLES!" + +"The Mayor of Bottitort and the Mayors of Gol and St. Just," the +servant repeated as if he noticed nothing amiss. + +"That is a lie!" the new comer replied, with a snort of triumph, +"and an impudent one. But you have got the wrong sow by the ear +this time." + +"Why, man," a third voice, somewhat nasal and rustical, struck +in, "don't you know the Mayor of Bottitort?" + +"I should," my Breton answered bluntly, and making, as we +guessed, a stand before them. "For I am his servant, and he is +this moment at his meat." + +"The Mayor of Bottitort?" + +"Yes." + +"M. Grabot?" + +"Yes." + +"And you are his servant?" + +"I have thought so for some time," the Breton answered +contemptuously. + +The Mayor fairly roared in his indignation. "You--his servant! +The Mayor of Bottitort's?" he cried in a voice of thunder. +"I'll tell you what you are; you are a liar!--a liar, man, that +is what you are! Why, you fool, I am the Mayor of Bottitort +myself. Now, do you see how you have wasted yourself? Out of my +way! Jehan, follow me in. I shall look into this. There is +some knavery here, but if Simon Grabot cannot get to the bottom +of it the Mayor of Bottitort will. Follow me, I say. My servant +indeed? Come, come!" + +And, still grumbling, he flung open the door, which the Breton +had left ajar, and stalked in upon us, fuming and blowing out his +cheeks for all the world like a bantam cock with its feathers +erect. He was a short, pursy man; with a short nose, a wide +face, and small eyes. But had he been Caesar and Alexander +rolled into one, he could not have crossed the threshold with a +more tremendous assumption of dignity. Once inside, he stood and +glared at us, somewhat taken aback, I think, for the moment by +our numbers; but recovering himself almost immediately, he +strutted towards us, and, without uncovering or saluting us, he +asked in a deep voice who was responsible for the man outside. + +"I am, the graver mountebank answered, looking at the stranger +with a sober air of surprise. "He is my servant." + +"Ah!" the Mayor exclaimed, with a withering glance. "And who, +may I ask, are you?" + +"You may ask, certainly," the player answered drily. "But until +you take off your hat I shall not answer." + +The Mayor gasped at this rebuff, and turned, if it were possible, +a shade redder; but he uncovered. + +"Now I do not mind telling you," Pierre continued, with a mild +dignity admirably assumed, "that I am Simon Grabot, and have the +honour to be Mayor of Bottitort." + +"You!" + +"Yes, monsieur, I; though perhaps unworthy." + +I looked to see an explosion, but the Mayor was too far gone. +"Why, you swindling impostor," he said, with something that was +almost admiration in his tone. "You are the very prince of +cheats! The king of cozeners! But for all that, let me tell +you, you have chosen the wrong ROLE this time. For I--I, sir, am +the Mayor of Bottitort, the very man whose name you have taken!" + +Pierre stared at him in composed silence, which his comrade was +the first to break. "Is he mad?" he said in a low voice. + +The grave man shook his head. + +The Mayor heard and saw; and getting no other answer, began to +tremble between passion and a natural, though ill-defined, +misgiving, which the silent gaze of so large a party--for we all +looked at him compassionately--was well calculated to produce. +"Mad?" he cried. "No, but some one is, Sir," he continued, +turning to La Font with a gesture in which appeal and impatience +were curiously blended, "Do you know this man?" + +"M. Grabot? Certainly," he answered, without blushing. "And +have these ten years." + +"And you say that he is M. Grabot?" the poor Mayor retorted, his +jaw falling ludicrously. + +"Certainly. Who should he be?" + +The Mayor looked round him, sudden beads of sweat on his brow. +"MON DIEU!" be cried. "You are all in it. Here, you, do you +know this person?" + +La Trape, to whom he addressed himself, shrugged his shoulders. +"I should," he said. "The Mayor is pretty well known about +here." + +"The Mayor?" + +"Ay." + +"But I am the Mayor--I," Grabot answered eagerly, tapping himself +on the breast in the most absurd manner. "Don't you know me, my +friend?" + +"I never saw you before, to my knowledge," the rascal answered +contemptuously; "and I know this country pretty well. I should +think that you have been crossing St. Brieuc's brook, and +forgotten to say your--" + +"Hush!" the stout player interposed with some sharpness. " Let +him alone. LE BON DIEU knows that such a thing may happen to the +best of us." + +The Mayor clapped his hand to his head. "Sir," he said almost +humbly, addressing the last speaker, "I seem to know your voice. +Your name, if you please?" + +"Fracasse," he answered pleasantly. "I am Mayor of Gol." + +"You--Fracasse, Mayor of Gol?" Grabot exclaimed between rage and +terror. "But Fracasse is a tall man. I know him as well as I +know my brother." + +The pseudo-Fracasse smiled, but did not contradict him. + +The Mayor wiped the moisture from his brow. He had all the +characteristics of an obstinate man; but if there is one thing +which I have found in a long career more true than another, it is +that no one can resist the statements of his fellows. So much, I +verily believe, is this the case, that if ten men maintain black +to be white, the eleventh will presently be brought into their +opinion. Besides, the Mayor had a currish side. He looked +piteously from one to another of us, his cheeks seemed to grow in +a moment pale and flabby, and he was on the point of whimpering, +when at the last moment he bethought him of his servant, and +turned to him in a spurt of sudden thankfulness. "Why, Jehan, +man, I had forgotten you," he said. "Are these men mad, or am +I?" + +But Jehan, a simple rustic, was in a state of ludicrous +bewilderment. "Dol, master, I don't know," he stuttered, rubbing +his head. + +"But I am myself," the Mayor cried, in a most ridiculous tone of +remonstrance. + +"Dol, and I don't know," the man whimpered. "I do believe that +there is a change in you. I never saw you look the like before. +And I never said any PATER either. Holy saints!" the poor fool +continued piteously, "I wish I were at home. And there, for all +I know, my wife has got another man." + +He began to blubber at this; which to us was the most ludicrous +thought, so that it was all we could do to restrain our laughter. +But the Mayor saw things in another light. Shaken by our steady +persistence in our story, and astounded by our want of respect, +the defection of his follower utterly cowed him. After staring +wildly about him for a moment, he fairly turned tail, and sat +down on an old box by the door, where with his hands on his +knees, he looked out before him with such an expression of chap- +fallen bewilderment as nearly discovered our plot by throwing us +into fits of laughter. + +Still he was not persuaded; for, from time to time, he roused +himself, and lifting his head cast suspicious glances at our +party. But the two strollers, who were now in their element, +played their parts with so much craft and delicacy, and with such +an infinity of humour besides, that everything he overheard +plunged him deeper in the slough. They knew something of local +affairs, and called one another Mayor very naturally; and +mentioning their wives, let drop other scraps of information +that, catching his ear, made the wretched man every now and then +sit up as if a wasp had stung him. One story in particular which +the false Mayor told--and which, it appeared, was to the +knowledge of all the country round the real Mayor's stock +anecdote--had an absurd effect upon him. He straightened +himself, listened as if his life depended upon it, and when he +heard the well-known ending, uttered, doubtless, in something of +his old tone, he collapsed into himself like a man who had no +longer faith in anything. + +Presently, however, an effort of common-sense would again +disperse the fog. He would raise his head, his eye grow bright, +something of his old pugnacity would come back to him. He would +appear--this more than once--to be on the point of rising to +challenge us. But these occasions were as skilfully met as they +were easily detected; and as the rogues had invariably some +stroke in reserve that in a twinkling flung him back into his old +state of dazed bewilderment, while it well-nigh killed us with +stifled mirth, they only gave ever new point to the jest. + +This, to be brief, was carried on until I retired; and probably +the two strollers would have kept it up longer if the ludicrous +doubt whether he was himself, which they had lodged in the +Mayor's mind, had not at last spurred him to action. An hour +before midnight, feeling it rankle intolerably, I suppose, he +sprang up on a sudden, dragged the door open, darted out with the +air of a madman, and in a moment was lost in the darkness of the +moor. + +When I rose in the morning, therefore, I found him gone, the +strollers looking glum, and the good-wife and her girl between +tears and reproaches. I could not but feel, on my part, that I +had somewhat stooped in the night's diversion; but before I had +time to reflect much on that an unexpected trait in the +strollers' conduct reconciled me to this odd experience. They +proposed to leave when I did; but a little before the start they +came to me, and set before me very ingenuously that the woman of +the house might suffer through our jest; if I would help her +therefore, they would subscribe two crowns so that she might have +a substantial sum to offer on account of her debt. As I took +this to be the greater part of their capital, and judged for +other reasons that the offer was genuine, I received it in the +best part, and found their good-nature no less pleasant than +their foolery. I handed over three crowns for our share, and on +that we parted; they set out with their bundles strapped to their +backs, and I waited somewhat impatiently for La Trape and the +Breton to bring round the horses. + +Before these appeared, however, La Font, who was at the door, +cried out that the two players were coming hack; and going to the +window I saw with astonishment a whole troop, some mounted and +some on foot, hurrying down the hill after them. For a moment I +felt some alarm, supposing it to be a scheme of Epernon's to +seize my person; and I cursed the imprudence which had led me to +expose myself in this solitary place. But a second glance +showing me that the Mayor of Bottitort was among the foremost, I +repented almost as seriously of the unlucky trifling that had +landed me in this foolish plight. + +I even debated whether I should mount and, if it were possible, +get clear before they arrived; but the rueful faces of the two +players as they appeared breathless in the doorway, and the +liking I had taken for the rascals, decided me to stand my ground +"What is it?" I said. + +"The Mayor, monsieur," Philibert answered, while Pierre pursed up +his lips with gloomy gravity. "I fear it will not stop at the +stocks this time," the rogue continued with a grimace. + +His comrade muttered something about a rod and a fool's back; but +M. Grabot's entrance cut his witticism short. The Mayor, between +shame and rage, and the gratification of his revenge, was almost +bursting, and the moment he caught sight of us opened fire. +"All, M. de Gol; we have them all!" he cried exultingly. "Now +they shall smart for it! Depend upon it, it is some deep-laid +scheme of that party. I have said so." + +But the Mayor of Gol, a stout, big, placid man, looked at us +doubtfully. "Well," he said, "I know these two; they are +strolling mountebanks, honest knaves enough but always in some +mischief." + +"What, strolling clowns?" M. Grabot rejoined, his face falling. + +"Ay, and you may depend upon it it is some joke of theirs," his +friend answered, his eyes twinkling. "I begin to think that you +would have done better if you had waited a little before bringing +M. le Comte into the matter." + +"Ah, but there are these two," M. Grabot cried, as he recovered +from the momentary panic into which the other's words had thrown +him. "Depend upon it they are the chief movers. What else but +treason could they mean by asserting that one of them was Mayor +of Bottitort? By denying my title? By setting up other officers +than those to whom his Gracious Majesty has delegated his +authority?" + +"Umph!" his brother Mayor said, "I don't know these gentlemen." + +"No!" his companion cried in triumph. "But I intend to know +them; and to know a good deal about them. Guard the window +there," he continued fussily. "Where is my clerk? Is M. de +Laval coming?" + +Two or three cried obsequiously that he had crossed the hill; and +would arrive immediately. + +Hearing this, and thinking it more becoming not to enter into an +altercation, I kept my seat and the scornful silence I had +hitherto maintained. The two Mayors had brought with them a +posse of busybodies--huissiers, constables, tip-staves, and the +like; and these all gaped upon us as if they saw before them the +most notable traitors of the age. The women of the house wept in +a corner, and the strollers shrugged their shoulders and strove +to appear at their ease. But the only person who felt the +indifference which they assumed was La Font; who, obnoxious to +none of the annoyances which I foresaw, could hardly restrain his +mirth at the DENOUEMENT which he anticipated. + +Meanwhile the Mayor, foreseeing a very different issue, stood +blowing out his cheeks and fixing us with his little eyes with an +expression of dignity that would have pleased me vastly if I had +been free to enjoy it. But the reflection that Laval's presence, +which would cut the knot of our difficulties, would also place me +at the mercy of his wit, did not enable me to contemplate it with +entire indifference. + +By-and-by we heard him dismount, and a moment later he came in +with a gentleman and two or three armed servants. He did not at +once see me, but as the crowd made way for him he addressed +himself sharply to M. Grabot. "Well, have you got them?" he +said. + +"Certainly, M. le Comte." + +"Oh! very well. Now for the particulars, then. You must state +your charge quickly, for I have to be in Vitre to-day." + +"He alleged that he had been appointed Mayor of Bottitort," +Grabot answered pompously. + +"Umph! I don't know?" M. de Laval muttered, looking round with +a frown of discontent. "I hope that you have not brought me +hither on a fool's errand. Which one?" + +"That one," the Mayor said, pointing to the solemn man, whose +gravity and depression were now something preternatural. + +"Oh!" M. de Laval grumbled. "But that is not all, I suppose. +What of the others?" + +M. Grabot pointed to me. "That one," he said-- + +He got no farther; for M. de Laval, springing forward, seized my +hand and saluted me warmly. "Why, your excellency," he cried, in +a tone of boundless surprise, "what are you doing in this GALERE! +All last evening I waited for you, at my house, and now--" + +"Here I am," I answered jocularly, "in charge it seems, M. le +Comte!" + +"MON DIEU!" he cried. "I don't understand it!" + +I shrugged my shoulders. "Don't ask me," I said. "Perhaps your +friend the Mayor call tell you." + +"But, Monsieur, I do not understand," the Mayor answered +piteously, his mouth agape with horror, his fat cheeks turning in +a moment all colours. "This gentleman, whom you seem to know, +Monsieur le Comte--" + +"Is the Marquis de Rosny, President of the Council, blockhead!" +Laval cried irately. "You madman! you idiot!" he continued, as +light broke in upon him, and he saw that it was indeed on a +fool's errand that he had been roused so early. "Is this your +conspiracy? Have you dared to bring me here--" + +But I thought that it was time to interfere. "The truth is," I +said, "that M. Grabot here is not so much to blame. He was the +victim of a trick which these rascals played on him; and in an +idle moment I let it go on. That is the whole secret. However, +I forgive him for his officiousness since it brings us together, +and I shall now have the pleasure of your company to Vitre." + +Laval assented heartily to this, and I did not think fit to tell +him more, nor did he inquire; the Mayor's stupidity passing +current for all. For M. Grabot himself, I think that I never saw +a man more completely confounded. He stood staring with his +mouth open; and, as much deserted as the statesman who has fallen +from office, had not the least credit even with his own +sycophants, who to a man deserted him and flocked about the Mayor +of Gol. Though I had no reason to pity him, and, indeed, thought +him well punished, I took the opportunity of saying a word to him +before I mounted; which, though it was only a hint that he should +deal gently with the woman of the house, was received with +servility equal to the arrogance he had before displayed; and I +doubt not it had all the effect I desired. For the strollers, I +did not forget them, but bade them hasten to Vitre, where I would +see a performance. They did so, and hitting the fancy of Zamet, +who chanced to be still there, and who thought that he saw profit +in them, they came on his invitation to Paris, where they took +the Court by storm. So that an episode trifling in itself, and +such as on my part requires some apology, had for them +consequences of no little importance. + + + +IV. LA TOUSSAINT. + +Towards the autumn of 1601, when the affair of M. de Biron, which +was so soon to fill the mouths of the vulgar, was already much in +the minds of those whom the King honoured with his confidence, I +was one day leaving the hall at the Arsenal, after giving +audience to such as wished to see me, when Maignan came after me +and detained me; reporting that a gentleman who had attended +early, but had later gone into the garden, was still in waiting. +While Maignan was still speaking the stranger himself came up, +with some show of haste but none of embarrassment; and, in answer +to my salutation and inquiry what I could do for him, handed me a +letter. He had the air of a man not twenty, his dress was a +trifle rustic; but his strong and handsome figure set off a face +that would have been pleasing but for a something fierce in the +aspect of his eyes. Assured that I did not know him, I broke the +seal of his letter and found that it was from my old flame Madame +de Bray, who, as Mademoiselle de St. Mesmin, had come so near to +being my wife; as will be remembered by those who have read the +early part of these memoirs. + +The young man proved to be her brother, whom she commended to my +good offices, the impoverishment of the family being so great +that she could compass no more regular method of introducing him +to the world, though the house of St. Mesmin is truly respectable +and, like my own, allied to several of the first consequence. +Madame de Bray recalled our old TENDRESSE to my mind, and +conjured me so movingly by it--and by the regard which her family +had always entertained for me--that I could not dismiss the +application with the hundred others of like tenor that at that +time came to me with each year. That I might do nothing in the +dark, however, I invited the young fellow to walk with me in the +garden, and divined, even before he spoke, from the absence of +timidity in his manner, that he was something out of the common. +"So you have come to Paris to make your fortune?" I said. + +"Yes, sir," he answered. + +"And what are the tools with which you propose to do it?" I +continued, between jest and earnest. + +"That letter, sir," he answered simply; "and, failing that, two +horses, two suits of clothes, and two hundred crowns." + +"You think that those will suffice?" I said, laughing. + +"With this, sir," he answered, touching his sword; "and a good +courage." + +I could not but stand amazed at his coolness; for he spoke to me +as simply as to a brother, and looked about him with as much or +as little curiosity as Guise or Montpensier. It was evident that +he thought a St. Mesmin equal to any man under the King; and that +of all the St. Mesmins he did not value himself least. + +"Well," I said, after considering him, "I do not think that I can +help you much immediately. I should be glad to know, however, +what plans you have formed for yourself." + +"Frankly, sir," he said, "I thought of this as I travelled; and I +decided that fortune can be won by three things--by gold, by +steel, and by love. The first I have not, and for the last I +have a better use. Only the second is left. I shall be +Crillon." + +I looked at him in astonishment; for the assurance of his manner +exceeded that of his words. But I did not betray the feeling. +"Crillon was one in a million," I said drily. + +"So am I," he answered. + +I confess that the audacity of this reply silenced me. I +reflected that the young man who--brought up in the depths of the +country, and without experience, training or fashion--could so +speak in the face of Paris was so far out of the common that I +hesitated to dash his hopes in the contemptuous way which seemed +most natural. I was content to remind him that Crillon had lived +in times of continual war, whereas now we were at peace; and, +bidding him come to me in a week, I hinted that in Paris his +crowns would find more frequent opportunities of leaving his +pockets than his sword its sheath. + +He parted from me with this, seeming perfectly satisfied with his +reception; and marched away with the port of a man who expected +adventures at every corner, and was prepared to make the most of +them. Apparently he did not take my hint greatly to heart, +however; for when I next met him, within the week, he was +fashionably dressed, his hair in the mode, and his company as +noble as himself. I made him a sign to stop, and he came to +speak to me. + +"How many crowns are ]eft?" I said jocularly. + +"Fifty," he answered, with perfect readiness. + +"What!" I said, pointing to his equipment with something of the +indignation I felt, "has this cost the balance? + +"No," he answered. "On the contrary, I have paid three months' +rent in advance and a month's board at Zaton's; I have added two +suits to my wardrobe, and I have lost fifty crowns on the dice." + +"You promise well!" I said. + +He shrugged his shoulders quite in the fashionable manner. +"Always courage!" he said; and he went on, smiling. + +I was walking at the time with M. de Saintonge, and be muttered, +with a sneer, that it was not difficult to see the end, or that +within the year the young braggart would sink to be a gaming- +house bully. I said nothing, but I confess that I thought +otherwise; the lad's disposition of his money and his provision +for the future seeming to me so remarkable as to set him above +ordinary rules. + +From this time I began to watch his career with interest, and I +was not surprised when, in less than a month, something fell out +that led the whole court to regard him with a mixture of +amusement and expectancy. + +One evening, after leaving the King's closet, I happened to pass +through the east gallery at the Louvre, which served at that time +as the outer antechamber, and was the common resort as well of +all those idlers who, with some pretensions to fashion, lacked +the ENTREE, as of many who with greater claims preferred to be at +their ease. My passage for a moment stilled the babel which +prevailed. But I had no sooner reached the farther door than the +noise broke out again; and this with so sudden a fury, the tumult +being augmented by the crashing fall of a table, as caused me at +the last moment to stand and turn. A dozen voices crying +simultaneously, "Have a care!" and "Not here! not here!" and +all looking the same way, I was able to detect the three +principals in the FRACAS. They were no other than M. de St. +Mesmin, Barradas--a low fellow, still remembered, who was already +what Saintonge had prophesied that the former would become--and +young St. Germain, the eldest son of M. de Clan. + +I rather guessed than heard the cause of the quarrel, and that +St. Mesmin, putting into words what many had known for years and +some made their advantage of, had accused Barradas of cheating. +The latter's fury was, of course, proportioned to his guilt; an +instant challenge while I looked was his natural answer. This, +as he was a consummate swordsman, and had long earned his living +as much by fear as by fraud, should have been enough to stay the +greediest stomach; but St. Mesmin was not content. Treating the +knave, the word once passed, as so much dirt, he transferred his +attack to St. Germain, and called on him to return the money he +had won by betting on Barradas. + +St. Germain, a young spark as proud and headstrong as St. Mesmin +himself, and possessed of friends equal to his expectations, +flung back a haughty refusal. He had the advantage in station +and popularity; and by far the larger number of those present +sided with him. I lingered a moment in curiosity, looking to see +the accuser with all his boldness give way before the almost +unanimous expression of disapproval. But my former judgment of +him had been correctly formed; so far from being browbeaten or +depressed by his position, he repeated the demand with a stubborn +persistence that marvellously reminded me of Crillon; and +continued to reiterate it until all, except St. Germain himself, +were silent. "You must return my money!" he kept on saying +monotonously. "You must return my money. This man cheated, and +you won my money. You must pay or fight." + +"With a dead man?" St. Germain replied, gibing at him. + +"No, with me." + +"Barradas will spit you!" The other scoffed. "Go and order your +coffin, and do not trouble me." + +"I shall trouble you. If you did not know that he cheated, pay; +and if you did know, fight." + +"I know?" St. Germain retorted fiercely. "You madman! Do you +mean to say that I knew that he cheated?" + +"I mean what I say!" St. Mesmin returned stolidly. "You have +won my money. You must return it. If you will not return it, +you must fight." + +I should have heard more, but at that moment the main door +opened, and two or three gentlemen who had been with the King +came out. Not wishing to be seen watching the brawl, I moved +away and descended the stairs; and Varenne overtaking me a moment +later, and entering on the Biron affair--of which I had just been +discussing the latest developments with the King--I forgot St. +Mesmin for the time, and only recalled him next morning when +Saintonge, being announced, came into my room in a state of great +excitement, and almost with his first sentence brought out his +name. + +"Barradas has not killed him then?" I said, reproaching myself +in a degree for my forgetfulness. + +"No! He, Barradas!" Saintonge answered. + +"No?" I exclaimed. + +"Yes!" he said. "I tell you, M. le Marquis, he is a devil of a +fellow--a devil of a fellow! He fought, I am told, just like +Crillon; rushed in on that rascal and fairly beat down his guard, +and had him pinned to the ground before he knew that they had +crossed swords!" + +"Well," I said, "there is one scoundrel the less. That is all." + +"Ah, but that is not all!" my visitor replied more seriously. +"It should be, but it is not; and it is for that reason I am come +to you. You know St. Germain?" + +"I know that his father and you are--well, that you take opposite +sides," I said smiling. + +"That is pretty well known," he answered coldly. "Anyway, this +lad is to fight St. Germain to-morrow; and now I hear that M. de +Clan, St. Germain's father, is for shutting him up. Getting a +LETTRE DE CACHET or anything else you please, and away with him." + +"What! St. Germain?" I said. + +"No!" M. de Saintonge answered, prolonging the sound to the +utmost. "St. Mesmin!" + +"Oh," I said, "I see." + +"Yes," the Marquis retorted pettishly, "but I don't. I don't +see. And I beg to remind you, M. de Rosny, that this lad is my +wife's second cousin through her step-father, and that I shall +resent any interference with him. I have spent enough and done +enough in the King's service to have my wishes respected in a +small matter such as this; and I shall regard any severity +exercised towards my kinsman as a direct offence to myself. +Whereas M. de Clan, who will doubtless be here in a few minutes, +is--" + +"But stop," I said, interrupting him, "I heard you speaking of +this young fellow the other day. You did not tell me then that +he was your kinsman." + +"Nevertheless he is; my wife's second cousin," he answered with +heat. + +"And you wish him to--" + +"Be let alone!" he replied interrupting me in his turn more +harshly than I approved. "I wish him to be let alone. If he +will fight St. Germain, and kill or be killed, is that the King's +affair that he need interfere? I ask for no interference," M. de +Saintonge continued bitterly, "only for fair play and no favour. +And for M. de Clan who is a Republican at heart, and a Bironist, +and has never done anything but thwart the King, for him to come +now, and--faugh! it makes me sick." + +"Yes," I said drily; "I see." + +"You understand me?" + +"Yes," I said, "I think so." + +"Very well," he replied haughtily--he had gradually wrought +himself into a passion; "be good enough to bear my request in +mind then; and my services also. I ask no more, M. de Rosny, +than is due to me and to the King's honour." + +And with that, and scarcely an expression of civility, he left +me. Some may wonder, I know, that, having in the Edict of Blois, +which forbade duelling and made it a capital offence, an answer +to convince even his arrogance, I did not use this weapon; but, +as a fact, the edict was not published until the following June, +when, partly in consequence of this affair and at my instance, +the King put it forth. + +Saintonge could scarcely have cleared the gates before his +prediction was fulfilled. His enemy arrived hot foot, and +entered to me with a mien so much lowered by anxiety and trouble +that I hardly knew him for the man who had a hundred times +rebuffed me, and whom the King's offers had found consistently +obdurate. All I had ever known of M. de Clan heightened his +present humility and strengthened his appeal; so that I felt pity +for him proportioned not only to his age and necessity, but to +the depth of his fall. Saintonge had rightly anticipated his +request; the first, he said, with a trace of his old pride, that +he had made to the King in eleven years: his son, his only son +and only child--the single heir of his name! He stopped there +and looked at me; his eyes bright, his lips trembling and moving +without sound, his hands fumbling on his knees. + +"But," I said, "your son wishes to fight, M. de Clan?" + +He nodded. + +"And you cannot hinder him?" + +He shrugged his shoulders grimly. "No," he said; "he is a St. +Germain." + +"Well, that is just my case," I answered. "You see this young +fellow St. Mesmin was commended to me, and is, in a manner, of my +household; and that is a fatal objection. I cannot possibly act +against him in the manner you propose. You must see that; and +for my wishes, he respects them less than your son regards +yours." + +M. de Clan rose, trembling a little on his legs, and glaring at +me out of his fierce old eyes. "Very well," he said, "it is as +much as I expected. Times are changed--and faiths--since the +King of Navarre slept under the same bush with Antoine St. +Germain on the night before Cahors! I wish you good-day, M. le +Marquis." + +I need not say that my sympathies were with him, and that I would +have helped him if I could; but in accordance with the maxim +which I have elsewhere explained, that he who places any +consideration before the King's service is not fit to conduct it, +I did not see my way to thwart M. de Saintonge in a matter so +small. And the end justified my inaction; for the duel, taking +place that evening, resulted in nothing worse than a serious, but +not dangerous, wound which St. Mesmin, fighting with the same +fury as in the morning, contrived to inflict on his opponent. + +For some weeks after this I saw little of the young firebrand, +though from time to time he attended my receptions and invariably +behaved to me with a modesty which proved that he placed some +bounds to his presumption. I heard, moreover, that M. de +Saintonge, in acknowledgment of the triumph over the St. Germains +which he had afforded him, had taken him up; and that the +connection between the families being publicly avowed, the two +were much together. + +Judge of my surprise, therefore, when one day a little before +Christmas, M. de Saintonge sought me at the Arsenal during the +preparation of the plays and interludes--which were held there +that year--and, drawing me aside into the garden, broke into a +furious tirade against the young fellow. + +"But," I said, in immense astonishment, "what is this? I thought +that he was a young man quite to your mind; and--" + +"He is mad!" he answered. + +"Mad?" I said. + +"Yes, mad!" he repeated, striking the ground violently with his +cane. "Stark mad, M. de Rosny. He does not know himself! What +do you think--but it is inconceivable. He proposes to marry my +daughter! This penniless adventurer honours Mademoiselle de +Saintonge by proposing for her!" + +"Pheugh!" I said. "That is serious." + +"He--he! I don't think I shall ever get over it!" he answered. + +"He has, of course, seen Mademoiselle?" + +M. de Saintonge nodded. + +"At your house, doubtless?" + +"Of course!" he replied, with a snap of rage. + +"Then I am afraid it is serious," I said. + +He stared at me, and for an instant I thought that he was going +to quarrel with me. Then he asked me why. + +I was not sorry to have this opportunity of at once increasing +his uneasiness, and requiting his arrogance. "Because," I said, +"this young man appears to me to be very much out of the common. +Hitherto, whatever he has said he would do, he has done. You +remember Crillon? Well, I trace a likeness. St. Mesmin has much +of his headlong temper and savage determination. If you will +take my advice, you will proceed with caution." + +M. de Saintonge, receiving an answer so little to his mind, was +almost bursting with rage. "Proceed with caution!" he cried. +"You talk as if the thing could be entertained, or as if I had +cause to fear the coxcomb! On the contrary, I intend to teach +him a lesson a little confinement will cool his temper. You +must give me a letter, my friend, and we will clap him in the +Bastille for a month or two." + +"Impossible," I said firmly. "Quite impossible, M. le Marquis." + +M. de Saintonge looked at me, frowning. "How?" he said +arrogantly. "Have my services earned no better answer than +that?" + +"You forget," I replied. "Let me remind you that less than a +month ago you asked me not to interfere with St. Mesmin; and at +your instance I refused to accede to M. de Clan's request that I +would confine him. You were then all for non-interference, M. de +Saintonge, and I cannot blow hot and cold. Besides, to be plain +with you," I continued, "even if that were not the case, this +young fellow is in a manner under my protection; which renders it +impossible for me to move against him. If you like, however, I +will speak to him." + +"Speak to him!" M. de Saintonge cried. He was breathless with +rage. He could say no more. It may be imagined how unpalatable +my answer was to him. + +But I was not disposed to endure his presumption and ill-temper +beyond a certain point; and feeling no sympathy with him in a +difficulty which he had brought upon himself by his spitefulness, +I answered him roundly. "Yes," I said," I will speak to him, if +you please. But not otherwise. I can assure you, I should not +do it for everyone." + +But M. de Saintonge's chagrin and rage at finding himself thus +rebuffed, in a quarter where his haughty temper had led him to +expect an easy compliance, would not allow him to stoop to my +offer. He flung away with expressions of the utmost resentment, +and even in the hearing of my servants uttered so many foolish +and violent things against me, that had my discretion been no +greater than his I must have taken notice of them. As, however, +I had other and more important affairs upon my hands, and it has +never been my practice to humour such hot-heads by placing myself +on a level with them, I was content to leave his punishment to +St. Mesmin; assured that in him M. Saintonge would find an +opponent more courageous and not less stubborn than himself. + +The event bore me out, for within a week M. de St. Mesmin's +pretensions to the hand of Mademoiselle de Saintonge shared with +the Biron affair the attention of all Paris. The young lady, +whose reputation and the care which had been spent on her +breeding, no less than her gifts of person and character, +deserved a better fate, attained in a moment a notoriety far from +enviable; rumour's hundred tongues alleging, and probably with +truth--for what father can vie with a gallant in a maiden's +eyes?--that her inclinations were all on the side of the +pretender. At any rate, St. Mesmin had credit for them; there +was talk of stolen meetings and a bribed waiting-woman; and +though such tales were probably as false as those who gave them +currency were fair, they obtained credence with the thoughtless, +and being repeated from one to another, in time reached her +father's ears, and contributed with St. Mesmin's persecution to +render him almost beside himself. + +Doubtless with a man of less dogged character, or one more +amenable to reason, the Marquis would have known how to deal; but +the success which had hitherto rewarded St. Mesmin's course of +action had confirmed the young man in his belief that everything +was to be won by courage; so that the more the Marquis blustered +and threatened the more persistent the suitor showed himself. +Wherever Mademoiselle's presence was to be expected, St. Mesmin +appeared, dressed in the extreme of the fashion and wearing +either a favour made of her colours or a glove which he asserted +that she had given him. Throwing himself in her road on every +occasion, he expressed his passion by the most extravagant looks +and gestures; and protected from the shafts of ridicule alike by +his self-esteem and his prowess, did a hundred things that +rendered her conspicuous and must have covered another than +himself with inextinguishable laughter. + +In these circumstances M. de Saintonge began to find that the +darts which glanced off his opponent's armour were making him +their butt; and that he, who had valued himself all his life on a +stately dignity and a pride: almost Spanish, was rapidly +becoming the laughing-stock of the Court. His rage may be better +imagined than described, and doubtless his daughter did not go +unscathed. But the ordinary contemptuous refusal which would have +sent another suitor about his business was of no avail here; he +had no son, while St. Mesmin's recklessness rendered the boldest +unwilling to engage him. Saintonge found himself therefore at +his wits' end, and in this emergency bethought him again of a +LETTRE DE CACHET. But the King proved as obdurate as his +minister; partly in accordance with a promise he had made me +about a year before that he would not commonly grant what I had +denied, and partly because Biron's affair had now reached a stage +in which Saintonge's aid was no longer of importance. + +Thus repulsed, the Marquis made up his mind to carry his daughter +into the country; but St. Mesmin meeting this with the confident +assertion that he would abduct her within a week, wherever she +was confined, Saintonge, desperate as a baited bull, and +trembling with rage--for the threat was uttered at Zamet's and +was repeated everywhere--avowed equally publicly that since the +King would give him no satisfaction he would take the law into +his own hands, and serve this impudent braggart as Guise served +St. Megrin. As M. le Marquis maintained a considerable +household, including some who would not stick at a trifle, it was +thought likely enough that he would carry out his threat; +especially as the provocation seemed to many to justify it. St. +Mesmin was warned, therefore; but his reckless character was so +well known that odds were freely given that he would be caught +tripping some night--and for the last time. + +At this juncture, however, an unexpected ally, and one whose +appearance increased Saintonge's rage to an intolerable extent, +took up St. Mesmin's quarrel. This was young St. Germain, who, +quitting his chamber, was to be seen everywhere on his +antagonist's arm. The old feud between the Saint Germains and +Saintonges aggravated the new; and more than one brawl took place +in the streets between the two parties. St. Germain never moved +without four armed servants; he placed others at his friend's +disposal; and wherever he went he loudly proclaimed what he would +do if a hair of St. Mesmin's head were injured. + +This seemed to place an effectual check on M. de Saintonge's +purpose; and my surprise was great when, about a week later, the +younger St. Germain burst in upon me one morning, with his face +inflamed with anger and his dress in disorder; and proclaimed, +before I could rise or speak, that St. Mesmin had been murdered. + +"How?" I said, somewhat startled. "And when?" + +"By M. de Saintonge! Last night!" he answered furiously. "But +I will have justice; I will have justice, M. de Rosny, or the +King--" + +I checked him as sternly as my surprise would let me; and when I +had a little abashed him--which was not easy, for his temper vied +in stubbornness with St. Mesmin's--I learned the particulars. +About ten o'clock on the previous night St. Mesmin had received a +note, and, in spite of the remonstrances of his servants, had +gone out alone. He had not returned nor been seen since, and his +friends feared the worst. + +"But on what grounds?" I said, astonished to find that that was +all. + +"What!" St. Germain cried, flaring up again. "Do you ask on +what grounds? When M. de Saintonge has told a hundred what he +would do to him! What he would do--do, I say? What he has +done!" + +"Pooh!" I said. "It is some assignation, and the rogue is late +in returning." + +"An assignation, yes," St. Germain retorted; "but one from which +he will not return." + +"Well, if he does not, go to the Chevalier du Guet," I answered, +waving him off. "Go! do you hear? I am busy," I continued. +"Do you think that I am keeper of all the young sparks that bay +the moon under the citizens' windows? Be off, sir!" + +He went reluctantly, muttering vengeance; and I, after rating +Maignan soundly for admitting him, returned to my work, supposing +that before night I should hear of St. Mesmin's safety. But the +matter took another turn, for while I was at dinner the Captain +of the Watch came to speak to me. St. Mesmin's cap had been +found in a bye-street near the river, in a place where there were +marks of a struggle; and his friends were furious. High words +had already passed between the two factions, St. Germain openly +accusing Saintonge of the murder; plainly, unless something were +done at once, a bloody fray was imminent. + +"What do you think yourself, M. le Marchand?" I said, when I had +heard him out. + +He shrugged his shoulders. "What can I think, your Excellency?" +he said. "What else was to be expected?" + +"You take it for granted that M. de Saintonge is guilty?" + +"The young man is gone," he answered pithily. + +In spite of this, I thought the conclusion hasty, and contented +myself with bidding him see St. Germain and charge him to be +quiet; promising that, if necessary, the matter should be +investigated and justice done. I still had good hopes that St. +Mesmin's return would clear up the affair, and the whole turn out +to be a freak on his part; but within a few hours tidings that +Saintonge had taken steps to strengthen his house and was lying +at home, refusing to show himself, placed a different and more +serious aspect on the mystery. Before noon next day M. de Clan, +whose interference surprised me not a little, was with me to +support his son's petition; and at the King's LEVEE next day St. +Germain accused his enemy to the King's face, and caused an angry +and indecent scene in the chamber. + +When a man is in trouble foes spring up, as the moisture rises +through the stones before a thaw. I doubt if M. de Saintonge was +not more completely surprised than any by the stir which ensued, +and which was not confined to the St. Germains' friends, though +they headed the accusers. All whom he had ever offended, and all +who had ever offended him, clamoured for justice; while St. +Mesmin's faults being forgotten and only his merits remembered, +there were few who did not bow to the general indignation, which +the young and gallant, who saw that at any moment his fate might +be theirs, did all in their power to foment. Finally, the +arrival of St. Mesmin the father, who came up almost broken- +hearted, and would have flung himself at the King's feet on the +first opportunity, roused the storm to the wildest pitch; so +that, in the fear lest M. de Biron's friends should attempt +something under cover of it, I saw the King and gave him my +advice. This was to summon Saintonge, the St. Germains, and old +St. Mesmin to his presence and effect a reconciliation; or, +failing that, to refer the matter to the Parliament. + +He agreed with me and chose to receive them next day at the +Arsenal. I communicated his commands, and at the hour named we +met, the King attended by Roquelaure and myself. But if I had +flattered myself that the King's presence would secure a degree +of moderation and reasonableness I was soon undeceived; for +though M. de St. Mesmin had only his trembling head and his tears +to urge, Clan and his son fell upon Saintonge with so much +violence--to which he responded by a fierce and resentful +sullenness equally dangerous--that I feared that blows would be +struck even before the King's face. Lest this should happen and +the worst traditions of old days of disorder be renewed, I +interposed and managed at length to procure silence. + +"For shame, gentlemen, for shame!" the King said, gnawing his +moustachios after a fashion he had when in doubt. "I take Heaven +to witness that I cannot say who is right! But this brawling +does no good. The one fact we have is that St. Mesmin has +disappeared." + +"Yes, sire; and that M. de Saintonge predicted his +disappearance," St. Germain cried, impulsively. "To the day and +almost to the hour." + +"I gather, de Saintonge," the King said, turning to him, mildly, +"that you did use some expressions of that kind." + +"Yes, sire, and did nothing upon them," he answered resentfully. +But he trembled as he spoke. He was an older man than his +antagonist, and the latter's violence shook him. + +"But does M. de Saintonge deny," St. Germain broke out afresh +before the King could speak, "that my friend had made him a +proposal for his daughter? and that he rejected it?" + +"I deny nothing!" Saintonge cried, fierce and trembling as a +baited animal. "For that matter, I would to Heaven he had had +her!" he continued bitterly. + +"Ay, so you say now," the irrepressible St. Germain retorted, +"when you know that be is dead!" + +"I do not know that he is dead," Saintonge answered. "And, for +that matter, if he were alive and here now he should have her. I +am tired; I have suffered enough." + +"What! Do you tell the King," the young fellow replied +incredulously, "that if St. Mesmin were here you would give him +your daughter?" + +"I do--I do!" the other exclaimed passionately. "To be rid of +him, and you, and all your crew!" + +"Tut, tut!" the King said. "Whatever betides, I will answer for +it, you shall have protection and justice, M. de Saintonge. And +do you, young sir, be silent. Be silent, do you hear! We have +had too much noise introduced into this already." + +He proceeded then to ask certain details, and particularly the +hour at which St. Mesmin had been last seen. Notwithstanding +that these facts were in the main matters of common agreement, +some wrangling took place over them; which was only brought to an +end at last in a manner sufficiently startling. The King with +his usual thoughtfulness had bidden St. Mesmin be seated. On a +sudden the old man rose; I heard him utter a cry of amazement, +and following the direction of his eyes I looked towards the +door. There stood his son! + +At an appearance so unexpected a dozen exclamations filled the +air; but to describe the scene which ensued or the various +emotions that were evinced by this or that person, as surprise or +interest or affection moved them, were a task on which I am not +inclined to enter. Suffice it that the foremost and the loudest +in these expressions of admiration was young St. Germain; and +that the King, after glancing from face to face in puzzled +perplexity, began to make a shrewd guess at the truth. + +"This is a very timely return, M. de St. Mesmin," he said drily. + +"Yes, sire," the young impertinent answered, not a whit abashed. + +"Very timely, indeed." + +"Yes, sire. And the more as St. Germain tells me that M. de +Saintonge in his clemency has reconsidered my claims; and has +undertaken to use that influence with Mademoiselle which--" + +But on that word M. de Saintonge, comprehending the RUSE by which +he had been overcome, cut him short; crying out in a rage that he +would see him in perdition first. However, we all immediately +took the Marquis in hand, and made it our business to reconcile +him to the notion; the King even making a special appeal to him, +and promising that St. Mesmin should never want his good offices. +Under this pressure, and confronted by his solemn undertaking, +Saintonge at last and with reluctance gave way. At the King's +instance, he formally gave his consent to a match which +effectually secured St. Mesmin's fortunes, and was as much above +anything the young fellow could reasonably expect as his audacity +and coolness exceeded the common conceit of courtiers. + +Many must still remember St. Mesmin; though an attack of the +small-pox, which disfigured him beyond the ordinary, led him to +leave Paris soon after his marriage. He was concerned, I +believe, in the late ill-advised rising in the Vivarais; and at +that time his wife still lived. But for some years past I have +not heard his name, and only now recall it as that of one whose +adventures, thrust on my attention, formed an amusing interlude +in the more serious cares which now demand our notice. + + + +V. THE LOST CIPHER. + +I might spend many hours in describing the impression which this +great Sovereign made upon my mind; but if the part which she took +in the conversation I have detailed does not sufficiently exhibit +those qualities of will and intellect which made her the worthy +compeer of the King my master, I should labour in vain. +Moreover, my stay in her neighbourhood, though Raleigh and +Griffin showed me every civility, was short. An hour after +taking leave of her, on the 15th of August, 1601, I sailed from +Dover, and crossing to Calais without mishap anticipated with +pleasure the King's satisfaction when he should hear the result +of my mission, and learn from my mouth the just and friendly +sentiments which Queen Elizabeth entertained towards him. + +Unfortunately I was not able to impart these on the instant. +During my absence a trifling matter had carried the King to +Dieppe, whence his anxiety on the queen's account, who was +shortly to be brought to bed, led him to take the road to Paris. +He sent word to me to follow him, but necessarily some days +elapsed before we met; an opportunity of which his enemies and +mine were quick to take advantage, and that so insidiously and +with so much success as to imperil not my reputation only but his +happiness. + +The time at their disposal was increased by the fact; that when I +reached the Arsenal I found the Louvre vacant, the queen, who lay +at Fontainebleau, having summoned the King thither. Ferret, his +secretary, however, awaited me with a letter, in which Henry, +after expressing his desire to see we, bade me nevertheless stay +in Paris a day to transact some business. "Then," he continued, +"come to me, my friend, and we will discuss the matter of which +you know. In the meantime send me your papers by Ferret, who +will give you a receipt for them." + +Suspecting no danger in a course which was usual enough, I +hastened to comply. Summoning Maignan, who, whenever I +travelled, carried my portfolio, I unlocked it, and emptying the +papers in a mass on the table, handed them in detail to Ferret. +Presently, to my astonishment, I found that one, and this the +most important, was missing. I went over the papers again, and +again, and yet again. Still it was not to be found. + +It will be remembered that whenever I travelled on a mission of +importance I wrote my despatches in one of three modes, according +as they were of little, great, or the first importance; in +ordinary characters that is, in a cipher to which the council +possessed the key, or in a cipher to which only the King and I +held keys. This last, as it was seldom used, was rarely changed; +but it was my duty, on my return from each mission, immediately +to remit my key to the King, who deposited it in a safe place +until another occasion for its use arose. + +It was this key which was missing. I had been accustomed to +carry it in the portfolio with the other papers; but in a sealed +envelope which I broke and again sealed with my own signet +whenever I had occasion to use the cipher. I had last seen the +envelope at Calais, when I handed the portfolio to Maignan before +beginning my journey to Paris; the portfolio had not since been +opened, yet the sealed packet was missing. + +More than a little uneasy, I recalled Maignan, who had withdrawn +after delivering up his charge, "You rascal!" I said with some +heat. "Has this been out of your custody?" + +"The bag?" he answered, looking at it. Then his face changed. +"You have cut your finger, my lord," he said. + +I had cut it slightly in unbuckling the portfolio, and a drop or +two of blood had fallen on the papers. But his reference to it +at this moment, when my mind was full of my loss, angered me, and +even awoke my suspicions. "Silence!" I said, "and answer me. +Have you let this bag out of your possession?" This time he +replied straightforwardly that he had not. + +"Nor unlocked it?" + +"I have no key, your excellency." + +That was true; and as I had at bottom the utmost confidence in +his fidelity, I pursued the inquiry no farther in that direction, +but made a third search among the papers. This also failing to +bring the packet to light, and Ferret being in haste to be gone, +I was obliged for the moment to put up with the loss, and draw +what comfort I could from the reflection that, no despatch in the +missing cipher was extant. Whoever had stolen it, therefore, +another could be substituted for it and no one the worse. Still +I was unwilling that the King should hear of the mischance from a +stranger, and be led to think me careless; and I bade Ferret be +silent about it unless Henry missed the packet, which might not +happen before my arrival. + +When the secretary, who readily assented, had given me his +receipt and was gone, I questioned Maignan afresh and more +closely, but with no result. He had not seen me place the packet +in the portfolio at Calais, and that I had done so I could vouch +only my own memory, which I knew to be fallible. In the +meantime, though the mischance annoyed me, I attached no great +importance to it; but anticipating that a word of explanation +would satisfy the King, and a new cipher dispose of other +difficulties, I dismissed the matter from my mind. + +Twenty-four hours later, however, I was rudely awakened. A +courier arrived from Henry, and surprising me in the midst of my +last preparations at the Arsenal, handed me an order to attend +his Majesty; an order couched in the most absolute and peremptory +terms, and lacking all those friendly expressions which the King +never failed to use when he wrote to me. A missive so brief and +so formal--and so needless, for I was on the point of starting-- +had not reached me for years; and coming at this moment when I +had no reason to expect a reverse of fortune, it had all the +effect of a thunder-bolt in a clear sky. I stood stunned, the +words which I was dictating to my secretary dying on my lips. +For I knew the King too well, and had experienced his kindness +too lately to attribute the harshness of the order to chance or +forgetfulness; and assured in a moment that I stood face to face +with a grave crisis, I found myself hard put to it to hide my +feelings from those about me. + +Nevertheless, I did so with all effort; and, sending for the +courier asked him with an assumption of carelessness what was the +latest news at Court. His answer, in a measure, calmed my fears, +though it could not remove them. He reported that the queen had +been taken ill or so the rumour went. + +"Suddenly?" I said. + +"This morning," he answered. + +"The King was with her?" + +"Yes, your excellency." + +"Had he left her long when he sent this letter?" + +"It came from her chamber, your excellency." + +"But--did you understand that her Majesty was in danger?" I +urged. + +As to that, however, the man could not say anything; and I was +left to nurse my conjectures during the long ride to +Fontainebleau, where we arrived in the cool of the evening, the +last stage through the forest awakening memories of past pleasure +that combated in vain the disorder and apprehension which held my +spirits. Dismounting in the dusk at the door of my apartments, I +found a fresh surprise awaiting me in the shape of M. de Concini, +the Italian; who advancing to meet me before my foot was out of +the stirrup, announced that he came from the King, who desired my +instant attendance in the queen's closet. + +Knowing Concini to be one of those whose influence with her +Majesty had more than once tempted the King to the most violent +measures against her--from which I had with difficulty dissuaded +him--I augured the worst from the choice of such a messenger; and +wounded alike in my pride and the affection in which I held the +King, could scarcely find words in which to ask him if the queen +was ill. + +"Indisposed, my lord," he replied carelessly. And he began to +whistle. + +I told him that I would remove my boots and brush off the dust, +and in five minutes be at his service. + +"Pardon me," he said, "my orders are strict; and they are to +request you to attend his Majesty immediately. He expected you +an hour ago." + +I was thunderstruck at this--at the message, and at the man's +manner; and for a moment I could scarcely restrain my +indignation. Fortunately the habit of self-control came to my +aid in time, and I reflected that an altercation with such a +person could only lower my dignity. I contented myself, +therefore, with signifying my assent by a nod, and without more +ado followed him towards the queen's apartments. + +In the ante-chamber were several persons, who as I passed saluted +me with an air of shyness and incertitude which was enough of +itself to put me on my guard. Concini attended me to the door of +the chamber; there he fell back, and Mademoiselle Galigai, who +was in waiting, announced me. I entered, assuming a serene +countenance, and found the King and queen together, no other +person being present. The queen was lying at length on a couch, +while Henry, seated on a stool at her feet, seemed to be engaged +in soothing and reassuring her. On my entrance, he broke off and +rose to his feet. + +"Here he is at last," he said, barely looking at me. "Now, if +you will, dear heart ask him your questions. I have had no +communication with him, as you know, for I have been with you +since morning." + +The queen, whose face was flushed with fever, made a fretful +movement but did not answer. + +"Do you wish me to ask him?" Henry said with admirable patience. + +"If you think it is worth while," she muttered, turning sullenly +and eyeing me from the middle of her pillows with disdain and +ill-temper. + +"I will, then," he answered, and he turned to me. "M. de Rosny," +he said in a formal tone, which even without the unaccustomed +monsieur cut me to the heart, "be good enough to tell the queen +how the key to my secret cipher, which I entrusted to you, has +come to be in Madame de Verneuil's possession." + +I looked at him in the profoundest astonishment, and for a moment +remained silent, trying to collect my thoughts under this +unexpected blow. The queen saw my hesitation and laughed +spitefully. "I am afraid, sire," she said, "that you have +overrated this gentleman's ingenuity, though doubtless it has +been much exercised in your service." + +Henry's face grew red with vexation. "Speak, man!" he cried. +"How came she by it?" + +"Madame de Verneuil?" I said. + +The queen laughed again. "Had you not better take him out first, +sir," she said scornfully, "and tell him what to say?" + +"'Fore God, madame," the King cried passionately, "you try me too +far! Have I not told you a hundred times, and sworn to you, that +I did not give Madame de Verneuil this key?" + +"If you did not give her that," the queen muttered sullenly, +picking at the silken coverlet which lay on her feet, "you have +given her all else. You cannot deny it." + +Henry let a gesture of despair escape him. "Are we to go back to +that?" he said. Then turning to me, "Tell her," he said between +his teeth; "and tell me. VENTRE SAINT GRIS--are you dumb, man?" + +Discerning nothing for it at the moment save to bow before this +storm, which had arisen so suddenly, and from a quarter the least +expected, I hastened to comply. I had not proceeded far with my +story, however--which fell short, of course, of explaining how +the key came to be in Madame de Verneuil's hands--before I saw +that it won no credence with the queen, but rather confirmed her +in her belief that the King had given to another what he had +denied to her. And more; I saw that in proportion as the tale +failed to convince her, it excited the King's wrath and +disappointment. He several times cut me short with expressions +of the utmost impatience, and at last, when I came to a lame +conclusion--since I could explain nothing except that the key was +gone--he could restrain himself no longer. In a tone in which he +had never addressed me before, he asked me why I had not, on the +instant, communicated the loss to him; and when I would have +defended myself by adducing the reason I have given above, +overwhelmed me with abuse and reproaches, which, as they were +uttered in the queen's presence, and would be repeated, I knew, +to the Concinis and Galigais of her suite, who had no occasion to +love me, carried a double sting. + +Nevertheless, for a time, and until he had somewhat worn himself +out, I let Henry proceed. Then, taking advantage of the first +pause, I interposed. Reminding him that he had never had cause +to accuse me of carelessness before, I recalled the twenty-two +years during which I had served him faithfully, and the enmities +I had incurred for his sake; and having by these means placed the +discussion on a more equal footing, I descended again to +particulars, and asked respectfully if I might know on whose +authority Madame de Verneuil was said to have the cipher. + +"On her own!" the queen cried hysterically. "Don't try to +deceive me,--for it will be in vain. I know she has it; and if +the King did not give it to her, who did?" + +"That is the question, madam," I said. + +"It is one easily answered," she retorted. "If you do not know, +ask her." + +"But, perhaps, madam, she will not answer," I ventured. + +"Then command her to answer in the King's name!" the queen +replied, her cheeks burning with fever. "And if she will not, +then has the King no prisons--no fetters smooth enough for those +dainty ankles?" + +This was a home question, and Henry, who never showed to less +advantage than when he stood between two women, cast a sheepish +glance at me. Unfortunately the queen caught the look, which was +not intended for her; and on the instant it awoke all her former +suspicions. Supposing that she had discovered our collusion, she +flung herself back with a cry of rage, and bursting into a +passion of tears, gave way to frantic reproaches, wailing and +throwing herself about with a violence which could not but injure +one in her condition. + +The King stared at her for a moment in sheer dismay. Then his +chagrin turned to anger; which, as he dared not vent it on her, +took my direction. He pointed impetuously to the door. "Begone, +sir!" he said in a passion, and with the utmost harshness. "You +have done mischief enough here. God grant that we see the end of +it! Go--go!" he continued, quite beside himself with fury. +"Send Galigai here, and do you go to your lodging until you hear +from me!" + +Overwhelmed and almost stupefied by the catastrophe, I found my +way out I hardly knew how, and sending in the woman, made my +escape from the ante-chamber. But hasten as I might, my +disorder, patent to a hundred curious eyes, betrayed me; and, if +it did not disclose as much as I feared or the inquisitive +desired, told more than any had looked to learn. Within an hour +it was known at Nemours that his Majesty had dismissed me with +high words--some said with a blow; and half a dozen couriers were +on the road to Paris with the news. + +In my place some might have given up all for lost; but in +addition to a sense of rectitude, and the consciousness of +desert, I had to support me an intimate knowledge of the King's +temper; which, though I had never suffered from it to this extent +before, I knew to be on occasion as hot as his anger was short +lived, and his disposition generous. I had hopes, therefore-- +although I saw dull faces enough among my suite, and some pale +ones--that the King's repentance would overtake his anger, and +its consequences outstrip any that might flow from his wrath. +But though I was not altogether at fault in this, I failed to +take in to account one thing--I mean Henry's anxiety on the +queen's account, her condition, and his desire to have an heir; +which so affected the issue, that instead of fulfilling my +expectations the event left me more despondent than before. The +King wrote, indeed, and within the hour, and his letter was in +form an apology. But it was so lacking in graciousness; so +stiff, though it began "My good friend Rosny," and so insincere, +though it referred to my past services, that when I had read it I +stood awhile gazing at it, afraid to turn lest De Vic and +Varennes, who had brought it, should read my disappointment in my +face. + +For I could not hide from myself that the gist of the letter lay, +not in the expressions of regret which opened it, but in the +complaint which closed it; wherein the King sullenly excused his +outbreak on the ground of the magnitude of the interests which my +carelessness had endangered and the opening to harass the queen +which I had heedlessly given. "This cipher," he said, "has long +been a whim with my wife, from whom, for good reasons well known +to you and connected with the Grand Duke's Court, I have thought +fit to withhold it. Now nothing will persuade her that I have +not granted to another what I refused her. I tremble, my friend, +lest you be found to have done more ill to France in a moment of +carelessness than all your services have done good." + +It was not difficult to find a threat underlying these words, nor +to discern that if the queen's fancy remained unshaken, and ill +came of it, the King would hardly forgive me. Recognising this, +and that I was face to face with a crisis from which I could not +escape but by the use of my utmost powers, I assumed a serious +and thoughtful air; and without affecting to disguise the fact +that the King was displeased with me, dismissed the envoys with a +few civil speeches, in which I did not fail to speak of his +Majesty in terms that even malevolence could not twist to my +disadvantage. + +When they were gone, doubtless to tell Henry how I had taken it, +I sat down to supper with La Font, Boisrueil, and two or three +gentlemen of my suite; and, without appearing too cheerful, +contrived to eat with my usual appetite. Afterwards I withdrew +in the ordinary course to my chamber, and being now at liberty to +look the situation in the face, found it as serious as I had +feared. The falling man has few friends; he must act quickly if +he would retain any. I was not slow in deciding that my sole +chance of an honourable escape lay in discovering--and that +within a few hours--who stole the cipher and conveyed it to +Madame de Verneuil; and in placing before the queen such evidence +of this as must convince her. + +By way of beginning, I summoned Maignan and put him through a +severe examination. Later, I sent for the rest of my household-- +such, I mean, as had accompanied me--and ranging them against the +walls of my chamber, took a flambeau in my hand and went the +round of them, questioning each, and marking his air and aspect +as he answered. But with no result; so that after following some +clues to no purpose, and suspecting several persons who cleared +themselves on the spot, I became assured that the chain must be +taken up at the other end, and the first link found among Madame +de Verneuil's following. + +By this time it was nearly midnight, and my people were dropping +with fatigue. Nevertheless, a sense of the desperate nature of +the case animating them, they formed themselves voluntarily into +a kind of council, all feeling their probity attacked; in which +various modes of forcing the secret from those who held it were +proposed--Maignan's suggestions being especially violent. +Doubting, however, whether Madame had more than one confidante, I +secretly made up my mind to a course which none dared to suggest; +and then dismissing all to bed, kept only Maignan to lie in my +chamber, that if any points occurred to me in the night I might +question him on them. + +At four o'clock I called him, and bade him go out quietly and +saddle two horses. This done, I slipped out myself without +arousing anyone, and mounting at the stables, took the Orleans +road through the forest. My plan was to strike at the head, and +surprising Madame de Verneuil while the event; still hung +uncertain, to wrest the secret from her by trick or threat. The +enterprise was desperate, for I knew the stubbornness and +arrogance of the woman, and the inveterate enmity which she +entertained towards me, more particularly since the King's +marriage. But in a dangerous case any remedy is welcome. + +I reached Malesherbes, where Madame was residing with her +parents, a little before seven o'clock, and riding without +disguise to the chateau demanded to see her. She was not yet +risen, and the servants, whom my appearance threw into the utmost +confusion, objected this to me; but I knew that the excuse was no +real one, and answered roughly that I came from the King, and +must see her. This opened all doors, and in a moment I found +myself in her chamber. She was sitting up in bed, clothed in an +elegant nightrail, and seemed in no wise surprised to see me. On +the contrary, she greeted me with a smile and a taunting word; +and omitted nothing that might evince her disdain or hurt my +dignity. She let me advance without offering me a chair; and +when, after saluting her, I looked about for one, I found that +all the seats except one very low stool had been removed from the +room. + +This was so like her that it did not astonish me, and I baffled +her malice by leaning against the wall. "This is no ordinary +honour--from M. de Rosny!" she said, flouting me with her eyes. + +"I come on no ordinary mission, madame," I said as gravely as I +could. + +"Mercy!" she exclaimed in a mocking tone. "I should have put on +new ribbons, I suppose!" + +"From the King, madame," I continued, not allowing myself to he +moved, "to inquire how you obtained possession of his cipher." + +She laughed loudly. "Good, simple King," she said, "to ask what +he knows already!" + +"He does not know, madame," I answered severely. + +"What?" she cried, in affected surprise. "When he gave it to me +himself!" + +"He did not, madame." + +"He did, sir!" she retorted, firing up. "Or if he did not, +prove it--prove it! And, by the way," she continued, lowering +her voice again, and reverting to her former tone of spiteful +badinage, "how is the dear queen? I heard that she was +indisposed yesterday, and kept the King in attendance all day. +So unfortunate, you know, just at this time." And her eyes +twinkled with malicious amusement. + +"Madame,"I said, "may I speak plainly to you?" + +"I never heard that you could speak otherwise," she answered +quickly. "Even his friends never called M. de Rosny a wit; but +only a plain, rough man who served our royal turn well enough in +rough times; but is now growing--" + +"Madame!" + +"A trifle exigeant and superfluous." + +After that, I saw that it was war to the knife between us; and I +asked her in very plain terms If she were not afraid of the +queen's enmity, that she dared thus to flaunt the King's favours +before her. + +"No more than I am afraid of yours," she answered hardily. + +"But if the King is disappointed in his hopes?" + +"You may suffer; very probably will," she answered, slowly and +smiling, "not I. Besides, sir--my child was born dead. He bore +that very well." + +"Yet, believe me, madame, you run some risk." + +"In keeping what the King has given me?" she answered, raising +her eyebrows. + +"No! In keeping what the King has not given you!" I answered +sternly. "Whereas, what do you gain?" + +"Well," she replied, raising herself in the bed, while her eyes +sparkled and her colour rose, "if you like, I will tell you. +This pleasure, for one thing--the pleasure of seeing you there, +awkward, booted, stained, and standing, waiting my will. That-- +which perhaps you call a petty thing--I gain first of all. Then +I gain your ruin, M. de Rosny; I plant a sting in that woman's +breast; and for his Majesty, he has made his bed and may lie on +it." + +"Have a care, madame!" I cried, bursting with indignation at a +speech so shameless and disloyal. "You are playing a dangerous +game, I warn you!" + +"And what game have you played?" she replied, transported on a +sudden with equal passion. "Who was it tore up the promise of +marriage which the King gave me? Who was it prevented me being +Queen of France? Who was it hurried on the match with this +tradeswoman, so that the King found himself wedded, before he +knew it? Who was it--but enough; enough!" she cried, +interrupting herself with a gesture full of rage. "You have +ruined me, you and your queen between you, and I will ruin you!" + +"On the contrary, madame," I answered, collecting myself for a +last effort, and speaking with all the severity which a just +indignation inspired, "I have not ruined you. But if you do not +tell me that which I am here to learn--I will!" + +She laughed out loud. "Oh, you simpleton!" she said. "And you +call yourself a statesman! Do you not see that if I do not tell +it, you are disgraced yourself and powerless, and can do me no +harm? Tell it you? When I have you all on the hip--you, the +King, the queen! Not for a million crowns, M. de Rosny!" + +"And that is your answer, madame?" I said, choking with rage. +It had been long since any had dared so to beard me. + +"Yes," she replied stoutly; "it is! Or, stay; you shall not go +empty-handed." And thrusting her arm under the pillow she drew +out, after a moment's search, a small packet, which she held out +towards me. "Take it!" she said, with a taunting laugh. "It +has served my turn. What the King gave me, I give you." + +Seeing that it was the missing key to the cipher, I swallowed my +rage and took it; and being assured by this time that I could +effect nothing by staying longer, but should only expose myself +to fresh insults, I turned on my heel, with rudeness equal to her +own, and, without taking leave of her, flung the door open and +went out. I heard her throw herself back with a shrill laugh of +triumph. But as, the moment the door fell to behind me, my +thoughts began to cast about for another way of escape--this +failing--I took little heed of her, and less of the derisive +looks to which the household, quickly taking the cue, treated me +as I passed. I flung myself into the saddle and galloped off, +followed by Maignan, who presently, to my surprise, blurted out a +clumsy word of congratulation. + +I turned on him in amazement, and, swearing at him, asked him +what he meant. + +"You have got it," he said timidly, pointing to the packet which +I mechanically held in my hand. + +"And to what purpose?" I cried, glad of this opportunity of +unloading some of my wrath. "I want, not the paper, but the +secret, fool! You may have the paper for yourself if you will +tell me how Madame got it." + +Nevertheless, his words led me to look at the packet. I opened +it, and, having satisfied myself that it contained the original +and not a copy, was putting it up again when my eyes fell on a +small spot of blood which marked one corner of the cover. It was +not larger than a grain of corn, but it awoke, first, a vague +association and then a memory, which as I rode grew stronger and +more definite, until, on a sudden, discovery flashed upon me--and +the truth. I remembered where I had seen spots of blood before +--on the papers I had handed to Ferret and remembered, too, where +that blood had come from. I looked at the cut now, and, finding +it nearly healed, sprang in my saddle. Of a certainty this paper +had gone through my hands that day! It had been among the +others; therefore it must have been passed to Ferret inside +another when I first opened the bag! The rogue, getting it and +seeing his opportunity, and that I did not suspect, had doubtless +secreted it, probably while I was attending to my hand. + +I had not suspected him before, because I had ticked off the +earlier papers as I handed them to him; and had searched only +among the rest and in the bag for the missing one. Now I +wondered that I had not done so, and seen the truth from the +beginning; and in my impatience I found the leagues through the +forest, though the sun was not yet high and the trees sheltered +us, the longest I had ridden in my life. When the roofs of the +chateau at length appeared before us, I could scarcely keep my +pace within bounds. Reflecting how Madame de Verneuil had over- +reached herself, and how, by indulging in that last stroke of +arrogance, she had placed the secret in my hands, I had much ado +to refrain from going to the King booted and unwashed as I was; +and though I had not eaten since the previous evening. However, +the habit of propriety, which no man may lightly neglect, came to +my aid. I made my toilet, and, having broken my fast standing, +hastened to the Court. On the way I learned that the King was in +the queen's garden, and, directing my steps thither, found him +walking with my colleagues, Villeroy and Sillery, in the little +avenue which leads to the garden of the Conciergerie. A number +of the courtiers were standing on the low terrace watching them, +while a second group lounged about the queen's staircase. Full +of the news which I had for the King, I crossed the terrace; +taking no particular heed of anyone, but greeting such as came in +my way in my usual fashion. At the edge of the terrace I paused +a moment before descending the three steps; and at the same +moment, as it happened, Henry looked up, and our eyes met. On +the instant he averted his gaze, and, turning on his heel in a +marked way, retired slowly to the farther end of the walk. + +The action was so deliberate that I could not doubt he meant to +slight me; and I paused where I was, divided between grief and +indignation, a mark for all those glances and whispered gibes in +which courtiers indulge on such occasions. The slight was not +rendered less serious by the fact that the King was walking with +my two colleagues; so that I alone seemed to be out of his +confidence, as one soon to be out of his councils also. + +I perceived all this, and was not blind to the sneering smiles +which were exchanged behind my back; but I affected to see +nothing, and to be absorbed in sudden thought. In a minute or +two the King turned and came back towards me; and again, as if he +could not restrain his curiosity, looked up so that our eyes met. +This time I thought that he would beckon me to him, satisfied +with the lengths to which he had already carried his displeasure. +But he turned again, with a light laugh. + +At this a courtier, one of Sillery's creatures, who had presumed +on the occasion so far as to come to my elbow, thought that he +might safely amuse himself with me. "I am afraid that the King +grows older, M. de Rosny," he said, smirking at his companions. +"His sight seems to be failing." + +"It should not be neglected then," I said grimly. "I will tell +him presently what you say." + +He fell back, looking foolish at that, at the very moment that +Henry, having taken another turn, dismissed Villeroy, who, wiser +than the puppy at my elbow, greeted me with particular civility +as he passed. Freed from him, Henry stood a moment hesitating. +He told me afterwards that he had not turned from me a yard +before his heart smote him; and that but for a mischievous +curiosity to see how I should take it, he would not have carried +the matter so far. Be that as it may--and I do not doubt this, +any more than I ever doubted the reality of the affection in +which he held me--on a sudden he raised his hand and beckoned to +me. + +I went down to him gravely, and not hurriedly. He looked at me +with some signs of confusion in his face. "You are late this +morning," he said. + +"I have been on your Majesty's business," I answered. + +"I do not doubt that," he replied querulously, his eyes +wandering. "I am not--I am troubled this morning." And after a +fashion he had when he was not at his ease, he ground his heel +into the soil and looked down at the mark. "The queen is not +well. Sillery has seen her, and will tell you so." + +M. de Sillery, whose constant opposition to me at the council- +board I have elsewhere described, began to affirm it. I let him +go on for a little time, and then interrupted him brusquely. "I +think it was you," I said, "who nominated Ferret to be one of the +King's clerks." + +"Ferret?" he exclaimed, reddening at my tone, while the King, +who knew me well, pricked up his ears. + +"Yes," I said; "Ferret." + +"And if so?" Sillery asked, haughtily. "What do you mean?" + +"Only this," I said. "That if his Majesty will summon him to the +queen's closet, without warning or delay, and ask him in her +presence how much Madame de Verneuil gave him for the King's +cipher, her Majesty, I think, will learn something which she +wishes to know." + +"What?" the King cried. "You have discovered it? But he gave +you a receipt for the papers he took." + +"For the papers he took with my knowledge--yes, sire." + +"The rogue!" Sillery exclaimed viciously. "I will go and fetch +him." + +"Not so--with your Majesty's leave," I said, interposing quickly. +"M. de Sillery may say too much or too little. Let a lackey take +a message, bidding him go to the queen's closet, and he will +suspect nothing." + +The King assented, and bade me go and give the order. When I +returned, he asked me anxiously if I felt sure that the man would +confess. + +"Yes, if you pretend to know all, sire," I answered. "He will +think that Madame has betrayed him." + +"Very well," Henry said. "Then let us go." + +But I declined to be present; partly on the ground that if I were +there the queen might suspect me of inspiring the man, and partly +because I thought that the rogue would entertain a more confident +hope of pardon, and be more likely to confess, if he saw the King +alone. I contrived to keep Sillery also; and Henry giving the +word, as he mounted the steps, that he should be back presently, +the whole Court remained in a state of suspense, aware that +something was in progress but in doubt what, and unable to decide +whether I were again in favour or now on my trial. + +Sillery remained talking to me, principally on English matters, +until the dinner hour; which came and went, neglected by all. At +length, when the curiosity of the mass of courtiers, who did not +dare to interrupt us, had been raised by delay to an almost +intolerable pitch, the King returned, with signs of disorder in +his bearing; and, crossing the terrace in half a dozen strides, +drew me hastily, along with Sillery, into the grove of white +mulberry trees. There we were no sooner hidden in part, though +not completely, than he threw his arms about me and embraced me +with the warmest expressions. "Ah, my friend," he said, putting +me from him at last, "what shall I say to you?" + +"The queen is satisfied, sire?" + +"Perfectly; and desires to be commended to you." + +"He confessed, then?" + +Henry nodded, with a look in his face that I did not understand. +"Yes," he said, "fully. It was as you thought, my friend. God +have mercy upon him!" + +I started. "What?" I said. "Has he--" + +The King nodded, and could not repress a shudder. "Yes," he +said; "but not, thank Heaven, until he had left the closet. He +had something about him." + +Sillery began anxiously to clear himself; but the King, with his +usual good nature, stopped him, and bade us all go and dine, +saying that we must be famished. He ended by directing me to be +back in an hour, since his own appetite was spoiled. "And bring +with you all your patience," he added, "for I have a hundred +questions to ask you. We will walk towards Avon, and I will show +you the surprise which I am preparing for the queen." + +Alas, I would I could say that all ended there. But the rancour +of which Madame de Verneuil had given token in her interview with +me was rather aggravated than lessened by the failure of her plot +and the death of her tool. It proved to be impenetrable by all +the kindnesses which the King lavished upon her; neither the +legitimation of the child which she soon afterwards bore, nor the +clemency which the King--against the advice of his wisest +ministers extended to her brother Auvergne, availing to expel it +from her breast. How far she or that ill-omened family were +privy to the accursed crime which, nine years later, palsied +France on the threshold of undreamed-of glories, I will not take +on myself to say; for suspicion is not proof. But history, of +which my beloved master must ever form so great a part, will lay +the blame where it should rest. + + + +VI. THE MAN OF MONCEAUX. + +In the month of August of this year the King found some +alleviation of the growing uneasiness which his passion for +Madame de Conde occasioned him in a visit to Monceaux, where he +spent two weeks in such diversions as the place afforded. He +invited me to accompany him, but on my representing that I could +not there--so easily as in my own closet, where I had all the +materials within reach--prepare the report which he had commanded +me to draw up, he directed me to remain in Paris until it was +ready, and then to join him. + +This report which he was having written, not only for his own +satisfaction but for the information of his heir, took the form +of a recital of all the causes and events, spread over many +years, which had induced him to take in hand the Great Design; +together with a succinct account of the munitions and treasures +which he had prepared to carry it out. As it included many +things which were unknown beyond the council, and some which he +shared only with me--and as, in particular, it enumerated the +various secret alliances and agreements which he had made with +the princes of North Germany, whom a premature discovery must +place at the Emperor's mercy--it was necessary that I should draw +up the whole with my own hand, and with the utmost care and +precaution. This I did; and that nothing might be wanting to a +memorial which I regarded with justice as the most important of +the many State papers which it had fallen to my lot; to prepare, +I spent seven days in incessant labour upon it. It was not, +therefore, until the third week in August: that I was free to +travel to Monceaux. + +I found my quarters assigned to me in a pavilion called the +Garden House; and, arriving at supper time, sat down with my +household with more haste and less ceremony than was my wont. +The same state of things prevailed, I suppose, in the kitchen; +for we had not been seated half an hour when a great hubbub arose +in the house, and the servants rushing in cried out that a fire +had broken out below, and that the house was in danger of +burning. + +In such emergencies I take it to be the duty of a man of standing +to bear himself with as much dignity as is consistent with +vigour; and neither to allow himself to be carried away by the +outcry and disorder of the crowd, nor to omit any direction that +may avail. On this occasion, however, my first thought was given +to the memorial I had prepared for the King; which I remembered +had been taken with other books and papers to a room over the +kitchen. I lost not a moment, therefore, in sending Maignan for +it; nor until I held it safely in my hand did I feel myself at +liberty to think of the house. When I did, I found that the +alarm exceeded the danger; a few buckets of water extinguished a +beam in the chimney which had caught fire, and in a few moments +we were able to resume the meal with the added vivacity which +such an event gave to the conversation. It has never been my +custom to encourage too great freedom at my table; but as the +company consisted, with a single exception, of my household, and +as this person--a Monsieur de Vilain, a young gentleman, the +cousin of one of my wife's maids-of-honour--showed himself +possessed of modesty as well as wit, I thought that the time +excused a little relaxation. + +This was the cause of the misfortune which followed, and bade +fair to place me in a position of as great difficulty as I have +ever known; for, having in my good humour dismissed the servants, +I continued to talk for an hour or more with Vilain and some of +my gentlemen; the result being that I so far forgot myself, when +I rose, as to leave the report where I had laid it on the table. +In the passage I met a man whom the King had sent to inquire +about the fire; and thus reminded of the papers I turned back to +the room; greatly vexed with myself for negligence which in a +subordinate I should have severely rebuked, but never doubting +that I should find the packet where I had left it. + +To my chagrin the paper was gone. Still I could not believe that +it had been stolen, and supposing that Maignan or one of my +household had seen it and taken it to my closet, I repaired +thither in haste. I found Maignan already there, with M. +Boisrueil, one of my gentlemen, who was waiting to ask a favour; +but they knew nothing of the report, and though I sent them down +forthwith, with directions to make strict but quiet inquiry, they +returned at the end of half an hour with long faces and no news. + +Then I grew seriously alarmed; and reflecting on the many +important secrets which the memorial contained, whereof a +disclosure must spoil plans so long and sedulously prepared, I +found myself brought on a sudden face to face with disaster. I +could not imagine how the King, who had again and again urged on +me the utmost precaution, would take such a catastrophe; nor how +I should make it known to him. For a moment, therefore, while I +listened to the tale, I felt the hair rise on my head and a +shiver descend my back; nor was it without an uncommon effort +that I retained my coolness and composure. + +Plainly no steps in such a position could be too stringent. I +sent Maignan with an order to close all the doors and let no one +pass out. Then I made sure that none of the servants had entered +the room, between the time of my rising and return; and this +narrowed the tale of those who could have taken the packet to +eleven, that being the number of persons who had sat down with +me. But having followed the matter so far, I came face to face +with this difficulty: that all the eleven were, with one +exception, in my service and in various ways pledged to my +interests, so that I could not conceive even the possibility of a +betrayal by them in a matter so important. + +I confess, at this, the perspiration rose upon my brow; for the +paper was gone. Still, there remained one stranger; and though +it seemed scarcely less difficult to suspect him, since he could +have no knowledge of the importance of the document, and could +not have anticipated that I should leave it in his power, I found +in that the only likely solution. He was one of the Vilains of +Pareil by Monceaux, his father living on the edge of the park, +little more than a thousand yards from the chateau; and I knew no +harm of him. Still, I knew little; and for that reason was +forward to believe that there, rather than in my own household, +lay the key to the enigma. + +My suspicions were not lessened when I discovered that he alone +of the party at table had left the house before the doors were +closed; and for a moment I was inclined to have him followed and +seized. But I could scarcely take a step so decisive without +provoking inquiry; and I dared not at this stage let the King +know of my negligence. I found myself, therefore, brought up +short, in a state of exasperation and doubt difficult to +describe; and the most minute search within the house and the +closest examination of all concerned failing to provide the +slightest clue, I had no alternative but to pass the night in +that condition. + +On the morrow a third search seeming still the only resource, and +proving as futile as the others, I ordered La Trape and two or +three in whom I placed the greatest confidence to watch their +fellows, and report anything in their bearing or manner that +seemed to be out of the ordinary course; while I myself went to +wait; on the King, and parry his demand for the memorial as well +as I could. This it was necessary to do without provoking +curiosity; and as the lapse of each minute made the pursuit of +the paper less hopeful and its recovery a thing to pray for +rather than expect, it will be believed that I soon found the +aspect of civility which I was obliged to wear so great a trial +of my patience, that I made an excuse and retired early to my +lodging. + +Here my wife, who shared my anxiety, met me with a face full of +meaning. I cried out to know if they had found the paper. + +"No," she answered; "but if you will come into your closet I will +tell you what I have learned." + +I went in with her, and she told me briefly that the manner of +Mademoiselle de Mars, one of her maids, had struck her as +suspicious. The girl had begun to cry while reading to her; and +when questioned had been able to give no explanation of her +trouble. + +"She is Vilain's cousin?" I said. + +"Yes, monsieur." + +"Bring her to me," I said. "Bring her to me without the delay of +an instant." + +My wife hastened to comply; and whatever had been the girl's +state earlier, before the fright of this hasty summons had upset +her, her agitation when thus confronted with me gave me, before a +word was spoken, the highest hopes that I had here the key to the +mystery. I judged that it might be necessary to frighten her +still more, and I started by taking a harsh tone with her; but +before I had said many words she obviated the necessity of this +by falling at my wife's feet and protesting that she would tell +all. + +"Then speak quickly, wench!" I said. "You know where the paper +is." + +"I know who has it!" she answered, in a voice choked with sobs. + +"Who?" + +"My cousin, M. de Vilain." + +"Ha! and has taken it to his house?" + +But she seemed for a moment unable to answer this; her distress +being such that my wife had to fetch a vial of pungent salts to +restore her before she could say more. At length she found voice +to tell us that M. de Vilain had taken the paper, and was this +evening to hand it to an agent of the Spanish ambassador. + +"But, girl," I said sternly, "how do you know this?" + +Then she confessed that the cousin was also the lover, and had +before employed her to disclose what went on in my household, and +anything of value that could be discovered there. Doubtless the +girl, for whom my wife, in spite of her occasional fits of +reserve and temper, entertained no little liking, enjoyed many +opportunities of prying; and would have continued still to serve +him had not this last piece of villainy, with the stir which it +caused in the house and the rigorous punishment to be expected in +the event of discovery, proved too much for her nerves. Hence +this burst of confession; which once allowed to flow, ran on +almost against her will. Nor did I let her pause to consider the +full meaning of what she was saying until I had learned that +Vilain was to meet the ambassador's agent an hour after sunset at +the east end of a clump of trees which stood in the park; and +being situate between his, Vilain's, residence and the chateau, +formed a convenient place for such a transaction. + +"He will have it about him?" I said. + +She sobbed a moment, but presently confessed. "Yes; or it will +be in the hollow of the most easterly tree. He was to leave it +there, if the agent could not keep the appointment." + +"Good!" I said; and then, having assured myself by one or two +questions of that, of which her state of distress and agitation +left me in little doubt--namely, that she was telling the truth +--I committed her to my wife's care; bidding the Duchess lock her +up in a safe place upstairs, and treat her to bread and water +until I had taken the steps necessary to prove the fact, and +secure the paper. + +After this--but I should be tedious were I to describe the +alternations of hope and fear in which I passed the period of +suspense. Suffice it that I informed no one, not even Maignan, +of what I had discovered, but allowed those in the secret of the +loss still to pursue their efforts; while I, by again attending +the Court, endeavoured at once to mitigate the King's impatience +and persuade the world that all was well. A little before the +appointed time, however I made a pretext to rise from supper, and +quietly calling out Boisrueil, bade him bring four of the men, +armed, and Maignan and La Trape. With this small body I made my +way out by a private door, and crossed the park to the place +Mademoiselle had, indicated. + +Happily, night had already begun to close in, and the rendezvous +was at the farther side of the clump of trees. Favoured by these +circumstances, we were able to pass round the thicket--some on +one side and some on the other---without noise or disturbance; +and fortunate enough, having arrived at the place, to discover a +man walking uneasily up and down on the very spot where we +expected to find him. The evening was so far advanced that it +was not possible to be sure that the man was Vilain; but as all +depended on seizing him before he had any communication with the +Spanish agent, I gave the signal, and two of my men, springing on +him from either side, in a moment bore him to the ground and +secured him. + +He proved to be Vilain, so that, when he was brought face to face +with me, I was much less surprised than he affected to be. He +played the part of an ignorant so well, indeed, that, for a +moment, I was staggered by his show of astonishment, and by the +earnestness with which he denounced the outrage; nor could +Maignan find anything on him. But, a moment later, remembering +the girl's words, I strode to the nearest tree, and, groping +about it, in a twinkling unearthed the paper from a little hollow +in the trunk that seemed to have been made to receive it. I need +not say with what relief I found the seals unbroken; nor with +what indignation I turned on the villain thus convicted of an act +of treachery towards the King only less black than the sin +against hospitality of which he had been guilty in my house. But +the discovery I had made seemed enough of itself to overwhelm +him; for, after standing apparently stunned while I spoke, he +jerked himself suddenly out of his captors' hands, and made a +desperate attempt to escape. Finding this hopeless, and being +seized again before he had gone four paces, he shouted, at the +top of his voice: "Back! back! Go back!" + +We looked about, somewhat startled, and Boisrueil, with presence +of mind, ran into the darkness to see if he could detect the +person addressed; but though he thought that he saw the skirt of +a flying cloak disappear in the gloom, he was not sure; and I, +having no mind to be mixed up with the ambassador, called him +back. I asked Vilain to whom he had called, but the young man, +turning sullen, would answer nothing except that he knew naught +of the paper. I thought it best, therefore, to conduct him at +once to my lodgings, whither it will be believed that I returned +with a lighter heart than I had gone out. It was, indeed, a +providential escape. + +How to punish the traitor was another matter, for I could +scarcely do so adequately without betraying my negligence. I +determined to sleep on this, however, and, for the night, +directed him to be locked into a chamber in the south-west +turret, with a Swiss to guard the door; my intention being to +interrogate him farther on the morrow. However, Henry sent for +me so early that I was forced to postpone my examination; and, +being detained by him until evening, I thought it best to tell +him, before I left, what had happened. + +He heard the story with a look of incredulity, which, little by +little, gave way to a broad smile. "Well," he said, "Grand +Master, never chide me again! I have heard that Homer sometimes +nods; but if I were to tell this to Sillery or Villeroy, they +would not believe me." + +"They would believe anything that your Majesty told them," I +said. "But you will not tell them this?" + +"No," he said kindly, "I will not; and there is my hand on it. +For the matter of that, if it had happened to them, they would +not have told me." + +"And perhaps been the wiser for that," I said. + +"Don't believe it," he answered. "But now, what of this young +Vilain? You have him safe?" + +"Yes, sire." + +"The girl is one degree worse; she betrays both sides to save her +skin." + +"Still, I promised--" + +"Oh, she must go," Henry said. "I quite understand. But for +him--we had better have no scandal. Keep him until to-morrow, +and I will see his father, and have him sent out of the country." + +"And he will go scot free," I said, bluntly, "when a rope and the +nearest tree--" + +"Yes, my friend," Henry answered with a dry smile; "but that +should have been done last night. As it is, he is your guest and +we must give an account of him. But first drain him dry. +Frighten him, as you please, and get all out of him; then I wish +them joy of him. Faugh! and he a young man! I would not be his +father for two such crowns as mine!" + +As I returned to my lodgings I thought over these words; and I +fell to wondering by what stages Vilain had sunk so low. +Occasionally admitted to my table, he had always borne himself +with a modesty and discretion that had not failed to prepossess +me; indeed, the longer I considered the King's saying, the +greater was the surprise I felt at this DENOUEMENT; which left me +in doubt whether my dullness exceeded my negligence or the young +man's parts surpassed his wickedness. + +A few questions, I thought, might resolve this; but having been +detained by the King until supper-time, I postponed the interview +until I rose. Then bidding them bring in the prisoner, I assumed +my harshest aspect and prepared to blast him by discovering all +his vileness to his face. + +But when I had waited a little, only Maignan came in, with an air +of consternation that brought me to my feet. "Why, man, what is +it?" I cried. + +"The prisoner," he faltered. "If your excellency pleases--" + +"I do not please!" I said sternly, believing that I knew what +had happened. "Is he dead?" + +"No, your excellency; but, he has escaped." + +"Escaped? From that room?" + +Maignan nodded. + +"Then, PAR DIEU!" I replied, "the man who was on guard shall +suffer in his place! Escaped? How could he escape except by +treachery? Where was the guard?" + +"He was there, excellency. And he says that no one passed him." + +"Yet the man is gone?" + +"The room is empty." + +"But the window--the window, fool, is fifty feet from the +ground!" I said. "And not so much footing outside as would hold +a crow!" + +Maignan shrugged his shoulders, and in a rage I bade him follow +me, and went myself to view the place; to which a number of my +people had already flocked with lights, so that I found some +difficulty in mounting the staircase. A very brief inspection, +however, sufficed to confirm my first impression that Vilain +could have escaped by the door only; for the window, though it +lacked bars and boasted a tiny balcony, hung over fifty feet of +sheer depth, so that evasion that way seemed in the absence of +ladder or rope purely impossible. This being clear, I ordered +the Swiss to be seized; and as he could give no explanation of +the escape, and still persisted that he was as much in the dark +as anyone, I declared that I would make an example of him, and +hang him unless the prisoner was recaptured within three days. + +I did not really propose to do this, but in my irritation I spoke +so roundly that my people believed me; even Boisrueil, who +presently came to intercede for the culprit, who, it seemed, was +a favourite. "As for Vilain," he continued; "you can catch him +whenever you please." + +"Then catch him before the end of three days," I answered +obstinately, "and the man lives." + +The truth was that Vilain's escape placed me in a position of +some discomfort; for though, on the one hand, I had no particular +desire to get him again into my hands, seeing that the King could +effect as much by a word to his father as I had proposed to do +while I held him safe; on the other hand, the evasion placed me +very peculiarly in regard to the King himself, who was inclined +to think me ill or suddenly grown careless. Some of the facts, +too, were leaking out, and provoking smiles among the more +knowing, and a hint here and there; the result of all being that, +unable to pursue the matter farther in Vilain's case, I hardened +my heart and persisted that the Swiss should pay the penalty. + +This obstinacy on my part had an unforeseen issue. On the +evening of the second day, a little before supper-time, my wife +came to me, and announced that a young lady had waited on her +with a tale so remarkable that she craved leave to bring her to +me that I might hear it. + +"What is it?" I said impatiently. + +"It is about M. Vilain," my wife answered, her face still wearing +all the marks of lively astonishment. + +"Ha!" I exclaimed. "I will see her then. But it is not that +baggage who--" + +"No," my wife answered. "It is another." + +"One of your maids?" + +"No, a stranger." + +"Well, bring her," I said shortly. + +She went, and quickly returned with a young lady, whose face and +modest bearing were known to me, though I could not, at the +moment, recall her name. This was the less remarkable as I am +not prone to look much in maids' faces, leaving that to younger +men; and Mademoiselle de Figeac's, though beautiful, was +disfigured on this occasion by the marked distress under which +she was labouring. Accustomed as I was to the visits of persons +of all classes and characters who came to me daily with +petitions, I should have been disposed to cut her short, but for +my wife's intimation that her errand had to do with the matter +which annoyed me. This, as well as a trifle of curiosity--from +which none are quite free--inclined me to be patient; and I asked +her what she would have with me. + +"Justice, M. le Duc," she answered simply. "I have heard that +you are seeking M. de Vilain, and that one of your people is +lying under sentence for complicity in his escape." + +"That is true, mademoiselle," I said. "If you can tell me--" + +"I can tell you how he escaped, and by whose aid," she answered. + +It is my custom to betray no astonishment, even when I am +astonished. "Do so," I said. + +"He escaped through the window," she answered firmly, "by my +brother's aid." + +"Your brother's?" I exclaimed, amazed at her audacity. "I do +not remember him." + +"He is only thirteen years old." + +I could hide my astonishment no longer. "You must be mad, girl!" +I said, "mad! You do not know what you are saying! The window +of the room in which Vilain was confined is fifty feet from the +ground, and you say that your brother, a boy of thirteen, +contrived his escape?" + +"Yes, M. de Sully," she answered. "And the man who is about to +suffer is innocent." + +"How was it done, then?" I asked, not knowing what to think of +her persistence. + +"My brother was flying a kite that day," she answered. "He had +been doing so for a week or more, and everyone was accustomed to +seeing him here. After sunset, the wind being favourable, he +came under M. de Vilain's window, and, when it was nearly dark, +and the servants and household were at supper, he guided the kite +against the balcony outside the window." + +"But a man cannot descend by a kite-string!" + +"My brother had a knotted rope, which M. de Vilain drew up," she +answered simply; "and afterwards, when he had descended, +disengaged." + +I looked at her in profound amazement. + +"Your brother acted on instructions?" I said at last. + +"On mine," she answered. + +"You avow that?" + +"I am here to do so," she replied, her face white and red by +turns, but her eyes continuing to meet mine. + +"This is a very serious matter," I said. "Are you aware, +mademoiselle, why M. Vilain was arrested, and of what he is +accused?" + +"Perfectly," she answered; "and that he is innocent. More!" she +continued, clasping her hands, and looking at me bravely, "I am +willing both to tell you where he is, and to bring him, if you +please, into your presence." + +I stared at her. "You will bring him here?" I said. + +"Within five minutes," she answered, "if you will first hear me." + +"What are you to him?" I said. + +She blushed vividly. "I shall be his wife or no one's," she +said; and she looked a moment at my wife. + +"Well, say what you have to say!" I cried roughly. + +"This paper, which it is alleged that he stole--it was not found +on him; but in the hollow of a tree." + +"Within three paces of him! And what was he doing there?" + +"He came to meet me," she answered, her voice trembling slightly. +"He could have told you so, but he would not shame me." + +"This is true?" I said, eyeing her closely. + +"I swear it!" she answered, clasping her hands. And then, with +a sudden flash of rage, "Will the other woman swear to her tale?" +she cried. + +"Ha!" I said, "what other woman?" + +"The woman who sent you to that place," she answered. "He would +not tell me her name, or I would go to her now and wring the +truth from her. But he confessed to me that he had let a woman +into the secret of our meeting; and this is her work." + +I stood a moment pondering, with my eyes on the girl's excited +face, and my thoughts, following this new clue through the maze +of recent events; wherein I could not fail to see that it led to +a very different conclusion from that at which I had arrived. If +Vilain had been foolish enough to wind up his love-passages with +Mademoiselle de Mars by confiding to her his passion for the +Figeac, and even the place and time at which the latter was so +imprudent as to meet him, I could fancy the deserted mistress +laying this plot; and first placing the packet where we found it, +and then punishing her lover by laying the theft at his door. +True, he might be guilty; and it might be only confession and +betrayal on which jealousy had thrust her. But the longer I +considered the whole of the circumstances, as well as the young +man's character, and the lengths to which I knew a woman's +passion would carry her, the more probable seemed the explanation +I had just received. + +Nevertheless, I did not at once express my opinion; but veiling +the chagrin I naturally felt at the simple part I had been led to +play--in the event I now thought probable--I sharply ordered +Mademoiselle de Figeac to retire into the next room; and then I +requested my wife to fetch her maid. + +Mademoiselle de Mars had been three days in solitary confinement, +and might be taken to have repented of her rash accusation were +it baseless. I counted somewhat on this; and more on the effect +of so sudden a summons to my presence. But at first sight it +seemed that I did so without cause. Instead of the agitation +which she had displayed when brought before me to confess, she +now showed herself quiet and even sullen; nor did the gleam of +passion, which I thought that I discerned smouldering in her dark +eyes, seem to promise either weakness or repentance. However, I +had too often observed the power of the unknown over a guilty +conscience to despair of eliciting the truth. + +"I want to ask you two or three questions," I said civilly. +"First, was M. de Vilain with you when you placed the paper in +the hollow of the tree? Or were you alone?" + +I saw her eyelids quiver as with sudden fear, and her voice shook +as she stammered, "When I placed the paper?" + +"Yes," I said, "when you placed the paper. I have reason to know +that you did it. I wish to learn whether he was present, or you +did it merely under his orders?" + +She looked at me, her face a shade paler, and I do not doubt that +her mind was on the rack to divine how much I knew, and how far +she might deny and how far confess. My tone seemed to encourage +frankness, however, and in a moment she said, "I placed it under +his directions." + +"Yes," I said drily, my last doubt resolved by the admission; +"but that being so, why did Vilain go to the spot?" + +She grew still a shade paler, but in a moment she answered, "To +meet the agent." + +"Then why did you place the paper in the tree?" + +She saw the difficulty in which she had placed herself, and for +an instant she stared at me with the look of a wild animal caught +in a trap. Then, "In case the agent was late," she muttered. + +"But since Vilain had to go to the spot, why did he not deposit +the paper in the tree himself? Why did he send you to the place +beforehand? Why did--" and then I broke off and cried harshly, +"Shall I tell you why? Shall I tell you why, you false jade?" + +She cowered away from me at the words, and stood terror-stricken, +gazing at me like one fascinated. But she did not answer, + +"Because," I cried, "your story is a tissue of lies! Because it +was you, and you only, who stole this paper! Because--Down on +your knees! down on your knees!" I thundered, "and confess! +Confess, or I will have you whipped at the cart's tail, like the +false witness you are!" + +She threw herself down shrieking, and caught my wife by the +skirts, and in a breath had said all I wanted; and more than +enough to show me that I had suspected Vilain without cause, and +both played the simpleton myself and harried my household to +distraction. + +So far good. I could arrange matters with Vilain, and probably +avoid publicity. But what was now to be done with her? + +In the case of a man I should have thought no punishment too +severe, and the utmost rigour of the law too tender for such +perfidy; but as she was a woman, and young, and under my wife's +protection, I hesitated. Finally, the Duchess interceding, I +leaned to the side of that mercy which the girl had not shown to +her lover; and thought her sufficiently punished, at the moment +by the presence of Mademoiselle de Figeac whom I called into the +room to witness her humiliation, and in the future by dismissal +from my household. As this imported banishment to her father's +country-house, where her mother, a shrewd old Bearnaise, saved +pence and counted lentils into the soup, and saw company once a +quarter, I had perhaps reason to be content with her +chastisement. + +For the rest I sent for M. de Vilain, and by finding him +employment in the finances, and interceding for him with the old +Vicomte de Figeac, confirmed him in the attachment he had begun +to feel for me before this unlucky event; nor do I doubt that I +should have been able in time to advance him to a post worthy of +the talents I discerned in him. But, alas, the deplorable crime, +which so soon deprived me at one blow of my master and of power, +put an end to this, among other and greater schemes. + + + +VII. THE GOVERNOR OF GUERET. + +Without attaching to dreams greater importance than a prudent man +will always be willing to assign to the unknown and +unintelligible, I have been in the habit of reflecting on them; +and have observed with some curiosity that in these later years +of my life, during which France has enjoyed peace and comparative +prosperity, my dreams have most often reproduced the stormy rides +and bivouacs of my youth, with all the rough and bloody +accompaniments which our day knows only by repute. Considering +these visions, and comparing my sleeping apathy with my daylight +reflections, I have been led to wonder at the power of habit; +which alone makes it possible for a man who has seen a dozen +stricken fields, and viewed, scarcely with emotion, the slaughter +of a hundred prisoners, to turn pale at the sight of a coach +accident, and walk a mile rather than see a rogue hang. + +I am impelled to this train of thought by an adventure that +befell me in the summer of this year 1605; and which, as it +seemed to me in the happening to be rather an evil dream of old +times than a waking episode of these, may afford the reader some +diversion, besides relieving the necessary tedium of the thousand +particulars of finance that render the five farms a study of the +utmost intricacy. + +My appointment to represent the King at the Assembly of +Chatelherault had carried me in the month of July into Poitou. +Being there, and desirous of learning for myself whether the +arrest of Auvergne had pacified his country to the extent +described by the King's agents, I determined to take advantage of +a vacation of the assembly and venture as far in that direction +as Gueret; though Henry, fearing lest the malcontents should make +an attempt on my person in revenge for the death of Biron, had +strictly charged me not to approach within twenty leagues of the +Limousin. + +I had with me for escort at Chatelherault a hundred horse; but, +these seeming to be either too many or too few for the purpose, I +took with me only ten picked men with Colet their captain, five +servants heavily armed, and of my gentlemen Boisrueil and La +Font. Parabere, to whom I opened my mind, consented to be my +companion. I gave out that I was going to spend three days at +Preuilly, to examine an estate there which I thought of buying, +that I might have a residence in my government; and, having +amused the curious with this statement, I got away at daybreak, +and by an hour before noon was at Touron, where I stayed for +dinner. That night we lay at a village, and the next day dined +at St. Marcel. The second afternoon we reached Crozant. + +Here I began to observe those signs of neglect and disorder +which, at the close of the war, had been common in all parts of +France, but in the more favoured districts had been erased by a +decade of peace. Briars and thorns choked the roads, which ran +through morasses, between fields which the husbandman had +resigned to tares and undergrowth. Ruined hamlets were common, +and everywhere wolves and foxes and all kinds of game abounded. +But that which roused my ire to the hottest was the state of the +bridges, which in this country, where the fords are in winter +impassable, had been allowed to fall into utter decay. On all +sides I found the peasants oppressed, disheartened, and primed +with tales of the King's severity, which those who had just cause +to dread him had instilled into them. Bands of robbers committed +daily excesses, and, in a word, no one thing was wanting to give +the lie to the rose-coloured reports with which Bareilles, the +Governor of Gueret, had amused the Council. + +I confess that, at sight and thought of these things--of this +country so devoured, the King's authority so contemned, all evils +laid at his door, all his profits diverted--my anger burned +within me, and I said more to Parabere than was perhaps prudent, +telling him, in particular, what I designed against Bareilles, of +whose double-dealing I needed no further proof; by what means I +proposed to lull his suspicions for the moment, since we must lie +at Gueret, and how I would afterwards, on the first occasion, +have him seized and punished. + +I forgot, while I avowed these things, that one weakness of +Parabere's character which rendered him unable to believe evil of +anyone. Even of Bareilles, though the two were the merest +acquaintances, he could only think indulgently, because, +forsooth, he too was a Protestant. He began to defend him +therefore, and, seeing how the ground lay, after a time I let the +matter drop. + +Still I did not think that he bad been serious in his plea, and +that which happened on the following morning took me completely +by surprise. We had left Crozant an hour, and I was considering +whether, the road being bad, we should even now reach Gueret +before night, when Parabere, who had made some excuse to ride +forward, returned, to me with signs of embarrassment in his +manner. + +"My friend," he said, "here is a message from Bareilles." + +"How?" I exclaimed. "A message? For whom?" + +"For you," he said; "the man is here." + +"But how did Bareilles know that I was coming?" I asked. + +Parabere's confusion furnished me with the answer before he +spoke. "Do not be angry, my friend," he said. "I wanted to do +Bareilles a good turn. I saw that you were enraged with him, and +I thought that I could not help him better than by suggesting to +him to come and meet you in a proper spirit, and make the +explanations which I am sure that he has it in his power to make. +Yesterday morning, therefore, I sent to him." + +"And he is here?" I said drily. + +Parabere admitted with a blush that he was not. His messenger +had found Bareilles on the point of starting against a band of +plunderers who had ravaged the country for a twelvemonth. He had +sent me the most; civil messages therefore--but he had not come. +"However, he will be at Gueret to-morrow," Parabere added +cheerfully. + +"Will he?" I said. + +"I will answer for it," he answered. "In the meantime, he has +done what he can for our comfort." + +"How?" I said, + +"He bids us not to attempt the last three leagues to Gueret to- +night; the road is too bad. But to stay at Saury, where there is +a good inn, and to-morrow morning he will meet us there." + +"If the brigands have not proved too much for him," I said. + +"Yes," Parabere answered, with a simplicity almost supernatural. +"To be sure." + +After this, it was no use to say anything to him, though his +officiousness would have justified the keenest reproaches. I +swallowed my resentment, therefore, and we went on amicably +enough, though the valley of the Creuse, in its upper and wilder +part, through which our road now wound, offered no objects of a +kind to soften my anger against the governor. I saw enough of +ruins, of blocked defiles, and overgrown roads; but of returning +prosperity and growing crops, and the King's peace, I saw no +sign--not so much as one dead robber. + +About noon we alighted to eat a little at a wretched tavern by +one of the innumerable fords. A solitary traveller who was here +before us, and for a time kept aloof, wearing a grand and +mysterious manner with a shabby coat, presently moved; edging +himself up to me where I sat a little apart, eating with Parabere +and my gentlemen. + +"Sir," he said, on a sudden and without preface, "I see that you +are the leader of this party." + +As I was more plainly dressed than Parabere, and had been giving +no orders, I wondered how he knew; but I answered, without any +remark, "Well, sir; and what of that?" + +"You are in great danger," he replied. + +"I?" I said. + +"Yes, sir; you!" he answered. + +"You know me?" + +He shrugged his shoulders. "Not I," he said, "but those who +speak by me. Enough that you are in danger." + +"From what?" I asked sceptically; while my companions stared, +and the troopers and servants, who were just within hearing, +listened open-mouthed. + +"A one-eyed woman and a one-eyed house," he answered darkly. +Then, before I could frame a question, he turned from me as +abruptly as he had come, and, mounting a sorry mare that stood +near, stumbled away through the ford. + +It required little wit to see that the man was an astrologer, and +one whose predictions, if they had not profited his clients more +than himself, had been ominous indeed. I was inclined, +therefore, to make sport of him, knowing that the pretenders to +that art are to the true men as ten to one. But his words, and +particularly the fact that he had asked for nothing, had +impressed my followers differently; so that they talked of +nothing else while we ate, and could still be heard discussing +him in the saddle. The wildness of the road and the gloomy +aspect of the valley had doubtless some effect on their minds; +which a thunderstorm that shortly afterwards overtook us and +drenched us to the skin did not tend to lighten. I was glad to +see the roofs of Saury before us; though, on a nearer approach, +we found all the houses except the inn ruined and tenantless; and +even, that scorched and scarred, with the great gate that had +once closed its courtyard prostrate in the road before it. + +However, in view of the country we had come through, and the +general desolation, we were thankful to find things no worse. +The village stood at the entrance to a gorge, with the Creuse-- +here a fast-rushing stream--running at the back of the inn. The +latter was of good size, stone-built and tiled, and, at first, +seemed to be empty; but the servants presently unearthed a man +and then a boy. Fires were lit, and the horses stabled; and a +second room with a chimney being found, Parabere and I, with +Colet and my gentlemen, took possession of it, leaving the +kitchen to my following. + +I had had my boots removed, and was drying my clothes and +expecting supper, when Boisrueil, who was beside me, uttered an +exclamation of amazement. + +"What is it?" I said. + +He did not answer, and I followed his eyes. A woman had just +entered the room with a bundle of sticks. She had one eye! + +I confess that, for an instant, this staggered me; but a moment's +thought reminded me that the astrologer had come from this inn to +us, and I smiled at the credulity which would have built on a +coincidence that was no coincidence. When the woman had retired +again, therefore, I rallied Boisrueil on his timidity; but, +though he admitted the correctness of my reasoning, I saw that he +was not entirely convinced. He started whenever a shutter +flapped, or the draughts, which searched the grim old building +through and through, threatened to extinguish our lights. He +hung cloaks over the windows to obviate the latter inconvenience +he said--and was continually going out and coming back with +gloomy looks. Parabere joined me in rallying him, which we did +without mercy; but when I had occasion, after a while, to pass +through the outer room I found that he was not alone in his +fears. The troopers sat moodily listening, or muttered together; +while the cup passed round in silence. When I bade a man go on +an errand to the stable, four went; and when I dropped a word to +the woman who was attending to her pot, a dozen heads were +stretched out to catch the answer. + +Such a feeling--to which, in this instance, the murmur of the +stream and the steady downpour of rain doubtless added something +--is so contagious that I was not surprised to find Colet and La +Font sinking under it. Only Parabere, in fact, rose quite +superior to the notion, laughed at their fears, and drank to +their better spirits; and, making the best of the situation, as +became an old soldier, presently engaged me in tales of the war-- +fought again the siege of Laon, and buried men whose bodies bad +lain for ten years under the oaks at Fontaine Francoise. + +Talk of this kind, which we still maintained after we had +despatched our supper, was sufficiently engrossing to erase +Boisrueil's fancies entirely from my mind. They were recalled by +his sudden entrance, with Colet at his elbow, the faces of both +full of importance. I saw that they had something to say, and +asked what it was. + +"We have been examining the back gate, M. le Marquis," Colet +said. + +"Well, man?" + +"It is barricaded, and cannot be opened," he answered. + +"Well," I said again, "there is nothing wonderful in that. +Anyone can see that there has been rough work here. The front +gate was stormed, I suppose, and the back one left standing." + +"But if is so barricaded that it is not possible to open it," he +objected. "And the men have an idea--" + +"Well?" I said, seeing that he hesitated. + +"That this is a one-eyed house." + +Parabere laughed loudly. "Of course it is!" he said. "That +strolling rogue saw the gate as well as the woman, and made his +profit of them." + +"Pardon, sir!" Boisrueil answered bluntly, "That is just what he +did not do!" + +"Well," I said, silencing him by a gesture, "is that all?" + +"No," he replied; "I have tasted the men's wine." + +"And it is drugged?" + +"No," he said. "On the contrary, it is a great deal too good for +the price--or the house. And you ordered a litre apiece. Some +have had two, and not asked twice for it!" + +"Ho, ho!" I said, staring at him. "Are you sure of that?" + +"Quite!" he said. + +I was genuinely startled at last; but Parabere still made light +of it. "What!" he said. "Are we a pack of nervous women, or +one poor traveller in a solitary inn, that we see shadows and +shake at them?" + +"The inn is solitary enough," Boisrueil grumbled. + +"But we are twenty swords!" Parabere retorted, opening his eyes +wide. "Why, I have ridden all day in an enemy's country with +less!" + +"And been beaten with more at Craon." + +"But, man alive, that was in a battle, and by an army!" + +"Well, and there may be a battle and an army here," Boisrueil +answered sulkily, + +I was inclined to laugh at this as extravagance; but seeing that +La Font and Colet sided with Boisrueil, I remembered that the +latter was no coward though a great gossip; and I thought better +of it. Accordingly, resolving to look into the thing myself, I +bade La Font fetch a couple of lanthorns, and, when he had done +so, went out with him and Boisrueil as if I had a mind to go +round the horses before I retired. Parabere declined to +accompany me on the ground that he would not be at the pains of +it; and Colet I left in the kitchen to keep an eye on the man and +woman. + +There was no moon, rain was still falling, and the yard, crowded +with steaming, shivering horses, was dreary enough where the +lanthorns displayed it; but, accustomed to such a sight, I made, +without regarding it, for the gate, which a moment's examination +showed to be barricaded, as they had described, with great beams +and stones. In this there was nothing beyond the ordinary, one +entrance to a house being in troublous times better than two; but +Boisrueil, bidding me kneel and look lower, I found, when I did +so, that the soil under the beams--which did not touch the ground +by some inches--was wet, and I began to understand. When he +asked me at what hour rain had begun to fall, I answered two in +the afternoon, and drew at once the inference at which he aimed-- +that the beams had been put there, and the gate barricaded, at +some later hour. + +"We reached here at six," he said; "it was done some time between +two and six, my lord; therefore to-day. To-day," he repeated in +a low voice; "and by a dozen men at least, Fewer could not move +those beams." + +"And the object?" + +"To prevent our escape." + +"But who are they?" I said, looking at him. + +"The woman knows," he answered. "We must ask her, my lord." + +I assented; and we went back into the house, where it would not +have surprised me if we had found the wretches flown and the nest +empty. But Colet had done his work too well. They were both +there, and, in a moment, at a signal from Boisrueil, were secured +and pinioned. Parabere, hearing the scuffle, came out and would +have remonstrated, but I silenced him with a sharp word; and, +despatching La Font with a couple of discreet men to keep watch +in the court that we might not be surprised, I bade one of the +servants throw some fir-cones on the fire. These, blazing up, +filled the squalid room in a moment with a glare of light, which +revealed alike the livid faces of the two prisoners and the +excited looks and dark countenances of my escort. + +I bade them put the woman forward first, and addressed her +sternly, telling her that I knew all, and that she would do well +to confess; inasmuch as if she made a clean breast of the matter, +I would grant her her life, and if she did not, she would be the +first to die, since I would hang her were a single shot fired +against the house. + +The promise found her unmoved, but the threat, uttered in a tone +which showed that I was in earnest, proved more effectual. With +an ugly look, under which my men shrank as if her eye had power +to scorch them, the hag said that she would confess, and, with +impotent rage, admitted the truth of Boisrueil's surmises. The +rearward gate had been barricaded that afternoon by the Great +Band, who had had notice of our coming, and intended to attack us +at midnight. I asked her how many they mustered. + +"A hundred," she answered sullenly. + +"Very well," I said. "And, supposing that we do not wait for +them, how shall we escape? By the road to Gueret?" + +"Fifty lie in ambush on it." + +"By the road by which we came?" + +"The other fifty lie there." + +"Across the river?" + +"There is no ford." + +"Then in the village? If we seize some other building?" + +"The village is watched, and this house," she answered, with a +sparkle of joy in her eye. + +At that the position began to assume so serious an aspect that I +turned to Parabere to take his advice. We numbered twenty in +all, and were well armed; but five to one are large odds, and we +had little ammunition, while, for all we knew, the house might be +fired with ease from the outside. The roads north and south +being occupied, and the river enclosing us on the west, there +remained only one direction in which escape seemed possible; but, +as we knew nothing of the country, and the brigands everything, +the desperate idea of plunging into it blindly, at night, and +with pursuers at our heels, was dismissed as soon as formed. + +Parabere interrupted these calculations by drawing me aside into +the room in which we had supped, where, after rallying me on the +whimsical notion of the Grand Master of the Ordnance and Governor +of the Bastile being besieged in a paltry inn, he confessed that +he had been wrong, and that the adventure was likely to prove +serious. "Ten to one this is the very band that Bareilles is +pursuing," he said. + +"Very likely," I answered bluntly; "but the question is how are +we to evade them. Are we to fight or fly?" + +"Well, for lighting," he replied coolly; "the front gate lies in +the road, there are no shutters to half the windows, the door is +crazy, and there is a thatched pent-house against one wall." + +"And no help-nearer than Gueret." + +"Three leagues," he assented. "And from that we are cut off. +Fifty men in the gorge might hold it against five hundred. +Better man the courtyard here than that, tether the horses in the +gateway, and fight it out." "Perhaps so," I said; and we looked +at one another, hearing through the open door the men muttering +and whispering in the kitchen, and above their voices the dull +murmur of the stream, which seemed of a piece with the bleak +night outside, the ruined hamlet, and the danger that lurked +round us. Bitterly repenting the hardihood that had led me to +expose myself to such risks in breach of the King's commandment, +I found it difficult to direct my mind to the immediate question. +So many reflections connected with my mission at Chatelherault +and other affairs of state would intrude that I seemed to be +occupied rather with the results of my death at this juncture, +and particularly the injury which it must inflict on the King's +service, than with the question how I could escape. + +However, Parabere soon recalled me to the point. "It is now ten +o'clock," he said in a placid tone; "we have two hours." + +"Yes," I answered; then, as if my mind had all the time been +running in an under-current to the desired goal, I continued, +"And we must make the most of them. We must remove the +barricade, in the dark and quietly, from the rear to the front +gate. Do you see? Then the moment they sound the attack in +front we must slip out at the back, make a dash for the road, and +through the gorge to Gueret." + +"Good," Parabere assented, with the utmost coolness. "Why not? +Let us do it." + +We went in, and in a moment the orders were given, and, the men +being charged to be silent and to make as little noise as +possible over the work, we had every hope of accomplishing it +undetected. To go out into the road and raise and replace the +shattered gate would have been too bold a step. We contented +ourselves, therefore, with removing four great baulks of timber +from the one gate to the other, and placing them across the gap +in such a manner that, being supported by large stones, they +formed a pretty high barrier. To these, at Boisrueil's +suggestion, were added three doors which we forced from their +hinges in the house, and behind the whole, to cover our retreat +the better, we tethered six sumpter horses in two lines. + +It remained only to unbar the rear gate and see that it opened +easily. This being done, as we had done all the rest, stealthily +and in darkness, and by men who dared not speak above a whisper, +I gave the word to hang the male prisoner and gag and bind the +woman. Colet undertook these duties, and with a grim humour of +his own hung the rascally host on the threshold where the +brigands must run against him when they entered. Then I directed +every man to saddle and bridle his nag and stand by it, and so we +waited with what patience we might for the DENOUEMENT. + +It seemed very long in coming, yet when it did, what with the +restless movements of the horses and the melancholy murmur of the +stream, it well-nigh took us by surprise. It was Boisrueil who +touched my sleeve and made me aware of a low trampling on the +road outside, a sound that had scarcely become clearly audible +before it ceased. I judged that the moment was come, and passed +the word in a whisper to open the gates. Unfortunately, they +creaked, and I feared for a moment that I had been premature; but +before they were more than ajar a harsh whistle startled the +silence, a flare blazed up on the road, and a voice cried to +charge. + +On the instant the ground shook under the assailants' rush, but +the barricade, which doubtless took the rogues by surprise, +brought them to a sudden stop, and gave us time to file out. The +heavy rain which was failing served to cover our movements almost +as well as the baggage horses which we had posted for the +purpose; while we ran the less risk, inasmuch as the flare they +had kindled lit up the upper part of the house but left the +courtyard in perfect darkness. + +Naturally, once outside, we did not linger to see what happened, +but, filing in a line and like ghosts up the bank of the stream, +were glad to hit on the road a hundred and fifty paces away, +where it entered the gorge. Here, where it was as dark as pitch, +we whipped our horses into a canter and made a good pace for half +a league, then, drawing rein, let our horses trot until the +league was out. By that time we were through the gorge, and I +gave the word to pull up, that we might listen and learn whether +we were pursued. Before the order had quite brought us to a +standstill, however, two figures on a sudden rose out of the +darkness before us and barred the way. I was riding in the front +rank, abreast of Parabere and La Font, and I had just time to lay +my hand on a pistol when one of the figures spoke. + +"Well, M. le Capitaine, what luck?" he cried, advancing, and +drawing rein to turn with us. + +I saw his mistake, and, raising my hand to check those behind, +muttered in my beard that all had gone well. + +"You got the man?" + +"Yes," I said, peering at him through the darkness. + +"Good!" he answered. "Then now for Bareilles, supper, and a +full purse; and afterwards, for me, the quietest corner of +France! The King will make a fine outcry, and I do not trust one +gov--" + +In a flash Parabere had him by the throat, and dragged him in a +grip of iron on to the withers of his horse. Still he managed to +utter a cry, and the other rascal, taking the alarm, whipped his +horse round, and in a second got a start of twenty paces. Colet, +a light man and well mounted, was after him in a trice, and we +heard them go ding-dong, ding-dong, through the darkness for a +mile or more as it seemed to us. Then a sharp scream came +faintly down the wind. + +"Good!" Parabere said cheerfully. "Let us be jogging." He had +tied his prisoner neck and knees over the saddle before him. + +"You heard what he said?" I muttered, as we moved on. + +"Perfectly," he answered in the same tone. + +"And you think?" + +"I think, Grand Master," he replied drily, "that the sooner you +are out of La Marche and Bareilles' government the longer you are +likely to live." + +I was quite of that opinion myself, having drawn the same +inferences from the words the prisoner had uttered. But for the +moment I had no alternative save to go on, and put a bold face on +the matter; and accordingly I led the way forward at as fast a +pace as the darkness and the jaded state of our horses permitted. +Colet presently joined us, and half an hour later a bunch of +lights which appeared on the side of a hill in front proclaimed +that we were nearing Gueret. From this point half a league +across a rushy bottom and through a ford brought us to the gate, +which opened before we summoned it. I had taken care to call to +the van one of my men who knew the town; and he guided us +quickly, no one challenging us, through a number of foul, narrow +streets and under dark archways, among which a stranger must have +gone astray. We reached at last a good-sized square, on one side +of which--though the rest of the town lay buried in darkness--a +large building, which I judged to be Bareilles' residence, +exposed a dozen lighted windows to the street. Two or three +figures lounged half-seen on the wide stone steps which led up to +the entrance, and the rattle of dice, with a murmur of voices, +came from the windows. Without a moment's hesitation I +dismounted at the foot of the steps, and, bidding La Font and +Boisrueil attend me, with three of the servants, I directed Colet +to withdraw with the rest and the horses to the farther end of +the square. + +Dreading nothing so much as that I might lose the advantage of +surprise, I put aside two of the men on the steps who would have +questioned me, and strode boldly across the stone landing at the +head of the flight. Here I found two doors facing me, and +foresaw the possibility of error; but I was relieved from the +burden of choosing by the sudden appearance at one of them of +Bareilles himself. The place was lit only by an oil lamp, and, +for a reason best known to himself, he did not look directly at +me, but stood with his head half-turned as he said, + +"Well, Martin, is it done?" + +I heard the dicers hold their hands to catch the answer, and in +the silence a bottle in some unsteady hand clinked against a +glass. Through the half-open door behind him it was possible to +see a long table, laid and glittering with steel and plate; and +all seemed to wait. + +Parabere broke the spell. "We are late!" he said in a ringing +voice, which startled the governor as if it had been the voice of +doom. "But we could not have found you better prepared, it +seems. Do you always sup as late as this?" + +For a moment the villain could not speak, but leaned against the +doorpost, with his cheeks gone white and his jaw fallen, the most +pitiable spectacle to be conceived. I affected to see nothing, +however, but went by him easily, and into the room, drawing off +my gauntlets as entered. The dicers, from their seats beside a +table on the hearth, gazed at me, turned to stone. I took up a +glass, filled it, and drank it off. "Now I am better!" I said. +"But this is not the warmest of welcomes, M. de Bareilles." + +He muttered something, looking fearfully from one to another of +us; and, his hand shaking, filled a glass and pledged me. The +wine gave him courage and impudence: he began to speak; and +though his hurried sentences and excited manner must have +betrayed him to the least suspicious, we pretended to see +nothing, but rather to congratulate ourselves on his late hours +and timely preparations. And certainly nothing could have seemed +more cheerful in comparison with the squalid inn and miry road +from which we came than this smiling feast; if death had not +seemed to my eyes to lurk behind it. + +"I thought it likely that you would lie at Saury," he said, with +a ghastly smile. + +"And yet made this preparation for us?" I answered politely, yet +letting a little of my real mind be seen. "Well, as a fact, M. +Bareilles, save for one thing we should have lain there." + +"And that thing?" he asked, his tongue almost failing him as he +put the question. + +"The fact that you have a villain in your company," I answered. + +"What?" he stammered. + +"A villain, M. le Capitaine Martin," I continued sternly. "You +sent him out this morning against the Great Band; instead, he +took it upon him to lay a plot for me, from which I have only +narrowly escaped." + +"Martin?" + +"Yes, M. de Bareilles, Martin!" I answered roundly, fixing him +with my eyes; while Parabere went quietly to the door, and stood +by it. "If I am not mistaken, I hear him at this moment +dismounting below. Let us understand one another therefore, I +propose to sup with you, but I shall not sit down until he +hangs." + +It would be useless for me to attempt to paint the mixture of +horror, perplexity, and shame which distorted Bareilles' +countenance as I spoke these words. While Parabere's attitude +and my demeanour gave him clearly to understand that we suspected +the truth, if we did not know it, our coolness and the very +nature of my demand imposed upon his fears and led him to believe +that we had a regiment at our call. He knew, too, that that +which might be done in a ruined hamlet might not be done in the +square at Gueret; and his knees trembled under him. He muttered +that he did not understand; that we must be mistaken. What +evidence had we? + +"The best!" I answered grimly. "If you wish to hear it, I will +send for it; but witnesses have sometimes loose tongues, +Bareilles, and he may not stop at the Capitaine Martin." + +He started and glared at me. From me his eyes passed to +Parabere; then he shuddered, and looked down at the table. As he +leaned against it, I heard the glasses tinkling softly. At last +he muttered that the man must have a trial. + +I shrugged my shoulders, and would have answered that that was +his business; but at the moment a heavy step rang on the stone +steps, the door was flung hastily open, and a dark-complexioned +man came in with his hat on. The stranger was splashed to the +chin, and his face wore an expression of savage annoyance; but +this gave place the instant he saw us to one of intense surprise, +while the words he had had on his lips died away, and he stood +nonplussed. I turned to M. de Bareilles. + +"Who is this?" I said harshly. + +"One of my lieutenants," he answered in a stifled tone. + +"M. le Capitaine Martin?" + +"The same," he answered. + +"Very well," I replied. "You have heard my terms." + +He stood clutching the table, and in the bright light of the +candles that burned on it his face was horrible. Still he +managed to speak. "M. le Capitaine, call four men," he muttered. + +"Monsieur?" the Captain answered. + +"Call four men--four of your men," Bareilles repeated with an +effort. + +The Captain turned and went downstairs in amazement, returning +immediately after with four troopers at his heels. + +Bareilles' face was ghastly. "Take M. le Capitaine's sword," he +said to them. + +The Captain's jaw fell, and, stepping back a pace, he looked from +one to another. But all were silent; he found every eye upon +him, and, doubtful and taken by surprise, he unbuckled his sword +and flung it with an oath upon the floor. + +"To the garden with him!" Bareilles continued, hoarsely. +"Quick! Take him! I will send you your orders." + +They laid hands on the man mechanically, and, unnerved by the +suddenness of the affair, the silence, and the presence of so +many strangers,--ignorant, too, what was doing or what was meant, +he went unresisting. They marched him out heavily; the door +closed behind them; we stood waiting. The glittering table, the +lights, the arrested dicers, all the trivial preparations for a +carouse that at another time must have given a cheerful aspect to +the room, produced instead the most sombre impression. I waited, +but, seeing that Bareilles did not move, I struck the table with +my gauntlet. "The order!" I said, sharply; "the order!" + +He slunk to a table in a corner where there was ink, and scrawled +it. I took it from his hand, and, giving it to Boisrueil, "Take +it," I said, "and the three men on the landing, and see the order +carried out. When it is over, come and tell me." + +He took the order and disappeared, La Font after him. I remained +in the room with Parabere, Bareilles, and the dicers. The +minutes passed slowly, no one speaking; Bareilles standing with +his head sunk on his breast, and a look of utter despair on his +countenance. At length Boisrueil and La Font returned. The +former nodded. + +"Very well," I said. "Then let us sup, gentlemen. Come, M. de +Bareilles, your place is at the head of the table. Parabere, sit +here. Gentlemen, I have not the honour of knowing you, but here +are places." + +And we supped; but not all with the same appetite. Bareilles, +silent, despairing, a prey to the bitterest remorse, sat low in +his chair, and, if I read his face aright, had no thought but of +vengeance. But, assured that by forcing him to that which must +for ever render him odious--and particularly among his inferiors +--I had sapped his authority at the root, I took care only that +he should not leave us. I directed Colet to unsaddle and bivouac +in the garden, and myself lay all night with Parabere and +Bareilles in the room in which we had supped, Boisrueil and La +Font taking turns to keep the door. + +To have betrayed too much haste to be gone might have proved as +dangerous as a long delay; and our horses needed rest. But an +hour before noon next day I gave the order and we mounted in the +square, in the presence of a mixed mob of soldiers and townsfolk, +whom it needed but a spark to kindle. I took care that that +spark should be wanting, however; and to that end I compelled +Bareilles to mount and ride with us as far as Saury. Here, where +I found the inn burned and the woman murdered, I should have done +no more than justice had I hung him as well; and I think that he +half expected it. But reflecting that he had a score of +relations in Poitou who might give trouble, and, besides that, +his position called for some degree of consideration, I parted +with him gravely, and hastened to put as many leagues between us +as possible. That night we slept at Crozant, and the next at St. +Gaultier. + +It was chiefly in consequence of the observations I made during +this journey that Henry, in the following October, marched into +the Limousin with a considerable force and received the +submission of the governors. The details of that expedition, in +the course of which he put to death ten or twelve of the more +disorderly, will be found in another place. It remains for me +only to add here that Bareilles was not of them. He escaped a +fate he richly deserved by flying betimes with Bassignac to +Sedan. Of his ultimate fate I know nothing; but a week after my +return to the Arsenal, a man called on me who turned out to be +the astrologer. I gave him fifty crowns. + + + +VIII. THE OPEN SHUTTER. + +Few are ignorant of that weakness of the vulgar which leads them +to admire in the great not so much the qualities which deserve +admiration as those which, in the eyes of the better-informed, +are defects; so that the amours of Caesar, the clock-making of +Charles, and the jests of Coligny are more in the mouths of men +than their statesmanship or valour. For one thing commendable, +two that are diverting are told; and for one man who in these +days recalls the thousand great and wise deeds of the late King a +thousand remember his occasional freaks, the duel he would have +fought, or his habit of visiting the streets of Paris by night +and in disguise. That this last has been much exaggerated, I can +myself bear witness; for though Varenne or Coquet, the Master of +the Household, were his usual companions on these occasions, he +seldom failed to confess to me after the event, and more than +once I accompanied him. + +If I remember rightly, it was in April or May of this year, 1606, +and consequently a few days after his return from Sedan, that he +surprised me one night as I sat at supper, and, requesting me to +dismiss my servants, let me know that he was in a flighty mood; +and that nothing would content him but to play the Caliph in my +company. I was not too willing, for I did not fail to recognise +the risk to which these expeditions exposed his person; but, in +the end, I consented, making only the condition that Maignan +should follow us at a distance. This he conceded, and I sent for +two plain suits, and we dressed in my closet. The King, +delighted with the frolic, was in his wildest mood. He uttered +an infinity of jests, and cut a thousand absurd antics; and, +rallying me on my gravity, soon came near to making me repent of +the easiness which had led me to fall in with his humour. + +However, it was too late to retreat, and in a moment we were +standing in the street. It would not have surprised me if he had +celebrated his freedom by some noisy extravagance there; but he +refrained, and contented himself--while Maignan locked the +postern behind us--with cocking his hat and lugging forward his +sword, and assuming an air of whimsical recklessness, as if an +adventure were to be instantly expected. + +But the moon had not yet risen, the night was dark, and for some +time we met with nothing more diverting than a stumble over a +dead dog, a word with a forward wench, or a narrow escape from +one of those liquid douches that render the streets perilous for +common folk and do not spare the greatest. Naturally, I began to +tire, and wished myself with all my heart back at the Arsenal; +but Henry, whose spirits a spice of danger never failed to raise, +found a hundred things to be merry over, and some of which he +made a great tale of afterwards. He would go on; and presently, +in the Rue de ]a Pourpointerie, which we entered as the clocks +struck the hour before midnight, his persistence was rewarded. + +By that time the moon had risen; but, naturally, few were abroad +so late, and such as were to be seen belonged to a class among +whom even Henry did not care to seek adventures. Our +astonishment was great therefore when, half-way down the street-- +a street of tall, mean houses neither better nor much worse than +others in that quarter--we saw, standing in the moonlight at an +open door, a boy about seven years old. + +The King saw him first, and, pressing my arm, stood still. On +the instant the child, who had probably seen us before we saw +him, advanced into the road to us. "Messieurs," he said, +standing up boldly before us and looking at us without fear, "my +father is ill, and I cannot close the shutter." + +The boy's manner, full of self-possession, and his tone, +remarkable at his age, took us so completely by surprise--to say +nothing of the late hour and the deserted street, which gave +these things their full effect--that for a moment neither of us +answered. Then the King spoke. "Indeed, M. l'Empereur," he said +gravely; "and where is the shutter?" + +The boy pointed to an open shutter at the top of the house behind +him. + +"Ah!" Henry said. "And you wish us to close it?" + +"If you please, messieurs." + +"We do please," Henry replied, saluting him with mock reverence. +"You may consider the shutter closed. Lead on, Monsieur; we +follow." + +For the first time the boy looked doubtful; but he turned without +saying anything, and passing through the doorway, was in an +instant lost in the pitchy darkness of the entry. I laid my hand +on the King's arm, and tried to induce him not to follow; fearing +much that this might be some new thieves' trap, leading nowhither +save to the POIRE D'ANGOISSE and the poniard. But the attempt +was hopeless from the first; he broke from me and entered, and I +followed him. + +We groped for the balustrade and found it, and began to ascend, +guided by the boy's voice; who kept a little before us, saying +continually, "This way, messieurs; this way!" His words had so +much the sound of a signal, and the staircase was so dark and +ill-smelling, that, expecting every moment to be seized or to +have a knife in my back, I found it almost interminable. At +last, however, a gleam of light appeared above us, the boy opened +a door, and we found ourselves standing on a mean, narrow +landing, the walls of which had once been whitewashed. The child +signed to us to enter, and we followed him into a bare attic, +where our heads nearly touched the ceiling. + +"Messieurs, the air is keen," he said in a curiously formal tone. +"Will you please to close the shutter?" + +The King, amused and full of wonder, looked round. The room +contained little besides a table, a stool, and a lamp standing in +a basin on the floor; but an alcove, curtained with black, dingy +hangings, broke one wall. "Your father lies there?" Henry said, +pointing to it. + +"Yes, monsieur." + +"He feels the cold?" + +"Yes, monsieur. Will you please to close the shutter?" + +I went to it, and, leaning out, managed, with a little +difficulty, to comply. Meanwhile, the King, gazing curiously at +the curtains, gradually approached the alcove. He hesitated +long, he told me afterwards, before he touched the hangings; but +at length, feeling sure that there was something more in the +business than appeared, he did so. Drawing one gently aside, as +I turned from the window, he peered in; and saw just what he had +been led to expect--a huddled form covered with dingy bed-clothes +and a grey head lying on a ragged, yellow pillow. The man's face +was turned to the wall; but, as the light fell on him, he sighed +and, with a shiver, began to move. The King dropped the curtain. + +The adventure had not turned out as well as he had hoped; and, +with a whimsical look at me, he laid a crown on the table, said a +kind word to the boy, and we went out. In a moment we were in +the street. + +It was my turn now to rally him, and I did so without mercy; +asking if he knew of any other beauteous damsel who wanted her +shutter closed, and whether this was the usual end of his +adventures. He took the jest in good part, laughing fully as +loudly at himself as I laughed; and in this way we had gone a +hundred paces or so very merrily, when, on a sudden, he stopped. + +"What is it, sire?" I asked. + +"Hola!" he said, "The boy was clean." + +"Clean?" + +"Yes; hands, face, clothes. All clean." + +"Well, sire?" + +"How could he be? His father in bed, no one even to close the +shutter. How could he be clean?" + +"But, if he was, sire?" + +For answer Henry seized me by the arm, turned me round without a +word, and in a moment was hurrying me back to the house. I +thought that he was going thither again, and followed +reluctantly; but twenty paces short of the door he crossed the +street, and drew me into a doorway. "Can you see the shutter?" +he said. "Yes? Then watch it, my friend." + +I had no option but to resign myself, and I nodded. A moist and +chilly wind, which blew through the street and penetrating our +cloaks made us shiver, did not tend to increase my enthusiasm; +but the King was proof even against this, as well as against the +kennel smells and the tedium of waiting, and presently his +persistence was rewarded. The shutter swung slowly open, the +noise made by its collision with the wall coming clearly to our +ears. A minute later the boy appeared in the doorway, and stood +looking up and down. + +"Well," the King whispered in my ear, "what do you make of that, +my friend?" + +I muttered that it must be a beggar's trick. + +"They would not earn a crown in a month," he answered. There +must be something more than that at the bottom of it." + +Beginning to share his curiosity, I was about to propose that we +should sally out and see if the boy would repeat his overture to +us, when I caught the sound of footsteps coming along the street. +"Is it Maignan?" the King whispered, looking out cautiously. + +"No, sire," I said. "He is in yonder doorway." + +Before Henry could answer, the appearance of two strangers coming +along the roadway confirmed my statement. They paused opposite +the boy, and he advanced to them. Too far off to hear precisely +what passed, we were near enough to be sure that the dialogue was +in the main the same as that in which we had taken part. The men +were cloaked, too, as were we, and presently they went in, as we +had gone in. All, in fact, happened as it had happened to us, +and after the necessary interval we saw and heard the shutter +closed. + +"Well," the King said, "what do you make of that?" + +"The shutter is the catch-word, sire." + +"Ay, but what is going on up there?" he asked. And he rubbed +his hands. + +I had no explanation to give, however, and shook my head; and we +stood awhile, watching silently. At the end of five minutes the +two men came out again and walked off the way they had come, but +more briskly. Henry moreover, whose observation was all his life +most acute, remarked that whatever they had been doing they +carried away lighter hearts than they had brought. And I thought +the same. + +Indeed, I was beginning to take my full share of interest in the +adventure; and in place of wondering, as before, at Henry's +persistence, found it more natural to admire the keenness which +he had displayed in scenting a mystery. I was not surprised, +therefore, when he gripped my arm to gain my attention, and, a +the window fell slowly open again, drew me quickly into the +street, and hurried me across it and through the doorway of the +house. + +"Up!" he muttered in my ear. "Quickly and quietly, man! If +there are to be other visitors, we will play the spy. But +softly, softly; here is the boy!" + +We stood aside against the wall, scarcely daring to breathe; and +the child, guiding himself by the handrail, passed us in the dark +without suspicion, and pattered on down the staircase. We +remained as we were until we heard him cross the threshold, and +then we crept up; not to the uppermost landing, where the light, +when the door was opened, must betray us, but to that immediately +below it. There we took our stand in the angle of the stairs and +waited, the King, between amusement at the absurdity of our +position and anxiety lest we should betray ourselves, going off +now and again into stifled laughter, from which he vainly strove +to restrain himself by pinching me. + +I was not in so gay a mood myself, however, the responsibility of +his safety lying heavy upon me; while the possibility that the +adventure might prove no less tragical in the sequel than it now +appeared comical, did not fail to present itself to my eyes in +the darkest colours. When we had watched, therefore, five +minutes more--which seemed to me an hour--I began to lose faith; +and I was on the point of undertaking to persuade Henry to +withdraw, when the voices of men speaking at the door below +reached us, and told me that it was too late. The next moment +their steps crossed the threshold, and they began to ascend, the +boy saying continually, "This way, messieurs, this way!" and +preceding them as he had preceded us. We heard them approach, +breathing heavily, and but for the balustrade, by which I felt +sure that they would guide themselves, and which stood some feet +from our corner, I should have been in a panic lest they should +blunder against us. But they passed safely, and a moment later +the boy opened the door of the room above. We heard them go in, +and without a second's hesitation we crept up after them, +following them so closely that the door was scarcely shut before +we were at it. We heard, therefore, what passed from the first: +the child's request that they would close the shutter, their +hasty compliance, and the silence, strange and pregnant, which +followed, and which was broken at last by a solemn voice. "We +have closed one shutter," it said, "but the shutter of God's +mercy Is never closed." + +"Amen," a second person answered in a tone so distant and muffled +that it needed no great wit to guess whence it came, or that the +speaker was behind the curtains of the alcove. "Who are you?" + +"The cure of St. Marceau," the first speaker replied. + +"And whom do you bring to me?" + +"A sinner." + +"What has he done?" + +"He will tell you." + +"I am listening." + +There was a pause on this, a long pause; which was broken at +length by a third speaker, in a tone half sullen, half miserable. +"I have robbed my master," he said. + +"Of how much?" + +"Fifty livres." + +"Why?" + +"I lost it at play." + +"And you are sorry." + +"I must be sorry," the man panted with sudden fierceness, "or +hang!" Hidden though he was from us, there was a tremor in his +voice that told a tale of pallid cheeks and shaking knees,and a +terror fast rising to madness. + +"He makes up his accounts to-morrow?" + +"Yes." + +Someone in the room groaned; it should have been the culprit, but +unless I was mistaken the sound came through the curtains. A +long pause followed. Then, "And if I help you," the muffled +voice resumed, "will you swear to lead an honest life?" + +But the answer may be guessed. I need not repeat the assurances, +the protestations and vows of repentance, the cries and tears of +gratitude which ensue; and to which the poor wretch, stripped of +his sullen indifference, completely abandoned himself. Suffice +it that we presently heard the clinking of coins, a word or two +of solemn advice from the cure, and a man's painful sobbing; then +the King touched my arm, and we crept down the stairs. I was for +stopping on the landing where we had hidden ourselves before; but +Henry drew me on to the foot of the stairs and into the street. + +He turned towards home, and for some time did not speak. At +length he asked me what I thought of it. + +"In what way, sire?" + +"Do you not think," he said in a voice of much emotion, "that if +we could do what he does, and save a man instead of hanging him, +it would be better?" + +"For the man, sire, doubtless," I answered drily; "but for the +State it might not be so well. If mercy became the rule and +justice the exception--there would be fewer bodies at Montfaucon +and more in the streets at daylight. I feel much greater doubt +on another point." + +Shaking off the moodiness that had for a moment overcome him, +Henry asked with vivacity what that was. + +"Who he is, and what is his motive?" + +"Why?" the King replied in some surprise--he was ever of so kind +a nature that an appeal to his feelings displaced his judgment. +"What should he be but what he seems?" + +"Benevolence itself?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, sire, I grant that he may be M. de Joyeuse, who has spent +his life in passing in and out of monasteries, and has performed +so many tricks of the kind that I could believe anything of him. +But if it be not he--" + +"It was not his voice," Henry said, positively. + +"Then there is something here," I answered, "still unexplained. +Consider the oddity of the conception, sire, the secrecy of the +performance, the hour, the mode, all the surrounding +circumstances! I can imagine a man currying favour with the +basest and most dangerous class by such means. I can imagine a +conspiracy recruited by such means. I can imagine this +shibboleth of the shutter grown to a watchword as deadly as the +'TUEZ!' of '72. I can imagine all that, but I cannot imagine a +man acting thus out of pure benevolence." + +"No?" Henry said, thoughtfully. "Well, I think that I agree +with you." and far from being displeased with my warmth (as is +the manner of some sovereigns when their best friends differ from +them), he came over to my opinion so completely as to halt and +express his intention of returning and probing the matter to the +bottom. Midnight had gone, however; it would take some little +time to retrace our steps; and with some difficulty I succeeded +in dissuading him, promising instead to make inquiries on the +morrow, and having learned who lived in the house, to turn the +whole affair into a report, which should be submitted to him. + +This amused and satisfied him, and, expressing himself well +content with the evening's diversion--though we had done nothing +unworthy either of a King or a Minister--he parted from me at the +Arsenal, and went home with his suite. + +It did not occur to me at the time that I had promised to do +anything difficult; but the news which my agents brought me next +day--that the uppermost floor of the house in the Rue +Pourpointerie was empty--put another face upon the matter. The +landlord declared that he knew nothing of the tenant, who had +rented the rooms, ready furnished, by the week; and as I had not +seen the man's face, there remained only two sources whence I +could get the information I needed--the child, and the cure of +St. Marceau. + +I did not know where to look for the former, however; and I had +to depend on the cure. But here I carne to an obstacle I might +easily have foreseen. I found him, though an honest man, +obdurate in upholding his priest's privileges; to all my +inquiries he replied that the matter touched the confessional, +and was within his vows; and that he neither could, nor dared--to +please anyone, or for any cause, however plausible--divulge the +slightest detail of the affair. I had him summoned to the +arsenal, and questioned him myself, and closely; but of all +armour that of the Roman priesthood is the most difficult to +penetrate, and I quickly gave up the attempt. + +Baffled in the only direction in which I could hope for success, +I had to confess my defeat to the King, whose curiosity was only +piqued the more by the rebuff. He adjured me not to let the +matter drop, and, suggesting a number of persons among whom I +might possibly find the unknown, proposed also some theories. Of +these, one that the benevolent was a disguised lady, who +contrived in this way to give the rein at once to gallantry and +charity, pleased him most; while I favoured that which had first +occurred to me on the night of our sally, and held the unknown to +be a clever rascal, who, to serve his ends, political or +criminal, was corrupting the commonalty, and drawing people into +his power. + +Things remained in this state some weeks, and, growing no wiser, +I was beginning to think less of the affair--which, of itself, +and apart from a whimsical interest which the King took in it, +was unimportant--when one day, stopping in the Quartier du Marais +to view the works at the new Place Royale, I saw the boy. He was +in charge of a decent-looking servant, whose hand he was holding, +and the two were gazing at a horse that, alarmed by the heaps of +stone and mortar, was rearing and trying to unseat its rider. +The child did not see me, and I bade Maignan follow him home, and +learn where he lived and who he was. + +In an hour my equerry returned with the information I desired. +The child was the only son of Fauchet, one of the Receivers- +General of the Revenue; a man who kept great state in the largest +of the old-fashioned houses in the Rue de Bethisy, where he, had +lately entertained the King. I could not imagine anyone less +likely to be concerned in treasonable practices; and, certain +that I had made no mistake in the boy, I was driven for a while +to believe that some servant had, perverted the child to this +use. Presently, however, second thoughts, and the position of +the father, taken, perhaps, with suspicions that I had for a long +time entertained of Fauchet--in common with most of his kind-- +suggested an explanation, hitherto unconsidered. It was not an +explanation very probable at first sight, nor one that would have +commended itself to those who divide all men by hard and fast +rules and assort them like sheep. But I had seen too much of the +world to fall into this mistake, and it satisfied me. I began by +weighing it carefully; I procured evidence, I had Fauchet +watched; and, at length, one evening in August, I went to the +Louvre. + +The King was dicing with Fernandez, the Portuguese banker; but I +ventured to interrupt the game and draw him aside. He might not +have taken this well, but that my first word caught his +attention. + +"Sire," I said, "the shutter is open." + +He understood in a moment. "St. Gris!" He exclaimed with +animation. "Where? At the same house?" + +"No, sire; in the Rue Cloitre Notre Dame." + +"You have got him, then?" + +"I know who he is, and why he is doing this." + +"Why?" the King cried eagerly. + +"Well, I was going to ask for your Majesty's company to the +place," I answered smiling. "I will undertake that you shall be +amused at least as well as here, and at a cheaper rate." + +He shrugged his shoulders. "That may very well be," he said with +a grimace. "That rogue Pimentel has stripped me of two thousand +crowns since supper. He is plucking Bassompierre now. + +Remembering that only that morning I had had to stop some +necessary works through lack of means, I could scarcely restrain +my indignation. But it was not the time to speak, and I +contented myself with repeating my request. Ashamed of himself, +he consented with a good grace, and bidding me go to his: +closet, followed a few minutes later. He found me cloaked to the +eyes, and with a soutane and priest's hat; on my arm. "Are those +for me?" he said. + +"Yes, sire." + +"Who am I, then?" + +"The cure of St. Germain." + +He made a wry face. "Come, Grand Master," he said; "he died +yesterday. Is not the jest rather grim?" + +"In a good cause," I said equably. + +He flashed a roguish look at me. "Ah!" he said, "I thought that +that was a wicked rule which only we Romanists avowed. But, +there; don't be angry. I am ready." + +Coquet, the Master of the Household, let us out by one of the +river gates, and we went by the new bridge and the Pont St. +Michel. By the way I taught the King the role I wished him to +play, but without explaining the mystery; the opportune +appearance of one of my agents who was watching the end of the +street bringing Henry's remonstrances to a close. + +"It is still open?" I said. + +"Yes, your excellency." + +"Then come, sire," I said, "I see the boy yonder. Let us ascend, +and I will undertake that before you reach the street again you +shall be not only a wiser but a richer sovereign." + +"St. Gris!" he answered with alacrity. Why did you not say that +before, and I should have asked no questions. On, on, in God's +name, and the devil take Pimentel!" + +I restrained the caustic jest that rose to my lips, and we +proceeded in silence down the street. The boy, whom I had espied +loitering in a doorway a little way ahead, as if the great bell +above us which had just tolled eleven had drawn him out, peered +at us a moment askance; and then, coming forward, accosted us. +But I need not detail the particulars of a conversation which was +almost word for word the same as that which had passed in the Rue +de la Pourpointerie; suffice it that he made the same request +with the same frank audacity, and that, granting it, we were in a +moment following hint up a similar staircase. + +"This way, messieurs, this way!" he said; as he had on that +other night, while we groped our way upwards in the dark. He +opened a door, and a light shone out; and we entered a room that +seemed, with its bare walls and rafters, its scanty stool and +table and lamp, the very counterpart of that other room. In one +wall appeared the dingy curtains of an alcove, closely drawn; and +the shutter stood open, until, at the child's request, expressed +in the same words, I went to it and closed it. + +We were both so well muffled up and disguised, and the light of +the lamp shining upwards so completely distorted the features, +that I had no fear of recognition, unless the King's voice +betrayed him. But when he spoke, breaking the oppressive silence +of the room, his tone was as strange and hollow as I could wish. + +"The shutter is closed," be said; "but the shutter of God's mercy +is never closed!" + +Still, knowing that this was the crucial moment, and that we +should be detected now if at all, I found it; an age before the +voice behind the curtains answered "Amen!" and yet another age +before the hidden speaker continued "Who are you?" + +"The cure of St. Germain," Henry responded. + +The man behind the curtains gasped, and they were for a moment +violently agitated, as if a hand seized them and let them go +again. But I had reckoned that the unknown, after a pause of +horror, would suppose that he had heard amiss and continue his +usual catechism. And so it proved. In a voice that shook a +little, he asked, "Whom do you bring to me?" + +"A sinner," the King answered. + +"What has he done?" + +"He will tell you." + +"I am listening," the unknown said. + +The light in the basin flared up a little, casting dark shadows +on the ceiling, and at the same moment the shutter, which I had +failed to fasten securely, fell open with a grinding sound. One +of the curtains swayed a little in the breeze, "I have robbed my +master," I said, slowly. + +"Of how much?" + +"A hundred and twenty thousand crowns." + +The bed shook until the boards creaked under it; but this time no +hand grasped the curtains. Instead, a strained voice--thick and +coarse, yet differing from that muffled tone which we had heard +before--asked, "Who are you?" + +"Jules Fauchet." + +I waited. The King, who understood nothing but had listened to +my answers with eager attention, and marked no less closely the +agitation which they caused in the unknown, leant forward to +listen. But the bed creaked no more; the curtain hung still; +even the voice, which at last issued from the curtains, was no +more like the ordinary accents of a man than are those which he +utters in the paroxysms of epilepsy. "Are you--sorry?" the +unknown muttered--involuntarily, I think; hoping against hope; +not daring to depart from a formula which had become second +nature. But I could fancy him clawing, as he spoke, at his +choking throat. + +France, however, had suffered too long at the hands of that race +of men, and I had been too lately vilified by them to feel much +pity; and for answer I lifted a voice that to the quailing wretch +must have been the voice of doom. "Sorry?" I said grimly. "I +must be--or hang! For to-morrow the King examines his books, and +the next day I--hang!" + +The King's hand was on mine, to stop me before the last word was +out; but his touch came too late. As it rang through the room +one of the curtains before us was twitched aside, and a face +glared out, so ghastly and drawn and horror-stricken, that few +would have known it for that of the wealthy fermier, who had +grown sleek and fat on the King's revenues. I do not know +whether he knew us, or whether, on the contrary, he found this +accusation, so precise, so accurate, coming from an unknown +source, still more terrible than if he had known us; but on the +instant he fell forward in a swoon. + +"St. Gris!" Henry cried, looking on the body with a shudder, +"you have killed him, Grand Master! It was true, was it?" + +"Yes, sire," I answered. "But he is not dead, I think." And +going to the window I whistled for Maignan, who in a minute came +to us. He was not very willing to touch the man, but I bade him +lay him on the bed and loosen his clothes and throw water on his +face; and presently M. Fauchet began to recover. + +I stepped a little aside that he might not see me, and +accordingly the first person on whom his eyes lighted was the +King, who had laid aside his hat and cloak, and taken the +terrified and weeping child on his lap. M. Fauchet stared at him +awhile before he recognised him; but at last the trembling man +knew him, and tottering to his feet, threw himself on his knees, +looking years older than when I had last seen him in the street. + +"Sire," he said faintly, "I will make restitution." + +Henry looked at him gravely, and nodded. "It is well," he said. +"You are fortunate, M. Fauchet; for had this come to my ears in +any other way I could not have spared you. You will render your +accounts and papers to M. de Sully to-morrow, and according as +you are frank with him you will be treated." + +Fauchet thanked him with abject tears, and the King rose and +prepared to leave. But at the door a thought struck him, and he +turned. "How long have you done this?" he said, indicating the +room by a gesture, and speaking in a gentler tone. + +"Three years, sire," the wretched man answered. + +"And how much have you distributed?" + +"Fifteen hundred crowns, sire." + +The King cast an indescribable look at me, wherein amusement, +scorn, and astonishment were all blended. "St. Gris! man!" he +said, shrugging his shoulders and drawing in his breath sharply, +"you think God is as easily duped as the King! I wish I could +think so." + +He did not speak again until we were half-way back to the Louvre; +when he opened his mouth to announce his intention of rewarding +me with a tithe of the money recovered. It was duly paid to me, +and I bought with it part of the outlying lands of Villebon-- +those, I mean, which extend towards Chartres. The rest of the +money, notwithstanding all my efforts, was wasted here and there, +Pimentel winning thirty crowns of the King that year. But the +discovery led to others of a similar character, and eventually +set me on the track of a greater offender, M. l'Argentier, whom I +brought to justice a few months later. + + + +IX. THE MAID OF HONOUR. + +In accordance with my custom I gave an entertainment on the last +day of this year to the King and Queen; who came to the Arsenal +with a numerous train, and found the diversions I had provided so +much to their taste that they did not leave until I was half dead +with fatigue, and like to be killed with complaisance. Though +this was not the most splendid entertainment I gave that year, it +had the good fortune to please; and in a different and less +agreeable fashion is recalled to my memory by a peculiar chain of +events, whereof the first link came under my eyes during its +progress. + +I have mentioned in an earlier part of these memoirs, a +Portuguese adventurer who, about this time, gained large sums +from the Court at play, and more than once compelled the King to +have recourse to me. I had the worst opinion of this man, and +did not scruple to express it on several occasions; and this the +more, as his presumption fell little short of his knavery, while +he treated those whom he robbed with as much arrogance as if to +play with him were an honour. Holding this view of him, I was +far from pleased when I discovered that the King had brought him +to my house; but the feeling, though sufficiently strong, sank to +nothing beside the indignation and disgust which I experienced +when, the company having fallen to cards after supper, I found +that the Queen had sat down with him to primero. + +It did not lessen my annoyance, that I had, after my usual +fashion, furnished the Queen with a purse for her sport; and in +this way found myself reduced to stand by and see my good money +pass into the clutches of this knave. Under the circumstances, +and in my own house, I could do nothing; nevertheless, the table +at which they sat possessed so strong a fascination for me that I +several times caught myself staring at it more closely than was +polite; and as to disgust at the unseemliness of such +companionship was added vexation at my own loss, I might have +gone farther towards betraying my feelings if a casual glance +aside had not disclosed to me the fact that I did not stand alone +in my dissatisfaction; but that, frivolous as the majority of the +courtiers were, there was one at least among those present who +viewed this particular game with distaste. + +This person stood near the door, and fancying himself secured +from observation, either by his position or his insignificance, +was glowering on the pair in a manner that at another time must +have cost him a rebuke. As it was, I found something friendly, +as well as curious, in his fixed frown; and ignorant of his name, +though I knew him by sight, wondered both who he was and what was +the cause of his preoccupation. + +On the one point I had no difficulty in satisfying myself. +Boisrueil, who presently passed, told me that his name was +Vallon; that he belonged to a poor but old family in the +Cotentin, and that he had been only three months at court. + +"Making his fortune, I suppose?" I said grimly. "He games?" + +"No, your excellency." + +"Is in debt?" + +"Not to my knowledge." + +"To whom does he pay his court, then?" + +"To the King." + +"And the Queen?" + +"Not particularly--as far as I know, at least. But if you wish +to know more, M. le Duc," Boisrueil continued, "I will--" + +"No, no," I said peevishly. The Queen had just handed her last +rouleau across the table, and was still playing. "Go, man, about +your business; I don't want to spend the evening gossiping with +you." + +He went, and I dismissed the young fellow from my mind; only to +find him five minutes later at my elbow. To youth and good looks +he added a modest bearing that did not fail to enhance them and +commend him to me; the majority of the young sparks of the day +being wiser than their fathers. But I confess that I was not +prepared for the stammering embarrassment with which he addressed +me--nor, indeed, to be addressed by him at all. + +"M. de Sully," he said, in a tone of emotion, "I beg you to +pardon me. I am in great trouble, and I think that perhaps, +stranger as I am, you may condescend to do me a service." + +So many men appeal to a minister with some such formula on their +lips, and at times with a calculated timidity, that at the first +blush of his request I was inclined to bid him come to me at the +proper time; and to remove to another part of the room. But +curiosity, playing the part of his advocate, found so much that +was candid in his manner that I hesitated. "What is it?" I said +stiffly. + +"A very slight, if a very unusual, one," he muttered. "M. le +Duc, I only want you to--" + +"To?" for he stopped and seemed unable to go on. + +"To supplement the present you have given to the Queen with +this," he blurted out, his face pale with emotion; and he +stealthily held out to me a green silk purse, through the meshes +of which I saw the glint of gold. "M. de Sully," he continued, +observing my hasty movement, "do not be offended! I know that +you have done all that hospitality required. But I see that the +Queen has already lost your gift, and that--" + +She is playing on credit?" + +"Yes, Monsieur." + +He said it simply, and as he spoke, he again pressed on me the +purse. I took and weighed it, and calculated at a guess that it +held fifty crowns. The sum astonished me. "Why, man," I said, +"you are not mad enough to be in love with her Majesty?" + +"No!" he cried, vehemently, yet with a gleam of humour in his +eye. "I swear that it is not so. If you will do me this favour +--" + +It was a mad impulse that took me, but I nodded, and resolving to +make good the money out of my own pocket should the case, when +all was clear, seem to demand it, I went straight from him, and, +crossing the floor, laid the purse near her Majesty's hand, with +a polite word of regret that fortune had used her so ill, and a +hope that this might be the means of recruiting her forces. + +It would not have surprised me had she shown some signs of +consciousness, and perhaps betrayed that she recognised the +purse. But she contented herself with thanking me prettily, and +almost before I had done speaking had her slender fingers among +the coins. Turning, I found that Vallon had disappeared; so that +all came to a sudden stop; and with the one and the other, I +retired completely puzzled, and less able than before to make +even a guess at the secret of the young man's generosity. + +However, the King summoning me to him, there, for the time, was +an end of the matter: and between fatigue and the duties of my +position, I did not give a second thought to it that evening. +Next morning, too, I was taken up with the gifts which it was my +privilege as Master of the Mint to present to the King on New +Year's Day, and which consisted this year of medals of gold, +silver, and copper, bearing inscriptions of my own composition, +together with small bags of new coins for the King, the Queen, +and their attendants. + +These I always made it a point to offer before the King rose; nor +was this year an exception, for I found his Majesty still in bed, +the Queen occupying a couch in the same chamber. But whereas it +generally fell to me to arouse them from sleep, and be the first +to offer those compliments which befitted the day, I found them +on this occasion fully roused, the King lazily toying with his +watch, the Queen talking fast and angrily, and at the edge of the +carpet beside her bed Mademoiselle D'Oyley in deep disgrace. The +Queen, indeed, was so taken up with scolding her that she had +forgotten what day it was; and even after my entrance, continued +to rate the poor girl so fiercely that I thought her present +violence little less unseemly than her condescension of the night +before. + +Perhaps some trace of this feeling appeared in my countenance; +for, presently, the King, who seldom failed to read my thoughts, +tried to check her in a good-natured fashion. "Come, my dear," +he said; "let that trembling mouse go. And do you hear what our +good friend Sully has brought you? I'll be bound--" + +"How your Majesty talks!" the Queen answered, pettishly. "As if +a few paltry coins could make up for my jar! I'll be bound, for +my part, that this idle wench was romping and playing with--" + +"Come, come; you have made her cry enough!" the King +interrupted--and, indeed, the girl was sobbing so passionately +that a man could not listen without pain. "Let her go, I say, +and do you attend to Sully. You have forgotten that it is New +Year's Day--" + +"A jar of majolica," the Queen cried, Utterly disregarding him, +"worth your body and soul, you little slut!" + +"Pooh! pooh!" the King said. + +"Do you think that I brought it from Florence, all the way in my +own--" + +"Nightcap," the King muttered. "There, there, sweetheart," he +continued, aloud, "let the girl go!" + +"Of course! She is a girl," the Queen cried, with a sneer. +"That is enough for you!" + +"Well, madam, she is not the only one in the room," I ventured. + +"Oh, of course?, you are the King's echo!" + +"Run away, little one," Henry said, winking to me to be silent. + +"And consider yourself lucky," the Queen cried, venomously. "You +ought to be whipped; and if I had you in my country, I would have +you whipped for all your airs! San Giacomo, if you cross me, I +will see to it!" + +This was a parting thrust; for the girl, catching at the King's +permission, had turned and was hurrying in a passion of tears to +the door. Still, the Queen had not done. Mademoiselle had +broken a jar; and there were other misdemeanours which her +Majesty continued to expound. But in the end I had my say, and +presented the medals, which were accepted by the King with his +usual kindness, and by the Queen, when her feelings had found +expression, with sufficient complaisance. Both were good enough +to compliment me on my entertainment; but observing that the +Queen quickly buried herself again in her pillows and was +inclined to be peevish, I cut short my attendance on the plea of +fatigue, and left them at liberty to receive the very numerous +company who on this day pay their court. + +Of these, the greater number came on afterwards, to wait on me; +so that for some hours the large hall at the Arsenal was thronged +with my friends, or those who called themselves by that name. +But towards noon the stream began to fail; and when I sat down to +dinner at that hour, I had reason to suppose that I should be +left at peace. I had not more than begun my meal, however, when +I was called from table by a messenger from the Queen. + +"What is it?" I said, when I had gone to him. Had he come from +the King, I could have understood it more easily. + +"Her Majesty desires to know, your excellency, whether you have +seen anything of Mademoiselle D'Oyley." + +"I?" + +"Yes, M. le Duc." + +"No, certainly not. How should I?" I replied. + +"And she is not here?" the man persisted. + +"No!" I answered, angrily. "God bless the Queen, I know nothing +of her. I am sitting at meat, and--" + +The man interrupted me with protestations of regret, and, +hastening to express himself thoroughly satisfied, retired with a +crestfallen air. I wondered what the message meant, and what had +come over the Queen, and whither the girl had gone. But as I +made it a rule throughout my term of office to avoid, as far as +possible, all participation in bed-chamber intrigues, I wasted +little time on the matter, but returning to my dinner, took up +the conversation where I had left it. Before I rose, however, La +Trape came to me and again interrupted me. He announced that a +messenger from his Majesty was waiting in the hall. + +I went out, thinking it very probable that Henry had sent me a +present; though it was his more usual custom on this day to +honour me with a visit, and declare his generous intentions by +word of mouth, when we had both retired to my library and the +door was closed. Still, on one or two occasions he had sent me a +horse from his stables, a brace of Indian fowl, a melon or the +like, as a foretaste; and this I supposed to be the errand on +which the man had come. + +His first words disabused me. "May it please your excellency," +he said, very civilly, "the King desires to be remembered to you +as usual, and would ]earn whether you know anything of +Mademoiselle D'Oyley." + +"Of whom?" I cried, astonished. + +"Of Mademoiselle D'Oyley, her Majesty's maid of honour." + +"Not I, i'faith!" I said, drily. "I am no squire of dames, to +say nothing of maids!" + +"But his Majesty--" + +"If he has sent that message," I replied, "has yet something to +learn--that I do not interest myself in maids of honour or such +frailties." + +The man smiled. "I do not think," he began, "that it was his +Majesty--" + +"Sent the message?" I said. "No, but the Queen, I suppose." + +On this he gave me to understand, in the sly, secretive manner +such men affect, that it was so. I asked him then what all this +ferment was about. "Has Mademoiselle D'Oyley disappeared?" I +said, peevishly. + +"Yes, your excellency. She was with the Queen at eight o'clock. +At noon her Majesty desired her services, and she was not to be +found." + +"What?" I exclaimed. "A maid of honour is missing for three +hours in the morning, and there is all this travelling! Why, in +my young days, three nights might have--" + +But discerning that he was little more than a youth, and could +not; restrain a smile, I broke off discreetly, and contented +myself with asking if there was reason to suppose that there was +more than appeared in the girl's absence. + +"Her Majesty thinks so," he answered. + +"Well, in any case, I know nothing about it," I replied. "I am +not hiding her. You may tell his Majesty that, with my service. +Or I will write it." + +He answered me, eagerly, that that was not necessary, and that +the King had desired merely a word from me; and with that and +many other expressions of regret, he went away and left me at +leisure to go to the riding-school, where at this time of the +year it was my wont to see the young men practise those manly +arts, which, so far as I can judge, are at a lower ebb in these +modern days of quips and quodlibets than in the stirring times of +my youth. Then, thank God, it was held more necessary for a page +to know his seven points of horsemanship than how to tie a +ribbon, or prank a gown, or read a primer. + +But the first day of this year was destined to be a day of +vexation. I had scarcely entered the school, when M. de Varennes +was announced. Instead of going to meet him I bade them bring +him to me, and, on seeing him, bade him welcome to the sports. +"Though," I said, politely overlooking his past history and his +origin, "we did better in our times; yet the young fellows should +be encouraged." + +"Very true," he answered, suavely. "And I wish I could stay with +you. But it was not for pleasure I came. The King sent me. He +desires to know--" + +"What?" I said. + +"If you know anything of Mademoiselle D'Oyley. Between +ourselves, M. le Duc--" + +I looked at him in amazement. "Why," I said, "what on earth has +the girl done now?" + +"Disappeared," he answered. + +"But she had done that before." + +"Yes," he said, "and the King had your message. But--" + +"But what?" I said sternly. + +"He thought that you might wish to supplement it for his private +use." + +"To supplement it?" + +"Yes. The truth is," Varennes continued, looking at me +doubtfully, "the King has information which leads him to suppose +that she may be here." + +"She may be anywhere," I answered in a tone that closed his +mouth, "but she is not here. And you may tell the King so from +me!" + +Though he had begun life as a cook, few could be more arrogant +than Varennes on occasion; but he possessed the valuable knack of +knowing with whom he could presume, and never attempted to impose +on me. Apologising with the easy grace of a man who had risen in +life by pleasing, he sat with me awhile, recalling old days and +feats, and then left, giving me to understand that I might depend +on him to disabuse the King's mind. + +As a fact, Henry visited me that evening without raising the +subject; nor had I any reason to complain of his generosity, +albeit he took care to exact from the Superintendent of the +Finances more than he gave his servant, and for one gift to Peter +got two Pauls satisfied. To obtain the money he needed in the +most commodious manner, I spent the greater part of two days in +accounts, and had not yet settled the warrants to my liking, when +La Trape coming in with candles on the second evening disturbed +my secretaries. The men yawned discreetly; and reflecting that +we had had a long day I dismissed them, and stayed myself only +for the purpose of securing one or two papers of a private +nature. Then I bade La Trape light me to my closet. + +Instead, he stood and craved leave to speak to me. "About what, +sirrah?" I said. + +"I have received an offer, your excellency," he answered with a +crafty look. + +"What! To leave my service?" I exclaimed, in surprise. + +"No, your excellency," he answered. "To do a service for +another--M. Pimentel. The Portuguese gentleman stopped me in the +street to-day, and offered me fifty crowns." + +"To do what?" I asked. + +"To tell him where the young lady with Madame lies; and lend him +the key of the garden gate to-night." + +I stared at the fellow. "The young lady with Madame?" I said. + +He returned my look with a stupidity which I knew was assumed. +"Yes, your excellency. The young lady who came this morning," he +said. + +Then I knew that I had been betrayed, and had given my enemies +such a handle as they would not be slow to seize; and I stood in +the middle of the room in the utmost grief and consternation. At +last, "Stay here," I said to the man, as soon as I could speak. +"no not move from the spot where you stand until I come back!" + +It was my almost invariable custom to be announced when I visited +my wife's closet; but I had no mind now for such formalities, and +swiftly passing two or three scared servants on the stairs, I +made straight for her room, tapped and entered. Abrupt as were +my movements, however, someone had contrived to warn her; for +though two of her women sat working on stools near her, I heard a +hasty foot flying, and caught the last flutter of a skirt as it +disappeared through a second door. My wife rose from her seat, +and looked at me guiltily. + +"Madame," I said, "send these women away. Now," I continued when +they had gone, "who was that with you?" She looked away dumbly. + +"You do well not to try to deceive me, Madame," I continued +severely. "It was Mademoiselle D'Oyley." + +She muttered, not daring to meet my eye, that it was. + +"Who has absented herself from the Queen's service," I answered +bitterly, "and chosen to hide herself here of all places! +Madame," I continued, with a severity which the sense of my false +position amply justified, "are you aware that you have made me +dishonour myself? That you have made me lie; not once, but three +times? That you have made me deceive my master?" + +She cried out at that, being frightened, that "she had meant no +harm; that the girl coming to her in great grief and trouble--" + +"Because the Queen had scolded her for breaking a china jar!" I +said, contemptuously. + +"No, Monsieur; her trouble was of quite another kind," my wife +answered with more spirit than I had expected. + +"Pshaw! "I exclaimed. + +"It is plain that you do not yet understand the case," Madame +persisted, facing me with trembling hardihood. "Mademoiselle +D'Oyley has been persecuted for some time by the suit of a man +for whom I know you, Monsieur, have no respect: a man whom no +Frenchwoman of family should be forced to marry." + +"Who is it?" I said curtly. + +"M. Pimentel." + +"Ah! And the Queen?" + +"Has made his suit her own. Doubtless her Majesty," Madame de +Sully continued with grimness, "who plays with him so much, is +under obligations to him, and has her reasons. The King, too, is +on his side, so that Mademoiselle--" + +"Who has another lover, I suppose?" I said harshly. + +My wife looked at me in trepidation. "It may be so, Monsieur," +she said hesitating + +"It is so, Madame; and you know it," I answered in the same tone. +"M. Vallon is the man." + +"Oh!" she exclaimed with a gesture of alarm. "You know!" + +"I know, Madame," I replied, with vigour, "that to please this +love-sick girl you have placed me in a position of the utmost +difficulty; that you have jeopardised the confidence which my +master, whom I have never willingly deceived, places in me; and +that out of all this I see only one way of escape, and that is by +a full and frank confession, which you must make to the Queen." + +"Oh, Monsieur," she said faintly. + +"The girl, of course, must be immediately given up." + +My wife began to sob at that, as women will; but I had too keen a +sense of the difficulties into which she had plunged me by her +deceit, to pity her over much. And, doubtless, I should have +continued in the resolution I had formed, and which appeared to +hold out the only hope of avoiding the malice of those enemies +whom every man in power possesses--and none can afford to +despise--if La Trape's words, when he betrayed the secret to me, +had not recurred to my mind and suggested other reflections. + +Doubtless, Mademoiselle had been watched into my house, and my +ill-wishers would take the earliest opportunity of bringing the +lie home to me. My wife's confession, under such circumstances, +would have but a simple air, and believed by some would be +ridiculed by more. It might, and probably would, save my credit +with the King; but it would not exalt me in others' eyes, or +increase my reputation as a manager. If there were any other +way--and so reflecting, I thought of La Trape and his story. + +Still I was half way to the door when I paused, and turned. My +wife was still weeping. "It is no good crying over spilled milk, +Madame," I said severely. "If the girl were not a fool, she +would have gone to the Ursulines. The abbess has a stiff neck, +and is as big a simpleton to boot as you are. It is only a step, +too, from here to the Ursulines, if she had had the sense to go +on." + +My wife lifted her head, and looked at me eagerly; but I avoided +her gaze and went out without more, and downstairs to my study, +where I found La Trape awaiting me. "Go to Madame la Duchesse," +I said to him. "When you have done what she needs, come to me in +my closet." + +He obeyed, and after an interval of about half an hour, during +which I had time to mature my plan, presented himself again +before me. "Pimentel had a notion that the young lady was here +then?" I said carelessly. + +"Yes, your excellency." + +"Some of his people fancied that they saw her enter, perhaps?" + +"Yes, your excellency." + +"They were mistaken, of course?" + +"Of course," he answered, dutifully. + +"Or she may have come to the door and gone again?" I suggested. + +"Possibly, your excellency." + +"Gone on without being seen, I mean?" + +"If she went in the direction of the Rue St. Marcel," he answered +stolidly, "she would not be seen." + +The convent of the Ursulines is in the Rue St. Marcel. I knew, +therefore, that Madame had had the sense to act on my hint; and +after reflecting a moment I continued, "So Pimentel wished to +know where she was lodged?" + +"That, and to have the key, your excellency." + +"To-night?" + +"Yes, your excellency." + +"Well, you are at liberty to accept the offer," I answered +carelessly. "It will not clash with my service." And then, as +he stood staring in astonishment, striving to read the riddle, I +continued, "By the way, are the rooms in the little Garden +Pavilion aired? They may be needed next week; see that one of +the women sleeps there to-night; a woman you can depend on." + +"Ah, Monsieur!" + +He said no more, but I saw that he understood; and bidding him be +careful in following my instructions, I dismissed him. The line +I had determined to take was attended by many uncertainties, +however; and more than once I repented that I had not followed my +first; instinct, and avowed the truth. A hundred things might +fall out to frustrate my scheme and place me in a false position; +from which--since the confidence of his sovereign is the breath +of a minister, and as easily destroyed as a woman's reputation-- +I might find it impossible to extricate myself with credit. + +I slept, therefore, but ill that night; and in conjunctures +apparently more serious have felt less trepidation. But +experience has long ago taught me that trifles, not great events, +unseat the statesman, and that of all intrigues those which +revolve round a woman are the most dangerous. I rose early, +therefore, and repaired to Court before my usual hour, it being +the essence of my plan to attack, instead of waiting to be +attacked. Doubtless my early appearance was taken to corroborate +the rumour that I had made a false step, and was in difficulties; +for scarcely had I crossed the threshold of the ante-chamber +before the attitude of the courtiers caught my attention. Some +who twenty-four hours earlier would have been only too glad to +meet my eye and obtain a word of recognition, appeared to be +absorbed in conversation. Others, less transparent or better +inclined to me, greeted me with unnatural effusion. One who bore +a grudge against me, but had never before dared to do more than +grin, now scowled openly; while a second, perhaps the most +foolish of all, came to me with advice, drew me with insistency +into a niche near the door, and adjured me to be cautious. + +"You are too bold," he said; "and that way your enemies find +their opening. Do not go to the King now. He is incensed +against you. But we all know that he loves you; wait, therefore, +my friend, until he has had his day's hunting--he is just now +booting himself and see him when he has ridden off his +annoyance." + +"And when my friends, my dear Marquis, have had time to poison +his mind against me? No, no," I answered, wondering much whether +he were as simple as he looked. + +"But the Queen is with him now," he persisted, seizing the lappel +of my coat to stay me, "and she will be sure to put in a word +against you." + +"Therefore," I answered drily, "I had better see his Majesty +before the one word becomes two." + +"Be persuaded," he entreated me. "See him now, and nothing but +ill will come of it." + +"Nothing but ill for some," I retorted, looking so keenly at him +that his visage fell. And with that he let me go, and with a +smile I passed through the door. The rumour had not yet gained +such substance that the crowd had lost all respect for me; it +rolled back, and I passed through it towards the end of the +chamber, where the King was stooping to draw on one of his boots. +The Queen stood not far from him, gazing into the fire with an +air of ill-temper which the circle, serious and silent, seemed to +reflect, I looked everywhere for the Portuguese, but he was not +to be seen. + +For a moment the King affected to be unaware of my presence, and +even turned his shoulder to me; but I observed that he reddened, +and fidgeted nervously with the boot which he was drawing on. +Nothing daunted, therefore, I waited until he perforce discovered +me, and was obliged to greet me. "You are early this morning," +he said, at last, with a grudging air. + +"For the best of reasons, sire," I answered hardily. "I am ill +placed at home, and come to you for justice." + +"What is it?" he said churlishly and unwillingly. + +I was about to answer, when the Queen interposed with a sneer. +"I think that I can tell you, sire," she said. "M. de Sully is +old enough to know the adage, 'Bite before you are bitten.'" + +"Madame," I said, respectfully but with firmness. "I know this +only, that my house was last night the scene of a gross outrage; +and by all I can learn it was perpetrated by one who is under +your Majesty's protection." + +"His name?" she said, with a haughty gesture. + +"M. Pimentel." + +The Queen began to smile. "What was this gross outrage?" she +asked drily. + +"In the course of last night he broke into my house with a gang +of wretches, and bore off one of the inmates." + +The Queen's smile grew broader; the King began to grin. Some of +the circle, watching them closely, ventured to smile also. +"Come, my friend," Henry said, almost with good humour, "this is +all very well. But this inmate of yours--was a very recent one." + +"Was, in fact, I suppose, the rebellious little wench of whom you +knew nothing yesterday!" the Queen cried harshly, and with an +air of open triumph. "There can be no stealing of stolen goods, +sir; and if M. Pimentel, who had at least as much right as you to +the girl--and more, for I am her guardian--has carried her off, +you have small ground to complain," + +"But, Madame," I said, with an air of bewilderment, "I really do +not--it must be my fault, but I do not understand." + +Two or three sniggered, seeing me apparently checkmated and at +the end of my resources. And the King laughed out with kindly +malice. "Come, Grand Master," he said, "I think that you do. +However, if Pimentel has carried off the damsel, there, it seems +to me, is an end of the matter." + +"But, sire," I answered, looking sternly round the grinning +circle, "am I mad, or is there some mystery here? I assured your +Majesty yesterday that Mademoiselle D'Oyley was not in my house. +I say the same to-day. She is not; your officers may search +every room and closet. And for the woman whom M. Pimentel has +carried off, she is no more Mademoiselle D'Oyley than I am; she +is one of my wife's waiting-maids. If you doubt me," I +continued, "you have only to send and ask. Ask the Portuguese +himself." + +The King stared at me. "Nonsense!" he said, sharply. "If +Pimentel has carried off anyone, it must be Mademoiselle +D'Oyley." + +"But it is not, sire," I answered with persistence. "He has +broken into my house, and abducted my servant. For Mademoiselle, +she is not there to be stolen." + +"Let some one go for Pimentel," the King said curtly. + +But the Portuguese, as it happened, was at the door even then, +and being called, had no alternative but to come forward. His +face and mien as he entered and reluctantly showed himself were +more than enough to dissipate any doubts which the courtiers had +hitherto entertained; the former being as gloomy and downcast as +the latter was timid and cringing. It is true he made some +attempt at first, and for a time, to face the matter out; +stammering and stuttering, and looking piteously to the Queen for +help. But he could not long delay the crisis, nor deny that the +person he had so cunningly abducted was one of my waiting-women; +and the moment that this confession was made his case was at an +end, the statement being received with so universal a peal of +laughter, the King leading, as at one and the same time +discomfited him, and must have persuaded any indifferent listener +that all, from the first, had been in the secret. + +After that he would have spent himself in vain, had he contended +that Mademoiselle D'Oyley was at my house; and so clear was this +that he made no second attempt to do so, but at once admitting +that his people had made a mistake, he proffered me a handsome +apology, and desired the King to speak to me in his behalf. + +This I, on my side, was pleased to take in good part; and having +let him off easily with a mild rebuke, turned from him to the +Queen, and informed her with much respect that I had learned at +length where Mademoiselle D'Oyley had taken refuge. + +"Where, sir?" she asked, eyeing me suspiciously and with no +little disfavour. + +"At the Ursulines, Madame," I answered, + +She winced, for she had already quarrelled with the abbess +without advantage. And there for the moment the matter ended. +At a later period I took care to confess all to the King, and he +did not fail to laugh heartily at the clever manner in which I +had outwitted Pimentel. But this was not until the Portuguese +had left the country and gone to Italy, the affair between him +and Mademoiselle D'Oyley (which resolved itself into a contest +between the Queen and the Ursulines) having come to a close under +circumstances which it may be my duty to relate in another place. + + + +X. FARMING THE TAXES. + +In the summer of the year 1608, determining to take up my abode, +when not in Paris, at Villebon, where I had lately enlarged my +property, I went thither from Rouen with my wife, to superintend +the building and mark out certain plantations which I projected. +As the heat that month was great, and the dust of the train +annoying, I made each stage in the evening and on horseback, +leaving my wife to proceed at her leisure. In this way I was +able, by taking rough paths, to do in two or three hours a +distance which her coaches had scarcely covered in the day; but +on the third evening, intending to make a short cut by a ford on +the Vaucouleurs, I found, to my chagrin, the advantage on the +other side, the ford, when I reached it at sunset, proving +impracticable. As there was every prospect, however, that the +water would fall within a few hours, I determined not to retrace +my steps; but to wait where I was until morning, and complete my +journey to Houdan in the early hours. + +There was a poor inn near the ford, a mere hovel of wood on a +brick foundation, yet with two storeys. I made my way to this +with Maignan and La Trape, who formed, with two grooms, my only +attendance; but on coming near the house, and looking about with +a curious eye, I remarked something which fixed my attention, +and, for the moment, brought me to a halt. This was the +spectacle of three horses, of fair quality, feeding in a field of +growing corn, which was the only enclosure near the inn. They +were trampling and spoiling more than they ate; and, supposing +that they had strayed into the place, and the house showing no +signs of life, I bade my grooms fetch them out. The sun was +about setting, and I stood a moment watching the long shadows of +the men as they plodded through the corn, and the attitudes of +the horses as, with heads raised, they looked doubtfully at the +newcomers. + +Suddenly a man came round the corner of the house, and seeing us, +and what my men were doing, began to gesticulate violently, but +without sound. The grooms saw him too, and stood; and he ran up +to my stirrup, his face flushed and sullen. + +"Do you want to see us all ruined?" he muttered. And he begged +me to call my men out of the corn. + +"You are more likely to be ruined that way," I answered, looking +down at him. "Why, man, is it the custom in your country to turn +horses into the half-ripe corn?" + +He shook his fist stealthily. "God forbid!" he said. "But the +devil is within doors, and we must do his bidding." + +"Ah!" I replied, my curiosity aroused "I should like to see +him." + +The boor shaded his eyes, and looked at me sulkily from under his +matted and tangled hair. "You are not of his company?" he said +with suspicion. + +"I hope not," I answered, smiling at his simplicity. "But your +corn is your own. I will call the men out." On which I made a +sign to them to return. "Now," I said, as I walked my horse +slowly towards the house, while he tramped along beside me, "who +is within?" + +"M. Gringuet," he said, with another stealthy gesture. + +"Ah!" I said, "I am afraid that I am no wiser." + +"The tax-gatherer." + +"Oh! And those are his horses?" He nodded. + +"Still, I do not see why they are in the corn?" + +"I have no hay." + +"But there is grass." + +"Ay," the inn-keeper answered bitterly. + +"And he said that I might eat it. It was not good enough for his +horses. They must have hay or corn; and if I had none, so much +the worse for me." + +Full of indignation, I made in my mind a note of M. Gringuet's +name; but at the moment I said no more, and we proceeded to the +house, the exterior of which, though meagre, and even miserable, +gave me an impression of neatness. From the inside, however, a +hoarse, continuous noise was issuing, which resolved itself as we +crossed the threshold into a man's voice. The speaker was out of +sight, in an upper room to which a ladder gave access, but his +oaths, complaints, and imprecations almost shook the house. A +middle-aged woman, scantily dressed, was busy on the hearth; but +perhaps that which, next to the perpetual scolding that was going +on above, most took my attention was a great lump of salt that +stood on the table at the woman's elbow, and seemed to be +evidence of greater luxury--for the GABELLE had not at that time +been reduced--than I could easily associate with the place. + +The roaring and blustering continuing upstairs, I stood a moment +in sheer astonishment. "Is that M. Gringuet?" I said at last. + +The inn-keeper nodded sullenly, while his wife stared at me. +"But what; is the matter with him?" I said. + +"The gout. But for that he would have been gone these two days +to collect at Le Mesnil." + +"Ah!" I answered, beginning to understand. "And the salt is for +a bath for his feet, is it?" + +The woman nodded. + +"Well," I said, as Maignan came in with my saddlebags and laid +them on the floor, "he will swear still louder when he gets the +bill, I should think." + +"Bill?" the housewife answered bitterly, looking up again from +her pots. "A tax-gatherer's bill? Go to the dead man and ask +for the price of his coffin; or to the babe for a nurse-fee! You +will get paid as soon. A tax-gatherer's bill? Be thankful if he +does not take the dish with the sop!" + +She spoke plainly; yet I found a clearer proof of the slavery in +which the man held them in the perfect indifference with which +they regarded my arrival--though a guest with two servants must +have been a rarity in such a place--and the listless way in which +they set about attending to my wants. Keenly remembering that +not long before this my enemies had striven to prejudice me in +the King's eyes by alleging that, though I filled his coffers, I +was grinding the poor into the dust--and even, by my exactions, +provoking a rebellion I was in no mood to look with an indulgent +eye on those who furnished such calumnies with a show of reason. +But it has never been my wont to act hastily; and while I stood +in the middle of the kitchen, debating whether I should order the +servants to fling the fellow out, and bid him appear before me at +Villebon, or should instead have him brought up there and then, +the man's coarse voice, which had never ceased to growl and snarl +above us, rose on a sudden still louder. Something fell on the +floor over our heads and rolled across it; and immediately a +young girl, barefoot and short-skirted, scrambled hurriedly and +blindly down the ladder and landed among us. + +She was sobbing, and a little blood was flowing from a cut in her +lip; and she trembled all over. At sight of the blood and her +tears the woman seemed to be transported. Snatching up a +saucepan, she sprang towards the ladder with a gesture of rage, +and in a moment would have ascended if her husband had not +followed and dragged her back. The girl also, as soon as she +could speak, added her entreaties to his, while Maignan and La +Trape looked sharply at me, as if they expected a signal. + +All this while, the bully above continued his maledictions. +"Send that slut back to me!" he roared. "Do you think that I am +going to be left alone in this hole? Send her back, or--" and he +added half-a-dozen oaths of a kind to make an honest man's blood +boil. In the midst of this, however, and while the woman was +still contending with her husband, he suddenly stopped and +shrieked in anguish, crying out for the salt-bath. + +But the woman, whom her husband had only half-pacified, shook her +fist at the ceiling with a laugh of defiance. "Shriek; ay, you +may shriek, you wretch!" she cried. "You must be waited on by +my girl, must you--no older face will do for you--and you beat +her? Your horses must eat corn, must they, while we eat grass? +And we buy salt for you, and wheaten bread for you, and are +beggars for you! For you, you thieving wretch, who tax the poor +and let the rich go free; who--" + +"Silence, woman!" her husband cried, cutting her short, with a +pale face. "Hush, hush; he will hear you!" + +But the woman was too far gone in rage to obey. "What! and is +it not true?" she answered, her eyes glittering. "Will he not +to-morrow go to Le Mesnil and squeeze the poor? Ay, and will not +Lescauts the corn-dealer, and Philippon the silk-merchant, come +to him with bribes, and go free? And de Fonvelle and de Curtin-- +they with a DE, forsooth!--plead their nobility, and grease his +hands, and go free? Ay, and--" + +"Silence, woman!" the man said again, looking apprehensively at +me, and from me to my attendants, who were grinning broadly. +"You do not know that this gentleman is not--" + +"A tax-gatherer?" I said, smiling. "No. But how long has your +friend upstairs been here?" + +"Two days, Monsieur," she answered, wiping the perspiration from +her brow, and speaking more quietly. "He is talking of sending +on a deputy to Le Mesnil; but Heaven send he may recover, and go +from here himself!" + +"Well," I answered, "at any rate, we have had enough of this +noise. My servant shall go up and tell him that there is a +gentleman here who cannot put up with a disturbance. Maignan," I +continued, "see the man, and tell him that the inn is not his +private house, and that he must groan more softly; but do not +mention my name. And let him have his brine bath, or there will +be no peace for anyone." + +Maignan and La Trape, who knew me, and had counted on a very +different order, stared at me, wondering at my easiness and +complaisance; for there is a species of tyranny, unassociated +with rank, that even the coarsest view with indignation. But the +woman's statement, which, despite its wildness and her +excitement, I saw no reason to doubt, had suggested to me a +scheme of punishment more refined; and which might, at one and +the same time, be of profit to the King's treasury and a lesson +to Gringuet. To carry it through I had to submit to some +inconvenience, and particularly to a night passed under the same +roof with the rogue; but as the news that a traveller of +consequence was come had the effect, aided by a few sharp words +from Maignan, of lowering his tone, and forcing him to keep +within bounds, I was able to endure this and overlook the +occasional outbursts of spleen which his disease and pampered +temper still drew from him. + +His two men, who had been absent on an errand at the time of my +arrival, presently returned, and were doubtless surprised to find +a second company in possession. They tried my attendants with a +number of questions, but without success; while I, by listening +while I had my supper, learned more of their master's habits and +intentions than they supposed. They suspected nothing, and at +day-break we left them; and, the water having duly fallen in the +night, we crossed the river without mishap, and for a league +pursued our proper road. Then I halted, and despatching the two +grooms to Houdan with a letter for my wife, I took, myself, the +road to Le Mesnil, which lies about three leagues to the west. + +At a little inn, a league short of Le Mesnil, I stopped, and +instructing my two attendants in the parts they were to play, +prepared, with the help of the seals, which never left Maignan's +custody, the papers necessary to enable me to enact the role of +Gringuet's deputy. Though I had been two or three times to +Villebon, I had never been within two leagues of Le Mesnil, and +had no reason to suppose that I should be recognised; but to +lessen the probability of this I put on a plain suit belonging to +Maignan, with a black-hilted sword, and no ornaments. I +furthermore waited to enter the town until evening, so that my +presence, being reported, might be taken for granted before I was +seen. + +In a larger place my scheme must have miscarried, but in this +little town on the hill, looking over the plain of vineyards and +cornfields, with inn, market-house, and church in the square, and +on the fourth side the open battlements, whence the towers of +Chartres could be seen on a clear day, I looked to have to do +only with small men, and saw no reason why it should fail. + +Accordingly, riding up to the inn about sunset, I called, with an +air, for the landlord. There were half-a-dozen loungers seated +in a row on a bench before the door, and one of these went in to +fetch him. When the host came out, with his apron twisted round +his waist, I asked him if he had a room. + +"Yes," he said, shading his eyes to look at me, "I have." + +"Very well," I answered pompously, considering that I had just +such an audience as I desired--by which I mean one that, without +being too critical, would spread the news. "I am M. Gringuet's +deputy, and I am here with authority to collect and remit, +receive and give receipts for, his Majesty's taxes, tolls, and +dues, now, or to be, due and owing. Therefore, my friend, I will +trouble you to show me to my room. + +I thought that this announcement would impress him as much as I +desired; but, to my surprise, he only stared at me. "Eh!" he +exclaimed at last, in a faltering tone, "M. Gringuet's deputy?" + +"Yes," I said, dismounting somewhat impatiently; "he is ill with +the gout and cannot come." + +"And you--are his deputy?" + +"I have said so." + +Still he did not move to do my bidding, but continued to rub his +bald head and stare at me as if I fascinated him. "Well, I am--I +mean--I think we are full," he stammered at last, with his eyes +like saucers. + +I replied, with some impatience, that he had just said that he +had a room; adding, that if I was not in it and comfortably +settled before five minutes were up I would know the reason. I +thought that this would settle the matter, whatever maggot had +got into the man's head; and, in a way, it did so, for he begged +my pardon hastily, and made way for me to enter, calling, at the +same time, to a lad who was standing by, to attend to the horses. +But when we were inside the door, instead of showing me through +the kitchen to my room, he muttered something, and hurried away; +leaving me to wonder what was amiss with him, and why the +loungers outside, who had listened with all their ears to our +conversation, had come in after us as far as they dared, and were +regarding us with an odd mixture of suspicion and amusement. + +The landlord remained long away, and seemed, from sounds that +came to my ears, to be talking with someone in a distant room. +At length, however, he returned, bearing a candle and followed by +a serving-man. I asked him roughly why he had been so long, and +began to rate him; but he took the words out of my mouth by his +humility, and going before me through the kitchen--where his wife +and two or three maids who were about the fire stopped to look at +us, with the basting spoons in their hands--he opened a door +which led again into the outer air. + +"It is across the yard," he said apologetically, as he went +before, and opening a second door, stood aside for us to enter. +"But it is a good room, and, if you please, a fire shall be +lighted. The shutters are closed," he continued, as we passed +him, Maignan and "La Trape carrying my baggage, "but they shall +be opened. Hallo! Pierre! Pierre, there! Open these shut--" + +On the word his voice rose--and broke; and in a moment the door, +through which we had all passed unsuspecting, fell to with a +crash behind us. Before we could move we heard the bars drop +across it. A little before, La Trape had taken a candle from +someone's hand to light me the better; and therefore we were not +in darkness. But the light this gave only served to impress on +us what the falling bars and the rising sound of voices outside +had already told us--that we were outwitted! We were prisoners. + +The room in which we stood, looking foolishly at one another, was +a great barn-like chamber, with small windows high in the +unplaistered walls. A long board set on trestles, and two or +three stools placed round it--on the occasion, perhaps, of some +recent festivity--had for a moment deceived us, and played the +landlord's game. + +In the first shock of the discovery, hearing the bars drop home, +we stood gaping, and wondering what it meant. Then Maignan, with +an oath, sprang to the door and tried it--fruitlessly. + +I joined him more at my leisure, and raising my voice, asked +angrily what this folly meant. "Open the door there! Do you +hear, landlord?" I cried. + +No one moved, though Maignan continued to rattle the door +furiously. + +"Do you hear?" I repeated, between anger and amazement at the +fix in which we had placed ourselves. "Open!" + +But, although the murmur of voices outside the door grew louder, +no one answered, and I had time to take in the full absurdity of +the position; to measure the height; of the windows with my eye +and plumb the dark shadows under the rafters, where the feebler +rays of our candle lost themselves; to appreciate, in a word, the +extent of our predicament. Maignan was furious, La Trape +vicious, while my own equanimity scarcely supported me against +the thought that we should probably be where we were until the +arrival of my people, whom I had directed my wife to send to Le +Mesnil at noon next day. Their coming would free us, indeed, but +at the cost of ridicule and laughter. Never was man worse +placed. + +Wincing at the thought, I bade Maignan be silent; and, drumming +on the door myself, I called for the landlord. Someone who had +been giving directions in a tone of great, consequence ceased +speaking, and came close to the door. After listening a moment, +he struck it with his hand. + +"Silence, rogues!" he cried. "Do you hear? Silence there, +unless you want your ears nailed to the post." + +"Fool!" I answered. "Open the door instantly! Are you all mad +here, that you shut up the King's servants in this way?" + +"The King's servants!" be cried, jeering at us. "Where are +they?" + +"Here!" I answered, swallowing my rage as well as I might. "I +am M. Gringuet's deputy, and if you do not this instant--" + +"M. Gringuet's deputy! Ho! ho!" he said. "Why, you fool, M. +Gringuet's deputy arrived two hours before you. You must get up +a little earlier another time. They are poor tricksters who are +too late for the fair. And now be silent, and it may save you a +stripe or two to-morrow." + +There are situations in which even the greatest find it hard to +maintain their dignity, and this was one. I looked at Maignan +and La Trape, and they at me, and by the light of the lanthorn +which the latter held I saw that they were smiling, doubtless at +the dilemma in which we had innocently placed ourselves. But I +found nothing to laugh at in the position; since the people +outside might at any moment leave us where we were to fast until +morning; and, after a moment's reflection, I called out to know +who the speaker on the other side was. + +"I am M. de Fonvelle," he answered. + +"Well, M. de Fonvelle," I replied, "I advise you to have a care +what you do. I am M. Gringuet's deputy. The other man is an +impostor." + +He laughed. + +"He has no papers," I cried. + +"Oh, yes, he has!" he answered, mocking me. "M. Curtin has seen +them, my fine fellow, and he is not one to pay money without +warrant." + +At this several laughed, and a quavering voice chimed in with +"Oh, yes, he has papers! I have seen them. Still, in a case--" + +"There!" M. Fonvelle cried, drowning the other's words. "Now +are you satisfied--you in there?" + +But M. Curtin had not done. "He has papers," he piped again in +his thin voice. + +"Still, M. de Fonvelle, it is well to be cautious, and--" + +"Tut, tut! it is all right." + +"He has papers, but he has no authority!" I shouted. + +"He has seals," Fonvelle answered. "It is all right." + +"It is all wrong!" I retorted. "Wrong, I say! Go to your man, +and you will find him gone--gone with your money, M. Curtin." + +Two or three laughed, but I heard the sound of feet hurrying +away, and I guessed that Curtin had retired to satisfy himself. +Nevertheless, the moment which followed was an anxious one, +since, if my random shot missed, I knew that I should find myself +in a worse position than before. But judging--from the fact that +the deputy had not confronted us himself--that he was an +impostor, to whom Gringuet's illness had suggested the scheme on +which I had myself hit, I hoped for the best; and, to be sure, in +a moment an outcry arose in the house and quickly spread. Of +those at the door, some cried to their fellows to hearken, while +others hastened off to see. Yet still a little time elapsed, +during which I burned with impatience; and then the crowd came +trampling back, all wrangling and speaking at once. + +At the door the chattering ceased, and, a hand being laid on the +bar, in a moment the door was thrown open, and I walked out with +what dignity I might. Outside, the scene which met my eyes might +have been, under other circumstances, diverting. Before me stood +the landlord of the inn, bowing with a light in each hand, as if +the more he bent his backbone the more he must propitiate me; +while a fat, middle-aged man at his elbow, whom I took to be +Fonvelle, smiled feebly at me with a chapfallen expression. A +little aside, Curtin, a shrivelled old fellow, was wringing his +hands over his loss; and behind and round these, peeping over +their shoulders and staring under their arms, clustered a curious +crowd of busybodies, who, between amusement at the joke and awe +of the great men, had much ado to control their merriment. + +The host began to mutter apologies, but I cut him short. "I will +talk to you to-morrow!" I said, in a voice which made him shake +in his shoes. "Now give me supper, lights, and a room--and +hurry. For you, M. Fonvelle, you are an ass! And for the +gentleman there, who has filled the rogue's purse, he will do +well another time to pay the King his dues!" + +With that I left the two--Fonvelle purple with indignation, and +Curtin with eyes and mouth agape and tears stayed--and followed +my host to his best room, Maignan and La Trape attending me with +very grim faces. Here the landlord would have repeated his +apologies, but my thoughts beginning to revert to the purpose +which had brought me hither, I affected to be offended, that, by +keeping all at a distance, I might the more easily preserve my +character. + +I succeeded so well that, though half the town, through which the +news of my adventure had spread, as fire spreads in tinder, were +assembled outside the inn until a late hour, no one was admitted +to see me; and when I made my appearance next morning in the +market-place and took my seat, with my two attendants, at a table +by the corn-measures, this reserve had so far impressed the +people that the smiles which greeted me scarcely exceeded those +which commonly welcome a tax-collector. Some had paid, and, +foreseeing the necessity of paying again, found little that was +diverting in the jest. Others thought it no laughing matter to +pay once; and a few had come as ill out of the adventure as I +had. Under these circumstances, we quickly settled to work, no +one entertaining the slightest suspicion; and La Trape, who could +accommodate himself to anything, playing the part of clerk, I was +presently receiving money and hearing excuses; the minute +acquaintance with the routine of the finances, which I had made +it my business to acquire, rendering the work easy to me. + +We had not been long engaged, however, when Fonvelle put in an +appearance, and elbowing the peasants aside, begged to speak with +me apart. I rose and stepped back with him two or three paces; +on which he winked at me in a very knowing fashion, "I am M. de +Fonvelle," he said. And he winked again. + +"Ah!" I said. + +"My name is not in your list." + +"I find it there," I replied, raising a hand to my ear. + +"Tut, tut! you do not understand," he muttered. "Has not +Gringuet told you?" + +"What?" I said, pretending to be a little deaf. + +"Has not--" + +I shook my head. + +"Has not Gringuet told you?" he repeated, reddening with anger; +and this time speaking, on compulsion, so loudly that the +peasants could hear him. + +I answered him in the same tone. "Yes," I said roundly. "He has +told me; of course, that every year you give him two hundred +livres to omit your name." + +He glanced behind him with an oath. "Man, are you mad?" he +gasped, his jaw falling. "They will hear you." + +"Yes," I said loudly, "I mean them to hear me." + +I do not know what he thought of this--perhaps that I was mad-- +but he staggered back from me, and looked wildly round. Finding +everyone laughing, he looked again at me, but still failed to +understand; on which, with another oath, he turned on his heel, +and forcing his way through the grinning crowd, was out of sight +in a moment. + +I was about to return to my seat, when a pursy, pale-faced man, +with small eyes and a heavy jowl, whom I had before noticed, +pushed his way through the line, and came to me. Though his +neighbours were all laughing he was sober, and in a moment I +understood why. + +"I am very deaf," he said in a whisper. "My name, Monsieur, is +Philippon. I am a--" + +I made a sign to him that I could not hear. + +"I am the silk merchant," he continued pretty audibly, but with a +suspicious glance behind him. "Probably you have--" + +Again I signed to him that I could not hear. + +"You have heard of me?" + +"From M. Gringuet?" I said very loudly. + +"Yes," he answered in a similar tone; for, aware that deaf +persons cannot hear their own voices and are seldom able to judge +how loudly they are speaking, I had led him to this. "And I +suppose that you will do as he did?" + +"How?" I asked. "In what way?" + +He touched his pocket with a stealthy gesture, unseen by the +people behind him. + +Again I made a sign as if I could not hear. + +"Take the usual little gift?" he said, finding himself compelled +to speak. + +"I cannot hear a word," I bellowed. By this time the crowd were +shaking with laughter. + +"Accept the usual gift?" he said, his fat, pale face perspiring, +and his little pig's eyes regarding me balefully. + +"And let you pay one quarter?" I said. + +"Yes," he answered. + +But this, and the simplicity with which he said it, drew so loud +a roar of laughter from the crowd as penetrated even to his +dulled senses. Turning abruptly, as if a bee had stung him, he +found the place convulsed with merriment; and perceiving, in an +instant, that I had played upon him, though he could not +understand how or why, he glared about him a moment, muttered +something which I could not catch, and staggered away with the +gait of a drunken man. + +After this, it was useless to suppose that I could amuse myself +with others. The crowd, which had never dreamed of such a tax- +collector, and could scarcely believe either eyes or ears, +hesitated to come forward even to pay; and I was considering what +I should do next, when a commotion in one corner of the square +drew my eyes to that quarter. I looked and saw at first only +Curtin. Then, the crowd dividing and making way for him, I +perceived that he had the real Gringuet with him--Gringuet, who +rode through the market with an air of grim majesty, with one +foot in a huge slipper and eyes glaring with ill-temper. + +Doubtless Curtin, going to him on the chance of hearing something +of the rogue who had cheated him, had apprised the tax-collector +of the whole matter; for on seeing me in my chair of state, he +merely grinned in a vicious way, and cried to the nearest not to +let me escape. "We have lost one rogue, but we will hang the +other," he said. And while the townsfolk stood dumbfounded round +us, he slipped with a groan from his horse, and bade his two +servants seize me. + +"And do you," he called to the host, "see that you help, my man! +You have harboured him, and you shall pay for it if he escapes." + +With that he hopped a step nearer; and then, not dreaming of +resistance, sank with another groan--for his foot was immensely +swollen by the journey--into the chair from which I had risen. + +A glance showed me that, if I would not be drawn into an unseemly +brawl, I must act; and meeting Maignan's eager eye fixed upon my +face, I nodded. In a second he seized the unsuspecting Gringuet +by the neck, snatched him up from the chair, and flung him half- +a-dozen paces away. "Lie there," he cried, "you insolent rascal! +Who told you to sit before your betters?" + +The violence of the action, and Maignan's heat, were such that +the nearest drew back affrighted; and even Gringuet's servants +recoiled, while the market people gasped with astonishment. But +I knew that the respite would last a moment only, and I stood +forward. "Arrest that man," I said, pointing to the collector, +who was grovelling on the ground, nursing his foot and shrieking +foul threats at us. + +In a second my two men stood over him. "In the King's name," La +Trape cried; "let no man interfere." + +"Raise him up," I continued, "and set him before me; and Curtin +also, and Fonvelle, and Philippon; and Lescaut, the corn-dealer, +if he is here." + +I spoke boldly, but I felt some misgiving. So mighty, however, +is the habit of command, that the crowd, far from resisting, +thrust forward the men I named. Still, I could not count on this +obedience, and it was with pleasure that I saw at this moment, as +I looked over the heads of the crowd, a body of horsemen entering +the square. They halted an instant, looking at the unusual +concourse; while the townsfolk, interrupted in the middle of the +drama, knew not which way to stare. Then Boisrueil, seeing me, +and that I was holding some sort of court, spurred his horse +through the press, and saluted me. + +"Let half-a-dozen of your varlets dismount and guard these men," +I said; "and do you, you rogue," I continued, addressing +Gringuet, "answer me, and tell me the truth. How much does each +of these knaves give you to cheat the King, and your master? +Curtin first. How much does he give you?" + +"My lord," he answered, pale and shaking, yet with a mutinous +gleam in his eyes, "I have a right to know first before whom I +stand." + +"Enough," I thundered, "that it is before one who has the right +to question you! answer me, villain, and be quick. What is the +sum of Curtin's bribe?" + +He stood white and mute. + +"Fonvelle's?" + +Still he stood silent, glaring with the devil in his eyes; while +the other men whimpered and protested their innocence, and the +crowd stared as if they could never see enough. + +"Philippon's?" + +"I take no bribes," he muttered. + +"Lescaut's?" + +"Not a denier." + +"Liar!" I exclaimed. "Liar, who devour widows' houses and poor +men's corn! Who grind the weak and say it is the King; and let +the rich go free. Answer me, and answer the truth. How much do +these men give you?" + +"Nothing," he said defiantly. + +"Very well," I answered; "then I will have the list. It is in +your shoe." + +"I have no list," he said, beginning to tremble. + +"It is in your shoe," I repeated, pointing to his gouty foot. +"Maignan, off with his shoe, and look in it." + +Disregarding his shrieks of pain, they tore it off and looked in +it. There was no list. + +"Off with his stocking," I said roundly. + +"It is there." + +He flung himself down at that, cursing and protesting by turns. +But I remembered the trampled corn, and the girl's bleeding face, +and I was inexorable. The stocking was drawn off, not too +tender]y, and turned inside out. Still no list was found. + +"He has it," I persisted. "We have tried the shoe and we have +tried the stocking, now we must try the foot. Fetch a stirrup- +leather, and do you hold him, and let one of the grooms give him +a dozen on that foot." + +But at that he gave way; he flung himself on his knees, screaming +for mercy. + +"The list!" I said, + +"I have no list! I have none!" he wailed. + +"Then give it me out of your head. Curtin, how much?" + +He glanced at the man I named, and shivered, and for a moment was +silent. But one of the grooms approaching with the stirrup- +leather, he found his voice. "Forty crowns," he muttered. + +"Fonvelle?" + +"The same." + +I made him confess also the sums which he had received from +Lescaut and Philippon, and then the names of seven others who had +been in the habit of bribing him. Satisfied that he had so far +told the truth, I bade him put on his stocking and shoe. "And +now," I said to Boisrueil, when this was done, "take him to the +whipping-post there, and tie him up; and see that each man of the +eleven gives him a stripe for every crown with which he has +bribed him--and good ones, or I will have them tied up in his +place. Do you hear, you rascals?" I continued to the trembling +culprits. "Off, and do your duty, or I will have your backs +bare." + +But the wretch, as cowardly as he had been cruel, flung himself +down and crawled, sobbing and crying, to my feet. I had no +mercy, however. "Take him away," I said, "It is such men as +these give kings a bad name. Take him away, and see you flay him +well." + +He sprang up then, forgetting his gout, and made a frantic +attempt to escape. But in a moment he was overcome, hauled away, +and tied up; and though I did not wait to see the sentence +carried out, but entered the inn, the shrill screams he uttered +under the punishment reached me, even there, and satisfied me +that Fonvelle and his fellows were not; holding their hands. + +It is a sad reflection, however, that for one such sinner brought +to justice ten, who commit the same crimes, go free, and +flourishing on iniquity, bring the King's service, and his +officers, into evil repute. + + + +XI. THE CAT AND THE KING. + +It was in the spring of the year 1609 that at the King's instance +I had a suite of apartments fitted up for him at the Arsenal, +that he might visit me, whenever it pleased him, without putting +my family to inconvenience; in another place will be found an +account of the six thousand crowns a year which he was so +obliging as to allow me for this purpose. He honoured me by +using these rooms, which consisted of a hall, a chamber, a +wardrobe, and a closet, two or three times in the course of that +year, availing himself of my attendants and cook; and the free +opportunities of consulting me on the Great Undertaking, which +this plan afforded, led me to hope that notwithstanding the envy +of my detractors, he would continue to adopt it. That he did not +do so, nor ever visited me after the close of that year, was due +not so much to the lamentable event, soon to be related, which +within a few months deprived France of her greatest sovereign, as +to a strange matter that attended his last stay with me. I have +since had cause to think that this did not receive at the time as +much attention as it deserved; and have even imagined that had I +groped a little deeper into the mystery I might have found a clue +to the future as well as the past, and averted one more, and the +last, danger from my beloved master. But Providence would not +have it so; a slight indisposition under which I was suffering at +the time rendered me less able, both in mind and body; the result +being that Henry, who was always averse to the publication of +these ominous episodes, and held that being known they bred the +like in mischievous minds, had his way, the case ending in no +more than the punishment of a careless rascal. + +On the occasion of this last visit--the third, I think, that he +paid me--the King, who had been staying at Chantilly, came to me +from Lusarche, where he lay the intervening night. My coaches +went to meet him at the gates a little before noon, but he did +not immediately arrive, and being at leisure and having assured +myself that the dinner of twelve covers, which he had directed to +be ready, was in course of preparation, I went with my wife to +inspect his rooms and satisfy myself that everything was in +order. + +They were in charge of La Trape, a man of address and +intelligence, whom I have had cause to mention more than once in +the course of these memoirs. He met me at the door and conducted +us through the rooms with an air of satisfaction; nor could I +find the slightest fault, until my wife, looking about her with a +woman's eye for minute things, paused by the bed in the chamber, +and directed my attention to something on the floor. + +She stooped over it. "What is this?" she asked. "Has something +been--" + +"Upset here?" I said, looking also. There was a little pool of +white liquid on the floor beside the bed. + +La Trape uttered an exclamation of annoyance, and explained that +he had not seen it before; that it had not been there five +minutes earlier; and that he did not know how it came to be there +now. + +"What is it?" I said, looking about for some pitcher that might; +have overflowed; but finding none. "Is it milk?" + +"I don't know, your excellency," he answered. "But it shall be +removed at once." + +"See that it is," I said. "Are the boughs in the fire-place +fresh?" For the weather was still warm and we had not lit a +fire. + +"Yes, your excellency; quite fresh." + +"Well, see to that, and remove it," I said, pointing to the mess. +"It looks ill." + +And with that the matter passed from my mind; the more completely +as I heard at that moment the sound of the King's approach, and +went into the court-yard to receive him. He brought with him +Roquelaure, de Vic, Erard the engineer, and some others, but none +whom he did not know that I should be glad to receive. He dined +well, and after dinner amused himself with seeing the young men +ride at the ring, and even rode a course himself with his usual +skill; that being, if I remember rightly, the last occasion on +which I ever saw him take a lance. Before supper he walked for a +time in the hall, with Sillery, for whom he had sent; and after +supper, pronouncing himself tired, he dismissed all, and retired +with me to his chamber. Here we had some talk on a subject that +I greatly dreaded--I mean his infatuation for Madame de Conde; +but about eleven o'clock he yawned, and, after thanking me for a +reception which he said was quite to his mind, he bade me go to +bed. + +I was half way to the door when he called me back. "Why, Grand +Master," he said, pointing to the little table by the head of the +bed on which his night drinks stood, "you might be going to drown +me. Do you expect me to drink all these in the night?" + +"I think that there is only your posset, sire," I said, "and the +lemon-water which you generally drink." + +"And two or three other things?" + +"Perhaps they have given your majesty some of the Arbois wine +that you were good enough to--" + +"Tut-tut!" he said, lifting the cover of one of the cups. "This +is not wine. It may be a milk-posset." + +"Yes, sire; very likely," I said drowsily. + +"But it is not!" he answered, when he had smelled it. "It is +plain milk! Come, my friend," he continued, looking drolly at +me, "have you turned leech, or I babe is arms that you put such +strong liquors before me? However, to show you that I have some +childish tastes left, and am not so depraved as you have been +trying to make me out for the last hour--I will drink your health +in it. It would serve you right if I made you pledge me in the +same liquor!" + +The cup was at his lips when I sprang forward and, heedless of +ceremony, caught his arm. "Pardon, sire!" I cried, in sudden +agitation. "If that is milk, I gave no order that it should be +placed here; and I know nothing of its origin. I beg that you +will not drink it, until I have made some inquiry." + +"They have all been tasted?" he asked, still holding the cup in +his hand with the lid raised, but looking at it gravely. + +"They should have been!" I answered. "But La Trape, whom I made +answerable for that, is outside. I will go and question him. If +you will wait, sire, a moment--" + +"No," Henry said. "Have him here." + +I gave the order to the pages who were waiting outside, and in a +moment La Trape appeared, looking startled and uncomfortable. +Naturally, his first glance was given to the King, who had taken +his seat on the edge of the bed, but still held the cup in his +hand. After asking the King's permission, I said, "What drinks +did you place on the table, here, sirrah?" + +He looked more uncomfortable at this, but he answered boldly +enough that he had served a posset, some lemon water, and some +milk. + +"But orders were given only for the lemon-water and the posset," +I said. + +"True, your excellency," he answered. "But when I went to the +pantry hatch, to see the under-butler carry up the tray, I found +that the milk was on the tray; and I supposed that you had given +another order." + +"Possibly Madame de Sully," the King said, looking at me, "gave +the order to add it?" + +"She would not presume to do so, sire," I answered, sternly. +"Nor do I in the least understand the matter. But at one thing +we can easily arrive. You tasted all of these, man?" + +La Trape said he had. + +"You drank a quantity, a substantial quantity of each--according +to the orders given to you? I persisted. + +"Yes, your excellency." + +But I caught a guilty look in his eyes, and in a gust of rage I +cried out that he lied. "The truth!" I thundered, in a terrible +voice. "The truth, you villain; you did not taste all?" + +"I did, your excellency; as God is above, I did!" he answered. +But he had grown pale, and he looked at the King in a terrified +way. + +"You did?" + +"Yes!" + +Yet I did not believe him, and I was about to give him the lie +again, when the King intervened. "Quite so," he said to La Trape +with a smile. "You drank, my good fellow, of the posset and the +lemon water, and you tasted the milk, but you did not drink of +it. Is not that the whole truth?" + +"Yes, sire," he whimpered, breaking down. "But I--I gave some to +a cat." + +"And the cat is no worse?" + +"No, sire." + +"There, Grand Master," the King said, turning to me, "that is the +truth, I think. What do you say to it?" + +"That the rest is simple," I answered, grimly. "He did not drink +it before; but he will drink it now, sire." + +The King, sitting on the bed, laughed and looked at La Trape; as +if his good-nature almost led him to interpose. But after a +moment's hesitation he thought better of it, and handed me the +cup. "Very well," he said; "he is your man. Have your way with +him. After all, he should have drunk it." + +"He shall drink it now, or be broken on the wheel!" I said. "Do +you hear, you?" I continued, turning to him in a white heat of +rage at the thought of his negligence, and the price it might +have cost me. "Take it, and beware that you do not drop or spill +it. For I swear that that shall not save you!" + +He took the cup with a pale face, and hands that shook so much +that he needed both to support the vessel. He hesitated, too, so +long that, had I not possessed the best of reasons for believing +in his fidelity, I should have suspected him of more than +negligence. The shadow of his tall figure seemed to waver on the +tapestry behind him; and with a little imagination I might have +thought that the lights in the room had sunk. The soft +whispering of the pages outside could be heard, and a stifled +laugh; but inside there was not a sound. He carried the cup to +his lips; then he lowered it again. + +I took a step forward. + +He recoiled a pace, his face ghastly. "Patience, excellency," he +said, hoarsely. "I shall drink it. But I want to speak first." + +"Speak!" the King answered. + +"If there is death in it, I take God to witness that I know +nothing, and knew nothing! There is some witch's work here it is +not the first time that I have come across this devil's milk to- +day! But I take God to witness I know nothing! Now it is here I +will drink it, and--" + +He did not finish the sentence, but drawing a deep breath raised +the cup to his lips. I saw the apple in his throat rise and fall +with the effort he made to swallow, but he drank so slowly that +it seemed to me that he would never drain the cap. Nor did he, +for when he had swallowed, as far as I could judge from the +tilting of the cup, about half of the milk, Henry rose suddenly +and, seizing it, took it from him with his own hand. + +"That will do," the King said. "Do you feel ill?" + +La Trape drew a trembling hand across his brow, on which the +sweat stood in beads; but instead of answering he remained +silent, gazing fixedly before him. We waited and watched, and at +length, when I should think three minutes had elapsed, he changed +his position for one of greater ease, and I saw his face relax. +The unnatural pallor faded, and the open lips closed. A minute +later he spoke. "I feel nothing, sire," he said. + +The King looked at me drolly. "Then take five minutes more," he +said. "Go, and stare at Judith there, cutting off the head of +Holofernes"--for that was the story of the tapestry--"and come +when I call you." + +La Trape went to the other end of the chamber. "Well," the King +said, inviting me by a sign to sit down beside him, "is it a +comedy or a tragedy, my friend? Or, tell me, what was it he +meant when he said that about the other milk?" + +I explained, the matter seeming so trivial now that I came to +tell it--though it; had doubtless contributed much to La Trape's +fright--that I had to apologize. + +"Still it is odd,"the King said. "These drinks were not here, at +that time, of course?" + +"No, sire; they have been brought up within the hour." + +"Well, your butler must explain it." And with that he raised his +voice and called La Trape back; who came, looking red and +sheepish. + +"Not dead yet?" the King said. + +"No, sire." + +"Nor ill?" + +"No, sire." + +"Then begone. Or, stay!" Henry continued. "Throw the rest of +this stuff into the fire-place. It may be harmless, but I have +no mind to drink it by mistake." + +La Trape emptied the cup among the green boughs that filled the +hearth, and hastened to withdraw. It seemed to be too late to +make further inquiries that night; so after listening to two or +three explanations which the King hazarded, but which had all too +fanciful an air in my eyes, I took my leave and retired. + +Whether, however, the scene had raised too violent a commotion in +my mind, or I was already sickening for the illness I have +mentioned, I found it impossible to sleep; and spent the greater +part of the night in a fever of fears and forebodings. The +responsibility which the King's presence cast upon me lay so +heavily upon my waking mind that I could not lie; and long before +the King's usual hour of rising I was at his door inquiring how +he did. No one knew, for the page whose turn it was to sleep at +his feet had not come out; but while I stood questioning, the +King's voice was heard, bidding me enter. I went in, and found +him sitting up with a haggard face, which told me, before he +spoke, that he had slept little better than I had. The shutters +were thrown wide open, and the cold morning light poured into the +room with an effect rather sombre than bright; the huge figures +on the tapestry looming huger from a drab and melancholy +background, and the chamber presenting all those features of +disorder that in a sleeping-room lie hid at night, only to show +themselves in a more vivid shape in the morning. + +The King sent his page out, and bade me sit by him. "I have had +a bad night," he said, with a shudder. "Grand Master, I doubt +that astrologer was right, and I shall never see Germany, nor +carry out my designs." + +Seeing the state in which he was, I could think of nothing better +than to rally him, and even laugh at him. "You think so now, +sire," I said. "It is the cold hour. By and by, when you have +broken your fast, you will think differently." + +"But, it may be, less correctly," he answered; and as he sat +looking before him with gloomy eyes, he heaved a deep sigh. "My +friend," he said, mournfully, "I want to live, and I am going to +die." + +"Of what?" I asked, gaily. + +"I do not know; but I dreamed last night that a house fell on me +in the Rue de la Ferronerie, and I cannot help thinking that I +shall die in that way." + +"Very well," I said. "It is well to know that." + +He asked me peevishly what I meant. + +"Only," I explained, "that, in that case, as your Majesty need +never pass through that street, you have it in your hands to live +for ever." + +"Perhaps it may not happen there--in that very street," he +answered. + +"And perhaps it may not happen yet," I rejoined. And then, more +seriously, "Come, sire," I continued, "why this sudden weakness? +I have known you face death a hundred times." + +"But not after such a dream as I had last night," he said, with a +grimace--yet I could see that he was already comforted. "I +thought that I was passing along that street in my coach, and on +a sudden, between St. Innocent's church and the notary's--there +is a notary's there?" + +"Yes, sire," I said, somewhat surprised. + +"I heard a great roar, and something struck me down, and I found +myself pinned to the ground, in darkness, with my mouth full of +dust, and an immense beam on my chest. I lay for a time in +agony, fighting for breath, and then my brain seemed to burst in +my head, and I awoke." + +"I have had such a dream, sire," I said, drily. + +"Last night?" + +"No," I said, "not last night." + +He saw what I meant, and laughed; and being by this time quite +himself, left that and passed to discussing the strange affair of +La Trape and the milk. "Have you found, as yet, who was good +enough to supply it?" he asked. + +"No, sire," I answered. "But I will see La Trape, and as soon as +I have learned anything, your majesty shall know it." + +"I suppose he is not far off now," he suggested. "Send for him. +Ten to one he will have made inquiries, and it will amuse us." + +I went to the door and, opening it a trifle, bade the page who +waited send La Trape. He passed on the message to a crowd of +sleepy attendants, and quickly, but not before I had gone back to +the King's bedside, La Trape entered. + +Having my eyes turned the other way, I did not at once remark +anything. But the King did; and his look of astonishment, no +less than the exclamation which accompanied it, arrested my +attention. "St. Gris, man!" he cried. "What is the matter? +Speak!" + +La Trape, who had stopped just within the door, made an effort to +do so, but no sound passed his lips; while his pallor and the +fixed glare of his eyes filled me with the worst apprehensions. +It was impossible to look at him and not share his fright, and I +stepped forward and cried out to him to speak. "Answer the King, +man," I said. "What is it?" + +He made an effort, and with a ghastly grimace, "The cat is dead!" +he said. + +For a moment we were all silent. Then I looked at the King, and +he at me, with gloomy meaning in our eyes. He was the first to +speak. "The cat to whom you gave the milk?" he said. + +"Yes, sire," La Trape answered, in a voice that seemed to come +from his heart. + +"But still, courage!" the King cried. "Courage, man! A dose +that would kill a cat may not kill a man. Do you feel ill?" + +"Oh, yes, sire," La Trape moaned. + +"What do you feel?" + +"I have a trembling in all my limbs, and ah--ah, my God, I am a +dead man! I have a burning here--a pain like hot coals in my +vitals!" And, leaning against the wall, the unfortunate man +clasped his arms round his body and bent himself up and down in a +paroxysm of suffering. + +"A doctor! a doctor!" Henry cried, thrusting one leg out of bed. +"Send for Du Laurens!" Then, as I went to the door to do so, "Can +you be sick, man?" he asked. "Try!" + +"No, no; it is impossible!" + +"But try, try! when did this cat die?" + +"It is outside," La Trape groaned. He could say no more. + +I had opened the door by this time, and found the attendants, +whom the man's cries had alarmed, in a cluster round it. +Silencing them sternly, I bade one go for M. Du Laurens, the +King's physician, while another brought me the cat that was dead. + +The page who had spent the night in the King's chamber, fetched +it. I told him to bring it in, and ordering the others to let +the doctor pass when he arrived, I closed the door upon their +curiosity, and went back to the King. He had left his bed and +was standing near La Trape, endeavouring to hearten him; now +telling him to tickle his throat with a feather, and now watching +his sufferings in silence, with a face of gloom and despondency +that sufficiently betrayed his reflections. At sight of the +page, however, carrying the dead cat, he turned briskly, and we +both examined the beast which, already rigid, with staring eyes +and uncovered teeth, was not a sight to cheer anyone, much less +the stricken man. La Trape, however, seemed to be scarcely aware +of its presence. He had sunk upon a chest which stood against +the wall, and, with his body strangely twisted, was muttering +prayers, while he rocked himself to and fro unceasingly. + +"It's stiff," the King said in a low voice. "It has been dead +some hours." + +"Since midnight," I muttered. + +"Pardon, sire," the page, who was holding the cat, said; "I saw +it after midnight. It was alive then." + +"You saw it!" I exclaimed. "How? Where?" + +"Here, your excellency," the boy answered, quailing a little. + +"What? In this room?" + +"Yes, excellency. I heard a noise about--I think about two +o'clock--and his Majesty breathing very heavily, It was a noise +like a cat spitting. It frightened me, and I rose from my pallet +and went round the bed. I was just in time to see the cat jump +down." + +"From the bed?" + +"Yes, your excellency. From his Majesty's chest, I think." + +"And you are sure that it was this cat?" + +"Yes, sire; for as soon as it was on the floor it began to writhe +and roll and bite itself, with all its fur on end, like a mad +cat. Then it flew to the door and tried to get out, and again +began to spit furiously. I thought that it would awaken the +King, and I let it out." + +"And then the King did awake?" + +"He was just awaking, your excellency." + +"Well, sire," I said, smiling, "this accounts, I think, for your +dream of the house that fell, and the beam that lay on your +chest." + +It would have been difficult to say whether at this the King +looked more foolish or more relieved. Whichever the sentiment he +entertained, however, it was quickly cut short by a lamentable +cry that drove the blood from our cheeks. La Trape was in +another paroxysm. "Oh, the poor man!" Henry cried. + +"I suppose that the cat came in unseen," I said; "with him last +night, and then stayed in the room?" + +"Doubtless." + +"And was seized with a paroxysm here?" + +"Such as he has now!" Henry answered; for La Trape had fallen to +the floor. "Such as he has now!" he repeated, his eyes flaming, +his face pale. "Oh, my friend, this is too much. Those who do +these things are devils, not men. Where is Du Laurens? Where is +the doctor? He will perish before our eyes." + +"Patience, sire," I said. "He will come." + +"But in the meantime the man dies." + +"No, no," I said, going to La Trape, and touching his hand. +"Yet, he is very cold." And turning, I sent the page to hasten +the doctor. Then I begged the King to allow me to have the man +conveyed into another room. "His sufferings distress you, sire, +and you do him no good," I said. + +"No, he shall not go!" he answered. "Ventre Saint Gris! man, he +is dying for me! He is dying in my place. He shall die here." + +Still ill satisfied, I was about to press him farther, when La +Trape raised his voice, and feebly asked for me. A page who had +taken the other's place was supporting his head, and two or three +of my gentlemen, who had come in unbidden, were looking on with +scared faces. I went to the poor fellow's side, and asked what I +could do for him. + +"I am dying!" he muttered, turning up his eyes. "The doctor! +the doctor!" + +I feared that he was passing, but I bade him have courage. "In a +moment he will be here," I said; while the King in distraction +sent messenger on messenger. + +"He will come too late," the sinking man answered. "Excellency?" + +"Yes, my good fellow," I said, stooping that I might hear him the +better. + +"I took ten pistoles yesterday from a man to get him a scullion's +place; and there is none vacant." + +"It is forgiven," I said, to soothe him. + +"And your excellency's favourite hound, Diane," he gasped. "She +had three puppies, not two. I sold the other." + +"Well, it is forgiven, my friend. It is forgiven. Be easy," I +said kindly. + +"Ah, I have been a villain," he groaned. "I have lived loosely. +Only last night I kissed the butler's wench, and--" + +"Be easy, be easy," I said. "Here is the doctor. He will save +you yet." + +And I made way for M. Du Laurens, who, having saluted the King, +knelt down by the sick man, and felt his pulse; while we all +stood round, looking down on the two with grave faces. It seemed +to me that the man's eyes were growing dim, and I had little +hope. The King was the first to break the silence. "You have +hope?" he said. "You can save him?" + +"Pardon, sire, a moment," the physician answered, rising from his +knees. "Where is the cat?" + +Someone brought it, and M. Du Laurens, after looking at it, said +curtly, "It has been poisoned." + +La Trape uttered a groan of despair. "At what hour did it take +the milk?" the physician asked. + +"A little before ten last evening," I said, seeing that La Trape +was too far gone for speech. + +"Ah! And the man?" + +"An hour later." + +Du Laurens shook his head, and was preparing to lay down the cat, +which he had taken in his hands, when some appearance led him to +examine it again and more closely. "Why what is this?" he +exclaimed, in a tone of surprise, as he took the body to the +window. "There is a large swelling under its chin." + +No one answered. + +"Give me a pair of scissors," he continued; and then, after a +minute, when they had been handed to him and he had removed the +fur, "Ha!" he said gravely, "this is not so simple as I thought. +The cat has been poisoned, but by a prick with some sharp +instrument." + +The King uttered an exclamation of incredulity. "But it drank +the milk," he said. "Some milk that--" + +"Pardon, sire," Du Laurens answered positively. "A draught of +milk, however drugged, does not produce an external swelling with +a small blue puncture in the middle." + +"What does?" the King asked, with something like a sneer. + +"Ah, that is the question," the physician answered. "A ring, +perhaps, with a poison-chamber and hollow dart." + +"But there is no question of that here," I said. "Let us be +clear. Do you say that the cat did not die of the milk?" + +"I see no proof that it did," he answered. "And many things to +show that it died of poison administered by puncture." + +"But then," I answered, in no little confusion of thought, "what +of La Trape?" + +He turned, and with him all eyes, to the unfortunate equerry, who +still lay seemingly moribund, with his head propped on some +cushions. M. Du Laurens advanced to him and again felt his +pulse, an operation which appeared to bring a slight tinge of +colour to the fading cheeks. "How much milk did he drink?" the +physician asked after a pause. + +"More than half a pint," I answered. + +"And what besides?" + +"A quantity of the King's posset, and a little lemonade." + +"And for supper? What did you have?" the leech continued, +addressing himself to his patient. + +"I had some wine," he answered feebly. "And a little Frontignac +with the butler; and some honey-mead that the gipsy-wench gave +me. + +"The gipsy-wench?" + +"The butler's girl, of whom I spoke." + +M. Du Laurens rose slowly to his feet, and, to my amazement, +dealt the prostrate man a hearty kick; bidding him at the same +time to rise. "Get up, fool! Get up," he continued harshly, yet +with a ring of triumph in his voice, "all you have got is the +colic, and it is no more than you deserve. Get up, I say, and +beg his Majesty's pardon!" + +"But," the King remonstrated in a tone of anger, "the man is +dying!" + +"He is no more dying than you are, sire," the other answered. +"Or, if he is, it is of fright. There, he can stand as well as +you or I!" + +And to be sure, as he spoke, La Trape scrambled to his feet, and +with a mien between shame and doubt stood staring at us, the very +picture of a simpleton. It was no wonder that his jaw fell and +his impudent face burned; for the room shook with such a roar of +laughter, at first low, and then as the King joined in it, +swelling louder and louder, as few of us had ever heard, Though I +was not a little mortified by the way in which we had deceived +ourselves, I could not help joining in the laugh; particularly as +the more closely we reviewed the scene in which we had taken +part, the more absurd seemed the jest. It was long before +silence could be obtained; but at length Henry, quite exhausted +by the violence of his mirth held up his hand. I seized the +opportunity. + +"Why, you rascal!" I said, addressing La Trape, who did not know +which way to look, "where are the ten crowns of which you +defrauded the scullion?" + +"To be sure," the King said, going off into another roar. "And +the third puppy?" + +"Yes," I said, "you scoundrel; and the third puppy?" + +"Ay, and the gipsy girl?" the King continued. "The butler's +wench, what of her? And of your evil living? Begone, begone, +rascal!" he continued, falling into a fresh paroxysm, "or you +will kill US in earnest. Would nothing else do for you but to +die in my chamber? Begone!" + +I took this as a hint to clear the room, not only of La Trape +himself but of all; and presently only I and Du Laurens remained +with the King. It then appeared that there was still a mystery, +and one which it behoved us to clear up; inasmuch as Du Laurens +took the cat's death very seriously, insisting that it had died +of poison administered in a most sinister fashion, and one that +could not fail to recall to our minds the Borgian popes. It +needed no more than this to direct my suspicions to the +Florentines who swarmed about the Queen, and against whom the +King had let drop so many threats. But the indisposition which +excitement had for a time kept at bay began to return upon me; +and I was presently glad to drop the subject; and retire to my +own apartments, leaving the King to dress. + +Consequently, I was not with him when the strange discovery which +followed was made. In the ordinary course of dressing, one of +the servants going to the fire-place to throw away a piece of +waste linen, thought that he heard a rat stir among the boughs. +He moved them, and in a moment a small snake crawled out, hissing +and darting out its tongue. It was killed, and then it at once +occurred to the King that he had the secret of the cat's death. +He came to me hot-foot with the news, and found me with Du +Laurens who was in the act of ordering me to bed. + +I confess that I heard the story almost with apathy, so ill was +I. Not so the physician. After examining the snake, which by +the King's orders had been brought for my inspection, he +pronounced that it was not of French origin. "It has escaped +from some snake-charmer," he said. + +The King seemed to be incredulous. + +"I assure you that I speak the truth, sire," Du Laurens +persisted. + +"But how then did it come in my room?" + +"That is what I should like to know, sire," the physician +answered severely; "and yet I think that I can guess. It was put +there, I fancy, by the person who sent up the milk to your +chamber." + +"Why do you say so?" Henry asked + +"Because, sire, all snakes are inordinately fond of milk." + +"Ah!" the King said slowly, with a change of countenance and a +shudder which he could not repress; "and there was milk on the +floor in the morning." + +"Yes, sire; on the floor, and beside the head of your bed." + +But at this stage I was attacked by a fit of illness so severe +that I had to break in on the discussion, and beg the King to +withdraw. The sickness increased on me during the day, and by +noon I was prostrate, neither taking interest in anything, nor +allowing others, who began to fear for my life, to divert their +attention. After twenty-four hours I began to mend, but still +several days elapsed before I was able to devote myself to +business; and then I found that, the master-mind being absent, +and the King, as always, lukewarm in the pursuit, nothing had +been done to detect and punish the criminal. + +I could not rest easy, however, with so abominable a suspicion +attaching to my house; and as soon as I could bend my mind to the +matter I began an inquiry. At the first stage, however, I came +to an IMPASSE; the butler, who had been long in my service, +cleared himself without difficulty, but a few questions +discovered the fact that a person who had been in his department +on the evening in question was now to seek, having indeed +disappeared from that time. This was the gipsy-girl, whom La +Trape had mentioned, and whose presence in my household seemed to +need the more elucidation the farther I pushed the inquiry. In +the end I had the butler punished, but though my agents sought +the girl through Paris, and even traced her to Meaux, she was +never discovered. + +The affair, at the King's instance, was not made public; +nevertheless, it gave him so strong a distaste for the Arsenal +that he did not again visit me, nor use the rooms I had prepared. +That later, when the first impression wore off, he would have +done so, is probable; but, alas, within a few months the malice +of his enemies prevailed over my utmost precautions, and robbed +me of the best of masters; strangely enough, as all the world now +knows, at the corner of that very Rue de la Feronnerie which he +had seen in his dream. + + + +XII. AT FONTAINEBLEAU. + +The passion which Henry still felt for Madame de Conde, and which +her flight from the country was far from assuaging, had a great +share in putting him upon the immediate execution of the designs +we had so long prepared. Looking to find in the stir and bustle +of a German campaign that relief of mind which the Court could no +longer afford him, he discovered in the unhoped-for wealth of his +treasury an additional incitement; and now waited only for the +opening of spring and the Queen's coronation to remove the last +obstacles that kept him from the field. + +Nevertheless, relying on my assurances that all things were +ready, and persuaded that the more easy he showed himself the +less prepared would he find the enemy, he made no change in his +habits; but in March, 1610, went, as usual, to Fontainebleau, +where he diverted himself with hunting. It was during this visit +that the Court credited him with seeing--I think, on the Friday +before the Feast of the Virgin--the Great Huntsman; and even went +so far as to specify the part of the forest in which he came upon +it, and the form--that of a gigantic black horseman, surrounded +by hounds--which it assumed The spectre had not been seen since +the year 1598; nevertheless, the story spread widely, those who +whispered it citing in its support not only the remarkable +agitation into which the Queen fell publicly on the evening of +that day, but also some strange particulars that attended the +King's return from the forest; and, being taken up and repeated, +and confirmed, as many thought, by the unhappy sequence of his +death, the fable found a little later almost universal credence, +so that it may now be found even in books. + +As it happened, however, I was that day at Fontainebleau, and +hunted with the King; and, favoured both by chance and the +confidence with which my master never failed to honour me, am +able not only to refute this story, but to narrate the actual +facts from which it took its rise. And though there are some, I +know, who boast that they had the tale from the King's own mouth, +I undertake to prove either that they are romancers who seek to +add an inch to their stature, or dull fellows who placed their +own interpretation on the hasty words he vouchsafed such +chatterers. + +As a fact, the King, on that day wishing to discuss with me the +preparations for the Queen's entry, bade me keep close to him, +since he had more inclination for my company than the chase. But +the crowd that attended him was so large, the day being fine and +warm--and comprised, besides, so many ladies, whose badinage and +gaiety he could never forego--that I found him insensibly drawn +from me. Far from being displeased, I was glad to see him forget +the moodiness which had of late oppressed him; and beyond keeping +within sight of him, gave up, for the time, all thought of +affairs, and found in the beauty of the spectacle sufficient +compensation. The bright dresses and waving feathers of the +party showed to the greatest advantage, as the long cavalcade +wound through the heather and rocks of the valley below the +Apremonts; and whether I looked to front or rear--on the +huntsmen, with their great horns, or the hounds straining in the +leashes--I was equally charmed with a sight at once joyous and +gallant, and one to which the calls of duty had of late made me a +stranger. + +On a sudden a quarry was started, and the company, galloping off +pell-mell, with a merry burst of music, were in a moment +dispersed, some taking this track, and others that, through the +rocks and DEBRIS that make that part of the forest difficult. +Singling out the King, I kept as near him as possible until the +chase led us into the Apremont coverts, where, the trees growing +thickly, and the rides cut through them being intricate, I lost +him for a while. Again, however, I caught sight of him flying +down a ride bordered by dark-green box-trees, against which his +white hunting coat showed vividly; but now he was alone, and +riding in a direction which each moment carried him farther from +the line of the chase, and entangled him more deeply in the +forest. + +Supposing that he had made a bad cast and was in error, I dashed +the spurs into my horse, and galloped after him; then, finding +that he still held his own, and that I did not overtake him, but +that, on the contrary, he was riding at the top of his speed, I +called to him. "You are in error, sire, I think!" I cried. +"The hounds are the other way!" + +He heard, for he raised his hand, and, without turning his head, +made me a sign; but whether of assent or denial, I could not +tell. And he still held on his course. Then, for a moment, I +fancied that his horse had got the better of him, and was running +away; but no sooner had the thought occurred to me than I saw +that he was spurring it, and exciting it to its utmost speed, so +that we reached the end of that ride, and rushed through another +and still another, always making, I did not fail to note, for the +most retired part of the forest, + +We had proceeded in this way about a mile, and the sound of the +hunt had quite died away behind us, and I was beginning to chafe, +as well as marvel, at conduct so singular, when at last I saw +that he was slackening his pace. My horse, which was on the +point of failing, began, in turn, to overhaul his, while I looked +out with sharpened curiosity for the object of pursuit. I could +see nothing, however, and no one; and had just satisfied myself +that this was one of the droll freaks in which he would sometimes +indulge, and that in a second or two he would turn and laugh at +my discomfiture, when, on a sudden, with a final pull at the +reins, he did turn, and showed me a face flushed with passion and +chagrin. + +I was so taken aback that I cried out. "MON DIEU! sire," I +said. "What is it? What is the matter?" + +"Matter enough!" he cried, with an oath. And on that, halting +his horse, he looked at me as if he would read my heart. "VENTRE +DE SAINT GRIS!" he said, in a voice that made me tremble, "if I +were sure that there was no mistake, I would--I would never see +your face again!" + +I uttered an exclamation. + +"Have you not deceived me?" quoth he. + +"Oh, sire, I am weary of these suspicions!" I answered, +affecting an indifference I did not feel. "If your Majesty does +not--" + +But he cut me short. "Answer me!" he said harshly, his mouth +working in his beard and his eyes gleaming with excitement. +"Have you not deceived me?" + +"No, sire!" I said. + +"Yet you have told me day by day that Madame de Conde remained in +Brussels?" + +"Certainly!" + +"And you still say so?" + +"Most certainly!" I answered firmly, beginning to think that his +passion had turned his brain. "I had despatches to that effect +this morning." + +"Of what date?" + +"Three days gone. The courier travelled night and day." + +"They may be true, and still she may be here to-day?" he said, +staring at me. + +"Impossible, sire!" + +"But, man, I have just seen her!" he cried impatiently. + +"Madame de Conde?" + +"Yes, Madame de Conde, or I am a madman!" Henry answered, +speaking a little more moderately. "I saw her gallop out of the +patch of rocks at the end of the Dormoir--where the trees begin. +She did not heed the line of the hounds, but turned straight down +the boxwood ride; and, after that, led as I followed. Did you +not see her?" + +"No, sire," I said, inexpressibly alarmed--I could take it for +nothing but fantasy--"I saw no one." + +"And I saw her as clearly as I see you," he answered. "She wore +the yellow ostrich-feather she wore last year, and rode her +favourite chestnut horse with a white stocking. But I could have +sworn to her by her figure alone; and she waved her hand to me." + +"But, sire, out of the many ladies riding to-day--" + +"There is no lady wearing a yellow feather," he answered +passionately. "And the horse! And I knew her, man! Besides, +she waved to me! And, for the others--why should they turn from +the hunt and take to the woods?" + +I could not answer this, but I looked at him in fear; for, as it +was impossible that the Princess de Conde could be here, I saw no +alternative but to think him smitten with madness. The +extravagance of the passion which he had entertained for her, and +the wrath into which the news of her flight with her young +husband had thrown him, to say nothing of the depression under +which he had since suffered, rendered the idea not so unlikely as +it now seems. At any rate, I was driven for a moment to +entertain it; and gazed at him in silence, a prey to the most +dreadful apprehensions. + +We stood in a narrow ride, bordered by evergreens, with which +that part of the forest is planted; and but for the songs of the +birds the stillness would have been absolute. On a sudden the +King removed his eyes from me, and, walking his horse a pace or +two along the ride, uttered a cry of joy. + +He pointed to the ground. "We are right!" he said. "There are +her tracks! Come! We will overtake her yet!" + +I looked, and saw the fresh prints of a horse's shoes, and felt a +great weight roll off my mind, for at least he had seen someone. +I no longer hesitated to fall in with his humour, but, riding +after him, kept at his elbow until he reached the end of the +ride. Here, a vista opening right and left, and the ground being +hard and free from tracks, we stood at a loss; until the King, +whose eyesight was always of the keenest, uttered an exclamation, +and started from me at a gallop. + +I followed more slowly, and saw him dismount and pick up a glove, +which, even at that distance, he had discerned lying in the +middle of one of the paths. He cried, with a flushed face, that +it was Madame de Conde's; and added: "It has her perfume--her +perfume, which no one else uses!" + +I confess that this so staggered me that I knew not what to +think; but, between sorrow at seeing my master so infatuated and +bewilderment at a riddle that grew each moment more perplexing, I +sat gaping at Henry like a man without counsel. However, at the +moment, he needed none, but, getting to his saddle as quickly as +he could, he began again to follow the tracks of the horse's +feet, which here were visible, the path running through a beech +wood. The branches were still bare, and the shining trunks stood +up like pillars, the ground about them being soft. We followed +the prints through this wood for a mile and a half or more, and +then, with a cry, the King darted from me, and, in an instant, +was racing through the wood at break-neck speed. + +I had a glimpse of a woman flying far ahead of us; and now hidden +from us by the trunks and now disclosed; and could even see +enough to determine that she wore a yellow feather drooping from +her hat, and was in figure not unlike the Princess. But that was +all; for, once started, the inequalities of the ground drew my +eyes from the flying form, and, losing it, I could not again +recover it. On the contrary, it was all I could do to keep up +with the King; and of the speed at which the woman was riding, +could best judge by the fact that in less than five minutes he, +too, pulled-up with a gesture of despair, and waited for me to +come abreast of him. + +"You saw her?" he said, his face grim, and with something of +suspicion lurking in it. + +"Yes, sire," I answered, "I saw a woman, and a woman with a +yellow feather; but whether it was the Princess--" + +"It was!" he said. "If not, why should she flee from us?" + +To that, again, I had not a word to say, and for a moment we rode +in silence. Observing, however, that this last turn had brought +us far on the way home, I called the King's attention to this; +but he had sunk into a fit of gloomy abstraction, and rode along +with his eyes on the ground. We proceeded thus until the slender +path we followed brought up into the great road that leads +through the forest to the kennels and the new canal. + +Here I asked him if he would not return to the chase, as the day +was still young. + +"Mon Dieu, no!" he answered passionately. "I have other work to +do. Hark ye, M. le Duc, do you still think that she is in +Brussels?" + +"I swear that she was there three days ago, sire!" + +"And you are not deceiving me? If it be so, God forgive you, for +I shall not!" + +"It is no trick of mine, sire," I answered firmly. + +"Trick?" he cried, with a flash of his eyes. "A trick, you say? +No, VENTRE DE SAINT GRIS! there is no man in France dare trick +me so!" + +I did not contradict him, the rather as we were now close to the +kennels, and I was anxious to allay his excitement; that it might +not be detected by the keen eyes that lay in wait for us, and so +add to the gossip to which his early return must give rise. I +hoped that at that hour he might enter unperceived, by way of the +kennels and the little staircase; but in this I was disappointed, +the beauty of the day having tempted a number of ladies, and +others who had not hunted, to the terrace by the canal; whence, +walking up and down, their fans and petticoats fluttering in the +sunshine, and their laughter and chatter filling the air, they +were able to watch our approach at their leisure. + +Unfortunately, Henry had no longer the patience and self-control +needful for such a RENCONTRE. He dismounted with a dark and +peevish air, and, heedless of the staring, bowing throng, strode +up the steps. Two or three, who stood high in favour, put +themselves forward to catch a smile or a word, but he vouchsafed +neither. He walked through them with a sour air, and entered the +chateau with a precipitation that left all tongues wagging. + +To add to the misfortune, something--I forget what--detained me a +moment, and that cost us dear. Before I could cross the terrace, +Concini, the Italian, came up, and, saluting me, said that the +Queen desired to speak to me. + +"The Queen?" I said, doubtfully, foreseeing trouble. + +"She is waiting at the gate of the farther court," he answered +politely, his keen black eyes reverting, with eager curiosity, to +the door by which the King had disappeared. + +I could not refuse, and went to her. "The King has returned +early, M. le Duc?" she said. + +"Yes, madame," I answered. "He had a fancy to discuss affairs +to-day, and we lost the hounds." + +"Together?" + +"I had the honour, Madame." + +"You do not seem to have agreed very well?" she said, smiling. + +"Madame," I answered bluntly, "his Majesty has no more faithful +servant; but we do not always agree." + +She raised her hand, and, with a slight gesture, bade her ladies +stand back, while her face lost its expression of good-temper, +and grew sharp and dark. "Was it about the Conde?" she said, in +a low, grating voice. "No, madame," I answered; "it was about +certain provisions. The King's ear had been grossly abused, and +his Majesty led to believe--" + +"Faugh!" she cried, with a wave of contempt, "that is an old +story! I am sick of it. Is she still at Brussels?" + +"Still, madame." + +"Then see that she stops there!" her Majesty retorted, with a +meaning look. + +And with that she dismissed me, and went into the chateau. I +proposed to rejoin the King; but, to my chagrin, I found, when I +reached the closet, that he had already sent for Varennes, and +was shut up with him. I went back to my rooms therefore, and, +after changing my hunting suit and transacting some necessary +business, sat down to dinner with Nicholas, the King's secretary, +a man fond of the table, whom I often entertained. He kept me in +talk until the afternoon was well advanced, and we were still at +table when Maignan appeared and told me that the King had sent +for me. + +"I will go," I said, rising. + +"He is with the Queen, your Excellency," he continued. + +This somewhat surprised me, but I thought no evil; and, finding +one of the Queen's Italian pages at the door waiting to conduct +me, I followed him across the court that lay between my lodgings +and her apartments. Two or three of the King's gentlemen were in +the anteroom when I arrived, and Varennes, who was standing by +one of the fire-places toying with a hound, made me a face of +dismay; he could not speak, owing to the company. + +Still this, in a degree, prepared me for the scene in the +chamber, where I found the Queen storming up and down the room, +while the King, still in his hunting dress, sat on a low chair by +the fire, apparently drying his boots. Mademoiselle Galigai, the +Queen's waiting-woman, stood in the background; but more than +this I had not time to observe, for, before I had reached the +middle of the floor, the Queen turned on me, and began to abuse +me with a vehemence which fairly shocked me. + +"And you!" she cried, "who speak so slow, and look so solemn, +and all the time do his dirty work, like the meanest cook he has +ennobled! It is well you are here! ENFIN, you are found out-- +you and your provisions! Your provisions, of which you talked in +the wood!" + +"MON DIEU!" the King groaned; "give me patience!" + +"He has given me patience these ten years, sire!" she retorted +passionately. "Patience to see myself flouted by your +favourites, insulted and displaced, and set aside! But this is +too much! It was enough that you made yourself the laughing- +stock of France once with this madame! I will not have it again +--no: though twenty of your counsellors frown at me!" + +"Your Majesty seems displeased," I said. "But as I am quite in +the dark--" + +"Liar!" she cried, giving way to her fury. "When you were with +her this morning! When you saw her! When you stooped to--" + +"Madame!" he King said sternly, "if you forget yourself, be good +enough to remember that you are speaking to French gentlemen, not +to traders of Florence!" + +She sneered. "You think to wound me by that!" she cried, +breathing quickly. "But I have my grandfather's blood in me, +sire; and no King of France--" + +"One King of France will presently make your uncle of that blood +sing small!" the King answered viciously. "So much for that; +and for the rest, sweetheart, softly, softly!" + +"Oh!" she cried, "I will go: I will not stay to be outraged by +that woman's presence!" + +I had now an inkling what was the matter; and discerning that the +quarrel was a more serious matter than their every-day +bickerings, and threatened to go to lengths that might end in +disaster, I ignored the insult her Majesty had flung at me, and +entreated her to be calm. "if I understand aright, madame," I +said, "you have some grievance against his Majesty. Of that I +know nothing. But I also understand that you allege something +against me; and it is to speak to that, I presume, that I am +summoned. If you will deign to put the matter into words--" + +"Words!" she cried. "You have words enough! But get out of +this, Master Grave-Airs, if you can! Did you, or did you not, +tell me this morning that the Princess of Conde was in Brussels?" + +"I did, madame." + +"Although half an hour before you had seen her, you had talked +with her, you had been with her in the forest?" + +"But I had not, madame!" + +"What?" she cried, staring at me, surprised doubtless that I +manifested no confusion. "Do you say that you did not see her?" + +"I did not." + +"Nor the King?" + +"The King, Madame, cannot have seen her this morning," I said, +"because he is here and she is in Brussels." + +"You persist in that?" + +"Certainly!" I said. "Besides, madame," I continued, "I have no +doubt that the King has given you his word--" + +"His word is good for everyone but his wife!" she answered +bitterly. "And for yours, M. le Duc, I will show you what it is +worth. Mademoiselle, call--" + +"Nay, madame!" I said, interrupting her with spirit, "if you are +going to call your household to contradict me--" + +"But I am not!" she cried in a voice of triumph that, for the +moment, disconcerted me. "Mademoiselle, send to M. de +Bassompierre's lodgings, and bid him come to me!" + +The King whistled softly, while I, who knew Bassompierre to be +devoted to him, and to be, in spite of the levity to which his +endless gallantries bore witness, a man of sense and judgment, +prepared myself for a serious struggle; judging that we were in +the meshes of an intrigue, wherein it was impossible to say +whether the Queen figured as actor or dupe. The passion she +evinced as she walked to and fro with clenched hands, or turned +now and again to dart a fiery glance at the Cordovan curtain that +hid the door, was so natural to her character that I found myself +leaning to the latter supposition. Still, in grave doubt what +part Bassompierre was to play, I looked for his coming as +anxiously as anyone. And probably the King shared this feeling; +but he affected indifference, and continued to sit over the fire +with an air of mingled scorn and peevishness. + +At length Bassompierre entered, and, seeing the King, advanced +with an open brow that persuaded me, at least, of his innocence. +Attacked on the instant, however, by the Queen, and taken by +surprise, as it were, between two fires--though the King kept +silence, and merely shrugged his shoulders--his countenance fell. +He was at that time one of the handsomest gallants about the +Court, thirty years old, and the darling of women; but at this +his APLOMB failed him, and with it my heart sank also. + +"Answer, sir! answer!" the Queen cried. "And without +subterfuge! Who was it, sir, whom you saw come from the forest +this morning?" + +"Madame?" + +"In one word!" + +"If your Majesty will--" + +"I will permit you to answer," the Queen exclaimed. + +"I saw his Majesty return," he faltered--"and M. de Sully." + +"Before them! before them!" + +"I may have been mistaken." + +"Pooh, man!" the Queen cried with biting contempt. "You have +told it to half-a-dozen. Discretion comes a little late." + +"Well, if you will, madame," he said, striving to assert himself, +but cutting a poor figure, "I fancied that I saw Madame de Conde +--" + +"Come out of the wood ten minutes before the King?" + +"It may have been twenty," he muttered. + +But the Queen cared no more for him. She turned, looking superb +in her wrath, to the King. "Now, sir!" she said. "Am I to bear +this?" + +"Sweet!" the King said, governing his temper in a way that +surprised me, "hear reason, and you shall have it in a word. How +near was Bassompierre to the lady he saw?" + +"I was not within fifty paces of her!" the favourite cried +eagerly. + +"But others saw her!" the Queen rejoined sharply. "Madame +Paleotti, who was with the gentleman, saw her also, and knew +her." + +"At a distance of fifty paces?" the King said drily. "I don't +attach much weight to that." And then, rising, with a slight +yawn. "Madame," he continued, with the air of command which he +knew so well how to assume, "for the present, I am tired! If +Madame de Conde is here, it will not be difficult to get further +evidence of her presence. If she is at Brussels, that fact, too, +you can ascertain. Do the one or the other, as you please; but, +for to-day, I beg that you will excuse me." + +"And that," the Queen cried shrilly--"that is to be--" + +"All, madame!" the King said sternly. "Moreover, let me have no +prating outside this room. Grand-Master, I will trouble you." + +And with these words, uttered in a voice and with an air that +silenced even the angry woman before us, he signed to me to +follow him, and went from the room; the first glance of his eye +stilling the crowded ante-chamber, as if the shadow of death +passed with him. I followed him to his closet; but, until he +reached it, had no inkling of what was in his thoughts. Then he +turned to me. + +"Where is she?" he said sharply. + +I stared at him a moment. "Pardon, said. "Do you think that it +was Madame de Conde?" + +"Why not?" + +"She is in Brussels." + +"I tell you I saw her this morning!" he answered. "Go, learn +all you can! Find her! Find her! If she has returned, I will-- +God knows what I will do!" he cried, in a voice shamefully +broken. "Go; and send Varennes to me. I shall sup alone: let no +one wait." + +I would have remonstrated with him, but he was in no mood to bear +it; and, sad at heart, I withdrew, feeling the perplexity, which +the situation caused me, a less heavy burden than the pain with +which I viewed the change that had of late come over my master; +converting him from the gayest and most DEBONAIRE of men into +this morose and solitary dreamer. Here, had I felt any +temptation to moralise on the tyranny of passion, was the +occasion; but, as the farther I left the closet behind me the +more instant became the crisis, the present soon reasserted its +power. Reflecting that Henry, in this state of uncertainty, was +capable of the wildest acts, and that not less was to be feared +from his imprudence than from the Queen's resentment, I cudgelled +my brains to explain the RENCONTRE of the morning; but as the +courier, whom I questioned, confirmed the report of my agents, +and asseverated most confidently that he had left Madame in +Brussels, I was flung back on the alternative of an accidental +resemblance. This, however, which stood for a time as the most +probable solution, scarcely accounted for the woman's peculiar +conduct, and quite fell to the ground when La Trape, making +cautious inquiries, ascertained that no lady hunting that day had +worn a yellow feather. Again, therefore, I found myself at a +loss; and the dejection of the King and the Queen's ill-temper +giving rise to the wildest surmises, and threatening each hour to +supply the gossips of the Court with a startling scandal, the +issue of which no one could foresee, I went so far as to take +into my confidence MM. Epernon and Montbazon; but with no result. + +Such being my state of mind, and such the suspense I suffered +during two days, it may be imagined that M. Bassompierre was not +more happy. Despairing of the King's favour unless he could +clear up the matter, and by the event justify his indiscretion, +he became for those two days the wonder, and almost the terror, +of the Court. Ignorant of what he wanted, the courtiers found +only insolence in his mysterious questions, and something +prodigious in an activity which carried him in one day to Paris +and back, and on the following to every place in the vicinity +where news of the fleeting beauty might by any possibility be +gained; so that he far outstripped my agents, who were on the +same quest. But though I had no mean opinion of his abilities, I +hoped little from these exertions, and was proportionately +pleased when, on the third day, he came to me with a radiant face +and invited me to attend the Queen that evening. + +"The King will be there," he said, "and I shall surprise you. +But I will not tell you more. Come! and I promise to satisfy +you." + +And that was all he would say; so that, finding my questions +useless, and the man almost frantic with joy, I had to be content +with it; and at the Queen's hour that evening presented myself in +her gallery, which proved to be unusually full. + +Making my way towards her in some doubt of my reception, I found +my worst fears confirmed. She greeted me with a sneering face, +and was preparing, I was sure, to put some slight upon me--a +matter wherein she could always count on the applause of her +Italian servants--when the entrance of the King took her by +surprise. He advanced up the gallery with a listless air, and, +after saluting her, stood by one of the fireplaces talking to +Epernon and La Force. The crowd was pretty dense by this time, +and the hum of talk filled the room when, on a sudden, a voice, +which I recognised as Bassompierre's, was lifted above it. + +"Very well!" be cried gaily, "then I appeal to her Majesty. She +shall decide, mademoiselle! No, no; I am not satisfied with your +claim!" + +The King looked that way with a frown, but the Queen took the +outburst in good part. "What is it, M. de Bassompierre?" she +said. "What am I to decide?" + +"To-day, in the forest, I found a ring, madame," he answered, +coming forward." I told Mademoiselle de la Force of my +discovery, and she now claims the ring." + +"I once had a ring like it," cried mademoiselle, blushing and +laughing. + +"A sapphire ring?" Bassompierre answered, holding his hand +aloft. + +"Yes." + +"With three stones?" + +"Yes," + +"Precisely, mademoiselle!" he answered, bowing. "But the stones +in this ring are not sapphires, nor are there three of them." + +There was a great laugh at this, and the Queen said, very +wittily, that as neither of the claimants could prove a right to +the ring it must revert to the judge. + +"In one moment your Majesty shall at least see it," he answered. +"But, first, has anyone lost a ring? Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! Lost, +in the forest, within the last three days, a ring!" + +Two or three, falling in with his humour, set up absurd claims to +it; but none could describe the ring, and in the end he handed it +to the Queen. As he did so his eyes met mine and challenged my +attention. I was prepared, therefore, for the cry of surprise +which broke from the Queen. + +"Why, this is Caterina's!" she cried. "Where is the child?" + +Someone pushed forward Mademoiselle Paleotti, sister-in-law to +Madame Paleotti, the Queen's first chamberwoman. She was barely +out of her teens, and, ordinarily, was a pretty girl; but the +moment I saw her dead-white face, framed in a circle of +fluttering fans and pitiless, sparkling eyes, I discerned tragedy +in the farce; and that M. de Bassompierre was acting in a drama +to which only he and one other held the key. The contrast +between the girl's blanched face and the beauty and glitter in +the midst of which she stood struck others, so that, before +another word was said, I caught the gasp of surprise that passed +through the room; nor was I the only one who drew nearer. + +"Why, girl," the Queen said, "this is the ring I gave you on my +birthday! When did you lose it? And why have you made a secret +of it?" + +Mademoiselle stood speechless; but madame her sister-in-law +answered for her. "Doubtless she was afraid that your Majesty +would think her careless," she answered. + +"I did not ask you!" the Queen rejoined. + +She spoke harshly and suspiciously, looking from the ring to the +trembling girl. The silence was such that the chatter of the +pages in the anteroom could be heard. Still Mademoiselle stood +dumb and confounded. + +"Well, what is the mystery?" the Queen said, looking round with +a little wonder. "What is the matter? It IS the ring. Why do +you not own it?" + +"Perhaps mademoiselle is wondering where are the other things she +left with it!" Bassompierre said in a silky tone. "The things +she left at Parlot the verderer's, when she dropped the ring. +But she may free her mind; I have them here." + +"What do you mean?" the Queen said. "What things, monsieur? +What has the girl been doing?" + +"Only what many have done before her," Bassompierre answered, +bowing to his unfortunate victim, who seemed to be paralysed by +terror: "masquerading in other people's clothes. I propose, +madame, that, for punishment, you order her to dress in them, +that we may see what her taste is." + +"I do not understand?" the Queen said. + +"Your Majesty will, if Mademoiselle Paleotti will consent to +humour us." + +At that the girl uttered a cry, and looked round the circle as if +for a way of escape; but a Court is a cruel place, in which the +ugly or helpless find scant pity. A dozen voices begged the +Queen to insist; and, amid laughter and loud jests, Bassompierre +hastened to the door, and returned with an armful of women's +gear, surmounted by a wig and a feathered hat. + +"If the Queen will command mademoiselle to retire and put these +on," he said, "I will undertake to show her something that will +please her." + +"Go!" said the Queen. + +But the girl had flung herself on her knees before her, and, +clinging to her skirts, burst, into a flood of tears and prayers; +while her sister-in-law stepped forward as if to second her, and +cried out, in great excitement, that her Majesty would not be so +cruel as to-- + +"Hoity, toity!" said the Queen, cutting her short, very grimly. +"What is all this? I tell the girl to put on a masquerade-- +which it seems that she has been keeping at some cottage--and you +talk as if I were cutting off her head! It seems to me that she +escapes very lightly! Go! go! and see, you, that you are +arrayed in five minutes, or I will deal with you!" + +"Perhaps Mademoiselle de la Force will go with her, and see that +nothing is omitted," Bassompierre said with malice. + +The laughter and applause with which this proposal was received +took me by surprise; but later I learned that the two young women +were rivals. "Yes, yes," the Queen said. "Go, mademoiselle, and +see that she does not keep us waiting." + +Knowing what I did, I had by this time a fair idea of the +discovery which Bassompierre had made; but the mass of courtiers +and ladies round me, who had not this advantage, knew not what to +expect--nor, especially, what part M. Bassompierre had in the +business--but made most diverting suggestions, the majority +favouring the opinion that Mademoiselle Paleotti had repulsed +him, and that this was his way of avenging himself. A few of the +ladies even taxed him with this, and tried, by random reproaches, +to put him at least on his defence; but, merrily refusing to be +inveigled, he made to all the same answer that when Mademoiselle +Paleotti returned they would see. This served only to whet a +curiosity already keen, insomuch that the door was watched by as +many eyes as if a miracle had been promised; and even MM. Epernon +and Vendome, leaving the King's side, pressed into the crowd that +they might see the better. I took the opportunity of going to +him, and, meeting his eyes as I did so, read in them a look of +pain and distress. As I advanced he drew back a pace, and signed +to me to stand before him. + +I had scarcely done so when the door opened and Mademoiselle +Paleotti, pale, and supported on one side by her rival, appeared +at it; but so wondrously transformed by a wig, hat, and redingote +that I scarcely knew her. At first, as she stood, looking with +shamed eyes at the staring crowd, the impression made was simply +one of bewilderment, so complete was the disguise. But +Bassompierre did not long suffer her to stand so. Advancing to +her side, his hat under his arm, he offered his hand. + +"Mademoiselle," he said, "will you oblige me by walking as far as +the end of the gallery with me?" + +She complied involuntarily, being almost unable to stand alone. +But the two had not proceeded half-way down the gallery before a +low murmur began to be heard, that, growing quickly louder, +culminated in an astonished cry of "Madame de Conde! Madame de +Conde!" + +M. Bassompierre dropped her hand with a low bow, and turned to +the Queen. "Madame," he said, "this, I find, is the lady whom I +saw on the Terrace when Madame Paleotti was so good as to invite +me to walk on the Bois-le-Roi road. For the rest, your Majesty +may draw your conclusions." + +It was easy to see that the Queen had already drawn them; but, +for the moment, the unfortunate girl was saved from her wrath. +With a low cry, Mademoiselle Paleotti did that which she would +have done a little before, had she been wise, and swooned on the +floor. + +I turned to look at the King, and found him gone. He had +withdrawn unseen in the first confusion of the surprise; nor did +I dare at once to interrupt him, or intrude on the strange +mixture of regret and relief, wrath and longing, that probably +possessed him in the silence of his closet. It was enough for me +that the Italians' plot had failed, and that the danger of a +rupture between the King and Queen, which these miscreants +desired, and I had felt to be so great and imminent, was, for +this time, overpast. + +The Paleottis were punished, being sent home in disgrace, and a +penury, which, doubtless, they felt more keenly. But, alas, the +King could not banish with them all who hated him and France; nor +could I, with every precaution, and by the unsparing use of all +the faculties that, during a score of years, had been at the +service of my master, preserve him for his country and the world. +Before two months had run he perished by a mean hand, leaving the +world the poorer by the greatest and most illustrious sovereign +that ever ruled a nation. And men who loved neither France nor +him entered into his labours, whose end also I have seen. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext From the Memoirs of a Minister of France + |