diff options
Diffstat (limited to '39520-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 39520-8.txt | 21724 |
1 files changed, 21724 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/39520-8.txt b/39520-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..de38060 --- /dev/null +++ b/39520-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,21724 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Huguenot: (Volumes I-III), by +G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Huguenot: (Volumes I-III) + A Tale of the French Protestants. + +Author: G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James + +Release Date: April 23, 2012 [EBook #39520] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HUGUENOT: (VOLUMES I-III) *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by +Google Books (Oxford University) + + + + + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + + 1. Page scan source: + http://books.google.com/books?id=nXoEAAAAQAAJ& + (Oxford University) + + 2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. + + + + + + + THE HUGUENOT. + + + VOL. I. + + + + + + + London: + Printed by A. Spottiswoode, + New-Street-Square. + + + + + + + THE + + HUGUENOT + + A TALE + + OF + + THE FRENCH PROTESTANTS. + + + + + BY THE AUTHOR OF + + "THE GIPSY," "THE ROBBER," + &c. &c. + + + + * * * + + IN THREE VOLUMES. + + VOL. I. + + * * * + + + + LONDON: + + PRINTED FOR + + LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS, + + PATERNOSTER-ROW. + + 1839. + + + + + + + DEDICATION. + + * * * + + + + TO + + CHARLES RUDOLPHE + + LORD CLINTON, + + &c. &c. &c. + + + +My Lord, + +Although I, of course, look upon the book, which I now venture to +dedicate to one whom I so much esteem and respect, with those parental +prejudices which make us often overlook all defects, and magnify any +good qualities in our offspring, yet, believe me, I feel that it is +very far inferior to that which I could wish to present to you. Do +not, then, measure my regard by the value of the work, but accept it +only as a very slight testimony of great esteem; and, at the same +time, allow me, even in my Dedication, to say a few words concerning +the book itself. + +I will not trouble you or the public with any reasoning upon the +general conduct of the story--why I suddenly changed the scene here, +or flew off to another character there,--why I gave but a glimpse of +such a personage, or dwelt long and minutely upon another. I believe +and trust that those who read the work attentively will discover +strong reasons for all such proceedings, and I am quite sure that much +thought and care was bestowed on each step of the kind before it was +taken. Your own good taste will decide whether I was right or wrong, +and blame or approve, I know, whatever I might plead. The public will +do so also; and, as a general rule, I think it best to conceal, as far +as possible, in all cases, the machinery of a composition of this +kind, suffering the wheels to produce their effect without being +publicly exhibited. + +I have heard many authors blamed, however, and, doubtless, have been +so myself, for frequently changing the scene or character before the +reader's eyes. There are people who read a romance only for the story, +and these are always displeased with anything that interrupts their +straightforward progress. But nature does not tell _her_ stories in +such a way as these readers desire; and, in the course of human life, +there are always little incidents occurring, which seem of no earthly +importance at the time, but which, in years long after, affect persons +and produce events where no one could imagine that such a connexion is +likely to be brought about. + +I have always in this respect, as in all others, endeavoured to the +best of my abilities to copy nature; and those readers who pass over +little incidents, because they seem at the time irrelevant, or run on +to follow the history of one character whenever a less interesting +personage is brought upon the scene, will derive little either of +profit or pleasure from any well constructed work of fiction. I have, +as far as possible, avoided in all my works bringing prominently +forward any character or any scene which has not a direct influence +upon the progress and end of the tales; but I have equally avoided +pointing out to the superficial reader, by any flourish of trumpets, +that the personage he thinks of no importance is "to turn out a great +man in the end," or that the scene which seems unconnected and +irrelevant will be found not without results. + +Besides these considerations, however, I trust every romance-writer in +the present day proposes to himself greater objects than the mere +telling of a good story. He who, in the course of a well-conceived and +interesting tale, excites our good passions to high and noble +aspirations; depicts our bad passions so as to teach us to abhor and +govern them; arrays our sympathies on the side of virtue, benevolence, +and right; expands our hearts, and makes the circle of our feelings +and affections more comprehensive; stores our imaginations with images +bright, and sweet, and beautiful; makes us more intimately and +philosophically acquainted with the characters of our fellow-men; and, +in short, causes the reader to rise wiser and with a higher +appreciation of all that is good and great,--attains the grand object +at which every man should aim, and deserves the thanks and admiration +of mankind. Even he who makes the attempt, though without such +success, does something, and never can write altogether in vain. + +That you, to whom I inscribe this work, can appreciate such purposes, +and will encourage the attempt, even where, as in these pages, it goes +little beyond endeavour, is no slight pleasure to me: nor is it an +unmeaning or insincere compliment when I say, that though I yield my +own opinions to no man, yet I have often thought of you and yours +while I have been writing these volumes. I know not whether you +remember saying one day, after we had visited together the school +instituted by our noble acquaintance Guicciardini, "that whether it +succeeded or failed, the endeavour to do good ought to immortalize +him." Perhaps you have forgotten the words, but I have not. + +Allow me, ere I end this long epistle, to add something in regard to +the truth of the representations made in the work, and the foundation +on which the story rests. If you will look into the curious "Mémoires +Historiques sur la Bastille," published in 1789 (vol. i., page 203), +you will find some of the bare facts, as they are stated in the Great +Register of the Bastille, on which the plot of the tale that follows +entirely hinges. + +Of course I cannot forestall my story by alluding more particularly to +those facts; and I have only further to say on that subject, that for +many reasons I have altered the names inserted in the Great Register. +I have also taken the same liberty with regard to the scenes of many +events which really occurred, placing in Poitou what sometimes took +place in Dauphiny, sometimes in Provence. Nor have I felt myself bound +in all instances to respect the exact dates, having judged it +expedient to bring many events within a short compass which were +spread over a greater space of time. I have endeavoured, however, to +represent most accurately, without prejudice or favour, the conduct of +the French Catholics to French Protestants, and of Protestants to +Catholics, during the persecutions of the seventeenth century. My +love and esteem for many excellent Catholics--priests as well as +laity--would prevent me, I believe, from viewing the question of the +revocation of the edict of Nantes, and the consequences thereof, with +a prejudiced eye; and when I read the following passages in the +writings, not of a Protestant, but of a sincere Catholic, I am only +inclined to doubt whether I have not softened the picture of +persecution. + + +"Il restait peu à faire pour exciter le zèle du roi contre une +religion solemnellement frappée des plus éclatans anathèmes par +l'église universelle, et qui s'en était elle-même frappée la première +en se séparant de tout l'antiquité sur des points de foi fondamentaux. + +"Le roi était devenu dévot, et dévot dans la dernière ignorance. A la +dévotion se joignit la politique. On voulut lui plaire par les +endroits qui le touchaient le plus sensiblement, la dévotion et +l'autorité. On lui peignit les Huguenots avec les plus noires +couleurs; un état dans un état, parvenu à ce point de licence à force +de désordres, de révoltes, de guerres civiles, d'alliances étrangères, +de résistance à force ouverte contre les rois ses prédécesseurs, et +jusqu'à lui-même réduit à vivre en traité avec eux. Mais on se garda +bien de lui apprendre la source de tant de maux, les origines de leurs +divers dégrès et de leurs progrès, pourquoi et par qui les Huguenots +furent premièrement armés, puis soutenus, et surtout de lui dire un +seul mot des projets de si longue main pourpensés, des horreurs et des +attentats de la ligue contre sa couronne, contre sa maison, contre son +père, son aïeul, et tous les siens. + +"On lui voila avec autant de soin ce que l'évangile, et d'après cette +divine loi les apôtres, et tous les pères et leur suite, enseignent la +manière de prêcher Jésus Christ, de convertir les infidèles et les +hérétiques, et de se conduire en ce qui regarde la religion. On toucha +un dévot de la douceur de faire, aux dépens d'autrui, une pénitence +facile qu'on lui persuada sure pour l'autre monde. * * * * * + +"Les grands ministres n'étaient plus alors. Le Tellier au lit de la +mort, son funeste fils était le seul qui restât, car Seignelay ne +faisait guère que poindre. Louvois, avide de guerre, atterré sous le +poids d'une trève de vingt ans, qui ne faisait presque que d'être +signée, espéra qu'un si grand coup porté aux Huguenots réunirait tout +le Protestantisme de l'Europe, et s'applaudit en attendant de ce que +le roi ne pouvant frapper sur les Huguenots que par ses troupes, il en +serait le principal exécuteur, et par là de plus en plus en crédit. +L'esprit et le génie de Madame de Maintenon, tel qu'il vient d'être +représenté avec exactitude, n'était rien moins que propre, ni capable +d'aucune affaire au-delà de l'intrigue. Elle n'était pas née ni +nourrie à voir sur celle-ci au-delà de ce qui lui en était presenté, +moins encore pour ne pas saisir avec ardeur une occasion si naturelle +de plaire, d'admirer, de s'affermir de plus en plus par la dévotion. +Qui d'ailleurs eût su un mot de ce qui ne se délibérait qu'entre le +confesseur, le ministre alors comme unique, et l'épouse nouvelle et +chérie; et qui de plus eût osé contredire? C'est ainsi que sont menés +à tout, par une voie ou par une autre, les rois qui, par grandeur, par +défiance, par abandon à ceux qui les tiennent, par paresse ou par +orgueil, ne se communiquent qu'à deux ou trois personnes, et bien +souvent à moins, et qui mettent entre eux et tout le reste de leurs +sujets une barrière insurmontable. + +"La revocation de l'édit de Nantes, sans le moindre prétexte et sans +aucun besoin, et les diverses proscriptions plutôt que déclarations +qui la suivirent, furent les fruits de ce complot affreux qui dépeupla +un quart du royaume; qui ruina son commerce; qui l'affaiblit dans +toutes ses parties; qui le mit si longtemps au pillage public et avoué +des dragons; qui autorisa les tourmens et les supplices dans lesquels +ils firent réellement mourir tant d'innocens de tout sexe par +milliers; qui ruina un peuple si nombreux; qui déchira un monde de +familles; qui arma les parens contre les parens pour avoir leur bien +et les laisser mourir de faim; qui fit passer nos manufactures aux +étrangers, fit fleurir et regorger leurs états aux dépens du nôtre, et +leur fit bâtir de nouvelles villes; qui leur donna le spectacle d'un +si prodigieux peuple proscrit, nu, fugitif, errant sans crime, +cherchant asile loin de sa patrie; qui mit nobles, riches, vieillards, +gens souvent très-estimés pour leur piété, leur savoir, leur vertu, +des gens aisés, faibles, délicats, à la ruine, et sous le nerf +très-effectif du comité, pour cause unique de religion; enfin qui, +pour comble de toutes horreurs, remplit toutes les provinces du +royaume de parjures et de sacrilèges, où tout retentissait de +hurlemens de ces infortunées victimes de l'erreur, pendant que tant +d'autres sacrifiaient leur conscience à leurs biens et à leur repos, +et achetaient l'un et l'autre par des abjurations simulées, d'où sans +intervalle on les traînait à adorer ce qu'ils ne croyaient point, et à +recevoir réellement le divin corps du saint des saints, tandis qu'ils +demeuraient persuadés qu'ils ne mangeaient que du pain qu'ils devaient +encore abhorrer. Telle fut l'abomination générale enfantée par la +flatterie et par la cruauté. De la torture à l'abjuration, et de +celle-ci à la communion, il n'y avait pas souvent vingt-quatre heures +de distance, et leurs bourreaux étaient leurs conducteurs et leurs +témoins. Ceux qui, par la suite, eurent l'air d'être changés avec plus +de loisir, ne tardèrent pas par leur fuite ou par leur conduite à +démentir leur pretendu retour."--_St. Simon_, vol. xiii. p. 113. ed. +1829. + + +I have now nothing further to say, my dear Lord Clinton, but to beg +your pardon for having already said so much, and to express a hope +that you and the public will deal leniently by that which is now +offered to you, with the highest respect and esteem, by + + + Yours most faithfully, + + G. P. R. James. + +_Fair Oak Lodge, Petersfield_. + 17_th Nov_. 1838. + + + + + + + THE HUGUENOT. + + * * * + + + + CHAPTER I. + + THE HERO, HIS FRIEND, AND HIS DWELLING IN + THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. + + +There is a small town in one of the remote provinces of France, about +ten miles from the sea shore, and two or three hundred from the +capital, on the appearance of which it may be as well to dwell for a +short time; noticing not alone its houses and its streets as they +appeared in the seventeenth century, but its inhabitants, their +feelings, and their customs, at that period. + +Were we not to make this formal sort of presentation, the reader would +feel as if set down suddenly amidst a crowd of strangers with no one +to introduce him, with no one to unpadlock the barrier which the +cautious laws of society set up between man and man, to guard against +the wild-beast propensities of the race of intellectual tigers to +which we belong. Now, however, if we manage skilfully, the reader may +become as familiar with the people of another day, and scenes of +another land, as if they had been the playfellows of his childhood, +and the haunts of his youth; and may go on calmly with those to whom +he is thus introduced through the dark and painful events which are +recorded in the pages that follow. + +That part of France in which our scene is laid, presents features +which differ very much from the dull and uninteresting aspect of the +land from Calais to Paris, and from Paris to the mountains of +Switzerland--the route generally pursued by our travelling countrymen, +whether they go forth to make what is usually called the grand tour, +or content themselves with idling away a long space of mispent time +amongst the Helvetian mountains. In the district that I speak of, the +face of the country, though it cannot perhaps be called mountainous, +is richly varied, running up into occasional high and pointed hills, +presenting frequent masses of rock and wood, diversified by a mile or +two, here and there, of soft pasture and meadow; with innumerable +streams--some calm and peaceful, some fierce and torrent-like, some +sparkling and playful, giving an air of life and glad activity to the +land through which they flow. These manifold streams shed also a hue +of indescribable verdure, a fresh leafyness of aspect, that is most +grateful to the eye; and though there is not there, as in our own +land, the frequent hedge-row, with its sweet village associations, yet +there is no want of high umbrageous trees scattered here and there, +besides the thick woods that, in many places, occupy several leagues +in extent, and the lesser copses that nest themselves in many a dell. + +The district that we speak of is bright in its skies and warm in its +sunshine, though it is not precisely in the region of the richest +vine; and there are scarcely five days, during six months of the year, +in which, on every stony bank or on the short soft turf above the +large lizards may not be seen basking in their coats of green and +gold. There are not, indeed, the cloudless skies of Italy, which, +notwithstanding their splendid colouring, are insipid from their very +cloudlessness: no, but wreathed in grand masses by the free air, +sometimes drifting from the British channel, sometimes sweeping from +the wide western ocean, the clouds and the sunshine sport together in +the heaven, while the shadow and the light chase each other over the +earth below, and ever and anon comes down a passing shower, refreshing +the lands it lights upon, and leaving them brighter than before. + +On the top of one of the tall rocky hills we have mentioned, in very +remote feudal times,--for we find it mentioned in all the wars +undertaken by the Edwards and the Henries in their vain endeavours to +grasp a crown that did not belong to them,--a town had been built and +fortified, circumscribed by large stone walls flanked by round towers, +and crowned by the square keep of a castle, only one wall of which has +been left, for now near a century and a half. This town was of small +size, occupying nothing but the summit of the hill, and was strictly +confined within the walls; and, indeed, below, on three sides, were +such steep ascents--in some places showing precipitous spaces of rude +rock, and in others covered with short, green, slippery turf--that it +was scarcely possible for the inhabitants to have built beyond the +walls, except on one side, even if they had been so inclined. + +In such times of danger, however, it had been the object of those who +possessed the town to keep that fourth side, by which the ascent was +more easy, clear from all houses and buildings of any kind, so that +the quarrels from the cross-bow, the arrows from the bow, or the balls +from the cannon--as different ages brought different inventions--might +sweep down unimpeded upon any approaching enemy, and that the eye +might also have a free range to discover the approach of a foe. Thus +that gentler slope was not even broken by a road till the end of the +sixteenth century, the way up to the town from the valley below being +constructed with great skill and care upon one of the steepest sides +of the hill, by means of wide short platforms, each of which was +defended by some particular fortification of its own, while the whole +line of the valley and the lower part of the road were commanded by +the cannon of the castle of St. Anne, a rude old fortress on an +inferior hill, of little or no use to any persons but those who +possessed the higher and more important works above. Through the +valley and winding round the foot of the hill of St. Anne was a wide, +clear, beautiful stream, navigable up to that spot, and falling into +the sea at the distance of ten or twelve miles in a direct line, but +which contrived to extend its course, by the tortuous path that it +pursued amongst the hills, to a length of nearly twenty leagues. + +Such as we have described was the situation, in feudal times, of the +small town that we shall call Morseiul; but ere the commencement of +our tale those feudal times had passed away. Even during the wars of +the League the town had remained in tranquillity and repose. It was +remote from the general scene of strife; and although it had sent out +many who aided, and not insignificantly, in upholding the throne of +Henry IV., there was but one occasion on which the tide of war flowed +near its walls, and then speedily retreated, and left it unassailed. + +Under these circumstances fortifications were soon +neglected--precautions were no longer taken--the cannon for half a +century remained upon the walls unused--rust and honeycomb began to +gnaw into the heart of the iron--sheds were erected in the +embrasures--houses succeeded--gardens were laid out in the round +towers--the castle of St. Anne fell utterly into ruins--and some of +the patriotic and compassionate inhabitants thought it a hard tax upon +the sinews of the horses, who in those days carried from place to +place the merchandise of the country, to be forced to climb the zizgag +path of one of the more precipitous sides of the hill. Thus in the +early part of the reign of Louis XIII. a petition was addressed by the +inhabitants to their count, who still retained all his feudal rights +and privileges, beseeching him to construct or permit the construction +of a gate upon the southern side of the town, and a road down the +easier descent. + +The count, who was a good-humoured man, a nobleman of the school of +Henry IV., and as fond of the people of the good town as they were of +him, was quite willing to gratify them in any reasonable desire; but +he was the more moved to do what they wished in the present instance, +inasmuch as some ten or fifteen years before he had himself broken +through the old rules and regulations established in the commune, and +not only built himself a château beyond the walls of that very side, +but laid out a space of two or three acres of ground in such a manner +as to give him shade when he wanted it, and sunshine when the shade +was not agreeable. + +Of the château we shall speak hereafter: but it is only here necessary +to say, that in building this dwelling beyond the walls, the Count de +Morseiul of that day had forgotten altogether the possibility of +carrying a road down that side of the hill. He had constructed a way +for himself into the town by enlarging an old postern in the walls, +which he caused to open into his garden, and by this postern, whenever +he sought to issue forth into the country beyond, he took his way into +the town, traversed the square, and followed the old zigzag road down +the steep side of the hill. The peasantry, indeed, had not failed to +think of that which their lord had overlooked, and when they had a +dozen or two of pigeons, or a pair of fowls, or a fat calf to present +to the seigneur, they almost invariably brought it by the slope up the +hill. A path had thus been worn from the valley below in the precise +direction which was best fitted for the road, and whenever the good +townsmen presented their petition to the count, it instantly struck +him how very convenient such a road would be to himself as well as to +them. + +Now the count was neither a cunning nor an ungenerous man; and the +moment he saw that the advantage to be derived would be to himself, he +determined to open the gate, and make the road at his own expense +without subjecting the commune or the peasantry to corvée or fine. He +told the inhabitants so at once, and they, as they well might be, were +grateful to him in consequence. He made the road, and a handsome one +it was; and he threw down a part of the wall, and erected a splendid +gate in its place. He gave no name, indeed, to either; but the people +immediately and universally bestowed a name on both, and called them +the Count's Gate, and the Count's Road, so that the act was +perpetuated by the grateful memory of those whom it benefited. + +As, following the example of the earth on which we live, every thing +upon its surface moves forward, or perhaps we may say appears to move +forward, while very likely it is going but in a circle, the opening of +the gate and the making of the road was speedily followed by another +step, which was the building of houses by the road-side; so that, at +the period when our tale commences, the whole aspect, appearance, and +construction of the town was altered. A long street, with gardens at +the back of the houses, extended all the way down the gentle slope of +the hill; the gate had been widened, the summit had been cleared of a +great number of small houses, and a view was opened straight up into a +fine gay-looking market square at the top, with the ruined wall of the +old keep, raising its high head covered with ivy on the western side, +and to the north the little church, with its tall thin-slated spire +rising high, not only above the buildings of the town itself, but the +whole of the country round, and forming a remarkable object, which was +seen for many leagues at sea. + +We are in this account supposing the reader to be looking up the +street, which was turned towards the south, and was consequently full +of sunshine towards the middle of the day. It would, indeed, have been +intolerably hot in the summer, had it not been that the blessed +irregularity of the houses contrived to give some shade at every hour +of the four and twenty. But from the bottom of that street almost up +to the top was to be seen, upon the left hand, rising above the +buildings of the street itself, the weathercocks, and round turrets, +and pointed roofs and loop-holes, and windows innumerable, which +marked the château built by the count who had constructed the road; +while here and there, too, were also seen the tops of the tall limes +and elms with which he had shaded his gardens, and which had now grown +up into tall splendid trees, flourishing in the years which had +brought him to decay and death. + +Into the little town of Morseiul had been early introduced the +doctrines of Calvin, and the inhabitants clung to those doctrines with +peculiar pertinacity. They had constantly sent volunteers to the +protestant army; they had bestirred themselves in aid of La Rochelle, +and had even despatched succour to the protestants of the far south. +The weak, bigotted, and treacherous Louis XIII. had declared that they +were the most obstinate heretics in his dominions, and had threatened +against them many things, which the wisdom of his great minister had +prevented him from performing. But the counts of Morseiul themselves +had at all times rendered great services to the state: they had proved +themselves on all occasions gallant and determined soldiers and +skilful politicians; and, though they too held firm by the religion of +their ancestors, and set equally at defiance both threats and +seductions--which conduct formed the strongest link between them and +their people--Richelieu had judged that it would be hazardous to drive +them into open resistance to the crown. We may indeed surmise that he +judged it unnecessary also, inasmuch as there can be no doubt that in +his dealings with the Huguenots he treated them solely as a political +party, and not as a religious sect. + +Such being the case, though somewhat courting the persecutions of the +times, the town of Morseiul had been left unmolested in the exercise +of its religious tenets, and had enjoyed not only all the liberty +which was granted to the protestants of France by the edict of Nantes, +but various other privileges, obtained perhaps by a little +encroachment, and retained by right of prescription. + +The inhabitants were a hardy and determined race, frank and +good-humoured, and possessing from various points in their position a +great degree of simplicity in manners and character, mingled with much +religious fervour. They had, indeed, of late years, been somewhat +polished, or perhaps one might call it, corrupted. They had acquired +more wants and more wishes from the increasing luxuriousness of the +day; had heard with wonder, and not perhaps without some longing, of +the splendours and the marvels and the gaieties of the court of Louis +XIV., then in the bright and butterfly days of its youthful +ostentation; and they felt strongly and beneficially the general +impulse given to every sort of commerce by the genius of Colbert, and +applied themselves to derive the utmost advantage therefrom, by +pursuing with skill, activity, and perseverance, various manufactures, +in which they displayed no small ingenuity. A good number of them had +become wealthy, and all of them indeed were well off in the station of +life in which they were placed. The artisan was rich for an artisan, +as well as the burgess for a burgess; but they were all simple in +their habits, not without their little pride, or without their +luxuries on a holyday; but frugal and thoughtful as they were +industrious. Such was the town of Morseiul and its inhabitants in the +year 168--. + +We must now turn to the château of the count, and to its denizens +at the time of the opening of our tale. The château was built, as we +have said, on the outside of the walls of the town, and was one of +those odd buildings of which many a specimen has come down to us. It +seemed to have been built by detached impulses, and upon no general +plan, though, to admit nothing but the truth, the construction +was attributable all to one person. The great hall was along, +wide-spreading piece of architecture, with a high roof, and a row of +windows turned to the south side, which was the front of the château. +Then came two or three square masses of stone-work on either side of +the hall, with the gables projecting to the front, no two of them of +the same height and size; and many of them separated either by a tall +round tower, with loopholes all the way up, like button-holes in the +front of a waistcoat, or broken towards the roof by a turret stuck on +and projecting from the rest of the building. On the western side of +the château was a large square tower, with numerous windows, placed +with some degree of regularity; and on the eastern, was an octangular +tower containing a separate entrance of a somewhat Gothic character. +Two large wings projected behind towards the town on which the château +unceremoniously turned its back, and the large open space of ground +thus enclosed, was again divided into two by a heavy transverse mass +of building, as irregular as the external parts of the whole. The +mansion was completed by the stables and offices for the servants and +retainers, and the whole was pitched in the centre of a platform, +which had formerly been one of the bastions of the town. + +Behind the château, and between the building and the walls, were +numerous trees, giving that space the name of the bocage, and through +this lay the little walk that led to the postern, which was originally +the only exit from the château. In front was a tolerably wide +esplanade, extending to the edge of the bastion, and from the edge of +the terrace descended a flight of steps to the slope below, on which +had been laid out a flower-garden, separated from the rest of the +ground by a stone wall, surmounted by flower-pots in the shape of +vases. The remaining portion of the space enclosed was planted, +according to the taste of that day, with straight rows of trees, on +the beauties of which it is unnecessary to dwell. + +The interior of the castle was fitted up in the taste of the reign of +Henry IV. and Louis XIII., few changes having taken place since the +time it was first furnished, immediately after it was built. Some of +the rooms, indeed, contained the furniture of the older castle +formerly inhabited by the counts, which furniture was of a much more +remote age, and had been condemned, by scornful posterity, to the +dusty oblivion which we so fondly pile upon our ancestors. It may be +as well, however, to conduct the reader into one of the rooms of that +château, and, telling him that we have ourselves sat therein, +furnished exactly as it was then furnished, and looking exactly as it +then looked, endeavour to make him see it as the glass of memory now +gives it back to us. + +It was a large oblong room, with a vaulted roof: not dome-shaped, +indeed, for it was flat at the top; but from the walls towards the +centre, it sloped for a considerable way before it received the +flattened form which we mention. It was indeed a four-sided vault, +with the top of the arches cut off. On two sides were windows, or +perhaps we should call them casements, with the glass set in leaden +frames, and opening only in part. The hearth and chimney were of +enormous dimensions, with a seat on either side of the fire-place, +which was a sort of raised platform of brick-work, ornamented with two +large andirons grinning with lions' heads, for the reception of the +fuel. + +Over the chimney again was a wide slab of marble, supported by two +marble scrolls; and a tablet, on which was recorded, with very +tolerable latinity, that that château had been built by Francis Count +of Morseiul, in the year of grace one thousand five hundred and +ninety. Above this marble, far blacker than the dark oak panelling +which supported it, hung an immense ebony frame, carved with a +thousand curious figures, and containing a large round mirror of +polished metal, reflecting, though in a different size, all the +objects that the room contained. On the two sides of the chamber were +one or two fine portraits by Rubens and Vandyke, also in ebony frames, +but cursed with an internal border of gold. A multitude of high-backed +chairs, only fitted for men in armour, and ladies with whalebone +bodices; four cabinets of ebony, chequered with small lines of inlaid +ivory, with immense locks, marked out by heavy, but not inelegant, +silver shields; and two or three round tables, much too small for the +size of the room, made up the rest of the furniture of the apartment, +if we except some curious specimens of porcelain, and one or two +curiosities brought by different members of the family from foreign +lands. There was also a lute upon one of the tables, and ten long +glasses, with a vein of gold in their taper stalks, ranged in battle +array upon the mantelpiece. + +The moment at which we shall begin our tale was about the hour of +dinner in the province, at that period a very different hour from that +at which we dine in the present day. The windows were all open, the +bright sunshine was pouring in and throwing the small square panes +into lozenges upon the flooring; and from that room, which was high up +in the castle, might be seen as wide spread and beautiful a landscape +as ever the eye rested upon, a world of verdure, streams, and woods, +and hills, with the bright sky above. + +Such was the chamber and its aspect at the period that we speak of; +and we must now turn to those who inhabited it, and, in the first +place, must depict them to the reader's eye, before we enter into any +remarks or detailed account of their several characters, which, +perhaps, we may be inclined to give in this instance, even while we +admit that in general it is far better to suffer our personages to +develope themselves and tell their own tale to the reader. + +In all, there were some seven persons in that room; but there were +only two upon whom we shall at present pause. They were seated at a +table in the midst, on which were spread forth various viands in +abundance, upon plates of silver of a rich and handsome form; while a +profusion of the same metal in the shape of cups, forks, spoons, and +lavers appeared upon another table near, which had been converted into +a temporary sort of buffet. Ranged on the same buffet was also a +multitude of green glass bottles, containing apparently, by their +dusty aspect and well-worn corks, several kinds of old and choice +wine; and five servants in plain but rich liveries, according to the +fashion of that day, bustled about to serve the two superior persons +at the table. + +Those two persons were apparently very nearly of the same age, about +the same height; and in corporeal powers they seemed also evenly +matched; but in every other respect they were as different as can well +be conceived. The one who sat at the side of the table farthest from +the door was a man of about six or seven and twenty years of age, with +a dark brown complexion, clear and healthy though not florid, and with +large, full, deep-coloured gray eyes, fringed with long black lashes. +His hair and mustaches were jet black; and the character of his +countenance, for the moment at least, was serious and thoughtful. He +was evidently a very powerful and vigorous man, deep-chested, long in +the arm; and though, at first look, his form seemed somewhat spare, +yet every motion displayed the swelling of strong muscles called into +action; and few there were in that day who could have stood unmoved a +buffet from his hand. Such was Albert Count of Morseiul, an officer so +distinguished during the first wars of Louis XIV., that it is only +necessary to name him to bring to the reader's recollection a long +train of splendid actions. + +Opposite to him sat a friend and comrade, who had gone through many a +campaign with him, who had shared watchings, and dangers, and toils, +had stood side by side with him in the "imminent deadly breach," and +who was very much beloved by the Count, although the other often +contrived to tease and annoy him, and sometimes to give him pain, by a +certain idle and careless levity which had arisen amongst the young +nobles of France some twenty years before, and had not yet been put +out by that great extinguisher, the courtly form and ceremony which +Louis XIV. placed upon every movement of the imagination. + +The friend was, as we have said, very different from his host. +Although not more than a year younger than the count, he had a less +manly look, which might perhaps be owing to the difference of +colouring; for he was of that fair complexion which the pictures of +Vandyk have shown us can be combined with great vigour and character +of expression. His features were marked and fine, his hazel eye +piercing and quick, and his well-cut lip, varying indeed with every +changing feeling or momentary emotion, still gave, by the peculiar +bend in which it was fashioned when in repose, a peculiar tone of +scornful playfulness to every expression his countenance assumed. In +form, he appeared at first sight more powerful, perhaps, than the +count; but a second glance was sufficient to show that such was not +the case; and, though there was indeed little difference, if any +thing, it was not in his favour. + +We must pause for an instant to notice the dress of the two friends; +not indeed to describe pourpoints or paint rich lace, but speak of +their garments, as the taste thereof might be supposed to betoken some +points in the character of each. The dress of the Count de Morseiul +was in taste of the day; which was certainly as bad a taste, as far as +it affected the habiliments of the male part of the human race, as +could be devised; but he had contrived, by the exercise of his own +judgment in the colouring, to deprive it of a part of its +frightfulness. The hues were all deep-toned, but rich and harmonious; +and though there was no want of fine lace, the ribands, which were +then the reigning mode of the day, were reduced to as few in number as +any Parisian tailor would consent to withhold from the garb of a high +nobleman. + +His friend, however, the Chevalier d'Evran, having opinions of his own +to which he adhered with a wilful pertinacity, did not fully give in +to the fashion of the times; and retained, as far as possible, without +making himself a spectacle, the costume of an earlier period. If we +may coin a word for the occasion, there was a good deal of Vandykism +still about it. All the colours, too, were light and sunshiny; +philomot and blue, and pink and gold; and jewels were not wanting, nor +rich lace where they could be worn with taste; for though the liking +was for splendour, and for a shining and glittering appearance, yet in +all the arrangements there was a fine taste visibly predominant. + +Such, then, was the general appearance of the two friends; and after +partaking of the good things which both the table and the buffet +displayed,--for during the meal itself the conversation was brief and +limited to a few questions and answers,--the Chevalier turned his +chair somewhat more towards the window, and gazing out over the +prospect which was spread forth before his eyes, he said,-- + +"And so, Albert, this is Morseiul; and here thou art again after an +absence of six years!" + +"Even so, Louis," replied the Count, "even so. This is Morseiul; and I +know not whether it be from that inherent love of the place in which +some of our happiest days have been spent, or whether the country +round us be in reality more lovely than any other that I have seen +since I left it, yet just when you spoke I was thinking of asking you +whether you were or were not satisfied with my boasted Morseiul." + +"It may well be lovelier than any you have seen since you left it," +replied the Chevalier; "for, as far as I know aught of your history, +and I think I could account for every day of your life since last you +were here, you have seen nothing since but the flat prettiness of the +Beauvoisis, the green spinage plate of the Cambresis, or the +interminable flats of Flanders, where plains are varied by canals, and +the only eminence to be seen for forty miles round one is the top of a +windmill. Well may Morseiul be prettier than that, and no great +compliment to Morseiul either; but I will tell you something more, +Albert. I have seen Morseiul long ago. Ay, and sat in these halls, and +drank of that wine, and looked out of that window, and thought then as +I think now, that it is, indeed, as fair a land as ever I should wish +to cast my eyes on." + +"Indeed, Louis!" exclaimed his companion; "how happens it, then, if +you know the place so well, that you have listened to all my praises +thereof, and come hither with me purposely to see it, without giving +me one hint that you knew of the existence of such a place upon the +surface of the globe?" + +"Why it has happened from two causes," replied the Chevalier, "and +perhaps from three. In the first place, did you never discover that I +have the gift of secrecy in a very high degree?" + +"Why I have certainly discovered," replied the Count with a smile, +"that you are fond of a mystery; and sometimes, Louis, when there's no +great need of one." + +"Most cuttingly and ungenerously answered," replied the Chevalier, +with a laugh; "but granting the fact, as a man does when he denies it +strenuously in his mind all the time---but granting the fact, was not +that one good and sufficient cause for my not saying a word about it? +And in the next place, Albert, if I had told you I had been here, and +knew it very nearly as well as you do yourself, it would have deprived +you of the whole pleasure of relating the wonders and the marvels of +Morseiul, which would have been most ungenerous of me, seeing and +knowing the delight you took therein; and perhaps there might be +another cause," he added in a graver tone. "Perhaps I might hesitate +to talk to you, Albert,--to you, with whom filial affection is not the +evanescent thing that weeps like an April shower for half an hour over +the loss of those we love, and then is wafted away in sparkling and in +light--I might have hesitated, I say, to speak with you of times when +one whom you have loved and lost sat in these halls and commanded in +these lands." + +"I thank you, Louis," replied the Count; "I thank you from my heart; +but you might have spoken of him. My memory of my dead father is +something different from such things in general. It is the memory of +him, Louis, and not of my own loss; and, therefore, as every thought +of him is pleasing, satisfying, ennobling to my heart: as I can call +up every circumstance in which I have seen him placed, every word +which I have heard him speak, every action which I have seen him +perform, with pride, and pleasure, and advantage, I love to let my +thoughts rest upon the memories of his life; and though I can behold +him no more living, yet I may thus enable myself to dwell with him in +the past. We may be sure, Louis, that those who try to banish the +loved and the departed from their thoughts, and from their +conversation, have more selfishness in their love, have more +selfishness in their sorrow, than real affection or than real esteem. +The pangs which draw tears from us over the tomb may be permitted to +us as a weakness, not unenviable: a lapse of sorrow for the broken tie +and the loss of immediate communion, is also but a just tribute to +ourselves and to the gone. But those who really loved the dead, and +justly loved them, will cherish memory for their sakes; while those +whose love was weak, or not founded on esteem, or selfish, may well +give up a time to hopeless sorrow, and then banish the painful memory +from their mind for ever: but it shows either that there must have +been something wrong in the affection of the past, or a want of hope +in the eternal meeting of the future. No, no, Louis, I live with my +dead father every hour; I call to mind his looks, his words, his +gestures; and as I never think to meet a man who could speak one evil +word of him, I never fear to hear him mentioned, and to dwell upon his +name." + +The Chevalier was silent for a moment, for the feelings of his +companion were too hallowed for a jest; but he replied immediately +after, "I believe you are quite right, Albert; but to banish all +serious themes, which you know do not suit me, my love of mystery, +which, as you well know, is a part of my nature, was quite sufficient +to prevent my mentioning the subject. I wonder I was fool enough to +let the whole secret out now. I should only have told you, by rights, +just enough to excite your curiosity, in order that I might then +disappoint you." + +"As you have gone so far, however," replied the Count with a smile, +"you may as well tell the whole story at once, as it must be told, +sooner or later, I suppose." + +"On my word, I do not know whether I can make up my mind to such +unusual frankness," answered the Chevalier: "I have already done quite +enough to lose my reputation. However, as you seem anxious----" + +"Not in the least," answered the Count, "I am quite satisfied. I was +so before, and am so still, and shall be so if you resolutely maintain +your mystery, concluding that you have some good reason for doing so." + +"Oh no," answered the Chevalier, "I never had a good reason for any +thing I did in my life: I make a point of never having one; and the +very insinuation of such a thing will make me unravel the whole matter +at once, and show you that there is no mystery at all in the matter. +You may have heard, perchance, that the Duc de Rouvré, who, by the +way, is just appointed governor of the province, has a certain +property with a certain château, called Ruffigny, which----" + +"Which marches with my own," exclaimed the Count. + +"Exactly what I was going to say," rejoined the Chevalier; "a certain +property, called Ruffigny, which marches with your own, and a château +thereupon some five leagues hence. Now, the excellent Duke, being an +old friend, and distant relation indeed, of my family, it is scarcely +possible, with common decency, for me to be more than ten years at a +time without visiting him; and accordingly, about ten years ago, I +being then a sprightly youth, shortly about to fit on my first arms, +came down and spent the space of about a month in that very château of +Ruffigny, and the Duke brought me over here to dine with your father, +and hunt the wild boar in the woods behind St. Anne." + +"It is very odd," said the Count, "I have no recollection of it." + +"How should you?" demanded his friend, "as you were then gone upon +your first campaign, under Duras, upon the Rhine. It was not, in all +probability, worth your father's while to write you word that a young +scapegrace had been brought to dine with him, and had run his _couteau +de chasse_ up to the hilt in the boar's gullet." + +"Oh, I now remember," exclaimed the Count; "I heard of that, but I +forgot the name. Have you not been here since then?" + +"Not I," replied the Chevalier. "The Duke asked me, indeed, to return +the following year; but something prevented him from returning +himself, and I believe he has never come back to Ruffigny since. A man +who has so many castles as he has cannot favour any one of them above +once in six or seven years or so." + +"He is coming down now, however," replied the Count; "for, of course, +the affairs of his government must bring him here, if it be but to +hold the states." + +"Ay, but he does not come to Ruffigny," replied the Chevalier. "He +goes to Poitiers. I know all about his movements; and I'll tell you +what, Morseiul: take care how you go to visit him at Poitiers, for you +might chance not to come back unscathed." + +"How so?" demanded the Count, turning sharply as if with some +surprise. "Is there any thing new against us poor Huguenots?" + +"Poo, I spoke not of that," replied the Chevalier. "You sectarians +seem to have a sort of hereditary feeling of martyrdom in you, as if +your chief ancestor had been St. Bartholomew himself, and the saint, +being skinned alive, had given the world a skinless posterity, which +makes them all feel alarmed lest any one should touch them." + +"It is an ominous name, St. Bartholomew, you must acknowledge to the +ears of a Huguenot," replied the Count. "But what is it I have to +fear, if not that, Louis?" + +"What is it you have to fear!" rejoined the Chevalier. "Why, a pair of +the brightest eyes in all France--I believe I might say in all +Europe." + +The Count shook his head with a smile. + +"Well then," continued the Chevalier, "a pair of lips that look like +twin roses; eyebrows that give a meaning to every lustrous look of the +eyes; a hand small, white, and delicate, with fingers tapering and +rounded like those with which the Venus of the Greeks gathers around +her timid form the unwilling drapery; a foot such as no sandle-shod +goddess of the golden age could match: and a form which would have +left the sculptor nothing to seek in other beauties but herself." + +The Count laughed aloud. "I am quite safe," he said, "quite safe, +Louis, quite safe. I have nothing on earth to fear." + +"Indeed!" exclaimed his companion, in the same gay tone. "Pray, what +panoply of proof do you possess sufficient to resist such arms as +these when brought against you?" + +"Mine is twofold," answered the Count. "In the first place, your own +enthusiasm cannot be misunderstood, and, of course, I do not become +the rival of my friend. Our great hero, Condé, has set all soldiers a +better example." + +"What then, do you intend to follow his example in regard to the +Chatillon?" demanded the Chevalier; "to yield me the lady, and as soon +as I am comfortably killed off, make love to my widow? But no, no, +Albert, I stand not in your way; there are other attractions for me, I +tell you fairly! Even if it were not so, let every man in love, as in +war, do the best for himself. But, at all events, I tell you take care +of yourself if you go to Poitiers, unless, indeed, you have some +better armour than the thought of rivalry with me." + +"I must go to Poitiers of course," replied the Count, "when the +governor comes down; but yet I shall go without fear, as I think you +might by this time know. Have you not seen me amongst the fairest, and +the gayest, and the sweetest of this world's daughters, and yet I do +not think in all the catalogue you could find one cabalistic name +sufficiently powerful to conjure up a sigh from my lips." + +"Why, to say the truth," replied the Chevalier, "I have often thought +you as cold as a cannon ball before it is fired; but then, my dear +Count, all that time you have had something else to do, something to +excite, to interest, and to engross you. But now the stir and bustle +of the camp is over,--the march, the countermarch, the advance, the +retreat is done,--the fierce excitement of the battle-field does not +bring forth all the energies of a fiery heart,--the trumpet no longer +calls you from the ear of the fair one, before the whispered tale of +love be well begun. In this piping time of peace, why, man, you have +nothing for it but to make love, or die of melancholy. If you have a +charm, let us hear what it is!" + +"Oh, I am no man of mysteries," replied the Count, "and my tale is +very soon told. It is just five years ago--I was at that time in the +heyday of all sorts of passions, in love, I believe, with every thing +in woman's form that came in my way,--when, after spending the winter +in Paris, I came down here to take leave of my father before joining +the army in Flanders. It seemed as if he felt that we were parting for +the last time, for he gave me many a caution, and many a warning +regarding the woman that I might choose for my wife. He exacted no +promise indeed, nor gave his counsels the shape of a command; but, +amongst other injunctions, which I would most unwillingly violate, he +strongly advised me never to wed any one of a different religious +creed from myself. About the same time, however, a little incident +occurred, which fancy worked up so strongly as to have had an effect +upon my whole after feelings. You know the deep and bowery lanes and +roads about the place, how beautifully the sunshine streams amongst +them, how richly the song of the birds sound in the trees above, how +full of a sparkling and fanciful light is the whole scenery round us +when we dive into its depths. I was always fond of wandering through +these scenes, and one day about that time I was out alone, at some +distance beyond the castle of St. Anne's, when suddenly, as I was +musing, and gazing, and drinking in, as it were, the sights and sounds +around me, I heard the cry of dogs, and the sound of horns. But they +were distant, and they passed away, and I went on wandering slowly, +with my horse's bridle hanging loosely over my arm, till suddenly I +heard the sound of galloping hoofs; and, immediately after, down the +little road in which I was, came a gay wild horse of the Limousin, +with a fair girl upon its back, who should hardly have been trusted to +ride a fiery creature like that. She was not, indeed, a mere child, +being apparently some sixteen or seventeen years of age, but extreme +youth was in every feature and in every line, and, I might add, beauty +also, for never in my life did I behold such visionlike loveliness as +hers. The horse, with some sudden fright, must have darted away while +she had laid down the rein, for at the time I met her, though not +broken, it was floating at his feet, hazarding at every instant to +throw him down. She sat firmly in the seat, and rode with grace and +ease; but she was evidently much frightened, and as soon as she saw +some one before her in the lane, she pointed with an eager gesture to +the rein, and uttered some words which I did not hear. I easily +divined her meaning however, and turning my own horse loose, knowing I +could catch him again in a moment, I snatched at the rein of her horse +as he passed, ran for a moment by its side, not to check it too +sharply, then brought it to a halt, and asked her if she would alight. +She bowed her head gracefully, and smiled most sweetly, replying, as +soon as he could find breath, with many thanks for the service I had +rendered her, that she was not hurt, and but a little frightened, the +horse having darted away while she had laid down the rein to put on +her gloves. She would not alight she said, but must return quickly to +her friends, who would be frightened, and, without saying more, she +again gracefully bent her head, turned her horse, and cantered rapidly +away. I saw her once afterwards, passing along with a gay cortege, +composed of persons that I did not know. As we passed each other she +recognised me instantly, and, with a heightened colour, noticed me by +another marked inclination of the head. When I had passed on, I could +judge by her own gestures and those of the persons around her, that +she was telling them what had occurred, and explaining to them the +sign of recognition which she had made. On this second occasion she +seemed to my eyes even more lovely than before. Her voice, too, though +I had heard it so little, was the most musical that ever spoke to the +heart of man, and I pondered and thought over the vision of loveliness +that I had just seen, till it took so strong a hold of my heart and my +imagination, that I could not rest satisfied without seeking to behold +it again. I rode through all the country round; I was every day, and +almost all day, on horseback; I called at every neighbouring house; I +inquired at every place where I was likely to meet with information, +but I could never see, or speak with, or hear of that fair creature +again, and the time came rapidly on when I was compelled to rejoin the +army. I thought of her often, however, I have thought of her ever +since; that lovely face, that sweet voice will never go from my mind, +and reason and fancy combine to make me resolve never to wed any one +that I do not think as lovely as herself." + +"Pray what share had reason," demanded the Chevalier, "in a business +altogether so unreasonable? Poo! my dear Albert, you have worked +yourself into a boyish fancy of love, and then have clung to it, I +suppose, as the last bit of boyhood left about you. What had reason to +do with your seeing a pretty girl in a dark lane, and fancying there +was nothing like her upon earth?" + +"With that, nothing certainly," replied the Count, "but with my +after-determination much. Before that time long I had began to school +myself a good deal on account of a propensity not so much to fall in +love, but, as you term it, Louis, to make love to every fair creature +I met with. I had found it needful to put some check upon myself: and +if an artificial one was to be chosen, I did not see why this should +not be selected as well as any other. I determined that, as the +knights of old, and our own troubadours too, if you will, and even--as +by your laughing I suppose you would have it--excellent Don Quixote +himself, that pattern of all true gentlemen, vowed and dedicated +themselves to some fair lady, whom they had seen even less frequently +than I had her--I determined, I say, that I would encourage this fancy +of loving my fair horsewoman, and would employ the image of beauty, +which imagination, perhaps, had its share in framing, and the fine +qualities of the mind and heart, which were shadowed out beneath that +lovely exterior, as a test, a touchstone, whereby to try and to +correct my feelings towards others, and to approach none with words of +love who did not appear to me as beautiful in form as she was, and who +did not seem at least equal to the standard which fancy had raised up +under her image. The matter perhaps was carried farther than I +intended, the feeling became more intense than I had expected. For +some time I sincerely and truly fancied myself in love; but even since +reason has come to my aid in such a matter, and I know how much +imagination has to do with the whole, yet from that one circumstance, +from that fanciful accident, my standard of perfection in woman has +been raised so high, that I find none who have attained it; and yet so +habitual has it become with me to apply it to every one I see, that +whenever I am introduced to any beautiful creature, to whom I might +otherwise become attached, the fanciful image rises up, and the new +acquaintance is tried and ever is found wanting." + +"Thou art a strange composition, my good friend the Count," said the +Chevalier, "but we shall see, now that peace and tranquillity have +fallen over the world, whether you can go on still resisting with the +courage of a martyr. I don't believe a word of it, although, to say +sooth, your quality of heretic is something in your favour. But, in +the name of fortune, tell me what are all those loud and tumultuous +sounds which are borne by the wind through the open window. Your good +people of Morseiul are not in rebellion, I hope." + +"Not that I know of," replied the Count, with a smile at the very idea +of such a thing as rebellion under Louis XIV.; "but I will call my +fellow Riquet, who ought, I think, to have been called Scapin, for I +am sure Molière must have had a presentiment of the approaching birth +of such a scoundrel. He will tell us all about it; for if a thing +takes place on the other side of the earth, Riquet knows it all within +five minutes after it happens." + +Before he had well finished speaking, the person he alluded to +entered. But Riquet deserves a pause for separate notice. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + THE VALET--THE TOWNSPEOPLE--THE + PROCLAMATION. + + +The personage who entered the room, which on that the first actual day +after his arrival at his own dwelling the Count de Morseiul had used +as a dining-room, was the representative of an extinct race, combining +in his own person all the faults and absurdities with all the talents +and even virtues which were sometimes mingled together in that strange +composition, the old French valet. It is a creature that we find +recorded in the pages of many an antique play, now either banished +altogether from the stage, or very seldom acted; but, alas! the being +itself is extinct; and even were we to find a fossil specimen in some +unexplored bed of blue clay, we should gain but a very inadequate idea +of all its various properties and movements. We have still the roguish +valet in sad abundance--a sort of common house-rat; and we have, +moreover, the sly and the silent, the loquacious and the lying, the +pilfering and the impudent valet, with a thousand other varieties; but +the old French valet, that mithridatic compound of many curious +essences, is no longer upon the earth, having gone absolutely out of +date and being at the same period with his famous contemporary "_le +Marquis_." + +At the time we speak of, however, the French valet was in full +perfection; and, as we have said, an epitome of the whole race and +class was to be found in Maître Jerome Riquet, who now entered the +room, and advanced with an operatic step towards his lord. He was a +man perhaps of forty years of age, which, as experience and constant +practice were absolute requisites in his profession, was a great +advantage to him, for he had lost not one particle of the activity of +youth, seeming to possess either a power of ubiquity, or a rapidity of +locomotion which rendered applicable to him the famous description of +the bird which flew so fast "as to be in two places at once." +Quicksilver, or a lover's hours of happiness, a swallow, or the wind, +were as nothing when compared to his rapidity; and it is also to be +remarked, that the rapidity of the mind went hand in hand with the +rapidity of the body, enabling him to comprehend his master's orders +before they were spoken, to answer a question before it was asked, and +to determine with unerring sagacity by a single glance whether it +would be most for his interests or his purposes to understand or +misunderstand the coming words before they were pronounced. + +Riquet was slightly made, though by no means fulfilling the immortal +caricature of the gates of Calais; but when dressed in his own +appropriate costume, he contrived to make himself look more meagre +than he really was, perhaps with a view of rendering his person less +recognisable when, dressed in a suit of his master's clothes with +sundry additions and ornaments of his own device, he appeared enlarged +with false calves to his legs, and manifold paddings on his breast and +shoulders, enacting with great success the part of the Marquis of +Kerousac, or of any other place which he chose to raise into the +dignity of a marquisate for his own especial use. + +His features, it is true, were so peculiar in their cast and +expression, that it would have seemed at first sight utterly +impossible for the face of Jerome Riquet to be taken for any other +thing upon the earth than the face of Jerome Riquet. The figure +thereof was long, and the jaws of the form called lantern, with high +cheek bones, and a forehead so covered with protuberances, that it +seemed made on purpose for the demonstration of phrenology. Along this +forehead, in almost a straight line drawn from a point immediately +between the eyes, at a very acute angle towards the zenith, were a +pair of eyebrows, strongly marked throughout their whole course, but +decorated by an obtrusive tuft near the nose, from which tuft now +stuck out several long grey bristles. The eyes themselves were sharp, +small, and brilliant; but being under the especial protection of the +superincumbent eyebrows, they followed the same line, leaving a long +lean cheek on either side, only relieved by a congregation of +radiating wrinkles at the corners of the eyelids. The mouth was as +wide as any man could well desire for the ordinary purposes of life, +and it was low down too in the face, leaving plenty of room for the +nose above, which was as peculiar in its construction as any that ever +was brought from "the promontory of noses." It was neither the +judaical hook nose, nor the pure aquiline, nor the semi-judaical +Italian, nor the vulture, nor the sheep, nor the horse nose. It had no +affinity whatever to the "nez retroussé," nor was it the bottle, nor +the ace of clubs. It was a nose _sui generis_, and starting from +between the two bushy eyebrows, it made its way out, with a slight +parabolic curve downwards, till it had reached about the distance of +an inch and a half from the fundamental base line of the face. Having +attained that elevation, it came to a sharp abrupt point, through the +thin skin of which the white gristle seemed inclined to force its way, +and then suddenly dropping a perpendicular, it joined itself on to the +lower part of the face, at a right angle with the upper lip, with the +extensive territories of which it did not interfere in the slightest +degree, being as it were a thing apart, while the nostrils started up +again, running in the same line as the eyes and eyebrows. + +Such in personal appearance was Jerome Riquet, and his mental +conformation was not at all less singular. Of this mental conformation +we shall have to give some illustrations hereafter; but yet, to deal +fairly by him, we must afford some sketch of his inner man in +juxtaposition with his corporeal qualities. In the first place, +without the reality of being a coward, he affected cowardice as a very +convenient reputation, which might be serviceable on many occasions, +and could be shaken off whenever he thought fit. "A brave man," he +said, "has something to keep up, he must never be cowardly; but a +poltroon can be a brave man, without derogating from a well-earned +reputation, whenever he pleases. No, no, I like variety; I'll be a +coward, and a brave man only when it suits me." He sometimes, indeed, +nearly betrayed himself, by burlesquing fear, especially when any raw +soldier was near, for he had an invincible inclination to amuse +himself with the weaknesses of others, and knew how contagious a +disease fear is. + +The next remarkable trait in his character was a mixture of honesty +and roguery, which left him many doubts in his own mind as to whether +he was by nature a knave or a simpleton. He would pilfer from his +master any thing he could lay his hands upon, if he thought his master +did not really want it; but had that master fallen into difficulties +or dangers he would have given him his last louis, or laid down his +life to save him. He would pick the locks of a cabinet to see what it +contained, and ingeniously turn the best folded letter inside out to +read the contents; but no power on earth would ever have made him +divulge to others that which he practised such unjustifiable means to +learn. + +He was also a most determined liar, both by habit and inclination. He +preferred it, he said, to truth. It evinced greater powers of the +human mind. Telling truth, he said, only required the use of one's +tongue and one's memory; but to lie, and to lie well, demanded +imagination, judgment, courage, and, in short, all the higher +qualities of the human intellect. He could sometimes, however, tell +the truth, when he saw that it was absolutely necessary. All that he +had was a disposition to falsehood, controllable under particular +circumstances, but always returning when those circumstances were +removed. + +As to the religion of Maître Jerome Riquet, the less that is said upon +the matter the better for the honour of that individual. He had but +one sense of religion, indeed, and his definition of religion will +give that sense its clearest exposition. In explaining his views one +day on the subject to a fellow valet, he was known to declare that +religion consisted in expressing those opinions concerning what was +within a man's body, and what was to become of it after death, which +were most likely to be beneficial to that body in the circumstances in +which it was placed. Now, to say the truth, in order to act in +accordance with this definition, Maître Jerome had a difficult part to +perform. His parents and relations were all Catholics and having been +introduced at an early age into the house of a Huguenot nobleman, and +attached for many years to the person of his son, with only one other +Catholic in the household, it would seem to have been the natural +course of policy for the valet, under his liberal view of things, to +abandon Catholicism, and betake himself to the pleasant heresy of his +masters. But Riquet had a more extensive conception of things than +that. He saw and knew that Catholicism was the great predominant +religion of the country; he knew that it was the predominant religion +of the court also; and he had a sort of instinctive foresight from the +beginning of the persecutions and severities--the dark clouds of which +were now gathering fast around the Huguenots, and were likely sooner +or later to overwhelm them. + +Now, like the famous Erasmus, Jerome Riquet had no will to be made a +martyr of; and though he could live very comfortable in a Huguenot +family, and attach himself to its lords, he did not think it at all +necessary to attach himself to its religion also, but, on the +contrary, went to mass when he had nothing else to do, confessed what +sins he thought fit to acknowledge or to invent once every four or +five years, swore that he performed all the penances assigned to him, +and tormented the Protestant maid-servants of the château, by vowing +that they were all destined to eternal condemnation, that there was +not a nook in purgatory hot enough to bake away their sins, and that a +place was reserved for them in the bottomless pit itself, with Arians +and Socinians, and all the heretics and heresiarchs from the beginning +of the world. After having given way to one of these tirades, he would +generally burst into a loud fit of laughter at the absurdity of all +religious contentions, and run away leaving his fellow-servants with a +full conviction that he had no religion at all. + +He dared not, it is true, indulge in such licences towards his master; +but he very well knew that the young Count was not a bigot himself, +and would not by any means think that he served him better if he +changed his religion. In times of persecution and danger, indeed, the +Count might have imagined that there was a risk of a very zealous +Catholic being induced to injure or betray his Protestant lord; but +the Count well knew Jerome to be any thing but a zealous Catholic, and +he had not the slightest fear that any hatred of Protestantism or love +for the church of Rome would ever induce the worthy valet to do any +thing against the lord to whom he had attached himself. + +Such, then, was Jerome Riquet; and we shall pause no longer upon his +other characteristic qualities than to say, that he was the +exemplification of the word clever; that there was scarcely any thing +to which he could not turn his hand, and that though light, and lying +and pilfering, and impudent beyond all impudence, he was capable of +strong attachments and warm affections; and if we may use a very +colloquial expression to characterise his proceedings, there was fully +as much fun as malice in his roguery. A love of adventure and of jest +was his predominant passion; and although all the good things and +consolations of this life by no means came amiss to him, yet in the +illegitimate means which he took to acquire them he found a greater +pleasure even than in their enjoyment when obtained. + +When the door opened, as we have said, and Riquet presented himself, +the eyes of the Count de Morseiul fixed upon him at once; and he +immediately gathered from the ludicrous expression of fear which the +valet had contrived to throw into his face, that something of a +serious nature had really happened in the town, though he doubted not +that it was by no means sufficient to cause the astonishment and +terror which Jerome affected. Before he could ask any questions, +however, Jerome, advancing with the step of a ballet master, cast +himself on one knee at the Count's feet, exclaiming,-- + +"My lord, I come to you for protection and for safety." + +"Why, what is the matter, Jerome?" exclaimed the Count. "What rogue's +trick have you been playing now? Is it a cudgel or the gallows that +you fear?" + +"Neither, my good lord," replied Jerome, "but it is the fagot and the +stake. I fear the rage of your excited and insubordinate people in the +town of Morseiul, who are now in a state of heretical insurrection, +tearing down the king's proclamations, trampling his edicts under +foot, and insulting his officers; and as I happen, I believe, to be +the only Catholic in the place, I run the risk of being one of the +first to be sacrificed, if their insane vehemence leads them into +further acts of phrenzy." + +"Get up, fool, get up," cried the Count, shaking him off as he clung +to his knee; "tell me, if you can speak truth and common sense, what +is it you mean, and what has occasioned all these shouts that we heard +just now?" + +"I mean, my lord," said Riquet, starting up and putting himself in an +attitude, "I mean all that I say. There is some proclamation," he +continued in a more natural tone, "concerning the performance of the +true Catholic and apostolic religion, which some of the king's +officers posted up on the gate at the bottom of the Count's street, +and which the people instantly tore down. The huissier and the rest +were proceeding up the street to read the edict in the great square, +amidst the shouts and imprecations of the vulgar; but I saw them +gathering together stones, and bringing out cudgels, which showed me +that harder arguments were about to be used than words; and as there +is no knowing where such matters may end, I made haste to take care of +my own poor innocent skin, and lay myself at your feet, humbly craving +your protection." + +"Then, get out of my way," said the Count, putting him on one side, +and moving towards the door. "Louis, we must go and see after this. +This is some new attack upon us poor Huguenots--some other Jesuitical +infraction of the privileges assured to us by our good King Henry +IV. We must quiet the people, however, and see what the offence +is;--though, God help us," he added with a sigh, "since the +parliaments have succumbed there is no legal means left us of +obtaining redress. Some day or another these bad advisers of our noble +and magnificent monarch will drive the Protestant part of his people +into madness, or compel them to raise the standard of revolt against +him, or to fly to other lands, and seek the exercise of their religion +unoppressed." + +"Hush, hush, hush, Morseiul," said his companion, laying his hand +kindly on his arm, "your words are hasty. You do not know how small a +matter constitutes treason now-a-days, or how easy is the passage to +the Bastille." + +"Oh! I know--I know quite well," replied the Count; "and that many a +faithful and loyal subject, who has served his king and country well, +has found his way there before me. I love and admire my king. I will +serve him with my whole soul and the last drop of my blood, and all I +claim in return is that liberty of my own free thoughts which no man +can take from me. Chains cannot bind that down; bastilles cannot shut +it in; and every attempt to crush it is but an effort of tyranny both +impotent and cruel. However, we must calm the people. Where is my hat, +knave?" + +"I have often wished, my dear Morseiul," said the Chevalier, as they +followed the valet, who ran on to get the Count's hat: "I have often +wished that you would give yourself a little time to think and to +examine. I am very sure that if you did you would follow the example +of the greatest man of modern times, abjure your religious errors, and +gain the high station and renown which you so well deserve." + +"What, do you mean Turenne?" exclaimed the Count. "Never, Louis, +never! I grant him, Louis, to have been one of the greatest men of +this, or perhaps of any other age, mighty as a warrior, just, +clearsighted, kind-hearted, and comprehensive as a politician, and +perhaps as great in the noble and honest simplicity of his nature as +in any other point of view. I grant him all and every thing that you +could say in his favour. I grant every thing that his most +enthusiastic admirers can assert; but _God forbid that we should ever +imitate the weakness of a great man's life_. No, no, Chevalier, it is +one of the most perverted uses of example to justify wrong because the +good have been tempted to commit it. No man's example, no man's +opinion to me is worth any thing, however good or however wise he may +be, if there be stamped upon its face the broad and unequivocal marks +of wrong." + +By this time they had reached the vestibule from which a little flight +of steps conducted into the garden, and Maître Jerome stood there with +his lord's hat and polished cane in his hand. The Count took them with +a quick gesture and passed on, followed by his friend, who raised his +eyebrows a little with a look of regret, as his only answer to the +last words. These words had been heard by the valet also, and the +raising of the eyebrows was not unmarked; and Maître Jerome, +understanding the whole train of the argument, as well as if he had +heard every syllable, commented upon what he considered his lord's +imbecility by a shrug of the shoulders, in which his head almost +utterly disappeared. + +In the mean time the young Count and his friend passed up the little +avenue to the postern gate, opened it, and entered the town of +Morseiul; and then, by a short and narrow street, which was at that +moment all in shadow, entered the market square, at which they +arrived, by the shorter path they pursued, long before the officers +who were about to read the proclamation. A great number of persons +were collected in the square, and it was evident that by this time the +whole place was in a state of great excitement. The Chevalier was in +some fear for the effect of the coming scene upon his friend; and, as +they entered the market place, he stopped him, laying his hand upon +his arm, and saying,-- + +"Morseiul, you are a good deal heated, pause for one moment and think +of what you are about. For the sake of yourself and of your country, +if not for mine; neither say nor do any thing rashly." + +The Count turned towards him with a calm and gentle smile, and grasped +his hand. + +"Thank you, Louis," he said, "thank you, though your caution, believe +me, is unnecessary. You will see that I act as calmly and as +reasonably, that I speak as quietly and as peacefully as the most +earnest Catholic could desire. Heaven forbid," he added, "that I +should say one word, or make one allusion to any thing that could +farther excite the passions of the people than they are likely to be +excited already. Civil strife, Louis, is the most awful of all things +so long as it lasts, and seldom, very seldom if ever obtains the end +for which it first commenced. But even if I did not think so," he +added in a lower voice, "I know that the Protestants of France have no +power to struggle with the force of the crown, unless--" and his voice +fell almost to a whisper, "unless the crown force upon them the +energetic vigour of despair." + +The two had paused while they thus spoke, and while they heard the +murmuring sounds of the people coming up the hill from the right hand, +the noise of several persons running could be distinguished on the +other side, and turning round towards the postern, the Count saw that, +thanks to the care and foresight of Maître Jerome, a great number of +his domestics and attendants were coming up at full speed to join him, +so that when he again advanced, he was accompanied by ten or twelve +persons ready to obey without hesitation or difficulty the slightest +command that he should give. As there was no telling the turn which +events might take, he was not sorry that it should be so; and as he +now advanced towards the centre of the square the sight of his +liveries instantly attracted the attention of the people, and he was +recognised with joyful exclamations of "The Count! The Count!" + +Gladness was in every face at his approach, for the minds of the +populace were in that state of anxious hesitation, in which the +presence and direction of any one to whom they are accustomed to look +up is an absolute blessing. Taking off his hat and bowing repeatedly +to every one around him, speaking to many, and recognising every one +with whom he was personally acquainted with a frank and good-humoured +smile, the Count advanced through the people, who gathered upon his +path as he proceeded, till he reached the top of the hill, and +obtained a clear view of what was passing below. + +Had not one known the painful and angry feelings which were then +excited, it would have been a pleasant and a cheerful scene. The sun +had by this time got sufficiently round to the westward to throw long +shadows from the irregular gable-ended houses more than half way +across the wide open road that conducted from the valley to the top of +the hill. The perspective, too, was strongly marked by the lines of +the buildings; the other side of the road was in bright light; there +was a beautiful prospect of hill and dale seen out beyond the town; +numerous booths and stalls, kept by peasant women with bright dresses +and snowy caps, chequered the whole extent; and up the centre of the +street, approaching slowly, were the officers of the district, with a +small party of military, followed on either side by a much more +considerable number of the lower order of town's people and peasantry. + +Such was the scene upon which the eyes of the Count de Morseiul fell; +and it must be admitted, that when he saw the military his heart beat +with considerable feelings of indignation, for we must remember that +in towns like that which was under his rule the feudal customs still +existed to a very great extent. It was still called his town of +Morseiul. The king, indeed, ruled; the laws of the land were +administered in the king's name; but the custody, defence, and +government of the town of Morseiul was absolutely in the hands of the +Count, or of the persons to whom he delegated his power during his +absence. It was regularly, in fact, garrisoned in his name; and there +were many instances, scarcely twenty years before, in which the +garrisons of such towns had resisted in arms the royal authority; and +if not held to be fully justified, at all events had passed without +punishment, because they were acting under the orders of him in whose +name they were levied. The attempt, therefore, of any body of the +king's troops to penetrate into the Count's town of Morseiul, without +his having been formally deprived of the command thereof, seemed to +him one of the most outrageous violations of his privileges which it +was possible to imagine; and his heart consequently beat, as we have +said, with feelings of high indignation. He suppressed them, however, +with the calm determination of doing what was right; and turned to +gaze upon the people who surrounded him, in order to ascertain as far +as possible by what feelings they were affected. + +His own attendants had congregated immediately behind him; on his +right hand stood his friend the Chevalier; on his left, about half a +step behind, so as to be near the Count, but not to appear obtrusive, +was a personage of considerable importance in the little town of +Morseiul, though he exercised a handicraft employment, and worked +daily with his own hands, even while he directed others. This was Paul +Virlay, the principal blacksmith of the place. He was at this time a +man of about fifty years of age, tall, and herculean in all his +proportions. The small head, the broad muscular chest and shoulders, +the brawny arms, the immense thick hands, the thin flanks, and the +stout legs and thighs, all bespoke extraordinary strength. He was very +dark in complexion, with short-cut curly black hair, grizzled with +grey; and the features of his face, though short, and by no means +handsome, had a good and a frank expression, but at all times somewhat +stern. + +At the present moment his brow was more contracted than usual; not +that there was any other particular mark of very strongly excited +passions upon his countenance; and the attitude he had assumed was one +of calm and reposing strength, resting with his right hand supported +by one of the common quarter-staffs of the country, a full inch and a +half thick, much in the same position which he frequently assumed +when, pausing in his toil, he talked with his workmen, leaving the +sledge hammer, that usually descended with such awful strength, to +support the hand which wielded it at other times like a feather. + +Behind him again, was a great multitude of the town's people of +different classes, though the mayor and the municipal officers had +thought fit to absent themselves carefully from the scene of probable +strife. But the eyes of the Count fell, as we have said, upon Paul +Virlay; and knowing him to be a man both highly respected in his own +class, and of considerable wealth and importance in the city, he +addressed him in the first instance, saying,-- + +"Good morrow, Virlay, it is long since I have seen you all. What is +all this about?" + +"You don't forget us, Count Albert, even when you are away," replied +the blacksmith, with his brow unbending. "We know that very well, and +have proofs of it too, when any thing good is to be done; but this +seems to me to be a bad business. We hear that the king has suppressed +the chamber of the edict, which was our greatest safeguard; and now my +boy tells me, for I sent him down to see when they first came to the +bottom of the hill, that this is a proclamation forbidding us from +holding synods; and be you sure, sir, that the time is not far distant +when they will try to stop us altogether from worshipping God in our +own way. What think you, my lord?" he said, in a lower tone, "Were it +not better to show them at once that they cannot go on?" and his looks +spoke much more than even his words. + +"No, Virlay," replied the Count; "no, by no means. You see the people +are in tumult below evidently. Any unadvised and illegal resistance to +the royal authority will immediately call upon us harsh measures, and +be made the pretext by any bad advisers who may surround the king for +irritating his royal mind against us. Let us hear what the +proclamation really is; even should it be harsh and unjust, which from +the king's merciful nature we will hope is not the case: let us listen +to it calmly and peaceably, and after having considered well, and +taken the advice and opinion of wise and experienced men, let us then +make what representations to the king we may think fit, and petition +him in his clemency to do us right." + +"Clemency!" said the blacksmith. "However, my lord, you know better +than I, but I hope they will not say any thing to make our blood boil, +that's all." + +"Even if they should," replied the Count, "we must prevent it from +boiling over. Virlay, I rely upon you, as one of the most sensible men +in the place, not only to restrain yourself, but to aid me in +restraining others. The king has every right to send his own officers +to make his will known to his people." + +"But the dragoons," said Virlay, fixing his eyes upon the soldiers; +"what business have they here? Why they might, Count Albert----" + +The Count stopped him. + +"They are yet without the real bounds of the town, Virlay," he said; +"and they do not enter into it! Send some one you can trust for the +mayor with all speed; unhook the gates from the bars that keep them +back; place a couple of men behind each; I will prevent the military +from entering into the town: but I trust to you, and the other men of +good sense who surround me, to guard the king's officers and the +king's authority from any insult, and to suffer the proclamation of +his will to take place in the market-place without any opposition or +tumult whatsoever." + +"I will do my best, Count," replied the blacksmith, "for I am sure you +are a true friend to us--and we may well trust in you." + +The crowd from below had in the meantime advanced steadily up the +hill, surrounding the officers of the crown and the soldiery; and by +this time the whole mass was within a hundred and fifty yards of the +spot where the Count and his companions stood. Their progress had been +without violence, indeed, but not without hootings and outcry, which +seemed greatly to annoy the officer in command of the soldiers, he +having been accustomed alone to the court of the grand monarch, and to +the scenes in the neighbourhood of the capital, where the people might +well be said to lick the dust beneath the feet of their pageant-loving +king. It seemed, then, something so strange and monstrous to his ears, +that any expression of the royal will should be received otherwise +than with the most deep and devoted submission, that he was more than +once tempted to turn and charge the multitude. A prudent +consideration, however, of the numbers by which he was surrounded, and +the scantiness of his own band, overcame all such purposes; and, +though foaming with indignation, he continued to advance, without +noticing the shouts that assailed him, and playing with the manifold +ribands and pieces of silk that decorated his buff coat and his sword +knot, to conceal his vexation and annoyance. + +"Who have we here at the head of them?" demanded the Count, turning to +the Chevalier. "His face is not unknown to me." + +"As far as I can see," replied his companion, "it is young Hericourt, +a nephew of Le Tellier's--do you not remember? as brave as a lion, +but moreover a young coxcomb, who thinks that he can do every thing, +and that nothing can be done without him; as stupid as an owl too. +I wonder you do not recollect his getting great credit for +taking the little fort of the _bec de l'oie_ by a sheer act of +stupidity,--getting himself and his party entangled between the two +forts, and while Lamets was advancing to extricate him, forcing his +way in, from not knowing what else to do." + +"I remember, I remember," said the Count, with a smile; "he was well +rewarded for his fortunate mistake. But what does he here, I wonder? I +thought he never quitted the precincts of Versailles, but to follow +the King to the camp." + +"He is the worst person who could have been sent upon this errand," +replied the Chevalier; "for he is certain to make mischief wherever he +goes. He has attached himself much to the Rouvrés, however, of late, +and I suppose Le Tellier has given him some post about the new +governor, in order that his rule may not be the most tranquil in the +world." + +While they were speaking, the eyes of the people who were coming up +the hill fell upon the group that had assembled just in front of the +gates, with the Count, his friend, and his servants, in the +foreground; and immediately a loud shout made itself heard, of "The +Count! the Count! Long live the Count!" followed by various other +exclamations, such as "He will protect us! He will see justice done +us! Long live our own good Count!" + +I The moment that the Count's name was thus loudly pronounced, the +young officer, turning to those who followed, gave some orders in a +low voice, and then, spurring on his horse through the crowd, rode +directly up to the Count de Morseiul; who, as he saw him approaching, +turned to the Chevalier, saying, "You bear witness, Louis, that I deal +with this matter as moderately and loyally as may be." + +"I trust, for the sake of all," said the Chevalier, "that you will. +You know, Albert, that I do not care two straws for one religion more +than the other; and think that a man can serve God singing the psalms +of Clement Marot as well, or perhaps better, than if he sung them in +Latin, without, perhaps, understanding them. But for Heaven's sake +keep peace in the inside of the country at all events. But here comes +our young dragoon." + +As he spoke, the young officer rode up with a good deal of irritation +evident in his countenance. He seemed to be three or four and twenty +years of age, of a complexion extremely fair, and with a countenance +sufficiently unmeaning, though all the features were good. He bowed +familiarly to the Chevalier, and more distantly to the Count de +Morseuil; but addressed himself at once to the latter:-- + +"I have the honour," he said, "I presume, of speaking to the Count de +Morseuil, and I must say that I hope he will give me his aid in +causing proclamation of the king's will amongst these mutinous and +rebellious people of his town of Morseuil." + +"My friend the Chevalier here tells me," replied the Count, "that I +have the honour of seeing Monsieur de Hericourt----" + +"The Marquis Auguste de Hericourt," interrupted the young officer. + +"Well, sir, well," said the Count, somewhat impatiently, "I stand +corrected: the Marquis Auguste de Hericourt, and I am very happy to +have the honour of seeing him, and also to inform him that I will +myself ensure that the king's will is, as he says, proclaimed in my +town of Morseiul by the proper officers, taking care to accompany them +into the town myself for that purpose, although I cannot but defend my +poor townsmen from the accusation of being mutinous and rebellious +subjects, nothing being further from the thoughts of any one here +present than mutiny or rebellion." + +"Do you not hear the cries and shouts?" cried the young officer. "Do +you not see the threatening aspect of the people?" + +"I hear some shouts, certainly," answered the Count, "as if something +had given offence or displeasure; but what it is I do not know. I +trust and hope that it is nothing in any proclamation of the king's; +and if I should find it to be so, when I hear the proclamation read, I +shall take every means to put an end to such demonstrations of +disappointment or grief, at once. We have always the means of +approaching the royal ear, and I feel sure that there will be no +occasion for clamour or outcry in order to obtain justice at the hands +of our most gracious and wise monarch.--But allow me to observe, +Monsieur le Marquis," he continued somewhat more quickly, "your +dragoons are approaching rather too near the gates of Morseiul." + +"You do not intend, I presume, sir," said the young officer sharply, +"to refuse an entrance to the officers of the King, charged with a +proclamation from his Majesty!" + +"Not to the King's proper civil officers," replied the Count, keeping +his eye, while he spoke, warily fixed upon the dragoons. "But, most +assuredly, I do intend to refuse admittance to any body of military +whatsoever, great or small, while I retain the post with which his +Majesty has entrusted me of governor to this place." + +There was a pause for a single instant, and the young officer turned +his head, without replying, towards the soldiers, on whom the Count's +eye also was still fixed. There was something, however, suspicious in +their movements. They had now reached the brow of the hill, and were +within twenty yards of the gate. They formed into a double file as +they came up in front of the civil officers, and the head man of each +file was seen passing a word to those behind him. At the moment their +officer turned his head towards them, they began to move forward in +quicker time, and in a moment more would have passed the gates; +but at that instant the clear full voice of the Count de Morseiul was +heard exclaiming, in a tone that rose above all the rest of the +sounds-- + +"Close the gates!" and the two ponderous masses of wood, which had not +been shut for many years, swung forward grating on their hinges, and +at once barred all entrance into the town. + +"What is the meaning of this, Monsieur de Hericourt?" continued the +Count. "Your men deserve a severe reprimand, sir, for attempting to +enter the town without my permission or your orders." + +The young man turned very red, but he was not ready with a reply, and +the Chevalier, willing as far as possible to prevent any unpleasant +consequences, and yet not to lose a jest, exclaimed-- + +"I suppose the Marquis took it for the bec de l'oie, but he is +mistaken, you see." + +"He might have found it a trap for a goose, if not a goose's bill," +said a loud voice from behind; but the Marquis either did not or would +not hear any thing but the pleasant part of the allusion, and, bowing +to the Chevalier with a smile, he said, "Oh, you are too good, +Monsieur le Chevalier, the affair you mention was but a trifle, far +more owing to the courage of my men than to any skill on my part. But, +in the present instance, I must say, Count," he added, turning towards +the other, "that the king's officers must be admitted to make +proclamations in the town of Morseiul." + +"The king's civil officers shall, sir," replied the Count, "as I +informed you before: but no soldiers, on any pretence whatsoever. +However, sir," he continued, seeing the young officer mustering up a +superabundant degree of energy, "I think it will be much the best plan +for you to do me the honour of reposing yourself, with any two or +three of your attendants you may think fit, at my poor château here, +without the walls, while your troopers can refresh themselves at the +little auberge at the foot of the hill. My friend, the Chevalier here, +will do the honours of my house till I return, and I will accompany +the officers charged with the proclamation, and see that they meet +with no obstruction in the fulfilment of their duty." + +"I do not know that I am justified," said the young officer, +hesitating, "in not insisting upon seeing the proclamation made +myself." + +"I am afraid there will be no use of insisting," replied the Count; +"and depend upon it, sir, you will serve the king better by suffering +the proclamation to be made quietly, than even by risking a +disturbance by protracting, unnecessarily, an irritating discussion. I +wish to treat you with all respect, and with the distinction due to +your high merit. Farther, I have nothing to say, but that I am +governor of Morseiul, and as such undertake to see the king's +proclamation duly made within the walls." + +The hesitation of the young dragoon was only increased by the cool and +determined tone of the Count. Murmurs were rising amongst the people +round, and the voice of Paul Virlay was heard muttering, + +"He had better decide quickly, or we shall not be able to keep the +good men quiet." + +The Marquis heard the words, and instantly began to bristle up, to fix +himself more firmly in the saddle, and put his hand towards the hilt +of his sword; but the Chevalier advanced close to his side, and spoke +to him for a moment or two in a low voice. Nothing was heard of their +conversation, even by the Count de Morseiul +, but the words "good +wine--pleasant evening--laugh over the whole affair." + +But at length the young courtier bowed his head to the Count, saying, +"Well then, sir, I repose the trust in you, knowing you to be a man of +such high honour, that you would not undertake what you could not +perform, nor fail to execute punctually that which you had undertaken. +I will do myself the honour of waiting your return with the Chevalier, +at your château." + +After some further words of civility on both parts, the young officer +dismounted and threw his rein to a page, and then formally placing the +civil officers under the care and protection of the Count de Morseiul, +he gave orders to his dragoons to bend their steps down the hill, and +refresh themselves at the auberge below; while he, bowing again to the +Count, took his way with the Chevalier and a single attendant along +the esplanade which led to the gates of the château without the walls. +The civil officers, who had certainly been somewhat maltreated as they +came up the hill, seemed not a little unwilling to see the dragoons +depart, and a loud shout, mingled of triumph and scorn, with which the +people treated the soldiers as they turned to march down the hill, +certainly did not at all tend to comfort or re-assure the poor +huissiers, greffiers, and other officers. The shout caused the young +marquis, who had proceeded twenty or thirty steps upon his way, to +stop short, and turn round, imagining that some new collision had +taken place between the town's people and the rest; but seeing that +all was quiet he walked on again the moment after, and the Count, +causing the civil officers to be surrounded by his own attendants, +ordered the wicket to be opened, and led the way in, calling to Virlay +to accompany him, and urging upon him the necessity of preserving +peace and order, let the nature of the proclamation be what it might. + +"I have given you my promise, Count," replied the blacksmith, "to do +my best, and I won't fail; but I won't answer for myself or others on +any other occasion." + +"We are only speaking of the present," replied the Count; "for other +occasions other measures, as the case may be: but at present every +thing requires us to submit without any opposition.--Where can this +cowardly mayor be," he said, "that he does not choose to show himself +in a matter like this? But the proclamation must be made without him, +if he do not appear." + +They had by this time advanced into the midst of the great square, and +the Count signified to the officer charged with the proclamation, that +it had better be made at once: but for some moments what he suggested +could not be accomplished from the pressure of the people, the crowd +amounting by this time to many hundred persons. The Count, his +attendants, and Virlay, however, contrived, with some difficulty, to +clear a little space around, the first by entreaties and +expostulations, and the blacksmith by sundry thrusts of his strong +quarterstaff and menaces, with an arm which few of those there present +seemed inclined to encounter. + +The Count then took off his hat, and the officer began to read the +proclamation, which was long and wordy; but which, like many another +act of the crown then taking place from day to day, had a direct +tendency to deprive the protestants of France of the privileges which +had been secured to them by Henry IV. Amongst other galling and unjust +decrees here announced to the people was one which--after stating that +many persons of the religion affecting the title of _reformed_, being +ill-disposed towards the king's government, were selling their landed +property with the view of emigrating to other lands--went on to +declare and to give warning to all purchasers, that if heretical +persons effecting such sales did quit the country within one year +after having sold their property, the whole would be considered as +confiscated to the state, and that purchasers would receive no +indemnity. + +When this part of the proclamation was read, the eyes of the sturdy +blacksmith turned upon the Count, who, by a gesture of the hand, +endeavoured to suppress all signs of disapprobation amongst the +multitude. It was in vain, however; for a loud shout of indignation +burst forth from them, which was followed by another, when the +proclamation went on to declare, that the mayors of towns, professing +the protestant faith, should be deprived of the rank of nobles, which +had been formerly granted to them. The proclamation then proceeded +with various other notices of the same kind, and the indignation of +the people was loud and unrestrained. The presence of the Count, +however, and the exertions of Virlay, and several influential people, +who were opposed to a rash collision with the authority of the king, +prevented any act of violence from being committed, and when the whole +ceremony was complete, the officers were led back to the gates by the +Count, who gave orders that they should be conducted in safety beyond +the precincts of the place by his own attendants. + +After returning into the great square, and holding a momentary +conversation with some of the principal persons present, he returned +by the postern to his own abode, where he found his friend and the +young officer, apparently forgetting altogether the unpleasant events +of the morning, and laughing and talking gaily over indifferent +subjects. + +"I have the pleasure of informing you, Monsieur de Hericourt," said +the Count when he appeared, "that the proclamation has been made +without interruption, and that the king's officers have been conducted +out of the town in safety. We have therefore nothing more of an +unpleasant kind to discuss, and I trust that you will take some +refreshment." + +Wine, and various sorts of meats, which were considered as delicacies +in those days, were brought and set before the young courtier, who did +justice to all, declaring that he had never in his life tasted any +thing more exquisite than the produce of the Count's cellars. He even +ventured to praise the dishes, though he insinuated, much to the +indignation of the cook, to whom it was repeated by an attendant, that +there was a shade too much of taragon in one of the ragouts, and that +if a matelotte had been five minutes more cooked, the fish would have +been tenderer, and the flavour more decided. The Count smiled, and +apologised for the error, reminding him, that the poor rustics in the +country could not boast the skill and delicacy, or even perhaps the +nicety of natural taste of the artists of the capital. He then turned +the conversation to matters of some greater importance, and inquired +when they were to expect the presence of the Duc de Rouvré in the +province. + +The young Marquis opened his eyes at the question, as if he looked +upon it as a sign of the most utter and perfect ignorance and +rusticity that could be conceived. + +"Is it possible, Monsieur le Comte," he said, "that you, so high in +the service of the king, and so highly esteemed, as I may add, at +court, are not aware that the duke arrived at Poitiers nearly five +days ago? I had the honour of accompanying him thither, and he has +himself been within the last three days as near as seven leagues to +the very place where we are now sitting." + +"You must remember, my good sir," replied the Count, "as some excuse +for my ignorance, that I received his Majesty's gracious permission to +return hither upon some important affairs direct from the army, +without visiting the court, and that I only arrived late last night. +Pray, when you return to Monsieur de Rouvré, present my compliments to +him, and tell him that I shall do myself the honour of waiting upon +him, to congratulate him and the Duchess upon their safe arrival in +the province, without any delay." + +"Wait till they are fully established at Poitiers," replied the young +officer. "They are now upon a little tour through the province, not +choosing to stay at Poitiers yet," he added, sinking his voice into a +low and confidential tone, "because their household is not in complete +order. None of the new liveries are made; the guard of the governor is +not yet organised; two cooks and three servers have not arrived from +Paris. Nothing is in order, in short. In a week, I trust, we shall be +more complete, and then indeed I do not think that the household of +any governor in the kingdom will exceed in taste, if not in splendour, +that of the Duc de Rouvré." + +"Which is, I presume," said the Chevalier, "under the direction and +superintendence of the refined and celebrated good taste of the +Marquis Auguste de Hericourt." + +"Why, to say the truth," replied the young nobleman, "my excellent +friend De Rouvré has some confidence in my judgment of such things: I +may say, indeed, has implicit faith therein, as he has given all that +department over to me for the time, beseeching me to undertake it, and +of course I cannot disappoint him." + +"Of course not! of course not!" replied the Chevalier, and in such +conversation passed on some time, the worthy Marquis de Hericourt, +swallowed up in himself, not at all perceiving a certain degree of +impatience in the Count de Morseiul, which might have afforded any +other man a hint to take his departure. He lingered over his wine; he +lingered over his dessert; he perambulated the gardens; he criticised +the various arrangements of the château with that minute attention to +nothings, which is the most insufferable of all things when obtruded +upon a mind bent upon matters of deep importance. + +It was thus fully five o'clock in the afternoon before he took his +departure, and the Count forced himself to perform every act of +civility by him to the last moment. As soon as he was gone, however, +the young nobleman turned quickly to his friend, saying,-- + +"I thought that contemptible piece of emptiness would never depart, +and of course, Louis, after what has taken place this morning, it is +absolutely necessary for me to consult with some of my friends of the +same creed as myself. I will not in any degree involve you in these +matters, as the very fact of your knowing any of our proceedings might +hereafter be detrimental to you; and I only make this excuse because I +owe it to the long friendship between us not to withhold any part of +my confidence from you, except out of consideration for yourself." + +"Act as you think fit, my dear Albert," replied his friend; "but only +act with moderation. If you want my advice on any occasion, ask it, +without minding whether you compromise me or not; I'm quite sure that +I am much too bad a Catholic to sacrifice my friend's secrets either +to Pellisson, La Chaise, or Le Tellier. If I am not mistaken, the +devil himself will make the fourth at their card-table some day, and +perhaps Louvois will stand by and bet." + +"Oh! I entertain no fear of your betraying me," answered the Count +with a smile; "but I should entertain great fear of embroiling you +with the court." + +"Only take care not to embroil yourself," replied the Chevalier. "I am +sure I wish there were no such thing as sects in the world. If you +could but take a glance at the state of England, which is split into +more sects than it contains cities, I am sure you would be of +Turenne's opinion, and come into the bosom of the mother church, if it +were but for the sake of getting rid of such confusion. Nay, shake not +your wise head. If the truth be told, you are a Protestant because you +were bred so in your youth; and one half of the world has no other +motive either for its religion or its politics. But get thee gone, +Albert, get thee gone. Consult with your wise friends, and come back +more Huguenotised than ever." + +The Count would have made some further apologies for leaving him, but +his friend would not hear them, and sending for his horse, Albert of +Morseiul took his departure from his château, forbidding any of his +attendants to follow him. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + THE PASTOR. + + +The Count's orders were given so distinctly for no one to accompany +him on his way, that none of his domestics presumed even to gaze after +him from the gate, or to mark the path he took. As he wished to call +no attention, he kept under the walls of the town, riding slowly along +over the green till he came to the zigzag path which we have before +mentioned as being now almost entirely disused. He had cast a large +cloak around him, of that kind which at an after period degenerated +into what was called a roquelaure, and his person was thus +sufficiently concealed to prevent him from being recognised by any +body at a distance. + +At the foot of the zigzag which he now descended he chose a path which +led along the bank of the river for some way to the right, and then +entered into a beautiful wooded lane between high banks. The sun was +shining full over the world, but with a tempered and gentle light from +the point of its declination at which it had arrived. The rays, +however, did not in general reach the road, except where the bank +sloped away; and then pouring through the green leaves and branches of +the wild briar the honeysuckle and the hazel, it streamed upon the +miniature cliffs of yellow sand on the opposite side, and chequered +the uneven path which the young Count was pursuing. The birds had as +yet lost little of their full song, and the deep round tones of +the blackbird bidding the golden day adieu as he saw the great +light-bearer descending in the heaven, poured forth from beneath the +holly bushes, with a melancholy and a moralising sound, speaking to +the heart of man with the grand philosophic voice of nature, and +counselling peace and affection, and meditation on the bounties of +God. + +It is impossible to ride through such scenes at such an hour on the +evening of bright summer days without feeling the calm and elevating +influence of all things, whether mute or tuneful, taught by almighty +beneficence to celebrate either by aspect or by song the close of +another day's being and enjoyment. The effect upon the heart of the +Count de Morseiul was full and deep. He had been riding slowly before, +but after passing through the lane for about a minute, he gently drew +in the bridle upon his horse till the beast went slower still, then +laid the rein quietly upon his neck, and gave himself up to +meditation. + +The chief theme in his mind at that moment was certainly the state and +prospects of himself and his fellow Protestants: and perhaps--even in +experiencing all the beauty and the peacefulness of the scene through +which he wandered, the calm tone of enjoyment in every thing around, +the voice of tranquillity that spoke in every sound--his feelings +towards those who unnecessarily disturbed the contented existence of +an industrious and happy race, might become bitterer, and his +indignation grow more deep and stern, though more melancholy and +tranquil. What had the Huguenots done, he asked himself, for +persecution to seek them out there in the midst of their calm and +pleasant dwellings--to fill them with fiery passions that they knew +not of before--to drive them to acts which they as well as their +enemies might bitterly repent at an after period--and to mar scenes +which seemed destined for the purest and happiest enjoyment that the +nature of man and its harmony with the other works of God can produce, +by anxiety, care, strife, and perhaps with bloodshed? + +What had the Huguenots done? he asked himself. Had they not served +their king as loyally, as valiantly, as readily in the battle field, +and upon the wide ocean, as the most zealous Catholic amongst them +all? Had not the most splendid victories which his arms had obtained +by land been won for him by Huguenot generals? Was not even then a +Huguenot seaman carrying the thunders of his navy into the ports of +Spain? Were the Huguenots less loyal subjects, less industrious +mechanics, less estimable as citizens, than any other of the natives +of the land? Far from it. The contrary was known to be the fact--the +decided contrary. They were more peaceable, they were more tranquil, +they were more industrious, they were more ready to contribute either +their blood or their treasure to the service of the state than the +great mass of the Catholic population; and yet tormenting exactions, +insults, cavillings, inquiries, and investigations, all tending to +irritate and to enrage, were going on day by day, and were clearly to +be followed soon by the persecuting sword itself. + +On such themes he paused and thought as he went on, and the first +effect produced upon his mind was of course painful and gloomy. As the +sweetest music sounding at the same time with inharmonious notes can +but produce harsh dissonance, so the brightest scenes to a mind filled +with painful thoughts seems but to deepen their sadness. Still, +however, after a time, the objects around him, and their bright +tranquillity, had their effect upon the heart of the Count; his +feelings grew calmer, and the magic power of association came to lay +out a road whereby fancy might lead his thoughts to gentler themes. +The path that he was pursuing led him at length to the spot where the +little adventure had occurred which he had related in the course of +the morning to his friend. He never passed by that spot without giving +a thought to the fair girl he had there met; but now he dwelt upon the +recollection longer than he otherwise might have done, in consequence +of having spoken of her and of their meeting that very day. He smiled +as he thought of the whole, for there was nothing like pain of any +kind mingled with the remembrance. It was merely a fanciful dream he +had cherished, half amused at himself for the little romance he had +got up in his own mind, half employing the romance itself as a check +upon the very imagination that had framed it. + +"She was certainly very lovely," he thought as he rode on, "and her +voice was certainly very sweet; and unless nature, as is but too often +the case, had in her instance become accomplice to a falsehood, that +form, that face, that voice, must have betokened a bright spirit and a +noble heart. Alas! why is it," he went on to ask himself, "why is it +that the countenance, if we read it aright, should not be the correct +interpreter of the heart? Doubtless such was at first God's will, and +the serpent taught us, though we could not conceal our hearts from the +Almighty, to falsify the stamp he had fixed upon them for our fellow +men. And yet it is strange--however much we may have gained from +experience, however painfully we may learn that man's heart is written +in his actions, not in his face--it is strange we ever judge more or +less by the same deceitful countenance, and guess by its expressions, +if not by its features, though we might as well judge of what is at +the bottom of a deep stream by the waves that agitate its surface." + +In such fanciful dreams he went on, often turning again to the fair +vision that he had there seen, sometimes wondering who she could have +been, and sometimes deciding and deciding the question wrongly in his +own mind, but never suffering the wild expectation which he had once +nourished of meeting her again to cross his mind--for he had found +that to indulge it rendered him uneasy, and unfit for more real +pursuits. + +At length, the lane winding out upon some hills where the short dry +turf betokened a rocky soil below, took its way through a country of a +less pleasing aspect. Here the Count de Morseiul put his horse into a +quicker pace, and after descending into another low valley full of +streams and long luxuriant grass, he climbed slowly a high hill, +surmounted by a towering spire. The village to which the spire +belonged was very small, and consisted entirely of the low houses of +an agricultural population. They were neat, clean, and cheerful +however in aspect, and there was an attention to niceness of exterior +visible every where, not very frequently found amongst the lower +classes of any country. + +There was scarcely any one in the street, as the Count passed, except, +indeed, a few children enjoying their evening sport, and taking the +day's last hour of happy life, before the setting sun brought the +temporary extinction of their bright activity. There was also at the +end of the town a good old dame sitting at a cottage door and spinning +in the tempered sunshine of the evening, while her grey cat rolled +happy in the dust beside her; but the whole of the rest of the +villagers were still in the fields. + +The Count rode on, giving the dame "good even" as he passed; and, +leaving what seemed the last house of the village behind him, he took +his way along a road shadowed by tall walnut trees growing upon the +edge of a hill, which towered up in high and broken banks on the left, +and sloped away upon the right, displaying the whole track of country +through which the young nobleman had just passed, bright in the +evening light below, with his own town and castle rising up a fellow +hill to that on which he now stood, at the distance of some seven or +eight miles. + +As he turned one sharp angle of the hill, however, he suddenly drew in +his rein on seeing a carriage before him. It was stationary, however, +and the two boorish looking servants, dressed in grey, who accompanied +it, were standing at the edge of the hill, gazing over the country, as +if the scene were new to them; while the horses, which the coachman +had left to their own discretion, were stamping in a state of listless +dozing, to keep off the flies which the season rendered troublesome. + +It was evident that the carriage was held in waiting for some one, and +the Count, after pausing for a single instant, rode on, looking in as +he passed it. There was no one, however, within the wide and clumsy +vehicle, and the servants, though they stared at the young stranger, +took no notice, and made no sign of reverence as he went by them; with +which, indeed, he was well satisfied, not desiring to be recognised by +any one who might noise his proceedings abroad. + +He rode on then with somewhat of a quicker pace, to a spot where, at +the side of the road, a little wicket gale led into a small grove of +old trees, through which a path conducted to a neat stone-built house, +of small size, with its garden around it: flowers on the one hand, and +pot-herbs on the other. Nothing could present an aspect cleaner, +neater, more tasteful than the house and the garden. Not a straw was +out of its place in the thatch, and every flower-bed of the little +parterre was trimmed exactly with the same scrupulous care. The door +was of wood, painted grey, with a rope and handle by the side, to +which was attached a large bell, but, though at almost all times that +door stood open, it was closed on the present occasion. The young +Count took his way through the grove and the garden straight to the +door, as if familiar with the path of old, leaving his horse, however, +under the trees, not far from the outer gate. On finding the door +closed, he pulled the handle of the bell, though somewhat gently; but, +for a moment or two, no one replied, and he rang again, on which +second summons a maid servant, of some forty or fifty years, appeared, +bearing on her head a towering structure of white linen, in the shape +of a cap, not unlike in shape and snowy whiteness the uncovered peak +of some mountain ridge in the Alps. + +On her appearance she uttered an exclamation of pleasure at the sight +of the young Count, whom she instantly recognised; and, on his asking +for her master, she replied, that he was busy in conference with two +ladies, but that she was sure that the Count de Morseiul might go in +at any time. She pointed onward with her hand, as she spoke, down the +clean nicely-sanded passage to the door of a small room at the back of +the house, looking over the prospect which we have mentioned. It was +evidently the good woman's intention that the Count should go in and +announce himself; but he did not choose to do so, and sent her forward +to ask if he might be admitted. A full clear round voice instantly +answered from within, on her application, "Certainly, certainly," and, +taking that as his warrant, the Count advanced into the room at once. +He found it tenanted by three people, on only one of whom, however, we +shall pause, as the other two, consisting of a lady, dressed in a sort +of half mourning, with a thick veil which she had drawn over her face +before the Count entered, and another who was apparently a female +servant of a superior class, instantly quitted the room, merely saying +to their companion, + +"I will not forget." + +The third was a man of sixty-two or sixty-three years of age, dressed +in black, without sword or any ornament to his plain straight cut +clothes. His head was bare, though a small black velvet cap lay on the +table beside him, and his white hair, which was suffered to grow very +long at the back and on the temples, fell down his neck, and met the +plain white collar of his shirt, which was turned back upon his +shoulders. The top of his head was bald, rising up from a fine wide +forehead, with all those characteristic marks of expansion and +elevation which we are generally inclined to associate in our own +minds with the idea of powerful intellect and noble feelings. The +countenance, too, was fine, the features straight, clear, and +well-defined, though the eyes, which had been originally fine and +large, were somewhat hollowed by age, and the cheeks, sunken also, +left the bones beneath the eyes rather too prominent. The chin was +rounded and fine, and the teeth white and undecayed; but, in other +respects, the marks of age were very visible. There were lines and +furrows about the brow; and, on the cheeks; and, between the eyebrows, +there was a deep dent, which might give, in some degree, an air of +sternness, but seemed still more the effect of intense thought, and +perhaps of anxious care. + +The form of the old man bore evident traces of the powerful and +vigorous mould in which it had been originally cast; the shoulders +were broad, the chest deep, the arms long and sinewy, the hands large +and muscular. The complexion had been originally brown, and perhaps at +one time florid; but now it was pale, without a trace of colour any +where but in the lips, which for a man of that age were remarkably +full and red. The eye, the light of the soul, was still bright and +sparkling. It gave no evidence of decay, varying frequently in +expression from keen and eager rapidity of thought, and from the rapid +changes of feeling in a heart still full of strong emotions. + +Such--though the picture is but a faint one--such was the appearance +of Claude de l'Estang, Huguenot minister of the small village of +Auron, at equal distances from Ruffigny and Morseiul. He had played, +in his youth, a conspicuous part in defence of the Huguenot cause; he +had been a soldier as well as a preacher, and the sword and musket had +been familiar to his hands, so long as the religion of his fathers was +assailed by open persecution. No sooner, however, did those times seem +to have passed away, than, casting from him the weapons of carnal +warfare, he resumed the exercise of the profession to which he had +been originally destined, and became, for the time, one of the most +popular preachers in the south of France. + +Though his life was irreproachable, his manners pure, and his talents +high, Claude de l'Estang had not been without his portion of the +faults and failings of humanity. He had been ambitious in his +particular manner; he had been vain; he had loved the admiration and +applause of the multitude; he had coveted the fame of eloquence, and +the reputation of superior sanctity; youth, and youth's eagerness, +joined with the energy inseparable from high genius, had carried his +natural errors to an extreme: but long before the period of which we +now speak, years, and still more sorrows, had worked a great and +beneficial, but painful alteration. His first disappointment was the +disappointment of the brightest hopes of youth, complicated with all +that could aggravate the crossing of early love; for there was joined +unto it the blasting of all bright confidence in woman's sincerity, +and the destruction of that trust in the eternal happiness of one whom +he could never cease to love which was more painful to the mind of a +sincere and enthusiastic follower of his own particular creed than the +loss of all his other hopes together. He had loved early, and loved +above his station; and encouraged by hope, and by the smiles of one +who fancied that she loved in return, his ambition had been stimulated +by passion, till all the great energies of his mind were called forth +to raise himself to the highest celebrity. When he had attained all, +however, when he saw multitudes flock to hear his voice, and thousands +hanging upon the words of his lips as upon oracles, even then, at the +moment when he thought every thing must yield to him, he had seen an +unexpected degree of coldness come upon her he loved, and apparent +reluctance to fulfil the promises which had been given when his estate +was lowlier. Some slight opposition on the part of noble and wealthy +parents--opposition that would have yielded to entreaties less than +urgent, was assigned as the cause of the hesitation which wrung his +heart. The very duties which he himself had inculcated, and which, had +there been real love at heart, would have found a very different +interpretation, were now urged in opposition to his wishes; and, +mortified and pained, Claude de l'Estang watched anxiously for the +ultimate result. We need not pause upon all the steps; the end was, +that he saw her, to whom he had devoted every affection of a warm and +energetic heart, break her engagements to him, wed an enemy of her +father's creed, renounce the religion in which she had been brought +up, and after some years of ephemeral glitter in a corrupt court, +become faithless to the husband for whom she had become faithless to +her religion, and end her days, in bitterness, in a convent, where her +faith was suspected, and her real sins daily reproved. + +In the meanwhile, Claude de l'Estang had wrestled with his own nature. +He had refrained from showing mortification, or grief, or despair; he +had kept the serpent within his own bosom, and fed him upon his own +heart: he had abandoned not his pulpit; he had neglected, in no +degree, his flock; he had publicly held up as a warning to others the +dereliction of her whom he most loved, as one who had gone out from +amongst them because she was not of them; he had become sterner, +indeed more severe, in his doctrines as well as in his manners, and +this first sorrow had a tendency rather to harden than to soften his +heart. + +The next thing, however, which he had to undergo, was the punishment +of that harshness. A youth of a gentle but eager disposition, who had +been his own loved companion and friend, whom he still esteemed highly +for a thousand good and engaging qualities, was betrayed into an +error, on the circumstances of which we will not pause. Suffice it to +say that it proceeded from strong passion and circumstances of +temptation, and that for it he was eager and willing to make +atonement. He was one of the congregation of Claude de l'Estang, +however, and the minister showed himself the more determined, on +account of the friendship that existed between them, not to suffer the +fault to pass without the humiliation of public penitence; and he +exacted all, to the utmost tittle, that a harsh church, in its +extremest laws, could demand, ere it received a sinner back into its +bosom again. The young man submitted, feeling deep repentance, and +believing his own powers of endurance to be greater than they were. +But the effect was awful. From the church door, when he had performed +the act demanded of him, fancying that the finger of scorn would be +pointed at him for ever, he fled to his own home with reason cast +headlong from her throne. Ere two hours were over he had died by his +own hand; scrawling with his blood, as it flowed from him, a brief +epistle to his former friend to tell him that the act was his. + +That awful day, and those few lines, not only filled the bosom of the +minister with remorse and grief, but it opened his eyes to every thing +that had been dark in his own bosom. It showed him that he had made a +vanity of dealing with his friend more severely than he would have +done with others; that it was for his own reputation's sake that he +had thus acted; that there was pride in the severe austerity of his +life; that there was something like hypocrisy in the calm exterior +with which he had covered over a broken heart. He felt that he had +mighty enemies to combat in himself; and, as his heart was originally +pure and upright, his energies great, and his power over himself +immense, he determined that he would at once commence the war, and +never end it till--to use his own words--"he had subdued every strong +hold of the evil spirit in his breast, and expelled the enemy of his +eternal Master for ever." + +He succeeded in his undertaking: his very first act was to resign to +others the cure of his congregation in Rochelle; the next to apply for +and obtain the cure of the little Protestant congregation, in the +remote village of Auron. Every argument was brought forward to induce +him to stay in La Rochelle, but every argument proved inefficacious. +The vanity of popularity he fancied might be a snare to him, and he +refused all entreaties. When he came amongst the good villagers, he +altered the whole tone and character of his preaching. It became +simple, calm, unadorned, suited in every respect to the capacity of +the lowest person that heard him. All the fire of his eloquence was +confined to urging upon his hearers their duties, in the tone of one +whose whole soul and expectations were staked upon their salvation. He +became mild and gentle, too, though firm when it was needful; and the +reputation which he had formerly coveted still followed him when he +sought to cast it off. No synod of the Protestant clergy took place +without the opinion of Claude de l'Estang being cited almost without +appeal; and whenever advice, or consolation, or support was wanting, +men would travel for miles to seek it at the humble dwelling of the +village pastor. + +His celebrity, joined with his mildness, gained great immunities for +himself and his flock, during the early part of the reign of Louis +XIV. At first, indeed, when he took upon himself the charge of Auron, +the Catholic authorities of the neighbouring towns, holding in +remembrance his former character, imagined that he had come there to +make proselytes, and prepared to wage the strife with vehemence +against him. The intendant of the province was urged to visit the +little village of Auron, to cause the spire of the church--which had +been suffered to remain, as all the inhabitants of the neighbouring +district were Protestants--to be pulled down, and the building reduced +to the shape and dimensions to which the temples of the Protestants +were generally restricted: but ere the pastor had been many months +there, his conduct was so different from what had been expected; he +kept himself so completely aloof from every thing like cabal or +intrigue; he showed so little disposition to encroach upon the rights, +or to assail the religion, of others; that, knowing his talents and +his energies when roused into action, the neighbouring Catholics +embraced the opinion, that it would be better to leave him +undisturbed. + +The intendant of the province was a wise and a moderate man, and +although, when urged, he could not neglect to visit the little town of +Auron, yet he did so after as much delay as possible, and with the +determination of dealing as mildly with its pastor, and its +population, as was possible. When he came, he found the minister so +mild, so humble, so unlike what he had been represented, that his good +intentions were strengthened. He was obliged to say, that he must have +the spire of the church taken down, although it was shown that there +was not one Catholic family to be offended by the sight within seven +or eight miles around. But Claude de l'Estang only smiled at the +proposal, saying, that he could preach quite as well if it were away; +and the intendant, though he declared that it was absolutely necessary +to be done, by some accident always forgot to give orders to that +effect; and even at a later period discovered that the spire, both +from its own height and from the height of the hill on which it stood, +sometimes acted as a landmark to ships at sea. + +Thus the spire remained; and here, in calm tranquillity, Claude de +l'Estang had, at the time we speak of, passed more than thirty years +of his life. A small private fortune of his own enabled him to +exercise any benevolent feelings to which his situation might give +rise: simple in habits, he required little for himself; active and +energetic in mind, he never wanted time to attend to the spiritual and +temporal wants of his flock with the most minute attention. Though +ever grave and sad himself, he was ever well pleased to see the +peasantry happy and amused; and he felt practically every day, in +comparing Auron with Rochelle, how much better is love than +popularity. No magistrate, no judge, had any occupation in the town of +Auron, for the veneration in which he was held was a law to the place. +Any disputes that occurred amongst the inhabitants in consequence of +the inseparable selfishnesses of our nature, were instantly referred +to him; and he was sure to decide in such a way as instantly to +satisfy the great bulk of the villagers that he was right. There were +no recusants; for though there might be individuals who, from folly or +obstinacy, or the blindness of selfishness, would have opposed his +decision if it had stood unsupported, yet when the great mass of their +fellow villagers were against them also, they dared not utter a word. +If there was any evil committed; if youth, and either youth's passions +or its follies produced wrong, the pastor had learned ever to censure +mildly, to endeavour to amend rather than to punish, and to repair the +evil that had been done, rather than to castigate him to whom it was +attributable. + +In such occupations passed the greater part of his time; and he felt +to the very heart the truth of the words--even in this world--that +"blessed are the peace-makers." The rest of his time he devoted either +to study or to relaxation. What he called study was the deep intense +application of his mind to the knowledge and interpretation of the +Holy Scriptures, whether in translation or in the original languages. +What he called relaxation divided itself into two parts: the reading +of that high classical literature, which had formed the great +enjoyment of his youth, and by attention to which his eloquence had +been chiefly formed; and the cultivation of his flower-garden, of +which he was extremely fond, together with the superintendence of the +little farm which surrounded his mansion. His life, in short, was a +life of primeval simplicity: his pleasures few, but sweet and +innocent; his course of existence, for many years at least, smooth and +unvaried, remote from strife, and dedicated to do good. + +From time to time, indeed, persons of a higher rank, and of thoughts +and manners much more refined than those of the villagers by whom he +was surrounded, would visit his retirement, to seek his advice or +enjoy his conversation; and on these occasions he certainly did feel a +refreshment of mind from the living communion with persons of equal +intellect, which could not be gained even from his converse with the +mighty dead. Still it never made him wish to return to situations in +which such opportunities were more frequent, if not constant. "It is +enough as it is," he said; "it now comes like a refreshing shower upon +the soil of the heart, teaching it to bring forth flowers; but, +perhaps, if that rain were more plentiful and continued always, there +would be nothing but flowers and no fruit. I love my solitude, though +perhaps I love it not unbroken." + +It rarely happened that these visits had any thing that was at all +painful or annoying in them, for the means of communication between +one part of the country and another were in that day scanty; and those +who came to see him could in no degree be moved by curiosity, but must +either be instigated by some motive of much importance, or brought +thither by the desire of a mind capable of comprehending and +appreciating his. He seldom, we may almost say he never, went out to +visit any one but the members of his own flock in his spiritual +capacity. He had twice, indeed, in thirty years, been at the château +of Morseiul, but that was first on the occasion of a dangerous illness +of the Countess, the mother of Count Albert, and then, on the +commencement of those encroachments upon the rights of the Huguenots, +which had now been some time in progress. + +The Counts of Morseiul, however, both father and son, visited him +often. The first he had regarded well nigh as a brother; the latter he +looked upon almost in the light of a son. He loved their conversation +from its sincerity, its candour, and its vigour. The experience of the +old Count, which came united with none of the hardness of heart and +feeling which experience too often brings; the freshness of mind, the +fanciful enthusiasms of the younger nobleman, alike interested, +pleased, and attached him. With both there were points of immediate +communication, by which his mind entered instantly into the thoughts +and feelings of theirs; and he felt throughout every fresh +conversation with them, that he was dealing with persons worthy of +communication with him, both by brightness and elevation of intellect, +by earnest energy of character, by virtue, honour, and uprightness, +and by the rare gem of unchangeable truth. + +It may well be supposed, then, that he rose to meet the young Count de +Morseiul, of whose return to his own domains he had not been made +aware, with a smile of unmixed satisfaction. + +"Welcome, my dear Albert," he said, addressing him by the name which +he had used towards him from childhood; "welcome back to your own +dwelling and your own people. How have you fared in the wars? How have +you fared in perilous camps and in the field, and in the still more +perilous court? And how long is it since you returned to Morseiul?" + +"I have fared well, dear friend," replied the Count, "in all; have had +some opportunity of serving the king, and have received more thanks +than those services deserved. In regard to the court, where I could +neither serve him nor myself, nor any one else, I have escaped its +perils this year, by obtaining permission to come straight from the +army to Morseiul, without visiting either Paris or Versailles; and +now, as to your last question, when I arrived, I would say but +yesterday afternoon, were it not that you would, I know, thank me for +coming to see you so speedily, when in truth I only intended to come +to-morrow, had not some circumstances, not so pleasant as I could +wish, though not so bad as I fear may follow, brought me hither, to +consult with you to-day." + +A slight cloud came over the old man's countenance as his younger +companion spoke. + +"Is the difficulty in which you seek counsel, Albert," he demanded, +"in your own household, or in the household of our suffering church?" + +"Alas," replied the Count, "it is in the latter, my excellent friend; +had it been in my own household, unless some urgent cause impelled me, +I should not have thus troubled you." + +"I feared so, I feared so," replied the old man; "I have heard +something of these matters of late:--so they will not leave us in +repose!" And as he spoke he rose from the chair he had resumed after +welcoming the Count, and paced the room backwards and forwards more +than once. + +"It is in vain," he said at length, casting himself back into his +seat, "to let such things agitate me. The disposal of all is in a +better and a firmer hand than mine. 'On this rock will I found my +church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it!' So said +our divine Master; and I need not tell you, Albert of Morseiul, that +when he said, 'on this rock,' he meant on the rock of faith, and did +not mean the trumpery juggle, the buffoon-like playing on the name of +Peter, which 'the disciples of a corrupt sect would attribute to him. +He has founded his church upon the rock of faith, and thereon do I +build my hope; for I cannot but see that the enemy are preparing the +spear and making ready the bow against us. Whether it be God's will +that we shall resist, as we have done in former times, and be enabled, +though but a handful amongst a multitude, to smite the enemies and the +perverters of our pure religion, or whether we shall be called upon to +die as martyrs, and seal our faith by the pouring out of our blood, +leaving another ensample to the elect that come after us, will be +pointed out by the circumstances in which we are placed. But I see +clearly that the sword is out to smite us, and we must either resist +or endure." + +"It is precisely on that point," replied the Count, "that I came to +consult with you. Measures of a strong, a harassing, and of an unjust +nature, are taking place against us, because we will not say we +believe that which we are sure is false, and follow doctrines which +our soul repudiates. Did I hope, my excellent friend, that the matter +would stop here; did I expect that such measures of petty annoyance as +I have heard proclaimed in the town of Morseiul to-day, or any thing, +indeed, similar to those measures, would be the final end and limit of +the attack upon our liberties and our faith, I should be most anxious +to calm the minds of the people, to persuade them to endure rather +than to resist, and to remember that patience will cure many things: I +should ask you, I should beseech even you, plighted as you are to +support the cause of truth and righteousness, to aid me in my efforts, +and to remember at what an awful price indemnity must be bought; to +remember how fearful, how terrible, must be the scenes through which +we wade to the attainment of those equal rights which should be +granted even without our seeking them." + +"And I would aid you! and I would remember!" exclaimed the pastor, +grasping his hand, "so help me the God of my trust, Albert of +Morseiul," he continued more vehemently, "as I have ever avoided for +long years every cause of strife and dissension, every matter of +offence thrown in my way by those who would persecute us. Nay more, +far more; when my counsels have been sought, when my advice has been +required, the words that I have spoken have always been pacific, not +alone peaceful in sound, but peaceful in spirit and in intent, and +peaceful in every tendency; I have counselled submission where I might +have stirred up war; I have advised mild means and supplications, when +the time for successful resistance was pointed out both by just cause +for bitter indignation, and by the embarrassment of our enemies in +consequence of their over ambition: and now I tell thee, Albert, I +tell thee with pain and apprehension, that I doubt, that I much doubt, +whether in so doing I have acted right or wrong; whether, by such +timid counsels, the happy moment has not been suffered to slip; +whether our enemies, more wise in their generation than we are, have +not taken advantage of our forbearance, have not waited till they +themselves were in every way prepared, and are now ready to execute +the iniquitous designs which have only been suspended in consequence +of ambitious efforts in other quarters." + +"I fear, indeed, that it is so," replied the young Count; "but, +nevertheless, neither you nor any other person has cause to reproach +himself for such conduct. Forbearance, even if taken advantage of by +insidious enemies, must always be satisfactory to one's own heart." + +"I know not, I know not," replied the old man. "In my early days, +Albert, these hands have grasped the sword in defence of my religion; +and we were then taught that resistance to the will of those bigots +and tyrants who would crush out the last spark of the pure worship of +God, and substitute in its place the gross idolatry which disfigures +this land, was a duty to the Author of our faith. We were taught that +resistance was not optional, but compulsory; and that to our children, +and to our brethren, and to our ancestors, we owed the same +determined, persevering, uncompromising efforts that were required +from us by the service of the Lord likewise. We were taught that we +should never surrender, that we should never hesitate, that we should +never compromise, till the liberty of the true reformed church of +France was established upon a sure and permanent basis, or the last +drop of blood in the veins of her saints was poured out into the cup +of martyrdom. Such were the doctrines, Albert, that were taught in my +youth, such were the doctrines under which I myself became a humble +soldier of the cross. But, alas, lulled with the rest of my brethren +into a fatal security, thinking that no farther infraction of our +liberties would take place, believing that we should always be +permitted to worship the God of our salvation according to the +dictates of our own conscience--perhaps even believing, Albert, that +some degree of contumely and persecution, some stigma attached to the +poor name of Huguenot, might be beneficial, if not necessary, in our +frail condition as mortal men, to be a bond of union amongst us to +maintain our religion in its purity, and to keep alive the flame of +zeal;--believing all this, I have not bestirred myself to resist small +encroachments, I have even counselled others to pass them over without +notice. Now, however, I am convinced that it is the intention, perhaps +not of the King, for men say that he is kind and clement, but of the +base men that surround him, gradually to sap the foundations of our +church, and cast it down altogether. I have seen it in every act that +has been taking place of late, have marked it in every proceeding of +the court; and, though slow and insidious, covered with base pretexts +and pitiful quibbles, the progress of our enemies has been sure, and I +fear that it may be too late to close the door against them: I could +recall all their acts one by one, and the summing up would clearly +show, that the idolatrous priesthood of this popish land are +determined not to suffer a purer faith to remain any longer as an +offence and reproach unto them." + +"I much wish," replied the Count earnestly, "that you would put down, +in order, these encroachments. I have been long absent, serving in the +field, where my faith has, of course, been no obstacle, and where we +have little discussion of such matters: but if I had them clearly +stated before me, I and the other Protestant noblemen of France might +draw up a petition to the king, whose natural sense of right is very +strong, which would induce him to do us justice----" + +The old man shook his head with a look of melancholy doubt, but the +Count immediately added, repeating the words he had just used, "to do +us justice, or to make such a declaration of his intentions, as to +enable us to take measures to meet the exigency of the moment." + +"Willingly, most willingly," said Claude de l'Estang, "will I tell you +all that is done, and has been doing, by our enemies. I will tell you +also, Albert, all the false and absurd charges that they urge against +us to justify their own iniquitous dealings towards us. We will +consider the whole together calmly and dispassionately, and take +counsel as to what may best be done. God forbid that I should see the +blood of my fellow Christians shed; but God forbid, also, that I +should see his holy church overthrown." + +"You speak of charges against us, sir," said the Count, with some +surprise in his countenance: "I knew not that even malice itself could +find or forge a charge against the Huguenots of France. At the court +and in the camp there is no charge; tell me what we have done in the +provinces to give even a foundation for a charge." + +"Nothing, my young friend," replied the clergyman; "we have done +nothing but defend the immunities secured unto us by the hand of the +very king who now seeks to snatch them from us. We have not even +defended, as perhaps we should, the unalienable privileges given us by +a greater king. No; the insidious plan of our deceitful enemies has +been to attack us first, and then to lay resistance to our charge as a +crime. Take but a few instances. In the towns of Tonnay and of Privas, +the reformed religion was not only the dominant religion, but the sole +religion, and had been so for near a century; the inhabitants were all +Protestants, tranquil, quiet, industrious. There were no religious +contentions, there were no jealous feuds, when some one, prompted by +the fiend, whispered to the crown that means should be taken to +establish, in those places, the authority of the idolatrous church; +that opportunity should be given for making converts from the pure to +the corrupted faith; that in the end the pillage of the Protestant +congregations should be permitted to the Romish priesthood. An order +was instantly given for opening a Romish church in a place where there +were no Papists, and for preaching against our creed in the midst of +its sincere followers. The church was accordingly opened; the singing +of Latin masses, and the exhibition of idolatrous processions +commenced where such things had not been known in the memory of man: a +few boys hooted, and instantly there was raised a cry, that the Romish +priests were interrupted in their functions, that the ceremonies of +the church were opposed by the whole mass of Huguenots. What was the +result? The parliament of Paris gave authenticity to the calumny, by +granting letters of protection to the intruding clergy; and then, +taking its own act as proof of the guilt of the Huguenots, commanded +our temples to be pulled down, and the free exercise of our religion +in that place to be abolished. This was the case at Tonnay; and if at +the same time the decree, which announced its fate to that city, had +boldly forbidden our worship throughout the land, we might have +displayed some union, and made some successful resistance. But our +enemies were too wise to give us such a general motive: they struck an +isolated blow here, and an isolated blow there; they knew man's +selfishness; they foresaw how apathetic we should be to the injuries +of our fellows; and they were right. The Huguenots of France made no +effort in favour of those who suffered; some never inquired into the +question at all, and believed that the people of Tonnay had brought +the evil on their own heads; some shrugged the indifferent shoulder, +and thought it not worth while to trouble the peace of the whole +community for the sake of a single small town. Had it been your town +of Morseiul it would have been the same, for such has been the case +with Privas, with Dexodun, with Melle, with Chevreux, with Vitré, and +full fifty more; and not one Protestant has moved to support the +rights of his brother. Whenever, indeed, any thing has occurred +affecting the whole body, then men have flocked to us, demanding +advice and assistance; they have talked of open resistance, of +immediate war, of defending their rights, of opposing further +aggressions; but I have ever seen, Albert, that, mingled with a few +determined and noble spirits, there have been many selfish, many +indifferent; and I know that, unless some strong and universal bond of +union be given them, some great common motive be afforded, thousands +will fall off in the hour of need, and leave their defenders in the +hands of the enemy. For this reason, as well as for many others, I +have always urged peace where peace can be obtained; but I see now +such rapid progress made against us, that I tremble between two +terrible results." + +The young Count gazed thoughtfully in the pastor's face for a few +moments ere he replied. "I fear," he said at length, "that we have not +yet a sufficient motive to bind all men, as is most needful in the +strong assertion of a common cause.--Heaven forbid that we should do +or even think of aught disloyal or rebellious; but I doubt much, +though the new injury we have received is gross, that it will furnish +a sufficient motive to unite all our brethren in one general +representation to the king of our general grievances. Yet there are +many points in the edict I heard read to-day wounding to the vanity of +influential men amongst us, and that motive will often move them when +others fail. But listen, and tell me what you think. These were the +chief heads of the proclamation:"--and he went on to recapitulate all +that he had heard, the old man listening with attention while he +spoke. + +"I fear there is no bond of union here," replied the pastor, +commenting upon some of the heads which the young Count had given him; +"rather, my good young friend, matter for dissension. They have +cunningly thrown in more than one apple of discord to divide the +mayors of the Protestant towns from their people, ay, and even to make +the pastors odious to the flock." + +"Let us, however," said the Count, "endeavour to act as unitedly as +possible--let us keep a wary eye upon the proceedings of our +enemies--let us be prepared to seize the fit moment for opposition, +that we may seize it before it be necessary to resist in a manner that +may be imputed to us as disloyal. Doubtless, at the assembling of the +states of the province, which will take place shortly, there will be a +great number of the Protestant nobles present, and I will endeavour to +bring them to a general conference, in the course of which we may +perhaps----" + +"Hark!" said the old man, "there is the noise of a horse's feet;" and +the next instant a loud ringing of the bell was heard, followed by the +sound of a voice in the passage speaking to the maid servant in +jocular and facetious tones, with which the young Count was well +acquainted. + +"It is my rascally valet, Riquet," he said. "He's always thrusting +himself where he has no business." + +"I wonder you retain him in your service," said the pastor; "I have +marked him in your father's time, and have heard you both say that he +is a knave." + +"And yet he loves me," said the young Count; "and I do in truth +believe would sooner injure himself than me." + +The old man shook his head with an expression of doubt; but the +Count went on: "However, I did not wish him to know that I came here +to-night, and still less should wish him to be acquainted with the +nature of my errand. He is a Papist, you know, and may suspect, +perhaps, that we are holding a secret council with others. We had +better, therefore, give him admittance at once." + +There was a small silver bell stood on the table beside the pastor; +and, as the maid did not come in, he rang it, inquired who it was that +had arrived when she did make her appearance, and then ordered the +valet to be admitted. + +"What brought you here, Maître Jerome?" demanded the young Count, +somewhat sternly, as the valet entered on his tiptoes, with a look of +supreme self-satisfaction. + +"Why, my lord," replied the man, "scarcely had you set out when there +arrived a courier from the Duc de Rouvré, bringing you a packet. He +was asked to leave it, as you were absent; but he said it was of vast +importance, and that he was to get your answer from your own mouth: so +he would give it to nobody. I took him into what used to be called the +page's room, and made him drink deep of château Thierry, picked his +pocket of the packet while he was looking out of the window, and +seeing that he was tired to death, commended him to his bed, with a +night cap of good liquor, promising to wake him as soon as you +returned, and then set off with the packet to seek you, Monsieur le +Comte." + +"And pray what was the object of all this trickery?" demanded the +Count. "If you be not careful, Maître Jerome, you will place your neck +in a cord some day." + +"So my mother used to say," replied the man, with cool effrontery; +"but I only wished to serve your lordship, and knowing that there were +difficult matters in hand, thought you might like to read the packet +first, in order to be prepared to give a ready answer. We could easily +seal up the letter again, and slip it into the courier's jerkin--which +the poor fool put under his head when he went to sleep, thinking to +secure the packet that was already gone. He would then present it to +you in due form, and you give your answer without any apparent +forethought." + +The Count could not refrain from turning a smiling look upon the +pastor, who, however, bent down his eyes and shook his head with a +disapproving sigh. + +The Count at the same time tore open the packet which the servant had +handed to him, with a ruthless roughness, that made good Jerome Riquet +start, and cry "Oh!" with an expression of pain upon his countenance, +to see not the slightest possibility left of ever patching up the +letter again, so as to make it appear as if it had never been opened. + +"And I suppose, Master Jerome," continued the Count, while making his +way into the packet, "that you took the trouble of watching me when I +set out this afternoon." + +"Heaven forbid, sir," replied the man; "that would have been both +very impertinent, and an unnecessary waste of time and attention, as I +knew quite well where you were going. As soon as you had been out to +hear the proclamation and keep the people quiet, and came home and sat +with the shuttlecock Marquis de Hericourt, and then ordered your +horse, I said to myself, and I told Henriot, 'his lordship is gone +to consult with Monsieur Claude de l'Estang; and where, indeed, +could he go so well as to one who is respected by the Catholics +almost as much as by the Huguenots? Whom could he apply to so wisely +as to one whose counsels are always judicious, always peaceful, and +always benevolent?'" and having finished this piece of oratory, +Riquet--perceiving that his master, busy in the letter, gave him no +attention--made a low but somewhat grotesque reverence to the good +pastor, bending his head, rounding his back, and elevating his +shoulders, while his long thin legs stuck out below, so that he +assumed very much the appearance of a sleeping crane. + +The pastor, however, shook his head, replying gravely, "My good +friend, I have lived more than sixty-five years in the world, and yet +I trust age has not diminished the intellect which experience may have +tended to improve." + +By the time he had said this the young Count had read to the end of +the short letter which he had received, and put it before the pastor. + +"This is kind," he said, "and courteous of my good friend the Duke, +who, though I have not seen him for many years, still retains his +regard for our family. Jerome, you may retire," he added, "and wait +for me without. This letter which you have brought is of no importance +whatever, a mere letter of civility, so that either you or the Duke's +courier have lied." + +"Oh, it was the courier, sir," replied the valet, with his usual quiet +impudence, "it was the courier of course, otherwise there is no truth +in the old proverb, _Cheat like a valet, lie like a courier_. I always +keep to my own department, sir;" and so saying he marched out of the +room. + +In the mean time Claude de l'Estang had read the letter, which invited +the young Count to visit the Duc de Rouvré at Poitiers, and take up +his abode in the governor's house some days before the meeting of the +states. It went on to express great regard for the young nobleman +himself, and high veneration for his father's memory; and then, +glancing at the religious differences existing in the province, and +the measures which had been lately taken against the Huguenots, it +went on to state that the writer was anxious to receive the private +advice and opinion of the young Count as to the best means of +extinguishing all irritation on such subjects. + +"Were this from any other man than the Duc de Rouvré," said the +pastor, "I should say that it was specious and intended to mislead; +but the Duc has always shown himself favourable to the Protestants as +a politician, and I have some reason to believe is not unfavourable to +their doctrines in his heart: but go, my son, go as speedily as +possible, and God grant that your efforts may conclude with peace." + +After a few more words of the same tenor, the pastor and his young +friend separated, and the Count and his valet, mounting their horses, +took their way back towards the château, with the shades of night +beginning to gather quickly about them. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + UNEXPECTED COMPANIONS. + + +The two horsemen rode to the village at a quick rate, but then +slackened their pace, and passed through the single little street at a +walk. The scene, however, was now changed; the children were no longer +playing before the doors; from out of the windows of some of the +cottages streamed forth the reddish light of a resin candle; from +others was heard issuing the sound of a psalm, sung before the +inhabitants retired to rest; and at the doors of others again appeared +a peasant returned late from the toil of the day, and--as is so +natural to the heart of man--pausing in the thickening twilight to +take one more look of the world, before the darkness of night shut it +out altogether. A star or two was beginning to appear in the sky; the +bats were flitting hither and thither through the dusk; and, though it +was still warm and mild, every thing betokened the rapid approach of +night. + +From the village the Count rode on, relapsing, after having spoken a +few words to his servant, into the same meditative mood which had +possessed him on his way to Auron. He hastened not his pace, and after +he had gone about three miles complete darkness surrounded him. There +was no moon in the sky; the road by which he had come, steep, stony, +and irregular, required full light to render it safe for his horse's +knees; and, after the animal had tripped more than once, the Count +struck into a path to the right, which led by a little _détour_ into +the high road from Paris to Poitiers. + +High roads, however, in those days were very different things from +those which they have now become; and there is scarcely a parish road +in England, or a commercial road in France, which is not wider, more +open, and better in every respect than the high road we speak of was +at that time. When he had gained it, however, the Count went on more +easily till he arrived at the spot where it entered one of the large +woods which supplied the inhabitants with fuel in a country +unproductive of coal. There, however, he met with an obstruction which +he had not at all anticipated. As he approached the outskirts of the +wood, there was a sudden flash to the right, and a ball whistled +across the Count's path, but without hitting either himself or his +servant. + +He was too much accustomed to scenes in which such winged messengers +of death were common, to be startled by the shot, but merely muttering +to himself, "This is unpleasant; we must put a stop to this so near +Morseiul," he considered whether it would be better for him to push +his horse forward or to go back upon the open road. But the matter was +settled for him by others; for he was surrounded in a moment by five +or six men, who speedily pulled him off his horse, though he made no +effort to resist where resistance he saw would be vain, and then +demanded his name in an imperative and threatening manner. He heard, +however, at the same time, the galloping of the horse of Jerome +Riquet, who had remained some twenty or thirty yards behind him; and +perfectly certain, therefore, that very efficient aid would soon be +brought to deliver him, he determined to procrastinate as far as +possible, in the hopes of taking some of the plunderers who had +established themselves so near his dwelling. + +"I cannot see," he said, "what your business can be with my name; if +it is my money that you want, any that I have upon my person you can +take.--My good friend, you will oblige me by not holding my collar so +tight; it gives me a feeling of strangulation, which, as you may +perhaps some day know, is not very pleasant." + +The man who held him, and who seemed the principal of the group, did +not appear to be at all offended at being reminded of what might be +the end of his exploits, but let go his collar, laughing and saying, +"You are merry! however, your money we shall take as our own right. It +is fair toll you know; and your name we must have too, as being +officers of the King's highway, if not of the King, we have certainly +a right to ask for passports." + +"Heaven forbid that I should deny any of your rights," replied the +Count; "my money I will give you with all my heart: but my name is my +own, and I do not choose to give that to any one." + +"Well, then, we must take you where we can see your face," replied the +other. "Then if we know you, well and good, you shall go on; if we do +not know you, we shall find means to make you speak more clearly, I +will warrant." + +"He is one of them! he is one of them, be you sure," replied a second +voice. "I would tie him to a tree and shoot him at once out of the +way." + +"No, no," rejoined the first; "I think I know his tongue. It is Maître +Nicolas, the notary--not a bad man in his way. Bring him along, and +his horse too; we shall soon see." + +Though the Count, perhaps, might not consider himself flattered by +being taken for Maître Nicolas the notary, he began to perceive that +there was something more in the conduct of these men than the common +desire of plunder, some personal motive either of revenge or enmity; +and, as he well knew that he was generally loved throughout the +neighbourhood, he had no apprehensions as to the result regarding +himself. He was anxious, however, to see more of his captors' +proceedings, and therefore accompanied them without any effort to +undeceive them as to who he was. They led him along for about a +quarter of a mile down the high road through the wood, then struck +into a narrower path to the right, only in use for wood-carts, and +then again took a foot path, which brought them to a spot where a +bright light was seen glimmering through the trees before them. It was +evident that some wider road than that which they were following at +the moment led also to the point to which it tended, for the sound of +horses' feet was heard in that direction, and a creaking, as if of +some heavy carriage wheels. + +"There is brown Keroual," said one of the men, "come back from the +other end of the wood, and I'll bet you two louis to two deniers that +he's got hold of them. Don't you hear the wheels? I think we might let +you go," he added, turning towards the Count, and trying to get a full +glance of his face by the light that flashed through the leaves. + +At that moment, however, one of his companions replied, "Take him on, +take him on! You can't tell what wheels they are. They may be +sending away those women." + +This seemed to decide the matter somewhat to the satisfaction of +Albert de Morseiul, who was not a little anxious to witness what was +going on; and the men accordingly led him forward through the bushes, +which partially obstructed the path, till coming suddenly to an open +space under a high sandy bank, he found himself in the midst of a +scene, upon which we must pause for a moment. + +There was a large wood fire in the midst of the open space; and both +to the right and left led away a small road, deeply channelled by the +wheels of sand carts. The high bank above was crowned with the fine +trees of the wood, amongst the branches and stems of which the light +of the fire and of one or, two torches lost itself; while the fuller +light below shone upon three or four curious groups of human beings. +One of these groups was gathered together near the fire, and consisted +of seven men, some lying down, some standing, all of them well armed, +and some of them with carbines in their hands; their dress in a great +degree resembled that of the English soldiery at the time of Cromwell, +though the usurper had been dead, and the fashion of such clothing +gone out, about twenty years. A few of them had their faces bare, but +the greater part had something drawn over their countenance so as +completely to disguise it. In general, this covering was a mere piece +of silk or cloth with slits made for the eyes, but in two instances a +regular mask appeared. + +At a little distance from the fire, farther under the bank, sat two +ladies, one richly habited in the taste of that day, and with the +upper part of the face covered by the common black velvet riding mask, +the other dressed more simply, but still handsomely, with a large +watch hanging by her side, and two or three rings still upon her +hands, notwithstanding the company in which she was found. There were +some large grey cloaks spread upon the ground beneath them, to protect +them apparently from the damp of the ground; and standing near, +leaning on a musket, apparently as a guard over them, was one of the +same fraternity that appeared by the side of the fire. + +At some distance up the road to the right, a carriage was seen +stationary, with the horses taken out and cropping the grass by the +side; but the eyes of the whole party under the bank were turned to +the other side, where, at the entrance of the road into the open +space, appeared a second carriage drawn by four mules, which had just +been led up by a party of the banditti, who were the first that had +appeared mounted. + +From the door of the vehicle, which was now brought to a halt, its +tenants were in the very act of descending, with fear and +unwillingness written upon their countenances. The two first that came +forth were ecclesiastics of the Catholic church: the first, a man who +might well be considered as remarkably ugly, had his countenance not +been expressive, and its expression indicative of considerable talent. +The second was a much handsomer man in every respect, but with a keen, +sly, fox-like aspect, and a constant habit of biting his nether lip, +of which he could not divest himself, even at a moment when, to judge +by his countenance, he was possessed by extraordinary fear. After them +came another man, dressed as a layman, one or two domestics, and a fat +inferior priest, with a dirty and a greasy countenance, full of +nothing but large black eyes and dull stupidity. + +While they were thus making their unwilling exit from the carriage, +several of those who had brought them thither were mounted upon +different parts of the vehicle, busily cutting off, opening, and +emptying various valises, trunk-mails, and other contrivances for +conveying luggage. + +The attention of the other actors in the scene was so much taken up by +this group, that no one seemed to notice the arrival of the party +which brought the Count thither; and though the man who had led it had +resumed a grasp of his collar, as if to demonstrate that the Count was +the captive of his bow and spear, he was himself so intensely occupied +in looking at the proceedings round the carriage, that he paused close +to the wood for several minutes. At length, however, he recollected +himself, and, by advancing two or three steps with those that +followed, called the attention of the rest from the carriage and its +ejected tenants to the new captive that had been brought in. The light +flashed full upon the Count as the man held him; but the moment the +eyes of the group around the fire were turned upon him, several voices +exclaimed in a tone of surprise and consternation, "The Count! The +Count! The Count de Morseiul!" + +No sooner did the first of the ecclesiastics, who had descended from +the carriage, hear the exclamation, than he turned his eyes in that +way also, ran forward, and, catching the Count by the hand, exclaimed, +"Monsieur de Morseiul, my dear friend, I claim your protection. These +men threaten to murder me!" + +"Monsieur Pelisson," replied the Count, "I greatly grieve that I can +give you no protection. I am a prisoner to these men, as you see, +myself, and, were I not of another creed, might, for aught I know, +have to apply to you to shrive me! for they have threatened to tie me +to a tree, and shoot me likewise." + +"Good God! this is very horrible," cried Pelisson, in utter terror and +consternation. "Pray, Monsieur de St. Helie," he exclaimed, turning to +the other ecclesiastic who followed, "Pray, exhort these men--you are +so eloquent!" + +"I--I--I--I can exhort nobody," stammered forth the other, trembling +in every limb. + +A change, however, was working itself in their favour; for the moment +that the Count's name had been publicly announced, a great degree of +agitation and movement had taken place amongst the robbers. Those who +had been lying down started up, those who had been plundering the +carriage abandoned their pillage, and joined their companions by the +fire; the man who had grasped the Count let go his hold, as if he had +burnt his hand, and a rapid consultation evidently took place amongst +the rest, which the Count himself was not a little surprised to see, +as, amongst those whose faces were uncovered, there was not a single +individual whom he could recognise as having ever beheld before. + +The movement of Pelisson, however, and the words which passed between +him and the Count again called their attention in that direction from +the consultation which was going on. Two men, both masked, separated +themselves from the rest, one a very tall and powerful man, somewhat +richly though not tastefully dressed; the other a short, broad-made, +sturdy looking person, who only wanted the accompaniment of a +bandoleer over his buff coat to be a perfect representation of the +parliamentary soldier of Great Britain. The lesser man took upon +himself to be spokesman, though they both advanced direct towards the +Count. + +"We are sorry for what has happened, Monsieur de Morseiul," he said; +"we had not the slightest intention of disturbing you upon your road, +and it was this fellow's stupidness and the darkness of the night that +has caused the mistake. I have only to say, as I said before, that we +are sorry for it, and that you are quite at liberty to go when you +like." + +The Count's determination was taken in a moment. "I am happy to hear," +he said, "that you are sorry for one offence at least against the laws +of the country; but, in regard to my going, if I go, I have not the +slightest intention of going alone. I am not a person to abandon my +companions in distress, and I must insist upon some of the parties +here present being liberated as well as myself." + +Pelisson looked at him with an imploring glance; the Abbé de St. Helie +elapsed his hands together, and gazed anxiously in his face; while the +man to whom he had spoken replied in a surly tone,-- + +"We would fain treat you well, Sir Count, and do you no harm; so go +your way in God's name, and do not meddle with what does not concern +you, for fear worse come of it. You are not leading the forlorn hope +at Maestricht now, remember." + +"Oh!" said the Count, with a meaning nod of the head, as if the man's +allusion had let him into some secret; but ere he could reply further, +the taller and more athletic of the two whispered a few words to his +companion in a low voice, and the other, after a moment's pause of +hesitation, turned once more to the Count and said, "Well, sir, what +is it you would have? We respect and love you, and would do much to +please you. What do you demand?" + +"In the first place," replied the Count de Morseiul, speaking very +slowly and distinctly, and using as many words as he possibly could, +knowing that every moment was something gained by bringing succour +nearer; "in the first place, as I am sure that you are too much men of +honour, and too courteous in your nature a great deal----" + +"Come, come, Sir Count," replied the man, interrupting him, "cut your +story short. We have honour of our own particular kind; but as to our +nature being courteous, it is not. We are neither fools, babies, nor +frequenters of the painted chambers of Paris, but freemen of the +forest. What I ask is, what do you demand?" + +"In the first place," replied the Count, taking a step forward towards +the spot where the two ladies were sitting, and pointing in that +direction with his hand, "in the first place, I demand that you should +set those two ladies at liberty!" + +"They might have been at liberty long ago," replied the man, "if they +had chosen to say whence they came and whither they were going. +However, go they shall, as you ask it; but I should like to have those +rings and that watch first." + +"Fie," said the Count, "you surely would not touch the trinkets. Their +purses, I dare say, have been taken already." + +"Those were given up at first," replied the man, "and we should have +had the watch and rings too if we had not been interrupted by this +other affair. Come, pretty one," he added, turning to the younger of +the two ladies, who had both risen when they heard the intercession +that was made for them, and were gazing on the young Count with eager +anxiety, "come, let us see if there be any diamonds amongst those +rings, for we must not let diamonds get out of the forest. They are +better than gold a great deal." + +Thus saying, he advanced towards her, and took the small delicate +beautiful fingers, on which the rings appeared, in his rough grasp. + +"I fear, lady," said the Count, who had followed him, "that I cannot +protect you farther. We must feel grateful for your being permitted to +go at all." + +"We owe you a deep debt of gratitude as it is, sir," replied the elder +lady; and the younger added immediately, "indeed we do: but let them +take the rings," she continued, drawing them from her fingers.--"All +but one," she added suddenly, "all but one." + +"What, a wedding-ring," cried the man, with a loud laugh, "or a +lover's token, I suppose, for I see no wedding-ring here." + +"No, sir," she said, drawing up her head somewhat proudly, "but the +gift of a mother that loved me, and who is most dear to me still in +memory. Pray, let me keep it. This is the ring." + +"Why, that is worth all the rest," said the man, looking at it. "No, +no, my pretty mistress, we must have this." + +The Count de Morseiul had stood by, somewhat pale, and with a manner +which, for the first time, betrayed some degree of agitation. But he +now interposed, seeing, by the trembling of her hand, how much emotion +the man's words produced upon the young lady, though he could not +behold her countenance. + +"What is the value of the ring?" he demanded of the man. + +"Why, some twenty louis, I dare say," he replied. + +"Well, I will give you double the amount for it," said the Count. "I +have not the money upon me, for your men have taken all I had; but you +can trust me, and I will pay it to any one whom you will send to the +château of Morseiul, and pledge my honour they shall come and go in +safety, and without inquiry." + +"Your honour, my Lord Count, is worth the city of Poitiers," replied +the man. "There is the ring," and he gave it into the Count's hand. + +Albert de Morseiul took it, and gazed at it by the fire-light for a +moment with some attention, and with some emotion. It was formed of +diamonds, and, according to a fashion common in that day, formed the +initials, probably of some proper name, C. S., surmounted by a Count's +coronet. + +"Lady," he said, after he had looked at it, "this ring is almost as +strong a temptation to me as to our friend here. I long to keep it +till its fair owner, once more at liberty, may come to claim it at my +hands. That would be ungenerous, however, and so I suppose I must give +it back." + +So saying, he replaced it on her finger, and, with an air of courteous +gallantry, raised the small fair hand to his lips. She bent down her +head over her hand and his, as if to gaze at the recovered ring, and +he felt a warm drop fall from the bright eyes that sparkled through +the mask upon it. + +"And now," he said, turning to the man who had acted as chief of the +band, "and now you will let the ladies depart." + +"Yes," replied the man, "but one of our people must drive them to the +place where we tied the lackeys to the trees." + +"They are safe, upon your honour, though?" said the Count. + +"Upon my honour they are," answered the man bluffly. "I should like to +see the man that would wag a finger at them when I say they are free." + +"Come then, quick," said the Count, turning to the ladies; "let us not +lose the fortunate moment;" and he took her hand to lead her to the +carriage, which he had remarked standing farther down the road. But +both Pelisson and St. Helie threw themselves in his way, exclaiming +aloud, "For God's sake do not leave us! For Heaven's sake do not +abandon us!" + +"No, no," replied the Count. "My good friends," he added, turning to +the band, "pray offer these good gentlemen no wrong, at least till my +return. Perhaps I can hit upon some terms between you and them, and +also tell you a piece of news which will make you change your +determination." + +"Not easily," said the leader; "but we will not harm them till you +come back, if you are only going to take the ladies to the carriage. +You, Stephen, drive it to the place where the lackeys were left." + +"I will return instantly," said the Count, and he led the younger lady +on, the elder following. Till they reached the carriage, and during a +part of the time occupied in tying the horses again to it, all were +silent; but at length the younger lady ventured to say, in a low +voice,-- + +"How can I ever thank you, Monsieur de Morseiul?" + +The Count did not reply to the question, but he said, as he was +handing her in,-- + +"Am I not right? Have we not met before?" + +"It is years ago," she said, in the same low tone; "but," she added +the moment after, just as the man was about to drive away, "we shall +meet again, and if we do, say nothing of this meeting, I beseech you; +but remember only that I am deeply grateful." + +The carriage drove away, and the Count remained for a moment +listening. He then returned to the mixed group by the fire, where the +agitation of terror in the case of the Abbé de St. Helie had worked +itself up to such a pitch during his absence, that the tears were +streaming copiously from the unhappy man's eyes, while the band that +had made him a captive stood round gazing upon him with some contempt, +but certainly no appearance of pity. Pelisson, on his part, displayed +a greater degree of firmness, remaining with his hands clasped +together, and his eyes fixed upon the ground, but without any other +sign of fear than some paleness of his countenance, and an occasional +movement of the lips, as if he were in prayer. + +The Count advanced into the midst of the group, and perceiving that +the leader of the band into whose hands they had fallen looked to him +to speak first, and maintained a sort of dogged silence which augured +but ill for the two ecclesiastics, he said, "Now, my good friend, what +do you intend to do with these gentlemen?" + +"I intend," replied the man in a stern tone, "to shoot the two that +are standing there without fail, to scourge that black-faced priest by +the carriage till he has not a bit of skin on his back, and send the +lackeys trooping." + +"You are of course jesting," said the Count. "You are not a man, I am +sure, to commit deliberate murder. But you have frightened them +enough.--Let me hear what you intend to do, without a jest." + +"There has been no jest spoken," replied the man fiercely. "I have +told you my intentions, and I shall not change. These two villains +have come down into a peaceful province, and amongst a happy people, +to bring dissension, and persecution, and hatred amongst us, and they +shall taste the first bitter fruits of their own works. I shall +certainly not let them escape; and I can tell the old Jesuit Le +Tellier, and his tyrant son, Louvois, that they may send as many of +such firebrands down as they will; I will do my best to meet them, and +extinguish them in their own blood." + +"I really do not know what you mean," replied the Count. "Monsieur +Pelisson, I cannot conceive, from what I know of you, that you are a +man to undertake such evil tasks as this good gentleman accuses you +of. We of the reformed religion certainly regretted that you had +thought fit to fall back into what we consider to be a great error, +but we never supposed that you would deal hardly with your reformed +brethren." + +"Neither do I, Count," replied Pelisson, firmly. "It is natural that, +having abandoned errors, I should seek to lead others to follow the +same course; but no harsh means have I ever practised, no harsh means +have I ever counselled. On the contrary, I have advocated gentleness, +peace, persuasion, exhortation, kindness, equity, on all occasions. +But it is in vain, my good young gentleman," he added, looking at his +captors, "it is all in vain. These men are determined to take our +blood, and it is in vain to try to stay them; though the retribution +which will fall upon them, and I fear, too, upon your own sect, will +be awful, when our fate reaches the ears of the King. But it is in +vain, as I have said. You have done your best for us, and I thank you +from my heart. Bear witness, every one!" he continued, raising his +voice, "bear witness, every one, that this noble gentleman, the Count +de Morseiul, has no share in the terrible act these men are going to +commit, and that he has done his best to save us." + +"No one will suspect me, Monsieur Pelisson," replied the Count. "But I +must yet do something more," he added, believing, not wrongly, that +the words and demeanour of Pelisson must have had some effect upon the +body of men by whom they were surrounded, and also having some hope +now that aid might be at hand. "I must yet do something more, and the +time I believe is come for doing it. Listen to me, sir," he added, +addressing the man who had led the band throughout. "I beg of you +instantly to set these two gentlemen at liberty. I beg of you, both +for your own sake and for the sake of the reformed church, to which I +belong, and to whose instigations this act will be attributed; and if +you will not attend to my entreaties you must attend to my command--I +command you to set them at liberty!" + +"Command!" said the man, with a scornful laugh. "Your commands are +likely to be mighty potent here, in the green wood, Sir Count! Now, +listen to my commands to you. Make the best of your time and get away +from this spot without delay, for if you stay you shall either see +those two men shot before your face, or you shall be shot with them. +So be quick." + +"Be it as you say, my good friend," replied the Count coolly. "We +shall have bloody work of it; but before you go on, remember, I tell +you, you shall take my life with theirs; and let me warn you of +another thing which you do not know, the first shot that is fired, the +first loud word that is spoken," he added, dropping his voice, "will +bring destruction on the heads of all." + +The man to whom he spoke gazed in his face with some surprise, as if +not clearly understanding his meaning, while the rest of the band +appeared eagerly whispering together, in a manner which might be +interpreted to bespeak some difference of opinion between themselves +and their leader. + +The ear of the Count was quick; while conducting the two ladies to +their carriage, he had heard uncertain sounds at a distance, which he +had little doubted were occasioned by the arrival of some party from +the castle in search of him: while he had spoken to the chief of the +band in favour of Pelisson and his companions, he had again caught the +same sounds, but more distinctly. He had heard voices, and the +trampling of horse, and taking advantage of the momentary hesitation +which seemed to affect his opponent, he exclaimed, "Hark!" and lifted +up his hand to enjoin silence. The sounds, though distant, were now +very distinct, and he added, "You hear! They are in search of me with +all the force from the castle. You did not know that my servant was +behind when I was taken, and fled to seek succour." + +His opponent stamped his foot upon the ground, and laid his hand upon +a pistol in his belt, fingering the hammer of the lock in a very +ominous manner; but the Count once more interposed, anxious on many +accounts to prevent a collision. + +"Come," he said, "I wish to do you no injury. Let us compromise the +matter. Set the party you have taken free, and doubtless they will +abandon to your care and guidance all the baggage and money that they +may possess. What say you, Monsieur Pelisson?" + +"Willingly, willingly," cried Pelisson, to whom all the last words +spoken had been a relief. + +"Willingly, willingly," cried the Abbé de St. Helie; the tears which +had been streaming from fear changing suddenly into the tears of joy, +and flowing on as rapidly as ever. Their enemy, however, seemed still +to hesitate; but the taller man, whom we have before seen exercising +some influence over him, pulled him by the sleeve once more, and +whispered to him eagerly for a brief space. He listened to him for an +instant, partly turning away his head, then shook himself pettishly +free from his grasp, saying, "Well, I suppose it must be so. I will +set them free now; but a day of reckoning will come, if they take not +a warning from what has passed. Gather all those things together, my +men. Each one take something, and let us be off as fast as we can. +Stand to your arms, though; stand to your arms, some of you. Those +fellows are coming devilish near, and may find their way up here." + +"They shall not injure you," said the Count. "I break no engagements, +even when only implied." + +At that moment, however, the Abbé de St. Helie, having sufficiently +recovered from the terror into which he had been cast to give some +thought to what he was about, exclaimed aloud, "But the King's +commission--the King's commission! They must not take that;" and +rushing towards the baggage he seized a white leather bag, which +seemed to contain some especial treasure; but scarcely had he got it +in his hand when the chief of their captors snatched it violently from +him, and dashed it into the midst of the fire, where he set his foot +upon it, as if to insure that it should be burnt, even at the risk of +injuring himself. + +Albert de Morseiul was an officer in the King's service, and had been +brought up in his youth with high notions of devoted loyalty and +reverence for the royal authority, which even the free spirit of the +reformed religion which he professed had not been able to diminish. +The insult offered to the monarch's commission then struck him with +indignation; and, starting forward, he grasped the man who would have +destroyed it by the chest, exclaiming, "Sir, would you insult the King +himself?" + +The man replied not, but strove to keep down his foot upon the packet. +The young Count, however, was as powerful in frame as himself, and +considerably taller; and, after a momentary struggle, he cast him +back, while the Abbé de St. Helie snatched the packet from the flames. + +What would have been the result of this strife, in which both the +robber's blood and that of the young Count were heated, would be +difficult to say, for the man had drawn the pistol from his belt, and +the click of the lock was plainly heard as he cocked it; but just at +that minute the men who had been engaged in stripping the trunk mails +of their contents, caught a sight of a party of horsemen coming up the +road; and gathering every thing that was most valuable together, they +retreated quickly around their leader. Abandoning his contention with +the Count, he now promptly formed them into line, collected all the +various articles belonging to themselves which were scattered about, +and retreated in the direction of the opposite road, offering a firm +face of five men abreast, with their carbines cocked, and levelled to +the horsemen, who were now coming up thick into the open space where +all these events had passed. + +At the head of the horsemen appeared the Chevalier d'Evran, armed in +haste to deliver or avenge his friend; but, as the Count saw that he +was now master of the field, and that the robbers were retreating in a +very threatening attitude, which might produce bloodshed if they were +not immediately shown that no molestation would be offered to them, he +took a rapid step or two forward, exclaiming to his own party,-- + +"Halt, halt! We have come to a compromise before you arrived, and are +all at liberty. Thanks, Louis, a thousand thanks, however, for your +succour!" + +The Count's men paused promptly at his command, and the robbers +retreated slowly up the other road, facing round every ten or twelve +steps, fully prepared for defence, like an old lion pursued by the +hunters. In the mean while the Chevalier sprung from his horse, and +grasped his friend's hand eagerly. + +"Why, Albert," he exclaimed, "Albert, this would never do! You who, +though one of the rashest officers in the service, had escaped balls +and pikes, and bayonets and sabres, to run the risk of being killed by +a ditch-fighting freebooter, within a mile or two of your own hearth! +Why, when that rascal Jerome there came and told me, I thought I +should have gone mad; but I was determined to ride the rascals down +like wolves, if I found they had injured you." + +"Oh, no," replied the Count, "they showed no inclination to injure me; +and, indeed, it would appear, as far as I am concerned, that the whole +matter was a mistake, for to me they were very respectful. In truth, I +seemed to be in wonderful favour with them, and my only difficulty was +in saving M. Pelisson and this reverend gentleman here. But, +notwithstanding these worthy men's reverence for myself, I must set to +work to put this down as soon as ever I come back from Poitiers." + +"I am sure, Monsieur le Comte," said the Abbé de St. Helie, "we owe +you every thing this night, and your conduct shall never be blotted +out from our grateful remembrance." + +The Count bowed low, but somewhat stiffly; then, shaking Pelisson by +the hand, he said, "I am happy to have been of any service to you +both, gentlemen. My good friend, Monsieur Pelisson, I trust that you +will not be any the worse for this short, though unpleasant, sojourn +in the forest. I will not ask you and your friend to return and stop +awhile at the château of Morseiul, as in all probability Monsieur de +St. Helie might not relish abiding under the roof of a heretic. But +besides that," he added with a smile, "besides that, in regard to +which of course I speak in jest, I doubt not you are anxious to +proceed. Morseiul is out of your way, and in an hour and a half you +will reach the auberge of Quatremoulins." + +"But, sir, shall we be safe, shall we be safe?" exclaimed the Abbé de +St. Helie, who was now examining the vehicle in which they had been +travelling with anxious eyes. "Gracious God!" he exclaimed, ere the +Count could answer, "look! there is a ball which has gone through the +carriage within an inch of my head!" + +The Count de Morseiul looked at the Chevalier, and they both laughed. + +"There is a proverb in England, my good Abbé," said the Chevalier, +"that a miss is as good as a mile; but if you will take my advice you +will plant yourself just in the same spot again, or put your valise to +raise you just opposite the shot-hole, for there are a thousand +chances to one that, if you are shot at a thousand times, no bullet +ever comes there again." + +The Abbé did not seem much to like the pleasantry, for in his mind the +subject was far too serious a one to admit of a joke; and the Count de +Morseiul replied to his former question,--"Depend upon it you are in +perfect safety. But to make that more sure, the Chevalier and I will +return to Morseiul with only one or two attendants, and send the rest +of my men to escort you to the inn. However, gentlemen, if you will +take my advice, you will not travel by night any more when you are in +this part of the country; for, from what that fellow said, I should +suppose the peasantry have got some evil notion of your intended +proceedings here, and it might be dangerous to trust yourselves with +them too much. There are such things, you must remember, as shooting +from behind hedges, and from the tops of banks; and you must not +forget that, in this part of the world, where our lanes are cut deep +down between the fields, our orchards thick, and our woods many, it is +no easy matter to ascertain where there is an enemy. As I take it for +granted you are going towards Poitiers, Monsieur Pelisson, I shall +most likely see you soon again. We will all accompany you out of the +wood, and then you shall have a sufficient escort to ensure your +safety." + +Pelisson thanked him again and again. The trunk mails, and what +portion of their contents the robbers had left, were gathered +together, the carriage re-loaded, and its human burden placed safely +in it. Pelisson and the Abbé de St. Helie, after having ascertained +that the injuries inflicted by the fire upon the precious packet in +the sheep-skin bag extended no farther than that outer cover, gave the +word that they were ready; and moving on in slow procession, the +carriage, its denizens, and their escort of cavaliers made their exit +from the road, after which the Count and the Chevalier took leave of +the others to return to the castle of Morseiul; and thus ended the +adventures of the night. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + THE JOURNEY, AND SOME OF ITS EVENTS. + + +We will pass over all comments which took place amongst the parties to +the scene which we described in our last chapter, and will take up our +story again with the interval of a single day. + +How happy would it often be for us in life if we could thus blot out a +single day! if, out of our existence as out of our history, we could +extirpate one four and twenty hours, its never-to-be-recalled deeds, +its thoughts affecting the mind for ever, its events affecting the +whole course of after-existence! How happy would it be if we could +blot it out from being! and often, too often, how happy would it be if +we could blot it out from memory--from memory, the treasurer of our +joys and pains--memory, whose important charge differs from the bright +office of hope, in the sad particular of having to deal with nothing +but realities! + +However, with the Count de Morseiul and his friend the Chevalier +d'Evran, that day had passed in nothing which left regret. The Count +had explained to his friend that he judged it necessary to go to +Poitiers at once: the Chevalier had very willingly agreed to accompany +him, saying, that he would take the good old Duke by surprise: they +had then enjoyed every thing that Morseiul afforded of enjoyable; they +had wandered by the glassy stream, they had ridden through the +beautiful scenes around, they had hunted the boar in the Count's green +woods, they had tasted with moderation his good wine, and the rich +fruits of a sunny land; and thus that day had passed over without a +cloud. + +Although the King of France had given over, by this time, the habit +with which he set out, in the light and active days of his first +manhood, and no longer made all his journeys on horseback, yet the +custom was kept up by a great part of his nobility and officers, and +it was very usual to ride post upon a journey, that is to say, to +mount whatever horse the postmaster chose to give, and ride on to the +next relay, accompanied by a postilion on another horse, carrying the +baggage. The Count de Morseiul, however, did not follow this plan, as +he had no inclination to appear in the city of Poitiers, which at that +time boasted of being the largest city in France, except Paris, in the +character of a courier. As he loved not carriages, however, and had +plenty of fiery horses in his stable panting for exercise, he sent +forward a relay himself to a distant inn upon the road, and, on the +morning we speak of, accompanied by his friend and a large body of +their servants, rode calmly on upon the way, proposing to make a +journey of about five and thirty miles that day. + +"It is politic of me, D'Evran," he said, conversing with the +Chevalier, "it is politic of me to carry you away from Morseiul so +soon; as you have promised to give me one whole month, for fear you +should become tired of your abode, and exhaust all its little stock of +amusements and pleasures too rapidly. Satiety is a great evil, and +surely one of the minor policies of life is to guard against it." + +"No fear of my getting tired of Morseiul so soon," replied the +Chevalier; "but I cannot agree entirely to your view of satiety. I +have often had many doubts as to whether it be really an evil or not." + +"I have none," replied the Count; "it seems to me the greatest of +intellectual evils; it seems to me to be to the mind what despair is +to the heart, and in the mind of a young man is surely what premature +decrepitude is to the body. Good God, Louis, how can you entertain a +doubt? The idea of losing one sense, one fine perception, is surely +horrible enough; but tenfold horrible must be the idea of losing them +altogether; or, what comes to the same thing, of losing the enjoyment +that they confer upon us?" + +"Nay, but, Albert," said the Chevalier, who was fond of playing with +his own wit as a bright weapon, without considering its dangerous +nature, and took no little pleasure in calling forth, even against +himself, the enthusiastic eagerness of his friend; "nay, but, Albert, +what I contend for is, that satiety is true wisdom; that it is a +perfect, thorough knowledge of all enjoyments, and a proper estimation +of their emptiness." + +"Hold, hold," exclaimed the Count, "that is a very different thing; to +my mind satiety is the exhaustion of our own powers of enjoying, not +the discovery of the want of a power of conferring enjoyment in other +things. Because a man loses the sense of smelling, that will not +deprive the rose of its sweet odour. Does a tyrant cut out my tongue? +the delicious flavour of the peach will remain, though I taste it not; +though he blind my eyes, the face of nature will flourish and look +fair as much as ever. No, no, satiety is the deprivation, by over +enjoyment, of our own powers of receiving; and not a just estimate of +the powers of other things in giving pleasure." + +"But you will own," said the Chevalier, "that a deep and minute +acquaintance with any source of enjoyment naturally tends to diminish +the gratification that we at first received from it. You will not deny +that moralist and philosopher, from Solomon down to our own days, have +all been right in pointing out the vanity of all things. _Vanitas +vanitatis_, my dear Count, has been the stamp fixed by every great +mind that the world has yet produced upon the objects of human +enjoyment. This has been the acme, this the conclusion at which wisdom +has arrived; and surely the sooner we ourselves arrive at it in life +the better." + +"Heaven forbid," exclaimed the Count; "Heaven forbid, either that it +should be so, or that such should be your real and mature opinion. You +say that a minute acquaintance with the sources of enjoyment +diminishes the gratification they afford. There is undoubtedly +something lost in every case of such minute acquaintance; but it is by +the loss of a peculiar and distinct source of pleasure accompanying +every other enjoyment the first time it is tasted, and never going +beyond. I mean novelty--the bloom upon the ripe plum, which renders it +beautiful to the eye as well as refreshing to the taste--brush away +the bloom, the plum is no longer so beautiful, but the taste no less +refreshing. Setting aside the diminution made for the loss of that +novelty, I deny your position." + +The Chevalier laughed at his friend's eagerness. + +"You will not surely deny, Morseiul," he said, "that there is no +pleasure, no enjoyment, really satisfactory to the human heart; and, +consequently, the more intimately we become acquainted with it, the +more clearly do we see its emptiness." + +"Had you said at the first," replied the Count, "that our acquaintance +with pleasures show their insufficiency, I should have admitted the +truth of your assertion; but to discover the insufficiency of one +pleasure seems to me only a step towards the enjoyment of pleasures of +a higher quality." + +"But we may exhaust them all," said the Chevalier, "and then +comes--what but satiety?" + +"No," replied the Count, "not satiety, aspirations for and hopes of +higher pleasures still; the last, the grandest, the noblest seeking +for enjoyment that the universe can afford; the pursuit that leads us +through the gates of the tomb to those abodes where the imperfections +of enjoyment end, where the seeds of decay grow not up with the +flowers that we plant, where the fruit is without the husk, and the +music without the dissonance. This still is left us when all other +enjoyments of life are exhausted, or have been tasted, or have been +cast away, or have been destroyed. Depend upon it, Louis, that even +the knowledge we acquire of the insufficiency of earth's enjoyment +gives us greater power to advance in the scale of enjoyment; and that, +if we choose to learn our lesson from the picture given us of the +earthly paradise, we shall find a grand moral in the tree of eternal +life having been planted by the tree of knowledge." + +"But still, my dear Count," replied the Chevalier, "you seem still to +approach to my argument, while you deny its force. If such be the +result of satiety, as you say it is, namely, to lead us to the +aspiration after higher enjoyments, till those aspirations point to +another world, surely it is better to arrive at that result as soon as +possible." + +"No," replied the Count; "in the first place, I did not say that such +was the result of satiety; I said that it was the result of +discovering by experience the insufficiency of all earthly enjoyments +to give perfect satisfaction to a high and immortal spirit and +well-regulated mind. Satiety I hold to be quite the reverse of this; I +hold it to be the degradation of our faculties of enjoyment, either by +excessive indulgence, or by evil direction. The man who follows such a +course of life as to produce any chance of reaching satiety, tends +downward instead of upward, to lower rather than to higher pleasures, +and exhausts his own capabilities, not the blessings of God. The +opposite course produces the opposite result; we know and learn that +all God's creations afford us some enjoyment, although we know and +learn, at the same time, that it has been his will that none of those +enjoyments upon earth should give complete and final satisfaction. Our +capabilities of enjoying by enjoying properly are not blunted but +acuminated; we fly from satiety instead of approaching it; and even +while we learn to aspire to higher things, we lose not a particle of +the power--except by the natural decay of our faculties--of enjoying +even the slight foretaste that Heaven has given us here." + +"Solomon, Solomon, Solomon!" said his companion, "Solomon was +evidently a misanthrope either by nature or by satiety. He had seen +every thing under the sun, and he pronounced every thing vanity--ay, +lighter than vanity itself." + +"And he was right," replied the Count; "every thing is lighter than +vanity itself, when comparing the things of this world with the things +of eternity. But you know," he added with a smile, "that we Huguenots, +as you call us, acknowledge no authority against the clear operation +of reason, looking upon no man as perfect but one. If you were to tell +me that it was right to put a friend in a dangerous place where he was +sure to be killed for the purpose of marrying his widow, I should not +a bit more believe that it was right, because David had done it; and +even if you were to prove to me that through the whole writings of +Solomon there was not, as I believe there is, a continual comparison +between earthly things and heavenly things, I should still say that +you were in the wrong; the satiety that he felt being a just +punishment upon him for the excesses he committed and the follies to +which he gave way, and by no means a proof of his wisdom, any more +than those follies and excesses themselves. Long before we have +exhausted the manifold pleasures which Heaven has given us here by +moderate and virtuous enjoyment--long before we have even discovered +by experience the insufficiency of one half that we may properly +enjoy, the span of man's life is finished; and at the gates of death +he may think himself happy, if, while he has learnt to desire the more +perfect enjoyment of heavenly things, he has not rendered himself +unfit for that enjoyment, by having depraved his faculties to satiety +by excess." + +"Well, well," said the Chevalier, seeing that his friend spoke +earnestly, "I am afraid I must give up Solomon, Albert. If I remember +right, the man had some hundreds of wives or so; and I am sure he +might well cry out that all is vanity after that. I wonder they did +not all fall upon him at once, and smother him under looking-glasses +and bonbonnières." + +The Count saw that his friend turned the matter into a joke, and, from +his long acquaintance with him, he doubted not that he had been +carrying on the discussion from first to last for sport. He was not +angry or cross about it; but, of an eager and of an earnest +disposition, he could not play with subjects of value, like an +unconscious child tossing jewels to and fro, and he remained +thoughtful for some time. While the Chevalier continued to jest upon a +thousand things, sometimes connecting one joke with another in rapid +and long succession, sometimes pausing for a moment or two, and taking +his next subject from any accidental circumstance in their ride or +feature in the scene around, the Count gradually resumed the +conversation upon indifferent matters. Having only in view, however, +in any extracts that we may give from their conversation, either to +forward the progress of their history or to display the peculiar +character of each, we shall dwell no longer upon their words during +the rest of the ride to a little village, some seventeen miles from +the château, where they stayed a moment to water their horses. The +Count was looking down, watching the animals drink; but the Chevalier, +who was gazing at every thing in the place, suddenly exclaimed, + +"Surely there cannot be two such ugly heads as that in France! The +Abbé Pelisson, as I live! Why, Monsieur Pelisson," he exclaimed, +advancing till he was directly under the window from which the head of +the Abbé was protruded, "how have you stuck here by the way?" + +"Alas! my good sir," replied the Abbé, "the fright of the day before +yesterday had such an effect upon my poor companion de St. Helie, that +he was quite unable to proceed. He is better this afternoon, and we +shall set out in an hour, after he has taken something to refresh him +and give him strength." + +"You will overtake us at our next lodging," said the Chevalier. + +"Oh no, we shall pass you far," replied the Abbé. "We shall still have +five hours' light, and as we travel by post, we may calculate upon +going between five and six miles an hour." + +The Count on his part made no comment, but merely nodded his head to +Pelisson; and when the Chevalier's brief conversation was at an end, +they rode on. The village which they had fixed upon for their +resting-place that night was a large straggling open collection of +houses, which had grown up on either side of the wide road, simply +because it happened to be at a convenient distance from many other +places. The buildings were scattered, and separated by large gardens +or courts, and the inn itself was in fact the only respectable +dwelling in the place, having been an old brick-built country seat in +former days, with the walls that defended it from attack still +standing round the court, the windows rattling and quivering with the +wind and their antiquity, the rooms wide and lofty, and perhaps a +little cheerless, and the kitchen, which formed the entrance, as black +as the smoke of many generations could render it. + +The whole house was prepared to meet the Count de Morseiul, his coming +having been announced by the servants sent on with the horses; and did +ducks and fowls in various countries write the histories of their +several races, that morning would have been memorable for the massacre +that took place, and only be comparable to the day of St. Bartholomew. +But the culinary art was great in France then as it is now, and the +cook, knowing that she had a difficult task to perform, exerted her +utmost ingenuity to render tough poultry tender, and insipid viands +savoury, for the distinguished guest that was to dine and sleep within +those walls. Though the preparations had been begun at an early hour, +yet they were by no means concluded when the party arrived; and while +Jerome Riquet plunged into the kitchen, and communicated to the cook a +thousand secrets from the vast stores of his own mind, the Count and +his friend gazed forth from the window of a high, wide, square-shaped +room over the wide prospect, which lay in gentle undulations beneath +their eyes, with the road that they themselves had just passed taking, +as it were, a standing leap over each of the little hills that it met +with in its way. + +The day had been remarkably fine during the earlier portion thereof, +but towards three o'clock clouds had come over, not indeed veiling the +sky under a sheet of sombre grey, but fleeting lightly across the blue +expanse, like the momentary cares of infancy, and passing away, after +dropping a few large tears, which the joyful sun dried up again the +moment after. As the Count and his friend gazed forth, however, a +heavier shower was seen sweeping over the prospect, the sky became +quite covered, a grey mist--through which, however, a yellow gleam was +seen, saying that the summer night was not far off,--advanced over +wood and field, and hill and dale, and dashing down with all the +impetuous and short-lived fury of an angry boy, the cloud poured forth +its burden on the earth. While yet it was raging in its utmost wrath, +the plain carriage of Pelisson and his companions was seen rolling +slowly onward towards the village, with coachman and lackey holding +down the drenched head towards the storm, and shading the defenceless +neck. All the windows of the vehicle were closed, in order, if +possible, to keep out the wind and rain; but constructed as carriages +were in those days, there was no great protection to be found in them +from the breath or the drops of heaven; and, as the rumbling vehicle +approached the village, the head of Pelisson was seen suddenly thrust +forth on the safest side, shouting something to the coachman, who +seemed inclined to go through all the signs in the subjunctive mood of +the verb, _not to hear_. After repeating three times his words, the +Abbé drew his head in again, and the carriage entered the village. + +"For a hundred louis," said the Chevalier, "we have the company of +Messieurs Pelisson and St. Helie to-night. I beseech thee, Albert, +tell them they cannot lodge here, if it be but to see their rueful +faces. Look, look! There comes the vehicle, like the ark of Noah, +discovered by some fortunate chance on Ararat, and set upon the wheels +of Pharaoh's chariot, fished out of the Red Sea. Where could they pick +up such an antediluvian conveyance? Look, the ark stops! Now, open the +window, Noah. Out comes the door!" and, as he spoke, he had matter for +more merriment, for the first person that issued forth was the fat +black-faced priest in his greasy cassock. "The raven! The raven!" +shouted the Chevalier, laughing aloud, "What beast next, Count? What +beast next?" + +"Hush, hush! Louis," said his friend, in a lower tone; "they will hear +you, and it is a pity to give pain." + +"True, oh most sapient Albert," answered the Chevalier, "and you shall +see how courteous I can be. I will even take the raven by the claw--if +you give me but time to order a basin and napkin in the adjoining room +for the necessary ablution afterwards. Oh, Monsieur Pelisson, +enchanted to see you!" he continued, as the Abbé entered the room; +"Monsieur de St. Helie, this is indeed delightful; Monsieur de +Beaumanoir, allow me to take you by the hand," he added, advancing +towards the greasy priest. + +"You mistake me for some one else," said the priest, drawing slightly +back, turning his shoulder, and speaking through his teeth like a +muzzled bear: "I am the Curé de Guadrieul." + +"True, true, I forgot," went on the Chevalier in the same wild way. +"Enchanted to see you, Monsieur le Curé de Guadrieul! How much we are +bound to laud and love this shower for having given us the felicity of +your society." + +"I am sure I have no cause to laud it," said the priest, "for all the +rain has come in at that crazy window, and run into my neck, besides +drenching my soutane." + +The Chevalier might have gone on for an hour, but the Count came to +the relief of the poor priest. He notified to Pelisson and his +companions, that the house and all that it contained had been engaged +by him, but he pressed them to remain as his guests so cordially, that +Monsieur de St. Helie, who--though he loved not Huguenots, loved damp +weather worse and savoury viands more--consented readily, warned by +the rising odours from the kitchen, that he might certainly go farther +and fare worse. Chambers were found for the new guests, and, before an +hour had passed, the whole party was seated at a groaning board, the +plentiful supply on which made Monsieur de St. Helie open his eyes +with well satisfied astonishment. We are not quite sure, indeed, that +he did not feel a greater respect for protestantism than he had ever +felt before; and so placable and mild had he evidently become, that +the Chevalier whispered, to his friend, while apparently speaking of +something else, "For Heaven's sake, Morseiul, never suffer your people +to give that man such a feast again! Three such dinners would make him +condemn his own soul, and turn heretic." + +Pelisson was cheerful as usual, mild and gentle, a little plausible +perhaps, and somewhat too courtier like, but still rendering himself +most agreeable, both by his manner and by a sort of indescribable ease +and grace in his conversation and language. Behind the chair of the +Count, as a sort of nomenclator of the different dishes, had placed +himself worthy Maître Jerome Riquet. Now, Heaven knows that no person +was naturally more simple in his tastes than Albert of Morseiul; but +he had left, as usual, all the minor arrangements of his comfort to +others, and certainly Jerome Riquet, as soon as he heard that two +Catholic abbés and a priest were about to dine at the table of his +master, had not relaxed in any of his efforts to excel all excellence, +determined to astound the ecclesiastics by the luxury and splendour of +a country inn. Had it produced nothing but parchment and jack-boots, +Jerome Riquet would have discovered means of sending in entrée upon +entrée in various different forms, and under various different names. +But as it was, notice of the Count's coming having been given the day +before, and vast preparations made by the worthy aubergiste, the +suppers of Versailles were little more refined than that to which +Pelisson and his companions now sat down; while, according to Jerome's +directions, two servants stood behind every chair, and the Count was +graced by his own additional presence at the right elbow. + +Riquet himself had not only taken up that position as the _Pièce de +résistance_, but as the _Pièce de parade_, and, as was not uncustomary +then, he mingled with what was going forward at table whenever it +suited him. Often by a happy exhortation upon some dish, or +observation upon some wine, he contrived to turn the conversation in a +different direction when it was proceeding in a way that did not +please him. About half way through the meal, however, his attention +seemed to be caught by something awkward in the position of the Curé +de Guadrieul, and from time to time he turned a sort of anxious and +inquiring glance towards him, wondering whether he sat so high in his +chair from the natural conformation of short legs and a long body, or +from some adventitious substance placed beneath his nether man. + +He made various movements to discover it; but, in the meantime, the +conversation went on, and the Count having been naturally drawn by the +observation of some other person to pay Pelisson a compliment upon his +graceful style, the Abbé replied, "Oh, my style is nothing, Monsieur +le Comte, though you are good enough to praise it; and besides, after +all, it is but style. I had a brother once, poor fellow!" he added, +"who might indeed have claimed your praise; for, in addition to good +style, which he possessed in an infinitely higher degree than myself, +he had a peculiar art of speaking briefly, which, Heaven knows, I have +not, and of leaving nothing unsaid that could be said upon the subject +he treated. When he was only nineteen years of age he was admitted to +the academy of Castres; but, upon his admission, they made this +singular and flattering condition with him, namely, that he should +never speak upon any subject till every body else had spoken, 'for,' +said the academicians, 'when he speaks first, he never leaves any body +else any thing to say upon the subject, and when he speaks last he +finds a thousand things to say that nobody else has said.' Besides all +this," he continued, "my brother had another great and inestimable +advantage over me." + +"Pray what was that?" demanded the Count. + +"He was not hideous," replied Pelisson. + +"Oh, I do not think that such an advantage," said the Chevalier. "It +is the duty of a woman to be handsome; but I think men have a right to +be ugly if they like." + +"So say I," replied Pelisson; "but Mademoiselle de Scudery says that I +abuse the privilege, and upon my word I think so, for just before I +came from Paris something happened which is worth telling. I was +walking along," he continued, "quite soberly and thoughtfully down the +Rue de Beauvoisis--you know that little street that leads up by the +convent of St. Mary--when coming opposite to a large house nearly at +the corner, I was suddenly met by as beautiful a creature as ever I +saw, with her soubrette by her side, and her loup in her hand, so that +I could quite see her face. She was extremely well dressed, and, in +fact, altogether fit to be the Goddess of an Idyl. However, as I did +not know her, I was passing quietly on, when suddenly she stopped, +took me by the hand, and said, in an earnest voice, 'Do me the +pleasure, sir, of accompanying me for one moment.' On my word, +gentlemen, I did not know what was going to happen, but I was a great +deal too gallant, of course, to refuse her; when, without another +word, she led me to the door of the house, up the stairs, rang the +bell on the first floor, and conducted me into an anteroom. A servant +threw open another door for her; and then bringing me into a second +room, where I found a gentleman of good mien with two sticks in his +hand, she presented me to him with these singular words: '_Line for +line, sir, like that! Remember, line for line, sir, like that!_' and +then turning on her heel she walked away, leaving me petrified with +astonishment. The gentleman in whose presence I stood seemed no less +surprised for a moment than myself; but the instant after he burst +into a violent fit of laughter, which made me a little angry. + +"'Pray, sir, what is the meaning of all this?' I asked. 'Do you not +know that lady?' he rejoined. 'No, sir,' I replied, 'I neither know +her nor you.' 'Oh, as for me,' replied the gentleman, 'you have seen +me more than once before, Monsieur Pelisson, though you do not know +me. I am Mignard, the painter; but as to the lady, I must either not +give you the clue to her bringing you here, or not give you her name, +which you like.' 'Give me the clue; give me the clue,' replied I: 'the +lady's name I will find out hereafter.' + +"'Do not be offended then,' he said, 'but the truth is, I am painting +for that lady a picture of the temptation in the wilderness. She came +to see it this morning, and a violent dispute arose between us as to +how I was to represent the devil; she contending that he was to be +excessively ugly, and I, that though disfigured by bad passions, there +was to be the beauty of an angel fallen. She left me a minute ago in a +fit of playful pettishness, when lo and behold she returns almost +instantly, bringing you in her hand, and saying, 'Line for line, like +that.' I leave you to draw your own conclusion." + +"I did draw my own conclusion," continued Pelisson, "and got out of +the way of Monsieur Mignard's brush as fast as possible, only saying, +that I thought the lady very much in the wrong, for there could lie no +great temptation under such an exterior as mine." + +His auditors laughed both at the story and at the simplicity with +which it was told, and no one laughed more heartily than the +black-faced priest. But while he was chuckling on his seat, Maître +Jerome, who had glided round behind him, suddenly seized hold of two +leathern strings that hung down over the edge of the chair, and +exclaiming, "That must be very inconvenient to your reverence," he +pulled out from underneath him, by a sudden jerk which nearly laid him +at his length on the floor, the identical sheep-skin bag which had +nearly been burnt to pieces in the wood. + +The priest started up with terror and dismay, exclaiming, "Give it to +me: give it to me, sirrah. How dare you take it from under me? It is +the King's commission to Messieurs Pelisson and St. Helie for putting +down heresy in Poitou." + +A sudden grave look and a dead silence succeeded this unexpected +announcement; but while the priest snatched the packet from Jerome +Riquet's profane hands, declaring that he had promised not to part +with it for a moment, Pelisson made his voice heard, saying, + +"You mistake, my good brother; such is not the object of the +commission, as the King explained it to me. On the contrary, his +Majesty said that, when it was opened at Poitiers, we would find that +the whole object and scope of it was to heal the religious differences +of the province in the mildest and most gentle manner possible." + +"I trust it may be found so, Monsieur Pelisson," replied the Count +gravely, turning his eyes from the Abbé de St. Helie, who said +nothing. "I trust it may be found so;" and though it was evident that +some damp was thrown upon his good spirits, he turned the conversation +courteously and easily to other subjects: while Jerome Riquet, +satisfied in regard to the nature of the packet, made a thousand +apologies to the Curé of Guadrieul, loaded his plate with delicacies, +and then returned to his master's elbow. + +After supper, for so the meal was then called, the party separated. +The Chevalier d'Evran, for motives of his own, attached himself +closely, for the time being, to the Abbé de St. Helie, and engaged him +in a party at trick track; the young Count strolled out in the evening +light with Pelisson, both carefully avoiding any religious subjects +from the delicacy of their mutual position; the fat priest went to +gossip with Maître Jerome, and smoke a pipe in the kitchen of the inn; +and the serving men made love to the village girls, or caroled in the +court-yard. + +Thus ended the first day's journey of the Count de Morseiul towards +Poitiers. On the following morning he had taken his departure before +the ecclesiastics had risen, leaving the servants, who were to follow +with the horses, to make them fully aware that they had been his +guests during their stay at the inn; and on the third day, at about +five o'clock in the afternoon, he came under the high rocky banks +which guard the entrance to the ancient city which was to be the end +of his journey. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + THE LADY AND HER LOVERS. + + +The city of Poitiers is a beautiful old town, at least it is a town in +which there is much to interest; the memories of many remote periods +cross and intersect each other, like the arches of a Gothic church, +forming a fretwork over head of varied and solemn, though dim, +associations. The Roman, and the Goth, and the Frank, and the +Englishman, have all there left indelible traces of their footsteps; +and each spot through the streets of that city, and through the +neighbouring country, is shadowed or brightened by the recollection of +great and extraordinary deeds in the past. There is something in it, +also, unlike any other town in the world; the number and extent of its +gardens, the distance between its various houses, would make it look +more like an orchard than a town, did not, every here and there, rise +up some striking edifice, some fine church, bearing in its windows the +leopards, or the fleurs de lis, as the case may be; a townhouse, a +broken citadel, or a Roman amphitheatre in ruins, and all amidst rich +green gardens, and grapes, and flowering shrubs. + +The Count de Morseiul and his train, after passing the gates of the +city, which were then duly watched and warded, rode on to the house of +the governor, which was, at that time, in the great square. It had +probably been a Roman building, of which part of the portico had been +preserved, forming the end of one of the wings; for, during three or +four centuries, a tall porch had remained there supported by three +columns. Though the principal gate was in the centre of the house, it +was usual for the people of the town to enter by this porch; and such +was the only purpose that it served. The whole aspect of the place has +been altered long since; the governor's house has been changed into an +inn, where I have slept on more than one occasion; and of the three +columns nothing more remains but the name, which has descended to the +hotel. It was in that time, however, a large brick building, with an +immense arched gateway in the centre, under which Goliath of Gath +himself might have passed on horseback with a feather in his cap. +Beyond this was the inner court, with the usual buildings around it; +but upon a large and magnificent scale, and on the left, under the +arch-way, rose a wide flight of stone steps, leading to the principal +apartments above. + +Throughout the whole town, and especially in the neighbourhood of the +governor's house, there appeared, on the day of the Count's arrival, a +greater degree of bustle and activity than Poitiers generally +displays; and as he drew up his horse under the archway, to ascend the +stairs, several peasant girls, after pausing to look at the cavaliers, +passed on into the courts beyond, loaded with baskets full of flowers, +and fruit, and green branches. + +As he had sent on a messenger the day before to announce his approach, +the Count de Morseiul knew that he was expected; and it was evident, +from the sudden rushing forth of all the servants, the rapid and long +ringing of the great bell, which went up stairs, and a thousand other +such signs, that orders had been given to treat him with especial +distinction. While some of the masters of the stable took possession +of his grooms and horse-boys, to show them to the place appointed for +them, two other servants, in costumes which certainly did honour to +the taste of M. le Marquis Auguste de Hericourt, marshalled the Count +and the Chevalier--followed by their respective valets and pages, +without which men of their rank and fortune travelled not in that +day--to the vestibule at the top of the staircase. + +A step beyond the door of the vestibule, which was also a step beyond +what etiquette required, the governor of the province was already +waiting to receive the Count de Morseiul. He was a frank, amiable, and +kind-hearted old gentleman, as tall, and as thin, and as brown as a +cypress tree; and grasping the Count's hand, he welcomed him to +Poitiers as an old friend, and the son of an old friend, and likewise, +perhaps we might say, as one whose high character and fame, as a +soldier, he greatly and sincerely admired. While speaking to the Count +so eagerly that he saw nothing else, the governor felt a hand laid +upon his arm, and, turning, beheld the Chevalier, whom he welcomed +also warmly, though in a peculiar tone of intimacy which he had not +used towards the Count de Morseiul. + +"Ah, d'Evran," he said, "what brought you here, mad boy? I wanted not +to see you; but I can tell you I shall put you in a garret, as you +deserve, for the house is filled to the doors. This is our first grand +reception, our little provincial _appartement_. All the nobility in +the neighbourhood are flocking in, and, as we cannot lodge them all, +we are obliged to begin our entertainment as early as possible, in +order to suffer some of them to get home betimes. This must plead my +apology, my dear Count, for not giving you more spacious apartments +yourself, and for not taking you at once to the Duchess, who is all +anxiety to see our hero. Some refreshments shall be taken to you in +your own apartment, to your little salon, where, perhaps, you will +give a corner to this wild Chevalier; for there is that young puppy +Hericourt, who only arrived last night, up to the elbows in the +dining-room in all sort of finery and foolery." + +"But where is la belle Clémence?" demanded the Chevalier. "Where is +the beauty of beauties? Will she not give me a quarter of an hour in +her boudoir, think you, Duke?" + +"Get along with you," replied the Duke: "Clémence does not want to see +you. Go and refresh yourself with the Count: by that time we shall +have found a place to put you in; and when you have cast off your +dusty apparel, ransacked the perfumers, sought out your best lace, and +made yourself look as insupportably conceited as you used to do two +years ago at Versailles, it will be time for you to present yourself +in our reception-room, and there you can see Clémence, who, I dare +say, will laugh at you to your heart's content." + +"So be it--so be it," replied the Chevalier, with a well-satisfied +air. "Come, Count, we must obey the governor: see if he do not make +himself as despotic here as his Majesty in Paris. Which is our way, +Monsieur de Rouvré?" and with that appearance of indifference which +has always been a current sort of affectation with men of the world, +from the days of Horace downwards, he followed the servants to the +handsome apartments prepared for the Count de Morseiul, which +certainly needed no apology. + +On the table the Count found a packet of letters, which M. de Rouvré +had brought for him from Paris. They contained nothing of any great +importance, being principally from old military companions; but after +the Chevalier had taken some refreshments with him, and retired to the +apartments which had been prepared in haste for him, the Count took up +the letters, and, carried forward by the memory of old times, went on +reading, forgetful of the necessity of dressing himself for the +approaching fête. He promised himself little or no pleasure indeed +therein, for he expected to see few, if any, with whom he was +acquainted; and his mind was too deeply occupied with important and +even painful subjects, for him to think of mingling in lighter scenes +with any very agreeable sensations. + +He did not remember then the necessity of preparation, till he had to +call for lights, and heard the roll of carriage-wheels, and the +clattering of horses. He then, however, hastened to repair his +forgetfulness; but Jerome was not as prompt and ready as usual, or +else he was far more careful of his master's appearance. We will not, +indeed, pause upon all the minute points of his toilet; but certainly, +by the time that the valet would acknowledge that his master was fit +to go down, he had given to the Count's fine person every advantage +that dress can bestow; and perhaps Albert of Morseiul did not look at +all the worse for that air of high and thoughtful intelligence, which +the deep interests whereon his mind was fixed, called up in a +countenance, with the fine and noble features of which, that +expression was so peculiarly suited. + +When, at length, he entered the little saloon that had been allotted +to him, he found one of the officers of the governor waiting, with his +own page, to conduct him to the reception-rooms; and, on asking if the +Chevalier was ready, he found that he had been there seeking him, and +had gone down. It was a slight reproach for his tardiness, and the +Count hastened to follow. The way was not long, but the stairs had +been left somewhat dark, as but little time had been given for +preparation; and when the doors were opened for the young Count, a +blaze of light and a scene of magnificence burst upon his eyes, which +he had not been prepared to see in that remote part of France. + +The rooms were brilliantly, though softly, lighted, and the principal +blaze came from the great saloon at the farther end. Rich hangings and +decorations were not wanting, but as they were, of course, to be +procured with greater difficulty than in Paris, the places where many +draperies would have hung, or where gilded scrolls, trophies, and +other fanciful embellishments would have appeared, were filled up with +much better taste from the storehouses of nature; and garlands, and +green boughs, and the multitude of flowers which that part of the +country produces, occupied every vacant space. A very excellent band +of musicians, which the Duke had brought with him from the capital, +was posted in an elevated gallery of the great saloon; and the sweet +notes of many popular melodies of the day came pouring down the long +suite of apartments, softened, but not rendered indistinct by the +distance. In the first chamber which the Count entered were a great +number of the inferior officers of the governor, in their dresses of +ceremony, giving that ante-chamber an air of almost regal state; and +through the midst of them was passing, at the moment, a party of the +high nobles of the province, who had just arrived before the Count +came in. + +Though not above one half of the invited had yet appeared, there were +numerous groups in every part of the rooms; and at more than one of +the tables, which, as customary in that age, were set out for play, +the young Count found persons whom he knew, and stopped to speak with +them as he advanced. The Duke and Duchess de Rouvré had taken their +station in the great saloon; but in the smaller saloon immediately +preceding it, Albert de Morseiul paused by one of the tables, to speak +to the Prince de Marsillac, who was leaning against it; not playing, +but turning his back with an air of indifference upon the scene +beyond. + +"Ah, Monsieur de Morseiul," he said, "it is an unexpected pleasure to +see you here; I thought you were in Flanders." + +"I was so fourteen days ago," replied the Count; "but as little did I +expect to see you." + +"Oh, this is in some sort my native country," replied the Prince; "and +being here upon family affairs, I could not, of course, hesitate to +come and grace the first entertainment of the good Duke. There seems a +promise of a goodly assembly; and, indeed, there are attractions +enough, what between a new governor, a new governess, and Clémence de +Marly." + +"And pray who is Clémence de Marly?" demanded the Count. "I am a +rustic, you see, and have never yet heard of her." + +"Rustic, indeed!" said the Prince; "why all the Parisian world is mad +about her. She is the most admired, the most adored, I may say, of all +the stars or comets, or what not, that have appeared in my day; as +beautiful as Hebe, as graceful as the brightest of the Graces, as +proud as Juno, about ten times colder than Diana, and as witty as +Madame de Cornuel. People began to fancy that the King himself was in +love with her; only you know that now, under the domination L'Amie de +l'Amie, those days of folly and scandal have gone by, and, on my word, +the saucy beauty treated majesty no better than she does nobility. I +myself heard her----" + +"But who is Clémence de Marly?" demanded the Count again; "you have +not satisfied me, Marsillac. Of what race or family is she? I know of +no such name or family connected with the Rouvrés." + +The Prince replied in a lower tone, "She is an orphan, a foundling, an +any thing you like. Some say," he added in a whisper, "a natural child +of the King's own; but others again, and this is the true story, say +that she is a natural child of De Rouvré's. There was a tale some time +ago, you know, before he married, about him and the Countess de ----, +a person of very large fortune; and as this girl has wealth at +command, and lives always with the Rouvrés, there can be no doubt of +the matter. Madame de Rouvré, having no family, wisely treats her as +her child, and spoils her as if she were her grandchild. They used to +say she was to be married to your friend the Chevalier d'Evran, whom I +saw hanging at her elbow just now. Hericourt vows that he will cut the +throat of any man who marries her without his consent; but Louvois is +supposed to have laid out a match for her even nearer to his race than +that; Segnelai is not without hopes of carrying off the prize for some +of his people; and they seem in these days to care no more for the +bend sinister than if the Adam and Eve laws still prevailed, and we +were all the children of nature together." + +"This is the fair lady that d'Evran has been talking to me about," +replied the Count; "but he talked of her and her beauty so coolly, +that I can scarcely suppose he is much in love." + +"Just come round hither and look at him then," said Marsillac, moving +a little farther down, so as to give a fuller view into the other +room. "You know d'Evran's way of being in love; lying down upon a sofa +and playing with a feather fan, while the lady stands at the distance +of two yards from him, and he says more clever things to her in five +minutes than any body else can say in an hour. There he is doing it +even now." + +The Count moved slowly into the place which Marsillac had left for +him, so as not to attract attention by flagrant examination of what +was going on, and then raised his eyes towards the part of the great +saloon at which the Prince had been looking. The group that they +lighted on was certainly in every respect a singular one. In the +centre of it stood or rather leaned beside a high-backed chair, in an +attitude of the most perfect grace that it is possible to conceive, +which could not have been studied, for there was ease and nature in +every line, a young lady, apparently of one or two and twenty years of +age, whose beauty was both of a very exquisite and a very singular +cast. It fully justified the description which had been given of it by +the Chevalier d'Evran; the eyes were deep deep blue, but fringed with +long and dark lashes, thickset but smooth, and sweeping in one even +graceful fringe. The lips were, indeed, twin roses; the complexion +delicately fair, and yet the face bearing in the cheek the warm hue of +undiminished health. Those lips, even when not speaking, were always a +little, a very little, parted, showing the bright pearl-like teeth +beneath; the brow was smooth and fair, and yet the eyebrow which +marked the exact line of the forehead above the eyes, changed, by the +slightest elevation or depression, the whole aspect of the countenance +with every passing emotion. With every change, too, the other features +harmonised, and there was a bright sparklingness about the face, even +at that distance, which made it, to the eyes of the Count, resemble a +lovely landscape in an early summer morning, where every thing seems +fresh life and brightness. The ear, too, which was slightly turned +towards them, was most beautiful; and the form, though the dress of +that day did not serve to expose it much, was seen swelling through +the drapery in every line of exquisite beauty. The hand, the arm, the +foot, the neck and throat, were all perfect as any sculptor could have +desired to model; and the whole, with the grace of the attitude and +the beauty of the expression, formed an object that one might have +well wished to look at for long hours. + +On the right of the lady, precisely as the Prince had described him, +lay the Chevalier d'Evran, richly dressed, and, perhaps, affecting a +little more indifference than he really felt. Half kneeling, half +sitting, at her feet, was the Marquis de Hericourt, saying nothing, +but looking up in her face with an expression which plainly implied +that he was marveling whether she or himself were the loveliest +creature upon earth. On her left hand stood a gentleman whom the Count +instantly recognised as one of the highest and most distinguished +nobles of the court of Louis XIV., several years older than either the +Marquis or the Chevalier, but still apparently as much if not more +smitten than either. Behind her, and round about her, in various +attitudes, were half a dozen others, each striving to catch her +attention for a single moment; but it was to the elder gentleman whom +we have mentioned that she principally listened, except, indeed, when +some witticism of the Chevalier caused her to turn and smile upon him +for a moment. Amongst the rest of the little train behind her were two +personages, for neither of whom the Count de Morseiul entertained any +very great esteem: the Chevalier de Rohan, a ruined and dissipated +scion of one of the first families in France, and a gentleman of the +name of Hatréoumont, whom the Count had known while serving with the +army in Flanders, and who, though brave as a lion, bore such a +character for restless and unprincipled scheming, that the Count had +soon reduced their communication to a mere passing bow. + +All the rest of those who surrounded her were distinguished as far as +high station and wealth went, and many were marked for higher and +better qualities; but, in general, she seemed to treat them all as +mere slaves, sending one hither with a message, and another thither +for something that she wanted, with an air of proud command, as if +they were born but to obey her will. + +The group was, as we have said, an interesting and a curious one; but +what was there in it that made the Count de Morseiul turn deadly pale? +What was there in it that made his heart beat with feelings which he +had never known before in gazing at any proud beauty of this world? +What was it made him experience different sensations towards that +lady, the first time that he beheld her, from those which he had ever +felt towards others? + +Was it the first time that he had ever beheld her? Oh, no. There, +though the features were somewhat changed by the passing of a few +years, though the beauty of the girl had expanded into the beauty of +the woman, though the form had acquired roundness and _contour_ +without losing one line of grace, there, in that countenance and in +that form, he beheld again the dream of his young imagination; there +he saw her of whom he had thought so often, and with whose image he +had sported in fancy, till the playfellow of his imagination had +become the master of his feelings: and now that he did see her, he saw +her in a situation and under circumstances that gave him pain. All the +beauty of person indeed which he had so much admired was there; but +all those charms of the heart and of the mind, which his fancy had +read in the book of that beauty seemed now reversed, and he saw but a +spoilt, proud, lovely girl, apparently as vain and frivolous as the +rest of a vain and frivolous court. + +"You are silent long, de Morseiul," said the Prince de Marsillac; "you +are silent very long. You seem amongst the smitten, my good friend. +What! shall we see the fair lands and châteaux of the first Protestant +gentleman in France laid at the feet of yon pretty dame? Take my +advice, Morseiul; take the advice of an elder man than yourself. Order +your horses to be saddled early to-morrow morning, and get you back to +your castle or to the army. Even if she were to have you, Morseiul, +she would never suit you: her heart, man, is as cold as a Russian +winter, and as hard as the nether millstone, and never in this world +will she love any other thing but her own pretty self." + +"I am not at all afraid of her," replied the Count; "I have seen her +before, and was only admiring the group around her." + +"Seen her and forgotten her!" exclaimed Marsillac, "so as not to +remember her when I spoke of her! In the name of Heaven let her not +hear that. Nay, tell it not at the court, if you would maintain your +reputation for wit, wisdom, and good taste. But I suppose, in fact, +you are as cold as she is. Go and speak to her, Morseiul; go and speak +to her, for I see indeed you are quite safe." + +"Not I, indeed," said the Count; "I shall go and speak to the Duke and +his excellent lady: and I suppose in time shall have to go through all +sorts of necessary formalities with la belle Clémence; but till it is +needful I have no inclination to increase any lady's vanity who seems +to have so much of it already." + +Thus saying, he turned away, only hearing the Prince exclaim, "O +mighty Sybarite!" and moving with easy grace through the room, he +advanced into the great saloon, cast his eyes round the whole extent, +looking for the Duke and Duchess, and passing over la belle Clémence +and her party with a mere casual glance, as if he scarcely saw or +noticed her. There was an immediate whisper in the little group +itself; several of those around took upon them to tell her who he was, +and all eyes followed him as with the same calm and graceful, but +somewhat stately, steps he advanced to the spot where the Duke and +Duchess were placed, and was warmly greeted by the latter as an old +and valued friend. + +She made a place for him by her side, and leaning down from time to +time by the good old lady's chair, he took the opportunity of each +interval between the appearance of the new guests to address to her +some little kindly and graceful observation, calling back her memory +to old times, when she had fondled his boyhood, and, by mingling +perhaps a little of the melancholy that adheres to the past with more +cheerful subjects, rendered them thereby not the less pleasant. + +The Duchess was well pleased with his attention, and for some time +seemed inclined to enjoy it alone; but at length she said, "I must not +keep you here, Count, all night, or I shall have the Duke jealous at +sixty, which would never do. You must go and say sweet things, as in +duty bound, to younger dames than I am. See, there is Mademoiselle de +Fronsac, as pretty a creature as ever was seen, and our Clémence. You +know Clémence, do you not?--but look, Mademoiselle de Fronsac, as if +to give you a fair opportunity, has dropped her bracelet." + +The Count advanced to pick up the bracelet for the young lady to whom +his attention had been called; but his purpose was anticipated by a +gentleman who stood near, and at the same moment the Chevalier seeing +his friend detached from the side of the Duchess, crossed the saloon +towards him, and took him by the arm. "Come, Albert," he said, "come! +this is affectation. You must come and undergo the ordeal of those +bright eyes. She has been speaking of you, and with deep interest, I +assure you." + +The Count smiled. "To mortify some culprit lover!" he said, "or give a +pang to some young foolish heart. Was it you, Louis?" he asked in the +same tone; "was it you she sought to teaze, by speaking with interest +of another?" + +"You are wrong, Albert," said the Chevalier in a low voice, leading +him gradually towards the spot, "you are wrong--I do not seek Clémence +de Marly. My resolution has long been taken. I shall never marry--nor +would any consideration upon earth lead her to marry me. I know that +full well; but while I say so, I tell you too that you do her +injustice. You must not judge of her at once." + +They were now within a few steps of the spot where Clémence stood, and +the Count, who had been looking down while he advanced, listening to +the low words of the Chevalier, now raised his eyes as the other took +a step forward to introduce him. To his surprise he saw the colour +varying in the cheek of the lovely being before whom he stood, and a +slight degree of flutter in her manner and appearance, which Albert de +Morseiul could only account for by supposing that the scene in which +they had last met, the robbers, and the wood, and the plunder of the +carriage, had risen up before her eyes, and produced the agitation he +saw in one, who was apparently so self-possessed in her usual +demeanour. There upon her finger too, he saw the identical ring that +he had saved for her from the robbers; and as he was in no way vain, +he attributed the heightened colour to all those remembrances. But +while he recalled that evening, his feelings towards Clémence grew +less severe--he felt there was a tie between them of some interest, he +felt too that her demeanour then had been very different from that +which it appeared to be now. Though scarcely ten words had been spoken +in the wood, those words had been all indicative of deep feelings and +strong affections; there had been the signs of the heart, the clinging +memories of love, the pure sensations of an unworldly spirit; and when +he now gazed upon her, surrounded by flatterers and lovers, heartless +herself, and seeming to take no delight but in sporting with the +hearts of others, the ancient story of the two separate spirits in the +same form seemed realised before him, and he knew not how to reconcile +the opposite traits that he observed. + +All this passed through his mind in a moment. Rapid thought, that, +winging its way along the high road of time, can cover years in a +single instant, had glanced over all that we have said, even while the +words of introduction were hanging upon the tongue of the Chevalier +d'Evran. The Count bowed low but gravely, met the full glance of those +lustrous eyes without the slightest change of countenance, and was +about to have added some common place and formal compliment; but +Clémence de Marly spoke first. + +"I sent the Chevalier to you, Monsieur de Morseiul," she said with the +same musical voice which he remembered so well, "because you seemed +not to recognise me; and I wished to thank you for a service that you +rendered long ago to a wild girl who might probably have been killed +by a fiery horse that she was riding, had you not stopped it, and +given her back the rein which she had lost. Perhaps you have forgotten +it, for I hear that great acts are so common to the Count de Morseiul +that he is likely not to recollect what was to him a trifling event. +To me, however, the service was important, and I have not forgotten +either it or the person who rendered it." + +The eye of the Chevalier d'Evran was upon the Count de Morseiul while +the lady spoke, and there was a sparkling brightness in it which his +friend scarcely understood. At the same time, however, it was scarcely +possible for human nature to hear such words from such lips totally +unmoved. + +"Your pardon, madam," replied the Count, "I have never forgotten the +adventure either; but I did not expect that you would have remembered +so trifling a service. I recollected you the moment that I saw you; +but did not of course venture to claim to be recognised on the merit +of so insignificant an act." + +"I can answer for his not having forgotten it," said the Chevalier +d'Evran, "for it is not more than five or six days ago, Mademoiselle +de Marly, that he told me the whole circumstances, and if I would I +could mention----" + +The colour rose slightly in the Count de Morseiul's cheek, as the +Chevalier d'Evran gazed upon him with a malicious smile; but the +latter, however, paused in his career, only adding, "If I would, I +could mention all this grave Count's comments upon that event;--but I +suppose I must not." + +"Nay, nay," exclaimed Clémence, "I insist upon your telling us. You +are our bondsman and slave. As you have vowed worship and true +service, I command you, Monsieur le Chevalier, to tell the whole +without reserve--to give us the secrets of the enemy's camp." + +"I hope, madam," said the Count, willing to turn the conversation, and +yet knowing very well that he might obviate his own purpose if he +showed any anxiety to do so, "I hope, madam, that you do not class me +amongst the enemy; if you do, I can assure you, you are very much +mistaken." + +"That is what I wish to know, Count," replied the lady, smiling; "it +is for that very purpose of knowing whether you are of the friends or +the enemies, that I put the Chevalier here upon his honour as to your +comments." + +"I suppose, madam," said the elder gentleman to whom she had been +speaking during the former part of the evening, and who did not seem +at all well pleased with the interruption occasioned by the Count's +presence, "I suppose, madam, if you put the Chevalier upon his honour, +he will be obliged to keep secret that which was intrusted to him in +confidence." + +Clémence turned and gazed at him for a moment in silence, and then +said, "You are right, Monsieur le Duc de Melcourt, though I did not +think to hear you take part against me. I will find means to punish +you, and to show you my power and authority in a way that perhaps you +do not know. Monsieur le Chevalier, we shall excuse you for your +contumacy, having the means of arriving at information by a higher +power. Monsieur de Morseiul," she continued, raising her head with a +look of queenly authority, "we command you to give us the information +yourself; but that the ears of these worthy cavaliers and gentlemen +who stand around may not be gratified by the intelligence, we will +permit you to lead us to the dance which we see they are preparing for +in the other room." + +She extended her hand towards him. He could not of course refuse to +take it; and after giving one glance of gay and haughty irony at the +group she left behind, Clémence de Marly moved forward towards the +other room with Albert of Morseiul. With the same air of proud +consciousness she passed through the whole of the first saloon; but +the moment that she entered the second, which was comparatively +vacant, as the dancers were gathering in the third, her manner +entirely altered. The Count felt her hand rest somewhat languidly in +his; her carriage lost a great degree of its stately dignity; the look +of coquettish pride passed away; and she said, "Monsieur de Morseiul, +I need not tell you that my object in exercising, in this instance, +that right of doing any thing that I like unquestioned which I have +found it convenient to assume, is not to ask you any foolish question +of what you may have said or thought concerning a person but little +worthy of your thoughts at all. Perhaps, indeed, you may have already +guessed my object in thus forcing you, as it were, to dance with me +against your will; but that does not render it the less necessary for +me to take the first, perhaps the only opportunity I may have of +thanking you deeply, sincerely, and truly, for the great service, and +the kind, the manly, the chivalrous manner in which it was performed, +that you rendered me on the night of Monday last. I have my own +particular reasons--and perhaps may have reasons also for many other +things that appear strange--for not wishing that adventure to be +mentioned any where. Although I had with me two servants attached to +the carriage, and also my old and faithful attendant whom you saw, +there was no chance of my secret being betrayed by any one but by you. +I was not sure that I had made my wishes plain when I left you, and +was anxious about to-night; but I saw in a moment from your whole +demeanour in entering the room that I was quite safe, and I may add my +thanks for that, to my thanks for the service itself." + +"The service, lady, required no thanks," replied the Count. "I do +believe there is not a gentleman in France that would not have done +the same for any woman upon earth." + +Clémence shook her head with a grave--even a melancholy look, +replying, "You estimate them too highly, Count. We women have better +opportunities of judging them; and I know that there are not three +gentlemen in France, and perhaps six in Europe, who would do any thing +for any woman without some selfish, if not some base motive--unless +his own gratification were consulted rather than her comfort." + +"Nay, nay, nay; you are bitter, indeed," said the Count. "On my word I +believe that there is not one French gentleman who would not, as I +have said, have done the same for any woman; and certainly when it was +done for you, any little merit that it might have had otherwise, was +quite lost." + +"Hush, hush," said Clémence, with a blush and a somewhat reproachful +smile, "hush, hush, Monsieur de Morseiul; you forget that I am +accustomed to hear such sweet speeches from morning till night, and +know their right value. If you would prove to me that you really +esteem me, do not take your tone from those empty coxcombs that +flutter through such scenes as these. Be to me, as far as we are +brought into communication together, the same Count de Morseiul that I +have heard you are to others, frank, straightforward, sincere." + +"Indeed I will," replied the Count, feeling the full influence of all +his fanciful dreams in the past, reviving in the present; "but will +you never be offended?" + +"There is little chance," she replied as they moved on, "that we +should ever see enough of each other for me to be offended. You, I +hear, avoid the court as far as possible. I am doomed to spend the +greater part of my life there; and I fear there is very little chance +of the Duke, my guardian, going to the quiet shades of Ruffigny, where +first I had the pleasure of seeing you." + +"Were you then at Ruffigny when I first saw you?" demanded the Count +with some surprise. + +"Yes," she answered; "but I was staying there with some of my own +relations, who were on a visit to the Duke. Do you remember--I dare +say you do not--do you remember meeting me some days after with a +party on horseback?" + +"Yes," he replied, "I have it all before my eyes even now." + +"And the lady who was upon my left hand?" she said. + +"Quite well," replied the Count; "was that your mother?" + +"Alas, no," replied Clémence, "that was my step-mother; my mother died +three years before. But to return to what we were saying, I do not +pretend to be less vain than other women, and therefore can scarcely +answer for it, that, if you were to tell me harsh truths, I might not +be offended; but I will tell you what, Monsieur de Morseiul, I would +try--I would try as steadily as possible, not to be offended; and even +if I were, I know my own mind sufficiently to say I would conquer it +before the sun went down twice." + +"That is all that I could desire," replied the Count; "and if you +promise me to do so, I will always be sincere and straightforward with +you." + +"What an opportunity that promise gives," replied the lady, "of asking +you to be sincere at once, and tell me what were the comments of which +the Chevalier spoke. Would that be ungenerous, Monsieur de Morseiul?" + +"I think it would," replied the Count; "but I will pledge myself to +one thing, that if you keep your promise towards me for one month, and +take no offence at any thing I may say, I will tell you myself what +those comments were without the slightest concealment whatsoever." + +The eyes of Clémence de Marly sparkled, as she answered, "You shall +see;" but they had lingered so long that the dance was on the eve of +commencing, and they were forced to hurry on into the other room. +There the Count found the eyes of the Prince de Marsillac wherever he +turned; and there was a peculiar expression on his countenance--not +precisely a smile, but yet approaching to it--with a slight touch of +sarcastic bitterness on the lip, which was annoying. Could the Count +have heard, however, the conversation that was going on amongst two or +three of the group which he and Clémence had quitted shortly before, +he might have felt still more annoyed. There were three persons who +took but a small part in that conversation, the Chevalier, the young +Marquis de Hericourt, and the Duc de Melcourt. It was one of those +that stood behind who first spoke. + +"How long will she be?" he demanded. + +"In doing what?" said another. + +"In fixing the fetters," replied the first; "in making him one of the +train." + +"Not two whole days," said the second. + +"Not two whole hours I say," added a third; "look at them now, how +they stand in the middle chamber: depend upon it when the Count comes +back we shall all have to make him our bow, and welcome him as one of +us." + +There was a little shrivelled old man who sat behind, and had, as yet, +said nothing. + +"He will never be one of you, gentlemen," he now said, joining in, "he +will never be one of you, for he sets out with a great advantage over +you." + +"What is that?" demanded two or three voices at once. + +"Why," replied the old man, "he is the first man under sixty I ever +heard her even civil to in my life. There is Monsieur le Duc there; +you know he's out of the question, because he's past the age." + +The Duc de Melcourt looked a little mortified, and said, "Sir, you are +mistaken; and at all events she never said any thing civil to you, +though you are so much past the age." + +"I never asked her," replied the other. + +"But there is the Chevalier d'Evran," replied one of the younger men, +"she has said three or four civil things to him this very night:--I +heard her." + +"As much bitter as sweet in them," replied the old man; "but, at all +events, she does not love him." + +"She loves me more than you know," said the Chevalier quietly; and +turning on his heel he went to join a gay party on the opposite side +of the room, and perversely paid devoted attention to a fair lady whom +he cared nothing about, and to whom the morals of any other court +would have required him to pay no attentions but those of ordinary +civility. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + THE GROWTH OF LOVE. + + +The entertainment was kept up late; many of the guests scarcely +departed before daylight; those who were invited to remain the night +at the governor's house, retired when they thought fit; and every one +acknowledged that this was the most splendid and the most agreeable +fête that had been given in Poitiers for many years. What were the +feelings, however, of the Count de Morseiul as, at an hour certainly +not later than one in the morning, he sought his own apartments? We +must not afford those feelings much space; and we will only record +what he saw before he left the hall, leaving the mind of the reader to +supply the rest. + +On leading back Clémence de Marly to her seat, he had entered into +conversation for a moment with some persons whom he knew; and when he +turned towards her again, he saw not only that she was surrounded by +almost all those who had been about her before, but that a number of +young cavaliers freshly arrived had swelled her train, and that her +demeanour was precisely the same as that which had, at his first +entrance, removed her from the high place in which his imagination had +enthroned her. Every flattery seemed to be received as merely her +due--every attention but as a tribute that she had a right to command. +On some of her slaves she smiled more graciously than on others, but +certainly was not without giving that encouragement to many which may +be afforded by saucy harshness as much as by attention and +condescension. She did not, indeed, dance frequently[1]; that was a +favour reserved for few; but the whole of the rest of her conduct +displeased Albert of Morseiul; and he was grieved--very much +grieved--to feel that it had power to give him pain. + + +--------------------- + +[Footnote 1: On many occasions each lady remained with her first +partner during the whole of a ball night; but this was not +invariable.] + +--------------------- + + +Under these circumstances, then, he resolved to witness it no more, +and retired to his own apartments, determined, as far as possible, to +conquer his own feelings while they were yet to be conquered, and to +rule his heart so long as it was his own to rule. + +It was late on the following morning before any of the guests +assembled at the breakfast-table; but when the whole had met, the +party was so large, that but little pleasant conversation could take +place with any one. The Duke de Rouvré paid the greatest attention to +the Count, and displayed a marked anxiety to distinguish and to please +him. Clémence de Marly was entirely surrounded by her little train; +and her pleasure in the homage she received seemed evident to Albert +of Morseiul. The Chevalier d'Evran was somewhat thoughtful and grave, +and more than once turned his eyes quickly from the face of Clémence +to that of his friend. In the hours that had lately passed, however, +Albert of Morseiul had practised the lesson of commanding himself, +which he had learnt long before, and he was now perfect at the task. +He took no notice whatsoever of the fair girl's demeanour towards +others; and though, as usual, calm and grave, he bore his part in the +conversation with earnestness and attention; and it so happened that +on more than one occasion something was said which called up the deep +poetical fire of his nature, and led him briefly to pour forth in +eloquent words the fine and high-toned feelings of his heart. + +All who were present knew his high character, and all were struck with +his words and with his manner; so that once or twice, even when +speaking casually on things of no very great importance, he was +annoyed at finding a sudden deep silence spread round the table, and +every one listening to what he said. If any thing could have repaid +him for the annoyance, it might have been to see the lustrous eyes of +Clémence de Marly fixed intent upon his countenance till they met his, +and then dropped with a slight heightening of the colour, or turned +sparkling to those round her, while her lips gave utterance to some +gay jest, intended to cover the fit of eager attention in which she +had been detected. + +Alas, however, it must be owned, that to find those eyes so gazing +upon him was no compensation, but rather was painful to Albert of +Morseiul; for it only served to encourage feelings which he was +determined to conquer. He would fain have had it otherwise; he would +have felt nothing but calm indifference towards Clémence de Marly; and +yet he knew, from what he had experienced on the preceding night, that +he did not feel towards her entirely as he did towards other women. He +thought, however, that by dedicating himself altogether to the great +and important subject which had filled his thoughts when he came to +Poitiers, by giving up all his thoughts to that, and by making his +stay as brief as possible, he should be enabled to avoid those things, +both in the society of Clémence herself, and in his own inmost +thoughts, which might become dangerous to his peace. + +During the course of breakfast he revolved these things in his mind, +and before it was over his thoughts were more strongly directed than +ever to the affairs of the Protestants, by the appearance of the Abbés +de St. Helie and Pelisson. He determined then to endeavour, as far as +possible, in the very first instance, to discover from them what was +the nature of the measures about to be pursued by the court of France +towards the Huguenots. In the next place, he purposed to inquire +explicitly of the Duc de Rouvré what course of conduct he intended to +follow towards the Protestants of the province; and, having +ascertained these facts, to consult with all the wisest and the best +of the Huguenot leaders, who might happen to be at Poitiers, to +determine with them the line of action to be followed, according to +circumstances, and then to return at once to Morseiul. + +He took an opportunity then, as soon as breakfast was over, of +conversing with Pelisson and St. Helie, while the Duke and Duchess of +Rouvré were busy in receiving the adieus of some of their departing +guests. With the frank sincerity of his native character he demanded, +straightforwardly, of the two ecclesiastics, what was the course of +conduct that their commission directed them to pursue; and Pelisson +had half replied, saying, that they had better open their commission +at once before the Duke de Rouvré, and see the contents, when his more +cunning and politic friend interrupted him, saying, that he had +express orders not to open the packet till the meeting of the states, +which was to take place in about eight days. This announcement +differing, in some degree, from the account which he had given before, +excited not unjustly the Count's suspicion; and, knowing that he +should have a more candid reply from the Duke himself, he determined, +in the next instance, to apply to him. + +He did so not long after, and the Duke retired with him into his +library. + +"My dear Morseiul," he said, grasping the young Count's hand, "you +know that I myself am an advocate for the utmost toleration, that I am +so far from entertaining any ill will towards my brethren who differ +with me in some respects, that more than one of my relations have +married Huguenots. This is very well known at the court also. The King +is fully aware of it, and I cannot but hope that my late appointment, +as governor of this province, is a sign that, notwithstanding all the +rumours lately afloat, his Majesty intends to deal kindly and well +with all denominations of his subjects. I must not conceal from you, +however, that there are rumours in Paris of a different kind; that +there are not people wanting who declare that the King and his council +are determined no longer to have any more than one religion in France, +and that the most vigorous means are to be employed to carry this +resolution into effect. Nor shall I attempt to deny to you, that the +coming of Pelisson and St. Helie here seems to me a very ominous and +unpleasant occurrence. The presence of the first I should care little +about, as he is frank, and I believe sincere, wishes well, and would +always act kindly; but the other is a shrewd knave, a bigot, I +believe, more by policy than by any great devotion for our holy +church, malevolent, selfish, and cunning. They bear a commission +which, it seems, is not to be owned till the meeting of the states. +This looks like a purpose of controlling me in my own government, of +putting a power over me whereof I am to stand in awe. Now, should I +find that such is the case, I shall undoubtedly beseech his Majesty to +permit me to retire from public life." + +"For Heaven's sake do not do so just at present," said the Count de +Morseiul. "We have need, my dear friend, of every moderate and +enlightened man like yourself to keep the country quiet at a moment +when affairs seem verging towards a terrible convulsion. You must +remember, and I hope the King will remember, that the Protestants are +a great and important body in France; that there are two or three +millions of us in this country; that we demand nothing but the calm +and quiet exercise of our own religious opinions; but that, at the +same time, there are many resolute and determined men amongst us, and +many eager and fiery spirits, who may be urged into acts of resistance +if they be opprest. All wise and sensible Huguenots will endeavour, as +far as may be, to seek peace and tranquillity; but suppose that +resistance be once begun, in consequence of an attempt to debar us of +the free exercise of the rights secured to us by the edict of Nantes, +can the King, or any body else, expect even his most loyal and +best-intentioned Protestant subjects to aid in keeping down and +oppressing their brethren?" + +"Not in oppressing, not in oppressing, my dear Count," said the Duke; +"we must not attribute to our beloved sovereign even the thought of +oppressing his subjects." + +"Nothing but oppression could drive any of us to resistance," replied +the Count; "and it is not from the King at all that we anticipate +oppression, but from those that surround him. Need I point to Louvois, +to whom the King, by his own acknowledgment, yields his own better +judgment?" + +The Duke was silent, and his young friend proceeded: "If we have not +to fear oppression, my lord, there is nothing to be feared throughout +the land but if we have, I would fain know what shape that oppression +is likely to take, both as a sincere member of what we call the +reformed church, and as a loyal and devoted subject of the King. I +would fain know, in order that, in my own neighbourhood, and amongst +my own people, I may do all in my power to maintain peace and +tranquillity; which I cannot at all answer for, if such proclamations +be suddenly made amongst the people when they are unprepared, as were +made five days ago in my town of Morseiul, nearly creating a serious +disturbance therein. The appearance of the military, also, did +infinite harm, and the renewal of such scenes might quickly irritate a +small body of the people into revolt; that small body would be joined +by greater numbers, and the flame of civil war would spread throughout +the country." + +"The proclamation," replied the Duke, "was the King's, and of course +it was necessary to make it instantly. With regard to the military, +the intendant of the province demanded that a force should be sent to +insure that the proclamation was made peacefully; so having no one +else in whom I could at all trust, I sent young Hericourt, with as +small a force as possible, as I could not, of course, refuse the +application." + +"Of the intendant of the province, my dear Duke," replied the Count, +"I shall say nothing, except that he is as opposite as possible in +mind, in character, and manners to the Duc de Rouvré. A man of low +origin, chosen from the _Maîtres des requêtes_, as all these +intendants are, cannot be supposed to view such questions in a grand +and fine point of view. Individual instances certainly may sometimes +occur, but unfortunately they have not occurred in Poitiers. Our only +safety is in the Duc de Rouvré; but I am most anxious, if possible, to +act in concert with him in keeping tranquillity throughout the +province." + +"I know you are, my dear young friend, I know you are," replied the +Duke; "wait, however, for a few days. I expect several other gentlemen +in Poitiers of your persuasion in religious matters. I will see and +confer with you all as to what may be done, in the best spirit towards +you, believe me. I have sent, or am sending, letters to every eminent +man of the so-called reformed religion throughout this district, +begging him to give me the aid of his advice. When we have others +here, we can take counsel together, and act accordingly." + +The young Count of course submitted, whatever were the private reasons +which induced him to wish to quit Poitiers as soon as possible. He +felt that a long sojourn there might be dangerous to him; he saw that +the feelings of his heart might trample under foot the resolutions of +his judgment. But, obliged as he was to remain, he now took the wisest +course that circumstances permitted him to pursue. He saw Clémence de +Marly as little as possible; and that portion of time which courtesy +compelled him to give up to her, was only yielded to her society upon +those public occasions when he fancied that her demeanour to others +was likely to counteract the effect of her fascinations upon himself. +On these occasions he always appeared attentive, courteous, and +desirous to please her. Perhaps at times even, there shone through his +demeanour those indications of deeper feelings and of a passion which +might have become strong and overpowering, which were not likely to +escape a woman's eye. But his general conduct was by no means that of +a lover. He was never one of the train. He came and went, and spoke +for a few moments in his usual calm and equable manner, but nothing +more; and Clémence de Marly, it must be confessed, was somewhat +piqued. + +It was not that she sought to display the Count de Morseiul to the +world as one of the idle train of adorers that followed her, for she +despised them, and esteemed him too much to wish him amongst them; but +it was that she thought her beauty, and her graces, and her mind; ay! +and the feeling and noble heart which she knew to exist in her own +bosom--forgetting that she took pains to conceal it--might all have +had a greater effect upon the Count than they had apparently produced. + +She thought that she merited more than he seemed to be inclined to +give; and there was something also in the little mysterious link of +connexion between them, which had, in some degree, excited her +imagination, and taught her to believe that the Count would take a +deeper interest in her than he appeared to do. There was a little +disappointment, a little surprise, a good deal of mortification.--Was +there any thing more? We shall see! at present we have to deal with +her conduct more than with her feelings, and that conduct, perhaps, +was not such as was best calculated to win the Count's regard. It is +true, she paid less attention to the train that followed her; she +treated the generality of them with almost undisguised contempt. It +seemed as if her haughtiness towards them in general, increased; but +then she was far more with the Chevalier d'Evran. She was seen walking +in the gardens with him, with a single servant a step behind, and +twice the Count de Morseiul entered the saloon, and found her sitting +alone with him in eager conversation. + +He felt more and more each day that it was time for him to quit the +city of Poitiers, but still he was detained there by circumstances +that he could not alter; and on the fifth day after his arrival, +having passed a somewhat sleepless night, and feeling his brow hot and +aching, he went down into the wide gardens of the house to enjoy the +fresh morning air in comfort. It was an hour when those gardens seldom +possessed a tenant, but at the turn of the first walk he met Clémence +de Marly alone. She seemed to be returning from the farther part of +the grounds, and had her eyes bent upon the earth, with a +thoughtful--nay, with even a melancholy look. If they had not been so +near when he saw her, he might, perhaps, have turned to avoid a +meeting which he feared; but she was within a few steps, and raised +her eyes instantly as she heard the sound of approaching feet. The +colour came into her cheek as she saw him, but only slightly, and she +acknowledged his salutation by a graceful inclination of the head. + +"You are an early riser, Mademoiselle de Marly," said the Count, as +she paused to speak with him. + +"I have always been so," she answered. "I love the soft breath of the +morning air." + +"It is one of the great secrets of health and beauty," rejoined the +Count; But she shook her head with a smile, saying,-- + +"Such are not my objects in early rising, Monsieur de Morseiul. Health +I scarcely value as it deserves, as I never knew the want of it; and +beauty I value not at all.--It is true! whatever you may think." + +"Still, beauty has its value," replied the Count. "It is a grand and +noble gift of God; but I acknowledge it ought to be the mint mark of +the gold." + +"It is one of the most dangerous gifts of Heaven," replied Clémence, +vehemently. "It is often one of the most burdensome! It is dangerous +to ourselves, to our own hearts, to our own eternal happiness. It is +burdensome in all its consequences. Too much beauty to a woman is like +overgrown wealth to a man:--with this sad difference, that he can +always do good with his possession, and she can do none with hers. And +now Monsieur de Morseiul thinks me a hypocrite; and, though he +promised ever to be straightforward with me, he will not say so." + +"Nay, indeed," replied the Count, "I am far from thinking that there +is aught of hypocrisy in what you say, lady. I may think such feelings +and thoughts evanescent with you, but I believe you feel them at the +time." + +Clémence shook her head with a melancholy--almost a reproachful look. +"They are not evanescent," she said earnestly. "They are constant, +steadfast; have been for years." Even while she spoke she turned to +leave him; and he thought, as she quickly averted her head, that there +was something like a tear in her bright eye. + +He could not resist; and he followed her rapidly, saying, "I hope I +have not offended." + +"Oh no!" she answered, turning to him, and letting him see without +disguise that the tear was really there; "oh no! Monsieur de Morseiul! +There was nothing said that could offend me. Do you not know that, +like a child putting its hand upon an instrument of music without +knowing he will produce any sound, a mere casual word will often be +spoken unconsciously, which, by some unseen mechanism in the breast of +another, will awaken emotions which we never intended to call up? Our +little conversation roused the thoughts of many years in a moment, but +there was nothing said that could in the least offend. You know we +vain women, Count," she added in a lighter mood, "are only offended +with our lovers. It is on them that we pour forth our caprices. So, +for Heaven's sake, take care how you become my lover, for then I +should certainly be offended with you every five minutes." + +"Would it be so terrible to you, then, to see me your lover?" demanded +the Count in the same tone. + +"To be sure," she answered, half playfully, half seriously; "it would +be a sad exchange, would it not? to give a friend for a slave. +Besides, I doubt not that you have loved a thousand times before. But +tell me, Count, do you think any one can love more than once?" + +"From my own experience I cannot speak," replied the Count, "for I am +a very stony-hearted person, but I should think that a man might." + +"And woman not!" she interrupted eagerly. "Poor women! You hem us in +on all sides!--But after all, perhaps, you are right," she added, +after a moment's pause. "There is, there must be a difference between +the love of man and the love of woman. Hers is the first fresh +brightness of the heart, which never can be known again; hers is the +flower which, once broken off, is succeeded by no other; hers is the +intense--the deep--the all engrossing, which, when once come and gone, +leaves the exhausted heart without the power of feeling such things +again. With man it is different: love has not that sway over him that +it has over a woman. It is not with him the only thing, the end, the +object of his being. It takes possession of him but as a part, and, +therefore, may be known more than once, perhaps. But, with woman, that +fire once kindled must be the funeral pile of her own heart. As the +ancients fabled, flowers may spring up from the ashes, but as far as +real love is concerned, after the first true affection, the heart is +with the dead." + +She paused, and both were silent; for there was something in the words +which she spoke which had a deeper effect upon Albert of Morseiul than +he had imagined any thing could have produced. He struggled against +himself, however, and then replied, "You took me up too quickly, lady. +I was not going to say that it is impossible for woman to love twice. +I do not know, I cannot judge; but I think it very possible that the +ancients, to whom you have just alluded, may have intended to figure +love under the image of the ph[oe]nix; and I do fully believe that +many a woman may have fancied herself in love a dozen times before she +was so really." + +"Fancy herself in love!" exclaimed Clémence, in a tone almost +indignant. "Fancy herself in love, Monsieur de Morseiul! I should +think it less difficult to love twice than to fancy one's self in love +at all, if one were not really so. We may perhaps fancy qualities in a +person who does not truly possess them, and thus, adorned by our own +imagination, may love him; but still it is not that we fancy we are in +love, but are really in love with the creature of our fancy. However, +I will talk about it no more. It is a thing that does not do to think +of. I wonder if ever there was a man that was really worth loving." + +The Count replied, but he could not get her to pursue the subject any +farther; she studiously rambled away to other things; and, after +speaking of some matters of minor import, darted back at once to the +point at which the conversation had begun, as if the rest had been but +a temporary dream, interpolated as it were between matters of more +serious moment. The Count had been endeavouring to bring her back to +the subject of the heart's feelings; for though he felt that it was a +dangerous one--a most dangerous one--one that might well lead to words +that could never be recalled, yet he longed to gain some insight into +that heart which he could not but think was filled with finer things +than she suffered to appear. She would not listen, however, nor be +led, and replied as if she had not in the slightest degree attended to +what he had been saying,-- + +"No, Monsieur de Morseiul, no, it is neither for health's sake nor for +beauty's that I rise early and seek the morning air. I will tell you +why it is. In those early and solitary hours, and those hours alone, I +can have some communion with my own heart--I can converse with the +being within myself--I can hold conference, too, with what I never +meet alone at other hours,--nature, and nature's God. The soft air of +the morning has a voice only to be heard when crowds are far away. The +leaves of the green trees have tongues, drowned in the idle gabble of +a foolish multitude, but heard in the calm quiet of the early morning. +The fields, the brooks, the birds, the insects, all have their +language, if we will listen to it; but what are fields, and brooks, +and birds, and trees, and the soft air, when I am surrounded by a +tribe of things as empty as the sounding brass or tinkling cymbal? Can +I think of any thing more dignified than a padusoie when one baby man +is whispering softly in my ear, 'The violet, Mademoiselle, suits +better with your complexion than with any other that the earth ever +produced, which shows that complexion's exceeding brightness;' and +another tells me that the blackness of my hair would make a raven +blush, or that my eyes are fit to people the heaven with stars! But it +is time that I should go to my task," she continued; "so adieu, +Monsieur de Morseiul. If you walk on straight to the ramparts you will +find the view beautiful, and the air fresh." + +Thus saying, she turned and left him, and the hint not to follow was +too plain to be misunderstood. He walked on then towards the ramparts +with his arms crossed upon his chest, and his eyes bent upon the +ground. He did not soliloquise, for his nature was not one of those +which frequently give way to such weaknesses. It was his thoughts that +spoke, and spoke plainly, though silently. + +"She is, indeed, lovely," he thought, "and she is, indeed, enchanting. +If she would but give her heart way she is all that I pictured to +myself, all that I dreamed of, though with a sad mixture of faults +from which her original nature was free. But, alas! it is evident that +she either does love or has loved another, and she herself confesses +that she cannot love twice. Perhaps she has spoken thus plainly as a +warning, and if so, how much ought I to thank her for her frankness? +Besides, she is of another creed. I must dream upon this subject no +more.--Yet who can be the man that has won that young heart, and then +perhaps thought it not worth the wearing? Surely, surely it cannot be +D'Evran, and yet she evidently likes his society better than that of +any one. She seeks him rather than otherwise. How can I tell what may +have passed, what may be passing between them even now? Yet she is +evidently not at ease at heart, and he too told me but the other day +that it was his determination never to marry. He--made for loving and +being beloved!--he never marry!--It must be so; some quarrel has taken +place between them, some breach which they think irremediable. How +often is it when such things are the case that lovers will fancy that +they are cool, and calm, and determined, and can live like friends and +acquaintances, forgetting the warmer feelings that have once existed +between them! Yes, it must be so," he continued, as he pondered over +all the different circumstances; "it must be so, and they will soon be +reconciled. I will crush these foolish feelings in my heart; I will +banish all weak remembrances; and to do so effectually, I will quit +this place as soon as possible, leaving Louis here, if he chooses to +stay." + +Thus musing, with a sad heart and bitterer feelings than he would even +admit to himself, Albert de Morseiul walked on in the direction which +Clémence had pointed out, and passing through various long allies, +planted in the taste of that day, arrived at a spot where some steps +led up to the ramparts of the town, which commanded a beautiful view +over the gently undulating country round Poitiers, with more than one +little river meandering through the fields around. Leaning his arms on +the low breastwork, he paused and gazed over a scene on which, at any +other time, he might have looked with feelings of deep interest, and +noted every little mound and tree, marking, as he was wont, each light +and shadow, and following each turn of the Clain or Boivre. Now, +however, there was nothing but a vague vision of green and sunny +things before his eyes, while the sight of the spirit was fixed +intensely upon the deeper and darker things of his own heart. + +Alas, alas, it must be said, he felt that he loved Clémence de Marly. +Notwithstanding all he had seen, notwithstanding all he had condemned, +notwithstanding the fear that she could not make him happy even if he +could obtain her, the belief that it would be impossible to win her, +and the conviction that she loved another--alas, he felt, and felt +bitterly, that at length, indeed, he loved, and loved with the whole +energy of his nature. He reproached himself with weakness; he accused +himself of the follies that he had so often condemned in others. Was +it her mere beauty that he loved? he asked himself. Was it the mere +perfection of form and colour that, in a few short years, would fleet +with fleeting seasons, and give place to irremediable decay? Was he, +who had believed that loveliness could have no effect on him, was he +caught by the painted glittering of a mere beautiful statue? No; he +felt there was something more. He felt that she had given him +sufficient insight into her original nature to show him that, though +spoiled by after circumstances, she had been made by the hand of God +that which he had always believed he could love, that bright being +where the beautiful form, and the beautiful heart, and the beautiful +mind were all attuned together in one grand and comprehensive harmony +of nature. He felt that such was the case, and his sensations were +only the bitterer that it should be so. + +He had thus paused and meditated some little time full of his own +thoughts and nothing else, when a hand was suddenly laid upon his +shoulder, and, turning round, he saw his friend the Chevalier. + +"Why, Albert," he said, "in what melancholy guise are you here +meditating? I met Clémence upon the stairs just now, and she told me +that I should find you here, tasting the morning air upon the +ramparts. I expected to see you with your eye roving enchanted over +this fine scene, looking as usual halfway between a mad poet and a mad +painter; and lo! instead of that, here you are planted upon the +rampart like a dragoon officer in garrison in a dull Dutch town, with +your heel beating melancholy time on the pavement, and your eyes +profoundly cast into the town ditch. In the name of Heaven, why did +you not make Clémence come on to enliven you?" + +The Count smiled with a somewhat bitter smile. "It would have hardly +been necessary, and hardly right to try," he replied; "but you +miscalculate my power, D'Evran. The lady left me with an intelligible +hint, not only that she was not about to follow me, but that I was not +to follow her." + +"What, saucy with you, too!" cried the Chevalier laughing. "I did not +think that she would have had determination enough for that." + +"Nay, nay, you are mistaken, Louis," replied the Count; "not in the +least saucy, as you term it, but quite mistress of herself, of course, +to do as she pleased." + +"And yet, Albert," said the Chevalier, "and yet I do believe that +there is not a man in France with whom she would so willingly have +walked through these gardens as with yourself. Nay, do not be foolish +or blind, Albert. I heard her saying to Marsillac but yesterday, when +he called to take his leave, that she had seen at Poitiers more than +she had ever seen in her life before, a courtier who was not a fool, a +soldier who was not a libertine, and a man of nearly thirty who had +some good feelings left." + +The Count gazed steadfastly into the Chevalier's face for a moment, as +if he would have read into his very soul, and then replied, "Come, +Louis, let us go back. If she meant me, she was pleased to be +complimentary, and had probably quarrelled with her real lover, and +knew that he was in hearing." + +The Chevalier gave himself a turn round upon his heel, without reply, +sang a bar or two of a gay air, at that time fashionable in Paris, and +then walked back to the governor's house with the Count, who, from +every thing he had seen and heard, but the more firmly determined to +hasten his steps from Poitiers as fast as possible. + +The hour of breakfast had not yet arrived when they entered the house, +and the Count turned to his own apartments, seeking to remain in +solitude for a few minutes, not in order to indulge in thoughts and +reflections which he felt to be unnerving, but to make a vigorous +effort to recover all his composure, and pass the rest of the two or +three days which he had to remain as if nothing had given any +disturbance to the usual tranquil course of his feelings. In the +ante-room, however, he found Maître Jerome, sitting watching the door, +like a cat before the hole of a mouse; and the moment he entered +Jerome sprang up, saying,-- + +"Oh, Monseigneur, I have something to say to you, which may not be +amiss to hear quickly. I have discovered the exact nature of the +commission of Monsieur de St. Helie, which you wanted to know." + +The Count beckoned him into the inner chamber, and demanded, looking +at him sternly, "Truth or falsehood, Riquet? This is no joking +matter!" + +"Truth, upon my honour, sir," replied the man; "I would deceive you on +no account whatsoever; and now, pray, sir, ask no questions, but let +me tell my tale. It is truth, for once in my life, depend upon it. I +can tell truth upon an occasion, sir, when it suits me." + +"But how am I to be sure of the accuracy of the information, if I ask +you no questions, Riquet?" said the Count. + +"You may be quite sure of it, sir," replied the man, "though I must not +tell you how I came at my tale. Suppose, I say, only suppose that I +had heard Monsieur de St. Helie repeating it word for word to Monsieur +Pelisson, and the Curé de Guadrieul had confirmed it. I say, suppose +it were so, and be sure that my authority is quite as good." + +"Well, well," said his master, "go on." + +"Well, then, sir," continued the servant, "of course, as a good +Catholic, I hope that you and all the other Huguenots of France may be +thoroughly roasted in good time; but, nevertheless, as you happen to +be my master in this world, I am in duty bound to tell you what I +heard. Monsieur de St. Helie, then, and Monsieur Pelisson are +commanded to demand of the states of the province, effectual measures +to be taken for the purpose of bringing into the bosom of the church, +without delay, all the Huguenots within their jurisdiction. In +expressing this demand there are a great many soft words used, and +much talk of gentleness and persuasion; but Huguenots' children are to +be brought over by all means; they are to be received to renounce +their errors at seven years old. No more Huguenots are to be permitted +to keep schools. They are to be excluded from all public offices of +any kind or character whatsoever. They are no longer to be allowed to +call their religion _the reformed religion_----" + +"Enough, enough," said the Count, stopping him, "and more than enough. +Is this information sure?" + +"Most sure, sir," replied the man, with a solemnity that admitted no +doubt of his sincerity, "and the commission ended with the words, that +these means were to be taken in preparation for those ulterior steps +which the King was determined to employ." + +The Count made no reply, but paced the room for two or three minutes +in considerable agitation. "I wanted something to rouse me," he said, +at length, "and I have it now, indeed! Quick, Riquet, call Claude, and +Beyhours, and Martin; tell them to saddle their horses, for I want +them to carry some notes. When you have done that, come hither +yourself, and say not a word of this affair to any one." + +When the man returned, he found three notes written and addressed to +different protestant noblemen in the neighbourhood of Poitiers, which +his lord directed him to give to the servants named, to carry them to +their several destinations; and then added, "Now, Riquet, I have a +commission for you yourself; I will not give you a note, as that is +useless. You would know the contents of it before you got to the end +of your journey: of that I am well aware." + +"Certainly, sir," replied the man, with his usual effrontery; "I +always make a point of that, for then I can tell the purport on my +arrival if I lose the note by the way." + +"I know it," replied the Count, "but I believe you, notwithstanding, +to be faithful and attached to me, and that you can be silent when it +is necessary." + +"As the grave, sir," replied the man. + +"Well, then," continued his master, "you know the château of the +Maille, at about two leagues' distance. Go thither--ask to speak to +Monsieur de Corvoie--tell him that I will be with him to-morrow about +mid-day--that I have matters of the deepest importance to communicate +to him--and that I have asked three other gentlemen of our own +persuasion to meet me at his house to-morrow. Say nothing more and +nothing less." + +"Sir, I will cut it on all sides exactly as you have commanded," +replied the man, "and will bear you his message back immediately, if +there should be any." + +These arrangements being made, the Count descended to the breakfast +table, where he found the Chevalier seated by the side of Clémence de +Marly. The Count had resolved that during his stay he would notice the +conduct of Clémence as little as possible; that he would endeavour to +look upon her as a being that could never be his; but, nevertheless, +he could not now help noticing that though she and the Chevalier might +not converse much together, there was from time to time a few words +passed between them in a low voice, evidently referring to things +apart from the general conversation that was going on. He steeled his +heart, though with agony to himself, and pleading the necessity of +visiting some friends in the neighbourhood, mounted his horse +immediately after breakfast, and was absent from Poitiers the greater +part of the day. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + THE MEETING AND THE CHASE. + + +On the following morning, at breakfast, some sports and diversions +were proposed; and the governor, who wished to afford amusement to all +parties and to keep them in especial good humour till after the +meeting of the states, proposed to set out almost immediately to force +a stag in the neighbouring woods. There were several young noblemen +present, swelling the train of la belle Clémence, but she had shown +herself somewhat grave, and less lively than usual; and after the +proposal had been made and agreed to by almost all, she remarked the +silence of the Count de Morseiul, saying, that she feared, from the +profound silence that he kept, they were again to be deprived of the +pleasure of Monsieur de Morseiul's society, as they had been on their +ride of the day before. She spoke in rather a low voice, and, perhaps +one might say, timidly, for her manner was very different from that +which she usually assumed. + +"I fear, fair lady," replied the Count, who felt that under any other +circumstances her speech would have been a sore temptation, "I fear +that I have engaged myself to visit a friend in the neighbourhood at +noon to-day." + +"Oh, we will take no excuse," cried the Duc de Rouvré; "indeed, Count, +you must send a messenger to tell your friend you cannot come. You who +are famed for your skill in forest sports must positively be with us." + +The Count, however, remained firm, saying, that he had appointed to +meet his friend on business of importance to them both; and the Duc de +Rouvré was of course silent. The young De Hericourt, who had been +absent for a day or two, and had only lately returned, gazed at +Clémence with a sort of ironical smile, as he saw upon her countenance +a look of mortification which she could not or would not restrain; but +the Count saw it too, and was struck with it; for, though skilful by +habit in reading the hearts of those with whom he was brought into +contact, he could not perfectly satisfy himself with regard to the +nature of that look and the feelings from which it sprung. He felt, +too, that something more than a dry refusal was, perhaps, owing in +mere courtesy to Clémence for the wish she had expressed for his +society, and he added,-- + +"I do assure you, Mademoiselle de Marly, that nothing could have been +so great a temptation to me as the thought of accompanying you, and +our gay friends here, to wake the woods with the sounds of horns and +dogs, and I grieve very much that this appointment should have been +made so unfortunately." + +"Indeed," she exclaimed, brightening up, "if such be your feelings I +will coax _ma reine_, as I always call our good Duchess, to coax the +governor, who never refuses any thing to her, though he refuses plenty +of things to me, to delay the party for an hour. Then we shall be some +time getting to the woodside, you know; some time making all our +preparations; and you shall come and join us whenever you have done. +We will make noise enough to let you know where we are." + +Of course there was now no refusing; the Count promised to come if the +important business in which he was about to be engaged was over in +time, and Clémence repaid him with a smile, such as she but rarely +gave to any. It was now well nigh time for him to depart; and after +shutting himself up for a few minutes alone, in order to think over +the circumstances about to be discussed, he set out, with some +servants, and rode rapidly to the château of the Maille. He found +several horses in the court yard, and judged rightly, from that sight, +that the others had arrived before him. He found them all assembled in +the large hall, and each greeted him gladly and kindly, looking with +some eagerness for what he had to communicate. But the master of the +château asked him to pause for a moment, adding,-- + +"I have a friend here who arrived last night, and whom you will all be +glad to see. He will join us in a moment, as he is but writing a short +despatch in another room." + +"Who is he?" demanded the Count; "is it Monsieur de l'Estang?" + +"Oh no," replied the other. "He is a man of arms instead of a man of +peace." But almost as he spoke the door opened, and the famous +Maréchal de Schomberg entered the room. + +"I am happy to see you all, gentlemen," he said; "Monsieur de +Morseiul, my good friend," he continued, shaking him warmly by the +hand, "I am delighted to meet you. I have not seen you since we were +fellow-soldiers together in very troublous times." + +"I hope, Marshal," replied the Count, "that at the present we may be +fellow-pacificators instead of fellow-soldiers. We are all +Protestants, gentlemen, and as what I have lately learned affects us +all, I thought it much the best plan, before I took any steps in +consequence, in my own neighbourhood, to consult with you, and see +whether we could not draw up such a remonstrance and plain statement +of our case to the King, as to induce him to oppose the evil +intentions of his ministers, and once more guarantee to us the full +and entire enjoyment of those rights in which he promised us security +on his accession to the throne, but which have been sadly encroached +upon and curtailed within the last ten years." + +"They have, indeed," said the Count de Champclair; "but I trust, +Monsieur de Morseiul, you have nothing to tell us which may lead us to +believe that greater encroachments still are intended." + +Marshal Schomberg shook his head with a melancholy smile; but he did +not interrupt the Count de Morseiul, who proceeded to relate what he +knew of the mission of Pelisson and St. Helie, and the further +information which he had gained in regard to their commission on the +preceding day. The first burst of anger and indignation was greater +than he expected, and nothing was talked of for a few minutes but +active resistance to the powers of the crown, of reviving the days of +the League or those of Louis XIII., and defending their rights and +privileges to the last. Marshal Schomberg, however eminently +distinguished for his attachment to his religion, maintained a +profound silence during the whole of the first ebullitions; and at +length Monsieur de Champclair remarked, "The Marshal does not seem to +think well of our purposes. What would he have us do, thus brought to +bay?" + +"My good friends," replied Schomberg, with his slight foreign accent, +"I think only that you do not altogether consider how times have +changed since the days of Louis XIII. Even then the reformed church of +France was not successful in resisting the King, and now resistance, +unless men were driven to it by despair, would be madness. Forced as I +am to be much about the court, I have seen and known these matters in +their progress more intimately than any of you, and can but believe +that our sole hope will rest in showing the King the utmost +submission, while at the same time we represent to him the grievances +that we suffer." + +"But does he not know those grievances already?" exclaimed one of the +other gentlemen; "are they not his own act and deed?" + +"They are, it is true," replied Schomberg, mildly, "but he does not +know one half of the consequences which his own acts produce. Let me +remind you that it is the people who surround the King that urge him +to these acts, and it is consequently their greatest interest to +prevent him from knowing the evil consequences thereof. Not one half +of the severities that are exercised in the provinces--indeed I may +say, no severities at all--are exercised towards the Protestants in +the immediate neighbourhood of Paris, Versailles, or Fontainbleau. +They take especial care that the eyes of majesty, and the ear of +authority, shall not be opened to the cries, groans, or sufferings of +an injured people. Louis the Great is utterly ignorant that the +Protestants have suffered, or are likely to suffer, under any of his +acts. The King has been always, more or less, a bigot, and his mother +was the same: Colbert is dead, who stood between us and our enemies. +His son is a mere boy, unable if not unwilling to defend us. The fury, +Louvois, and his old Jesuitical father, are, in fact, the only +ministers that remain, and they have been our enemies from the +beginning. But they have now stronger motives to persecute us. The +King must be ruled by some passion; he is tired of the domination of +Louvois, and that minister seeks now for some new hold upon his +master. He supported his tottering power for many years by the +influence of Madame de Montespan. Madame de Montespan has fallen; and +a new reign has commenced under a woman, who is the enemy of that +great bad man; but she also is a bigot, and the minister clearly sees +that if he would remain a day in power he must link Madame Scarron to +himself in some general plan which will identify their interests +together. She sees, and he sees, that whatever be that plan it must +comprise something which affords occupation to the bigoted zeal of the +King. The Jesuits see that too, and are very willing to furnish such +occupation; but the King, who thinks himself a new St. George, is +tired of persecuting Jansenism. That dragon is too small and too +tenacious of life to afford a subject of interest to the King any +longer; when he thinks it is quite dead, it revives again, and crawls +feebly here and there, so that the saint is weary of killing a +creature that seems immortal. Under these circumstances they have +turned his eyes and thoughts towards the Protestants; and what have +they proposed to him which might not seduce a glory-loving monarch +like himself? They have promised him that he shall effect what none of +his ancestors could ever accomplish, by completely triumphing over +subjects who have shown that they can resist powerfully when +oppressed. They have promised him this glory as an absolute monarch. +They have promised him almost apostolic glory in converting people +whom he believes to be heretics. They have promised him the +establishment of one, and one only religion in France; and they have +promised him that, by so doing, he will inflict a bitter wound on +those Protestant princes with whom he has been so long contending. +Such are the motives by which they lead on the mind of Louis to severe +acts against us; but there is yet one other motive; and to that I will +particularly call your attention, as it ought, I think, greatly to +affect our conduct. They have misrepresented the followers of the +reformed religion in France as a turbulent, rebellious, obstinate race +of men, who adhere to their own creed more out of opposition to the +sovereign than from any real attachment to the religion of their +forefathers. By long and artful reasonings they have persuaded the +King that such is the case. He himself told me long ago, that +individually there are a great many good men, and brave men, and loyal +men amongst us; but that as a body we are the most stiff-necked and +rebellious race he ever read of in history." + +"Have we not been driven to rebellion?" demanded Monsieur de +Champclair, "have we not been driven to resistance? Have we ever taken +arms but in our own defence?" + +"True," replied Schomberg, "quite true. But kings unfortunately see +through the eyes of others. The causes of our resistance are hidden +from him scrupulously. The resistance itself is urged upon him +vehemently." + +"Then it is absolutely necessary," said the Count de Morseiul, "that +he should be made clearly and distinctly to know how much we have been +aggrieved, how peaceably and loyally we are really disposed, and how +little but the bitterest fruits can ever be reaped from the seeds that +are now sowing." + +"Precisely," replied Schomberg. "That is precisely what I should +propose to do. Let us present a humble remonstrance to the King, +making a true statement of our case. Let us make him aware of the +evils that have accrued, of the evils that still must accrue from +persecution; but in the language of the deepest loyalty and most +submissive obedience. Let us open his eyes, in fact, to the real state +of the case. This is our only hope, for in resistance I fear there is +none. The Protestant people are apathetic, they are not united--and +they are not sufficiently numerous, even if they were united, to +contend successfully with the forces of a great empire in a time of +external peace." + +"I do not know that," exclaimed Monsieur de Champclair. But he had the +great majority of the persons who were then present against him, and, +in a desultory conversation that followed, those who had most +vehemently advocated resistance but a few minutes before, who had been +all fire and fury, and talked loudly of sacrificing their lives a +thousand times rather than sacrificing their religion, viewed the +matter in a very different light now when the first eagerness was +over. One declared that not an able-bodied man in forty would take the +field in defence of his religion; another said, that they had surely +had warning enough at La Rochelle; another spoke, with a shudder, of +Alaix. In short, Albert de Morseiul had an epitome in that small +meeting of the doubts, fears, and hesitations; the apathy, the +weakness, the renitency which would affect the great body of +Protestants, if called upon suddenly to act together. He was forced, +then, to content himself with pressing strongly upon the attention of +all present the necessity of adopting instantly the suggestion of +Marshal Schomberg, and of drawing up a representation to the King, to +be signed as rapidly as possible by the chief Protestants throughout +the kingdom, and transmitted to Schomberg, who was even then on his +way towards Paris. + +Vain discussions next ensued in regard to the tone of the +remonstrance, and the terms that were to be employed; and those who +were inclined to be more bold in words than in deeds, proposed such +expressions as would have entirely obviated the result sought to be +obtained, giving the petition the character of a threatening and +mutinous manifesto. Though this effect was self-evident, yet the terms +had nearly been adopted by the majority of those present, and most +likely would have been so, had not a fortunate suggestion struck the +mind of Albert of Morseiul. + +"My good friends," he said, "there is one thing which we have +forgotten to consider. We are all of us soldiers and country +gentlemen, and many of us have, perhaps, a certain tincture of belles +lettres; but a petition from the whole body of Protestants should be +drawn up by some person eminent alike for learning, wisdom, and piety, +whose very name may be a recommendation to that which he produces. +What say you, then, to request Monsieur Claude de l'Estang to draw up +the petition for our whole body. I intend to leave Poitiers to-morrow, +and will communicate your desire to him. The paper shall be sent to +you all as soon as it is drawn up, and nothing will remain but to +place our hands to it, and lay it before the King." + +The proposal was received with joy by all; for even those who were +pressing their own plans obstinately were at heart glad to be +delivered from the responsibility; and this having been decided, the +meeting broke up. + +The Count de Morseiul lingered for a few minutes after the rest were +gone to speak with Marshal Schomberg, who asked, "So you are not going +to wait for the opening of the states?" + +"I see no use of so doing," replied the Count; "now that I know the +measures which the King's commission dictates, I have nothing farther +to detain me. But tell me, Marshal, do you really believe that Louvois +and his abettors will urge the King seriously to such steps?" + +"To a thousand others," replied Schomberg; "to a thousand harsher, and +a thousand more dangerous measures. I can tell you that it is already +determined to prohibit for the future the marriages of Catholics and +Protestants. That, indeed, were no great evil, and I think rather +favourable to us, than not; but it is only one out of many +encroachments on the liberty of conscience, and, depend upon it, our +sole hope is in opening the King's eyes to our real character as a +body, and to the awful evils likely to ensue from oppressing us." + +"But should we be unable so to do," demanded the Count, "what remains +for us then, my noble friend? Must we calmly submit to increasing +persecution? must we renounce our faith? must we resist and die?" + +"If by our death," replied Schomberg firmly, but sadly, "we could seal +for those who come after us, even with our hearts' blood, a covenant +of safety--if by our fall in defence of our religion we could cement, +as with the blood of martyrs, the edifice of the reformed church--if +there were even a hope that our destruction could purchase immunity to +our brethren or our children, I should say that there is but one +course before us. But, alas! my good young friend, do you not know, as +well as I do, that resistance is hopeless in itself, and must be +ruinous in its consequences; that it must bring torture, persecution, +misery, upon the women, the children, the helpless; that it must crush +out the last spark of toleration that is likely to be left; and that +the ultimate ruin of our church in France will but be hastened +thereby? No one deserving the title of man, gentleman, or Christian, +will abandon his religion under persecution; but there is another +course to be taken, and it I shall take, if these acts against us be +not stayed. I will quit the land--I will make myself a home elsewhere. +My faith shall be my country, as my sword has been my inheritance! +Would you take my advice, my dear Count, you would follow my example, +and forming your determination before hand, be prepared to act when +necessary." + +The Count shook his head. "I thank you," he said, "I thank you, and +will give what you propose the fullest consideration; but it is a +resolution that cannot be taken at once--at least by such as feel as I +do. Oh! my good friend, remember how many ties I have to break asunder +before I can act as you propose. There are all the sweet memories of +youth, the clinging household dreams of infancy, the sunny home of my +first days, when life's pilgrimage took its commencement in a garden +of flowers. I must quit all these,--every dear thing to which the +remembrance of my brightest days is attached--and spend the autumn and +the winter of my latter life in scenes where there is not even a +memory of its spring. I must quit all these, Schomberg. I must quit +more. I must quit the faithful people that have surrounded me from my +boyhood--who have grown up with me like brothers--who have watched +over me like fathers--who have loved me with that hereditary love that +none but lord and vassal can feel towards each other--who would lay +down their lives to serve me, and who look to me for direction, +protection, and support. I must quit them, I must leave them a prey to +those who would tear and destroy them. I must leave, too, the grave of +my father, the tombs of my ancestors, round which the associations of +the past have wreathed a chain of glorious memories that should bind +me not to abandon them. I, too, should have my grave there, Schomberg; +I, too, should take my place amongst the many who have served their +country, and left a name without a stain. When I have sought the +battle field, have I not thought of them, and burned to accomplish +deeds like theirs? When I have been tempted to do any thing that is +wrong, have I not thought upon their pure renown, and cast the +temptation from me like a slimy worm? And should I leave those tombs +now? Were it not better to do as they would have done, to hang out my +banner from the walls against oppression, and when the sword which +they have transmitted to me can defend my right no longer, perish on +the spot which is hallowed by the possession of their ashes?" + +"No, my friend, no," replied Schomberg, "it were not better, for +neither could you so best do honour to their name, neither would your +death and sacrifice avail aught to the great cause of religious +liberty. But there is more to be considered, Albert of Morseiul; you +might not gain the fate you sought for. The perverse bullet and the +unwilling steel often, too often, will not do their fatal mission upon +him that courts them. How often do we see that the timid, the +cowardly, or the man who has a thousand sweet inducements to seek long +life, meets death in the first field he enters, while he who in +despair or rage walks up to the flashing cannon's mouth escapes as by +a miracle? Think; Morseiul, if such were to be your case, what would +be the result: first to linger in imprisonment, next to see the +exterminating sword of persecution busy amongst those that you had led +on into revolt, to know that their hearths were made desolate, their +children orphans, their patrimony given to others, their wives and +daughters delivered to the brutal insolence of victorious soldiers; +and then, knowing all this, to end your own days as a common criminal, +stretched on a scaffold on the torturing wheel, amidst the shouts and +derisions of superstitious bigots, with the fraudulent voice of +monkish hypocrisy pouring into your dying ear insults to your religion +and to your God. Think of all this! and think also, that, at that last +moment, you would know that you yourself had brought it all to pass, +without the chance of effecting one single benefit to yourself or +others." + +The Count put his hand before his eyes, but made no reply; and then, +wringing Marshal Schomberg's hand, he mounted his horse and rode +slowly away. + +For a considerable distance he went on towards Poitiers at the same +slow pace, filled with dark and gloomy thoughts, and with nothing but +despair on every side. He felt that the words of Marshal Schomberg +were true to their fullest extent, and a sort of presage of the coming +events seemed to gather slowly upon his heart, like dark clouds upon +the verge of the sky. His only hope reduced itself to the same narrow +bounds which had long contained those of Schomberg; the result, +namely, of the proposed petition to the King. + +But there were one or two words which Schomberg had dropped +accidentally, and which it would seem, from what we have told before, +ought not to have produced such painful and bitter feelings in the +breast of Albert of Morseiul as they did produce. They were those +words which referred to the prohibition about to be decreed against +the marriages of Protestants and Catholics. What was it to him, he +asked himself, whether Catholics and Protestants might or might not +marry? Was not his determination taken with regard to the only person +whom he could have ever loved? and did it matter that another barrier +was placed between them, when there were barriers impassable before. +But still he felt the announcement deeply and painfully; reason had no +power to check and overcome those sensations; and oppressed and +overloaded as his mind then was, it wandered vaguely from misery to +misery, and seemed to take a pleasure in calling up every thing that +could increase its own pain and anguish. + +When he had thus ridden along for somewhat more than two miles, he +suddenly heard a horn winded lowly in the distance, and, as he +fancied, the cry of dogs. It called to his mind his promise to +Clémence de Marly. He felt that his frame of mind was in strange +contrast with a gay hunting scene. Yet he had promised to go as soon +as ever he was free, and he was not a man to break his promise, even +when it was a light one. He turned his horse's head, then, in the +direction of the spot from which the sound seemed to proceed, still +going on slowly and gloomily. + +A moment after he heard the sounds again. The memory of happy days, +and of his old forest sports, came upon him, and he made a strong +effort against the darker spirit in his bosom. + +"I will drive these gloomy thoughts from me," he said, "if it be but +for an hour; I will yet know one bright moment more. For this day I +will be a boy again, and to-morrow I will cast all behind me, and +plunge into the stream of care and strife!" + +As he thus thought he touched his horse with the spur; the gallant +beast bounded off like lightning; the cry of the hounds, the sound of +the horns came nearer and nearer; and in a few moments more the Count +came suddenly upon a relay of horses and dogs, established upon the +side of a hill, as was then customary, for the purpose of giving fresh +vigour to the chase when it had been abated by weariness. + +"Is the deer expected to pass here?" demanded the Count, speaking to +one of the _veneurs_, and judging instantly, by his own practised eye, +that it would take another direction. + +"The young Marquis Hericourt thought so," replied the man, "but he +knows nothing about it." + +At that moment the gallant stag itself was seen, at the distance of +about half a mile, bounding along in the upland towards a point +directly opposite; and the Count knowing that he must come upon the +hunt at the turn of the valley, spurred on at all speed, followed by +his attendants. In a few minutes more a few of the huntsmen were seen; +and, in another, Clémence de Marly was before his eyes. She was +glowing with exercise and eagerness, her eyes bright as stars, her +clustering hair floating back from her face, her whole aspect like +that which she bore, when first he saw her in all the brightness of +her youth and beauty. The Chevalier was seen at a distance amusing +himself by teasing, almost into madness, a fiery horse, that was eager +to bound forward before all the rest; the train of suitors, and of +flatterers, that generally followed her, was scattered about the +field; and, in a moment--with his hat off, his dark hair curling round +his brow, his features lighted up with a smile which was strangely +mingled with the strong lines of deep emotions just passed, like the +sun scattering the remnants of a thunder cloud; with his chest thrown +forward, his head bending to a graceful salute, and his person erect +as a column--Albert of Morseiul was by the side of Clémence de Marly +and galloping on with her, seeming but of one piece with the noble +animal that bore him. + +The eyes of almost all those that followed, or were around, were +turned to those two; and certainly almost every thing else in the gay +and splendid scene through which they moved seemed to go out +extinguished by the comparison. In the whole air, and aspect, and +figure of each, there was that clear, concentrated expression of +grace, dignity, and power, that seems almost immortal; so that the +Duke de Rouvré and his train, the gay nobles, the dogs, the huntsmen, +and the whole array, were for an instant forgotten. Men forgot even +themselves for a time to wonder and admire. + +Unconscious that such was the case, Albert de Morseiul and Clémence de +Marly rode on; and he--with his fate, as he conceived, sealed, and his +determination taken--cast off all cold and chilling restraint, and +appeared what he really was--nay, more, appeared what he was when +eager, animated, and with all the fine qualities of his heart and mind +welling over in a moment of excitement. All the tales that she had +heard of him as he appeared in the battle field, or in the moment of +difficulty and danger, were now realised to the mind of Clémence de +Marly, and while she wondered and enjoyed, she felt that for the first +time in her life, she had met with one to whom her own high heart and +spirit must yield. Her eyes sunk beneath the eagle gaze of his; her +hand held the rein more timidly; new feelings came upon her, doubts of +her own sufficiency, of her own courage, of her own strength, of her +own beauty, of her own worthiness: she felt that she had admired and +esteemed Albert of Morseiul before, but she felt that there was +something more strange, more potent in her bosom now. + +We must pause on no other scene of that hunting. Throughout the whole +of that afternoon the Count gave way to the same spirit. Whether alone +with Clémence, or surrounded by others, the high and powerful mind +broke forth with fearless energy. A bright and poetical imagination; a +clear and cultivated understanding; a decision of character and of +tone, founded on the consciousness of rectitude and of great powers; a +wit as graceful as it was keen, aided by the advantages of striking +beauty, and a deep-toned voice of striking melody, left every one so +far behind, so out of all comparison, that even the vainest there felt +it themselves, and felt it with mortification and anger. The hunting +was over, and by chance or by design Albert of Morseiul was placed +next to Clémence de Marly at supper. The Duke de Rouvré had noticed +the brightening change which had come over his young friend, and +attributing it to a wrong cause, he said good-humouredly,-- + +"Monsieur de Morseiul, happy am I to see you shake off your sadness. +You are so much more cheerful, that I doubt not you have heard good +news to-day." + +This was spoken at some distance across the table, and every one heard +it; but the young Count replied calmly, "Alas! no, my Lord; I was +determined to have one more day of happiness, and therefore cast away +every other thought but the pleasure of the society by which I was +surrounded. I gave way to that pleasure altogether this day, because I +am sorry to say, I must quit your hospitable roof tomorrow, in order +to return to Morseiul, fearing that I shall not be able to come to +Poitiers again, while I remain in this part of France." + +Clémence de Marly turned very pale, but then again the blood rushed +powerfully over her face. But the Duke de Rouvré, by replying +immediately, called attention away from her. + +"Nay, nay, Monsieur le Comte," he said, "you promised me to stay for +several days, longer, and I cannot part with an old friend, and the +son of an old friend, so soon." + +"I said, my Lord, that I would stay if it were possible," replied the +Count. "But I can assure you that it is not possible; various +important causes of the greatest consequence not only to me, but to +the state, call me imperatively away, when, indeed, there are but too +many inducements to stay here." + +"I know one of the causes," said the Duke; "I hear you have taken +measures for suppressing that daring band of plunderers--_night +hawks_, as they call themselves, who have for some time hung about +that part of the country, and who got possession of poor Monsieur +Pelisson and Monsieur St. Helie, as they were telling me the other +day; but you might trust that to your seneschals, Count." + +"Indeed I cannot, my Lord Duke," replied the Count; "that affair has +more branches than you know of--or, perhaps I should say, more roots +to be eradicated. Besides there are many other things." + +"Well, well," said the Duke, "if it must be so, it must. However, as +soon as the states have ceased to hold their meetings, I shall come +for a little repose to Ruffigny, and then, if you have not been fully +successful, I will do my best to help you; but we are not going to +lose our friend Louis here too. Chevalier, do you go back with your +friend?" + +"Not to hunt robbers," replied the Chevalier with a smile; "I would +almost as soon hunt rats with the Dauphin. Besides, he has never asked +me; this is the first intelligence I had of his intention." + +"I only formed it this morning," replied the Count. "But you have +promised me a whole month, Louis, and you shall give it me when you +find it most pleasant to yourself." + +"Well, I shall linger on here for a few days," replied the Chevalier, +"if the governor will feed and lodge me; and then, when I have seen +all the bright things that are done by the states, I will come and +join you at Morseiul." + +Thus ended the discussion which followed the young Count's +announcement. No further conversation took place between him and +Clémence, who devoted her whole attention, during the rest of the +evening, either to the Chevalier, the Duc de Melcourt, or the young +Marquis de Hericourt. The hour for Albert de Morseiul's departure was +announced as immediately after breakfast on the following day; but +Clémence de Marly did not appear that morning at the table, for the +first time since his arrival at Poitiers. When the hour was come, and +his horses were prepared, he took leave of the rest of the party, and +with many painful emotions at his heart quitted the saloon, the Duke +and the Chevalier, with one or two others, accompanying him to the top +of the stairs. At that moment, however, as he was about to descend, +Clémence appeared as if going into the saloon. She was somewhat paler +than usual; but her manner was the same as ever. + +"So, Monsieur de Morseiul," she said, "you are going! I wish you a +happy journey;" and thus treating him like a mere common acquaintance, +she bowed her head and entered the saloon. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + THE DISCOVERY. + + +Two days after the departure of the Count de Morseiul, the states of +the province were opened in form; but neither with the states nor with +their proceedings shall we have any thing to do, and will merely +notice an event which occurred on the eve of their meeting. + +On the day preceding, a vast number of gentlemen from all parts of the +province had flocked into the city. The house of the governor was +again filled to the very doors, and though the formal opening of the +states was deferred till the succeeding day, they nominally commenced +their assembly on the day after the Count's departure. The colleagues, +Pelisson and St. Helie, had separated after their arrival in Poitiers, +the former having gone to the bishop's palace, where he busied himself +in his usual occupation at this time, namely, in diffusing large sums +of money through the province by different channels, for the purpose +of bribing all persons who might be found weak or wavering in the +Protestant faith to abandon their religion, and profess themselves +Catholics. St. Helie had remained at the house of the governor, +following occupations more suited to his genius, that of watching +every thing that was done, of gaining information concerning the views +and feelings of all persons likely to be present at the assembly of +the states, and of endeavouring to form a party for his own purposes +amidst the more fierce, intolerant, and bigoted of the influential +Catholics of the province. + +The Duke de Rouvré could not avoid showing this personage every sort +of civility, for, indeed, such was the King's command; but at the same +time he could not conceal from himself that the Abbé was a spy upon +his actions, and was intended to be a check upon his conduct, and, as +may well be supposed under such circumstances, he was not particularly +pleased with his guest. + +On the day preceding the regular opening of the states, then, after +some of the preliminary formalities had been gone through, the Duc de +Rouvré, while conversing in his saloon with twelve or fourteen of the +principal Roman Catholic gentry, who had come to visit him as if by +accident, but in reality by a previous arrangement with others, was +not agreeably surprised to see the Abbé de St. Helie, followed by +Pelisson and the Curé of Guadrieul, enter the room in somewhat a +formal manner, and advance towards him with a face of business. He +bowed low, however, as it was the first time he had seen the Abbé that +morning, greeted Pelisson somewhat more warmly, and suffered the third +personage of the party to walk up in bull-like sullenness with nothing +but a formal inclination of the head. + +"It is time, my Lord," said the Abbé de St. Helie, "to fulfil the +order of the King, and to open in your presence the commission with +which he has entrusted us, of the nature of which we are ourselves in +some sort ignorant up to this moment." + +"I thought, gentlemen," said the Duke, "that you informed me the +commission was not to be opened till after the opening of the states." + +"No, my Lord," replied the Abbé, "I said, till after the meeting of +the states, which were convened to meet to-day." + +"Well then, gentlemen," said the Duke, "I will give you my attention +in a few minutes. You see I am at present occupied with friends, but +in half an hour I shall be prepared to receive you in my cabinet upon +any business that may remain to be transacted between us." + +"I see no reason, my Lord," replied the Abbé, "why the commission +should not be opened before the gentlemen here present, all of whom +are sincere Christians, and zealous supporters of the true faith." + +"No earthly reason whatever," replied the Duke sharply, "except that I +choose to do my own business in my own way, in my own house, and in my +own government." + +"I am sorry to suggest any alterations in your Lordship's plans," +replied the Abbé with a cool sneer, "but I have authority for what I +am doing. The King's express directions are to open the commission in +presence of your Lordship, _and other competent witnesses_." + +"Oh, if such be the case," said the Duke, much mortified, "there could +be no witnesses more competent, and none perhaps better prepared than +the present. Pray open your commission, gentlemen. My good sirs, take +your seats round this table. Let us give the matter, if possible, some +air of regularity. Without there! Send for my secretary. We will wait +till he comes, if you please, Monsieur de St. Helie. What splendid +weather this is, gentlemen. We have not had one wet day for nearly two +months, and yet a gentle rain every morning." + +The persons present ranged themselves round the table, the Curé de +Guadrieul produced the leathern bag which contained the commission, +and laid it down heavily before him, and as soon as the Duke's +secretary appeared, a large knot upon the leathern strings of the bag +was cut with a penknife, and the whole packet handed to the Abbé de +St. Helie, who had placed himself at the governor's right hand. +Opening the mouth of the bag, then, the Abbé took forth a large +parchment packet, sealed up at both ends with the royal arms of +France. The governor asked to look at the superscription, and finding +it addressed in the usual terms to the Abbé St. Helie and Pelisson, he +gave it back to the former, who with an important countenance and slow +formality began to break the seals. + +Two or three paper covers were within in order to keep the precious +document secure, and one by one the Abbé unfolded them, till he came +to the last, which was also sealed, but which was much smaller than +the size of the outer parcel had given reason to expect. He broke the +seal himself, however, and produced the contents, when, to the +astonishment of every body, and the merriment of the younger persons +present, there appeared nothing but a pack of cards. + +The Duc de Rouvré looked on dryly, not a smile curled his countenance, +and he said, gazing at the Abbé de St. Helie, who sat in stupified +silence,-- + +"I admire the sagacity and propriety with which it has been judged +necessary to appoint witnesses for the opening of this commission,--or +of this game, perhaps I ought to say, Monsieur de St. Helie. +Gentlemen, I trust that you are perfectly satisfied; but I must ask +you whether it be necessary to direct my secretary to take a procès +verbal of the contents, import, and extent of the Abbé's commission?" + +In the mean time Pelisson had reached across, and taken up the papers +which had surrounded the cards. He examined them minutely and long; +but at length replied to the Duke's sneer by saying,-- + +"Perhaps it may be more necessary, my Lord, than you imagine. It seems +to me from the appearance of these papers that the packet has been +opened before. There is a slight tear in the parchment, which tear is +evidently not new." + +"You must look to that yourselves, gentlemen," said the Duc de Rouvré, +seriously angry; "the commission has been in your charge and custody, +and in that of no one else. You best know whether you have opened it +before the time or not. Secretary, as these gentlemen demand it, make +a note that we have this day seen opened by the Abbé de St. Helie in +our presence a packet addressed to him and Monsieur de Pelisson, +purporting to be a commission for certain purposes addressed to them +by his Most Christian Majesty; and that on the said packet being so +opened, there has been found in it nothing but a pack of cards, not in +the most cleanly condition." + +"Pray let him add," said Pelisson, "that I have declared my opinion, +from the appearance of the papers, that the said packet had been +previously opened." + +"Let that also be noted," said the Duke; "but it must be noted also +that Monsieur de Pelisson did not make that observation till after the +packet had been opened, and the cards discovered, that the seals were +unbroken, and the leathern bag entire; and now, gentlemen," he +continued, "after having interrupted my conversation with these noble +gentlemen here present to witness the opening of a pack of +cards--which may indeed be the commencement of a game that I don't +understand--perhaps you will excuse me for rising and resuming our +more agreeable occupation." + +Pelisson bowed his head, calm and undisturbed; the Abbé de St. Helie +looked stupified, mortified, and angry beyond all measure; and the +dull priest of Guadrieul, upon whom the eyes of both of his superiors +were turned from time to time with an expression of no very doubtful +import, looked swallowed up in stolid fear and astonishment. The +governor and his guests in general had risen and scattered themselves +about the room, and after speaking to the Abbé de St. Helie for a few +moments, Pelisson advanced, and took his leave in a few words, saying, +that of course it was their duty to inform the King of what had +occurred, and that therefore they must proceed to write quickly before +the ordinary set out. + +The governor bowed stiffly, and merely replied that he himself could +not think of troubling the King upon a trifle of such minor +importance, and therefore left them to make their communication in +their own terms. The three then retired, and the rest of the party +soon after separated; but the worthy governor had not been left half +an hour alone before he received a billet from the bishop, requesting +an audience, which was immediately granted. He came, accompanied by +Pelisson and the Curé de Guadrieul, who remained without while the +archbishop and his companion held a previous conference with the +governor. The Curé was then called in, and remained some time with +them. He was then sent out again to the ante-chamber, then recalled, +and nearly two hours passed in what was apparently an unpleasant +discussion, for at the end of that time when the governor returned to +the saloon from his own cabinet, Clémence de Marly, the Duchess, and +the Chevalier d'Evran, all remarked that he was very much agitated and +heated. + +In a minute or two afterwards his secretary followed him into the room +with a note, apparently just written, in his hand, and asked if that +would do. + +The governor read the note, and replied, "Yes! Send it off directly," +he said. "Bid the messenger give my very best regards to the Count de +Morseiul! Lay the strictest injunctions upon him also not to stop this +night till he has overtaken the Count. If the Count be in bed when he +reaches the place where he is, he need not of course disturb him till +the morning.--But bid him say every thing that is kind from me." + +Clémence de Marly rose, and with a winning grace that was more natural +to her than the capricious pride she sometimes assumed, walked up to +the Duke, glided her arm through his, and drew the old nobleman into +one of the deep windows. She spoke with him for several minutes +earnestly, and he replied as if endeavouring to parry by a jest some +question he did not choose to answer. + +"Nay, nay," she was heard to say at length, "my dear guardian, you +_shall_ tell me, and you know that Clémence is more absolute than the +King." + +"We will talk about it to-morrow, Clémence," replied the Duke, "and +perhaps I may tell you; but you shall make your confession in return, +fair lady." + +She blushed a little and turned away, and thus the conversation ended. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + THE RECALL. + + +Albert of Morseiul rode on his way with a heart ill at case. The +excitement of the preceding night was gone, and the lassitude that +succeeded it was like the weakness after a fever. It seemed to him +that the last cheerful hours of life were over, and the rest was all +to be strife and anguish; that the last of all the sweet dreams, with +which hope and youth deck the future, were done and passed away, and +nothing but the stern grey reality was left. It is hard and sorrowful +to make up the mind to any parting, and tenfold hard and sorrowful to +make up the mind to our parting with the sweet promising fancies of +our early days, to put ourselves under a harsher guide for ever, and +follow with him a rugged and a cheerless path, when before we had been +treading on sweet sunshiny flowers. In general, it is true, the wise +beneficence of Heaven has provided that we should not part with all at +once, but that the visions and the dreams, like the many gay +companions of our boyhood, should either be abandoned for others, or +drop away from our side, one by one, till all are gone, and we hardly +mark which is the last. But there are times when all are snatched away +together, or, as in the case of Albert of Morseiul, when the last that +is taken is the brightest and the best, and the parting is clear, +defined, and terrible. + +Bitter, bitter, then, were his feelings as he rode away from Poitiers, +and made up his mind that the last dream of youth was over, that the +nourished vision of long years was dissipated, that the bubble was +burst, and that all was gone; that she who, half ideal, half real, had +been that object round which both memory and imagination had clung as +the something splendid for the future, was not what he had dreamt of, +and even if she were, could never, never be his; and that at length +that theme of thought was gone from him for ever. That moment and that +spot seemed to form the parting place, where youth, imagination, and +happiness were left behind, and care, reality, and anxiety started +forward with latter life. + +Though, as we have endeavoured on more than one occasion to show, the +Count de Morseiul was a man of strong imagination and of deep and +intense feelings, yet he possessed qualities of other kinds, which +served to counterbalance and to rule those dangerous gifts, not, +indeed, preventing them from having their effect upon himself, +paining, grieving, and wearing him, but sufficient to prevent +imagination from clouding his judgment, or strong feeling from warping +his conduct from the stern path which judgment dictated. He applied +himself then to examine distinctly what were the probabilities of the +future, and what was the line of conduct that it became him to pursue. +He doubted not, indeed he felt strongly convinced, that Clémence de +Marly would ultimately give her hand to the Chevalier d'Evran, to his +friend and companion. He believed that, for the time, some accidental +circumstance might have alienated them from each other, and that, +perhaps on both sides, any warmer and more eager passion that they +once had felt, might have been a little cooled; but still he doubted +not, from all he saw, that Clémence would yet be his friend's bride, +and the first part of his own task was to prepare his mind to bear +that event with calmness, and firmness, and dignity, whenever it +should happen. As his thoughts reverted, however, to the situation of +his fellow Huguenots, and the probable fate that awaited them, he saw +a prospect of relief from the agony of his own personal feelings in +the strife that was likely to ensue from their persecution; and +perhaps he drew a hope even from the prospect of an early grave. + +With such thoughts struggling in his breast, and with all the varied +emotions which the imagination of the reader may well supply, Albert +of Morseiul rode on till he reached the house appointed for his second +resting place. Every thing had been prepared for his reception, and +all the external appliances were ready to insure comfort, so that +there was not even any little bodily want or irritation to withdraw +his attention from the gloomy pictures presented by his own thoughts. + +With a tact in such matters which was peculiarly his own, Jerome +Riquet took especial care that the dinner set before his master should +be of the very simplest kind, and instead of crowding the room with +servants, as he had done on a former occasion, he, who on the journey +acted the part of major domo, waited upon the Count at table alone, +only suffering another servant to carry in and remove the dishes. He +had taken the precaution of bringing with him some wine from Poitiers, +which he had induced the sommelier of the archbishop to pilfer from +the best bin in his master's cellar, and he now endeavoured to seduce +his master, whose deep depression he had seen and deplored during +their journey, into taking more of the fragrant juice than usual, not, +indeed, by saying one word upon the subject, but by filling his glass +whenever he saw it empty. + +Now Jerome Riquet would have given the tip of one of his ears to have +been made quite sure of what was the chief cause of the Count's +anxiety. That he was anxious about the state of the Protestant cause +the valet well knew; that he was in some degree moved by feelings of +love towards Clémence de Marly, Riquet very easily divined. But Jerome +Riquet was, as we have before said on more than one occasion, shrewd +and intelligent, and in nothing more so than in matters where the +heart was concerned. It is true he had never been in the room five +times when Clémence and his master were together, but there are such +things in the world wherein we live as half open doors, chinks, +key-holes, and garret windows; and in the arts and mysteries of all +these, Jerome Riquet was a most decided proficient. He had thus seen +quite enough to make him feel very sure, that whatever might be +Clémence de Marly's feelings towards others, her feelings towards his +master were not by any means unfavourable; and after much speculation +he had arranged in his own mind--from a knowledge of the somewhat +chivalrous generosity in his master's character--that he and the +Chevalier d'Evran were in love with the same person, and that the +Count, even with the greater probability of success, had abandoned the +pursuit of his passion, rather than become the rival of his friend. + +Riquet wished much to be assured of this fact, however; and to know +whether it was really and truly the proximate cause of the melancholy +he beheld, or whether there was some deeper and more powerful motive +still, concealed from those eyes which he thought were privileged to +pry into every secret of his master. Thus, after dinner was over, and +the dessert was put upon the table--though he had wisely forborne up +to that moment to do, to say, or to allow any thing that could disturb +the train of the Count's thoughts--he could resist no longer, and +again quickly filled up his young lord's glass as he saw it empty. + +His master put it aside with the back of his hand, saying, "No more!" + +"Oh, my Lord," said Riquet, "you will not surely refuse to drink that +glass to the health of Mademoiselle Clémence!" + +The Count, who knew him thoroughly, and in general perceived very +clearly all the turnings and windings through which he pursued his +purposes, turned round, gazing in his face for a moment as he bent +over his shoulder, and then replied with a melancholy smile, +"Certainly not, Riquet. Health and happiness to her!" and he drank the +wine. + +The look and the words were quite sufficient for Jerome Riquet, though +the Count was not aware that it would be so; but the cunning valet saw +clearly, that, whatever other causes might mingle with the melancholy +of his master, love for Clémence de Marly had a principal share +therein; and, confirmed in his own opinion of his lord's motive in +quitting Poitiers, his first thought, when he cleared away and left +him, was, by what artful scheme or cunning device he could carry him +back to Poitiers against his own will, and plunge him inextricably +into the pursuit of her he loved. + +Several plans suggested themselves to his mind, which was fertile in +all such sort of intrigues, and it is very probable that, though he +had to do with a keen and a clear-sighted man, he might have succeeded +unaided in his object; but he suddenly received assistance which he +little expected, by the arrival, at their first resting-place, of a +courier from the Duc de Rouvré, towards the hour of ten at night. + +Riquet was instantly called to the messenger; and, telling him that +the Count was so busy that he could see nobody at that moment, the +valet charged himself with the delivery of the note and the message, +while the governor's servant sat down to refresh himself after a long +and fatiguing ride. Riquet took a lamp with him to light himself up +the stairs, though he had gone up and down all night without any, and +before he reached the door of the Count's room, he had of course made +himself acquainted with the whole contents of the note, so that when +he returned to the kitchen to converse with the messenger, he was +perfectly prepared to cross-examine him upon the various transactions +at Poitiers with sagacity and acuteness. + +The whole story of the cards found in the King's packet had of course +made a great sensation in the household of the governor, and Riquet +now laughed immoderately at the tale, declaring most irreverently that +he had never known Louis le Grand was such a wag. There is nothing +like laughter for opening the doors of the heart, and letting its +secrets troop out by dozens. The courier joined in the merriment of +the valet, and Riquet had no difficulty in extracting from him every +thing else that he knew. The after conferences between the governor, +Pelisson, and the Archbishop, were displayed as far as the messenger +had power to withdraw the veil, and the general opinion entertained in +the governor's household that some suspicion attached to the young +Count in regard to that packet, and that the courier himself had been +sent to recall him to Poitiers, was also communicated in full to the +valet. To the surprise of the courier, however, Riquet laughed more +inordinately than ever, declaring that the governor, and the +Archbishop, and St. Helie, and Pelisson, must all have been mad or +drunk when they were so engaged. + +In the mean time the Count de Morseiul had opened the letter from the +governor, and read the contents, which informed him that a pack of +cards had been found, in place of a commission, in the packet given by +the King to Messieurs St Helie and Pelisson; that those gentlemen +declared that the packet had been opened; and that they had come with +the Bishop for the purpose of making formal application to the +governor to recall him, the Count de Morseiul, to Poitiers, alleging +that the only period at which the real commission could have been +abstracted was while they were in his company at an inn on the road. +They had also pointed out, the Duke said, that the Count, as one of +the principal Protestant leaders, was a person more interested than +any other, both to ascertain the contents of that packet, and to +abstract the commission, in case its contents were such as they +imagined them to have been; and at the same lime they said there was +good reason to believe that, in consequence of the knowledge thus +obtained, he, the Count de Morseiul, had called together a meeting of +Protestant gentlemen in the neighbourhood of Poitiers, had +communicated to them the plans and purposes of the government, and had +concerted schemes for frustrating the King's designs. The Duc de +Rouvré then went on to say, that as he knew and fully confided in the +honour and integrity of the Count de Morseiul, and as the Bishop and +Monsieur Pelisson had produced no corroborative proof of their +allegation whatsoever, he by no means required or demanded the Count +to return to Poitiers, but thought fit to communicate to him the +facts, and to leave him to act according to his own judgment. + +The Count paced the room in no slight agitation for several minutes +after he had read the letter; but it was not the abstraction of the +King's commission, if such an act had really taken place, nor the +accusation insinuated, rather than made, against himself, which +agitated him on the present occasion. The accusation he regarded as +absurd, the abstraction of the commission merely laughable; a +suspicion indeed might cross his mind that Riquet had had a hand in +it, but he knew well that he himself had none, and therefore he cast +the matter from his mind at once. But his agitation proceeded from the +thought of being obliged to go back to Poitiers--from the fear of +seeing all his good resolutions overthrown--from the idea of meeting +once more, surrounded with greater difficulties and danger than ever, +her whom he now but too clearly felt to be the only being that he had +ever loved. + +To the emotions which such considerations produced, he gave up a +considerable time, and then, taking up the bell, he rang it sharply, +ordering the page that appeared to send Riquet to him. He simply told +the valet what had occurred, and ordered his horses to be saddled to +return to Poitiers the next morning at day break. He insinuated no +suspicion, though he fixed his eyes strongly upon the man's +countenance, when he spoke of the abstraction of the commission, but +the face of Riquet changed not in the least, except in consequence of +a slight irrepressible chuckle which took place at the mention of the +appearance of the cards. The Count did not wish to inquire into the +matter, but, from what he saw of Riquet's manner, he judged that his +servant had nothing to do with the transaction; and, setting out early +the next morning, he went back to Poitiers at full speed, hiring +horses when his own were too tired to proceed, so that he reached the +house of the governor towards nine o'clock on the same night. + +He was immediately ushered into the saloon, where the family of +Monsieur de Rouvré and a very small party besides were assembled, and, +apologising for the dustiness and disarray of his appearance to the +Duke, who met him near the door, he said that he had only presented +himself to show that he had lost not a moment in returning to repel +the false insinuations made against him. He was then about to leave +the room, hastily glancing his eye over the party beyond, and seeing +that his friend the Chevalier was not present; but the voice of the +Duchess de Rouvré called him to her side, saying,-- + +"We will all, I am sure, excuse dust and disarray for the pleasure of +Monsieur de Morseiul's society. Is it not so, Madame de Beaune? Is it +not so, Clémence?" + +Clémence had scarcely looked up since the Count's arrival, but she now +did so with a slight inclination of the head, and replied, "The Count +de Morseiul, my queen, values the pleasure of his society so highly +that he is disposed to give us but little of it, it would appear." + +The words were scarcely spoken when the Count, with his own peculiar, +graceful, but energetic manner, walked straight up to Clémence de +Marly, and stopped opposite to her, saying gravely, but not angrily, +"I assure you, dear lady, I do not deserve your sarcasm. If you knew, +on the contrary, how great was the pleasure that I myself have derived +from this society, you would estimate the sacrifice I made in quitting +it, and approve, rather than condemn, the self-command and resolution +I have shown." + +Clémence looked suddenly up in his face with one of her bright beaming +smiles, and then frankly extended her hand to him. "I was wrong," she +said; "forgive me, Monsieur de Morseiul! You know a spoilt woman +always thinks that she has done penance enough when she has forced +herself to say I was wrong." + +If the whole world had been present, Albert of Morseiul could not have +refrained from bending down his lips to that fair hand; but he did so +calmly and respectfully, and then turning to the Duchess, he said that +if she would permit him, he would but do away the dust and disarray of +his apparel, and return in a moment. The petition was not of course +refused: his toilet was hasty, and occupied but a few minutes; and he +returned as quickly as possible to the hall, where he passed the rest +of the evening without giving any farther thoughts or words to painful +themes, except in asking the governor to beg the presence of the +Bishop, Monsieur Pelisson, and the Abbé de St. Helie, as early as +possible on the following morning, in order that the whole business +might be over before the hour appointed for the meeting of the states. + +The Bishop, who was an eager and somewhat bigoted man, was quite +willing to pursue the matter at once; and before breakfast on the +following day, he, with the two Abbés and the Curé de Guadrieul, met +the Count de Morseiul in the cabinet of the governor. + +There was something in the frank, upright, and gallant bearing of the +young nobleman that impressed even the superstitious bigots to whom he +was opposed with feelings of doubt as to the truth of their own +suspicions, and even with some sensations of shame for having urged +those suspicions almost in the form of direct charges. They hesitated, +therefore, as to the mode of their attack, and the Count, impatient of +delay, commenced the business at once by addressing the Bishop. + +"My noble friend, the Duke here present," he said, "has communicated +to me, my Lord, both by letter and by word of mouth, a strange scene +that has been enacted here regarding a commission, real or supposed, +given by the King to the Abbés of St. Helie and Pelisson. It seems, +that when the packet supposed to contain the commission was produced, +a pack of cards was found therein, instead of what was expected; that +Monsieur Pelisson found reason to suppose that the packet had been +previously opened; and that he then did--what Monsieur Pelisson should +not have done, considering the acquaintance that he has with me and +with my character--namely, charged me with having opened, by some +private means, the packet containing his commission, abstracted and +destroyed the commission itself, and substituted a pack of cards in +its place." + +"Stop, stop, my dear Count," said Pelisson, "you are mistaken as to +the facts. I never made such an accusation, whatever others did. All I +said was, that you were the only person interested in the abstraction +of that commission who had possessed any opportunity of destroying +it." + +"And in so saying, sir, you spoke falsely," replied the Count de +Morseiul; "for, in the first place, you insinuated what was not the +case, that I have had an opportunity of destroying it; and, in the +next place, you forgot that for three quarters of an hour, or perhaps +more, for aught I know, your whole baggage was in the hands of a body +of plunderers, while neither you, buried in your devotions, under the +expectation of immediate death, nor Monsieur de St. Helie, weeping, +trembling, and insane in the agony of unmanly fear, had the slightest +knowledge of what was done with any thing in your possession; so that +the plunderers, if they had chosen it, might have re-written you a new +commission, ordering you both to be scourged back from Poitiers to +Paris. I only say this to show the absurdity of the insinuations you +have put forth. Here, in a journey which has probably taken you seven +or eight days to perform, in the course of which you must have slept +at seven or eight different inns upon the road, and during which you +were for a length of time in the hands of a body of notorious +plunderers, you only choose to fix upon me, who entertained you with +civility and kindness, who delivered you from death itself, and who +saved from the flames and restored to your own hands, at the risk of +my life, the very commission which you now insinuate I had some share +in abstracting from the paper that contained it. Besides, sir, if I +remember rightly, that packet was entrusted to the care of a personage +attendant upon yourselves, and who watched it like the fabled guardian +of the golden fleece." + +"But the guardian of the fleece slumbered, sir," replied Pelisson, +who, to say the truth, was really ashamed of the charge which had been +brought against the Count de Morseiul, and was very glad of an +opportunity to escape from the firm grasp of the Count's arguments by +a figure of speech. "Besides, Monsieur de Morseiul," he said, "had you +but listened a little longer you would have heard, that though I said +yours was the only party which had an opportunity of taking it, and +were interested in its destruction, I never charged you with doing so, +or commanding it to be done; but I said that some of your servants, +thinking to do you a pleasure, might have performed the exchange, +which certainly must have been accomplished with great slight of +hand." + +"You do not escape me so, sir," replied the young Count; "if I know +any thing of the laws of the land, or, indeed, of the laws of common +sense and right reason, you are first bound to prove that a crime has +been committed, before you dare to accuse any one of committing it. +You must show that there ever has been, in reality, a commission in +that packet. If I understood Monsieur de Rouvré's letter right, the +seals of the King were found unbroken on the packet, and not the +slightest appearance of its having been opened was remarked, till you, +Monsieur Pelisson, discovered that there was such an appearance after +the fact. The King may have been jesting with you; Monsieur de Louvois +may have been making sport of you; a drunken clerk of the cabinet may +have committed some blunder in a state of inebriety; no crime may have +been committed at all, for aught we know." + +"My good sir," said the Bishop haughtily, "you show how little you +know of the King and of the court of the King by supposing that any +such transactions could take place." + +"My Lord," replied the Count, gazing upon him with a smile of +ineffable contempt, "when you were a little Curé in the small town of +Castelnaudry, my father supported the late King of France with his +right hand, and with the voice of his counsel: when you were trooping +after a band of rebels in the train of the house of Vendôme, I was +page of honour to our present gracious monarch, in dangers and +difficulties, in scantiness, and in want: when you have been fattening +in a rich diocese, obtained by no services to the crown, I have fought +beside my monarch, and led his troops up to the cannon of his enemies' +ramparts: I have sat beside him in his council of war, and ever have +been graciously received by him in the midst of his court; and let me +tell you, my Lord Bishop, that it is not more improbable, nay, not +more impossible, that Louis XIV. should play a scurvy jest upon two +respectable ecclesiastics, than that the Count of Morseiul should open +a paper not addressed to himself." + +"Both good and true," my young friend, said the Duc de Rouvré; "no one +who knows you could suspect you of such a thing for a moment." + +"But we may his servants," said the Abbé de St. Helie sharply, though +he had hitherto remained silent, knowing that he himself had been the +chief instigator of the charge, and fearing to call upon himself the +indignation of the young Count. + +"Well, gentlemen," said the Count de Morseiul, "although I should have +every right to demand that you should first of all establish the +absolute fact of the abstraction of this packet upon proper testimony, +I will not only permit, but even demand, that all my servants who +accompanied me from Morseiul shall be brought in and examined one by +one; and if you find any of them to whom you can fairly attach a +suspicion, I will give him up to you at once, to do what you think fit +with. I have communicated to them the contents of Monsieur de Rouvré's +letter, but have said nothing further to them on the subject. They +must all be arrived by this time: I beg that you would call them in +yourselves in what order you please." + +"By your leave, by your leave," said the Abbé de St. Helie, seeing +that the Bishop was about to speak; "we will have your valet; +Jerome--I think I heard him so called. Let us have him, if you +please." + +Jerome was accordingly brought in, and appeared with a face of worthy +astonishment. + +Having in this instance not to deal with the Count, of whom he stood +in some degree of awe, though that awe did not in the least diminish +his malevolence, the Abbé de St. Helie proceeded to conduct the +examination of Riquet himself. "You, Master Jerome Riquet," he +commenced, "you are, I presume, of the church pretending to be +reformed?" + +"Heaven forbid!" exclaimed Riquet, in a tone of well assumed horror. +"No, reverend sir, I am of the Holy Roman and Apostolical Church, and +have never yet gone astray from it." + +This announcement did not well suit the purposes of the Abbé, who, +judging from the intolerant feelings of his own heart, had never +doubted that the confidential servant of the young Count would be +found to be a zealous Huguenot. He exclaimed, however, "I am glad to +hear it--I am glad to hear it! But let us speak a little further, +Monsieur Jerome. It was you, I think, who snatched from under our good +brother here, Monsieur le Curé de Guadrieul, a certain sheep leather +bag, containing our commission from his Majesty. Was it not so?" + +"I certainly did gently withdraw from under the reverend gentleman," +replied Riquet, "a bag on which he was sitting, and which he took back +again, as you saw, declaring it to be the King's commission for +exterminating the Huguenots, which did my soul good to hear. I gave it +back with all reverence, as you saw, and had it not in my hands a +minute, though I did think--though I did indeed know----" + +"Did think? did know, what?" demanded the Abbé. + +"That it could not have been in safer hands than mine," added Riquet; +and though St Helie urged him vehemently, he could get him to give +him no farther explanation. Angry at being foiled--and such probably +was the result that Riquet intended to produce--the Abbé lost all +caution and reserve. "Come, come, Master Jerome Riquet," he exclaimed +in a sharp voice, "come, come; remember that there is such a place as +the Bastille. Tell us the truth, sir! tell us the truth! This paper +was stolen! You evidently know something about it! Tell us the +truth, or means shall be found to make you. Now, answer me! If your +baggage were searched at this moment, would not the packet be found +therein--or have you dared to destroy it?" + +Jerome Riquet now affected to bristle up in turn. His eyes flashed, +his large nostrils expanded like a pair of extinguishers, and he +replied, "No, Abbé, no; neither the one nor the other. But since I, +one of the King's most loyal Catholic subjects, am accused in this +way, I will speak out I will say that you two gentlemen should have +taken better care of the commission yourselves, and that though not +one scrap will be found in my valise, or in the baggage of any other +person belonging to my lord, I would not be answerable that more than +a scrap was not found amongst the baggage of some that are accusing +others." + +"How now, sirrah," cried the Abbé de St Helie, "do you dare to say +that either Monsieur Pelisson or I----" + +"Nothing about either of you two reverend sirs," replied the valet, +"nothing about either of you two! But first let my valise be brought +in and examined. Monsieur has been pleased to say that there is +something there; and I swear by every thing I hold dear, or by any +other oath your reverences please, that I have not touched a thing in +it since I heard of this business about the cards. Let it be brought +in, I say, and examined. May I tell the people without, my Lord Duke, +to bring in every thing I have in the world, and lay it down here +before you?" + +The Duke immediately assented, and while Jerome Riquet, without +entirely leaving the room, bade the attendants in the ante-chamber +bring in every thing, every thing they could find in his room, St. +Helie and Pelisson looked in each others faces with glances of some +embarrassment and wonder, while the Count de Morseiul gazed sternly +down on the table, firmly believing that Master Jerome Riquet was +engaged in playing off some specious trick which he himself could not +detect, and was bound not to expose. + +The goods and chattels of the valet were brought in, and a various and +motley display they made; for whether he had arranged the whole on +purpose out of sheer impudence, or had left matters to take their +course accidentally, his valise presented a number of objects +certainly not his own property, and to most of which his master, if he +had remarked them, might have laid claim. The Count was silent, +however, and though the manifold collection of silk stockings, +ribands, lace, doublets, &c. &c. &c., were drawn forth to the very +bottom, yet nothing the least bearing upon the question of the +abstraction of the commission was found throughout the whole. + +As he shook the last vest, to show that there was nothing in it, a +smile of triumph shone upon the countenance of Jerome Riquet, and he +demanded, "Now, gentlemen, are you satisfied that I have no share in +this business?" + +The Abbé de St Helie was hastening to acknowledge that he was +satisfied, for he was timid as well as malevolent; and having lost the +hold, which he thought he might have had on Jerome Riquet, the +menacing words which the valet had made use of filled his mind with +apprehensions, lest some suspicion should be raised up in the mind of +the King, or of Louvois, that he himself had had a share in the +disappearance of the paper. Not so, however, Pelisson, who, though he +had learnt the lesson of sycophancy and flattery with wonderful +aptitude, was naturally a man of courage and resolution, and before +Monsieur de St. Helie could well finish what he had to say, he +exclaimed aloud,-- + +"Stop, stop, Master Jerome Riquet, we are undoubtedly satisfied that +the papers are not in your valise, and I think it probable that you +have had nothing to do with the matter; but you threw out an +insinuation just now of which we must hear more. What was the meaning +of the words you made use of when you said that, you would not be +answerable that more than a scrap was not found amongst the baggage of +some that are accusing others?" + +Jerome Riquet hesitated, and either felt or affected a disinclination +to explain himself; but Pelisson persisted, notwithstanding sundry +twitches of the sleeve given to him both by the Abbé de St. Helie and +the Bishop himself. + +"I must have this matter cleared up," said Pelisson, "and I do not +rise till it is. Explain yourself, sir, or I shall apply both to your +lord and to the governor, to insist upon your so doing." + +Jerome Riquet looked towards the Count, who immediately said, "What +your meaning was, Riquet, you best know; but you must have had some +meaning, and it is fit that you should explain it." + +"Well, then," said Riquet, shaking his head upon his shoulders with an +important look, "what I mean is this; that if ever I saw a man who had +an inclination to see the contents of a packet that did not belong to +him, it was Monsieur le Curé de Guadrieul there. He knows very well +that he talked to me for half an hour of how easy it would be to get +the packet out of the bag, and he seemed to have a very great +inclination to do it." + +While he made this insinuation, the dull, fat, leaden-looking mass of +the Curé de Guadrieul was seen heaving with some internal convulsion: +his breath came thick, his cheeks and his breast expanded, his eyes +grew red and fierce, his hands trembled with rage; and starting up +from his seat he exclaimed,-- + +"Me? me? By the Lord I will strangle thee with my own hands," and he +sprang towards Jerome Riquet, as if to execute his threat; while the +governor exclaimed in a voice of thunder, "Sit down, sir; and, as you +have joined in accusing others, learn to bear the retaliation, as +indeed you must." + +"Can he deny what I say?" demanded Riquet, stretching out his three +fore-fingers, and shaking them in the Curé's face; "can he deny that +he talked to me for half an hour about the easiness of purloining the +commission, and told me of a thousand instances of the same kind, that +have taken place before now? No, he cannot deny it!" + +"I did talk to thee, base miscreant," said the Curé, still swelling +with rage, "but it was to show why I always sat upon the bag, and +slept with it under my head, ever after that affair with the robbers." + +"Mark that, gentlemen," said the Count de Morseiul. + +"Well, sir, we do mark it," said the Bishop; "that proves nothing +against the Curé but extreme care and precaution." + +"Nor can I prove any thing directly, Monseigneur," cried Riquet; "but +still I have a strange suspicion that the very night I speak of did +not go over without the fingers of Monsieur le Curé being in the bag. +Let me ask him another question, and let him mind how he answers it. +Was he, or was he not, seen by more than one person dabbling at the +mouth of the bag?" + +"That was only to see that the knot was fast," replied the Curé, +glaring round him with a look of growing bewilderment and horror. + +"Ay, ay," continued Riquet, with a glance of calm contempt that almost +drove the man mad; "ay, ay, all I wish is that I had an opportunity of +looking into your baggage as you have had of looking into mine." + +"And so you shall, by Heaven," cried the Duc de Rouvré. "I will have +it brought from his chamber this instant." + +"I don't care," cried the priest; "let it be brought; you will find +nothing there." + +But the Abbé de St. Helie and the Bishop both interposed. Though +Pelisson said nothing, and looked mortified and pained, the others +urged every thing that they could think of for the protection of the +baggage of the ecclesiastic, without the slightest consideration of +equity or justice whatsoever; but the governor was firm, replying,-- + +"Gentlemen, I will be responsible for my conduct both to the King and +to the King of kings; and, in one word, I tell you that this baggage +shall be examined. You have brought back the Count de Morseiul, and +his whole train, on charges and insinuations which you have not been +able to establish; and you would now fain shrink from a little trouble +and inconvenience, which ought to be taken, in order to clear one of +yourselves of an imputation accompanied by a few singular facts. +Maître Riquet, call one of my servants from the door, but do not leave +the room yourself." + +As soon as the servant appeared, the governor, notwithstanding the +renewed opposition of the two ecclesiastics, ordered the whole baggage +and effects of the Curé de Guadrieul to be brought down from the +chamber that he inhabited. This was accordingly done, and besides a +number of stray articles of apparel almost as miscellaneous in +character and appearance as those which the opening of Riquet's valise +had displayed, there was a large sort of trunk-mail which appeared to +be carefully locked. The Curé had looked on with a grim and scowling +smile while his various goods and chattels were displayed upon the +floor of the governor's cabinet, and then turning to St. Helie with a +growl, which might have been supposed to proceed from a calumniated +bear, he said,-- + +"Don't be afraid. They can't find any thing;" and advancing to his +effects he shook them one after the other, and turned out the pockets, +when there were any, to show that there was nothing concealed. He then +produced a large key, and opening the trunk-mail took out, one by one, +the various things that it contained. He had nearly got to the bottom, +and was displaying a store of tobacco pipes, some of which were +wrapped up in pieces of paper, some in their original naked whiteness, +when in the midst of them appeared what seemed a tobacco box, also +wrapped up in paper. + +The moment the eyes of Riquet fell upon it he exclaimed, "Stop, stop, +what is that? There is writing on that paper. Monsieur le Duc, I pray +you to examine what is on that paper." + +The eyes of the Curé, who had it in his hand, fixed for an instant +upon the tobacco box and its envelope, and his fingers instantly +relaxed their grasp and suffered it to drop upon the ground. Well, +indeed, they might do so, for the very first words that were seen +were, "I pray God to have you, Messieurs Pelisson and St. Helie, in +his holy, care," with the signature of "Louis." + +The governor unrolled the paper which, though it was but a fragment, +left not the slightest doubt that it was part either of a commission +or of a letter of instructions from the King to the two ecclesiastics. +With his mouth wide open, his eyes ready to start from their sockets, +his face become as pale as death, and his limbs scarcely able to +support him, the unfortunate Curé de Guadrieul stood gasping in the +middle of the room, unable to utter a word. All eyes were fixed upon +him, all brows were frowning upon him, and the only thing which could +have roused him, if it had been possible for any thing to rouse him at +that moment, was the extraordinary face which Jerome Riquet was +making, in a vain endeavour to mingle in his countenance a certain +portion of compassion with contempt and reprobation. Nobody spoke for +a moment or two after the governor had read the contents; but at +length the Duc de Rouvré said, in a dry, severe tone,-- + +"Secretary, you have made a note of all this; you will keep also the +fragment of paper. My Lord the Bishop, Messieurs Pelisson and St. +Helie, after the painful and distressing event of this examination, I +shall make no comment whatsoever upon what has taken place. I beg that +you would remove this personage the Curé de Guadrieul from my house, +to do with him as you think fit. You will not, of course, be surprised +when you remember the threatening language which you three were +pleased to use towards myself, two days ago, in order to induce me to +cause the arrest of the Count de Morseiul, upon a charge of crimes of +which he was not guilty--Monsieur Pelisson, do not interrupt me: I +know you were more moderate than the rest; but as you were acting +together, I must look upon the words of one, your spokesman, to be the +words of all--You will not be surprised I say, recollecting these +facts, that I send off a special messenger to his Majesty this night, +in order to give him my own statement of all these occurrences, and to +beseech him to take those steps which to me seem necessary for +maintaining the peace and tranquillity of the province. I, gentlemen, +do not encroach upon the rights and privileges of others; and, so long +as his Majesty is pleased to hold me in an official situation, I will +not suffer any one to trench upon my privileges and legitimate +authority. As the hour for the daily meeting of the states is now fast +approaching, however, I will bid you farewell, begging you to take +this personage with you, and, as I have said, deal with him as you +think fit, for I wish to exercise no severity upon any ecclesiastic." + +The persons he addressed had nothing to say in reply, though the +Bishop thought fit to harangue the little party for a moment upon his +own authority and high dignity, and Pelisson endeavoured to involve a +bad business in a cloud of words. They were all, however, desperately +mortified, and not a little alarmed; for there was no doubt that they +had proceeded far beyond the point where their legitimate authority +ended, in pressing the governor to severe measures against the Count +de Morseiul. The loss of the packet, too, might now be attributed to +themselves, instead of to him; the delay in executing the King's will, +as it had been expressed, would be laid to their charge; the Duc de +Rouvré was evidently highly irritated against them, and his +representations to the throne on the subject were likely to be +listened to with peculiar attention, as they were coupled with the +announcement to the King that the states, by his skilful management, +had voted at once a much larger sum as a gift than any one at the +court had anticipated. All these considerations alarmed the whole +party, though indeed Pelisson, who had more knowledge of human nature +than the other two, trusted, with some degree of hope, that the cloak +of religious zeal would cover all other sins. His greatest +apprehension proceeded from the supposition that the King would cast +the blame of the loss of the packet on themselves, and would attribute +the negligence which had caused it to want of respect to his person. +He therefore set himself straightway to consider how such a result +might be obviated. The Bishop and the Abbé de St. Helie took an +unceremonious leave of the governor and his friend, and pushing the +culprit Curé of Guadrieul out before them, quitted the cabinet in +haste. Pelisson paused for a moment to say a word or two more in order +to mitigate, as far as possible, the severity of the governor's +report; but Monsieur de Rouvré was in no very placable mood, and the +conference soon terminated, leaving the governor and the Count to +discuss the affair, half laughingly, half seriously. + +The invitation of the Duc de Rouvré was now pressing and strong, that +the young Count de Morseiul should remain at least two days longer at +Poitiers, and he coupled that invitation with the direct intimation +that it was most necessary he should do so, as he the Duke had yet to +learn in some degree the temper of the states in regard to the +important questions between the Catholics and Protestants. The young +Count consequently agreed to remain; taking the precaution, however, +of writing at full to Claude de l'Estang, and sending off the letter +by one of his own trustworthy servants, beseeching him to draw up the +petition which the Protestant gentry had agreed upon, and to have it +ready by the time at which he proposed to arrive at Morseiul. + +During the greater part of those two days which followed he saw little +of Clémence de Marly. Without any cause assigned, she had been absent +from all the spots where he was most likely to see her, except on +those occasions when she was necessarily surrounded by a crowd. After +breakfast, she remained but a moment in the salle: on the first day +she did not appear at dinner; and on the second, she was absent from +the breakfast table. The Chevalier d'Evran was also absent, and every +thing tended to confirm, in the mind of the young Count de Morseiul, +the impression which he had received, that his friend was the lover of +her whom he himself loved, and that some cause of disagreement, either +temporary or permanent, had arisen between them. Nothing, however, +tended to confirm this idea more than the appearance of Clémence +herself when she was present. There was an anxiety in the expression +of her eyes; a thoughtfulness about her brow; an impatience of +society; an occasional absence of mind, which was hardly to be +mistaken. Her whole appearance was that of a person struggling with +strong feelings, which were in reality getting the mastery. + +She showed no particular inclination after his return--except as we +have seen on the first evening--to speak with the Count de Morseiul, +either in public or in private. Words of civility passed between them, +of course, and every little courtesy was, perhaps, more scrupulously +observed than usual with her; but on that evening which closed the +last day of the young Count's proposed stay, a change took place. + +A large party had assembled at the governor's house; and though he +himself looked both grave and anxious, he was doing the honours of his +dwelling to every one with as much courtesy as possible, when +suddenly, seeing the Count de Morseiul standing alone, near the +doorway of the second room, he crossed over to speak with him, saying, +"Albert, Clémence was seeking for you a moment ago. Where is she? have +you seen her?" + +Ere the young Count could reply, Clémence de Marly herself came up, as +if about to speak with the Duke, whose hand she took in hers, in the +sort of daughter-like manner in which she always behaved to him. + +"Monsieur de Morseiul," she said, with a thoughtful lustre shining in +her eyes, and giving a deeper and brighter expression to her whole +countenance, "I have come to take refuge with you from that young De +Hericourt, who evidently intends to persecute me during the whole +evening.--But stay, stay, Monseigneur," she added, turning to the +Duke, who seemed about to leave them, to speak with some one else: +"before you go, hear what I am going to say to Monsieur de Morseiul. +You are going, Count, I hear, to take your departure to-morrow morning +early: if you would walk with me for half an hour in the gardens ere +you leave us, you would much oblige me, as I wish to speak with +you.--Now, dear King of Poitou," she continued, turning to the Duke, +"you may go. I have no more secrets to make you a witness of." + +The Duke replied not exactly to her words, but seemed fully to +comprehend them; and saying, "Not to-night, Clémence! remember, not +tonight!" he left her under the charge of the Count de Morseiul, and +proceeded to attend to his other guests. + +Placed in a situation somewhat strange, and, as it were, forced to +appear as one of the attendant train of the bright and beautiful girl, +from whose dangerous fascinations he was eager to fly, for a single +instant Albert of Morseiul felt slightly embarrassed; but unexpected +situations seldom so much affected him as to produce any thing like +ungraceful hesitation of manner. Clémence de Marly might not, perhaps, +even perceive that the Count was at all embarrassed, for she was +deeply occupied with her own fancies; and though she conversed with +him not gaily, but intelligently, there was evidently another train of +thought going on in her breast all the time, which sometimes made her +answer wide from the mark, and then smile at her own absence of mind. + +The eyes of the young Marquis de Hericourt followed her wherever she +turned, and certainly bore not the most placable expression towards +the Count de Morseiul; but his anger or his watching disturbed neither +Clémence nor her companion, who both had busy thoughts enough to +occupy them. After some time the excitement of the dance seemed to +rouse Clémence from her musing fit; and, though confined to subjects +of ordinary interest, the conversation between her and the Count +became of a deeper tone and character, and her heart seemed to take +part in it as well as her mind. Albert of Morseiul felt it far more +dangerous than before; for though they might but speak of a picture, +or a statue, or a song, with which he could have conversed with a +connoisseur of any kind, perhaps with more profit, as far as mere +knowledge of the subject went, yet there was a refinement of taste +evident in the manner in which Clémence viewed every thing, a +sparkling grace given by her imagination to every subject that she +touched upon, when her feelings were really interested therein, which +was very, very winning to a mind like that of Albert de Morseiul. + +Is it possible, under such circumstances, always to be upon one's +guard? Is it possible, when the heart loves deeply, always to conquer +it with so powerful an effort, as not to let it have the rule even for +an hour? If it be, such was not the case with the young Count de +Morseiul. He forgot not his resolutions, it is true; but he gave +himself up to happiness for the moment, and spoke with warmth, +enthusiasm, and eagerness, which can seldom, if ever, be displayed to +a person we do not love. There was a light, too, in his eye when he +gazed on Clémence de Marly--a look in which regret was mingled with +tenderness, and in which the cloud of despair only shadowed, but did +not darken the fire of passion--which might well show her, unless her +eyes were dazzled by their own light, that she was loved, and loved by +a being of a higher and more energetic character than those which +usually surrounded her. + +Perhaps she did see it--perhaps she did not grieve to see it--for her +eyes became subdued by his; her mellow and beautiful voice took a +softer tone; the colour came and went in her cheek; and before the end +of the dance in which they were engaged, her whole appearance, her +whole manner, made the Count ask himself, "What am I doing?" + +Clémence de Marly seemed to have addressed the same question to her +own heart; for as soon as the dance was over, the cloud of thoughtful +sadness came back upon her brow, and she said, "I am fatigued. I shall +dance no more to-night. All the people are doubtless come now, and +dear Madame de Rouvré will move no more; so I shall go and set myself +down in state beside her, and get her to shield me from annoyance +to-night." + +The Count led her towards the Duchess, intending himself to seek his +chamber soon after; but as they went, Clémence said to him in a low +tone, "Do you see that pretty girl sitting there by her mother, old +Madame de Marville, so modest, and so gentle and retiring. She is as +good a little creature as ever breathed, and as pretty, yet nobody +leads her out to dance. If I had a brother, I should like him to marry +that girl. She would not bring him fortune, but she would bring him +happiness. I wish, Monsieur de Morseiul, you would go and ask her to +dance." + +Though he was anxious to retire, and full of other thoughts, Albert of +Morseiul would not have refused for the world; and Clémence, leading +him up to her friend, said, "Annette, here is Monsieur le Comte de +Morseiul wishes to dance with you: I am sure you will, for your +friend's sake." + +The young lady bowed her head with a slight timid blush, and rising, +allowed the Count to lead her to the dance. + +No great opportunity of conversing existed; but Albert of Morseiul +took especial pains to show himself as courteous and as kind as +possible. Annette de Marville led the conversation herself to Clémence +de Marly, and nothing could exceed the enthusiastic admiration with +which she spoke of her friend. Perhaps a little to the surprise of the +Count, she never mentioned Clémence's beauty, or her grace, or her +wit; matters which, in those days, and at the court of Louis XIV., +were the only topics for praise, the only attractions coveted. She +spoke of her high and noble feelings, her enthusiastic and +affectionate heart; and, in answer to something which the Count said +not quite so laudatory as she would have had it, she exclaimed,-- + +"Oh! but Clémence does not do herself justice in the world. It is only +to those who know her most intimately that her shy heart will show +itself." + +The words sunk into the mind of the Count de Morseiul; and when the +dance was concluded, and he had led back his fair companion to her +seat, he retired speedily to his own apartments, to meditate over what +he had heard, and what had taken place. + + + + + END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. + + + + London: + Printed by A. Spottiswoode, + New-Street-Square. + + + + + + THE HUGUENOT. + + + VOL. II. + + + + + + + London: + Printed by A. Spottiswoode, + New-Street-Square. + + + + + + + THE + + HUGUENOT + + A TALE + + OF + + THE FRENCH PROTESTANTS. + + + + + BY THE AUTHOR OF + + "THE GIPSY," "THE ROBBER," + &c. &c. + + + + * * * + + IN THREE VOLUMES. + + VOL. II. + + * * * + + + + LONDON: + + PRINTED FOR + + LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS, + + PATERNOSTER-ROW. + + 1839. + + + + + + + THE HUGUENOT. + + * * * + + + + CHAPTER I. + + THE EXPLANATIONS. + + +Silent and lonely thought is a sad dispeller of enchantments. Under +its power, the visions, and hopes, and indistinct dreams, which had +fluttered before the eyes of the Count de Morseiul during the magic +moments he had passed with Clémence de Marly, fled like fairies at the +approach of the sun, within a very short period after he had retired +to his chamber; and all that remained was a sort of reproachful +mournful ness, when he thought over his own conduct and the indulgence +of those feelings which he feared he had displayed but too plainly. +With such thoughts he lay down to rest; but they were not soothing +companions of the pillow, and it was long ere he slept. From time to +time he heard the sound of music from the halls below; and in the +intervals, when some open door gave a freer passage to the sound, gay +laughing voices came merry on the ear, speaking cheerfulness, and +happiness, and contentment, and ignorance, of the cares and sorrows +and anxieties of life. + +"Alas!" thought the Count, as he lay and listened, "alas! that such +bright illusions should ever pass away, and that those should ever +learn the touch of grief and anguish and despair, who are now laughing +in the heedless merriment of youth, unconscious of danger or of +sorrow. And yet, perhaps," he continued, "could we lay bare the hearts +of those now seemingly so gay--could we examine what is their ordinary +state, and what their feelings were, even a few short moments before +they entered those saloons--we might find there also as much care and +pain as in any other scene of life, and bless the glad merriment that +lulls human pangs and anxieties for a time, though it cannot quench +them altogether." + +Though he went to sleep late, he rose early on the following morning, +not forgetful of his appointment with Clémence de Marly. Fearful, +however, that she might be in the gardens before him, he dressed +himself and hastened out without the loss of a single minute, not a +little anxious to know what was the nature of the communication which +she had to make to him, and with which the Duc de Rouvré was evidently +acquainted. He was in truth, anxious in regard to every part of their +conversation, he was anxious in regard to its result; but still he did +not lay out at all the conduct he was to pursue towards her, feeling +that he had wakened from the dream of the evening before, and was not +likely to indulge in such visions again. There was nobody in the part +of the garden near the house; and he walked on in the direction which +she had pointed out to him, till he had nearly reached the rampart, +and thus satisfied himself that she had not yet arrived. He then +turned back by the same path, and before he had gone half way down, he +beheld Clémence coming towards him, but at some distance. + +She was certainly looking more lovely than ever; and he could not but +feel that, even in her very gayest and most sparkling moods, there was +a charm wanting in comparison with her more serious and thoughtful +aspect. Clémence was now evidently a good deal agitated. It often +happens, when we have an act of importance to perform, especially when +that act is unusual to us, that even in revolving it in our own minds, +and preparing for the moment, we overpower ourselves, as it were, by +the force of our own thoughts, and, by guarding against agitation, +give agitation the better opportunity to assail us. + +Albert of Morseiul saw that Clémence was much moved, and he prepared +to soothe her by every means in his power. The only efficacious means +being to draw her attention to ordinary things. "Let me offer you my +arm," he said in a kindly tone; and leading her on, he spoke of the +beauty of the morning, and then of Anette de Marville, and then of +other indifferent things. Clémence seemed to understand his object; +and though she at first smiled, as if to intimate that she did so, she +gave her mind up to his guidance, and for five or ten minutes touched +upon no subject but the most ordinary topics of conversation. As they +approached the rampart, however, and she had an opportunity of looking +along it, and ascertaining that there was no one there, she said,-- + +"Now I am better, now I can speak of other things.--Monsieur de +Morseiul," she continued, "although I am accustomed to do +extraordinary things, and to behave, in many respects, unlike other +people, I dare say you do not suppose that I would have taken the very +bold step of asking any gentleman to meet me here, as I have done you +this day, without a motive sufficient to justify me, even in your +sight." + +"I am quite sure of it," replied the Count; "and though you may think +me, perhaps, a harsh censor, I am not at all inclined to be so in your +case." + +"Indeed?" she said, with a somewhat mournful shake of the head; +"Indeed?--But, however, Monsieur de Morseiul, what I have to tell you +is substantial, real, and more important than any feelings or +inclinations. I shall have to pain you--to grieve you--to call up +apprehensions--to prepare you, perhaps, for suffering! Oh God!" she +cried, bursting suddenly into tears, "that I should have to do this!" + +The Count took her hand and pressed it to his lips, and besought her +to be calm and soothed. "Do not be apprehensive, do not be grieved," +he said: "calm yourself, dear lady, calm yourself, Clémence! I am +prepared for much sorrow; I am prepared for danger and anxiety. I have +for some time seen nothing but clouds and storms in the future!" + +"But not such as these," replied Clémence, "not such as these. But I +will not keep you in suspense, for that is worse than all now. The +task, though a painful one, has been of my own seeking. First, +Monsieur de Morseiul, to speak of that which I know is dearest to +your heart--your religious liberty is in danger--it is more than in +danger--it is at an end. The whole resolutions of the court are now +made known--at least, amongst the principal Catholics of France. The +reformed church is to be swept away--there is no longer to be any but +one religion tolerated throughout the kingdom--your temples are to be +overthrown--your ministers to be forbidden, on pain of death, to +worship God as their forefathers have done--the edict of Nantes is to +be revoked entirely;" and, clasping her hands together, she gazed in +his face, while she added, in a low, tremulous, but distinct, voice, +"you are to be driven to the mass at the point of the pike--your +children are to be taken from you to be educated in another faith!" + +Till she uttered the last words Albert de Morseiul had remained with +his eyes bent upon the ground, though deep feelings of agitation were +evident in every line of his fine countenance. But when she spoke of +the Protestants being driven to mass at the point of the pike, and +their children being taken from them to be educated in the Catholic +religion, he threw back his head, gazing up to heaven with a look of +firm determination, while his left hand, by a natural movement, fell +upon the hilt of his sword. + +Clémence de Marly, as he did so, gazed upon him earnestly through the +tears that were still in her eyes, and then exclaimed, as she saw how +terribly moved he was, "These are dreadful tidings for me to tell +Monsieur de Morseiul; you must hate me, I am sure you must hate me!" + +"Hate you?" exclaimed the Count, clasping both her hands in his, while +in that agitating moment--carried away by the strength of his own +feelings, and by the tokens she displayed of deep interest in him and +his--every barrier gave way before the passion of his heart. "Hate +you? oh God! I love you but too well, too deeply--better, more deeply, +than you can ever know, or divine, or dream of!" + +Clémence turned away her head, with a face glowing like the rose; but +she left her hands in his, without an effort to withdraw them, though +she exclaimed, "Say not so! say not so!--Or at least," she added, +turning round once more towards him--"say not so till you have heard +all; for I have much, much more to tell, more painful, more terrible +still. Let me have one moment to recover," and, withdrawing her hands, +she placed them over her eyes for an instant. After a very brief pause +she added, "Now, Monsieur de Morseiul, I can go on. You are here in +great danger. You have been in great danger ever since you have been +here; and it has only been the power and authority of the Duke that +has protected you. After your first intercourse with the governor, the +bishop and the two ecclesiastics, a party has been made in the town, +in the states, and in the province, against you, and, alas! against +the good Duc de Rouvré too. Finding that they were likely to incur the +anger of the King for something that had happened, if they did not +make good their own case against you, they have laboured, I may say, +night and day, to counteract the measures of the Duke with the states, +so as to make him obnoxious to the King. They have pretended that +you,--while you were here before--held illegal meetings with Huguenots +in the neighbourhood, in order to oppose and frustrate the measures of +the King. They have got the intendant of the province upon their side, +and they insisted, to Monsieur de Rouvré, on your being instantly +arrested, they having proffered distinct information of your having +held a meeting with other Protestant noblemen, about three miles from +this place, on the day of the hunting. Do you remember that day?" + +"I shall never forget it!" replied the Count, gazing upon her with a +look that made her eyes sink again. + +"Well," she continued, "Monsieur de Rouvré would not consent; and when +the intendant threatened to arrest you on his own responsibility, the +governor was obliged to say that he would defend you, and protect you, +if necessary, by the interposition of the military force at his +command. This created a complete breach, which is now only apparently +healed. Both parties have applied to the King, and Monsieur de Rouvré +entertained the strongest hopes till yesterday that the decision would +have been in his favour, both inasmuch as justice was on his side, and +as he had obtained from the states a large supply, which he knew would +be most gratifying and acceptable to the court; but suddenly, +yesterday morning, news arrived of the general measures which the +council intended to pursue. These I have already told you, and they +showed the Duke that every thing would give way to bigotry and +superstition. Various letters communicated the same intelligence to +others as well as to the Duke, but I having----" + +She paused and hesitated, while the colour came and went rapidly in +her cheek. "Speak, dear lady, speak," said the Count eagerly. + +"I believe I may speak," she said, "after something that you said but +now. I was going to say that, I having before taken upon me, perhaps +sillily, when first these men brought their false charge against you, +to meddle with this business, from feelings that I must not and cannot +explain, and having then made the Duke tell me the whole business, by +earnest prayers and entreaties--that he seeing that I was--that I was +interested in the matter, told me all the rest, and gave me permission +to tell you the whole this morning, in order that you may guard +against the measures that he fears are coming; 'I mustn't tell him +myself,' he said, 'and, as the business has been communicated alone to +Catholics, he is not likely to hear it, till too late. Nevertheless, +it is no secret, the matter having been told openly to at least twenty +people in this town. You can therefore do it yourself, Clémence, that +he may not say I have lured him back here into the jaws of his +enemies.' Thus then Monsieur de Morseiul," she continued more +collectedly, "thus it is that I have acted as I have acted; and oh, if +you would take my advice, painful as I acknowledge it is to give it, +you would proceed instantly to Morseiul, and then either fly to +England, or to some other country where you will be in safety." + +"How shall I thank you!" replied Albert of Morseiul, taking her hand, +and casting behind him all consideration of his own fate and that of +his fellow Protestants, to be thought of at an after moment, while, +for the time, he gave his whole attention to the words which he had +himself just spoken with regard to his love for Clémence de Marly "How +shall I ever thank you for the interest you have taken in me, for your +kindness, for your generous kindness, and for all the pain that this I +see has caused you! Pray, Clémence, pray add one more boon to those +you have conferred, forgive the rash and presumptuous words I spoke +just now--and forget them also." + +"Forget them!" exclaimed Clémence, clasping her hands and raising her +bright eyes to his. "Forget them! Never, as long as I have being! +Forgive them, Monsieur de Morseiul; that were easily done if I could +believe them true." + +"They are as true as Heaven!" replied the Count; "But oh, Clémence, +Clémence, lead me not away into false dreams! lead me not away to +think that possible which is impossible.--Can it, ought it to be?" + +"I know not what you mean," replied Clémence, with a look +somewhat bewildered, somewhat hurt. "All I know is, Monsieur de +Morseiul, that you have spoken words which justify me to myself for +feelings--ay, and perhaps for actions,--in regard to which I was +doubtful--fearful--which sometimes made me blush when I thought of +them. The words that you have spoken take away that blush. I feel that +I had not mistaken you; but yet," she added, "tell me before you go, +for I feel that it must be soon. What is it that you mean? What is the +import of your question?" + +"Oh, it means much and many things, Clémence," replied the Count: "it +takes in a wide range of painful feelings; and when I acknowledge, and +again and again say, that the words I have spoken are true as Heaven; +when, again and again, I say that I love you deeply, devotedly, +entirely, better than aught else on earth, I grieve that I have said +them, I feel that I have done wrong." + +Clémence de Marly withdrew her hand, not sharply, not coldly, but +mournfully, and she raised her fair countenance towards the sky as if +asking, with apprehension at her heart, "What is thy will, oh +Heaven?"--"Albert of Morseiul," she said, "if you have any cause to +regret that those words have been spoken, let them be for ever between +us as if unspoken. They shall never by me be repeated to any one. You +may perhaps one day, years hence," and as she spoke her eyes filled +with tears,--"you may perhaps regret what you are now doing; but it +will be a consolation to you then to know, that even though you spoke +words of love and then recalled them, they were ever, as they ever +shall be, a consolation and a comfort to me. The only thing on earth +that I could fear was the blame of my own heart for having thought you +loved me,--and perhaps loved," she added, while a deep blush again +spread over all her countenance, "and perhaps loved, when you did not. +You have shielded me from that blame: you have taken away all +self-reproach; and now God speed you, Albert! Choose your own path, +follow the dictates of your own heart, and your own conscience, and +farewell!" + +"Stay, stay, Clémence," said the Count de Morseiul, detaining her by +the hand. "Yet listen to me; yet hear me a few words farther!" + +She turned round upon him with one of her former smiles. "You know how +easily such requests are granted," she said; "you know how willingly I +would fain believe you all that is noble, and just, and honourable, +and perfectly incapable of trifling with a woman's heart." + +"First, then," said the Count, "let me assure you that the words I +have spoken were not, as you seemed to have imagined, for your ear +alone, to be disavowed before the world. Ever shall I be ready, +willing, eager to avow those words, and the love I feel, and have +spoken of, will never, can never die away in my heart. But oh, +Clémence, do you remember the words that passed between us in this +very garden, as to whether a woman could love twice? Do you remember +what you acknowledged yourself on that occasion?" + +"And do you believe, then," said Clémence, "after all that you have +seen, that I have ever loved? Do you believe," she said, with the +bright but scornful smile that sometimes crossed her lip, "that +because Clémence de Marly has suffered herself to be surrounded +by fools and coxcombs, the one to neutralise and oppose the +other--whereas if she had not done so, she must have chosen one from +the herd to be her lord and master, and have become his slave--do you +imagine, I say, that she has fallen in love with pretty Monsieur de +Hericourt, with his hair frizzled like a piece of pastry, his wit as +keen as a baby's wooden sword, and his courage of that high +discriminating quality which might be well led on by a child's +trumpet? Or with the German prince, who, though a brave man and not +without sense, is as courteous as an Italian mountebank's dancing +bear, who thinks himself the pink of politeness when he hands round a +hat to gather the sous, growling between his teeth all the time that +he does so? Or with the Duc de Melcourt, who though polished and keen, +and brave as his sword, is as cold-hearted as the iron that lies +within that scabbard, and in seeking Clémence de Marly seeks three +requisite things to accomplish a French nobleman's household, a large +fortune which may pay cooks and serving men, and give at least two +gilded coaches more: a handsome wife that cares nothing for her +husband, and is not likely to disturb him by her love; and some +influence at court which may obtain for him the next blue riband +vacant?--Out upon them all!" she added vehemently; "and fie, fie, fie, +upon you, Albert of Morseiul! If I thought that you could love a +person of whom you judged so meanly, I should believe you unworthy of +another thought from me." + +It is useless to deny, that every word she spoke was pleasant to the +ear of the Count de Morseiul; but yet she had not exactly touched the +point towards which his own apprehensions regarding her had turned, +and though he did not choose to name the Chevalier, he still went on. +"I have thought nothing of the kind you speak of Clémence," he +replied, "but I may have thought it possible for you to have met with +another more worthy of your thoughts and of your affection than any of +these; that you may have loved him; and that on some quarrel, either +temporary or permanent, your indignation towards him, and your +determination not to let him see the pain he has occasioned, may have +made you fancy yourself in love with another. May not this be the +case? But still, even were it not so, there is much--But I ask," he +added, seeing the colour of Clémence fluttering like the changing +colours on the plumage of a bird, "but I ask again, may it not have +been so?" + +Clémence gazed at him intently and steadfastly for a moment, and there +was evidently a struggle going on in her breast of some kind. Perhaps +Albert of Morseiul might misunderstand the nature of that struggle; +indeed, it is clear he did so in some degree, for it certainly +confirmed him in the apprehensions which he had entertained. The air +and the expression of Clémence varied considerably while she gazed +upon him. For a moment there was the air of proud beauty and careless +caprice with which she treated the lovers of whom she had just spoken +so lightly; and the next, as some memory seemed to cross her mind, the +haughty look died away into one of subdued tenderness and affection. +An instant after, sadness and sorrow came over her face like a cloud, +and her eyes appeared to be filling with irrepressible tears. She +conquered that, too; and when she replied, it was with a smile so +strangely mingled with various expressions, that it was difficult to +discern which predominated. There was a certain degree of pride in her +tone; there was sorrow upon her brow; and yet there was a playfulness +round her eyes and lips, as if something made her happy amidst it all. + +"Such might be the case," she replied, "such is very likely to be the +case with all women. But pray, Sir--having settled it all so well and +so wisely--who was the favoured person who had thus won Clémence de +Marly's love, while some few others were seeking for it in vain? Your +falcon, Fancy, was certainly not without a lure. I see it clearly, +Monsieur de Morseiul." + +"It might be one," replied the Count, "whose rival I would never +become, even were other things done away; it might be one long and +deeply regarded by myself." + +"The Chevalier, the Chevalier!" exclaimed Clémence, with her whole +face brightening into a merry smile. "No, no, no! You have been +deceiving yourself. No, no, Count; the Chevalier d'Evran never has +been, never will be, any thing to me but that which he is now; we have +had no quarrel, we have had no coldness. It is quite possible, +Monsieur de Morseiul, believe me, even for a weak woman like myself to +feel friendship and place confidence without love." + +She strove in some degree to withdraw the hand that the Count had +taken, as if she were about to leave him; but the Count detained it, +gently saying, "Stay yet one moment, Clémence; let us yet have but one +word more of explanation before we part." + +"No," she replied, disengaging her hand, "no; we have had explanations +enough. Never wed a woman of whom you have a single doubt, Sir. No, +no," she added, with a look slightly triumphant perhaps, somewhat +sorrowful, but somewhat playful withal; "no, no! Clémence de Marly has +already, perhaps, said somewhat too much already! But one thing I will +tell you, Albert of Morseiul--you love her! She sees it, she knows it, +and from henceforth she will not doubt it--for a woman does not trust +by halves like a man. You love her! You will love her! and, though you +have perhaps somewhat humiliated her; though you have made the proud +humble and the gay melancholy, it is perhaps no bad lesson for her, +and she will now make you sue, before you gain as a previous lover +that which you now seem to require some pressing to accept Adieu, +Monsieur de Morseiul; there is, I see, somebody coming; adieu." + +"Stay yet a moment, Clémence; hear me yet urge something in my +defence," exclaimed her lover. But Clémence proceeded down the steps +from the rampart, only pausing and turning to say in a tone of greater +tenderness and interest,-- + +"Farewell, Albert, farewell; and for God's sake forget not the warning +that I gave you this morning, nor any of the matters so much more +worthy of attention than the worthless love of a gay capricious girl." + +Thus saying, she hastened on, and passing by the person who was coming +forward from the house--and who was merely a servant attached to the +Count de Morseiul, as usual hunting out his master to interrupt him at +the most inappropriate time--she hurried to a small door to the left +of the building, entered, and mounting a back staircase which led +towards her own apartments, she sought shelter therein from all the +many eyes that were at that time beginning to move about the place; +for her face was a tablet on which strong and recent emotion was +deeply and legibly written. + +Nor had that emotion passed, indeed; but, on the contrary, new and +agitating thoughts had been swelling upon her all the way through the +gardens, as she returned alone--the memories of one of those short but +important lapses of time which change with the power of an enchanter +the whole course of our being, which alter feeling and thoughts and +hope and expectation, give a different direction to aspiration and +effort and ambition, which add wings and a fiery sword to enthusiasm, +and, in fact, turn the thread of destiny upon a new track through the +labyrinth of life. + +There was in the midst of those memories one bright and beautiful +spot; but it was mingled with so many contending feelings--there was +so much alloy to that pure gold--that, when at length she reached her +dressing-room and cast herself into a chair, she became completely +overpowered, and, bursting into tears, wept bitterly and long. + +The old and faithful attendant whom Albert of Morseiul + had seen with +her in the forest, and who was indeed far superior to the station +which she filled, both by talents, education, and heart, now +witnessing the emotion of her young mistress, glided up and took her +hand in hers, trying by every quiet attention to tranquillise and +soothe her. It was in vain, for a long time, however, that she did so; +and when at length Clémence had recovered in some degree her +composure, and began to dry her eyes, the attendant asked, eagerly, +"Dear, dear child, what is it has grieved you so?" + +"I will tell you, Maria; I will tell you in a minute," replied +Clémence. "You who have been a sharer of all my thoughts from my +infancy--you who were given me as a friend by the dear mother I have +lost--you who have preserved for me so much, and have preserved me +myself so often--I will tell you all and every thing. I will have no +concealment in this from you; for I feel, as if I were a prophet, that +terrible and troublous times are coming; that it is my fate to take a +deep and painful part therein; and that I shall need one like you to +counsel, and advise, and assist, and support me in many a danger, and, +for aught I know, in many a calamity." + +"Dear Clémence, dear child," said the attendant, "I will ever do my +best to soothe and comfort you; and what little assistance I can give +shall be given; but I have trusted and I have hoped for many days--now +both from what I have seen and what I have heard--that there was a +stronger hand than that of a weak old woman soon about to be plighted +to support and defend you for life." + +"Who do you mean?" exclaimed Clémence eagerly; "who are you speaking +of, Maria?" + +"Can you not divine?" demanded the old lady; "can you not divine that +I mean him that we saw in the forest--him, who seemed to my old eyes +to wed you then, with the ring that your mother gave you, when she +told you never to part with it to any one but to the man who was to +place it again on your finger as your husband." + +"Good heaven!" exclaimed Clémence, "I never thought of that! I am his +wife then, Maria--at least I shall ever consider myself such." + +"But will he consider you so too?" demanded the attendant; "and do you +love him enough to consider him so, dear child? I have never seen you +love any one yet, and I only began to hope that you would love him +when I saw your colour change as often as his name was mentioned." + +"I have said I would tell you all, Maria," replied Clémence, "and I +will tell you all. I never have loved any one before; and how could I, +surrounded as I have been by the empty, and the vain, and the +vicious,--by a crowd so full of vices, and so barren of virtues, that +a man thought himself superior to the whole world, if he had but one +good quality to recommend him: and what were the qualities on which +they piqued themselves? If a man had wit, he thought himself a match +for an empress; if he had courage, though that, to say the truth, was +the most general quality, he felt himself privileged to be a +libertine, and a gamester, and an atheist; and, instead of feeling +shame, he gloried in his faults. How could I love any of such men? How +could I esteem them--the first step to love? I have but heard one +instance of true affection in the court of France--that of poor Conti +to the King's daughter; and I never fancied myself such a paragon as +to be the second woman that could raise such attachment. Nothing less, +however, would satisfy me, and therefore I determined to shape my +course accordingly. I resolved to let the crowd that chose it follow, +and flatter, and affect to worship, as much as ever they so pleased. +It was their doing, not mine. I mean not to say that it did not please +and amuse me: I mean not to say that I did not feel some sort of +satisfaction--which I now see was wrong to feel--in using as slaves, +in ordering here and there, in trampling upon and mortifying a set of +beings that I contemned and despised, and that valued me alone for +gifts which I valued not myself. Had there been one man amongst them +that at all deserved me--that gave one thought to my mind or to my +heart, rather than to my beauty or my fortune--he would have hated me +for the manner in which I treated him and others; and I might have +learned to love him, even while he learned to contemn me. Such was not +the case, however, for there was not one that did so. Had I declared +my determination of never marrying, to be the slave of a being I +despised, they would soon have put me in a convent, or at least have +tried to do so; and I feared they might. Therefore it was I went on +upon the same plan, sitting like a waxen virgin in a shrine, letting +adorers come and worship as much as they pleased, and taking notice of +none. There is not one of them that can say that I ever gave him aught +but a cutting speech, or an expression of my contempt It is now +several years ago, but you must remember it well, when we were first +with the Duke at Ruffigny." + +"Oh, I remember it well," replied the attendant, "and the hunting, and +your laying down the bridle like a wild careless girl, as you then +were, and the horse running away with you, and this very Count de +Morseiul saving you by stopping it Ay, I remember it all well, and +you told me how gallant and handsome he looked, and all he had said; +and I laughed, and told you you were in love with him." + +"I was not in love," replied Clémence, with the colour slightly +deepening in her cheek, "I was not in love; but I might soon have been +so even then. I thought a great deal about him; I was very young, had +mixed not at all with the world, and he was certainly at that time, in +personal appearance, what might well realise the dream of a young and +enthusiastic imagination.--He is older and graver now," she added, +musing, "and time has made a change on him; but yet I scarcely think +he is less handsome. However, I thought of him a good deal then, +especially after I had met him the second time, and discovered who he +was: and I thought of him often afterwards. Wherever there was any +gallant action done, I was sure to listen eagerly, expecting to hear +his name.--And how often did I hear it, Maria! Not a campaign passed +but some new praises fell upon the Count de Morseiul. He had defended +this post like some ancient hero, against whole legions of the enemy. +He had thrown himself into that small fort, which was considered +untenable, and held an army at bay for weeks. He had been the first to +plant his foot on the breach; he had been the last in the rear upon a +retreat. The peasant's cottage, the citizen's fire-side, owed their +safety to him; and the ministers of another religion than his own had +found shelter and protection beneath his sword. I know not how it was, +but when all these tales were told me, his image always rose up before +me as I had seen him, and I pictured him in every action. I could see +him leading the charging squadrons. I could see him standing in the +deadly breach. I could see the women and the children, and the +conquered and the wounded, clinging to his knees, and could see him +saving them. I did not love him, Maria, but I thought of him a great +deal more than of any one else in all the world. Well, then, after +some years, came the last great service that he rendered us, not many +weeks ago, and was not his demeanour then, Maria--was not his whole +air and conduct in the midst of danger to himself and others--the +peremptory demand of our liberation--the restoration of the ring I +valued--the easy unshaken courtesy in a moment of agitation and +risk,--was it not all noble, all chivalrous, all such as a woman's +imagination might well dwell upon?" + +"It was, indeed," replied Maria, "and ever since then I have thought +that you loved him." + +"In the mean time," continued Clémence, "in the mean time I had also +become sadly spoilt. I had grown capricious, and vain, and haughty, by +indulging such feelings for several years, in pursuit of my own +system; and when the Count appeared at Poitiers, I do not know that I +was inclined to treat him well. Not that I would ever have behaved to +him as I did to others; but I scarcely knew how to behave better. I +believed myself privileged to say and do any thing I thought right, to +exact any thing, nay, to command any thing. I was surprised when I +found he took no notice of me; I was mortified perhaps; I determined, +if ever I made him happy at last, to punish him for his first +indifference,--to punish him, how think you? To make him love me, to +make him doubtful of whether I loved him, and to make him figure in +the train of those whom I myself despised. But, oh, Maria, I soon +found that I could not accomplish what I sought. There was a power, a +command in his nature that overawed, that commanded me. Instead of +teaching him to love me, and making him learn to doubt that I loved +him, I soon found that it was I that loved, and learned to doubt that +he loved me. Then came restlessness and disquietude. From time to time +I saw--I felt that he loved me, and then again I doubted, and strove +to make him show it more clearly, by the very means best calculated to +make him crush it altogether. I affected to listen to the frivolous +and the vain, to smile upon the beings I despised, to assume +indifference towards the only one I loved. Thus it went on till the +last day of his stay, when he refused to accompany us on our hunting +party, but left me with a promise to join us if he could. I was +disappointed, mortified. I doubted if he would keep his promise. I +doubted whether he had any inclination to do so, and I strove to +forget, in the excitement of the chase, the bitterness of that which I +suffered. Suddenly, however, I caught a glance of him riding down +towards us. He came up to my side, he rode on by me, he attended to +me, he spoke to me alone; there was a grace, and a dignity, and a +glory about his person that was new and strange; he seemed as if some +new inspiration had come upon him. On every subject that we spoke of +he poured forth his soul in words of fire. His eyes and his +countenance beamed with living light, such as I had never before +beheld; every thing vanished from my eyes and thoughts but him; every +thing seemed small and insignificant and to bow before him; the very +fiery charger that he rode seemed to obey, with scarcely a sign or +indication of his will. The cavaliers around looked but like his +attendants, and I--I Maria--proud, and haughty, and vain as I had +encouraged myself to be--I felt that I was in the presence of my +master, and that, there, beside me, was the only man on earth that I +could willingly and implicitly obey--I felt subdued, but not +depressed--I felt, perhaps, as a woman ought to feel towards a man she +loves, that I was competent to be his companion and his friend, to +share his thoughts, to respond to all his feelings, to enter into his +views and opinions, to meet him, in short, with a mind yielding, but +scarcely to be called inferior, different in quality, but harmonious +in love and thought. I felt that he was one who would never wish me to +be a slave; but one that I should be prompt and ready to bend to and +obey. Can I tell you, Maria, all the agony that took possession of my +heart when I found that the whole bright scene was to pass away like a +dream? Since then many a painful thing has happened. I have wrung my +heart, I have embittered my repose by fancying that I have loved, +where I was not loved in return, that I have been the person to seek, +and he to despise me. But this day, this day, Maria, has come an +explanation. He has told me that he loves me, he has told me that +he has loved me long; he has taken away that shame, he has given me +that comfort. We both foresee many difficulties, pangs, and anxieties; +but, alas! Maria, I see plainly, not only that he discovers in the +future far more difficulties, and dangers, and obstacles between us +than I myself perceive, but also that he disapproves of much of my +conduct--that doubts and apprehensions mingle with his love--that it +is a thing which he has striven against, not from his apprehension of +difficulties, but from his doubts of me and of my nature; that love +has mastered him for a time; but still has not subdued him altogether. +It is a bitter and a sad thing," she added, placing her hands over her +eyes. + +"But, dear child," said the attendant, "it will be easy for you to +remove all such doubts and apprehensions." + +"Hush, hush," replied Clémence, "let me finish, Maria, and then say no +more upon this score to-day. I will hear all you can say tomorrow. He +is gone by this time; God knows whether we shall ever meet again. But, +at all events, my conduct is determined; I will act in every respect, +whether he be with me or whether he be absent from me, whether he +misunderstands me or whether he conceives my motives exactly--I will +act as I know he would approve if he could see every action and every +movement of my heart. I will cast behind me all those things which I +now feel were wrong; though, Heaven knows, I did not see that there +was the slightest evil in any of them, till love for him has, with the +quickness of a flash of lightning, opened my eyes in regard to my +conduct towards others. I will do all, in short, that he ought to love +me for; and, in doing that, I will in no degree seek him, but leave +fate and God's will to work out my destiny, trusting that with such +purposes I shall be less miserable than I have been for the last week. +And now, Maria," she added, "I have given you the picture of a woman's +heart. Let us dwell no more upon this theme, for I must wash away +these tears, these new invaders of eyes that have seldom known them +before, and go as soon as possible to Monsieur de Rouvré, to inform +him of a part, at least, of my conversation with the Count." + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + THE RETURN. + + +Sometimes, amidst the storms and tempests of life, when the rain of +sorrow has been pouring down amain, and the lightning of wrath been +flashing on our path, the clouds overhead, heavy and loaded with +mischief to come, and the thunder rolling round and round after the +flash, there will come a brief calm moment of sweet tranquillity, as +if wrath and enmity, and strife and care, and misfortune, had cast +themselves down to rest, exhausted with their fury. Happy is the man +who in such moments can throw from him remembrance of the past, and +apprehension of the future, and taste the refreshing power without +alloy. But seldom can we do so: the passed-by storm is fresh on +memory, the threatening aspect of the sky is full before our eyes, and +such was the case with Albert of Morseiul, as on the third day after +leaving Poitiers he rode on towards his own abode. + +The degree of impatient anxiety under which he had laboured had caused +him to make the two first days' journeys as long as possible, so that +not above ten or twelve miles, or at most fifteen, lay between him and +his own château, when he set out on that third morning from the inn. + +Nothing occurred to disturb his journey; every thing passed in peace +and tranquillity; known, loved, and respected in that part of the +country, the people vied with each other as to which should show him +the most affectionate civility, and no news either from the capital or +Poitiers had reached him to dissipate the apparent calm around. Every +thing wore the aspect of peace throughout the country. The peasant's +wife sunned herself at the door of her cottage, with distaff and +spindle in hand, plying lightly her daily toil, while her children ran +or crawled about before her, full of enjoyment themselves, and giving +enjoyment to her who beheld them. The peasant pursued his labour in +the fields, and cheered it by a song; and although the Count knew many +of those whom he saw to be Protestants, there was no appearance of +anxiety or apprehension amongst them. Every thing was cheerful, and +contented, and tranquil, and the peace of the scene sank into his +heart. Angels may be supposed to look upon this earth's pleasures with +a feeling of melancholy though not sadness, from a knowledge of their +fragility; and so Albert of Morseiul, though he felt in some degree +calmed and tranquillised by what he saw, yet could not prevent a +sensation of deep melancholy from mingling with his other feelings, as +he thought, "This can but last for a very, very little time." + +At length he turned into the very wood where he had encountered the +robbers, which now bore, of course, a very different aspect in the +full daylight from that which it had borne in the depth of the night. +The summer sunshine was now streaming through the green leaves, and +far away between the wide bolls of the trees, the mossy ground might +be seen carpeted with velvet softness, and chequered with bright +catches and streams of light. The road, too, though not in the full +sunshine, was crossed here and there by long lines of radiance, and +the sky over head was seen clear and blue, while every projecting +branch of the tall trees above caught the light, and sparkled with a +brighter green. + +The aspect of this scene was more tranquillising still than the last; +but it did not chase the Count's deep melancholy; and, finding that he +was riding very slow, which only afforded time for thought when +thought was useless, he turned round to see if his attendants were +near, intending to ride on faster, if they were within sight. The road +was very nearly straight; and, at the distance of four or five hundred +yards, passing one of the soft green refreshing shadows cast by the +wood, he saw the body of servants riding gaily on after him, +conversing together. Between him and them, however, just issuing from +one of the green wood paths, which joined the high road, was another +figure, which immediately called the Count's attention. It was that of +an old man, plain and simple in his own appearance, but mounted on a +mule, gaily tricked and caparisoned, as was the universal custom in +those days, with fringes and knobs of red worsted, and bells of many a +size and shape about its collar and head-stall. The rider was not one +of those whom men forget easily; and, though he was at a considerable +distance as well as the attendants, the Count instantly recognised +good Claude de l'Estang. + +Seeing the Count pause, the old man put his mule into a quicker pace, +and rode on towards him. When he came near he wished his young friend +joy of his return, but his own face was any thing but joyful. + +"We shall all be indeed glad to see you, my dear Albert," he said, +"for we have very great need of your return on every account. Besides +all these grievous and iniquitous proceedings against the Protestants, +we have in our own bosom men who I hear had the impudence even to +attack you; but who have since committed various other outrages of a +marked and peculiar character. One man, I learn, has been shot dead +upon the spot, another has been wounded severely, a third has been +robbed and maltreated. But I cannot discover that any one has met with +harshness, except such as are distinguished for a somewhat inordinate +zeal in favour of the Catholic faith. Not a Protestant has been +attacked, which marks the matter more particularly, and the peasantry +themselves are beginning to notice the fact, so that it will not be +long before their priests take notice of it, and the eyes of the state +will be turned angrily upon us." + +"I fear indeed that it will be so," replied the Count; "but whether +the result will or will not be evil, God in his wisdom only knows." + +"How is this, my dear Albert?" exclaimed the clergyman. "You sent to +me to ask that I should draw up a humble petition to the King, +representing the Protestants as peaceful, humble, obedient subjects, +and surely we must take every measure that we may not by our own +actions give the lie to our own words." + +"I will certainly, my dear friend," replied the Count, "take every +measure that it is possible for man to take, to put down this evil +system of plunder and violence, whether it be carried on by +Protestants or Catholics. There is a notorious violation of the law, +and I am determined to put it down if it be possible, without any +regard whatsoever to distinction between the two religions. The +petition to the King was necessary when I wrote about it, and is so +still, for it was then our only hope, and it may now be taken as a +proof that even to the last moment we were willing to show ourselves +humble, devoted, and loyal. I expect nothing from it but that result; +but that result itself is something." + +"I fear, my son," said the old man, "that you have heard bad news +since you wrote to me." + +"The worst," replied the Count, with a melancholy shake of the head, +"the very worst that can be given. They intend, I understand from +authority that cannot be doubted, to suppress entirely the free +exercise of our religion in France, and to revoke the edict of our +good King Henry which secured it to us." + +The old man dropped the reins upon his mule's neck, and raised his +eyes appealingly to heaven. "Terrible, indeed!" he said; "but I can +scarcely credit it." + +"It is but too true--but too certain!" replied the Count; "and yet +terrible as this is--horrible, infamous, detestable as is the cruelty +and tyranny of the act itself, the means by which it is to be carried +into execution are still more cruel, tyrannical, and detestable." + +The old man gazed in his face as if he had hardly voice to demand what +those means were; but after a brief pause the Count went on: "To sum +up all in one word, they intend to take the Protestant children from +the Protestant mother, from the father, from the brother, and +forbidding all intercourse, to place them in the hands of the enemies +of our faith, to be educated in the superstitions that we abhor." + +"God will avert it!" said the old man; "it cannot be that even the +sins and the follies of him who now sits upon the throne of France +should deserve the signal punishment of being thus utterly given up +and abandoned by the spirit of God to the tyrannical and brutal +foolishness of his own heart. I cannot believe that it will ever be +executed. I cannot believe that it will ever be attempted. I doubt not +they will go on as they have begun; that they will send smooth-faced +priests with cunning devices, as they have done indeed since you went +hence, to bribe and buy to the domination of Satan the weak and +wavering of our flocks, and send lists of them to the King, to swell +his heart with the pride of having made converts. I can easily +conceive that they will be permitted to take from us places and +dignities, to drive us by every sort of annoyance, so that the gold +may be purified from the dross, the corn may be winnowed from the +chaff. All this they will do, for all this undoubtedly we sinners have +deserved. But I do not believe that they will be permitted to do more, +and my trust is not in man but in God. For the sins that we have +committed, for the weakness we have displayed, for murmurs and +rebellion against his will, for sinful doubts and apprehensions of his +mercy, from the earthliness of our thoughts, and the want of purity in +all our dealings, God may permit us to be smitten severely, terribly; +but the fiery sword of his vengeance will not go out against his +people beyond a certain point. He has built his church upon a rock, +and there shall it stand; nor will I ever believe that the reformed +church of France shall be extinguished in the land, nor that the +people who have sought God with sincerity shall be left desolate. We +will trust in him, my son! We will trust in him!" + +"Ay," said the Count; "but my excellent old friend, it now becomes our +duty to think seriously what, means, under God's will, we may use in +defence of his church. I myself have thought upon it long and eagerly, +but I have thought of it in vain, for the subject is so difficult and +so embarrassed, that without some one to counsel me, some one to aid +me, I can fix upon no plan that offers even a probability of success. +I must speak with you before to-morrow be over, long and earnestly. I +know not why I should not turn to your dwelling with you even now," he +added; "I know not when I may be taken away from the midst of you, for +much personal danger threatens myself. But, however, what I have to +say must be said alone, and in private. The man Riquet is behind, and +though I believe he is faithful to me, and holds but loosely by his +Popish creed, I must not trust too far. Let us turn towards your +dwelling." + +"Be it so, be it so," replied the old man; and wending on their way +through the forest for some distance farther, they took the first road +that turned to the right, and pursued the forest path that ran along +through the bottom of the deep valleys, in which some part of the wood +was scattered. + +It had been a bright and a beautiful day, but the air was warm and +sultry; and the horses of the Count looked more fatigued than might +have been expected from so short a journey. The old clergyman and his +young friend spoke but little more as they went along; and it was only +to comment upon the tired condition of the horses, and the oppressive +state of the atmosphere that they did so. + +"It is as well, my son," said Claude de l'Estang at length, "it is as +well that you have turned with me, for depend upon it we shall have a +storm. Do you not see those large harsh masses of cloud rising above +the trees?" + +"I have remarked them some time," replied the Count, "and twice I +thought I saw a flash." + +"Hark!" exclaimed the clergyman, and there was evidently a sound of +thunder not very distant. "Let us ride a little quicker," the old man +continued; "we are just coming to the slope of the hill where the wood +ends, and then we are not far from Auron." + +The Count did as the pastor asked him, and the moment after they +issued out from the wood, upon the shoulder of a gentle eminence, with +green slopes declining, from either side of the road, into the +valleys. A tall hill rose gradually to the left, along the side of +which the highway was cut; and full in their view to the right,--but +two or three miles on, across the valley, left by the eminence along +which they rode--appeared the high conical hill of Auron, crowned, as +we have before described it, with the little village spire. + +Though there were some detached masses of cloud sweeping over the sky +above them, and twisting themselves into harsh curious forms, the sun +was still shining warm and strong upon the spot where they were, while +the storm, the voice of which they had heard in the wood, was seen +treading the valleys and hills beyond towards Auron, wrapped in a +mantle of dark vapours and shadows. The contrast between the bright +sunshine and sparkling light around them, with the sweeping thunder +clouds that were pouring forth their mingled wrath upon the beautiful +country beyond, was very fine, and the Count drew in his horse for a +moment to gaze upon it more at ease. + +"You see, though they have been busy in seducing my flock, over +there," said the pastor, fixing his eyes with a look of affection upon +Auron, "you see they have still left me my spire to the church. I +fear, not from any good will to me or mine," he added, "but because +they say it acts as a sort of landmark at sea." + +The Count made no reply, for he thought that the time was not far +distant when that peaceful village would be the scene of persecution, +if not of desolation, and the building where a quiet and industrious +population had worshipped God for ages, according to the dictates of +their own consciences, would be taken from them. His only answer then +was a melancholy smile, as he rode slowly on again, still gazing on +the village and the storm, the flashes of the lightning blazing across +the path from time to time, as if the cloud from which they issued had +been close above the travellers. Scarcely, however, had the Count and +his companion gone a hundred yards along the side of the hill, when a +bright fitful line of intense light darted across the curtain of the +dark cloud before their eyes, aimed like a fiery javelin cast by the +unerring hand of the destroying angel at the pointed spire of the +village church. The shape of the spire was instantly changed; a part +evidently fell in ruins; and, the next moment, the whole of that which +stood, blazed forth in flames, like a fiery beacon raised on the +highest hill of an invaded land to tell that strife and bloodshed have +begun. + +"It is accomplished!" cried the pastor, as he gazed upon the +destruction of the spire. "It is accomplished! Oh, Albert, how natural +is weakness and superstition to the human heart! Can we see the fall +of that building in which for many a long year our pure faith has +offered up its prayers, unmingled with the vanities of a false creed, +and not feel as if the will of God were against us--as if that were a +sign unto us that his favour had past from us, at least in this +land--as if it were a warning for us to gird ourselves, and, shaking +off the dust of our feet, to seek another place of abiding?" + +He paused not while he spoke, however, but rode on quickly, in order +to aid and direct in saving any part of the building that yet +remained; but as they went he still continued to pour forth many a +sorrowful ejaculation, mingling, with personal grief for the +destruction of an object which had for long years been familiar with +his eye, and associated with every feeling of home, and peace, and of +happy dwelling amongst his own people, and of high duties well +performed, vague feelings of awe, and perhaps of superstition, as he +read in that sight a warning, and a sign, and a shadowing forth of the +Almighty will, that the church whereof he was a member was destined to +destruction also. + +Before the party reached the village, the spire had been completely +consumed; but the peasantry had fortunately succeeded in preventing +the fire from reaching the body of the building, and the rain was now +pouring down in torrents, as the tears of an angel of wrath over the +accomplishment of his painful mission; so that all that remained was +to ascertain what damage had been done. Both the clergyman and the +Count remarked several strangers standing round the church offering no +assistance to any one, and only communing together occasionally in a +low voice on the proceedings of the Protestant population. Albert of +Morseiul gazed upon them with some surprise, and at length said, "I +think, gentlemen, you might have given some little aid and assistance +in this matter." + +"What!" cried one of the men, "aid in upholding a temple of heretics! +What, keep from the destruction with which God has marked it, a +building which man should long ago have pulled down!" + +"I did not know you, gentlemen," replied the Count. "There are some +circumstances in which people may be expected to remember that they +are fellow-men and fellow-Christians, before they think of sects or +denominations." + +Thus saying, he turned and left them, accompanying Claude de l'Estang +to his dwelling. + +"Never mind them, Albert, never mind them," said the pastor as they +walked along. "These are the men who are engaged daily in seducing my +flock. I have seen them more than once as I have been going hither and +thither amongst the people; but I have heeded them not, nor ever +spoken to them. Those who can sell themselves for gold--and gold is +the means of persuasion that they are now adopting--are not steadfast +or faithful in any religion, and are more likely to corrupt others, +and to lead to great defection by falling away in a moment of need, +than to serve or prop the cause to which they pretend to be attached. +I trust that God's grace will reach them in time; but in a moment of +increasing danger like this, I would rather that they showed +themselves at once. I would rather, if they are to sell themselves +either for safety or for gold, that they should sell themselves at +once, and let us know them before the fiery ordeal comes. I would +rather have to say, they went forth from us, because they were not of +us, than think them children of light, and find them children of +darkness." + +"I fear," said the Count in a low voice, "I fear that they are waging +the war against us, my good friend, in a manner which will deprive us +of all unanimity. It is no longer what it was in former times, when +the persecuting sword was all we had to fear and to resist. We have +now the artful tongues of oily and deceitful disputants. We have all +the hellish cunning of a sect which allows every means to be +admissible, every falsehood, every misstatement, every perversion, +every deceit, to be just, and right, and righteous, so that the object +to be obtained is the promotion of their own creed. Thus the great +mass of the weak or the ill-informed may be affected by their +teachers; while at the same time gold is held out to allure the +covetous--the deprivation of rank, station, office, and emolument, +is employed to drive the ambitious, the slothful, and the +indifferent--and threats of greater severity of persecution, mental +torture, insult, indignity, and even death itself, are held over the +heads of the coward and the fearful." + +They thus conversed as they went along, and the opinion of each but +served to depress the hopes of the other more and more. Both were well +acquainted with the spirit of doubt and disunion that reigned amongst +the Protestants of France, a spirit of disunion which had been +planted, fostered, and encouraged by every art that a body of cunning +and unscrupulous men could employ to weaken the power of their +adversaries. On arriving at the house of Claude de l'Estang, the +pastor put into the hands of his young friend the petition to the King +which he had drawn up, and which perfectly meeting his views, was +immediately sent off for general signature, in order to be transmitted +to Paris, and presented to the monarch. Long before it reached him, +however, the final and decisive blow had been struck, and, therefore, +we shall notice that paper no more. + +A long conversation ensued between the pastor and his young friend; +and it was evident to the Count de Morseiul, that the opinions of +Claude de l'Estang himself, stern and fervent as they had been in +youth, now rendered milder by age, and perhaps by sorrow, tended +directly to general and unquestioning submission, rather than to +resistance: not indeed to the abandonment of any religious principle, +not to the slightest sacrifice of faith, not to the slightest +conformity of what he deemed a false religion. No; he proposed and he +advised to suffer in patience for the creed that he held; to see even +the temples of the reformed church destroyed, if such an extreme +should be adopted; to see persons of the purer faith excluded from +offices and dignity, and rank and emoluments; even to suffer, should +it be necessary, plunder, oppression, and imprisonment itself, without +yielding one religious doctrine; but at the same time without offering +any resistance to the royal authority. + +"But should they go still farther," said the Count, "should they +attempt to interdict altogether the exercise of our religion; should +they take the child from the mother, the sister from the care of the +brother; should they force upon us Roman rites, and demand from us +confessions of papistical belief, what are we to do then, my good old +friend?" + +"Our religious duties," replied the pastor, "we must not forbear to +exercise, even if the sword hung over us that was to slay us at the +first word. As for the rest, I trust and believe that it will not come +to pass; but if it should, there will be no choice left us but +resistance or flight. Ask me not, Albert, to decide now upon which of +the two we should choose. It must ever be a dark, a painful, and a +terrible decision when the time comes that it is necessary to make it; +and perhaps the decision itself may be affected far more by the acts +of others than by our own. We must determine according to +circumstances; but, in the mean time, let us as far as possible be +prepared for either of the two painful alternatives. We must make +great sacrifices, Albert, and I know that you are one of those who +would ever be ready to make such for your fellow Christians. If we are +driven to flee from the land of our birth, and to seek a home in other +countries; if by the waters of Babylon we must sit down and weep, +thinking of the Jerusalem that we shall never behold again, there will +be many, very many of our brethren compelled to fly with but little +means of support, and perhaps it may be long before in other lands +they obtain such employment as will enable them to maintain themselves +by the work of their own hands. Those who are richer must minister +unto them, Albert. Luckily I myself can do something in that sort, for +long ago, when there was no thought of this persecution, I sold what +little land I had, intending to spend the amount in relieving any +distress that I might see amongst my people, and to trust to the altar +that I served for support in my old age. But little of this sum has +been as yet expended, and if I did but know any hands in which I could +trust it in a foreign land, either in England or in Holland, I would +transmit it thither instantly. You too, Albert, if I have heard right, +derived considerable wealth in money from some distant relation +lately. For your own sake as well as others, it were better to place +that in safety in foreign lands, for I find that it would be dangerous +now to attempt to sell any landed possessions, and if you were forced +to leave this country you might find yourself suddenly reduced to want +in the midst of strangers." + +"I have not only thought of this before," replied the Count, "but I +have already taken measures for transmitting that sum to Holland. As +soon as I heard of the unjust prohibitions regarding the sale of lands +by Protestants, I wrote to Holland to a banker whom I knew there in +days of old, an honest man and a sincere friend, though somewhat too +fond of gain. The sum I can thus transmit is far more than enough to +give me competence for life, and if you please I can transmit thither +the little store you speak of also." + +"Willingly, willingly," replied the pastor; "it may be a benefit to +others if not to me.--Albert," he added, "I shall never quit this +land! I feel it, I know it! My ministry must be accomplished here till +the last: and whether I shall be taken from you by some of the +ordinary events of nature, or whether God wills it that I should seal +with my blood the defence of my faith and my testimony against the +church of Rome, I know not; but I am sure, I feel sure, that I shall +never quit the land in which I was born." + +Albert of Morseiul did not attempt to argue with Claude de l'Estang +upon this prejudice, for he knew it was one of those which, like some +trees and shrubs, root themselves but the more firmly from being +shaken, and from an ineffectual endeavour being made to pluck them +out. + +For nearly two hours the young Count remained at the house of the +clergyman discussing all the various topics connected with their +situation, while his servants were scattered about in different +dwellings of the village. At the end of that time, however, Master +Jerome Riquet made his appearance at the pastor's house, to inform his +lord (from a participation in whose actions he judged he had been too +long excluded) that the storm had passed away; and, ordering his +horses to be brought up, after a few more words with Claude de +l'Estang, the Count mounted and pursued his way homeward to the +château of Morseiul. + +Throwing his rein to the groom, the young nobleman walked on through +the vestibule, and entered the great hall. It was calm and solitary, +with the bright evening sunshine streaming through the tall windows +and chequering the stone floor. Nothing was moving but a multitude of +bright motes dancing in the sunbeam, and one of the banners of the +house of Morseiul shaken by the wind as the door opened and closed on +the Count's entrance. The whole aspect of the place told that it had +not been tenanted for some time. Every thing was beautifully clean +indeed, but the tall-backed chairs ranged straight along the walls, +the table standing exactly in the midst, the unsullied whiteness of +the stone floor, not even marked with the print of a dog's foot, all +spoke plainly that it had been long untenanted. The Count gazed round +it in silent melancholy, marked the waving banner and the dancing +motes, and, if we may use the term, the solemn cheerfulness of that +wide hall; and then said to himself, ere he turned again to leave it, + +"Such will it be, and so the sun will shine, when I am gone afar--or +in the grave." + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + NEW ACQUAINTANCES. + + +We will now lead the reader into another and very different scene from +any of those into which we have as yet conducted him. It is a small +but cheerful sitting-room, or parlour, in the house of a comfortable +citizen of the town of Morseiul. There was every thing that could be +required for comfort, and a little for show. The corner cupboard which +protruded its round stomach into the room, like that of some fat +alderman of the olden time, was ornamented with a variety of little +gewgaws, and nick-nacks of silver, displayed in quaint array upon the +shelves; and, besides several brass lamps and sconces wonderfully well +polished, which were never lighted, were a number of articles of +porcelain, of a kind which was then somewhat rare, and is now nearly +invaluable. The two windows of this little parlour looked out upon the +great square or market place, towards the southern corner of which it +was situated, and commanded a view of a large blacksmith's forge on +the opposite side, close by the gate leading down to what was called +the Count's road. There was a door out of this parlour, a black oaken +door, with panels richly carved and ornamented, which appeared to lead +into a room at the back, and another similar door at the side, opening +into the passage which went straight through the house from the square +into the garden behind. + +At the table in the midst of this room--which table, at the moment we +speak of, that is, half past eight o'clock in the morning, was +decorated with a large pewter dish, containing a savoury ragout of +veal, flanked by two bottles of cider and four drinking cups--sat the +burly person of good Paul Virlay, the rich blacksmith, who, being well +to do in the world, and enabled by competence to take his ease, had +not yet gone out to superintend the work which his men were carrying +on at the forge opposite. + +Another effect of his easy situation in life was, that he had time to +perform those necessary ablutions too much required by the faces and +hands of all blacksmiths, but which, alas! all blacksmiths are but too +apt to neglect. It is true that, had he washed his face and hands for +ever, or, after the prescribed rule of the Arabian Nights, had scoured +them "forty times with alkali, and forty times with the ashes of the +same plant," his face and hands would still have retained a certain +glowing coppery brown hue, which they had acquired by the action of +sun, and air, and fire, and hard work, and which they likewise +possessed, it must be confessed, in some degree from nature. At the +table with Paul Virlay were three other personages. The first was his +daughter, a sweet little girl of thirteen or fourteen years of age, +and the second his wife, a goodly dame, perhaps two years or three +years older than himself, and who, being terribly marked with the +smallpox, had never possessed any beauty. Thus, at his marriage, +Virlay, who had been in much request amongst the young ladies of +Morseiul, declared that he had taken the good working horse instead of +the jennet. She had always been extremely careful, laborious, active, +and economical; somewhat given to smartness of apparel, indeed, but by +no means to extravagance, and though decorating herself with black +velvet riband, and large ornaments of gold, yet careful that the +riband was not worn out too soon, and the gold ornaments neither +bruised nor broken. + +On her right hand, between herself and her husband, sat the fourth +person of the party, who was no other than the lady's brother, a +stout, broad-made, determined-looking man, who had served long in the +army under the Count; and had risen as high, by his daring courage and +somewhat rash gallantry, as any person not of noble blood could rise, +except under very extraordinary circumstances. He had accumulated, it +was said, a considerable sum of money--perhaps not by the most +justifiable of all dealings with the inhabitants of conquered +districts--so that Armand Herval was an object of not a little +attention, and what we may call cupidity, to the unmarried young +ladies of Morseiul. That town was not, indeed, his regular dwelling +place, for his abode was at a small town nearer to the sea coast, some +five or six miles off; but he frequently came to visit his sister and +brother-in-law, over both of whom he exercised very considerable +influence, although, as frequently is the case, the latter was +naturally a man of much stronger natural sense than himself. It is in +almost all instances, indeed, energy that gives power; and with +persons not well educated, or not very highly endowed by nature, that +energy loses none of its effect from approaching somewhat towards +rashness. Such then was the case with Paul Virlay and his +brother-in-law. When unmoved by any strong passions, however, Armand +Herval was quite the man to lead and to seduce. He was gay, blithe, +cheerful, full of frolic, fearless of consequences, specious in +reasoning, possessing much jest and repartee, overflowing with tales, +or anecdotes, of what he had seen, or heard, or done in the wars; and +it was only when crossed, or opposed, or excited by wine or anger, +that the darker and more fiery spirit of the somewhat ruthless trooper +would break forth and overawe those that surrounded him. + +On the present morning there was a strange mixture in his demeanour of +a sad and serious thoughtfulness, with gaiety and even merriment. He +laughed and jested with his niece, he took a pleasure in teasing his +sister, but he spoke, once or twice, in a low and bitter tone to Paul +Virlay upon various matters which were taking place in the +neighbourhood, and did not even altogether spare the Count de Morseiul +himself. At that, however, Virlay bristled up; and his brother-in-law, +who had done it more from a spirit of teasing than aught else, only +laughed at his anger, and turned the discourse to something else. He +eat and drank abundantly of the breakfast set before him; laughed at +the cleanness of Virlay's face and hands, and the smartness of his +brown jerkin, and insisted that his little niece should run to the +window to see whether the men were working properly, saying that her +father was no longer fit for his trade. + +The girl did as she was bid, and replied immediately, "I do not see +the men at all, but I see the young Count just turning the corner." + +"That is early," cried Virlay, laying down his fork. "Is he on +horseback?" + +"No, he is on foot," replied the girl, "and nobody with him."--"He is +coming over here, I declare he is coming over here," cried the girl, +clapping her hands. + +"Nonsense," cried Virlay, starting up, as well as his wife and +brother-in-law. + +"Not nonsense at all, Paul," cried Herval. "He is making straight for +the house, so I shall be off as fast as I can by the back door. I am +not fond of making low bows, and standing with my hat in my hand, when +I can help it." + +"Stay, stay," cried Virlay; "do not go yet, Armand, I have much to +talk with you about." + +But his brother-in-law shook his head, and darted through the oak door +we have mentioned, into the room beyond. Madame Virlay bestirred +herself to give order and dignity to the breakfast table; but before +she could accomplish that purpose the Count was in the open passage, +and knocking at the door of the room for admission. + +Virlay opened it immediately, and the young nobleman entered with that +frank and graceful bearing which was part, indeed, of his inheritance, +but which secured to him that hereditary love for his race which the +virtues and kindness of his forefathers had established amongst the +people. + +"Good morrow, Virlay," he said. "Good morrow, Madame Virlay! Oh, my +pretty Margette, why you have grown so great a girl that I must call +you so no longer, lest the people say that I am making love to +you.--Virlay," he added, in a graver tone, "I would fain speak a word +or two with you on business. I would not send for you to the château +for various reasons, but cannot we go into the next room for a moment +or two?" + +Virlay made a sign to his wife and daughter to retire, and placed a +seat for the Count. "No, my lord," he said, "you shall not give +yourself that trouble. Shot the door, wife, and remember, no +eves-dropping!" + +"Bless thee, Paul," exclaimed his wife, bridling with a little +indignation; "do you think I would listen to what my Lord Count says +to you? I know better, I trust," and she shut the door. + +Perhaps neither the Count, however, nor Virlay were quite certain of +the lady's discretion under such circumstances, and they, therefore, +both remained near the window, and conversed in low tones. + +"I come to speak to you, Virlay," said the Count, in somewhat of a +grave tone, "both as an influential man and as a sensible man--though +he may have his little faults," he added, fixing his eyes somewhat +meaningly upon the blacksmith's face, "and who may suffer himself to +be a little too much led by others; but who, nevertheless, has the +best intentions, I know, and who will always, sooner or later, +remember that one must not do wrong that right may come of it." + +The blacksmith replied nothing, but kept his eyes fixed upon the +ground, though the red became somewhat deeper in his brown cheek, and +an expression of consciousness was to be seen in every feature of his +countenance. + +"What I want to speak with you about is this," continued the Count: +"since I have been away, during this last campaign, there has sprung +up, it seems, a dangerous band in this part of the province; +consisting of men who are carrying on a system of violence, +depredation, and intimidation, which must be put a stop to. What I +want to consult with you in regard to, is the best means of putting +down this band, for put down I am determined it shall be, and that +right speedily." + +"You will not be able to put them down, my lord!" replied the +blacksmith. "If mere simple plunder were the object of these persons, +the thing would be easily done. You would have the whole people to aid +you, and nothing would be more easy. But, my lord, such is not the +case. The men may plunder--I do not say that it is not so--but they +only plunder their enemies. It has always been so in this part of the +country, as the good Count, your father, well knew, and always will be +so to the end of the world. People have given these bands different +names, at different times, and from different circumstances. Once they +were called _les Faucons_, because, at that time, the minister was +sending down men into the country, taxing the salt and the fish, and +when any of them came, one of these bands stooped upon him, like a +falcon, carried him off, and he was never heard of more. At another +time they were called _les Eperviers_, the hawks, because they hovered +over all the country and caught what they could. That was the time +when the King sent down so many soldiers, that they could not carry +off the collectors without hovering round them for a long time. Now +they call them _les Chauve-souris_, or the bats, because they fly +about just at the setting-in of night, and woe be to the persecuting +Papist that falls in their way. To-morrow, if obliged to do the work +later at night, they may be called _les Hiboux_, or the owls; and the +time may come, perhaps, when they will be called _les Loups_ or _les +Chouettes_, the wolves or the screech-owls: but they will do no harm +to any one but their enemies. An honest man, who seeks to harm nobody, +may go from one end of the province to another,--ay, and through all +Brittany, too, as well as Poitou, without meeting with the least +annoyance. But if it be different, if he be an oppressor of the +people, a seller of men's souls, let him see that he travels by +daylight only, and even then he wo'n't be very safe." + +"I do not know," said the Count, "that I am either an oppressor of the +people, or a buyer and seller of men's souls; and yet, my good friend +Virlay, these Chauve-souris, as you call them, fastened their claws +upon me, and put me to no slight inconvenience and discomfort. They +might have shot me, too, for they fired right at my horse. You may +have heard of all this before, I dare say," he added, with a smile. + +The blacksmith did not reply for a moment; but then he said, "I dare +say, my lord, it was some mistake. I doubt not that they did not know +you; or that some foolish fellow, as will happen sometimes, went +beyond his orders." + +"But then again," said the Count, "they both attacked and plundered +two ladies, defenceless women, who could have given them no offence." + +"Some hangers-on of a governor that was sent down to oppress the +province," replied the blacksmith. "These bands, my lord, know all +that's passing through the country better than you do yourself." + +"But in this instance," said the Count, "they certainly knew not what +they were about, for instead of a governor sent down to oppress the +province, Monsieur de Rouvré is the very man to stand between the +province and oppression, and, from all I hear, is likely to give up +the post and the court, and retire to Ruffigny, if the measures of the +council are what he judges unfair towards us." + +"If he do that," said the blacksmith, "he will have a better body +guard at Ruffigny than ever he had at Poitiers. But what is it you +want me to do, Monsieur le Comte? I have no power to put down these +bands. I have no sway with them or against them." + +"What I want you to do," replied the Count, "is to use your whole +power and influence in every way, to put a stop to a system which +cannot be suffered to go on. Sorry should I be to draw the sword +against these mistaken people, but I must have them no more on the +lands and lordships of Morseiul, where they have quartered themselves +I find during my absence. I must have my forests free of such deer, +and you know, Virlay, when I say a thing I will keep my word. I have +been in their hands, and they were civil to me, respected my person, +did something towards obeying my directions; and, although I know two +of them, however well concealed they might be," he added, laying +strong emphasis on the words, "I will in no degree betray the +knowledge I acquired. I only wish to make it fully understood, that I +wish this band to be dispersed. I am well aware of the evil custom +that you allude to, and how deeply it has rooted itself in the habits +of the people; but I tell you, Virlay, that this is likely to produce +more evil to the cause of the reformed church than any thing that +could be devised. At all events, it is contrary altogether to the laws +of the land, and to civil order, and whatever be the pretext, I will +not tolerate it on my lands. I wish the bands to be dispersed, the +night meetings to be abandoned, the men to pursue their lawful +employments, and in other hours to take their necessary rest. But, at +all events, as I have said before, within my jurisdiction they shall +not remain. If they go to the lands of other lords, I cannot of course +help it; but I trust that those other lords will have spirit and +decision enough to drive them off their territories. Let us say no +more about it, Virlay. You understand me distinctly, and know my whole +meaning; and now, let me know when, and how, I may best obtain a +meeting with a person called Brown Keroual, for I must make him hear +reason also." + +The blacksmith paused for two or three minutes before he answered. +"Why, my lord," he said at length, "I ought not to tell you any thing +about him, perhaps, by that name. On all accounts, perhaps I ought +not; but yet I know I can trust you; and I am sure you will take no +advantage. So I'll only ask you one thing, not to go down to where he +is, with too many people about you, for fear of bad consequences if +there should be any of his folks about." + +"I shall go down," said the Count, "towards the place where I hear he +is generally to be met with, with only two servants; and when I come +near enough, I shall give the horse to the servants, and walk forward +on foot." + +"You will be as safe as in your own château, then," said the +blacksmith; "but you must not go for a couple of days, as where he +will be tomorrow, and next day, I cannot tell. But if, on the day +after, you will be just at the hour when the but begins to flit, at a +little turn of the river about six miles down.--You know the high rock +just between the river and the forest, with the tall tree upon it, +which they call the _chêne vert_." + +"I know it well. I know it well," said the Count. "But on which side +of the rock do you mean? the tall face flanks the river, the back +slopes away towards the wood." + +"At the back, at the back," replied the blacksmith. "Amongst the old +hawthorns that lie scattered down the slope. You will find him there +at the hour I mention." + +"I will be there," said the Count in reply, "and I will allow the +intervening time for the band to quit the woods of Morseiul. But if it +have not done so by the morning after, there will be a difference +between us, which I should be sorry for." + +Thus saying, the Count left the worthy townsman, and took his way back +to the château. + +In the two days that intervened, nothing occurred to vary the course +of his existence. He entertained some expectation of receiving letters +from Poitiers, but none arrived. He heard nothing from the governor, +from the Chevalier d'Evran, or from Clémence de Marly; and from Paris, +also, the ordinary courier brought no tidings for the young Count. A +lull had come over the tempestuous season of his days, and we shall +now follow him on his expedition to the _chênt vert_, under which, be +it said, we have ourselves sat many an hour thinking over and +commenting upon the deeds we now record. + +The Count, as he had said, took but two servants with him, and rode +slowly on through, the evening air, with his mind somewhat relieved by +the absence of any fresh excitement, and by the calm refreshing +commune of his spirit with itself. On the preceding day there had been +another thunder storm; but the two which had occurred had served to +clear and somewhat cool the atmosphere, though the breath of the air +was still full of summer. + +When at the distance of about a mile and a half from the spot which +the blacksmith had indicated, the Count gave his horse to his +servants, and bade them wait there for his return. He wandered on +slowly, slackening his pace as much to enjoy the beauty and brightness +of the scene around, as to let the appointed time arrive for his +meeting with the leader of the band we have mentioned. When he had +gone on about a hundred yards, however, he heard in the distance the +wild but characteristic notes of a little instrument, at that time, +and even in the present day, delighted in throughout Poitou, and known +there by the pleasant and harmonious name of the musette. Sooth to +say, it differs but little, though it does in a degree, from the +ordinary bagpipe; and yet there is not a peasant in Poitou, and +scarcely a noble of the province either, who will not tell you that it +is the sweetest and most harmonious instrument in the world. It +requires, however, to be heard in a peculiar manner, and at peculiar +seasons: either, as very often happens in the small towns of that +district, in the dead of the night, when it breaks upon the ear as the +player walks along the street beneath your window, with a solemn and +plaintive melody, that seems scarcely of the earth; or else in the +morning and evening tide, heard at some little distance amongst the +hills and valleys of that sunny land, when it sounds like the spirit +of the winds, singing a wild ditty to the loveliness of the scene. + +The Count de Morseiul had quite sufficient national, or perhaps we +should say provincial, feeling to love the sound of the musette; and +he paused to listen, as, with a peculiar beauty and delicacy of touch, +the player poured on the sounds from the very direction in which he +was proceeding. He did not hasten his pace, however, enjoying it as he +went; and still the nearer and nearer he came to the _chênt vert_, the +closer he seemed to approach to the spot whence the sounds issued. It +is true the player could not see him, as he came in an oblique line +from the side of the water, to which at various places the wood +approached very near. But the moment that the Count turned the angle +of the rock which we have mentioned, and on the top of which stood the +large evergreen oak, from which it took its name, he beheld a group +which might well have furnished a picture for a Phyllis and a Corydon +to any pastoral poet that ever penned an idyl or an eclogue. + +Seated on a little grassy knoll, under one of the green hawthorns, was +a girl apparently above the common class, with a veil, which she +seemed to have lately worn over her head, cast down beside her, and +with her dark hair falling partly upon her face as it bent over that +of a man, seated, or rather stretched, at her feet, who, supporting +himself on one elbow, was producing from the favourite instrument of +the country the sounds which the Count had heard. + +Lying before them, and turning its sagacious eyes from the face of the +one to the face of the other, was a large rough dog, and the girl's +hand, which was fair and small, was engaged in gently caressing the +animal's head as the Count came up. So occupied were they with each +other, and so full were the tones of the music, that it was the dog +who first perceived the approach of a stranger, and bounded barking +forward towards the Count, as if the young nobleman were undoubtedly +an intruder. The girl and her lover--for who could doubt that he was +such?--both rose at the same time, and she, casting her veil over her +head, darted away with all speed towards the wood, while her companion +called after her, "Not far, not far." + +The Count then perceived, somewhat to his surprise, that the veil she +wore was that of a novice in a convent. Notwithstanding the barking of +the dog, and the somewhat fierce and uncertain aspect of his master, +the Count advanced with the same slow, steady pace, and in a minute or +two after was standing within five steps of Armand Herval. That good +personage had remained fixed to his place, and for sometime had not +recognised the young Count; but the moment he did so, a change came +over his countenance, and he saluted him with an air of military +respect. + +"Good day, Armand," said the Count, "I am afraid I have disturbed your +young friend; but pray go after her, and tell her that I am neither +spy nor enemy, so she need not be alarmed. Come back and speak to me, +however, for I want a few minutes' conversation with you.--Have you +seen your brother-in-law Virlay, lately?" + +"Not for several days," replied Armand; "but I will go after her, my +Lord, and see her safe, and come back to you in a minute." + +"Do so," replied the Count, "and I will wait for you here. Will you +not stay with me, good dog?" he added, patting the dog's head and +casting himself down upon the ground; but the dog followed his master, +and the Count remained alone, thinking over the little picture which +had been so unexpectedly presented to his eyes. + +"This lets me into much of the history," he thought. "Here is a motive +and an object both for accumulating wealth and intimidating the +Papists! But how can he contrive to get the girl out of a convent to +sit with him here, listening to him playing the musette, while it is +yet the open day? It is true, we are at a great distance from any town +or village. The only religious house near, either, is that upon the +hill two miles farther down. Though I cannot prevent this business, I +must give him some caution;" and then he set himself to think over the +whole affair again, and to endeavour to account for an event which was +less likely perhaps to take place in that province, in the midst of a +Protestant population, than in any other part of France. + +Some time passed ere Armand Herval returned, and by this time the +twilight was growing thick and grey. + +"It is later than I thought, Herval," said the young Count, rising +from the ground, on which he had been stretched, as the other came up; +"I shall hardly have time to say all I had to say, even if the person +were here that I came to converse with." + +"Then you did not come to see me, my Lord?" demanded Herval, in a tone +perhaps expressive of a little mortification. + +"No, Herval," replied the Count with a slight smile, "I came to see a +person called Brown Keroual: but," he added, after a moment's pause, +"if you are likely to stay here, I will leave the message with you." + +The Count stopped as if for a reply, and his companion answered, +"Speak, speak, my Lord Count! Your message shall not fail to reach +him." + +"Well then, Armand," replied the nobleman, "tell Keroual this for me: +first, that I know him--that I recognised him the moment he spoke when +last we met; but that having some regard for him, I do not intend to +take any advantage whatever of that knowledge to his prejudice, +although he be engaged in wrong and unlawful deeds. However, I came +here to meet him, in order to reason with him on his conduct, for he +is a good and a gallant soldier, and would now have been an +officer--for I recommended him for advancement--had it not been for +that plundering of the priory of St. Amand, which was thrown in my +teeth by Monsieur de Louvois whenever I mentioned his name." + +"If Louvois had been in it," replied his companion, "it would not have +escaped half as well as it did; for I think, according to the very +doctrines of their popish church, the good act of burning one Louvois +would be quite enough to obtain pardon for the sin of burning a whole +score of monks along with him. But what were you going to say farther, +sir?" + +"Why, to Brown Keroual," continued the Count, "I was going to say, +that he is engaged in a matter contrary to all law and order, heading +a band of robbers which must be----" + +"I beg your pardon, sir," interrupted Herval somewhat impatiently, +"not robbers! If you please, a band of _chauve-souris_. They rob no +man: they only plunder the enemy; and let me tell you, my Lord Count, +that there is many a man more or less joined with that band, who would +just as soon think of robbing another as you would.--Has any thing +been asked for the ring, though it was the ring of a Papist? Was not +the money that was taken from you restored?" + +"It was," replied the Count; "but we must not be too nice about our +terms, Herval. I do not know any law, human or divine, that allows a +man to pick and choose at his own will and pleasure whom he will rob, +and whom he will murder." + +"Ay, my noble Lord," answered the man, getting warm; "but there is a +law of nature, which, after all, is a law of God, and which not only +justifies but requires us to destroy him who would destroy us; and, +whether it be straightforwardly that he is seeking our destruction, or +by cunning and crooked paths, it matters not, we have a right to +prevent him by every means in our power, and if we catch hold of him, +to knock him on the head like a viper or any other noxious vermin." + +"In all cases but direct attack," answered the Count, "civil society +gives our defence into the hands of the law." + +"But when the law and its ministers are leagued with the destroyers, +with the real plunderers, with the real disturbers of the public +peace," exclaimed the man vehemently, "we must make a new law for +ourselves, and be its officers also." + +The Count did not interrupt him, as he was very well pleased to be +made acquainted clearly with all the views and opinions of that body +of men whom Armand Herval might be supposed to represent; and the +soldier went on with great volubility, and some eloquence, to defend +the right of resistance with all the well-known arguments upon the +subject, which have been repeated and combated a thousand times; but +he came not a bit nearer than any who had gone before him to the real +question at issue, namely, where the duty of submission ceased and the +right of resistance began. We must remember that not only the higher +orders, but also the lower classes of French Protestants were at that +time much more generally enlightened and accustomed to the use of +their own reason, than the Catholics, and the natural consequence of +any attempt to oppress them, was to render such arguments as those +used by Herval, very common amongst them. Neither was the Count de +Morseiul prepared to oppose the general scope of the man's reasoning, +though he was determined to resist the practical misapplication of it, +which was then actively going on in the province. + +"I will not argue with you, Herval," he said, "nor will I attempt to +persuade you that what the council is doing now, and may do against us +poor Protestants, is right, feeling it as I do to be wrong. But, +nevertheless, I think--nay, I am sure--that such proceedings, as those +of the band we speak of, are perfectly incompatible with our duty to +the King and our fellow-subjects, and likely to produce infinitely +greater evil to the reformed religion than good. The existence of such +bands will give an excuse for sending a large military force into the +province, for persecuting the Protestants still farther, and for +taking such precautions that even, if a crisis were to come, in which +the resistance to oppression which you speak of were necessary, it +would be rendered hopeless by the prepared state of the enemy. In the +mean time it is wrong, because, at the best, it is carrying on what +you call hostilities without a declaration of war; it is dangerous to +the peaceful even of our own friends, as has been shown in my case, +and in that of two ladies of the governor's family, who is most warmly +interested in our behalf; and it is degrading a powerful and just +cause in the eyes of all men, by giving its supporters the air of +night plunderers." + +"As for a declaration of war," replied Herval, "they have made that +themselves by their own acts, and as to the rest of what you say, sir, +there are objections certainly. Did I but see our noblemen like +yourself, and our ministers preparing a good resistance to tyranny and +injustice, I would be as quiet as a lamb. But I see nothing of the +kind; you are all sitting still in your houses, and waiting till they +come to cut your throats. So as there must and shall be resistance of +some kind, and it must begin by the lower instead of the higher, we +must even take the lesser of two evils, and go on as we have done." + +Armand Herval spoke, as was common with him when at all heated, with +very little reverence or respect in his tone; but Albert of Morseiul +was not of a character to suffer himself to be irritated in the +slightest degree by any want of formal respect. No man knew better how +to preserve his own dignity without making any exaction, and he +accordingly replied, with perfect calmness,-- + +"I should be sorry, Armand, that our good friend Brown Keroual should +persist in conduct which may make a division amongst different classes +of the Protestants, at the very moment that we require union for our +common safety. You will therefore let him know at once, that I am +determined, upon my own lands, to put an end to this system; that my +forest and my moors shall no longer hold these _chauve-souris_. The +day after to-morrow I shall begin my operations, and as I know the +country as well as any man in it, shall have no difficulty in putting +my plans in execution. Keroual knows me for a man of my word, and I +must not have one single man disguised and in arms any where within my +jurisdiction at the end of three days from this time." + +The man smiled with a grim but less dissatisfied look than the Count +had expected. "They none of them wish to give you offence, sir," he +replied, "and can easily move off your lands to others." + +"That they must do," replied the Count, "but there is something more +still to be said. When once off my lands, they may doubtless consider +that the matter is at an end; but such is not the case." + +"My Lord, if you follow us off your lands," said Armand, dropping +farther disguise, and making use of the pronoun of the first person, +"if you follow us off your own lands, you must take the consequences." + +"I am always prepared to do so," replied the Count. "My purpose is not +of course to follow any of you off my own lands, unless I am summoned +to do so; but if I am summoned, which will immediately be the case if +there be any renewal of outrages whatsoever, I shall most assuredly +use my whole power, and employ my whole means, to put down that which +I know to be wrong." + +The man to whom he spoke gazed sternly upon the ground for a moment or +two, and seemed to be struggling with various contending feelings. +"Come, my Lord Count," he said at length, "I will tell you what. Every +one who has served under you knows that you are as brave a man, as +kind an officer, and as skilful a commander as any that ever lived, +and we are all willing to do what we can to please you in your own +way. If you would put yourself at our head, there is not a man amongst +us that would not follow you to death itself.--No, but hear me out, my +Lord; don't answer till you have heard.--We get quicker information +than even you can get, for with us it flies from mouth to mouth like +lightning. We have no long written letters, but as soon as a thing is +known, one man tells it to another, and so it comes down here. Now we +know what most likely you don't know, that every thing is settled in +Paris for putting down the reformed religion altogether. We know, too, +which I see you don't know, that the Duc de Rouvré has received orders +from the court to resign the government of the province, and retire to +Ruffigny, without presenting himself at the court. Now depend upon it, +my Lord, before a fortnight be over, you will have to rouse yourself +against this oppression, to make the voice of remonstrance heard in +firmer tones, and with arms in your hand. You know it as well as I do, +and I know you are no more afraid of doing it than I am; but only, +like all the rest of the people about the court, you have gone mad +concerning a thing called loyalty, and have got your head filled with +ideas of respect and veneration for the King--simply because he is the +King and wears a crown--when if the truth were known, he is not so +much worthy of respect and veneration as any of our peasants who drive +a team of oxen, with a whip of sheep leather, from one end of the +field to the other. A selfish, voluptuous, adulterous tyrant----" + +"Hush, hush," exclaimed the Count, "I can neither stay nor hear, if +you proceed in such terms as those." + +"Well, well," said the man, "though what I say is true, and you know +it, my Lord Count, I wo'n't go on if it offends you. But what I was +going to say besides is this. You have got your head filled with these +ideas; you wish to do every thing respectfully and loyally; you wish +to show the most profound respect for the law, and be compelled to +resist before you do resist. But are our enemies doing the same +towards us? Are they showing any respect for the law, or for justice, +or good faith, honour, honesty, or treaties? No, no, they are taking +step by step, and ruining us piecemeal! My Lord, you are like a man in +a fortress, with a truce between him and a perfidious enemy, who takes +advantage of his good nature to get possession of one outpost after +another, then marches over the glacis, lodges himself on the +counterscarp, erects his batteries, points his cannon, and says, 'Now, +surrender, or I'll blow you to pieces!' This is what you are suffering +to be done, my Lord; and, at one word, if you, Count, will come and +put yourself at our head to resist oppression, you shall have two +hundred men at one whistle; and ere five days be over you shall have +two thousand; before ten days ten thousand. Will you do it?" + +"Undoubtedly not," replied the Count. "Were the time to come that all +other means having failed, I should be forced to stand upon my own +defence, and the defence of my fellow Protestants, I would openly +plant my banner on the hill of Morseiul, stand upon the +straightforward justice of my cause, point to the unvarying loyalty of +my life, and demand simple justice for myself and my brethren." + +"And you would find all confusion and consternation in your own +party," replied the man, "not a skeleton even of a regiment ready to +support you, the timid abandoning you, and the brave unprepared. You +would find, on the other side, the enemy upon you before you knew +where you were; instead of justice you would get persecution, and, +before a fortnight was over, your head would be rolling about the +Place de Grève. Well, well, be it so!--I will help you yet, my Lord, +whether you like it or not, and when the day of danger comes, you may +find Brown Keroual and his band nearer to your hand than you imagine. +In the mean time, we will keep as quiet as may be. But if you hear of +a few Jesuits and Lazarites being hung, you must not be surprised, +that's all.--Have you any thing farther to say to me, my Lord? for it +is now quite dark; and, like a sober peaceable man," he added with a +laugh, "I must be going home to supper. One or two of my companions +may come to fetch me, too." + +"I have nothing farther to say, Armand," replied the Count, "except, +perhaps, it were a word of caution about that young person I saw with +you just now; and who, I must say, I was sorry to see with you." + +"Why, my Lord, why?" demanded the man quickly; "you don't suppose I +would do her hurt. I would not injure her, so help me God! for the +whole world. If you had not come up, I should have taken her back in +five minutes." + +"I do not suppose you would wrong her, Herval," said the Count, "by no +means do I suppose such a thing; but she out here with you, with a +novice's veil on! She is evidently some Roman Catholic girl in a +monastery, and I would have you cautious on that account." + +"Oh, my lord," replied the man, "the time for caution is all over now. +We are soon coming to a setting to rights of all those things. Quiet +cannot be kept up above a fortnight longer, and then the doors of more +than one convent will be as wide open as the sea. One of three things +must then happen. We shall either have established our rights, and my +little novice will be out of her fetters; or we shall be defeated and +I killed, and that matter over; or defeated, yet living and flying +away with her, pretty soul, to some country where we may be united in +peace." + +"Yes, yes," replied the Count; "but you do not reflect what you may +bring upon her head in the mean time. She may be removed from that +convent to another, where you can never reach her. If these wanderings +with you are detected, she may be subjected too to punishments and +penances, such as you have no idea of." + +The man laughed aloud. "No fear, my Lord, no fear," he said; "the good +mothers dare no more send her away than they dare lose their right +hand. They would fancy the convent in flames the very first night she +slept out of it. Why, she is their guardian angel, at least so they +think; and she is specially appointed to bring their tribute, +consisting of a silver crown and a flask of wine, twice in the week to +Brown Keroual, in virtue of which they obtain his protection against +all bands and companies whatsoever. The only stipulation they made +when the tribute was demanded, was, that he was on no account to tell +the director; and when the director, who is a greater old woman than +any one amongst them, heard it in confession, he added, a fifteen sous +piece once a week for himself, with no other stipulation than that +Brown Keroual was not to tell the Bishop; so that twice in the week +the dear child brings me the tribute--ay, and the real tribute, for +which I sought, of her own sweet company. Nobody dares watch her, +nobody dares follow her; and as she is always absent the same time, +and always back again before the bat's wing is to be seen flitting in +the air, they ask no questions, but judging the distance long, exempt +her from vespers, that she may accomplish it more easily. And now, my +Lord Count," he continued, "I must leave you, for my people will be +waiting for me. I think where we now stand is off your lordship's +ground, for I could not well give up this meeting place. But farther +than this, I shall not come, till the time when you shall be very +willing to thank Brown Keroual for his help." + +The Count made no reply to his words, but wishing him good night, he +left him, and rejoined his servants. He then rode quickly homeward, +but was somewhat surprised, as he climbed the steep towards the +castle, to see a full blaze of light pouring through the windows of +the lesser hall. On entering the gates, however, he saw several horses +and servants in the liveries of the Chevalier d'Evran, and found his +friend seated at supper in the hall above. + +"You see, Albert," said the Chevalier, rising and grasping his hand as +he came in, "you see what liberties I take, and what account I make of +your friendship. Here I come, and order all sorts of viands without +ceremony, simply because I have ridden hard and am desperately an +hungred." + +His countenance was frank and open, though not perhaps so cheerful in +its expression as usual; his manner was free and unembarrassed, and +seemed not as if any thing that had occurred at Poitiers would have +the slightest tendency to diminish the friendship and intimacy that +existed between him and the Count. Albert of Morseiul, however, could +not feel exactly the same. He could not divest his mind of a vague +feeling of jealous disquietude in regard to the confident intimacy +which seemed to exist between the Chevalier d'Evran and Clémence de +Marly. However hopeless might be his own love towards her--however +much he might have taught himself that despair was in his case +wisdom--however strong might be his resolutions to resist every +temptation to seek her society any more, there was something painful +to him that he could not overcome, in the idea of the Chevalier being +constantly at her side; and although his regard and affection for his +friend were not diminished, yet there was an unpleasant feeling at his +heart when he saw him, which perhaps might make some difference in his +manner. + +"Many thanks for doing so, Louis," he answered, struggling hard +against his own feelings, "many thanks for doing so. What news bring +you from Poitiers?" + +The Chevalier did not appear to feel any difference in the manner of +his friend, and replied, "But little news, Albert, and that not good. +I was but one day in Poitiers before I set off in haste. I found every +thing in confusion and derangement. The states split into factions; +the governor, the intendant, and the bishop, at open war with each +other; cabals of the basest and blackest character going on in every +quarter of the town; good Madame de Rouvré wishing her husband any +thing but a governor; and Clémence de Marly looking pale, ill, and +sorrowful. I stayed but a sufficient time," he continued, not giving +the Count an opportunity to make any observations, "I stayed but a +sufficient time to make myself thoroughly acquainted with all that was +proceeding, and then set off at once for the purpose of proceeding to +Paris with all speed. I came to spend two or three hours with you, +Albert, at the most, for I must hurry on without delay. The King, you +know, is my godfather, and I trust that my representation of what is +taking place at Poitiers may do some good. If it do not, de Rouvré is +ruined, and a most pitiful intrigue triumphant." + +"I trust in Heaven that you may be successful," replied the Count; +"but proceed with your supper, d'Evran." + +"I will, I will," replied the Chevalier, "but will you let me give you +one more proof of how much at home I can make myself in your house, by +giving an order to your servants?" + +"Most assuredly," replied the Count; "you have nothing to do but to +speak." + +"It is this, then," said the Chevalier; "you will be good enough, +Master Jerome Riquet, to make all these worthy gentlemen who are +assisting you to serve my supper march out of the room in single file. +Now come, Master Riquet, do it in an officer-like way. You have seen +service, I know." + +Riquet seemed well pleased at the honourable task conferred upon him, +and according to the Chevalier's direction made the servants troop out +of the room one by one, he himself preparing to remain as a +confidential person to serve the Count and his friend during the +conversation which he doubted not was to ensue. The Chevalier, +however, as soon as he saw himself obeyed so far, again raised his +voice, saying,-- + +"Now, Master Riquet, you have executed the man[oe]uvre so well, that +it is a pity your men should be without their officer. You will be +good enough to follow them." + +Riquet made a sort of semi-pirouette on the tips of his toes, and +disappointed, though perhaps not surprised, marched out of the room, +and shut the door. + +"Albert," said the Chevalier, as soon as he was gone, "I am afraid, +very much afraid, that all is lost for the cause of you Huguenots. +There are people about the King, who must be mad to counsel him as +they do. All the news I have, which perhaps you know already, is as +sad as it can be. There wants but one more step to be taken for the +utter abolition of what you call the reformed religion in France--I +mean the abolition of the privileges granted by the edict of +Nantes--and perhaps that step will be taken before I can reach Paris." + +"So quickly?" exclaimed the Count. + +"Even so!" rejoined his friend. "All the mad-like steps which have +been taken by the council have been applauded by one general roar of +the whole clergy of France. Petition after petition has come in from +every Catholic body through the land, beseeching the King to do you +every sort of injustice, and I feel convinced that they are persuading +him, while he is risking a civil war, ruining his provinces, and +exasperating some of his most faithful subjects, that he is acting +justly, politicly and religiously, and is, in short, a saint upon +earth, notwithstanding all his mistresses. I pretend to no power over +the King or influence with him, except inasmuch as I can often say to +him, in my wild rambling way, things that nobody else could say, and +dare to tell him under the same cloak many an unpleasant fact that +others will not tell him. However, my object now is to open his eyes +about de Rouvré, to whom I am too deeply bound by ties of gratitude to +see him injured and calumniated, if I can help it. I would fain ask +you, Albert, what you intend to do, how you intend to act, when these +rash measures are pushed to the extreme against you; but yet it is +unfair to give you the pain of refusing me, and perhaps unwise to seek +a share in secrets which I ought not to know, or, knowing, to reveal." + +"As far as any thing has yet passed," replied the Count, "there is +nothing either to conceal or to reveal, Louis. It will be difficult +for the King to tire out my loyalty. I am determined to bear to the +very utmost. What I shall do when the very utmost bound of endurance +is passed I do not know, having as yet settled nothing in my own +mind." + +"I cannot think," continued the Chevalier, "that the King will +individually treat you ill, who have served him so well; but with +regard to your religion, depend upon it the utmost extremes are +determined upon already." + +"I grieve to hear it," replied the Count, "but it is not more than I +expected. The rapidity of these measures gives no time for calm and +loyal remonstrance or petition to make the King aware of the real +truth." + +"Such is indeed the case," said the Chevalier. "Couriers are arriving +at Poitiers and taking their departure again five or six times in the +day, killing the horses on the road, setting off fat men themselves +and returning thin.--I know this is no joking matter, Albert, and I am +anxious to do what little good I can. I am therefore going to follow +the example of these couriers, and as soon as I have seen the King, +and obtained some satisfaction on these matters, I shall return hither +with all speed to watch the progress of events, and if possible to +shield and protect my friends. In this quarter of the world," he +added, holding out his hand to the Count with a frank smile, "in this +quarter of the world are all those for whom I entertain any very +sincere affection; de Rouvré, who has befriended me from my youth, and +never lost an opportunity of serving me; you, Albert, who have been my +companion for many years in perils and dangers, to whom I owe the +immense benefit of a good example, and the no less inestimable +blessing of a noble mind to communicate with under all circumstances." + +"And Clémence de Marly," said the Count, with a melancholy smile, "of +course you will add Clémence de Marly, Chevalier." + +"Assuredly," replied the Chevalier, "assuredly, Albert, I will add +Clémence de Marly. I will not ask you, Albert, why you look at me +reproachfully. Clémence, I believe from my heart, loves you, and I +scruple not to tell you so. If it were not for the cursed obstacle of +your religion, you might both be happy. That is a terrible obstacle, +it is true; but were it not for that--I say--you might both be happy, +and your example and her love for you might do away the only faults +she has, and make her to you a perfect angel, though there is not one +other man in France, perhaps, whom she could endure or render happy. +She also, and her fate, are amongst the objects of my journey to +Paris; but of that I shall tell you nothing till I can tell you all." + +"I know you are a man of mysteries," said the Count with a faint +smile, "and therefore I suppose I must neither attempt to investigate +this, nor to enquire how it is, that the gay and gallant Chevalier +d'Evran is in one way insensible to charms which he is so sensible of +in other respects." + +"You are right, Albert, not to make any such attempt," replied the +Chevalier. "With respect to love for Clémence, a thousand causes may +have produced the peculiar feelings I entertain towards her. I may +_have loved_ and been cured." + +The Count made no reply, but fell into a reverie; and after gazing on +him for a minute or two the Chevalier added, "You, Albert, love her, +and are not cured." + +His friend, however, was still silent, and, changing the conversation, +the Chevalier talked of indifferent things, and did not return to +subjects of such painful interest, till midnight came, and he once +more took his departure from the château of Morseiul. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + THE PREACHING IN THE DESERT. + + +Again we must pass over a brief space of time, and also somewhat +change the scene, but not very far. In the interval, the acts of a +bigoted and despotic monarch had been guided by the advice of cruel +and injudicious ministers, till the formal prohibition of the opening +of any Protestant place of worship throughout France for the service +of God, according to the consciences of the members of the reformed +church, had been proclaimed throughout the land. Such had been the +change, or rather the progress, made in that time; and the falling off +of many leading Protestants, the disunion which existed amongst +others, the overstrained loyalty of some, and the irresolution of +many, had shown to even the calmer and the firmer spirits, who might +still have conducted resistance against tyranny to a successful +result, that though, perhaps, they might shed oceans of blood, the +Protestant cause in France was lost, at least for the time. + +The scene, too, we have said, was changed. + +It was no longer the city of Poitiers, with its multitudes and its gay +parties; it was no longer the château, with its lord and his +attendants; it was no longer the country town, with its citizens and +its artizans; but it was upon one of those dark brown moors of which +so many are to be found on the borders of Brittany and Poitou, under +the canopy of heaven alone, and with nothing but the bleakest objects +in nature round about. + +The moor had a gentle slope towards the westward. It was covered with +gorse and heath, interspersed with old ragged hawthorns, stunted and +partly withered, as we often see, some being brought up in poverty and +neglect, never knowing care or shelter, stinted and sickly, and +shrivelling with premature decay. Cast here and there amongst the +thorns, too, were large masses of rock and cold grey stone, the +appearance of which in that place was difficult to account for, as +there was no higher ground around from which such masses could have +fallen. A small wood of pines had been planted near the summit of the +ground, but they, too, had decayed prematurely in that ungrateful +soil; and though each tree presented here and there some scrubby tufts +of dark green foliage, the principal branches stood out, white and +blasted, skeleton fingers pointing in despairing mockery at the wind +that withered them. + +The hour was about six o'clock in the evening, and as if to accord +with the earth below it, there was a cold and wintry look about the +sky which the season did not justify; and the long blue lines of dark +cloud, mingled with streaks of yellow and orange towards the verge of +heaven, seemed to bespeak an early autumn. There was one little pond +in the foreground of the picture sunk deep amongst some banks and +hawthorn bushes, and looking dark and stern as every thing around it. +Flapping up from it, however, scared by the noise of a horse's feet, +rose a large white stork, contrasting strangely with the dim shadowy +waters. + +The person that startled the bird by passing nearer to him than any +body else had done, rode forward close by the head of the pond to a +spot about three hundred yards farther on, where a great multitude of +people were assembled, perhaps to the number of two thousand. He was +followed by several servants; but it is to be remarked that both +servants and lord were unarmed. He himself did not even wear the +customary sword, without which not a gentleman in France was seen at +any distance from his own house, and no apparent arms of any kind, not +even the small knife or dagger, often worn by a page, was visible +amongst the attendants. There was a buzz of many voices as he +approached, but it was instantly silenced, when, dismounting from his +horse, he gave the rein to a servant, and then advanced to meet one or +two persons who drew out from the crowd as if privileged by intimacy +to speak with him. The first of these was Claude de l'Estang, whose +hand he took and shook affectionately, though mournfully. The second +was a tall thin ravenous-looking personage, with sharp-cut lengthened +features, a keen, but somewhat unsettled, we might almost use the word +phrenzied, eye, and an expression of countenance altogether neither +very benevolent nor very prepossessing. He also took the Count's hand, +saying, "I am glad to see thee, my son; I am glad to see thee. Thou +art somewhat behind the time, and in this great day of backsliding and +falling off I feared that even thou, one of our chief props and +greatest lights, might have departed from us into the camp of the +Philistines." + +"Fear not, Monsieur Chopel," replied the Count; "I trust there is no +danger of such weakness on my part. I was detained to write a letter +in answer to one from good Monsieur de Rouvré, who has suffered so +much in our cause, and who, it seems, arrived at Ruffigny last night." + +"I know he did," said Claude de l'Estang; "but pray, my dear Albert, +before either myself or our good brother, Monsieur Chopel, attempt to +lead the devotions of the people, do you speak a few words of comfort +and consolation to them, and above all things counsel them to peace +and tranquil doings." + +The Count paused and seemed to hesitate for a moment. In truth, the +task that was put upon him was not pleasant to him, and he would fain +have avoided it; but accustomed to overcome all repugnance to that +which was right, he conquered himself with scarcely a struggle, and +advanced with Claude de l'Estang into the midst of the people, who +made way with respectful reverence, as he sought for some slightly +elevated point from which to address them more easily. Chopel and +l'Estang, however, had chosen a sort of rude rock for their pulpit +before he came, and having been led thither, the Count mounted upon +it, and took off his hat, as a sign that he was about to speak. All +voices were immediately hushed, and he then went on. + +"My brethren," he said, "we are here assembled to worship God +according to our own consciences, and to the rules and doctrines of +the reformed church. In so doing we are not failing in our duty to the +King, who, as sovereign of these realms, is the person whom, under +God, we are most bound to obey and reverence. It has seemed fit to his +Majesty, from motives, upon which I will not touch, to withdraw from +us much that was granted by his predecessors. He has ordered the +temples in which we are accustomed to worship to be closed, so that on +this, the Sabbath day, we have no longer any place of permitted +worship but in the open air. That, however, has not been denied us; +there is no prohibition to our meeting and praising God here, and this +resource at least is allowed us, which, though it may put us to some +slight inconvenience and discomfort, will not the less afford the +sincere and devout an opportunity of raising their prayers to the +Almighty, in company with brethren of the same faith and doctrines as +themselves. We know that God does not dwell in temples made with +hands; and I have only to remind you, my brethren, before giving place +to our excellent ministers, who will lead our devotions this day, that +the God we have assembled to worship is also a God of peace, who has +told us, by the voice of his Son, not to revile those who revile us, +nor smite those that smite us, but to bear patiently all things, +promising that those who endure to the last shall be saved. I +appointed this place," he continued, "for our meeting, because it was +far from any town, and consequently we shall have few here from idle +curiosity, and afford no occasion of offence to any man. I begged you +earnestly to come unarmed also, as I myself have done, that there +might be no doubt of our views and purposes being pacific. I am happy +to see that all have followed this advice, I believe without +exception, and also that there are several women amongst us, which, I +trust, is a sign that, in the strait and emergency in which we now +are, they will not abandon their husbands, their fathers, and their +brothers, for any inducement, but continue to serve God in the faith +in which they have been brought up." + +Having thus spoken, the Count gave place and descended amongst the +people, retiring several steps from the little sort of temporary +pulpit, and preparing to go through the service of the reformed +church, as if he had been within the walls of the temple his father +had built in Morseiul, and which was now ordered to be levelled with +the ground. + +After a few words between Claude de l'Estang and Chopel, the latter +mounted the pulpit and gave out a psalm, the ----, which he led +himself, in a voice like thunder. The whole congregation joined; and +though the verses that they repeated were in the simple unadorned +words of the olden times, and the voices that sung them not always in +perfect harmony, yet the sound of that melody in the midst of the +desert had something strangely impressive, nay, even affecting. The +hearts of a people that would not bow down before man, bowed down +before God; and they who in persecution and despair had lost all trust +on earth, in faith and hope raised their voices unto heaven with +praise and adoration. + +When the psalm was over, and the minds of all men prepared for prayer, +the clergyman who had given out the psalm, closing his eyes and +spreading his hands, turned his face towards the sky and began his +address to the Almighty. We shall not pause upon the words that he +made use of here, as it would be irreverent to use them lightly; but +it is sufficient to say, that he mingled many themes with his address +that both Claude de l'Estang and the Count de Morseiul wished had been +omitted. He thanked God for the trial and purification to which he had +subjected his people: but in doing so, he dwelt so long upon, and +entered so deeply into, the nature of all those trials and grievances +and the source from which they sprang, pointed out with such virulent +acrimony the tyranny and the persecution which the reformed church had +suffered, and clothed so aptly, nay, so eloquently, his petitions +against the persecutors and enemies of the church, in the sublime +language of scripture, that the Count could not but feel that he was +very likely to stir up the people to seek their deliverance with their +own hand and think themselves fully justified by holy writ; or, at all +events, to exasperate their already excited passions, and render the +least spark likely to cast them into a flame. + +Albert of Morseiul was uneasy while this was proceeding, especially as +the prayer lasted an extraordinary length of time, and he could not +refrain from turning to examine the countenances of some of the +persons present, in order to discover what was the effect produced +upon them, especially as he saw a man, standing between him and the +rock on which the preacher stood, grasp something under his cloak, as +if the appearance of being unarmed was, in that case, not quite real. +Near to him were one or two women wrapped up in the large grey cloaks +of the country, and they obstructed his view to the right; but at some +distance straight before him he saw the burly form of Virlay, the +blacksmith, and close by him again the stern, but expressive, +countenance of Armand Herval. Scattered round about, too, he remarked +a considerable number of men with a single cock's feather stuck in the +front of the hat, which, though bands of feathers and similar +ornaments were very much affected, even by the lower classes of that +period, was by no means a common decoration in the part of the country +where he then was. + +Every thing, indeed, was peaceable and orderly in the demeanour of the +crowd: no one pressed upon the other, no one moved, no one spoke, but +each and all stood in deep silence, listening to the words of the +minister; but they listened with frowning brows and stern dark looks, +and the young Count felt thankful that the lateness of the hour, and +the distance from any town, rendered it unlikely that the proceedings +would be interrupted by the interference, or even appearance, of any +of the Catholic authorities of the province. + +The prayer of the clergyman Chopel at length came to an end; and, as +had been previously arranged between them, Claude de l'Estang, in +turn, advanced. Another hymn was sung; and the ejected minister of +Auron commenced, what was then called amongst the Huguenots of France, +"the preaching in the desert." On mounting the rock that served them +for a pulpit, the old man seemed a good deal affected; and twice he +wiped away tears from his eyes, while he gazed round upon the people +with a look of strong interest and affection, which every one present +saw and felt deeply. He then paused for a moment in silent prayer, +and, when it was concluded, took a step forward with the Bible open in +his hand, his demeanour changed, the spirit of the orator upon him, +and high and noble energy lighting up his eyes and shining on his +lofty brow. + +"The nineteenth verse of the twenty-first chapter of St. Luke," he +said, "_In your patience possess ye your souls!_" + +"My brethren, let us be patient, for to such as are so, is promised +the kingdom of heaven. My brethren, let us be patient, for so we are +taught by the living word of God. My brethren, let us be patient, for +Christ was patient, even unto death, before us. What! shall we know +that the saints and prophets of God have been scorned, and mocked, and +persecuted, in all ages? what! shall we know that the apostles of +Christ, the first teachers of the gospel of grace, have been scourged, +and driven forth, and stoned and slain? what! shall we know that, for +ages, the destroying sword was out, from land to land, against our +brethren in the Lord? what! shall we know that he himself closed a +life of poverty and endurance, by submitting willingly to insult, +buffeting, and a torturing death?--and shall we not bear our cross +meekly? What! I ask again, shall we know that the church of Christ was +founded in persecution, built up by the death of saints, cemented by +the blood of martyrs, and yet rose triumphant over the storms of +heathen wrath; and shall we doubt that yet, even yet, we shall stand +and not be cast down? Shall we refuse to seal the covenant with our +blood, or to endure the reproach of our Lord even unto the last? + +"Yes, my brethren, yes! God will give you, and me also, grace to do +so; and though 'ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, +and kinsfolk, and friends, and some of you shall they cause to be put +to death,' yet the faithful and the true shall endure unto the last, +and '_in your patience possess ye your souls_.' + +"But there is more required at your hands than patience, my brethren. +There is constancy! perseverance in the way of the Lord! There must be +no falling off in the time of difficulty or danger; there must be no +hesitation in the service of our God. We have put our hands to the +plough, and we must not look back. We have engaged in the great work, +and we must not slacken our diligence. Remember, my brethren, +remember, that the most fiery persecution is but the trial of our +faith, and all who strive for a great reward, all who struggle for the +glory of the kingdom of heaven, must be as gold ten times purified in +the fire. Were it not so even,--were we not Christians,--had we not +the word of God for our direction,--had we not the command of Christ +to obey, where is the man amongst us that would falsify the truth, +declare that thing wrong which he believed to be right, swear that he +believed that which he knew to be false, put on the garb of hypocrisy +and clothe himself with falsehood as with a garment, to shield himself +from the scourge of the scorner or the sword of the persecutor? + +"If there be such a coward or such a hypocrite here, let him go forth +from amongst us, and Satan, the father of lies, shall conduct him to +the camp of the enemy. Where is the man amongst us, I say, that, were +there nothing to restrain him but the inward voice of conscience, +would show himself so base as to abandon the faith of his fathers, in +the hour of persecution? + +"But when we know that we are right, when the word of God is our +warrant, when our faith in Christ is our stay, when the object before +us is the glory of God and our own salvation, who would be fool enough +to barter eternal condemnation for the tranquillity of a day? Who +would not rather sell all that he has, and take up his cross and +follow Christ, than linger by the flesh-pots of Egypt, and dwell in +the tents of sin? + +"Christ foretold, my brethren, that those who followed him faithfully +should endure persecution to the end of the earth. He won us not by +the promises of earthly glory, he seduced us not by the allurements of +worldly wealth, he held out no inducement to our ambition by the +promises of power and authority, he bribed not our pride by the hope +of man's respect and reverence. Oh, no; himself, _The Word of God_, +which is but to say all in one word, _Truth_; he told us all things +truly; he laid before us, as our lot below, poverty, contempt, and +scorn, the world's reproach, the calumny of the evil, chains, +tortures, and imprisonment, contumely, persecution, and death. These +he set before us as our fate, these he suffered as our example, these +he endured with patience for our atonement! Those who became followers +of Christ knew well the burden that they took up; saw the load that +they had here to bear; and, strengthened by faith and by the Holy +Spirit, shrunk not from the task, groaned not under the weight of the +cross. They saw before their eyes the exceeding great reward,--the +reward that was promised to them, the reward that is promised to us, +the reward that is promised to all who shall endure unto the last,--to +enter into the joy of our Master, to become a partaker of the kingdom +reserved for him from before all worlds. + +"We must therefore, my brethren, endure; we must endure unto the last; +but we must endure with patience, and with forbearance, and with +meekness, and with gentleness; and 'it shall turn to us for a +testimony,' it shall produce for us a reward. They may smite us here, +and they may slay us, and they may bring us down to the dust of death; +but he has promised that not a hair of our heads shall perish, and +that _in our patience shall we possess our souls_. + +"The woe that he denounced against Jerusalem, did it not fall upon it? +When the day of vengeance came, that all things written were to be +fulfilled, did not armies compass it about, and desolation draw nigh +unto it, and was not distress great in the land and wrath upon the +people, and did not millions fall by the sword, and were not millions +led away captives into all nations, and was not Jerusalem trodden down +of the Gentiles, and was there one stone left upon another? + +"If, then, God, the God of mercy, so fulfilled each word, when kindled +to exercise wrath; how much more shall he fulfil every tittle of his +gracious promises to those that serve him? If, then, the prophecies of +destruction have been fulfilled, so, also, shall be the prophecies of +grace and glory, by Him whose words pass not away, though heaven and +earth may pass away. For sorrows and endurance in time, he has +promised us glory and peace in eternity; and for the persecutions +which we now suffer, he gives to those, who endure unto the last, the +recompence of his eternal joy. + +"With endurance we shall live, and _with patience we shall possess our +souls_; and we--if we so do, serving God in this life under all +adversities--shall have peace, the peace of God which passeth all +understanding; joy, the joy of the Lord, who has trodden down his +enemies; glory, the glory of the knowledge of God, when he cometh with +clouds and great glory, and every eye shall see him, and they, also, +which pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of +him. Even so, Amen." + +The words of the preacher were poured forth rather than spoken. It +seemed less like eloquence than like inspiration. His full, round, +clear voice was heard through every part of his large auditory; not a +word was lost, not a tone was indistinct, and the people listened with +that deep stern silence which causes a general rustle, like the +sighing of the wind, to take place through the multitude when he +paused for a moment in his discourse, and every one drew deep the +long-suppressed breath. + +In the same strain, and with the same powers of voice and gesture, +Claude de l'Estang was going on with his sermon, when some sounds were +heard at the farther part of the crowd, towards the spot where the +scene was sheltered by the stunted wood we have mentioned: As those +sounds were scarcely sufficient to give any interruption to the +minister, being merely those apparently of some other persons +arriving, the Count de Morseiul, and almost every one on that side of +the preacher, remained gazing upon him as he went on with the same +energy, and did not turn their heads to see what occasioned the noise. + +Those, however, who were on the opposite side, and who, when looking +towards the minister, had at the same time in view the spot from which +the sounds proceeded, were seen to gaze sternly from time to time in +that direction; and once or twice, notwithstanding the solemn words +they heard, stooped down their heads together, and spoke in whispering +consultation. These appearances at length induced the Count de +Morseiul to turn his eyes that way; when he beheld a sight, which at +once made his blood boil, but made him thankful also that he had come +in such guise as even to act as a restraint upon himself, having no +arms of any kind upon him. + +At the skirt of the crowd were collected a party of eighteen or twenty +dragoons, who were forcing their horses slowly in amongst the people, +who drew back, and gazed upon them with looks of stern determined +hatred. The purpose of the soldiers, indeed, seemed to be simply to +insult and to annoy, for they did not proceed to any overt act of +violence, and were so far separated from each other, in a disorderly +manner, that it could only be supposed they came thither to find +themselves sport, rather than to disperse the congregation by any +lawful authority. The foremost of the whole party was the young +Marquis de Hericourt, and Albert of Morseiul conceived, perhaps not +unreasonably, that there might be some intention of giving him +personal annoyance at the bottom of that young officer's conduct. + +Distinguished from the rest of the people by his dress, the Count was +very plainly to be seen from the spot where De Hericourt was, and the +young dragoon slowly made his way towards him through the press, +looking at the people on either side with but ill-concealed signs of +contempt upon his countenance. + +The Count determined, as far as possible, to set an example of +patience; and when the rash youth came close up to him, saying aloud, +"Ha, Monsieur de Morseiul, a lucky opportunity! I have long wished to +hear a _prêche_," the Count merely raised his hand as a sign for the +young man to keep silence, and pointed with his right hand to the +pastor, who with an undisturbed demeanour and steady voice pursued his +sermon as if not the slightest interruption had occurred, although the +young dragoon on horseback in the midst of his people, was at that +moment before him. + +De Hericourt was bent upon mischief, however. Rash to the pitch of +folly, he had neither inquired nor considered whether the people were +armed or not, but having heard that one of the preachings in the +desert was to take place, he had come, unauthorised, for the purpose +of disturbing and dispersing the congregation, not by the force of +law, but by insult and annoyance, which he thought the Protestants +would not dare to resist. He listened, then, for a moment or two to +the words of Claude de l'Estang, seeming, for an instant, somewhat +struck with the impressive manner of the old man; but he soon got +tired, and, turning the bridle of his horse, as if to pass round the +Count de Morseiul, he said again, aloud, "You've got a number of women +here, Monsieur de Morseiul; pretty little heretics, I've no doubt! I +should like to have a look at their faces." + +So saying, he spurred on unceremoniously, driving back five or six +people before him, and caught hold of one of the women--whom we have +noticed as standing not very far from the Count de Morseiul--trying, +at the same time, to pull back the thick veil which was over her face. + +The Count could endure no longer, more especially as, in the grey +cloak and the veil with which the person assailed by the dragoon was +covered, he thought he recognised the dress of the lady he had +formerly seen at the house of Claude de l'Estang. + +Starting forward then instantly to her side, he seized the bridle of +De Hericourt's horse, and forced the animal back almost upon his +haunches. The young officer stooped forward over his saddle bow, +seeking for a pistol in his holster, and at the same moment addressing +an insulting and contemptuous term to the Count. No sooner was it +uttered, however, than he received one single buffet from the hand of +Albert of Morseiul, which cast him headlong from his horse into the +midst of the people. + +Every one was rushing upon him; his dragoons were striving to force +their way forward to the spot; the voice of Claude de l'Estang, though +exerted to its utmost power, was unheard; and in another instant the +rash young man would have been literally torn to pieces by the people +he had insulted. + +But with stern and cool self-possession the Count de Morseiul strode +over him, and held back those that were rushing forward, with his +powerful arms, exclaiming, in a voice of thunder,-- + +"Stand back, my friends, stand back! This is a private quarrel. I must +have no odds against an adversary and a fellow-soldier. Stand back, I +say! We are here man to man, and whoever dares to take him out of my +hands is my enemy, not my friend. Rise, Monsieur de Hericourt," he +said in a lower voice, "rise, mount your horse, and be gone. I cannot +protect you a minute longer." + +Some of the Count's servants, who had been standing near, had by this +time made their way up to him, and with their help he cleared the +space around, shouting to the dragoons who were striving to come up, +and had not clearly seen the transaction which had taken place, "Keep +back, keep back!--I will answer for his life! If you come up there +will be bloodshed!" + +In the mean time the young man had sprung upon his feet, his dress +soiled by the fall, his face glowing like fire, and fury flashing from +his eyes. + +"You have struck me," he cried, glaring upon the Count; "you have +struck me, and I will have your blood." + +"Hush, Sir," said the Count, calmly. "Do not show yourself quite a +madman. Mount your horse, and begone while you may! I shall be at the +château of Morseiul till twelve o'clock tomorrow," he added in a lower +voice. "Mount, mount!" he proceeded in a quicker manner, seeing some +movements on the other side of the crowd of a very menacing kind; +"Mount, if you would live and keep your soldiers' lives another +minute!" + +De Hericourt sprang into the saddle, and, while the Count, in that +tone of command which was seldom disobeyed, exclaimed, "Make way for +him there; let no one impede him;" he spurred on quickly through the +crowd, gathering his men together as he went. + +All eyes were turned to look after him, but the moment he and his +troop were free from the people at the extreme edge of the crowd, he +was seen to speak a word to the man at the head of the file. The +soldiers immediately halted, faced round, and, carrying fire-arms as +they did, coolly unslung their carbines. + +The first impulse of that part of the crowd nearest to the dragoons, +was to press back, while those on the opposite side strove to get +forward, headed by Virlay and Armand Herval. The crush in the centre +was consequently tremendous, but the Count de Morseiul succeeded in +casting himself between the female he had saved and the troopers. At +the very moment that he did so, the dragoons raised their fusees to +their shoulders, and fired at once into the midst of the compact mass +of people. Every shot told; and one unfortunate young man, about two +paces from the Count de Morseiul, received no less than four shots in +his head and throat. A mingled yell of rage and agony rose up from the +people, while a loud exulting laugh broke from the soldiery. But their +triumph was only for a moment, for they were instantly assailed by a +shower of immense stones which knocked one of the troopers off his +horse, and killed him on the spot. + +Herval and Virlay, too, made their way round behind the rock on which +the clergyman had been standing, and it now became apparent that, in +that part of the crowd at least, arms were not wanting, for flash +after flash broke from the dense mass of the advancing multitude, and +swords and pikes were seen gleaming in the air. + +The troopers at length turned their horses and fled, but not before +they had suffered tremendously. The Huguenots pursued, and with +peculiar skill and knowledge of the country, drove them hither and +thither over the moor. Some having mounted the horses which brought +them thither, pursued them into spots that they could not pass, while +some on foot defended the passes and ravines. The Count de Morseiul +and his servants mounted instantly, and rode far and wide over the +place, attempting to stop the effusion of blood, and being, in many +instances, successful in rescuing some of the soldiery from the hands +of the people and from the death they well deserved. Thus passed more +than an hour, till seeing that the light was beginning to fail, and +that the last spot of the sun was just above the horizon, the Count +turned back to the scene of that day's unfortunate meeting, in the +hope of rendering some aid and assistance to the wounded who had been +left behind. + +He had by this time but one servant with him, and when he came to the +spot where the meeting had been held, he found it quite deserted. The +wounded and the dead had been carried away by those who remained; and, +of the rest of the people who had been there, the greater part had +been scattered abroad in pursuit of the fugitive soldiers, while part +had fled in fear to their own homes. There was nothing but the cold +grey rock, and the brown moor stained here and there with blood, and +the dark purple streaks of the evening sky, and the east wind +whistling mournfully through the thin trees. + +"I think, Sir," said the servant, after his master had paused for some +moments in melancholy mood, gazing on the scene around, "I think, Sir, +that I hear voices down by the water, where we put up the stork as we +came." + +The Count listened, and heard voices too, and he instantly turned his +horse thither. By the side of that dark water he found a melancholy +group, consisting of none other but Claude de l'Estang and two female +figures, all kneeling round or supporting the form of a third person, +also a female, who seemed severely hurt. This was the sight which +presented itself to the eyes of the Count from the top of the bank +above; and, dismounting, he sprang down to render what assistance he +could. + +His first attention was turned, of course, almost entirely to the +wounded girl, whose head and shoulders were supported on the knee of +one of the other women, while the pastor was pouring into her ear, in +solemn tones, the words of hope and consolation--but they were words +of hope and consolation referring to another world. The hand that lay +upon her knee was fair and soft, the form seemed young and graceful; +and, though the Count as he descended could not see her face, the +novice's veil that hung from her head told him a sad tale in regard to +the story of her life. He doubted not, from all he saw, that she was +dying; and his heart sickened when he thought of the unhappy man who +had brought her thither, and of what would be the feelings of his +fierce and vehement heart when he heard the fate that had befallen +her. + +He had scarcely time to think of it, for, ere he had well reached the +bottom of the descent, the sound of a horse coming furiously along was +heard, and Armand Herval paused on the opposite side of the dell, and +gazed down upon the group below. It seemed as if instinct told him +that there was what he sought; for, without going on to the moor, he +turned his horse's rein down the descent, though it was steep and +dangerous, and in a moment had sprung from the beast's back and was +kneeling by her he had loved. + +It is scarcely to be told whether she was conscious of his presence or +not, for the hand of death was strong upon her; but it is certain +that, as he printed upon her hands the burning kisses of love in +agony, and quenched them with his tears, it is certain that a smile +came over her countenance before that last awful shudder with which +the soul parted from the body for ever. + +After it was all over he gazed at her for a single instant without +speaking. Every one present saw that he acted as if of right, and let +him do what he would; and unpinning the veil from her long beautiful +hair, he took and steeped it in the blood that was still, +notwithstanding all that had been done to stanch it, welling from a +deep wound in her breast, till every part of the fabric was wet +with gore. He then took the veil, placed it in his brown, scarred +bosom--upon his heart;--and raising his eyes and one hand to Heaven, +murmured some words that were not distinctly heard. He had not uttered +one audible sentence since he came up, but he now turned, and with a +tone of intreaty addressed Claude de l'Estang. + +"The spirit will bless you, Sir," he said, "for giving her comfort in +the hour of death! May I bear her to your house till eleven o'clock +to-night, when I may remove her to her own abode?" + +"I must not refuse you, my poor young man," replied the clergyman. +"But I fear that my house will be no safe resting-place, even for the +dead, just now." + +Herval grasped his arm, and said, in a low but emphatic tone, "It is +safe, Sir, against all the troops in Poitou. How long it may be so, I +cannot tell; but as long as this arm can wield a sword, it shall not +want defence. My Lord Count," he added, pointing to the dead body, +"did I not hear that you meet her murderer to-morrow at noon?" + +"I know not the hour or place he may appoint," replied the Count in a +low deep voice; "but we do meet! and there are things that call aloud +for vengeance, Herval, which even I cannot forgive." + +The man laughed aloud, but that laugh was no voice of merriment. It +was dreary, boding, horrible, and in good accordance with the +circumstances and the scene. He replied nothing to the words of the +Count, however, turning to the pastor and saying, "Now, Sir, now! If +you will give shelter to the dead for but an hour or two, you shall +win deep gratitude of the living." + +"Willingly," replied the pastor. "But then," he added, turning to one +of the other two women who were present, "Who shall protect you home, +dear lady?" + +"That will I do, at the risk of my life," said the Count; and the +other woman, whom the pastor had not addressed, replied, "It will be +better so. We have been too long absent already." + +Armand Herval had not noticed the brief words that were spoken, for he +was gazing with an intense and eager look upon the fair countenance of +the dead, with bitter anguish written in every line of his face. The +pastor touched his arm gently, saying, "Now, my son, let me and you +carry the body. We can pass through the wood unseen." + +But the other put him by, with his hand, saying, in a sad tone, "I +need no help;" and then kneeled down by her side, he put his arms +around her, saying, "Let me bear thee in my bosom, sweet child, once +only, once before the grave parteth us, and ere it shall unite us +again. Oh, Claire, Claire," he added, kissing her cold lips +passionately, "Oh, Claire, Claire, was it for this I taught thee a +purer faith, and brought thee hither to see the worship of the +persecuted followers of the cross? Was it for this I bent down my +nature, and became soft as a woman to suit my heart to yours? Oh, +Claire, Claire, if I have brought thee to death, I will avenge thy +death; and for every drop that falls from my eyes, I will have a drop +of blood." + +"Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord!" the old man said in a low tone; +"but let us haste, my son, for night is coming on fast. Farewell, +lady. Albert, I trust them to thee. We shall meet again--if not here, +in heaven!" + +Armand Herval took the corpse of the fair girl who had fallen, in his +powerful arms, and bore her after the pastor towards the wood we have +mentioned, while his horse, trained so to do, followed him with a +regular pace, and entered the road through the copse immediately after +him. + +Albert of Morseiul remained alone with the two ladies, his +interposition in favour of one of whom had brought on the sad events +which we have detailed. As soon as the pastor was gone, he advanced +towards her, and held out both his hands with deep emotion. "I cannot +be mistaken," he said. "The disguise might deceive any other eyes, but +it cannot mine. Clémence! it must be Clémence! Am I not right?" + +She put her hands in his in return, saying, "Oh, yes, you are right! +But what, what shall I do, Monsieur de Morseuil? I am faint and weary +with agitation, and all this terrible scene. I have left the carriage +that brought me hither at two or three miles' distance, and, perhaps, +it too has gone away on the report of the fliers from this awful +place." + +"I will send up my servant immediately," said the Count, "to see, and +in the mean time rest here, Clémence. In this deep hollow we shall +escape all passing eyes till his return, and you will have more +shelter than any where else.--Where can the servant find the +carriage?" + +Clémence, who had raised her veil, looked towards her companion to +explain more fully than she could do. But her attendant, Maria--for +such was the person who accompanied her--judging, perhaps, that a word +spoken at such a moment between two people, situated as were Clémence +de Marly and the Count de Morseiul, might have more effect than whole +hours of conversation at another time, took upon herself the task of +telling the servant, saying, "I can direct him, my Lord, better than +any one. It were as well to bring your horse down here before he +goes." + +The Count assented, and with a slow step she proceeded to fulfil her +errand. + +"Clémence de Marly trembled not a little. She felt that the moment for +the decision of her fate for life was come. She felt that her heart +and her faith must be plighted to Albert of Morseiul at that moment, +or, perhaps, never. She felt that if she did so plight it, she +plighted herself to care, to grief, to anxiety, to danger,--perhaps to +destruction,--perhaps to desolation. But that very feeling took away +all hesitation, all scruple, and made her, in a moment, make up her +mind to let him see her heart as it really was, to cast away from her +every vain and every proud feeling, and to stand, before him she +loved, without disguise. The Count, too, felt, and felt strongly, that +this was a moment which must not be let pass; and the instant the +attendant had quitted them, he raised the lady's hand to his lips, +pressing on it a warm and passionate kiss. + +"Tell me, Clémence, tell me, dear Clémence," he said, "what is the +meaning of this. What is the meaning of your presence here? Is it, is +it that the only barrier which existed between us is removed? Is it +that you are of the same faith as I am?" + +"Is that the only barrier, Albert?" she said, shaking her head +somewhat reproachfully. "Is that the only barrier? You spoke of many." + +"I spoke of only one insurmountable," replied the Count, "and I +believed that to be insurmountable, Clémence, for I was even then +aware of the decree, which did not appear till afterwards, but which +forbade the marriage of Catholics and Protestants." + +"And was that the only insurmountable one?" she demanded. "Was that +the only insurmountable barrier to our union?--What, if I had +previously loved another?" + +"And is it so, then?" demanded the Count, with somewhat of sadness in +his tone. "And have you before loved another?" + +"No, no!" exclaimed Clémence eagerly, and placing the hand which she +had withdrawn in his again; "No, no! The woman was coming over me once +more, but I will conquer the woman. No, I never did love another. Even +if I had fancied it, I should now know, Albert, by what I feel at this +moment, how idle such a fancy had been. But I never did fancy it. I +never did believe it, even in the least degree; and now that I have +said all that I can say, whatever may happen, never doubt me, Albert. +Whatever you see, never entertain a suspicion. I have never loved +another, and I can say nothing more." + +"Yes, yes! Oh, yes!" he exclaimed, "you can say more, Clémence. Say +that you love me." + +She bent down her head, and Albert of Morseiul drew her gently to his +bosom. "Say it! Say it, dear Clémence!" he said. + +Clémence hesitated, but at length she murmured something that no other +ear but his could have heard, had it been ever so close. But he heard, +and heard aright, that her reply was, "But too well!" + +The Count sealed the words upon her lips with his, and Clémence de +Marly hid her eyes upon his shoulder, for they were full of tears. +"And now," she added, raising them after a moment with one of her own +sparkling smiles, "and now, having said those awful words, of course I +am henceforth a slave. But this is no scene for jest, Albert. +Desolation and destruction is round us on every side, I fear." + +"It matters not," replied the Count, "if thy faith is the same as mine +is----" + +"It is, it is!" cried Clémence. "It may have wavered, Albert; but, +thanks to yon good creature who has just left us, the light has never +been wholly extinguished in my mind. My mother was a Protestant, and +in that faith she brought me up. She then, knowing that I must fall +into other hands, left Maria with me, with charges to me never to let +her quit me. I was but a child then," she continued, "and they forced +me to abjure. But their triumph lasted not an hour, for though I dared +not show my feelings, I always felt that the path on which they would +lead me was wrong, and strove, whenever I could, to return to a better +way. To-day I came here at all risks, but I fear very much, Albert, I +fear that destruction, and oppression, and grief, surround us on every +side." + +"If thy faith be the same as mine, Clémence," said the Count, "if thy +heart be united with mine, I will fear nothing, I will dare all. If +they will not suffer us to live in peace in this our native land, +fortunately I have just transmitted to another country enough to +support us in peace, and tranquillity, and ease.--And yet, oh yet, +Clémence," he continued, his tone becoming sadder and his countenance +losing its look of hope, "and yet, oh yet, Clémence, when I think of +that unhappy man who has just left us, and of the fair girl whose +corpse he has now borne away in his arms;--when I remember that +scarcely more than eight days have passed since he was animated with +the same hopes that I am, founding those hopes upon the same schemes +of flight, and trusting more than I have ever trusted to the bright +hereafter,--when I think of that, and of his present fate, the agony +that must now be wringing his heart, the dark obscurity of his bitter +despair, I tremble to dream of the future, not for myself, but for +thee, sweet girl. But we must fall upon some plan both of +communicating when we will, and of acting constantly on one scheme and +for one object. Here comes your faithful attendant. She must know our +situation and our plans--only one word more. You have promised me +this," he continued, once more raising her hand to his lips. + +"When and where you will," replied Clémence. + +"And you will fly with me, whenever I find the opportunity of doing +so?" + +"I will," she answered. + +The attendant had now approached, and the Count took a step towards +her, still holding Clémence by the hand, as if he feared to lose the +precious boon she had bestowed upon him. + +"She is mine, Madame," he said, addressing the attendant. "She is +mine, by every promise that can bind one human being to another." + +"And you are hers?" demanded the attendant solemnly. "And you are +hers, my Lord Count, by the same promises?" + +"I am, by every thing I hold sacred," said the Count, raising his hand +towards Heaven, "now and for ever, till death take me from her. But +ere we can be united, I fear, I fear that many things must be +undergone. Alas, that I should recommend it! but she must even conceal +her faith: for, from the cruel measures of the court, even now death +or perpetual imprisonment in some unknown dungeon is the only fate +reserved for the relapsed convert, as they call those who have been +driven to embrace a false religion, and quitted it in renewed disgust. +But I must trust to you to afford me the means of communicating with +her at all times. The only chance for us, I fear, is flight." + +"It is the only one! it is the only one!" replied the maid. "Fly with +her to England, my Lord. Fly with her as speedily as possible. Be +warned, my Lord, and neither delay nor hesitate. The edge of the net +is just falling on you. If you take your resolution at once, and quit +the land before a week be over, you may be safe; but if you stay +longer, every port in France will be closed against you." + +"I will make no delay," replied the Count. "Her happiness and her +safety are now committed to my charge; inestimable trusts, which I +must on no account risk. But I have some followers and dependants to +provide for, even here. I have some friends to defend; and I must not +show myself remiss in that; or she herself would hardly love me. It +were easy, methinks, however, for you and your mistress to make your +escape at once to England, and for me to join you there hereafter." + +"Oh no, my lord, I fear not!" replied the maid. "I do not think +Monsieur de Rouvré himself would object to her marrying you and +flying. He shrewdly suspects, I think, that she is Protestant at +heart; but he would never yield to her flying herself. But, hark! I +hear horses coming. Let us draw back and be quiet." + +"There is no sound of carriage-wheels, I fear," said Clémence, +listening. "Oh, Albert, all this day's sad events have quite +overpowered me; and I dread the slightest sound." + +The Count pressed her hand in his, and, as was usual with him in +moments of danger, turned his eyes towards his sword-belt, forgetting +that the blade was gone. The sound of horses' feet approaching +rapidly, however, still continued; and, at length, a party of four +persons, whose faces could not be well distinguished in the increasing +darkness, stopped exactly opposite the spot where a little rough road +led down into the hollow where the lovers were. One of the riders +sprang to the ground in a moment, and, leaving his horse with the +others, advanced, exclaiming aloud,-- + +"Hollo! Ho! Albert de Morseiul! Hollo! where are you?" + +"It is the voice of the Chevalier d'Evran," cried Clémence, clinging +closer to her lover, as if with some degree of fear. + +"I think it is," said the Count; "but fear not! He is friendly to us +all. Draw down your veil, however, my beloved; it is not necessary +that he should see and know you." + +With the same shout the Chevalier continued to advance towards them, +and the Count took a step or two forward to meet him. But, shaking his +friend warmly by the hand, the Chevalier passed on at once to the +lady, and, to the surprise of the Count, addressed her immediately by +her name: "Very pretty, indeed, Mademoiselle Clémence!" he said; "this +is as dangerous a jest, I think, as ever was practised." + +Clémence hesitated not a moment, but replied at once, "It is no jest, +Sir! It is a dangerous reality, if you will." + +"Poo, poo, silly girl," cried the Chevalier. "By the Lord that lives, +you will get yourself into the castle of Pignerol, or the Bastille, or +some such pleasant abode! I have come at full speed to bring you +back." + +"Stay yet a minute, Louis," said the Count somewhat gravely. "There is +another person to be consulted in this business, whom you do not seem +to recollect. Mademoiselle de Marly is, for the time, under my +protection; and you know we delegate such a duty to no one." + +"My dear Count," replied the Chevalier, "the good Duc de Rouvré will +doubtless be infinitely obliged to you for the protection you have +given to this fair lady; but having sent me to find her and bring her +back, I must do so at once; and will only beg her to be wise enough to +make no rash confessions as she goes. The affair, as far as she is +concerned, is a jest at present: it is likely, I hear, to prove a +serious jest to others. I left your man, who directed me hither, to +bring up the carriage as far as possible: and now, Mademoiselle +Clémence, we will go, with your good pleasure." + +The tone of authority in which the Chevalier spoke by no means pleased +Albert of Morseiul, who felt strong in his heart the newly acquired +right of mutual love to protect Clémence de Marly himself. He was not +of a character, however, to quarrel with his friend lightly, and he +replied, "Louis, we are too old friends for you to make me angry. As +your proposal of conveying Mademoiselle de Marly back in her own +carriage, coincides with what we had previously arranged, of course I +shall not oppose it; but equally, of course, I accompany her to +Ruffigny." + +"I am afraid that cannot be, Albert," answered the Chevalier; and the +resolute words, "It must be!" had just been uttered in reply, when +Clémence interfered. + +"It is very amusing, gentlemen," she said in her ordinary tone of +scornful playfulness, "it is very amusing, indeed, to hear you calmly +and quietly settling a matter that does not in the least depend upon +yourselves. You forget that I am here, and that the decision must be +mine. Monsieur le Chevalier, be so good as not to look authoritative, +for, depend upon it, you have no more power here than that old +hawthorn stump. Monsieur de Rouvré cannot delegate what he does not +possess; and as I have never yet suffered any one to rule me, I shall +not commence that bad practice to-night. You may now tell me, in +secret, what are your motives in this business; but, depend upon it, +that my own high judgment will decide in the end." + +"Let it!" replied the Chevalier; and bending down his head, he +whispered a few words to Clémence in a quick and eager manner. She +listened attentively, and when he had done, turned at once to the +Count de Morseiul, struggling to keep up the same light manner, but in +vain. + +"I fear," she said, "Monsieur de Morseiul, that I must decide for the +plan of the Chevalier, and that I must lay my potent commands upon you +not to accompany or follow me. Nay more, I will forbid your coming to +Ruffigny tomorrow; but the day after, unless you hear from me to the +contrary, you may be permitted to inquire after my health." + +Albert of Morseiul was deeply mortified; too much so, indeed, to reply +in any other manner than by a stately bow. Clémence saw that he was +hurt; and, though some unexplained motive prevented her from changing +her resolution, she cast off reserve at once, and holding out her hand +to him, said aloud, notwithstanding the presence of the Chevalier, "Do +you forgive me, Albert?" + +Though unable to account for her conduct, the Count felt that he loved +her deeply still, and he pressed his lips upon her hand warmly and +eagerly, while Clémence added in a lower tone, but by no means one +inaudible to those around who chose to listen, "Have confidence in me, +Albert! Have confidence in me, and remember you have promised never to +doubt me whatever may happen. Oh, Albert, having once given my +affection, believe me utterly incapable of trifling with yours even by +a single thought." + +"I will try, Clémence," he replied; "but you must own there is +something here to be explained." + +"There is!" she said, "there is; and it shall be explained as soon as +possible; but, in the mean time, trust me! Here comes the servant, I +think: the carriage must be near." + +It was as she supposed; and the Count gave her his arm to assist her +in climbing back to the level ground above, saying, at the same time +in a tone of some coldness which he could not conquer, "As the lady +has herself decided, Chevalier, I shall not of course press my +attendance farther than to the carriage door; but have you men enough +with you to insure her safety? It is now completely dark." + +"Quite enough!" replied the Chevalier, "quite enough, Albert;" and he +fell into silence till they reached the side of the vehicle, dropping, +however, a few yards behind Clémence and her lover. + +Every moment of existence is certainly precious, as a part of the +irrevocable sum of time written against us in the book of life; but +there is no occasion on which the full value of each instant is so +entirely felt, in which every minute is so dear, so treasured, so +inestimable in our eyes, as when we are about to part with her we +love. Albert of Morseuil felt that it was so; and in the few short +moments that passed ere they reached the carriage, words were spoken +in a low murmuring tone, which, in the intensity of the feelings they +expressed and excited, wrought more deeply on his heart and hers, than +could the passage of long indifferent years. They were of those few +words spoken in life that remain in the ear of memory for ever. + +The fiery hand that, at the impious feast, wrote the fate of the +Assyrian in characters of flame, left them to go out extinguished when +the announcement was complete; but the words that the hand of deep and +intense passion writes upon firm, high, and energetic hearts, remain +for ever, even unto the grave itself. + +Those moments were brief, however, and Clémence and her attendant were +soon upon their way; the Chevalier sprang upon his horse, and then +held out his hand frankly to the Count. "Albert," he said, laughing, +"I have never yet beheld so great a change of Love's making as that +which the truant boy has wrought in thee. Thou wouldst even quarrel +with thy oldest and dearest companion--thou who art no way +quarrelsome. You have known me now long, Albert; love me well still. +If you have ever seen me do a dishonest act, cast me off; if not, as I +heard Clémence say just now--trust me!" and thus saying, he galloped +off, without waiting for any reply. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + THE REVENGE. + + +While Clémence de Marly cast herself back in the carriage; and, with +the great excitement under which she had been acting for some time, +now over, hid her eyes with her hands, and gave herself up to deep, +and even to painful thought--while over that bright and beautiful +countenance came a thousand varied expressions as she recollected all +that had passed--while the look of horror rose there as she remembered +all the fearful scenes she had beheld, the murderous treachery of the +dragoons, the retribution taken by the people, and the death of the +unhappy girl who had received one of the random shots--while that +again was succeeded by the expression of admiration and enthusiasm, as +she recalled the words and conduct of the Protestant pastor, and while +a blush, half of shame and half of joy, succeeded, as she remembered +all that had passed between her and Albert of Morseiul; the Count +himself was wending his way slowly homeward, with feelings different +from hers, and by no means so happy. + +She knew that difficulty and danger surrounded her, she knew that much +was necessarily to be endured, much to be apprehended; but she had +woman's greatest, strongest consolation. She had the great, the mighty +support, that she was loved by him whom alone she loved. With her that +was enough to carry her triumphant through all danger, to give her a +spirit to resist all oppression, to support her under all trials, to +overcome all fears. + +It may be asked, when we say that Albert of Morseiul's feelings were +different, whether he then loved her less than she loved him, whether +love in his bosom was less powerful, less all-sufficing than in hers. +It would seem strange to answer, no; yet such was not the case. He +loved her as much, as deeply, as she did him; he loved her as +tenderly, as truly. His love--though there must always be a difference +between the love of man and the love of woman--was as full, as +perfect, as all-sufficing as her own, and yet his bosom was not so +much at ease as hers, his heart did not feel the same confidence in +its own happiness that hers did. But there were many different causes +combined to produce that effect. In the first place, he knew the +dangers, the obstacles, the difficulties, far better than she did. He +knew them more intimately, more fully, more completely; they were all +present to his mind at once; no bright hopes of changing circumstances +came to relieve the prospect; but all, except the love of Clémence de +Marly, was dark, obscure, and threatening around him. That love might +have seemed, however, but as a brighter spot amidst the obscurity, had +it not been that apprehensions for her were now added to all his +apprehensions for his religion and his country. It might have seemed +all the brighter for the obscurity, had it been itself quite +unclouded, had there not been some shadows, though slight, some +mystery to be struggled with, something to be forgotten or argued +down. + +During the few last minutes that he was with her, the magic +fascination of her presence had conquered every thing, and seated love +triumphant above all; but as he rode on, Albert de Morseiul pondered +over what had occurred, thought of the influence which the Chevalier +d'Evran had exerted over her, combined it with what he had seen before +at Poitiers, and pronounced it in his own heart, "very strange." He +resolved not to think upon it, and yet he thought. He accused +himself--the man of all others the least suspicious on the earth, by +nature--he accused himself of being basely suspicious. He argued with +himself that it was impossible that either on the part of Clémence or +the Chevalier there should be any thing which could give him pain, +when each, in the presence of the other, behaved to him as they had +behaved that night; and yet there was something to be explained, which +hung--like one of those thin veils of cloud that sometimes cover even +the summer sun, prognosticating a weeping evening to a blithe +noon--which hung over the only star that fate had left to shine upon +his track, and he thought of it sadly and anxiously, and longed for +something to bear it far away. + +He struggled with such feelings and such reflections for some time; +and then, forcing his thoughts to other things, he found that there +was plenty, indeed, for him to consider and to provide against, plenty +to inquire into and to ponder over, ere he resolved or acted. First +came the recollection of the quarrel between himself and the young De +Hericourt. He knew that the rash and cruel young man had made his +escape from the field, for he himself, with two of his servants, had +followed him close, and, by detaining a party of the pursuers, had +afforded the commander of the dragoons an opportunity to fly. That he +would immediately require that which is absurdly called satisfaction, +for the blow which had been struck, there could be no earthly doubt, +although the laws against duelling were at that time enforced with the +utmost strictness, and there was not the slightest chance whatsoever +of the King showing mercy to any Protestant engaged in a duel with a +Roman Catholic. + +No man more contemned or reprobated the idiotical custom of duelling +than the Count himself; no man looked upon it in a truer light than he +did; but yet must we not forgive him, if, even with such feelings and +with such opinions, he prepared, without a thought or hesitation, to +give his adversary the meeting he demanded? Can we severely blame him +if he determined, with his own single arm, to avenge the wanton +slaughter that had been committed, and to put the barrier of a just +punishment between the murderer of so many innocent people and a +repetition of the crime? Can we blame him, if, seeing no chance +whatsoever of the law doing justice upon the offender, he +resolved--risking at the same time his own life--to take the law into +his hand, and seek justice for himself and others? + +The next subject that started up for consideration was the general +events of that day, and the question of what colouring would be given +to those events at the court of France. + +A peaceful body of people, meeting together for the worship of the +Almighty, in defiance of no law, (for the edict concerning the +expulsion of the Protestant pastors, and prohibiting the preaching of +the reformed religion at all, had not yet appeared,) had been brutally +insulted by a body of unauthorised armed men, had been fired upon by +them without provocation, and had lost several of their number, +murdered in cold blood and in a most cowardly manner, by the hands of +the military. They had then, in their own defence, attacked and +pursued their brutal assailants, and had slain several of them as a +direct consequence of their own crimes. + +Such were the simple facts of the case; but what was the tale, the +Count asked himself, which would be told at the court of France, and +vouched for by the words of those, who, having committed the great +crime of unprovoked murder, would certainly entertain no scruple in +regard to justifying it by the lesser crime of a false oath? + +"It will be represented," thought the Count, "that a body of armed +fanatics met for some illegal purpose, and intending no less than +revolt against the King's government, attacked and slaughtered a small +body of the royal troops sent to watch their movements. It will be +represented that the dragoons fought gallantly against the rebels, and +slew a great number of their body; and this, doubtless, will be +vouched for by the words of respectable people, all delicately +adjusted by Romish fraud; and while the sword and the axe are wetted +with the blood of the innocent and the unoffending, the murderer, and +his accomplices, may be loaded with honours and rewards!--But it shall +not be so if I can stay it," he added. "I will take the bold, perhaps +the rash, resolution,--I will cast myself in the gap. I will make the +truth known, and the voice thereof shall be heard throughout Europe, +even if I fall myself. I, at least, was there unarmed: that can be +proved. No weapon has touched my hand during this day, and therefore +my testimony may be less suspected." + +While he thus pondered, riding slowly on through the thick darkness +which had now fallen completely around his path, he passed a little +wood, which is called the wood of Jersel to this day; but, just as he +had arrived at the opposite end, two men started out upon him as if to +seize the bridle of his horse. Instantly, however, another voice +exclaimed from behind, "Back, back! I told you any one coming the +other way. He cannot come that way, fools. We have driven him into the +net, and he has but one path to follow. Let the man go on, whoever he +is, and disturb him not." The men were, by this time, drawing back, +and they instantly disappeared behind the trees; while the Count rode +on with his servant at somewhat a quicker pace. + +On his arrival at his own dwelling, Albert of Morseiul proceeded, at +once, to the library of the château, and though Jerome Riquet strongly +pressed him to take some refreshment, he applied himself at once to +draw up a distinct statement of all that had occurred, nor quitted it +till the night had two thirds waned. He then retired to rest, ordering +himself to be called, without fail, if any body came to the château, +demanding to see him. For the first hour, however, after he had lain +down, as may well be supposed, he could not close his eyes. The +obscurity seemed to encourage thought, and to call up all the fearful +memories of the day. It was a fit canvass, the darkness of the night, +for imagination to paint such awful pictures on. There is something +soothing, however, in the grey twilight of the morning, which came at +length, and then, but not till then, the Count slept. Though his +slumber was disturbed and restless, it was unbroken for several hours; +and it was nearly eleven o'clock in the day when, starting up suddenly +from some troublous dream, he awoke and gazed wildly round the room, +not knowing well where he was. The sight of the sun streaming into the +apartment, however, showed him how long he had slept, and ringing the +bell that lay by his bedside, he demanded eagerly of Jerome Riquet, +who appeared in an instant, whether no one had been to seek him. + +The man replied, "No one," and informed his lord that the gates of the +castle had not been opened during the morning. + +"It is strange!" said the Count. "If I hear not by twelve," he +continued, "I must set off without waiting. Send forward a courier, +Riquet, as fast as possible towards Paris, giving notice at the +post-houses that I come with four attendants, yourself one, and +ordering horses to be prepared, for I must ride post to the capital. +Have every thing ready in a couple of hours at the latest, for I must +distance this morning's ordinary courier, and get to the court before +him." + +"If you ride as you usually do, my lord," replied the man, "you will +easily do that, for you seldom fail to kill all the horses and all the +postilions; and if your humble servant were composed of any thing but +bones and a good wit, you would have worn the flesh off him long ago." + +"I am in no mood for jesting, Riquet," replied the Count; "see that +every thing is ready as I have said, and be prepared to accompany me." + +Riquet, who was never yet known to have found too little time to do +any thing on earth, took the rapid orders of his lord extremely +coolly, aided him to dress, and then left him. He had scarcely been +gone five minutes, however, before he returned with a face somewhat +whiter than usual. + +"What is the matter, sirrah?" cried the Count somewhat sharply. + +"Why, my lord," he said, "here is the mayor, and the adjoint, and the +counsellors, arrived in great terror and trepidation, to tell you that +Maillard, the carrier, coming down from the way of Nantes with his +packhorses, has seen the body of a young officer tied to a tree, in +the little wood of Jersel. He was afraid to meddle with it himself, +and they were afraid to go down till they had come to tell you." + +"Send the men up," said the Count, "and have horses saddled for me +instantly." + +"Now, Sir Mayor," he said, as the local magistrate entered, "what is +the meaning of this? What are these news you bring?" + +To say sooth, the mayor was somewhat embarrassed in presenting himself +before the Count, as he had lately shown no slight symptoms of +cowardly wavering in regard to the Protestant cause: nor would he have +come now had he not been forced to do so by other members of the town +council. He answered, then, with evident hesitation and timidity,-- + +"Terrible news, indeed, my Lord!--terrible news, indeed! This young +man has been murdered, evidently; for he is tied to a tree, and a +paper nailed above his head. So says Maillard, who was afraid to go +near to read what was written; and then, my Lord, I was afraid to go +down without your Lordship's sanction, as you are _haut justicier_ for +a great way round." + +The Count's lip curled with a scornful sneer. "It seems to me," he +said, "that Maillard and yourself are two egregious cowards. We will +dispense with your presence, Mr. Mayor; and these other gentlemen will +go down with me at once to see what this business is. Though the man +might be tied to a tree, and very likely much hurt, that did not prove +that he was dead; and very likely he might have been recovered, or, at +least, have received the sacraments of the church, if Maillard and +yourself had thought fit to be speedy in your measures. Come, +gentlemen, let us set out at once." + +The rebuked mayor slunk away with a hanging head, and the rest of the +municipal council, elated exactly in proportion to the depression of +their chief, followed the young Count, who led the way with a party of +his servants to the wood of Jersel. On first entering that part of the +road which traversed the wood the party perceived nothing; and the +good citizens of Morseiul drew themselves a little more closely +together, affected by certain personal apprehensions in regard to +meddling with the night's work of one who seemed both powerful and +unscrupulous. A moment after, however, the object which Maillard had +seen was presented to their eyes, and, though crowding close together, +curiosity got the better of fear, and they followed the Count up to +the spot. + +The moment the Count de Morseiul had heard the tale, he had formed his +own conclusion, and in that conclusion he now found himself not wrong. +The body that was tied to the tree was that of the young Marquis de +Hericourt; but there were circumstances connected with the act of +vengeance which had been thus perpetrated, that rendered it even more +awful than he had expected, to the eyes of the Count de Morseiul. + +There was no wound whatsoever upon the body, and the unhappy young man +had evidently been tied to the tree before his death, for his hands, +clenched in agony, were full of the large rugged bark of the elm, +which he seemed to have torn off in dying. A strong rope round his +middle pressed him tight against the tree. His arms and legs were +also bound down to it, so that he could not escape; his hat and upper +garments were off, and lying at a few yards' distance; and his +shoulders and neck were bare, except where his throat was still +pressed by the instrument used for his destruction. That instrument +was the usual veil of a novice in a Catholic convent, entirely soaked +and dabbled in blood, and twisted tightly up into the form of a rope. +It had been wound twice round his neck, and evidently tightened till +he had died of strangulation. A piece of paper was nailed upon the +tree above his head, so high up, indeed, as to be out of the reach of +any one present; but on it was written in a large bold hand which +could easily be read, these words:-- + +"The punishment inflicted on a murderer of the innocent, by Brown +Keroual." + +The Count de Morseiul gazed upon the horrible object thus presented to +him in deep silence, communing with his own heart; while the +magistrates of the town, and the attendants, as is common with +inferior minds, felt the awe less deeply, and talked it over with each +other in an under voice. + +"This is very horrible, indeed," said the Count at length. "I think, +before we do any thing in the business, as this gentleman was of the +Roman Catholic faith, and an officer in the King's service, we had +better send down immediately to the Curé of Maubourg, and ask him to +come up to receive the body." + +The word of the young Count was of course law to those who surrounded +him, and one of his own attendants having been despatched for the +Curé, the good man came up with four or five of the villagers in less +than half an hour. His countenance, which was mild and benevolent, was +very sad, for he had received from the messenger an account of what +had taken place. The young Count, who had some slight personal +knowledge of him, and knew him still better by reputation, advanced +some way to meet him, saying-- + +"This is a dreadful event, Monsieur le Curé, and I have thought it +better to send for you rather than move the body of this young +gentleman myself, knowing him to have been a Catholic, while all of us +here present were of a different faith. Had not life been evidently +long extinguished," he continued, "we should not, of course, have +scrupled in such a manner; but as it is, we have acted as we have +done, in the hopes of meeting your own views upon the subject." + +"You have done quite well, and wisely, my son," replied the Curé. +"Would to God that all dissensions in the church would cease, as I +feel sure they would do, if all men would act as prudently as you have +done." + +"And as wisely and moderately as _you always do_, Monsieur le Curé," +added the Count. + +The Curé bowed his head, and advanced towards the tree, where he read +the inscription over the head of the murdered man, and then gazed upon +the veil that was round his throat. + +He shook his head sadly as he did so, and then turning to the Count, +he said, "Perhaps you do not know the key of all this sad story. I +heard it before I came hither. This morning, an hour before matins, +the bell of the religious house of St. Hermand--you know it well, +Count, I dare say, a mile or so beyond the _chêne vert_--was rung +loudly, and on the portress opening the gate, four men, with their +faces covered, carried in the body of one of the novices, called +Claire Duval, who had been absent the whole night, causing great +alarm. There was a shot wound in her breast; she was laid out for the +grave; and, though none of the men spoke a word, but merely placed the +body in the lodge, and then retired, a paper was found with it +afterwards, saying, 'An innocent girl murdered by the base De +Hericourt, and revenged by Brown Keroual.'--This, of course, I imagine, +is the body of him called De Hericourt." + +"It is, indeed, Sir," replied the Count, "the young Marquis de +Hericourt, a relation not very distant of the Marquis de Louvois; and +a brave, but rash, unprincipled, and weak young man he was. In your +hands I leave the charge of the body, but any assistance that my +servants can give you, or that my influence can procure, are quite at +your service." + +The Curé' thanked him for his offer, but only requested that he would +send him down some sort of a litter or conveyance, to carry the body +to the church. The Count immediately promised to do so; and returning +home he fulfilled his word. He then took some refreshment before his +journey, wrote a brief note to the Duc de Rouvré, stating that he +would have come over to see him immediately, but was obliged to go to +Paris without loss of time; and then mounting his horse, and followed +by his attendants, he rode to the first post-house, where taking +post-horses, he proceeded at as rapid a pace as possible towards the +capital. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + THE COURT. + + +We must once more--following the course of human nature as it is at +all times, but more especially as it then was, before all the great +asperities of the world were smoothed and softened down, and one +universal railroad made life an easy and rapid course from one end to +another--We must once more then, following the common course of being, +shift the scene, and bring before our readers a new part of the great +panorama of that day. It was then at the lordly palace of Versailles, +in the time of its greatest and most extraordinary splendour, when the +treasures of a world had been ransacked to adorn its halls, and art +and genius had been called in to do what riches had been unable to +accomplish; while yet every chamber throughout the building flamed +with those far-famed groups, cast in solid gold, the designs of which +had proceeded from the pencil of Le Brun, and the execution of which +had employed a thousand of the most skilful hands in France; while yet +marble, and porphyry, and jasper, shone in every apartment; and the +rarest works, from every quarter of the world, were added to the +richness of the other decorations: before, in short, the consequences +of his own ambition, or his successor's faults and weaknesses, had +stripped one splendid ornament from that extraordinary building, which +Louis XIV. had erected in the noon of his splendour--it was then that +took place the scene which we are about now to describe. + +The Count de Morseiul had scarcely paused even to take needful rest on +his way from Poitou to Paris, and he had arrived late at night at the +untenanted dwelling of his fathers in the capital. The Counts de +Morseiul had ever preferred the country to the town, and though they +possessed a large house in the Place Royale, which then was, though it +is now no longer a fashionable part of the city; that house had +become, at it were, merely the dwelling-place of some old officers and +attendants, who happened to have a lingering fondness for the busy +haunts of men which their lord shared not in. The old white-headed +porter, as he opened the gate for his young master, stared with wonder +and surprise to see him there, and nothing of course was found +prepared for his reception. But the Count was easily satisfied and +easily pleased. Food could always be procured without any difficulty, +in the great capital of all eating, but repose was what the young +Count principally required; and, after having despatched a messenger +to Versailles, to ask in due form an audience of the King as early as +possible on the following morning, to cast himself on the first bed +that could be got ready, and forgot in a few minutes all the cares, +and sorrows, and anxieties, which had accompanied him on his way to +the capital. + +The request for an audience was conveyed through the Marquis of +Seignelai, with whom the Count himself was well acquainted; and he +doubted not that it would be granted immediately, if he had preceded, +as he had every reason to believe he had, the ordinary courier from +Poitou, bringing the news of the events which had taken place in that +province. The letter of the young secretary, in return to his +application, arrived the next morning; but it was cold and formal, and +evidently written under the immediate dictation of the King. It merely +notified to the Count that, for the next three days, the time +appointed by his Majesty for business would be fully occupied; that, +in the mean time, if the business which brought the Count to Paris +were important, he would communicate it to the minister under whose +department it came. The note went on to add, that if the business were +not one requiring immediate despatch, the young Count would do well to +come to Versailles, to signify the place of his abode at the palace, +and to wait the monarch's leisure. + +This was by no means the tone which Louis usually assumed towards one +of the most gallant officers in his service; and, while the Count at +once perceived that the King was offended with him on some account, he +felt great difficulty in so shaping his conduct as to meet the +exigency of the moment. As the only resource, he determined to see and +interest Seignelai to obtain for him a more speedy audience; and he +had the greater hopes of so doing, inasmuch as that minister was known +to be jealous of and inimical to Louvois, one of the great persecutors +of the Protestants. + +While he was pondering over these things, and preparing to set out +immediately for Versailles, another courier from the court arrived, +bearing with him a communication of a very different character, which, +upon the whole, surprised the Count, even more than the former one had +done. It contained a general invitation to all the evening +entertainments of the court; specifying not only those to which the +great mass of the French nobility were admitted as a matter of course, +but the more private and select parties of the King, to which none in +general but his own especial friends and favourites were ever invited. + +This gave Albert of Morseiul fresh matter for meditation, but also +some hope that the King, whom he believed to be generous and +kindhearted, had remembered the services he and his ancestors had +rendered to the state, and had consequently made an effort to overcome +any feeling of displeasure which he might have entertained in +consequence of reports from Poitiers. He determined, however, to +pursue his plan with regard to Seignelai, believing that it would be +facilitated rather than otherwise by any change of feeling which had +come over the monarch, and he accordingly proceeded to Versailles at +once. + +The secretary of state was not to be found in his apartments, but one +of his attendants informed the Count that, at that hour, he would find +him alone in the gardens, and he accordingly proceeded to seek him +with all speed. As he passed by the orangery, however, he heard the +sound of steps and gay voices speaking, and, in a moment after, stood +in the presence of the King himself, who had passed through the +orangery, and was now issuing forth into the gardens. + +Louis was at this time a man of the middle age, above the ordinary +height, and finely proportioned in all his limbs. Though he still +looked decidedly younger than he really was, and the age of forty was +perhaps as much as any one would have assigned him, judging from +appearance, yet he had lost all the slightness of the youthful figure. +He was robust, and even stout, though by no means corpulent, and the +ease and grace with which he moved showed that no power was impaired. +His countenance was fine and impressive, though, perhaps, it might not +have afforded to a very scrutinising physiognomist any indication of +the highest qualities of the human mind. All the features were good, +some remarkably handsome, but in most there was some peculiar defect, +some slight want which took away from the effect of the whole. The +expression was placable, but commanding, and grave rather than +thoughtful; and the impression produced by its aspect was, that it was +serious, less from natural disposition or intense occupation of mind, +than from the consciousness that it was a condescension for that +countenance to smile. The monarch's carriage, as he walked, also +produced an effect somewhat similar on those who saw him for the first +time. Every step was dignified, stately, and graceful; but there was +something a little theatrical in the whole, joined with, or perhaps +expressing, a knowledge that every step was marked and of importance. + +The King's dress was exceedingly rich and costly; and certainly though +bad taste in costume was then at its height, the monarch and the group +that came close upon his steps, formed as glittering and gay an object +as could be seen. + +Amongst those who followed the King, however, were several +ecclesiastics, and to the surprise of the young Count de Morseiul, one +of those on whom his eye first fell was no other than the Abbé +Pelisson, in eager but low conversation with the Bishop of Meaux. +Louis himself was speaking with a familiar tone, alternately to the +Prince de Marsillac, and to the well known financier Bechameil, whose +exquisite taste in pictures, statues, and other works of art, +recommended him greatly to the monarch. + +No sooner did the King's look rest upon the young Count de Morseiul, +than his brow became as dark as a thunder cloud, and he stopped +suddenly in his walk. Scarcely had the Count time to remark that angry +expression, however, before it had entirely passed away, and a grave +and dignified smile succeeded. It was a common remark, at that time, +that the King was to be judged by those who sought him, from his first +aspect, and certainly, if that were the test in the present instance, +his affection for the Count of Morseiul was but small. + +Louis was conscious that he had displayed bad feelings more openly +than he usually permitted himself to do; and he now hastened to repair +that fault, not by affecting the direct contrary sentiments, as some +might have done, but by softening down his tone and demeanour to the +degree of dignified disapprobation, which they might naturally be +supposed to have reached. + +"Monsieur de Morseiul," he said, as the young nobleman approached, "I +am glad, yet sorry, to see you. There are various reports have reached +me from Poitou tending to create a belief that you have been, in some +degree, wanting in due respect to my will; and I should have been glad +that the falsehood of those reports had been proved before you again +presented yourself. Your services, Sir, however, are not forgotten, +and you have, on so many occasions, shown devotion, obedience, and +gallantry, which might well set an example to the whole world, that I +cannot believe there is any truth in what I have heard, and am +willing, unless a painful conviction to the contrary is forced upon +me, to look upon you, till the whole of this matter be fully +investigated, in the same light as ever." + +The King paused a moment, as if for reply; and the Count de Morseiul +gladly seized the opportunity of saying, "I came up post, Sire, last +night, from Morseiul, for the purpose of casting myself at your +Majesty's feet, and entreating you to believe that I would never +willingly give you the slightest just cause for offence, in word, +thought, or deed. I apprehended that some false or distorted +statements, either made for the purpose of deceiving your Majesty, or +originating in erroneous impressions, might have reached you +concerning my conduct, as I know misapprehensions of my conduct had +occurred in Poitiers itself. Such being the case, and various very +painful events having taken place, I felt it my duty to beseech your +Majesty to grant me an audience, in order that I might lay before you +the pure and simple facts, which I am ready to vouch for on the honour +of a French gentleman. I am most desirous, especially with regard to +the latter events which have taken place, that your Majesty should be +at once made aware of the facts as they really occurred, lest any +misrepresentations should reach your ears, and prepare your mind to +take an unfavourable view of acts which were performed in all loyalty, +and with the most devoted affection to your Majesty's person." + +The young Count spoke with calm and dignified boldness. There was no +hesitation, there was no wavering, there was no apprehension either in +tone, manner, or words; and there was something in his whole demeanour +which set at defiance the very thought of there being the slightest +approach to falsehood or artifice in his nature. The King felt that it +was so himself, notwithstanding many prejudices on all the questions +which could arise between the Count and himself. But his line of +conduct, by this time, had been fully determined, and he replied, "As +I caused you to be informed this morning, Monsieur de Morseiul, my +arrangements do not permit me to give you so much time as will be +necessary for the hearing of all you have to say for several days. In +the mean while, however, fear not that your cause will be, in any +degree, prejudged. We have already, by a courier arrived this morning, +received full intelligence of all that has lately taken place in +Poitou, and of the movements of some of our misguided subjects of the +pretended reformed religion. We have ordered accurate information to +be obtained upon the spot, by persons who cannot be considered as +prejudiced, and we will give you audience as soon as such information +has been fully collected. In the mean time you will remain at the +court, and be treated here, in every respect, as a favoured and +faithful servant, which will show you that no unjust prejudice has +been created; though it is not to be denied that the first effect of +the tidings we received from Poitou was to excite considerable anger +against you. However, you owe a good deal, in those respects, to +Monsieur Pelisson, who bore witness to your having gallantly defended +his life from a bad party of robbers, and to your having saved from +the flames a commission under our hand, although that commission was +afterwards unaccountably abstracted. I hope to hear," the King +continued, "of your frequenting much the society of Monsieur Pelisson, +and our respected and revered friend the Bishop of Meaux, by which you +may doubtless derive great advantage, and perhaps arrive at those +happy results which would make it our duty, as well as our pleasure, +to favour you in the very highest degree." + +The meaning of Louis was too evident to be mistaken; and, as the Count +de Morseiul had not the slightest intention of encouraging even a hope +that he would abandon the creed of his ancestors, he merely bowed in +reply, and the King passed on. The Count was then about to retire +immediately from the gardens, but Pelisson caught him by the sleeve as +he passed, saying in a low voice,-- + +"Come on, Monsieur de Morseiul, come on after the King. Believe me, I +really wish you well; and it is of much consequence that you should +show not only your attachment to his Majesty, by presenting yourself +constantly at the court, but also that you are entering into none of +the intrigues of those who are irritating him by opposition and +cabals. You know Monsieur Bossuet, of course. Let us come on." + +"I only know Monsieur Bossuet by reputation," replied the Count, +bowing to the Bishop who had paused also, and at the same time turning +to follow the royal train. "I only know him by reputation, as who, +throughout France, nay, throughout Europe, does not?" + +"The compliment will pass for Catholic, though it comes from a +Protestant mouth," said one of two gentlemen who had been obliged to +pause also by the halt of the party before them. But neither Bossuet +nor the Count took any notice, but walked on, entering easily into +conversation with each other; the eloquent prelate, who was not less +keen and dexterous than he was zealous and learned, accommodating +himself easily to the tone of the young Count. + +Pelisson, ere they had gone far, was inclined to have drawn the +conversation to religious subjects, and was a little anxious to prove +to the Count de Morseiul that, at the bottom, there was very little +real difference between the Catholic and the Protestant faith, from +which starting-point he intended to argue, as was his common custom, +that as there was so little difference, and as in all the points of +difference that did exist the Catholics were in the right, it was a +bounden duty for every Protestant to renounce his heretical doctrines, +and embrace the true religion. + +Bossuet, however, was much more politic, and resisted all Pelisson's +efforts to introduce such topics, by cutting across them immediately, +and turning the conversation to something less evidently applicable to +the Count de Morseiul. Something was said upon the subject of +Jansenism, indeed, as they walked along; and Bossuet replied, +smiling,-- + +"Heaven forbid that those discussions should be renewed! I abhor +controversy, and always avoid it, except when driven to it. I am +anxious indeed, most anxious, that all men should see and renounce +errors, and especially anxious, as I am in duty bound, when those +errors are of such a nature as to affect their eternal salvation. But +very little good, I doubt, has ever been done by controversy, though +certainly still less by persecution; and if we were to choose between +those two means, controversy would of course be the best. +Unfortunately, however, it seldom ends but as a step to the other." + +There was something so moderate and so mild in the language of the +prelate, that the young Count soon learned to take great pleasure in +his discourse; and after these few brief words concerning religion, +the Bishop of Meaux drew the conversation to arts and sciences, and +the great improvements of every kind which had taken place in France +under the government of Louis XIV. + +They were still speaking on this subject when the King turned at the +end of the terrace, and with surprise saw the Count de Morseiul in his +train, between Pelisson and Bossuet. A smile of what appeared to be +dignified satisfaction came over the monarch's countenance, and as he +passed he asked,-- + +"What are you discussing so eagerly, Monsieur de Meaux?" + +"We are not discussing, sire," replied the Bishop, "for we are all of +one opinion. Monsieur de Morseiul was saying that in all his knowledge +of history--which we know is very great--he cannot find one monarch +whose reign has produced so great a change in society as that of Louis +the Great." + +The King smiled graciously, and passed on. But the same sarcastic +personage, who followed close behind the party to which the Count had +attached himself, added to Bossuet's speech, almost loud enough for +the King to hear, "Except Mahomet! Except Mahomet, Monsieur de Meaux!" + +It was impossible either for the Bishop, or the Count, or Pelisson, to +repress a smile; but the only one of the party who turned to look was +the Count, the others very well knowing the voice to be that of +Villiers, whose strange method of paying court to Louis XIV. was by +abusing every thing on which the monarch prided himself. He was +slightly acquainted with the Count de Morseiul, having met him more +than once on service, and seeing him turn his head, he came up and +joined them. + +"You spoil that man, all of you," he said, speaking of the King. "All +the world flatters him, till he does not know what is right and what +is wrong, what is good and what is bad, what is beautiful and what is +ugly.--Now, as we stand here upon this terrace," he continued, "and +look down over those gardens, is there any thing to be seen on the +face of the earth more thoroughly and completely disgusting than they +are? Is it possible for human ingenuity to devise any thing so +mathematically detestable? One would suppose that La Hire, or Cassini, +or some of the other clockmakers, had been engaged with their +villanous compasses in marking out all those rounds, and triangles, +and squares, so that the whole park and gardens, when seen, from my +little room (which the King in his immense generosity gave me in the +garret story of the palace), look exactly like a dusty leaf torn out +of Euclid's Elements, with all the problems demonstrated upon it. +Then, Monsieur de Morseiul, do pray look at those basins and statues. +Here you have a set of black tadpoles croaking at an unfortunate woman +in the midst, as black as themselves. There you have a striking +representation of Neptune gone mad--perhaps it was meant for a storm +at sea; and certainly, from the number of people death-sick all round, +and pouring forth from their mouths into the basins, one might very +easily conceive it to be so. There is not one better than another, and +yet the King walks about amongst them all, and thinks it the finest +thing that ever was seen upon the face of the earth, and has at this +moment five-and-twenty thousand men working hard, to render it, if +possible, uglier than before." + +The Count de Morseiul smiled; and, although he acknowledged that he +loved the fair face of the country, unshaven and unornamented better +than all that art could do, yet he said, that for the gardens of such +a palace as that of Versailles, where solemn and reposing grandeur was +required, and regular magnificence more than picturesque beauty, he +did not see that better could have been done. + +Thus passed the conversation, till the King, after having taken +another turn, re-entered the building, and his courtiers quitted him +at the foot of the staircase. The Count then inquired of Pelisson +where he could best lodge in Versailles, and the Abbé pointed out to +him a handsome house, very near that in which the Bishop of Meaux had +taken up his abode for the time. + +"Do you intend to come speedily to Versailles?" demanded the Bishop. + +"As I understood the King," replied the Count, "it is his pleasure +that I should do so; and consequently I shall merely go back to Paris +to make my arrangements, and then return hither with all speed. I +propose to be back by seven or eight o'clock this evening, if this +house is still to be had." + +"For that I can answer," replied the Bishop. "The only disagreeable +thing you will find here is a want of food," he added, laughing, "for +the palace swallows up all; but if you will honour me by supping with +me to-night, Monsieur le Comte, perhaps Monsieur Pelisson will join +us, with one or two others, and we may spend a calm and pleasant +evening, in talking over such things as chance or choice may select. +We do so often in my poor abode. But indeed I forgot; perhaps you may +prefer going to the theatre at the palace, for this is one of the +nights when a play is performed there." + +"No, indeed," replied the Count. "I hold myself not only flattered, +but obliged, by your invitation, Monsieur de Meaux, and I will not +fail to be with you at any hour you appoint." + +The hour was accordingly named; and, taking his leave, the young Count +de Morseiul sought his horses, and returned to Paris. His visit to +Versailles, indeed, had not been so satisfactory as he could have +wished; and while Jerome Riquet was making all the preparations for +his master's change of abode, the Count himself leaned his head upon +his hand, and revolved in deep thought all the bearings of his present +situation. + +No one knew better than he did, that appearances are but little to be +trusted at any court, and as little as in any other at the court of +Louis XIV. He knew that the next word from the King's mouth might be +an order to conduct him to the Bastille, and that very slight proofs +of guilt would be required to change his adherence to his religion, if +not into a capital crime, at least into a pretext for dooming him to +perpetual imprisonment. He saw, also, though perhaps not to the full +extent of the King's design, that Louis entertained some hopes of his +abandoning his religion; and he doubted not that various efforts would +be employed to induce him to do so--efforts difficult to be parried, +painful to him to be the object of, and which might, perhaps, afford +matter for deep offence if they, proved ineffectual. + +He saw, and he knew too, that it was decidedly the resolution of the +King and of his advisers to put down altogether the Protestant +religion in France; that there was no hope, that there was no chance +of mitigating, in any degree, the unchangeable spirit of intolerance. + +All these considerations urged the young Count to pursue a plan which +had suggested itself at first to his mind, rather as the effect of +despair than of calculation. It was to go back no more to Versailles; +to return post-haste to Poitou; to collect with all speed the +principal Protestants who might be affected by any harsh measures of +the court; to demand of Clémence de Marly the fulfilment of her +promise to fly with him; and, embarking with the rest at the nearest +port, to seek safety and peace in another land. + +The more he thought over this design the more he was inclined to adopt +it; for although he evidently saw that tidings of what had taken place +at the preaching in the desert had already reached the King's ears, +and that the first effect was passed, yet he could not rely by any +means upon the sincerity of the demeanour assumed towards him, and +believed that even though he--if his military services were +required--might be spared from political considerations, yet the great +majority of the Protestants might be visited with severe inflictions, +on account of the part they had taken in the transactions of that day. + +One consideration alone tended to make him pause ere he executed this +purpose, which was, that having undertaken a task he was bound to +execute it, and not to shrink from it while it was half completed; +and, though anxious to do what he considered right in all things, he +feared that by flying he might but be able to protect a few, while by +remaining he might stand between many and destruction. + +In this world we ponder and consider, and give time, and care, and +anxiety, and thought to meditation over different lines of conduct, +while calm, imperturbable fate stands by till the appointed moment, +and then, without inquiring the result, decides the matter for us. The +Count had sent a servant immediately after his return from Versailles +to the house of Marshal Schomberg, to inquire whether that officer +were in Paris, and if so, at what hour he would be visible. The +servant returned bringing word that Marshal Schomberg had quitted the +country, that his house and effects had been sold, and that it was +generally supposed he never intended to return. + +This was an example of the prompt execution of a resolution, which +might well have induced the Count de Morseiul to follow it, especially +as it showed Schomberg's opinion to be, that the affairs of the +Protestants in France were utterly irretrievable, and that the danger +to those who remained was imminent. Thus was another weight cast into +the scale; but even while he was rising from the table at which he +sat, in order to give directions for preparing for a still longer +journey than that which he had notified to his servants before, Jerome +Riquet entered the room and placed before him a note, written in a +hand with which he was not at all acquainted. + +"You have thought much of my conduct strange, Albert--" it began; and +turning at once to the other page he saw the name of Clémence. "You +have thought much of my conduct strange, and now will you not think it +still stranger, when I tell you that I have but two moments to write +to you, and not even a moment to see you? I looked forward to tomorrow +with hope and expectation; and now I suddenly learn that we are to set +off within an hour for Paris. The order has been received from the +King: the Duke will not make a moment's delay: for me to stay here +alone is, of course, impossible; and I am obliged to leave Poitou +without seeing you, without the possibility even of receiving an +answer. Pray write to me immediately in Paris. Tell me that you +forgive me for an involuntary fault; tell me that you forgive me for +any thing I may have done to pain you. I say so, because your last +look seemed to be reproachful; and yet, believe me, when I tell you +upon my honour, that I could not but act as I have acted. + +"Oh, Albert! if I could but see you in Paris! I, who used to be so +bold--I, who used to be so fearless, now feel as if I were going into +a strange world, where there is need of protection, and guidance, and +direction. I feel as if I had given up all control over myself; and if +you were near me, if you were in Paris, I should have greater +confidence, I should have greater courage, I should have more power to +act, to speak, even to think rightly, than I have at present. Come, +then, if it be possible, come then, if it be right; and if not, at all +events write to me soon, write to me immediately. + +"May I,--yes I may, for I feel it is true--call myself + + "Your Clémence." + + +The letter was dated on the very day that the Count himself had set +off, and had evidently been sent over to the château of Morseiul +shortly after his departure. Maître Riquet had contrived to linger in +the room on one pretext or another while his master read the note, and +the Count, turning towards him, demanded eagerly how it had come, and +who had brought it. + +"Why, Monseigneur," replied the man, "the truth is, I always love to +have a little information. In going through life I have found it like +a snuff-box, which one should always carry; even if one does not take +snuff one's self: it is so useful for one's friends!" + +"Come, come, Sir, to the point," said his master. "How did this letter +arrive? that is the question." + +"Just what I was going to tell you, my Lord," replied the man. "I left +behind me Pierre Martin to gather together a few stray things which I +could not carry with me, and a few stray pieces of information which I +could not learn myself, and to bring them after us to Paris with all +speed; old doublets, black silk stockings, bottles of essence, cases +of razors, true information regarding all the reports in the county of +Poitou, and whatever letters might have arrived between our going and +his coming." + +"In the latter instance," replied the Count, "you have done wisely, +and more thoughtfully than myself. I do believe, Riquet, as you once +said of yourself, you never forget any thing that is necessary." + +"You do me barely justice, Sir," replied the man, "for I remember +always a great deal more than is necessary; so, seeing that the letter +was in a lady's hand, I brought it you, my Lord, at once, without even +waiting to look in at the end; which, perhaps, was imprudent, as very +likely now I shall never be able to ascertain the contents." + +"You are certainly not without your share of impudence, Maître +Jerome," replied his master; "which I suppose you would say is amongst +your other good qualities. But now leave me; for I must think over +this letter." + +Riquet prepared to obey, but as he opened the door for his own exit, +he drew two or three steps back, throwing it much wider, and giving +admission to the Prince de Marsillac. His appearance did not by any +means surprise the Count, for although he had seen him that very +morning at Versailles, he had obtained not a moment to speak with him; +and, as old friends, it was natural that, if any thing brought the +Prince to Paris, he should call at the Hôtel de Morseiul, to talk over +all that had taken place since their last meeting at Poitiers. + +"My dear Count," he said, "understanding from Monsieur de Meaux that +you return to Versailles to-night, I have come to offer you a place +down in my carriage, or to take a place in yours, that we may have a +long chat over the scenes at Poitiers, and over the prospects of this +good land of ours." + +"Willingly," said the Count. "I have no carriage with me, but I will +willingly accompany you in yours. What time do you go?" + +"As soon as you will," replied the Prince. "I am ready to set out +directly. I have finished all that I had to do in Paris, and return at +once." + +The Count paused for a moment to calculate in his own mind whether it +were possible that the Duc de Rouvré could reach Paris that night. +Considering, however, the slow rate at which he must necessarily +travel, accompanied by all his family, Albert of Morseiul + saw that +one, if not two days more, must elapse before his arrival. + +"Well," he said, having by this time determined at all events to +pause in the neighbourhood of the capital till after he had seen +Clémence--"Well, as I have not dined, old friend, I will go through +that necessary ceremony, against which my man Riquet has doubtless +prepared, and then I will be ready to accompany you." + +"Nor have I dined either," replied the Prince; "so if you will give a +knife and fork to one you justly call an old friend I will dine with +you, and we will send for the carriage in the meanwhile." + +There was something in the Prince's tone and manner, difficult to +describe or to explain, which struck the Count as extraordinary. The +calmest, the coolest, the most self-possessed man in France was a +little embarrassed. But the Count made no remark, merely looking for a +moment in his face--somewhat steadfastly indeed, and in such a manner +that the other turned to the window, saying, in a careless tone, "It +was under those trees, I think, that the Duke of Guise killed +Coligny." + +The Count made no reply, but called some of his attendants, and bade +them see what had been provided for dinner. In a few minutes it was +announced as ready, and he sat down with his friend to table, doing +the honours with perfect politeness and cheerfulness. Before the meal +was concluded, it was announced that the Prince's carriage and +servants had arrived, and, when all was ready, the Count de Morseiul +proposed that they should depart, leaving his attendants to follow. +Just as he had his foot upon the step of the carriage, however, the +Count turned to his friend, and said, "You have forgot, my good +friend, to tell the coachman whether he is to drive to the Bastille, +or Vincennes, or to Versailles." + +"You mistake," said the Prince, following him into the carriage: "To +Versailles, of course. I will explain to you the whole matter as we +go. Within ten minutes after you left Versailles this morning," he +continued, as soon as they were once fully on the way, "I was sent for +to the King about something referring to my post of Grand Veneur. I +found Louvois with him in one of his furious and insolent moods, and +the King bearing all with the utmost patience. It soon became apparent +that the conversation referred to you, Louvois contending that you +should never have been suffered to quit Versailles till some affairs +that have taken place in Poitou were fully examined, declaring that +you had only gone to Paris in order to make your escape from the +country more conveniently. The King asked me my opinion; and I laughed +at the idea to Louvois's face. He replied that I did not know all, or +half, indeed, for that if I did I should not feel nearly so certain. I +said I knew you better; and, to settle the matter at once, I added +that, as I was going to Paris, I would undertake you came back with me +in my carriage or I in yours. The King trusted me, as you see; and I +thought it a great deal better to come in this manner as a friend, +than to let Louvois send you a _lettre de cachet_, which you might +even find a more tiresome companion than the Prince de Marsillac." + +"Undoubtedly I should," replied the Count, "and I thank you much for +the interest you have taken in the affair as well as for the candour +of the confession. But now, my friend, since you have gone so far, go +a little farther, and give me some insight, if you can, into what is +taking place at the court just at present--I mean in reference to +myself--for my situation is, as you may suppose, not the most +pleasant; and is one in which a map of the country may be serviceable +to me. I see none of my old friends about the court at present except +yourself. Seignelai I have not been able to find----" + +"And he would give you no information even if you did find him," +replied the Prince. "I can give you but very little, for I know but +little. In the first place, however, let me tell you a great secret; +that you are strongly suspected of being a Protestant." + +"Indeed," replied the Count; "I fear they have more than suspicion +against me there." + +"Confess it not," said his friend, "confess it not! for just at +present, it would be much more safe to confess high treason: but, in +the next place, my dear Count, a report has gone abroad--quite false I +know--that you are desperately in love with this fair Clémence de +Marly." + +"And pray," demanded the Count, smiling, "in what manner would that +affect me at the court, even were it true?" + +"Why, now, to answer seriously," replied his friend, "though, remember +I speak only from the authority of my own imagination, I should say, +that you are very likely to obtain her, with every sort of honour and +distinction to boot, in spite of Hericourt and the Chevalier d'Evran, +and all the rest, upon one small condition; which is, that you take a +morning's walk into the Church of St. Laurent, or any other that may +be more pleasant to you; stay about half an hour, read a set form, +which means little or nothing, and go through some other ceremonies of +the same kind." + +"In fact," said the Count, "make my renunciation in form, you mean to +say." + +The Prince nodded his head, and Albert of Morseiul fell into thought, +well knowing that his friend was himself ignorant of one of the most +important considerations of the whole; namely, the faith of Clémence +de Marly herself. On that subject, of course, he did not choose to say +any thing; but after remaining in thought for a few moments, he +demanded,-- + +"And pray, my good friend, what is to be the result, if I do not +choose to make this renunciation?" + +"Heaven only knows," replied the Prince. "There are, at least, six or +seven different sorts of fate that may befall you. Probably the choice +will be left to yourself; whether you will have your head struck off +in a gentlemanly way in the court of the Bastille, or be broken on the +wheel; though I believe that process they are keeping for the Huguenot +priests now,--ministers as you call them. If the King should be +exceeding merciful, the castle of Pignerol, or the prison in the isle +St. Marguerite, may afford you a comfortable little solitary dwelling +for the rest of your life. I don't think it likely that he should send +you to the galleys, though I am told they are pretty full of military +men now. But if I were you, I would choose the axe: it is soonest +over." + +"I think I should prefer a bullet," said the Count; "but we shall see, +my good friend, though I can't help thinking your anticipations are +somewhat more sanguinary than necessary. I hear that Schomberg has +taken his departure, and it must have been with the King's permission. +Why should it not be the same in my case? I have served the king as +well, though, perhaps, not quite so long." + +"But you are a born subject of France," replied the other; "Schomberg +is not; and, besides, Schomberg has given no offence, except remaining +faithful to his religion. You have been heading preaching in the open +fields they say, if not preaching yourself." + +"Certainly not the last," replied the Count. + +"Indeed!" said his friend; "they have manufactured a story, then, of +your having addressed the people before any one else." + +"Good God!" exclaimed the Count; "is it possible that people can +pervert one's actions in such a manner? I merely besought the people +to be orderly and tranquil, and added a hope that they had come +unarmed as I had come." + +"It would seem that a number of you were armed, however," said the +Prince, "for some of the dragoons were killed it would appear; and, on +my word, you owe a good deal to Pelisson; for if Louvois had obtained +his way this morning, as usual, your head would have been in no slight +danger. The Abbé stepped in, however, and said, that he had seen much +of you in Poitou, and that from all he had heard and seen, his Majesty +had not a more faithful or obedient subject in those parts." + +"I am certainly very much obliged to him," replied the Count. "But he +has strangely altered his tone; for at Poitiers he would fain have +proved me guilty all sorts of acts that I never committed." + +"Perhaps he may have had cause to change," replied the Prince de +Marsillac. "It is known that he and St. Helie quarrelled violently +before Pelisson's return. But at all events, your great security is in +the fact, that there are two factions in the party who are engaged in +putting down your sect. The one would do it by gentle means--bribery, +corruption, persuasion, and the soft stringents of exclusion from +place, rank, and emolument. The other breathes nothing but fire and +blood, the destruction of rebels to the royal will, and the most +signal punishment for all who differ in opinion from themselves. This +last party would fain persuade the king that the Huguenots are in +arms, or ready to take arms, throughout France, and that nothing is to +be done but to send down armies to subdue them. But then the others +come in and say, 'It is no such thing; the people are all quiet; they +are submitting with a good grace, and if you do not drive them to +despair, they will gradually return, one by one, to the bosom of the +mother church, rather than endure all sorts of discomfort and +disgrace!' Of this party are Pelisson, the good Bishop, and many other +influential people; but, above all, Madame de Maintenon, whose power, +in every thing but this, is supreme." + +"Had I not better see her," demanded the Count, "and endeavour to +interest her in our favour?" + +"She dare not for her life receive you," replied the Prince. "What is +religion, or humanity, or generosity, or any thing else to her if it +stand in the way of ambition? No, no, Morseiul! the good lady may +perhaps speak a kind word for you in secret, and when it can be put in +the form of an insinuation; but she is no Madame de Montespan who +would have defended the innocent, and thrust herself in the way to +prevent injustice, even if the blow had fallen upon herself. She dared +to say to the King things that no other mortal dared, and would say +them too, when her heart, or her understanding was convinced; but +Madame de Maintenon creeps towards the crown, and dares not do a good +action if it be a dangerous one. Do not attempt to see her, for she +would certainly refuse; and if she thought that the very application +had reached the King's ears, she would urge him to do something +violent, merely to show him that she had nothing to do with you." + +"She has had much to do with me and mine," replied the Count, somewhat +bitterly; "for to my father, she and her mother owed support when none +else would give it." + +"She owed her bread to Madame de Montespan," replied the Prince, "and +yet ceased not her efforts till she had supplanted her. But," he +added, after a pause, "she is not altogether bad, either, and it is +not improbable, that if there be any scheme going on for converting +you by milder means than the wheel, as I believe there is, she may be +the deviser of it. She was in the room this morning when the business +was taking place between the King, Louvois, and Pelisson. She said +nothing, but sat working at a distance, the very counterpart of a +pie-bald cat that sat dozing in the corner; but she heard all, and I +remarked that when the affair was settled, and other things began, she +beckoned Pelisson to look at her embroidery, and spoke to him for some +minutes in a low voice." + +"Morseiul, may I advise you?" the Prince continued, after a brief +interval had taken place in the conversation; "listen to me but one +word! I know well that there is no chance of your changing your +religion except upon conviction. Do not, however, enact the old Roman, +or court too much the fate of martyrdom; but without taking any active +step in the matter, let the whole plans of these good folks, as far as +they affect yourself, go on unopposed: let them, in short, still +believe that it is not impossible to convert you. Listen to +Pelisson--pay attention to Bossuet--watch the progress of events--be +converted if you can; and if not, you, at all events, will gain +opportunities of retiring from the country with far greater ease and +safety than at present, if you should be driven to such a step at +last. In the mean time, this affair of the preaching will have blown +over, and they will not dare to revive it against you if they let it +slumber for some time. Think of it, Morseiul!--think of it!" + +"I will," replied the Count, "and thank you sincerely; and indeed will +do all that may be done with honour, not to offend the king or +endanger myself;" and thus the conversation ended on that subject; the +Prince having said already far more than might have been expected from +a courtier of Louis XIV. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + THE CLOUDS AND THE SUNSHINE. + + +The Count de Morseiul had just time to take possession of his new +abode, and make himself tolerably at his ease therein, before the hour +arrived for proceeding to the house of the Bishop of Meaux, where he +was received by the prelate with every sort of kindness. + +He arrived before any body else, and Bossuet took him by the hand, +saying, with a smile, "Some of our good clergy, Monsieur de Morseiul, +would perhaps be scandalized at receiving in their house so +distinguished a Protestant as yourself; but I trust you know, what I +have always endeavoured to prove, that I look upon all denominations +of Christians as my brethren, and am only perhaps sometimes a +little eager with them, out of what very likely you consider an +_over-anxiety_, to induce them to embrace those doctrines which I +think necessary to their salvation. Should it ever be so between you +and me, Monsieur le Comte, will you forgive me. + +"Willingly," replied the Count, thinking that the work of conversion +was about to begin; but, to his surprise, Bossuet immediately changed +the conversation, and turned it to the subject of the little party he +had invited to meet the Count. + +"I have not," he said, "made it, as indeed I usually do, almost +entirely of churchmen; for I feared you might think that I intended to +overwhelm you under ecclesiastical authority: however, we have some +belonging to the church, whom you will be glad to meet, if you do not +know them already. The Abbé Renaudot will be here, who has a peculiar +faculty for acquiring languages, such as I never knew in any one but +himself. He understands no less than seventeen foreign languages, and +twelve of those he speaks with the greatest facility. That, however, +is one of his least qualities, as you may yourself judge when I tell +you, that in this age, where interest and ambition swallow up every +thing, he is the most disinterested man that perhaps ever lived. +Possessed of one very small, poor benefice which gives him a scanty +subsistence, he has constantly refused every other preferment; and no +persuasion will induce him to do what he terms, 'encumber himself with +wealth.' We shall also have La Broue, with whose virtues and good +qualities you are already acquainted. D'Herbelot also wrote yesterday +to invite himself. He has just returned from Italy, where that +reverence was shown to him, which generous and expansive minds are +always ready to display towards men of genius and of learning. He was +received by the Grand Duke at Florence, and treated like a sovereign +prince, though merely a poor French scholar. A house was prepared for +him, the Secretary of State met him, and, as a parting present, a +valuable library of oriental manuscripts was bestowed upon him by the +Duke himself. To these grave people we have joined our lively friend +Pelisson, and one whom doubtless you know, Boileau Despréaux. One +cannot help loving him, and being amused with him, although we are +forced to acknowledge that his sarcasm and his bitterness go a good +deal too far. When he was a youth, they tell me, he was the best +tempered boy in the world, and his father used to say of him, that all +his other children had some sharpness and some talent, but that as for +Nicholas, he was a good-natured lad, who would never speak ill of any +one. One thing, however, I must tell you to his honour. He obtained +some time ago, as I lament to say has frequently been done, a benefice +in the church without being an ecclesiastic. The revenues of the +benefice he spent, in those his young days, in lightness, if not in +vice. He has since changed his conduct and his views, and not long +ago, not only resigned the benefice, but paid back from his own purse +all that he had received, to be spent in acts of charity amongst the +deserving of the neighbourhood. This merits particular notice and +record." + +Bossuet was going on to mention several others who were likely to join +their party, when two of those whom he had named arrived, and the +others shortly after made their appearance. The evening passed, as +such an evening may well be supposed to have passed, at the dwelling +of the famous Bishop of Meaux. It was cheerful, though not gay; and +subjects of deep and important interest were mingled with, and +enlivened by many a light and lively sally, confined within the bounds +of strict propriety, but none the less brilliant or amusing, for it is +only weak and narrow intellects that are forced to fly to themes +painful, injurious, or offensive, in order to seek materials with +which to found a reputation for wit or talent. + +The only matter, however, which was mentioned affecting at all the +course of our present tale, and therefore the only one on which we +shall pause, was discussed between Pelisson and the Abbé Renaudot, +while the Count de Morseiul was standing close by them, speaking for a +moment with D'Herbelot. + +"Is there any news stirring at the court, Monsieur Pelisson?" said +Renaudot. "You hear every thing, and I hear nothing of what is going +on there." + +"Why there is nothing of any consequence, I believe," said Pelisson, +in a loud voice. "The only thing now I hear of is, that Mademoiselle +Marly is going to be married at length." + +"What, La belle Clémence!" cried Renaudot "Who is the man that has +touched her hard heart at length?" + +"Oh, an old lover," said Pelisson. "Perseverance has carried the day. +The Chevalier d'Evran is the man. The King gave his consent some few +days ago, the Chevalier having come up express from Poitou to ask it." + +Every word reached the ear of the Count de Morseiul, and his mind +reverted instantly to the conduct of the Chevalier and Clémence, and +to the letter which he had received from her. As any man in love would +do, under such circumstances, he resolved not to believe a word; but +as most men in love would feel, he certainly felt himself not a little +uneasy, not a little agitated, not a little pained even by the report. +Unwilling, however, to hear any more, he walked to the other end of +the room to take his leave, as it was now late. + +Pelisson looked after him as he went, and seeing him bid Bossuet +adieu, he followed his example, and accompanied the young Count down +the stairs and throughout the few steps he had to take ere he reached +his own dwelling. No word, however, was spoken by either regarding +Clémence de Marly, and Albert of Morseiul retired at once, though +certainly not to sleep. He revolved in his mind again and again the +probability of Pelisson's story having any truth in it. He knew +Clémence, and he knew the Chevalier, and he felt sure that he could +trust them both; but that trust was all that he had to oppose to the +very great likelihood which there existed, that the King, as he so +frequently did, would take the arrangement of a marriage for Clémence +de Marly into his own hands, without in the slightest degree +consulting her inclination, or the inclination of any one concerned. + +The prospect now presented to the mind of Albert of Morseiul was in +the highest degree painful. Fresh difficulties, fresh dangers, were +added to the many which were already likely to overwhelm him, if even, +as he trusted she would, Clémence held firm by her plighted troth to +him, and resisted what was then so hard to resist in France, the +absolute will of the King. Still this new incident would only serve to +show that instant flight was more absolutely necessary than before, +would render any return to France utterly impossible, and would +increase the danger and difficulty of executing that flight itself. +But a question suggested itself to the Count's mind, which, though he +answered it in the affirmative, left anxiety and doubt behind it. +Would Clémence de Marly resist the will of the King? Could she do so? +So many were the means to be employed to lead or drive her to +obedience, so much might be done by leading her on from step to step, +that bitter, very bitter anxiety took possession of her lover's heart. +He persuaded himself that it was pain and anxiety on her account +alone; but still he loved her too well, too truly, not to feel pained +and anxious for himself. + +On the following morning, as soon as he had breakfasted, he wrote a +brief note to Clémence, telling her that he was at Versailles, was +most anxious to see her and converse with her, if it were but for a +few minutes, and beseeching her to let him know immediately where he +could do so speedily, as he had matters of very great importance to +communicate to her at once. The letter was tender and affectionate; +but still there was that in it, which might show the keen eyes of love +that there was some great doubt and uneasiness pressing on the mind of +the writer. + +As soon as the letter was written, he gave it into the hands of Jerome +Riquet, directing him to carry it to Paris, to wait there for the +arrival of the family of de Rouvré, if they had not yet come, and to +find means to give it to Maria, the attendant of Mademoiselle de +Marly. He was too well aware of Riquet's talents not to be quite sure +that this commission would be executed in the best manner; and after +his departure he strove to keep his mind as quiet as possible, and +occupied himself in writing to his intendant at Morseiul, conveying +orders for his principal attendants to come up to join him at +Versailles directly, bringing with them a great variety of different +things which were needful to him, but which had been left behind in +the hurry of his departure. While he was writing, he was again visited +by the Prince de Marsillac, who came in kindly to tell him that the +report of Pelisson, who had passed the preceding evening with him, +seemed to be operating highly in his favour at court. + +"I am delighted," he said, "that the good Abbé has had the first word, +for St. Helie is expected to-night, and, depend upon it, his story +would be very different. It will not be listened to now, however," he +continued; "and every day gained, depend upon it, is something. Take +care, however, Count," he said, pointing to the papers on the table, +"take care of your correspondence; for though the King himself is +above espionage, Louvois is not, I can tell you, and unless you send +your letters by private couriers of your own, which might excite great +suspicion, every word is sure to be known." + +"I was going to send this letter by a private courier," said the +Count; "but as it is only intended to order up the rest of my train +from Poitou, and some matters of that kind, I care not if it be known +to-morrow." + +"If it be to order up your train," replied the Prince, "send it +through Louvois himself. Write him a note instantly, saying, that as +you understand he has a courier going, you will be glad if he will +despatch that letter. It will be opened, read, and the most convincing +proof afforded to the whole of them, that you have no intention of +immediate flight, which is the principal thing they seem to apprehend. +With this, clenching the report of Pelisson, you may set St. Helie at +defiance, I should think." + +The Count smiled. "Heaven deliver me from the intrigues of a court," +he said. He did, however, as he was advised; and the Prince de +Marsillac carried off the letter and the note, promising to have them +delivered to Louvois immediately. + +Several hours then passed anxiously, and although he knew that he +could not receive an answer till two or three o'clock, and might +perhaps not receive one at all that day, he could not help thinking +the time long, and, marking the striking of the palace clock, as if it +must have gone wrong for his express torment. The shortest possible +space of time, however, in which it was possible to go and come +between Versailles and Paris had scarcely expired after the departure +of Riquet, when the valet again appeared. He brought with him a scrap +of paper, which proved to be the back of the Count's own note to +Clémence, unsealed, and with no address upon it; but written in a +hasty hand within was found-- + +"I cannot--I dare not, see you at present, nor can I now write as I +should desire to do. If what you wish to say is of immediate +importance, write as before, and it is sure to reach me." + +There was no signature, but the hand was that of Clémence de Marly; +and the heart of Albert of Morseiul felt as if it would have broken. +It seemed as if the last tie between him and happiness was severed. It +seemed as if that hope, which would have afforded him strength, and +support, and energy, to combat every difficulty and overleap every +obstacle, was taken away from him; and for five or ten minutes he +paced up and down the saloon in agony of mind unutterable. + +"She is yielding already," he said at length, "she is yielding +already. The King's commands are hardly announced to her, ere she +feels that she must give way. It is strange--it is most strange! I +could have staked my life that with her it would have been +otherwise!--and yet the influence which this Chevalier d'Evran seems +always to have possessed over her is equally strange. If, as she has +so solemnly told me, she is not really bound to him by any tie of +affection, may she not be bound by some promise rashly given in former +years? We have heard of such things. However, no promises to me shall +stand in the way; she shall act freely, and at her own will, as far as +I am concerned;" and, sitting down, he wrote a few brief lines to +Clémence, in which, though he did not pour out the bitterness of his +heart, he showed how bitterly he was grieved. + +"The tidings I had to tell you," he said, "were simply these, which I +heard last night. The King destines your hand for another, and has +already announced that such is the case. The few words that you have +written show me that you are already aware of this fact, and that +perhaps struggling between promises to me and an inclination to obey +the royal authority, you are pained, and uncertain how to act. Such, +at least, is the belief to which I am led by the few cold painful +words which I have received. If that belief is right, it may make you +more easy to know that, in such a case, Albert of Morseiul will never +exact the fulfilment of a promise that Clémence de Marly is inclined +to break." + +He folded the note up, sealed it, and once more called for Riquet. +Before the man appeared, however, some degree of hesitation had come +over the heart of the Count, and he asked him,-- + +"Who did you see at the Hôtel de Rouvré?" + +"I saw," replied the man, "some of the servants; and I saw two or +three ecclesiastics looking after their valises in the court; and I +saw Madame de Rouvré looking out of one of the windows with +Mademoiselle Clémence, and the Chevalier d'Evran." + +"It is enough," said the Count. "I should wish this note taken back to +Paris before nightfall, and given into the hands of the same person to +whom you gave the other. Take some rest, Riquet. But I should like +that to be delivered before nightfall." + +"I will deliver it, sir, and be back in time to dress you for the +_Appartement_." + +"The _appartement_," said the Count, "I had forgotten that, and most +likely shall not go. Well," he added after a moment's thought, "better +go there than to the Bastille. But it matters not, Riquet, Jean can +dress me." + +The man bowed and retired. But by the time that it was necessary for +the Count to commence dressing for the _appartement_, Riquet had +returned, bringing with him, however, no answer to the note, for +which, indeed, he had not waited. The Count suffered him to arrange +his dress as he thought fit, and then proceeded to the palace, which +was by this time beginning to be thronged with company. + +During one half of the life of Louis XIV. he was accustomed to throw +open all the splendid public rooms of his palace three times in the +week to all the chief nobility of his court and capital, and every +thing that liberal, and even ostentatious, splendour could do to +please the eye, delight the ear, or amuse the mind of those who were +thus collected, was done by the monarch on the nights which were +marked for what was called _appartement_. At an after period of his +life, when the death of almost all his great ministers had cast the +burden of all the affairs of state upon the King himself, he seldom, +if ever, appeared at these assemblies, passing the hours, during which +he furnished his court with amusement, in labouring diligently with +one or other of his different ministers. + +At the time we speak of, however, he almost every night showed himself +in the _appartement_ for some time, noticing every body with +affability and kindness, and remarking, it was said, accurately who +was present and who was not. It was considered a compliment to the +monarch never to neglect any reasonable opportunity of paying court at +these assemblies; and it is very certain that had the Count de +Morseiul failed in presenting himself on the present occasion, his +absence would have been regarded as a decided proof of disaffection. + +He found the halls below, then, filled with guards and attendants; the +staircase covered with officers, and guests arriving in immense +crowds; while from the first room above poured forth the sound of a +full orchestra, which was always the first attraction met with during +the evening, as if to put the guests in harmony, and prepare their +minds for pleasure and enjoyment. The music was of the finest kind +that could be found in France, and no person ever rendered himself +celebrated, even in any remote province, for peculiar skill or taste +in playing on any instrument, without being sought out and brought to +play at the concerts of the King. The concert room, which was the only +one where the light was kept subdued, opened into a long suite of +apartments, hall beyond hall, saloon beyond saloon, where the eye was +dazzled by the blaze, and fatigued by the immense variety of beautiful +and precious ornaments which were seen stretching away in brilliant +perspective. Here tables were laid out for every sort of game that was +then in fashion, from billiards to lansquenet; and the King took +especial pains to make it particularly known to every person at his +court, that it was not only his wish, but his especial command, if any +man found any thing wanting, or required any thing whatever for his +amusement or pleasure in the apartments, that he was to order some of +the attendants to bring it. + +Perfect liberty reigned throughout the whole saloons, as far as was +consistent with propriety of conduct. The courtiers made up their +parties amongst themselves, chose their own amusements, followed their +own pursuits. Every sort of refreshment was provided in abundance, and +hundreds on hundreds of servants, in splendid dresses, were seen +moving here and there throughout the rooms, supplying the wants, and +fulfilling the wishes of all the guests, with the utmost promptitude, +or waiting for their orders, and remarking, with anxious attention, +that nothing was wanting to the convenience of any one. + +The whole of the principal suite of rooms in the palace was thus +thrown open, as we have said, three times in the week, with the +exception of the great ball room, which was only opened on particular +occasions. Sometimes, at the balls of the court, the _appartement_ was +not held, and the meeting took place in the ball-room itself. But at +other times the ball followed the supper of the King, which took place +invariably at ten o'clock, and the company invited proceeded from the +_appartement_ to the ball-room, leaving those whose age, health, or +habits, gave them the privilege of not dancing, to amuse themselves +with the games which were provided on the ordinary nights. + +Such was to be the case on the present evening, and such as we have +described was the scene of splendour which opened upon the eyes of the +Count de Morseiul as he entered the concert-room, and taking a seat at +the end, gazed up the gallery, listening with pleasure to a calm and +somewhat melancholy, but soothing strain of music. His mind, indeed, +was too much occupied with painful feelings of many kinds for him to +take any pleasure or great interest in the magnificence spread out +before his eyes, which he had indeed often seen before, but which he +might have seen again with some admiration, had his bosom been free +and his heart at rest. + +At present, however, it was but dull pageantry to him, and the music +was the thing that pleased him most; but when a gay and lively piece +succeeded to that which he had first heard, he rose and walked on into +the rooms beyond, striving to find amusement for his thoughts, though +pleasure might not be there to be found. Although he was by no means a +general frequenter of the Court, and always escaped from it to the +calmer pleasures of the country as soon as possible, he was, of +course, known to almost all the principal nobility of the realm, and +to all the officers who had in any degree distinguished themselves in +the service. Thus, in the very first room, he was stopped by a number +of acquaintances; and, passing on amidst the buzz of many voices, and +all the gay nothings of such a scene, he met from time to time with +some one, whose talents, or whose virtues, or whose greater degree of +intimacy with himself, enabled him to pause and enter into longer and +more interesting conversation, either in reference to the present--its +hopes and fears,--or to the period when last they met, and the events +that then surrounded them. + +Although such things could not, of course, cure his mind of its +melancholy, it afforded him some degree of occupation for his +thoughts, till a sudden whisper ran through the rooms of "The King! +The King!" and every body drew back from the centre of the apartments +to allow the monarch to pass. + +Louis advanced from the inner rooms with that air of stately dignity, +which we know, from the accounts both of his friends and enemies, to +have been unrivalled in grace and majesty. His commanding person, his +handsome features, his kingly carriage, and his slow and measured +step, all bespoke at once the monarch, and afforded no bad indication +of his character, with its many grand and extensive, if not noble +qualities, its capaciousness, its ambition, and even its occasional +littleness, for the somewhat theatrical demeanour was never lost, and +the stage effect was not less in Louis's mind than in his person. + +He paused to speak for a moment with several persons as he passed, +stood at the lansquenet table where his brother and his son were +seated, dropped an occasional word, always graceful and agreeable, at +two or three of the other tables, and then paused for a moment and +looked up and down the rooms, evidently feeling himself, what his +whole people believed him to be, the greatest monarch that ever trod +the earth. There was something, indeed, it must be acknowledged, in +the mighty splendour of the scene around--in the inestimable amount of +the earth's treasures there collected--in the blaze of light, the +distant sound of the music, the dazzling loveliness of many there +present--the courage, the learning, the talent, the genius collected +in those halls; and in the knowledge that there was scarcely a man +present who would not shed the last drop of his heart's blood in the +defence of his King, there was something that might well turn giddy +the brain of any man who felt himself placed on that awful pinnacle of +power and greatness. Louis, however, was well accustomed to it, and, +like the child and the lion, he had become familiar from youth with +things which might make other men tremble. Thus he paused but for a +moment to remark and to enjoy, and then advanced again through the +apartments. + +The next person that his eye fell upon was the Count de Morseiul; and +his countenance showed in a moment how true had been the prophecy of +the Prince de Marsillac, that a great change would take place in his +feelings. He now smiled graciously upon the young Count, and paused to +speak with him. + +"I trust to see you often here, Monsieur de Morseiul," he said. + +"I shall not fail, Sire," the Count replied, "to pay my duty to your +majesty as often as I am permitted to do so." + +"Then you do not return soon to Poitou, Monsieur le Comte?" said the +King. + +"I have thought it so improbable that I should do so, Sire," replied +the Count, who evidently saw that Louvois had not failed to report his +letter, "that I have taken a hotel here, and have sent for my +attendants this day. If I hoped that my presence in Poitou could be of +any service to your majesty----" + +"It may be, it may be, Count, in time to come," replied the King. "In +the mean time we will try to amuse you well here. I have heard that +you are one of the best billiard-players in France. Follow me now to +the billiard room, and, though I am out of practice, I will try a +stroke or two with you." + +It was a game in which Louis excelled, as, indeed, he did in all +games; and this was one which afterwards, we are told, made the +fortune of the famous minister, Chamillart. The Count de Morseiul, +therefore, received this invitation as a proof that he was very nearly +re-established in the King's good graces. He feared not at all to +compete with the monarch, as he himself was also out of practice, and, +indeed, far more than the King; so that, though an excellent player, +there was no chance of his being driven either to win the game against +the monarch, or to make use of some man[oe]uvre to avoid doing so. He +followed the King then willingly; but Louis, passing through the +billiard-room, went on in the first place to the end of the suite of +apartments, noticing every body to whom he wished to pay particular +attention, and then returned to the game. A number of persons crowded +round--so closely indeed, that the monarch exclaimed,-- + +"Let us have room--let us have room! We will have none but the ladies +so close to us: Ha, Monsieur de Morseiul?" + +The game then commenced, and went on with infinite skill and very +nearly equal success on both parts. Louis became somewhat eager, but +yet a suspicion crossed his mind that the young Count was purposely +giving him the advantage, and at the end of some very good strokes he +purposely placed his balls in an unfavourable position. The Count did +not fail to take instant advantage of the opportunity, and had well +nigh won the game. By an unfortunate stroke, however, he lost his +advantage, and the King never let him have the table again till he was +himself secure. + +"You see, Monsieur de Morseiul," he said, as he paused for a moment +afterwards, "you see you cannot beat me." + +"I never even hoped it, Sire," replied the Count. "In my own short day +I have seen so many kings, generals, and statesmen try to do so with +signal want of success, that I never entertained so presumptuous an +expectation." + +The monarch smiled graciously, well pleased at a compliment from the +young Huguenot nobleman which he had not expected; and as the game was +one in which he took great pleasure, and which also displayed the +graces of his person to the greatest advantage, he played a second +game with the Count, which he won by only one stroke. He then left the +table, and after speaking once more with several persons in the +apartments, retired, not to re-appear till after his supper. + +As soon as he was gone, the Prince de Marsillac once more approached +the young Count, saying in a whisper,--"You have not beaten the King, +Morseiul, but you have conquered him: yet, take my advice, on no +account leave the apartments till after the ball has begun. Let Louis +see you there, for you know what a marking eye he has for every one +who is in the rooms." + +Thus saying, he passed on, and the Count determined to follow his +advice, though the hour and a half that was yet to elapse seemed +tedious if not interminable to him. About a quarter of an hour before +the supper of the King, however, as he sat listlessly leaning against +one of the columns, he saw a party coming up from the concert room at +a rapid pace, and long before the eye could distinctly see of what +persons it was composed, his heart told him that Clémence de Marly was +there. + +She came forward, leaning on the arm of the Duc de Rouvré, dressed +with the utmost splendour, and followed by a party of several others +who had just arrived. She was certainly not less lovely than ever. To +the eyes of Albert de Morseiul, indeed, it seemed that she was more +so: but there was an expression of deep sadness on that formerly gay +and smiling countenance, which would have made the whole feelings of +the Count de Morseiul change into grief for her grief, and anxiety for +her anxiety, had there not been a certain degree of haughtiness, +throned upon her brow and curling her lips, which bespoke more +bitterness than depression of feeling. The Duc de Rouvré was, as I +have said, proceeding rapidly through the rooms, and paused not to +speak with any one. The eyes of Clémence, however, fell full upon the +Count de Morseiul, and rested on him with their full melancholy light, +while she noticed him with a calm and graceful inclination of the +head, but passed on without a word. + +The feelings of the Count de Morseiul were bitter indeed, as may well +be imagined. "So soon," he said to himself, "so soon! By heaven I can +understand now all that I have heard and wondered at: how, for a +woman--an empty, vain, coquettish woman--a man may forget the regard +of years, and cut his friend's throat as he would that of a stag or +boar. Where is the Chevalier d'Evran I wonder? He does not appear in +the train to-night; but perhaps he comes not till the ball. I will +wait, however, the same time as if she had not been here." + +He moved not from his place, but remained leaning against the column; +and, as is generally the case, not seeking, he was sought for. A +number of people who knew him gathered round him; and, although he was +in any thing but a mood for entertaining or being entertained, the +very shortness of his replies, and the degree of melancholy bitterness +that mingled with them, caused words that he never intended to be +witty, to pass for wit, and protracted the torture of conversing with +indifferent people upon indifferent subjects, when the heart is full +of bitterness, and the mind occupied with its own sad business. + +At length the doors of the ball room were thrown open, and the company +poured in to arrange themselves before the monarch came. Several +parties, indeed, remained playing at different games at the tables in +the gallery, and the Count remained where he was, still leaning +against the column, which was at the distance of ten or twelve yards +from the doors of the ball room. Not above five minutes had elapsed +before the King and his immediate attendants appeared, coming from his +private supper room to be present at the ball. His eye, as he passed, +ran over the various tables, making a graceful motion with his hand +for the players not to rise; and as he approached the folding doors, +he remarked the Count, and beckoned to him to come up. The Count +immediately started forward, and the King demanded, + +"A gallant young man like you, do you not dance, Monsieur de +Morseiul?" + +Taken completely by surprise at this piece of condescension, the Count +replied, + +"Alas, Sire, I am not in spirits to dance; I should but cloud the +gaiety of my fair partner, and she would wish herself any where else +before the evening were over." + +Louis smiled; and, so much accustomed as he was to attribute the +sunshine and clouds upon his courtiers' brows to the effects of his +favour or displeasure, he instantly put his own interpretation upon +the words of the Count, and that interpretation raised the young +nobleman much in the good graces of a monarch, who, though vain and +despotic, was not naturally harsh and severe. + +"If, Monsieur de Morseiul," he said, "some slight displeasure +which the King expressed yesterday morning, have rendered our gay +fellow-soldier of Maestricht and Valenciennes so sad, let his sadness +pass away, for his conduct here has effaced unfavourable reports, and +if he persevere to the end in the same course, he may count upon the +very highest favour." + +Almost every circumstance combines on earth to prevent monarchs +hearing the truth, even from the most sincere. Time, place, and +circumstance is almost always against them; and in the present +instance, the Count de Morseiul knew well, that neither the spot nor +the moment were at all suited to any thing like an explanation. He +could but reply, therefore, that the lightest displeasure of the King +was of course enough to make him sad, and end his answer by one of +those compliments which derive at least half their value, like paper +money, from the good will of the receiver. + +"Come, come," said the King gaily; "shake off this melancholy, +fellow-soldier. Come with me; and if I have rightly heard the secrets +of certain hearts, I will find you a partner this night, who shall not +wish herself any where else while dancing with the Count de Morseiul." + +The Count gazed upon the King with utter astonishment; and Louis, +enjoying his surprise, led the way quickly on into the ball room, the +Count following, as he bade him, close by his side, and amongst his +principal officers. As soon as they had entered the ball room, Louis +paused for an instant, and every one rose. The King's eyes, as well as +those of the Count de Morseiul, ran round the vast saloon seeking for +some particular object To Albert of Morseiul that object was soon +discovered, placed between the Duchess de Rouvré, and Anette de +Marville, at the very farthest part of the room. Louis, however, who +was in good spirits, and in a mood peculiarly condescending, walked +round the whole circle, pausing to speak to almost every married lady +there, and twice turning suddenly towards the Count, perhaps with the +purpose of teazing him a little, but seemingly as if about to point +out the lady to whom he had alluded. At length, however, he reached +the spot where the Duchess de Rouvré and her party were placed; and +after speaking for a moment to the Duchess, while the cheek of +Clémence de Marly became deadly pale and then glowed again fiery red, +he turned suddenly towards her, and said-- + +"Mademoiselle de Marly, or perhaps as I in gallantry ought to say, +_Belle Clémence_, I have promised the Count de Morseiul here to find +him a partner for this ball, who will dance with him throughout +to-night, without wishing herself anywhere else. Now, as I have +certain information that he is very hateful to you, there is but one +thing which can make you execute the task to the full. Doubtless you, +as well as all the rest of our court, feel nothing so great a pleasure +as obeying the King's commands--at least, so they tell me--and +therefore I command you to dance with him, and to be as happy as +possible, and not to wish yourself any where else from this moment +till the ball closes." + +He waited for no reply, but making a sign to the Count to remain by +the side of his fair partner, proceeded round the rest of the circle. +Nothing in the demeanour of Clémence de Marly but her varying colour +had told how much she was agitated while the King spoke; but the words +which the monarch had used were so pointed, and touched so directly +upon the feelings between herself and Albert of Morseiul, that those +who stood around pressed slightly forward as soon as Louis had gone +on, to see how she was affected by what had passed. To her ear those +words were most strange and extraordinary. It was evident that by some +one the secret of her heart had been betrayed to the King, and equally +evident that Louis had determined to countenance that love which she +had fancied would make her happy in poverty, danger, or distress, +announcing his approbation at the very moment that a temporary +coldness had arisen between her and her lover, and that her heart was +oppressed with those feelings of hopelessness, which will sometimes +cross even our brightest and happiest days. + +On the Count de Morseiul the King's words had produced a different, +but not a less powerful effect. The surprise and joy which he might +have felt at finding himself suddenly pointed out by the monarch as +the favoured suitor for the hand of her he loved, was well nigh done +away by the conviction that the price the King put upon his ultimate +approbation of their union was such as he could not pay. But +nevertheless those words were most joyful, though they raised up some +feeling of self-reproach in his heart. It was evident that the tale +told by Pelisson regarding the Chevalier was false, or perhaps, +indeed, originated in some pious fraud devised for the purpose of +driving him more speedily to acknowledge himself a convert to the +church of Rome. Whatever were the circumstances, however, it was clear +that Clémence was herself unconscious of any such report, and that all +the probabilities which imagination had built up to torment him were +but idle dreams. He had pained himself enough indeed; but he had +pained Clémence also, and his first wish was to offer her any +atonement in his power. + +Such were the feelings and thoughts called up in the bosom of the +young Count by the events which had just occurred. But the surprise of +Clémence and her lover was far outdone by that of the Duke and Duchess +de Rouvré, who, astonished at the favour into which their young friend +seemed so suddenly to have risen, and equally astonished at the +intimation given by the King of an attachment existing between the +Count and Clémence, overflowed with joy and satisfaction as soon as +the monarch left the spot, and expressed many a vain hope that, after +all, the affairs which had commenced in darkness and shadow, would end +in sunshine and light. Ere the Count could reply, or say one word to +Clémence de Marly, the _bransle_ began, and he led her forth to dance. +There was but a moment for him to speak to her; but he did not lose +that moment. + +"Clémence," he said, as he led her forward, "I fear I have both pained +you and wronged you." + +A bright and beautiful smile spread at once over her countenance. "You +have," she said; "but those words are enough, Albeit! Say no more! the +pain is done away; the wrong is forgotten." + +"It is not forgotten by me, sweet girl," he replied, in the same low +tone; "but I must speak to you long, and explain all." + +"Come to-morrow," she answered; "all difficulties must now be done +away. I, too, have something to explain, Albert," she added, "but yet +not every thing that I could wish to explain, and about that I will +make you my only reproach. You promised not to doubt me--oh, keep that +promise!" + +As she spoke the dance began, and of course their conversation for the +time concluded. All eyes were upon the young Count--so rare a visiter +at the palace, and upon her--so admired, so courted, so disdainful, as +she was believed to be by every one present, but whose destiny seemed +now decided, and whose heart everyone naturally believed to be won. +Graceful by nature as well as by education, no two persons of the +whole court could have been better fitted than Albert of Morseiul and +Clémence de Marly to pass through the ordeal of such a scene as a +court ball in those days; and though every eye was, as we have said, +upon them, yet they had a great advantage on that night, which would +have prevented any thing like embarrassment, even had not such scenes +been quite familiar to them. They scarcely knew that any eyes were +watching them, they were scarcely conscious of the presence of +the glittering crowd around. Engrossed by their own individual +feelings--deep, absorbing, overpowering, as those feelings +were,--their spirits were wrapt up in themselves and in each other; +they thought not of the dance, they thought not of the spectators, but +left habit, and natural grace, and a fine ear, to do all that was +requisite as far as the minuet was concerned. If either thought of the +dance at all, it was only when the eyes of Albert of Morseiul rested +on Clémence, and he thought her certainly more lovely and graceful +than ever she had before appeared, or when his hand touched hers, and +the thrill of that touch passed to his heart, speaking of love and +hope and happiness to come. The effect was what might naturally be +supposed--each danced more gracefully than perhaps they had ever done +before; and one of those slight murmurs of admiration passed through +the courtly crowd, and was confirmed by a gracious smile and gentle +inclination of the head from the King himself. + +"We must not let him escape us," said the monarch in a low voice to +the Prince de Marsillac. "Certainly he is worthy of some trouble in +recalling from his errors." + +"If he escape from the fair net your majesty has spread for him," +replied the Prince, "he will be the most cunning bird that ever I saw. +Indeed, I should suppose he has no choice, when, if caught, he will +have to thank his King for every thing, for honour, favour, +distinction, his soul's salvation, and a fair wife that loves him. If +he be not pressed till he takes fright, he will entangle himself so +that no power can extricate him." + +"He shall have every opportunity," said the King. "I must not appear +too much in the matter. You, Prince, see that they be left alone +together, if possible, for a few minutes. Use what man[oe]uvre you +will, and I will take care to countenance it." + +At the court balls of that day it was the custom to dance throughout +the night with one person, and the opportunity of conversing between +those who were dancing was very small. A few brief words at the +commencement, or at the end of each dance, was all that could be hoped +for, and Clémence and her lover were fain to fix all their hopes of +explanation and of longer intercourse upon the morrow. Suddenly, +however, it was announced, before the hour at which the balls usually +terminated, that the King had a lottery, to which all the married +ladies of the court were invited. + +The crowd poured into the apartment where the drawing of this lottery +was to take place; every lady anxious for a ticket where all were +prizes, and the tickets themselves given by the King; while those who +were not to share in this splendid piece of generosity, were little +less eager, desirous of seeing the prizes, and learning who it was +that won them. All then, as we have said, poured out of the ball room, +through the great gallery and other state-rooms in which the +_appartement_ was usually held. + +There were only two who lingered--Clémence de Marly and Albert of +Morseiul. They, however, remained to the last, and then followed +slowly, employing the few minutes thus obtained in low spoken words of +affection, perhaps all the warmer and all the tenderer for the +coldness and the pain just passed. Ere three sentences, however, had +been uttered, the good Duc de Rouvré approached, saying, "Come, +Clémence, come quick, or you will not find a place where you will +see." + +The eye of the Prince de Marsillac, however, was upon them; and, +threading the mazes of the crowd, he took the Duke by the arm; and, +drawing him aside with an important face, told him that the King +wanted to speak with him immediately. The Duc de Rouvré darted quickly +away to seek the monarch: and the Prince paused for a single instant +ere he followed, to say in a low voice to the Count,-- + +"You will neither of you be required at the lottery, if you think that +the lot you have drawn already is sufficiently good." + +The Count was not slow to understand the hint, and he gently led +Clémence de Marly back into one of the vacant saloons. + +"Surely they will think it strange," she said; but ere the Count could +reply, she added quickly; "but, after all, what matters it if they +do?--I would have it so, that every one may see and know the whole so +clearly, that all persecution may be at an end. Now, Albert, now," she +said, "tell me what could make you write me so cruel a letter." + +"I will in one word," he replied; "but remember, Clémence, that I own +I have been wrong, and in telling you the causes, in explaining the +various circumstances which led me to believe that you were wavering +in your engagements to me, I seek not to justify myself, but merely to +explain." + +"Oh never, never think it!" she exclaimed, ere she would let him go +on; "whatever may happen, whatever appearances may be, never, Albert, +never for one moment think that I am wavering! Once more, most +solemnly, most truly, I assure you, that though perhaps fate may +separate me from you, and circumstances over which we have no control +render our union impossible, nothing--no, not the prospect of +immediate death itself, shall ever induce me to give my hand to +another. No circumstances can effect that, for that must be my +voluntary act; and I can endure death, I can endure imprisonment, I +can endure any thing they choose to inflict, except the wedding a man +I do not love. Now, tell me," she continued, "now let me hear, what +could make you think I did so waver." + +The Count related all that had taken place, the words which he had +heard Pelisson make use of in conversation with an indifferent person, +the mortification and pain he had felt at the words she had written in +answer to his note, the confirmation of all his anxious fears by what +Jerome Riquet had told him, and all the other probabilities that had +arisen to make him believe that those fears were just. + +Clémence heard him sometimes with a look of pain, sometimes with a +reproachful smile. "After all, Albert," she said, "perhaps you have +had some cause--more cause indeed than jealous men often have, and yet +you shall hear how simply all this may be accounted for. The day after +we parted in Poitou, the Abbé de St. Helie arrived at Ruffigny, with +several other persons of the same kind, and Monsieur de Rouvré found +his house filled with spies upon his actions. He received, however, in +the evening of the same day, an order to come to the court +immediately, to give an account of the events which had taken place in +his government. The same spies of Louvois accompanied us on the road, +as well as the Chevalier d'Evran,--who was the person that had +obtained from the King the order for the Duke to appear at court, +rather than to remain in exile at Ruffigny, while his enemies said +what they chose of him in his absence. We had not arrived in Paris ten +minutes at the time your servant came. We were surrounded by spies of +every kind; the good Duke was in a state of agitation impossible to +describe, and so fearful that any thing like a Protestant should be +seen in his house, or that any thing, in short, should occur to give +probability to the charges against him, that I knew your coming would +be dangerous both to yourself and to him, the house being filled with +persons who were ready not only to report, but to pervert every thing +that took place. On receiving your note, Maria called me out of the +saloon; but my apartments were not prepared; servants were coming and +going; no writing paper was to be procured; a pen and ink was obtained +with difficulty. I knew if I were absent five minutes in the state of +agitation, that pervaded the whole household, Madame de Rouvré would +come to seek me, and I was consequently obliged to write the few words +I did write in the greatest haste, and under the greatest anxiety. +Maria was not even out of the room conveying those few words to your +servant, when the Duchess came in, and I was glad hypocritically to +affect great activity and neatness about the arrangement of my +apartments, to conceal the real matter which had employed me. Such is +the simple state of the case; and I never even heard of this other +marriage, about which Pelisson must have made some mistake. Had I +heard of it," she added, "it would only have made me laugh." + +"I see not why it should do so," replied the Count. "Surely, Louis +d'Evran is--as I well know he is considered by many of the fair and +the bright about this court--a person not to be despised by any woman. +He evidently, too, exercises great influence over you, Clémence; and +therefore the report itself was not such as I, at least, could treat +as absurd, especially when, in addition to these facts, it was stated +that the King had expressed his will that you should give him your +hand." + +"To me, however, Albert," she replied, "it must appear absurd, knowing +and feeling as I do know and feel, that were the Chevalier d'Evran the +only man I had ever seen, or ever were likely to see, that I should +never even dream of marrying him. He may be much loved and liked by +other women; doubtless he is, and sure I am he well deserves it. I +like him, too, Albert. I scruple not to own it--I like him much; but +that is very different from loving him as I love--as a woman should +love her husband I mean to say. And now, Albert," she continued, "with +regard to the influence he has over me, I will tell you nothing more. +That shall remain as a trial of your confidence in me. This influence +will never be exerted but when it is right. Should it be exerted +wrongly, it is at an end from that moment. When you wished to +accompany me to Ruffigny, from that terrible scene in which we last +parted, he represented to me in few words how Monsieur de Rouvré was +situated. He showed me, that by bringing you there at such a time from +such a scene, I should but bring destruction on that kind friend who +had sheltered and protected my infancy and my youth, when I had none +else to protect me. He showed me, too, that I should put an impassable +barrier between you and me, for the time at least. He told me that no +one but himself was aware of where I was, but that your accompanying +me would instantly make it known to the whole world, and most likely +produce the ruin of both. Now, tell me, Albert, was he not right to +say all this? Was not his view a just one?" + +"It was," replied the Count; "but yet he might have urged it in +another manner. He might have explained the whole to me as well as to +you: and still you leave unexplained, Clémence, how he should know +where you were when you had concealed it so well, so unaccountably +well, from the family at Ruffigny." + +"Oh! jealousy, jealousy," said Clémence, playfully; "what a terrible +and extraordinary thing jealousy is! and yet, Albert, perhaps a woman +likes to see a little of it when she really loves. However, you are +somewhat too hard upon the Chevalier, and you shall not wring from me +any other secret just yet. You have wrung from me, Albert, too many of +the secrets of my heart already, and I will not make you the spoilt +child of love, by letting you have altogether your own way. As to my +concealing from the family of Ruffigny, however, where I was going on +that occasion, or on most others, it is very easily explained. Do you +not know that till I was foolish enough at Poitiers to barter all the +freedom of my heart, for love with but little confidence it would +seem, I have always been a tyrant instead of a slave? Are you not +aware that I have always done just as I liked with every one? and one +of my reasons for exercising my power to the most extreme degree was, +that my religious faith might never be controlled? Till this fierce +persecution of the Protestants began, and till the King made it his +great object, and announced his determination of putting down all but +the Roman Catholic faith in the realm, Monsieur de Rouvré himself +cared but little for the distinction of Protestant and Catholic, and +even had he known what I was doing, though he might have objected, +would not have strongly opposed me. I established my right, however, +of doing what I liked, and going where I liked, and acting as I liked, +on such firm grounds, that it was not easily shaken. Even now, had I +chosen to see you to-day in Paris, I might have done it; but would you +have thought the better of Clémence if she had risked the fortunes of +him who has been more than a father to her? Nobody would, and nobody +should have said me nay, if I had believed that it was just and right +to bid you come. But I thought it was wrong, Albert. Now, however, I +may bid you come in safety to all; and now that I have time and +opportunity to make any arrangements I like, I may safely promise, +that should any change come over the present aspect of our affairs, +which change I fear must and will come, I will find means to see you +at any time, and under any circumstances. But hark! from what I hear, +the lottery is over, and the people departing. Let us go forward and +join them, if it be but for a moment." + +Thus saying, she rose, and the Count led her on to the room where the +distribution of the prizes had just taken place. Every one was now +interested with another subject. A full hour had been given at the +beginning of the evening to the affair of the Count de Morseiul and +Mademoiselle de Marly, which was a far greater space of time, and far +more attention than such a court might be expected to give, even to +matters of the deepest and most vital importance. But no former +impression could of course outlive the effect of a lottery. There was +not one man or woman present whose thoughts were filled with any thing +else than the prizes and their distributions; and the head of even the +good Duchess of Rouvré herself, who was certainly of somewhat higher +character than most of those present, was so filled with the grand +engrossing theme, that nothing was talked of, as the party returned to +Paris, but the prize which had fallen to the share of Madame de This, +or the disappointment which had been met with by Madame de That; so +that Clémence de Marly could lean back in the dark corner of the +carriage, and enjoy her silence undisturbed. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + THE HOUR OF HAPPINESS. + + +At the levée of the King, on the succeeding morning, the young Count +de Morseiul was permitted to appear for a few minutes. The monarch was +evidently in haste, having somewhat broken in on his matutinal habits +in consequence of the late hour at which he had retired on the night +before. + +"They tell me you have a favour to ask, Monsieur de Morseiul," said +the King. "I hope it is not a very great one, for I have slept so well +and am in such haste, that, perhaps, I might grant it, whether it were +right or wrong." + +"It is merely, Sire," replied the Count, "to ask your gracious +permission to proceed to Paris this morning, in order to visit +Mademoiselle de Marly. Not knowing when it may be your royal pleasure +to grant me the longer audience which you promised for some future +time, I did not choose to absent myself from Versailles without your +majesty's consent." + +Louis smiled graciously, for no such tokens of deference were lost +upon him. "Most assuredly," he said, "you have my full permission: and +now I think of it--Bontems," he continued, turning to one of his +_valets de chamber_, "bring me that casket that is in the little +cabinet below--now I think of it, the number of our ladies last night +fell short at the lottery, and there was a prize of a pair of diamond +earrings left. I had intended to have given them to La belle Clémence; +but, somehow," he added, with a smile, "she did not appear in the +room. Perhaps, however, you know more of that than I do, Monsieur de +Morseiul!--Oh, here is Bontems--give me the casket." + +Taking out of the small ebony box which was now presented to him, a +little case, containing a very handsome pair of diamond ear-rings, the +King placed it in the hands of the young Count, saying, "There, +Monsieur de Morseiul, be my messenger to the fair lady. Give her those +jewels from the King; and tell her, that I hope ere long she will be +qualified to draw prizes in some not very distant lottery by appearing +as one of the married ladies of our court. She has tortured all our +gallant gentlemen's hearts too long, and we will not suffer our +subjects to be thus ill treated. Do you stay in Paris all day, +Monsieur de Morseiul, or do you come here to witness the new opera?" + +"I did not propose to do either, Sire," replied the Count: "I had, in +fact, engaged myself to pass another pleasant evening at the house of +Monsieur de Meaux." + +"Indeed!" said the King, evidently well pleased. "That is all as it +should be. I cannot but think, Monsieur de Morseiul, that if you pass +many more evenings so well, either you will convert Monsieur de +Meaux--which God forbid, or Monsieur de Meaux will convert you--which +God grant." + +The Count bowed gravely; and, as the King turned to speak with some +one else who was giving him a part of his dress, the young nobleman +took it as a permission to retire; and, mounting his horse, which had +been kept ready saddled, he made the best of his way towards the +capital. + +That gay world, with its continual motion, was as animated then as +now. Though the abode of the court was at Versailles, yet the distance +was too small to make the portion of the population absolutely +withdrawn from the metropolis at all important while all the other +great bodies of the kingdom assembled, or were represented there. +Thousands on thousands were hurrying through the streets; the same +trades and occupations were going on then as now, with only this +difference, that, at that period, luxury, and industry, and every +productive art had reached, if not its highest, at least its most +flourishing point; and all things presented, even down to the aspect +of the city itself, that hollow splendour, that tinselled +magnificence, that artificial excitement, that insecure prosperity, +the falseness of all and each of which had afterwards to be proved, +and which entailed a long period of fresh errors, bitter repentance, +and terrible atonement. + +But through the gay crowd the Count de Morseiul passed on, noticing it +little, if at all. He was urged on his way by the strongest of all +human impulses, by love--first, ardent, pure, sincere, love--all the +more deep, all the more intense, all the more over-powering, because +he had not felt it at that earlier period, while the animal triumphs +over the mental in almost all the affections of man. His heart and his +spirit had lost nothing of their freshness to counterbalance the +vigour and the power they had obtained, and at the age of seven or +eight and twenty he loved with all the vehemence and ardour of a boy, +while he felt with all the permanence and energy of manhood. + +Though contrary, perhaps, to the rules and etiquettes of French life +at that period, he took advantage both of the message with which he +was charged from the King, and the sort of independence which Clémence +de Marly had established for herself, to ask for her instead of either +the Duke or the Duchess. He was not, indeed, without a hope that he +should find her alone, and that hope was realised. She had expected +him, and expected him early; and, perhaps, the good Duchess de Rouvré +herself had fancied that such might be the case, and, remembering the +warm affections of her own days, had abstained from presenting herself +in the little saloon where Clémence de Marly had usually established +her abode during their residence in Paris. + +Had Albert of Morseiul entertained one doubt of the affection of +Clémence de Marly, that doubt must have vanished in a moment--must +have vanished at the look with which she rose to meet him. It was all +brightness--it was all happiness. The blood mounted, it is true, into +her cheeks, and into her temples; her beautiful lips trembled +slightly, and her breath came fast; but the bright and radiant smile +was not to be mistaken. The sparkling of the eyes spoke what words +could not speak; and, though her tongue for a moment refused its +office, the smile that played around the lips was eloquent of all that +the heart felt. + +Not contented with the hand she gave, Albert of Morseiul took the +other also; and not contented with the thrilling touch of those small +hands, he threw his arms around her, and pressed her to his heart; and +not contented--for love is the greatest of encroachers--with that dear +embrace, he made his lips tell the tale of their own joy to hers, and +once and again he tasted the happiness that none had ever tasted +before: and then, as if asking pardon for the rashness of his love, he +pressed another kiss upon her fair hand, and leading her back to her +seat, took his place beside her. + +Fearful that he should forget, he almost immediately gave her the +jewels that the King had sent. But what were jewels to Clémence de +Marly at that moment? He told her, also, the message the King had +given, especially that part which noted her absence from the room +where the lottery had been drawn. + +"I would not have given those ten minutes," she replied eagerly, "for +all the jewels in his crown." + +They then forgot the King, the court, and every thing but each other, +and spent the moments of the next half hour in the joy, in the +surpassing joy, of telling and feeling the happiness that each +conferred upon the other. + +Oh! those bright sunny hours of early love, of love in its purity +and its truth, and its sincerity--of love, stripped of all that is +evil, or low, or corrupt, and retaining but of earth sufficient to +make it harmonise with earthly creatures like ourselves--full of +affection--full of eager fire, but affection as unselfish as human +nature will admit, and fire derived from heaven itself! How shall ye +ever be replaced in after life? What tone shall ever supply the sound +of that master chord after its vibrations have once ceased? + +As the time wore on, however, and Albert of Morseiul remembered that +there were many things on which it was necessary to speak at once to +Clémence de Marly, the slight cloud of care came back upon his brow, +and reading the sign of thought in a moment, she herself led the way, +by saying,-- + +"But we must not forget, dear Albert, there is much to be thought of. +We are spending our time in dreaming over our love, when we have to +think of many more painful points in our situation. We have spoken of +all that concerns our intercourse with each other; but of your +situation at the court I am ignorant; and am not only ignorant of the +cause, but astonished to find, that when I expected the most +disastrous results, you are in high favour with the King, and +apparently have all at your command." + +"Not so, dear Clémence--alas! it is not so," replied the Count; "the +prosperity of my situation is as hollow as a courtier's heart--as +fickle as any of the other smiles of fortune." + +Before he could go on, however, to explain to her the real position in +which he stood, Madame de Rouvré entered the room, and was delighted +at seeing one whom she had always esteemed and loved. She might have +remained long, but Clémence, with the manner which she was so much +accustomed to assume, half playful, half peremptory, took up the +little case of ear-rings from the table, saying, "See what the King +has sent me! and now, dear Duchess, you shall go away, and leave me to +talk with my lover. It is so new a thing for me to have an +acknowledged lover, and one, too, that I don't despise, that I have +not half tired myself with my new plaything. Am not I a very saucy +demoiselle?" she added, kissing the Duchess, who was retiring with +laughing obedience. "But take the diamonds, and examine them at your +leisure. They will serve to amuse you in the absence of your +Clémence." + +"If I were a lover now," said the Duchess smiling, "I should say +something about their not being half as bright as your eyes, Clémence. +But words vary in their value so much, that what would be very smart +and pleasant from a young man, is altogether worthless on the lips of +an old woman. Let me see you before you go, Count. It is not fair that +saucy girl should carry you off altogether." + +"Now, now, Albert," said Clémence, as soon as the Duchess was gone, +"tell me before we are interrupted again." + +The Count took up the tale then with his last day's sojourn in +Brittany, and went on to detail minutely every thing that had occurred +since his arrival in the capital; and, as he told her, her cheek grew +somewhat paler till, in the end, she exclaimed, "It is all as bad as +it can be. You will never change your faith, Albert." + +"Could you love me, Clémence," he asked, "if I did?" + +She put her hand before her eyes for a moment, then placed one of them +in his, and replied, "I should love you ever, Albert, with a woman's +love, unchangeable and fixed. But I could not esteem you, as I would +fain esteem him that I must love." + +"So thought I," replied the Count, "so judged I of my Clémence; and +all that now remains to be thought of is, how is this to end, and what +is to be our conduct to make the end as happy to ourselves as may be?" + +"Alas!" replied Clémence, "I can answer neither question. The +probability is that all must end badly, that your determination not to +yield your religion to any inducements must soon be known; for depend +upon it, Albert, they will press you on the subject more closely every +day; and you are not made to conceal what you feel. The greater the +expectations of your conversion have been, the more terrible will be +the anger that your adherence to your own faith will produce; and +depend upon it, the Prince de Marsillac takes a wrong view of the +question; for it matters not whether this affair have passed away, or +be revived against you,--power never yet wanted a pretext to draw the +sword of persecution. Neither, Albert, can my change of faith be long +concealed. I cannot insult God by the mockery of faith in things, +regarding which my mind was long doubtful, but which I am now well +assured, and thoroughly convinced, are false. In this you are in a +better situation than myself, for you can but be accused of holding +fast to the faith that you have ever professed: me they will accuse of +falling into heresy with my eyes open. Perhaps they will add that I +have done so for your love." + +"Then, dear Clémence," he replied, "the only path for us is the path +of flight, speedy and rapid flight. I have already secured for us +competence in another land; wealth I cannot secure, but competence is +surely all that either you or I require." + +"All, all," replied Clémence; "poverty with you, Albert, would be +enough. But the time, and the manner of our flight, must be left to +you. The distance between Paris and the frontier is so small, that we +bad better effect it now, and not wait for any contingency. If you can +find means to withdraw yourself from the court, I will find means to +join you any where within two or three miles' journey of the capital. +But write to me the place, the hour, and the time; and, as we love +each other, Albert, and by the faith that we both hold, and for which +we are both prepared to sacrifice so much, I will not fail you." + +"What if it should be to-morrow?" demanded the Count. + +Clémence gazed at him for a moment with some agitation. "Even if it +should be tomorrow," she said at length, "even if it should be +to-morrow, I will come. But oh, Albert," she added, leaning her head +upon his shoulder, "I am weaker, more cowardly, more womanly than I +thought. I would fain have it a day later: I would fain procrastinate +even by a day. But never mind, never mind, Albert; should it be +necessary, should you judge it right, should you think it requisite +for your safety, let it be to-morrow." + +"I cannot yet judge," replied the Count; "I think, I trust that it +will not be so soon. I only put the question to make you aware that +such a thing is possible, barely possible. In all probability the King +will give me longer time. He cannot suppose that the work of +conversion will take place by a miracle. I do not wish to play a +double game with them, even in the least, Clémence, nor suffer them to +believe that there is a chance even of my changing, when there is +none; but still I would fain, for your sake as well as mine, delay a +day or two." + +"Delays are dangerous, even to an old proverb," said Clémence; but ere +she could conclude her sentence the Duc de Rouvré entered the room; +and not choosing, or perhaps not having spirits at the moment to act +towards him as she had done towards the Duchess, Clémence suffered the +conversation to drop, and proceeded with him and her lover to the +saloon of Madame. + +In that saloon there appeared a number of persons, amongst whom were +several that the Count de Morseiul knew slightly; but the beams of +royal favour having fallen upon him with their full light during the +night before, all those who had any knowledge of him were of course +eager to improve such an acquaintance, and vied with each other in +smiles and looks of pleasure on his appearance. Amongst others was the +Chevalier de Rohan, whom we have noticed as forming one of the train +of suitors who had followed Clémence de Marly to Poitiers; but he was +now satisfied, apparently, that not even any fortunate accident could +give the bright prize to him, and he merely bowed to her on her +entrance, with the air of a worshipper at the shrine of an idol, while +he grasped the hand of his successful rival, and declared himself +delighted to see him. + +After remaining there for some time longer lingering in the sunshine +of the looks of her he loved, the Count prepared to take his +departure, especially as several other persons had been added to the +circle, and their society fell as a weight and an incumbrance upon him +when his whole thoughts were of Clémence de Marly. He had taken his +leave and reached the door of the apartment, when, starting up with +the ear-rings in her hand, she exclaimed-- + +"Stay, stay, Monsieur de Morseiul, I forgot to send my thanks to the +King. Pray tell him," she added, advancing across the room to speak +with the Count in a lower tone, "Pray tell him how grateful I am to +his Majesty for his kind remembrance; and remember," she said, in a +voice that could be heard by no one but himself, "to-morrow, should it +be needful:--I am firmer now." + +Albert of Morseiul dared not speak all that he felt, with the language +of the lips; but the eyes of her lover thanked Clémence de Marly +sufficiently: and he, on his part, left her with feelings which the +bustle and the crowd of the thronged capital struggled with and +oppressed. + +He rode quick, then, in order to make his way out of the city as fast +as possible; but ere he had passed the gate, he was overtaken by the +Chevalier de Rohan, who came up to his side, saying, "I am delighted +to have overtaken you, my dear Count. Such a companion on this long +dry tiresome journey to Versailles is, indeed, a delight; and I wished +also particularly to speak to you regarding a scheme of mine, which, I +trust, may bring me better days." + +Now, the society of the Chevalier de Rohan, though his family was one +of the highest in France, and though he held an important place at the +court, was neither very agreeable nor very reputable; and the Count, +therefore, replied briefly, "I fear that, as I shall stop at several +places, it will not be in my power to accompany you, Monsieur le +Chevalier; but any thing I can do to serve you will give me pleasure." + +"Why, the fact is," replied the Chevalier, "that I was very +unfortunate last night at play, and wished to ask if you would lend me +a small sum till I receive my appointments from the King. If you are +kind enough to do so, I doubt not before two days are over to recover +all that I have lost, and ten times more, for I discovered the +fortunate number last night when it was too late." + +A faint and melancholy smile came over the Count's face, at the +picture of human weakness that his companion's words displayed; and as +the Chevalier was somewhat celebrated for borrowing without repaying, +he asked what was the sum he required. + +"Oh, a hundred Louis will be quite enough," replied the Chevalier, not +encouraged to ask more by his companion's tone. + +"Well, Monsieur de Rohan," said the Count, "I have not the sum with +me, but I will send it to you on my arrival at Versailles, if that +will be time enough." + +"Quite! quite!" replied de Rohan; "any time before the tables are +open." + +"Indeed, indeed! my good friend," said the Count, "I wish you would +abandon such fatal habits; and, satisfied with having lost so much, +live upon the income you have, without ruining yourself by trying to +make it greater. However, I will send the money, and do with it what +you will." + +"You are a prude! you are a prude!" cried De Rohan, putting spurs to +his horse; "but I will tell you something more in your own way when we +meet again." + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + THE UNKNOWN PERIL. + + +Dark and ominous as was the prospect of every thing around the Count +de Morseuil, when the blessings of his bright days were passing away, +one by one, and his best hope was exile, yet the interview which had +just taken place between him and Clémence de Marly was like a bright +summer hour in the midst of storms, and even when it was over, like +the June sun, it left a long twilight of remembered joy behind it. But +there are times in human life when dangers are manifold, when we are +pressed upon by a thousand difficulties, and when, nevertheless, +though the course we have determined on is full of risks and perils, +sorrows and sufferings, we eagerly, perhaps even imprudently, hurry +forward upon it, to avoid those very doubts and uncertainties, which +are worse than actual pains. + +Such was the case with the Count de Morseuil, and he felt within him +so strong an inclination to take the irrevocable step of quitting +France for ever, and seeking peace and toleration in another land, +that, much accustomed to examine and govern his own feelings, he +paused, and pondered over the line of conduct he was about to pursue, +during his visit to the Bishop of Meaux, perceiving in himself a half +concealed purpose of forcing on the conversation to the subject of +religion, and of showing Bossuet clearly, that there was no chance +whatever of inducing him to abandon the religion of his fathers. +Against this inclination, on reflection, he determined to be upon his +guard, although he adhered rigidly to his resolution of countenancing, +in no degree, a hope of his becoming a convert to the Roman Catholic +faith; and his only doubt now was whether his passing two evenings so +close together with the Bishop of Meaux, with whom he had so slight an +acquaintance, might not afford some encouragement to expectations +which he felt himself bound to check. + +Having promised, however, he went, but at the same time made up his +mind not to return to the prelate's abode speedily. On the present +occasion, he not only found Bossuet alone, but was left with him for +more than an hour, without any other visiter appearing. The good +Bishop himself was well aware of the danger of scaring away those whom +he sought to win; and, sincerely desirous, for the Count's own sake, +of bringing him into that which he believed to be the only path to +salvation, he was inclined to proceed calmly and gently in the work of +his conversion. + +There were others, however, more eager than himself; the King was as +impetuous in the apostolic zeal which he believed himself to feel, as +he had formerly been in pursuits which though, certainly more gross +and sensual, would perhaps, if accurately weighed, have been found to +be as little selfish, vain, and personal, as the efforts that he made +to convert his Protestant subjects. The hesitation even in regard to +embracing the _King's creed_ was an offence, and he urged on Bossuet +eagerly to press the young Count, so far, at least, as to ascertain if +there were or were not a prospect of his speedily following the +example of Turenne, and so many others. The Bishop was thus driven to +the subject, though against his will; and shortly after the young +Count's appearance, he took him kindly and mildly by the hand, and led +him into a small cabinet, where were ranged, in goodly order, a +considerable number of works on the controversial divinity of the +time. Amongst others, appeared some of the good prelate's own +productions, such as "L'Exposition de la Doctrine Catholique," the +"Traité de la Communion sous les deux Espèces," and the "Histoire des +Variations." Bossuet ran his finger over the titles as he pointed them +out to the young Count. + +"I wish, my young friend," he said, "that I could prevail upon you to +read some of these works: some perhaps even of my own, not from the +vanity of an author alone, though I believe that the greatest +compliment that has ever been paid to me was that which was paid by +some of the pastors of your own sect, who asserted when I wrote that +book," and he pointed to the Exposition, "that I had altered the +Catholic doctrines in order to suit them to the purposes of my +defence. Nor indeed would they admit the contrary, till the full +approbation of the head of our church stamped the work as containing +the true doctrines of our holy faith. But, as I was saying, I wish I +could persuade you to read some of these, not so much to gratify the +vanity of an author, nor even simply to make a convert, but because I +look upon you as one well worthy of saving, as a brand from the +burning--and because I should look upon your recall to the bosom of +the mother church as worth a hundred of any ordinary conversions. In +short, my dear young friend, because I would save you from much +unhappiness, in life, in death, and in eternity." + +"I owe you deep thanks, Monsieur de Meaux," said the Count, "for the +interest that you take in me; and I will promise you most sincerely to +read, with as unprejudiced an eye as possible, not only any but all of +the works you have written on such subjects. I have already read some, +and it is by no means too much to admit, that if any one could induce +me to quit the faith in which I have been brought up, it would be +Monsieur de Meaux. He will not think me wrong, however, when I say +that I am, as yet, unconvinced. Nor will he be offended if I make one +observation, or, rather, ask one question, in regard to something he +has just said." + +"Far, far from it, my son," replied the Bishop. "I am ever willing to +explain any thing, to enter into the most open and candid exposition +of every thing that I think or feel. I have no design to embarrass, or +to perplex, or to obscure; my whole view is to make my own doctrine +clear and explicit, so that the mind of the merest child may choose +between the right and the wrong." + +"I merely wish to ask," said the Count, "whether by the words +'unhappiness in life, and in death,' you meant to allude to temporal +or spiritual unhappiness? whether you meant delicately to point out to +me that the hand of persecution is likely to be stretched out to +oppress me? or----" + +"No! no!" cried Bossuet, eagerly. "Heaven forbid that I should hold +out as an inducement the apprehension of things that I disapprove of! +No, Monsieur de Morseiul, I meant merely spiritual happiness and +unhappiness, for I do not believe that any man can be perfectly happy +in life while persisting in a wrong belief; certainly I believe that +he must be unhappy in his death; and, alas! my son, reason and +religion both teach me that he must be unhappy in eternity." + +"The great question of eternity," replied the Count, solemnly, "is in +the hands of God. But the man, and the only man, who, in this sense, +must be unhappy in life, in death, and in eternity, seems to me to be +the man who is uncertain in his faith. In life and in death I can +conceive the deist, or (if there be such a thing) the atheist--if +perfectly convinced of the truth of his system--perfectly happy and +perfectly contented. But the sceptic can never be happy. He who, in +regard to religious belief, is doubtful, uncertain, wavering, must +assuredly be unhappy in life and in death, though to God's great mercy +we must refer the eternity. If I remain unshaken, Monsieur de Meaux, +in my firm belief that what we call the reformed church is right in +its views and doctrines, the only thing that can disturb or make me +unhappy therein is temporal persecution. Were my faith in that church, +however, shaken, I would abandon it immediately. I could not, I would +not, remain in a state of doubt." + +"The more anxious am I, my son," replied the Bishop, "to withdraw you +from that erroneous creed, for so firm and so decided a mind as yours +is the very one which could the best appreciate the doctrines of the +church of Rome, which are always clear, definite, and precise, the +same to-day as they were yesterday, based upon decisions that never +change, and not, as your faith does, admitting doubts and fostering +variations. You must listen to me, my young friend. Indeed, I must +have you listen to me. I hear some of our other friends in the next +room; but we must converse more, and the sooner the better. You have +visited me twice, but I will next visit you, for I think nothing +should be left undone that may court a noble spirit back to the church +of God." + +Thus saying, he slowly led the way into the larger room, the young +Count merely replying as he did so,-- + +"Would to God, Monsieur de Meaux, that by your example and by your +exhortations you could prevent others from giving us Protestants the +strongest of all temporal motives to remain attached to our own +creed." + +"What motive is that?" demanded Bossuet, apparently in some surprise. + +"Persecution!" replied the Count; "for depend upon it, to all those +who are worthy of being gained, persecution is the strongest motive of +resistance." + +"Alas! my son," replied Bossuet, "that you should acknowledge such a +thing as pride to have any thing on earth to do with the eternal +salvation of your souls. An old friend of mine used to say, 'It is +more often from pride than from want of judgment that people set +themselves up against established opinions. Men find the first places +occupied in the right party, and they do not choose to take up with +back seats.' I have always known this to be true in the things of the +world; but I think that pride should have nothing to do with the +things of eternity." + +Thus ended the conversation between the Count and Bossuet on the +subject of religion for that night. Two guests had arrived, more soon +followed, and the conversation became more general. Still, however, as +there were many ecclesiastics, the subject of religion was more than +once introduced, the restraint which the presence of a Protestant +nobleman had occasioned on the first visit of the Count having now +been removed. The evening passed over calmly and tranquilly, however, +till about ten o'clock at night, when the Count took his leave, and +departed. The rest of the guests stayed later; and on issuing out into +the street the young nobleman found himself alone in a clear, calm, +moonlight night, with the irregular shadows of the long line of houses +chequering the pavement with the yellow lustre of the moon. + +Looking up into the wide open square beyond, the shadows were lost, +and there the bright planet of the night seemed to pour forth a flood +of radiance without let or obstruction. There was a fountain in the +middle of the square, casting up its sparkling waters towards the sky, +as if spirits were tossing about the moonbeams in their sport, and +casting the bright rays from hand to hand. As the Count gazed, +however, and thought that he would stroll on, giving himself up to +calm reflection at that tranquil hour, and arranging his plans for the +momentous future without disturbance from the hum of idle multitudes, +a figure suddenly came between the fountain and his eyes, and crept +slowly down on the dark side of the street towards him. He was +standing at the moment in the shadow of Bossuet's porch, so as not to +be seen: but the figure came down the street to the door of the +Count's own dwelling, paused for a minute, as if in doubt, then walked +over into the moonlight, and gazed up into the windows of the +prelate's hotel. The Count instantly recognised the peculiar form and +structure of his valet, Jerome Riquet, and, walking out from the porch +towards his own house, he called the man to him, and asked it any +thing were the matter. + +"Why yes, Sir," said Riquet in a low voice, "so much so that I thought +of doing what I never did in my life before--sending in for you, to +know what to do. There has been a person seeking you twice or three +times since you went, and saying he must speak with you immediately." + +"Do you know him?" demanded the Count. + +"Oh yes, I know him," answered Riquet; "a determined devil he is too; +a man in whom you used to place much confidence in the army, and who +was born, I believe, upon your own lands--Armand Herval, you know him +well. I could give him another name if I liked." + +"Well," said the Count, as tranquilly as possible; "what of him, +Riquet? What does he want here?" + +"Ay, Sir, that I can't tell," replied the man: "but I greatly suspect +he wants no good. He is dressed in black from his head to his feet; +and his face is black enough too, that is to say, the look of it. It +was always like a thunder cloud, and now it is like a thunder cloud +gone mad. I don't think the man is sane, Sir; and the third time he +came down here, about ten minutes ago, he said he could not stop a +minute, that he had business directly; and so he went away, pulling +his great dark hat and feather over his head, as if to prevent people +from seeing how his eyes were flashing; and then I saw that the breast +of his great heavy coat was full of something else than rosemary or +honeycomb." + +"What do you mean? what do you mean?" demanded the Count. "What had he +in his breast?" + +"Why, I mean pistols, Sir," said the man; "if I must speak good +French, I say he had pistols, then. So thinking he was about some +mischief, I crept after him from door to door, dodged him across the +square, and saw him go in by a gate, that I thought was shut, into the +garden behind the château. I went in after him, though I was in a +desperate fright for fear any one should catch me; and I trembled so, +that I shook three crowns in my pocket till they rang like sheep +bells. I thought he would have heard me; but I watched him plant +himself under one of the statues on the terrace, and there he stood +like a statue himself. I defy you to have told the one from the other, +or to have known Monsieur Herval from Monsieur Neptune. Whenever I saw +that, I came back to look for you, and tell you what had happened; for +you know, Sir, I am awfully afraid of firearms; and I had not even a +pair of curling irons to fight him with." + +"That must be near the apartments of Louvois," said the young Count +thoughtfully. "This man may very likely seek to do him some injury." + +"More likely the King, Sir," said the valet in a low voice. "I have +heard that his Majesty walks there on that terrace every fine night +after the play for half an hour. He is quite alone, and it would be as +much as one's liberty is worth to approach him at that time." + +"Come with me directly, Riquet," said the Count, "and show me where +this is. Station yourself at the gate you mention after I have gone +in, and if you hear me call to you aloud, instantly give the alarm to +the sentries. Come, quick, for the play must soon be over." + +Thus saying, the young Count strode on, crossed the place, and, under +the guidance of Riquet, approached the gate through which Herval had +entered. The key was in the lock on the outside, and the door ajar; +and, leaving the man in the shadow, the Count entered alone. The +gardens appeared perfectly solitary, sleeping in the moonlight. The +principal water-works were still; and no sound or motion was to be +seen or heard, but such as proceeded from the smaller fountains that +were sparkling on the terrace making the night musical with the +plaintive murmur of their waters, or from the tops of the high trees +as they were waved by the gentle wind. The palace was full of lights, +and nothing was seen moving across any of the windows, so that it was +evident that the play was not yet concluded; and the young Count +looked about for the person he sought for a moment or two in vain. + +At length, however, he saw the shadow cast by one of the groups of +statues, alter itself somewhat in form; and instantly crossing the +terrace to the spot, he saw Herval sitting on the first step which led +from the terrace down to the gardens, his back leaning against the +pedestal, and his arms crossed upon his chest. He did not hear the +step of the young Count till he was close upon him; but the moment he +did so, he started up, and drew a pistol from his breast. He soon +perceived who it was, however; and the Count, saying in a low voice, +"My servants tell me you have been seeking me," drew him, though +somewhat unwilling apparently, down the steps. + +"What is it you wanted with me?" continued the Count, gazing in his +face, to see whether the marks of insanity which Riquet had spoken of +were visible to him. But there was nothing more in the man's +countenance than its ordinary fierce and fiery expression when +stimulated by high excitement. + +"I came to you, Count," he said, "to make you, if you will, the +sharer of a glorious deed; and now you are here, you shall at least be +the spectator thereof--the death of your great enemy--the death of him +who tramples upon his fellow-creatures as upon grapes in the +winepress--the death of the slayer of souls and bodies." + +"Do you mean Louvois?" said the Count in a calm tone. + +"Louvois!" scoffed the man. "No I no! no! I mean him who gives fangs +to the viper, and poison to the snake! I mean him without whom Louvois +is but a bundle of dry reeds to be consumed to light the first fire +that wants kindling, or to rot in its own emptiness! I mean the giver +of the power, the lord of the persecutions: the harlot-monger, and the +murderer, that calls himself King of France; and who, from that holy +title, which he claims from God, thinks himself entitled to pile vice +upon folly, and sin upon vice, and crime upon sin, till the +destruction which he has so often courted to his own head shall this +night fall upon him. The first of the brutal murderers that he sent +down to rob our happy hearths of the jewel of their peace, this hand +has slain; and the same that crushed the worm shall crush the serpent +also." + +The Count now saw that there was, indeed, in the state of Herval's +mind, something different from its usual tone and character. It could +hardly be said that the chief stay thereof was broken, so as to +justify the absolute supposition of insanity; but it seemed as if one +of the fine filaments of the mental texture had given way, leaving all +the rest nearly as it was before, though with a confused and morbid +line running through the whole web. It need not be said that Albert of +Morseiul was determined to prevent at all or any risk the act that the +man proposed to commit; but yet he wished to do so, without calling +down death and torture on the head of one who was kindled almost into +absolute madness, by wrongs which touched the finest affections of his +heart, through religion and through love. + +"Herval," he said, calmly, "I am deeply grieved for you. You have +suffered, I know how dreadfully; and you have suffered amongst the +first of our persecuted sect: but still you must let me argue with +you, for you act regarding all this matter in a wrong light, and you +propose to commit a great and terrible crime." + +"Argue with me not, Count of Morseiul!" cried the man; "argue with me +not, for I will hear no arguments. Doubtless you would have argued +with me, too, about killing that small pitiful insect, that blind +worm, who murdered her I loved, and three or four noble and brave men +along with her." + +"I will tell you in a word, Herval," replied the Count, "had you not +slain him, I would have done so. My hand against his, alone, and my +life against his. He had committed a base, foul, ungenerous murder, +for which I knew that the corrupted law would give us no redress, and +I was prepared to shelter under a custom which I abhor and detest in +general, the execution of an act of justice which could be obtained by +no other means. Had it been but for that poor girl's sake, I would +have slain him like a dog." + +"Thank you, Count, thank you," cried the man, grasping his hand in his +with the vehemence of actual phrensy. "Thank you for those words from +my very soul. But he was not worthy of your noble sword. He died the +death that he deserved; strangled like a common felon, writhing and +screaming for the mercy he had never shown." + +To what he said on that head the Count did not reply; but he turned +once more to the matter immediately before them. + +"Now, Herval," he said, "you see that I judge not unkindly or hardly +by you. You must listen to my advice however----" + +"Not about this, not about this," cried the man, vehemently; "I am +desperate, and I am determined. I will not see whole herds of my +fellow Christians slaughtered like swine to please the bloody butcher +on the throne. I will not see the weak and the faint-hearted driven, +by terror, to condemn their own souls and barter eternity for an hour +of doubtful peace. I will not see the ignorant and the ill-instructed +bought by scores, like cattle at a market. I will not see the infants +torn from their mothers' arms to be offered a living sacrifice to the +Moloch of Rome. This night he shall die, who has condemned so many +others; this night he shall fall, who would work the fall of the pure +church that condemns him. I will hear no advice: I will work the work +for which I came, and then perish when I may. Was it not for this that +every chance has favoured me? Was it not for this that the key was +accidentally left in the door till such time as I laid my hand upon it +and took it away? Was it not for this that no eye saw me seize upon +that key, this morning, though thousands were passing by? Was it not +for this that such a thing should happen on the very night in which he +comes forth to walk upon that terrace' And shall I now pause,--shall I +now listen to any man's advice, who tells me that I must hold my +hand?" + +"If you will not listen to my advice," said the Count, "you must +listen to my authority, Herval. The act you propose to commit you +shall not commit." + +"No!" cried he. "Who shall stop me?--Yours is but one life against +mine, remember; and I care not how many fall, or how soon I fall +myself either, so that this be accomplished." + +"My life, as you say," replied the Count, "is but one. But even, +Herval, if you were to take mine, which would neither be just nor +grateful, if even you were to lose your own, which may yet be of great +service to the cause of our faith, you could not, and you should not, +take that of the King. If you are determined, I am determined too. My +servant stands at yonder gate, and on the slightest noise he gives the +alarm. Thus, then, I tell you," he continued, glancing his eyes +towards the windows of the palace, across which various figures were +now beginning to move; "thus, then, I tell you, you must either +instantly quit this place with me, or that struggle begins between us, +which, end how it may as far as I am concerned, must instantly insure +the safety of the King, and lead you to trial and execution. The way +is still open for you to abandon this rash project at once, or to call +down ruin upon your own head without the slightest possible chance of +accomplishing your object." + +"You have frustrated me," cried the man, "you have foiled me! You have +overthrown, by preventing a great and noble deed, the execution of a +mighty scheme for the deliverance of this land, and the security of +our suffering church! The consequences be upon your own head, Count of +Morseiul! the consequences be upon your own head! I see that you have +taken your measures too well, and that, even if you paid the just +penalty for such interference, the result could not be accomplished." + +"Come then," said the Count; "come, Herval, I must forgive anger as I +have thwarted a rash purpose; but make what speed you may to quit the +gardens, for, ere another minute be over, many a one will be crossing +that terrace to their own apartments." + +Thus saying, he laid his hand upon the man's arm, to lead him gently +away from the dangerous spot on which he stood. But Herval shook off +his grasp sullenly, and walked on before with a slow and hesitating +step, as if, every moment, he would have turned in order to effect his +purpose. The Count doubted and feared that he would do so, and glad +was he, indeed, when he saw him pass the gate which led out of the +gardens. As soon as Herval had gone forth, the young Count closed the +door, locked it, and threw the key over the wall, saying, "There! +thank God, it is now impossible!" + +"Ay," replied the man. "But there are other things possible, Count; +and things that may cause more bloodshed and more confusion than one +little pistol shot.--It would have saved all France," he continued, +muttering to himself, "it would have saved all France.--What a +change!--But if we must fight it out in the field, we must." + +While he spoke he walked onward towards the Count's house, in a sort +of gloomy but not altogether silent reverie; in the intervals of +which, he spoke or murmured to himself in a manner which almost seemed +to justify the opinion expressed by Riquet, that he was insane. +Suddenly turning round towards the valet who followed, however, he +demanded sharply, "Has there not been a tall man, with a green feather +in his hat, asking for your lord two or three times to-day?" + +"So I have heard," replied Riquet, "from the Swiss, but I did not see +him myself." + +"The Swiss never informed me thereof," said the Count. "Pray, who +might he be, and what was his business?" + +"His name, Sir," replied Herval, "is Hatréaumont, and his business was +for your private ear." + +"Hatréaumont!" said the Count in return. "What, he who was an officer +in the guards?" + +Herval nodded his head, and the Count went on: "A brave man, a +determined man he was; but in other respects a wild rash profligate. +He can have no business for my private ear, that I should be glad or +even willing to hear." + +"You know not that, Count," said Herval; "he has glorious schemes in +view, schemes which perhaps may save his country." + +The Count shook his head; "schemes," he said, "which will bring ruin +on himself, and on all connected with him. I have rarely known or +heard of a man unprincipled and profligate in private life, who could +be faithful and just in public affairs. Such men there may be perhaps; +but the first face of the case is against them; for surely they who +are not to be trusted between man and man, are still less to be +trusted when greater temptations lie in their way, and greater +interests are at stake." + +"Well, well," said Herval, "he will not trouble you again. This was +the last day of his stay in Paris, and ere to-morrow be two hours old, +he will be far away." + +"And pray," demanded the Count, "was it by his advice--he who owes +nothing but gratitude to the King--was it by his advice that you were +stationed where I found you?" + +"He knew nothing of it," said the man sharply, "he knew nothing of it; +nor did I intend that he should know, till it was all over--and now," +he continued, "what is to become of me?" + +"Why, in the first place," replied the Count "you had better come in +with me and take some refreshment. While we are doing so, we will +think of the future for you." + +The man made no reply, but followed the Count, who led the way into +his house, and then ordered some refreshments of various kinds to be +set before his guest from Poitou, examining the man's countenance as +he did so, and becoming more and more convinced that something +certainly had given way in the brain to produce the wandering and +unsettled eye which glared in his face, as well as the rash words and +actions that he spoke and performed. + +"And now, Herval," he said, as soon as they were alone, "there is but +one question which you should ask yourself,--whether it is better for +you to return at once to Poitou, or, since you are so far on your way +to Holland, to take advantage of that circumstance, and speed to the +frontier without delay. I know not what is the situation of your +finances; but if money be wanting for either step, I am ready to +supply you as an old comrade." + +"I want no money," exclaimed the man; "I am wealthy in my station +beyond yourself. What have I to do with money whose life is not worth +an hour? I have a great mind to divide all I have into a hundred +portions, spend one each day, and die at the end of it.--Holland! no, +no; this is no time for me to quit France. I will be at my post at the +coming moment; I will set off again to-night for Poitou. But let me +tell you, Count--for I had forgotten--if you should yourself wish to +secure aught in Holland--and I have heard that there is a lady dearer +to you than all your broad lands--remember there is a schoolmaster +living three doors on this side of the barrier of Passy, called +Vandenenden, passing for a Fleming by birth, but in reality a native +of Dort. He has regular communication with his native land, and will +pass any thing you please with the utmost security." + +"I thank you for that information sincerely," replied the Count; "it +may be most useful to me. But give me one piece of information more," +he added, as the man rose after having drank a glass of water, with a +few drops of wine in it. "What was the state of the province when you +left it?" + +"If you mean, Count, what was the state of the reformed party," said +Herval, gazing round with a look of wild carelessness, "it was a girl +in a consumption, where something is lost every day, no one knows how, +and yet the whole looks as pretty as ever, till there is nothing but a +skeleton remains. But there will be this difference, Count, there will +be this difference. There will be strength found in the skeleton! Have +you not heard? There were three thousand men, together with women and +children, all converted at once, within ten miles of Niort; and it +cost the priest so much bread and wine giving them the sacrament, that +he swore he would make no more converts unless the King would double +the value of the cure--ha! ha! ha!" and laughing loud and wildly, he +turned upon his heel and left the room without bidding the Count good +night. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + THE DECISION. + + +About seven o'clock on the following morning, Jerome Riquet entered +his master's room on tip toe, drew the curtains of his bed, and found +him leaning on his arm, reading attentively. The subject of the +Count's studies matters not. They were interrupted immediately; for a +note, which the valet placed in his hands, caused him instantly to +spring up to order his horses to be prepared with speed, and to set +off for Paris at once, without waiting for the morning meal. The note +which caused this sudden expedition contained but a few words. They +were-- + +"Come to me immediately, if you can, for I have matter of deep moment +on which I wish to speak with you. You must not come, however, to the +Hôtel de Rouvré, for though it may seem strange in me to name another +place to meet you, yet you will find with me one whom you will be +surprised to see. I must not then hesitate to ask you to seek me +towards ten o'clock, at number five in the street of the Jacobins; the +house is that of a bookbinder, and in the shop you will find Maria." + +It had no signature; but the handwriting was that of Clémence. All +that had occurred within the last few days had shown the Count de +Morseiul that the crisis of his fate was approaching, that a very few +days, nay, a very few hours, might decide the fortunes of his future +life for ever. The multitude of matters which had pressed for his +consideration during the two or three preceding days, the various +anxieties that he had suffered, the mingling of joy and hope with pain +and apprehension, had all created a state of mind in which it was +difficult to think calmly of the future. Now, however, he had regained +complete mastery of his own mind: the short interval of repose which +had taken place had removed all confusion, all agitation, from his +thoughts; and as he rode on towards Paris somewhat slowly, finding +that there was more than the necessary time to accomplish his journey, +he revolved coolly and deliberately in his own mind the peculiar +points in his situation, and questioned himself as to his conduct and +his duty in regard to each. + +First, then, of course, came the image of Clémence; and in regard to +his love for her, and her's for him, there was many a question to be +asked, which was answered by his own heart, whether altogether fairly +and candidly or not, those who know love and love's nature can best +declare. In asking her to fly with him from France, then, he was going +to take her from wealth, and splendour, and luxury, and soft nurture, +and all the comforts and conveniences which, surrounding her from her +earliest years, had made to her eyes poverty, and difficulty, and +distress, seem but a recorded dream of which she knew nothing but that +some men had felt such things. + +He had to offer her in a foreign land, indeed, competence, mere +competence; but would competence to her, educated as she had been +educated, be any thing else than another name for poverty? Even that +competence itself might perhaps be insecure. It depended upon the +doubtful faith of foreign merchants, from whom he had no security, and +if that were gone, he had nought to depend upon but his sword, and a +high name in arms. Could Clémence bear all this? he asked himself. +Could the gay, the admired, the adored, endure seclusion and +retirement, and almost solitude? Could the spoilt child of fortune +undergo privation? Could she, who had been accustomed but to command +to be obeyed, be contented with scanty service from foreign servants? +Would she never repine? Would she never look back to the bright land +of France, and think with regret of the high station from which she +had voluntarily descended? Would she never even, by one repining +thought in the depth of her heart, reproach him for having won her +away, to share his exile and misery? Would he never see upon her +countenance one shade of sorrow and dissatisfaction when petty cares +weighed down the mind made for greater things, when small anxieties +and daily discomforts interrupted the current of finer and higher +thoughts, or when disrespect and coldness made the sad change felt to +her, upon whose words the brightest and the best had hung? + +His heart answered, No; that none of these things would ever arise to +make him feel that he should not have taken her from her high fortunes +to share his reverses. What could not love do, he asked himself, to +brighten the lowliest lot? The grand face of nature would be still +before them inexhaustible as a store of enjoyment; the communion of +two high minds, he felt, could never be wanting while they were +united: if they retained competence, they had all that was needful; +and if for a time worse fell upon them, love would surely be strong +enough to excite them to every effort and every exertion, each for the +other, to cheer, to encourage, to alleviate; and would bring, too, its +own reward. Besides, he remembered that he should never have to +reproach himself with having led Clémence to difficulty and to +danger--a reproach which, could it have been brought against him by +conscience, would have imbittered all his joys--for her own situation, +her own faith, required flight as well as his; and by making her his +own, he only secured to her protection, support, affection, and +guidance. + +Such were some of the thoughts which crossed his mind regarding +Clémence; but there was another consideration of more difficulty, a +question on which he was less satisfied. His fellow Protestants +throughout the land, and more especially those who looked up to him +for aid and for direction, should he now leave them to their fate, +even though he could not avert from them one blow, even though he +could not save them from one single pang? Should he not stay to share +their lot, to comfort or to fall with them? + +The question would have been answered to once, laid they been firm and +united amongst themselves. It needed not, indeed, that they should +have armed to resist the royal authority against which they had no +power to contend; it needed not that they should have attempted to +build up the churches which had been thrown down, to replace the +ministers who had been ejected, to petition for the restoration of +rights which injustice had snatched from them: it needed none of these +things to have induced him, without hesitation, to stay and partake of +all that might befal them, if they had displayed a resolution of +remaining calmly, firmly, though peaceably, attached to their faith, +addressing their prayers to God in private, if public worship was +forbidden them, and opposing to the iniquitous proceedings of their +enemies that tranquil steady resistance of endurance, which seldom +fails in ultimately repelling attack. + +Had they so acted, the Count de Morseiul would have had no hesitation; +but such was not the case. Even before the last severe measures, which +have been recorded in this book, the inconveniences attending their +situation, the apprehension of worse, and the prospect of immediate +gain, had caused annually the conversion of hundreds of the Protestant +population of France to the Roman Catholic faith. Nothing like a +spirit of union had reigned amongst them for years; and now that +danger and persecution fell upon them, each day brought to the court +tidings of thousands upon thousands having at once professed +conversion. Each bishop, each intendant, sent daily lists of the +numbers who had quitted the religion of their fathers to embrace that +of the state; and in almost all quarters, those who had courage to +sacrifice something for conscience sake, were flying from the land, or +preparing for flight. + +He, too, had to remember that he was himself placed in a situation +more difficult and dangerous than the rest. The question was not +whether he should remain adhering calmly to his own faith, and living +in tranquillity, though under oppression, or should fly to a foreign +land; but there was a choice of three acts before him: whether he +should remain to trial and perpetual imprisonment, if not death; or +retiring to Poitou at once, raise the standard of hopeless revolt; or +seek security in another country, leaving those to whom he could +render no possible service. + +The voice of reason certainly said, Fly! but yet it was painful to him +to do so. Independent of all thoughts of what he left behind--the +dwelling of his infancy, the tombs of his fathers, the bright land of +his birth--independent of all this, there was the clinging to his own +people, which few can feel deeply but those circumstanced as he was; +which none indeed can feel now, when the last vestiges have been swept +away of a system which, though in no slight degree dangerous and evil, +had nevertheless many an amiable and many an admirable point. He loved +not to leave them, he loved not to leave any fellow sufferer behind +while he provided for his own safety; and though reason told him that +on every motive he ought to fly, yet he felt that lingering +inclination to remain, which required the voice of others to conquer +entirely. Such were the principal questions which his mind had found +to discuss during the last two days; but since the preceding night, a +new subject for thought had arisen, a new question presented itself. +It however was not so difficult of solution as the others. A dark +attempt upon the King's life, which could hardly have failed of +success, had been nearly executed; but that was not all. From Herval +he had learned, that schemes, which there was much reason to believe +were dangerous to the whole state, were at that moment in agitation, +if not upon the point of being accomplished. He loved not to be the +denouncer of any man; and for Herval himself, he felt pity mingled +with blame, which made him glad that the length of time that had +elapsed, had given him an opportunity of retiring once more to Poitou. + +With regard to the proceedings of Hatréaumont, however, he had no +scruple and no hesitation. It was right and necessary that the King +should be made acquainted with the fact of dangerous designs being in +agitation; and although he was well aware, that the task of informing +the monarch of the truth would be a difficult and delicate one, so as +not to bring the strong and unscrupulous hand of power upon persons +who might be innocent, and were only accused by the word of a man whom +he sincerely believed to be partially insane, yet he resolved to +undertake that task, trusting to the firmness and uprightness of his +own character, to insure that the execution of it should be such as to +avoid doing injury to any one who was not guilty. + +Men under such circumstances in general err from an inaccuracy or +deficiency of statement, proceeding from the confusion and uncertainty +of a mind oppressed and agitated by the burthen of important affairs, +or difficult and intricate circumstances. The Count de Morseiul, +however, saw his way clearly, and prepared to tell the King exactly +the words which Herval had made use of, but at the same time to inform +him, that he had much reason to believe that the man was insane, and +that, therefore, but little reliance was to be placed upon his +statement, except so far as the employing of precaution might be +required. + +The meditation over all these circumstances fully occupied the time +till his arrival in Paris; and dismounting at his own house, he took +his way alone and on foot towards the Rue des Jacobins. The capital at +that period had but little of the light and graceful architectural +beauty which the citizens have since endeavoured to give it; but there +was, instead, a grey, mysterious looking grandeur about the vast piles +of building of which it was composed, peculiar and entirely +characteristic of the French metropolis. The great height of the +houses, the smallness, in general, of the windows, their multitudes, +their irregularities, the innumerable carriage entrances leading into +court yards where cities and new worlds seemed to be opening on every +side, the intricate alleys and passages that were seen branching here +and there in unknown directions as the stranger took his way through +the streets; every thing, in short, impressed upon the mind, as a keen +and sensible perception, that fact, which, though common to all great +capitals, is generally unfelt, that we are walking in the midst of a +world of human beings with whom we have scarcely one feeling in +sympathy; of whose habits, character, pursuits, pleasures, and pains +we are utterly ignorant; who are living, moving, acting, feeling, +undergoing life's great ordeal, smiling with rapture, writhing with +anguish, melting with the bitter tears of sorrow and regret, inspired +by hope, or palpitating with expectation around us on every side, +without our having the slightest participation in any of their +feelings, with scarcely a knowledge of their existence, and certainly +none of their situation. + +It was impossible to walk through the streets of Paris at that +time--it was impossible even to walk through the older parts of the +city when I myself remember it, without having that sensation strongly +excited--without asking one's self as one gazed up at the small +windows of some of the many tenanted houses, and saw the half-drawn +curtain shading out even the scanty portion of sun that found its way +thither: Is there sickness or death within? Are there tears over the +departing couch of the beloved? Is there anguish over the bier of the +gone? without asking one's self, as one gazed at some wide-open +casement, courting the summer air, and perhaps with some light piece +of drapery floating out into the street, Is that the abode of love and +joy? Is happy heart there meeting happy heart? Are they smiling over +the birth of the first-born, or watching the glad progress of a young +spirit kindred with their own? without asking one's self, as the eye +rested upon some squalid doorway, foul with uncleaned ages, or some +window, thick and obscure with the dust of years, some dim alley, or +some dark and loathsome passage, Is vice, and plunder, and iniquity +there? Is there the feverish joy of sin mingled with remorse, and +anguish, and apprehension? Is there the wasting and the gnawing +effects of vice, sickness, and sorrow, worn limbs, corroded heart, +nights of restless watchfulness, and days of ceaseless anguish? It was +impossible to walk through that tall city, with its myriads living +above myriads, house within house, and court within court, without +asking one's self such questions, and without feeling that the whole +intense and thrilling reality of the scene was rendered but more +striking by the gay and careless multitude that tripped along, each +seeming scarcely conscious that there was another being in the world +but himself. + +The Count de Morseiul was half an hour before his time; he walked +somewhat slowly, and in picturing the feelings which a contemplative +mind might experience in passing through Paris, we have pictured those +which pressed for his attention, and crossed from time to time the +current of his other thoughts. At length, however, he entered the Rue +des Jacobins, and easily found the house to which he had been +directed. It was a tall building of six stories, with a bookseller's +shop upon the ground floor. Very different indeed, however, was it +from a gay dwelling such as Paris now exhibits, with every new +publication in blue and yellow flaming in the windows: but, through a +small door, entrance was obtained into a long dark shop, where, on +shelves, and in cases, and on benches, and on counters, were piled up +manifold dusty volumes, whose state of tranquil slumber seemed to have +been long undisturbed. A single pale apprentice, with an apron on and +a brush in his hand, walked from one end of the shop to the other, or +examined with slow inactivity the sheets of some unbound work, moving +about his task with the same indifference to its speedy execution, as +if the years of Mathuselah were bound up in his indentures. + +The Count looked at the shop well, to ascertain that he was right, and +then entered; but in the long dim vista of the counters and packages, +the person he sought for was not to be seen; and not having +contemplated such an occurrence, he was somewhat embarrassed as to the +person he should ask for. To have inquired whether a lady were waiting +for him there or not, might perhaps have been received as an insult by +the master of the house, and yet he thought it would be imprudent to +risk the name of Clémence de Marly, when she herself might not have +given it. He felt sure that had she arrived, her attendant Maria would +have been at the post where she had promised to place her; and, in +order to occupy the time till she came, he determined to ask for some +book, and then enter into desultory conversation with the lad in the +shop, after having bought it. + +He had scarcely spoken, however, when from behind a pile of solid +literature which obscured still farther the end of the shop, the +servant Maria came forth and advanced towards him. The matter was then +easily explained, and the youth seemed in no degree surprised at the +appointment, but proceeded to tie up the book which the Count had +demanded, while Maria told him that her young lady had only just +arrived, and was waiting for him up stairs. He followed her with a +rapid step as she led the way, and at the third turning of a long dim +narrow staircase, he found Clémence waiting at a door and listening as +if for his arrival. + +There was something in the meeting under such circumstances which did +away all feelings of reserve, such as perhaps might otherwise have +still affected them towards each other; and Clémence, feeling that she +was all his--that their fate was united for ever, felt scarcely a +blush rise into her cheek when he, at once, pressed her to his heart +upon their meeting. She spoke not, however, but held up her finger, as +if to enjoin silence, and then led him through a little anteroom into +a room beyond. + +There, seated at a table with some books scattered upon it, appeared +the good pastor of Auron, Claude de l'Estang. He was thinner, paler, +more worn, than when first we endeavoured to depict him; but the light +was not gone out in the clear bright eye, the same mild but +intelligent smile hung upon the lip, the same high spirit was thrown +upon the brow. He rose and grasped the young Count's hands eagerly. + +"Oh, my dear Albert," he said, "I am glad to see you! This sweet +child," he added, after the first exclamation, "wrote to me all that +was between you and her. She is dear to my heart as if she were my +own; and is she not my own. Did I not bring her back to the faith of +her dear mother? Did I not rescue her from the evils of a corrupt +perverted church? But of that we will speak not now, Albert. The +moment I heard of it--the moment I heard that you were here, and had +cast yourself, as it were, into the jaws of the lion, after the fatal +night when that murderous youth, like Pilate, mingled our blood with +our sacrifices--I resolved at once to make my way hither, at all and +any risks, to speak to you, to exhort you, to tell you what I have +decided in my own mind is the only plan for you to follow. I thought, +indeed, when I set out--notwithstanding all that has occurred since +you left Poitou, notwithstanding the scattering of the sheep and the +driving forth of the shepherd, and the falling off of many, and the +wavering of all the rest--I thought that here I might learn tidings +which might make a change in my opinion, but that, at all events, it +was right for me to come, in order that I might consult with you and +others, and take our last final determination together. But, since I +have heard from this dear child the situation in which you are placed, +since I have heard from a weak brother, who has outwardly abjured the +faith which he fondly clings to in his heart, things that you +yourselves do not know, my opinion has been confirmed to the fullest +extent, and I have only to say to you, Albert, fly! Fly with her +immediately; save her from persecution, and anguish, and care; confirm +her in the only true faith, and in the renunciation of every +superstitious vanity of the church of Rome! Strengthen her, support +her, protect her! Lose no time--no, not a day; for, if you do, danger +to both, and, perhaps, everlasting separation in this world may be the +consequence." + +"I am most ready and most willing," replied the Count. "It is +absolutely necessary, indeed, that I should return to Versailles, but +only for a few hours. After that, I can return hither, and, without +further delay, execute what I am fully convinced is the only plan for +us to pursue." + +"It is the only plan," said the clergyman. "Are you aware, Albert, +that, in the short space of five days, one half of the Protestants of +Poitou have bent the knee to Baal? Are you aware that the very men +who, a week ago, clung to you for aid and protection, would now fly +from you, either in shame at their own degeneracy, or because you are +marked out for indignation by the powers that be? Yes, Albert, they +would fly from you! There is a remnant, indeed, faithful and true unto +the last; but to them I shall say, as I say to you, they must go forth +to other lands, and shake off the dust from their feet as a testimony +against this place. There is nothing left you, Albert, but flight, and +that speedy and unhesitating. I have told you that I have heard much +from a weak brother, whose renunciation of his faith weighs heavy upon +him. He is in the confidence, it would seem, of those who rule; and he +has informed me that it is the determination of the Monarch and his +council never to let you quit the court of France except as a follower +of the popish church of Rome. Every temptation is to be held out to +you to make you yield, every menace used to drive you on the way they +want; and should your resistance become strong and decided, the order +for your arrest is already made out, and needs but one word to cause +its execution. Fly, then, fly, Albert, and even if not for your own +sake for hers." + +"I am most willing, my good friend," replied the Count. "I need no +exhortation so to do. But is Clémence still willing to go with me?" + +"Can you doubt it, Albert," she said, "with _his_ approbation and +advice?" + +"Yet, dear Clémence," said the Count, "I should be wrong were I not to +tell you what may happen. The danger, the risk of our escape, the +fatigues, and labours, and anxieties of the journey, the perils that +await us at every step you have made up your mind to. But, Clémence, +have you thought of the change from affluence to mere competence, from +splendour and luxury to bare necessaries, even perhaps to poverty +itself, for all I have on earth depends upon the good faith of those +to whom I have transmitted it, and I might arrive and find nothing. +Have you thought of all this? Have you thought that it may last for +years, that we may have to live, and die, and bring up our children in +poverty----?" + +"Out upon it, Albert!" exclaimed the old man, angrily; "wouldst thou +take the part of the prince of this world against her better angel? +But she will not doubt, she will not waver: I know she will not. +Sooner than be a hypocrite, sooner than abandon troth and embrace +error, she would cast herself upon the world, were it ten thousand +times as bad--Out upon it! she fears not: she will have her husband, +and her faith, and her God to support her." + +"I have not thought of all you suggest, Albert," replied Clémence more +mildly, but still somewhat reproachfully, "I have not thought of them, +because it was unnecessary to think of them at all. Do you not love +me, Albert? Do I not love you? Is not that love riches, and splendour, +and luxury enough for us? But when, beside that all-sufficient love, +we have the knowledge that we are doing our duty, that we are +suffering for our conscience sake, that we have left all to follow +what we believe the dictates of the great Author of our faith, there +will be a satisfaction, a pride, a glory, that even a woman's heart +can feel. Fear not for me, Albert; I understand your scruples, and +though they require forgiveness I forgive them. Let us be guided by +his advice,--I am sure that it is good,--and I am willing, most +willing, to risk all and every thing under such circumstances, and for +such a cause." + +"Well then, so be it," said the Count; "let us consider our decision +as made. This very night, Clémence, I will return to Paris. This very +night I will meet you here; but oh, my good friend," he continued, +turning to the pastor, "you whom I love and venerate as a father, you +will easily understand what I feel when I say, that I could wish most +anxiously that this dear girl, who is to accompany me through scenes +of some peril, were united to me before we depart, not alone by the +bonds of deep and true affection, not alone by the bonds of all the +mutual promises and engagements which man and woman can plight towards +each other, but by the sanction of that holy religion which first +instituted such an union, and by the blessing of one of the ministers +of Christ. I fear, however, it cannot be done." + +"Nay, my son, it can," replied the clergyman. "Expelled from our +temples, debarred from the performance of all those ceremonial rites, +which are but the shadows and types of higher things, the abandonment +of such ceremonies as we cannot exercise, can, in no degree, either in +the sight of man or of God, as long as the side of law or justice is +considered, affect the validity of such a contract, or do away, in the +slightest degree, the solemn legality of an union complete in all the +forms which we are enabled to give it. Even were it not so, I have +power delegated to me by the synod of our church, without application +to higher authorities, whose approbation, for many years, would have +been difficult and embarrassing to obtain, to perform all the +ceremonies of the church, upon due knowledge certified by me that they +are not contrary, in the particular cases, to the law of God, or to +those just ordinances of man to which we have ourselves subscribed. If +you desire it, and if Clémence is willing, I will this very night, +before you depart, give my blessing to your union, and doubt not that, +with my certificate thereof, witnessed by proper witnesses, that union +will be held good by the Protestant church throughout the world." + +"Then I fear not," exclaimed the Count. "What say you, dear Clémence? +Can you resolve upon this also,--speak, dear girl," he added as she +paused in silence, covering her eyes with her hand. "Speak! oh speak!" + +"What should I say, Albert?" she said. "Do you dream that I would +refuse? Do you suppose that I would reject the only thing which was +wanting to give me confidence, and strength, and hope through all the +perils that we may have to undergo?" + +Albert gazed on her with a look that thanked her to the full; and, +after a brief moment given to happiness, he asked, "But who shall be +the witnesses?" + +"Maria must be one," said Clémence, "for she of course goes with us." + +"One of my servants may be another," said the Count. "But it is better +to have several." + +"The master of this house and his son," said Claude de l'Estang, "will +make up a number more than sufficient; and all that remains, Albert, +is for you to go and settle your affairs at Versailles, and return +hither as soon as you may; though I wish, indeed, that it were +possible for you not to go back to that place at all." + +"Indeed it is quite necessary," replied the Count; "not contemplating +this meeting, I have left all the little store of wealth which I +brought with me from Poitou in my house at Versailles. It is +impossible to send for it without causing instant suspicion, and it is +absolutely necessary, not only for the expences of the journey, but in +order to secure some little sum for our subsistence, for a year or +two, in case we shall find that, either by misfortune or by fraud, the +money which I transmitted to Holland is not forthcoming." + +"It is, indeed, most necessary," said Claude de l'Estang. "I have +heard that one of our poor ministers, who was banished some years ago +from Languedoc, suffered most terribly in foreign lands before he +could gain employment." + +"But I can bring in my share," exclaimed Clémence, her eyes sparkling +with gladness. "I have a number of jewels, of different kinds: many +purchased in other days with my own money; many given me by friends of +my youth long years ago. They have cost, I know, in all many thousand +livres. These are my own, and I will take them with me. Those that I +have received from the Duke and Duchess, and other Roman Catholic +friends, I shall leave to be given back to them again." + +"Do so, do so!" said the pastor. "There are some people, my dear +child, who would wring a text from Scripture to bid you do the +contrary, telling you to spoil the Egyptians; but I think that such +injunctions as that must ever be applicable to particular cases alone, +and the application must be made by God himself. I say, leave all that +is not justly and absolutely your own: leave all that those who gave +it would not give now, if they could see the use to which you are +going to apply it. We shall rarely regret, my child, if ever, having +been too just; we shall never cease to regret if we are once unjust." + +The Count de Morseiul had remarked that, through the whole of this +conversation, the pastor had never once mentioned himself or his own +plans. It might however seem, that he left it to be understood that +he, too, was about to fly from the land; but the Count de Morseiul +knew him well, and was aware that he was one of those who would +resolutely and firmly place himself in the way of perils which he +would teach others to avoid. He did not choose even to suppose that +the pastor was about to remain in the land which he advised them to +quit; and he, therefore, demanded, "At what hour, my good friend, will +you be ready to give us your blessing and to go with us?" + +"My son," replied the pastor, "I will give my blessing on your union +at any hour you like, for I dare not go out during the day. But, alas, +I must not think of going with you. I say not, that I will not come +hereafter, if Heaven enable me to do so; but it must be after I have +seen every one of my flock, who is willing to sacrifice temporal to +eternal things, in safety in another land before me. Nay, nay, +Albert," he said, seeing the Count about to reply, "urge me not in +this matter, for I am sure I am right, and when such is the case I +must be immoveable. As soon as all who are willing to go are gone, I +will obey the injunction of the King, which orders the pastors and +ministers of our church to quit the realm immediately----" + +"Indeed!" exclaimed the Count. "Has such an order been issued? I never +heard of it." + +"You hear, my son, very little here," replied the old man. "Care is +taken to keep unpleasant sights from the eyes of kings and courtiers. +Pomp, and pageantry, and display, luxury and feasting, and music, and +games, and revelry, they are the things for palaces and capitals; not +the groans and tears of the wronged and injured, not the cries and +murmurs of the oppressed. Some days have passed since the order +appeared throughout all the provinces, and many of my brethren have +already obeyed. I will obey it, too, but not till the last." + +"Oh," cried Clémence, "dear and excellent friend, do not, do not +expose yourself too far. Remember how much we may need your council +and assistance hereafter. Remember what a stay and support your +presence may be to the whole of your flock in other lands." + +"Those who do not fulfil their duties now, Clémence," said the pastor, +"upon the pretext of fulfilling them better hereafter, will fulfil +none at all, my child. But say no more either of you; my determination +is strong and fixed: and now, Albert," he added, with a faint smile, +"find some way of measuring her finger for the ring that is to make +her yours, and if you could get some friendly notary to draw up a +regular contract of marriage between you against this evening, all +would be complete." + +Albert of Morseiul took the fair hand of his promised bride, which she +gave him with a blushing cheek, to measure it for the ring that was to +be the symbol of their union. Upon the very finger was that ring which +he had rescued for her when it had been taken away by the band of +Herval, the coronet and the cypher in diamonds; and as he gazed upon +it and tried it on his own finger, to judge of the size, a brief +feeling of curiosity passed through his heart, and he thought, "This, +indeed, is strange: I am about to wed one, of whose history, and fate, +and circumstances, both I myself, and almost every one around me, are +ignorant." + +He lifted his look to her face, however, while he thus thought. Those +large, pure, beautiful eyes were gazing upon him with tenderness and +trust, and, replacing the ring upon her finger, he sealed his faith +and confidence upon that fair hand with a kiss. + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + THE KING'S CLOSET. + + +During the time that the young Count was absent from Versailles and +busied, as we have represented, with those schemes on which his future +woe or welfare seemed beyond all doubt to depend, a scene was taking +place in the palace of the King, in which the Count was more +interested than he could have supposed possible, and which, as will be +seen at the close of this history, was destined to affect him as much +as any of his own proceedings. + +The scene, then, was in the King's cabinet at Versailles. A clock of a +rich and singular construction stood exactly before the Monarch, +marking out to him the portions of time which he could bestow upon +each separate affair as it was brought before him. A large inkstand, +containing innumerable pens, and a portfolio, half filled with +writing, in the King's own hand, lay upon the table; wax of four +different colours, blue, red, white, and yellow, were also placed +before him, in a small case of marquetry, which contained likewise +several seals, and an instrument of a peculiar form for spreading the +wax: the walls were ornamented with a few very choice small pictures; +a number of maps were there also, and a few, but very few, books. + +The Monarch was seated in a large arm chair, his right foot supported +by a footstool, and his hand holding a pen as it rested on the table. +The expression of his countenance was mild but intelligent, and before +him stood--a little pale indeed, and affecting, certainly, greater awe +and terror than he really did feel--a man, whom, as we described him +before, may be passed over in silence as far as his personal +appearance is concerned. This was no other than Jerome Riquet, the +valet of the Count of Morseiul; and behind him appeared the figure of +Bontems, Louis's confidential attendant, who instantly retreated in +silence from the chamber, on a slow nod of the head from the King. + +"Your name," said the Monarch, fixing his eyes full upon Riquet, "is, +I understand, Jerome Riquet, and you are valet to the young Count of +Morseiul." + +"I have been his faithful valet in the field, and the camp, and the +court, and the castle, for these many years, Sire," replied the man. + +"And I hear," continued the King, "that you are a member of the holy +catholic church, while your lord is of the religion which its +professors call reformed. Now, answer me truly, how have you +contrived--during the long period of service, surrounded, as you were, +by Huguenot fellow servants and under a Huguenot lord--how have you +contrived to fulfil the duties of your religion, I say, under such +circumstances?" + +"Oh, Sire, nothing so easy," replied the man. "May it please your +Majesty, I was much better off, in most respects, than my brother +Catholics; for on a fast day, Sire, by my lord's order, on my account, +there was either fish, or some other meagre dish prepared, so that I +had my choice. I could fast and grow thin, or sin and grow fat, as I +thought fit." + +The King's countenance fell a little at an uncalled-for joke in his +presence, especially on a subject which, in his eyes, was of serious +importance. Louis, however, was very rarely disposed to say a harsh +word, unless it was impossible to help it; and he therefore passed +over the valet's levity with merely the reproof of that displeased +look, and then again demanded,-- + +"So, then, your lord gave you every facility of fulfilling the duties +of your religion?" + +"The greatest, Sire," replied the man. "Except when we were in +Holland, where there was no Catholic church to be found, he has always +driven me to mass as if with a scourge. Even at Morseiul, scarcely a +Sunday passed without his telling me to go to mass, and asking me if I +had been." + +"This looks well for the young gentleman," said the King, seemingly +well pleased with the account the man afforded. "We have had different +stories at court--that he was rank and bigoted, and furious against +the Catholic religion." + +"Lord bless your Majesty!" exclaimed the man, "he is more than three +quarters of a Catholic himself, and if the devil gets the other +quarter it will only be because the Count is driven to him." + +"Speak not profanely, Sir, of things that are serious," said the King, +"nor presume, in my presence, to venture upon such jests." + +As he spoke, the whole aspect of his countenance changed, his brow +grew dark, his lip curled, his voice became deeper, his head more +erect, and that indescribable majesty, for which he was famous, took +possession of his person, making the unfortunate Jerome Riquet ready +to sink into the earth. + +"Now, Sir," continued the King, "be not frightened; but give me clear +and straight-forward answers in a serious tone. What you have told me +of your young lord is satisfactory to me. I am most anxious to do him +good and to show him favour. I have marked his gallant conduct as a +soldier, and his upright and noble demeanour as a French gentleman, +and I would fain save him from the destruction to which obstinacy may +lead him. You say that he is three parts a Catholic already, and would +be one altogether if it were not--at least so I understand you--that +some one drove him to the contrary conduct. Now, who is it drives him, +Sir? Speak to me plainly and explicitly, and no harm shall come to +you.--Have you lost your tongue, Sir, or are you struck dumb?" the +King continued, seeing that Riquet remained silent, while his whole +frame seemed to work with terror and agitation. + +Perhaps, had his lord been there, he might have discovered, at once, +that Riquet was working himself up to assume an immense deal more of +terror than he really felt; but the King, conscious of having assumed +an overawing look which he had often seen produce effects somewhat +similar, believed the fear of the valet to be entirely real, and was +not at all surprised to see Riquet suddenly cast himself at his feet +and burst into an amazing flood of tears. + +"If I have offended your Majesty," cried the man, with a species of +orientalism which was not at all displeasing to the ears of the +despotic monarch of the French, "if I have offended your Majesty, take +my head! But you are now proceeding to question me upon matters in +which what I have to tell and to speak of, may produce the most +terrible results. I know not every word I utter that I may not be +doing wrong--I know not that every word may not cost my life--and +unless your Majesty will deign to grant me in writing your full and +free pardon for all that I have done, I dare not, indeed I dare not go +on; or if I do, terror will make me prevaricate, and attempt to +conceal facts that the wisdom of your Majesty will soon discover." + +"Nay, nay," exclaimed the King; "before I give you such pardon, my +good friend, I must know to what it extends. You may have committed +twenty crimes, for aught I know; you may be a relapsed heretic, for +aught I know." + +"So help me God, Sire, no," exclaimed the man vehemently: "I am a +sincere, devout, and zealous Catholic, and have been so all my life. +Here is the certificate of the parish priest in Poitou, Sire, in order +that I might have the benefit of the indulgence," and he drew forth +from his pocket a small piece of written paper which Louis read +attentively, and which bestowed upon him so high a character for +devotion to the Catholic faith, and for various other extraordinary +virtues, that Louis thought he could not be far wrong in assuring him +of the pardon he wanted, especially as Riquet, while he read, had +relapsed into a passion of tears, and the moments allotted to the task +of examining him were fleeting rapidly away. "Well," he said, "to make +you at ease, I will grant you the pardon, under some conditions." + +"And pray put in, Sire," cried Riquet, with real joy sparkling in his +eyes, "pray put in that you take me under your royal protection, for +fear the Count should be angry, or any of the heretics should attempt +to take vengeance upon me. + +"That I will do also," replied Louis, and taking the pen he wrote +rapidly a paper which, according to the old English form, would have +been somewhat to the following effect, though the beginning of it, "_A +tous ceux_," &c. may be somewhat freely translated. + + +"Know all men by these presents, that we, for especial reasons +thereunto us moving, have granted our full and free pardon unto the +person called Jerome Hardouin Riquet, for all crimes or offences that +he may have committed up to the date of these presents, always +excepted any crime which he may have committed against the holy church +or our sovereign state of which he is not at this time charged, and +which may be hereafter proved against him, and that we do also take +the said Jerome Hardouin Riquet under our especial protection, warning +all men to have regard unto the same, for such is our will. + + "Louis." + + +The King read the paper over, paused for a moment, as if he yet +hesitated whether he should give it or not, and then with a sort of +half smile, and a look expressive of something between carelessness +and magnanimity, he held it out to the valet, who seized it and kissed +it repeatedly. Then standing up before the monarch, he said,-- + +"Now, Sire, safe in your Majesty's protection, I am ready and capable +of answering distinctly and clearly any thing that you may ask me." + +The King took the paper up again, into which he had looked to +ascertain the various denominations of Maître Riquet, and then +recommenced his questions as follows, returning in the first place to +the one which Riquet had left unanswered, "Who and what are the people +who are driving, or are likely to drive, your master to remain +obstinate in heresy." + +"Please your Majesty," replied Riquet, "the principal persons are, a +very reverend and respectable gentleman, called the Abbé de St. Helie; +also, the intendant of the province of Poitou, our reverend father the +Bishop of Poitiers, Monsieur de Louvois, and I am not very sure that +good Monsieur de Rouvré himself has not a part." + +The King gazed at the bold speaker for a moment or two, as if doubtful +of his real intention; asking of himself whether the man spoke +sincerely and simply, or whether a daring jest, or a still more +impudent sarcasm, lay concealed in the words he used. The man's +previous terror, however, and the air of perfect unconsciousness of +offence with which he spoke, did much to convince Louis that he had no +double meaning. His tone, however, was sharp and angry, as he asked, +"How now, Sir? How can some of the best and wisest, the most prudent +and the most zealous men in the realm, drive any heretic to refuse +obstinately the cup of salvation offered to him? I trust, you mean no +offence, sirrah!" + +Jerome Riquet's countenance instantly fell, and with a thousand +lamentations and professions of profound respect for Louvois and St. +Helie, and every one whom the King might trust and favour, he +declared, that his only meaning was, that he believed his master and a +great many other Protestants would have been converted long ago, if +they had been led rather than driven. He added, that he had heard the +young Count and the old one too say a thousand times, that some of the +gentlemen he mentioned had done as much to prevent the Protestants +from returning to the mother church, as Monsieur Bossuet had done to +bring them back to it. + +Louis paused and thought, and had not his prepossessions been so +complete as they were, the plain truth which the valet told him might +not have been unproductive of fruit. As it was it went in some degree +to effect the real object which Riquet had in view; namely, to impress +the King with a notion, that there was a great probability of the +young Count being recalled to the bosom of the Catholic church, +provided the means employed were gentleness and persuasion. + +It is very seldom, indeed, in this life, that we meet with any thing +like pure and unmixed motives, and such were certainly not to be +expected in the bosom of Jerome Riquet. His first object and design +was certainly to serve his master; but, in so serving him, he had an +eye to gratifications of his own also; for to his feelings and +disposition Versailles was a much pleasanter place than Morseiul, +Paris a more agreeable land than Poitou. He used to declare, that he +was fond of the country, but liked it paved; that his avenues should +always be houses, and his flocks and herds wear coats and petticoats. +He naturally calculated, then, that if the King undertook the task of +converting the young Count by gentle and quiet means, he would not +fail to keep him in the delightful sojourning place of Versailles, +while he, Jerome Riquet, amongst all the gods and goddesses of brass +and marble, which were gathered together in the gardens, might play +the part of Proteus, and take a thousand shapes, as might suit his +versatile genius. + +The King thought over the reply of Riquet for some moments, somewhat +struck by hearing that the arguments which the Protestants held +amongst themselves were exactly similar to those which they had often +put forth in addressing him. So much skill, however, had been employed +by his council and advisers to open wide before him the path of error, +and to close up the narrow footway of truth, that even when any one +pulled away the brambles and briars with which the latter had been +blocked up, and showed him that there was really another path, he +refused to follow it, and chose the wider and more travelled road. + +Thus his conclusion was, after those few minutes' thought,-- + +"This is all very well, and very specious; but as we do not trust to a +sick man to point out the remedies that will cure him, so must we not +trust to these Huguenots to point out what would be the best means of +converting them. However, Master Jerome Riquet, it is not in regard to +opinions that I sent for you, I want to hear facts, if you please. Now +tell me: do you remember, upon a certain occasion, a proclamation +having been sent down to be read in the town of Morseiul, the King's +officers having been insulted, and, I believe, pelted with stones, and +the proclamation torn down?" + +"No, Sire," replied Riquet boldly, for he was telling a lie, and +therefore spoke confidently. "I remember my master going out in haste +one day to prevent, he said, any bad conduct on the part of the +people, and I remember hearing that he had caused the proclamation to +be made himself in the market-place, in spite of some riotous folk, +who would willingly have opposed it." + +"High time that such folk should be put down," said the King. "These +are the peaceable and obedient subjects, which the advocates of the +Huguenots would fain persuade me that they are. But one question more +on this head: did you see the young Count of Morseuil cause the gates +of the town to be shut in the face of my officers, or did you hear +that he had done so, upon good authority?" + +"No, Sire, I neither heard nor saw it," replied Riquet; "and, for +myself, I was safely in the castle during the whole day." + +"Do you remember," continued the King, looking at the paper, "having +carried notes or letters from your master to different Protestant +gentlemen in the neighbourhood of Poitiers, calling upon them to +assemble and meet him at the house of another Huguenot, named M. de +Corvoie?" + +"No, Sire, oh no!" replied the man. "While we were at Poitiers, I only +carried one note, and that was to the saddle-maker, who in repadding +one of my lord's saddles, had done it so as to gall the horse's back." + +"Sir, you are lying," said the King sternly. + +Riquet once more cast himself upon his knees before the monarch, +clasping his hands and exclaiming, "May I lose your Majesty's favour +for ever, if I am not telling you the exact truth. Let any one who +dares to say that I carried any other note than that which I have +mentioned be confronted with me this moment, and I will prove, that he +is shamefully deceiving your Majesty, for no other note did I carry, +no, not even a love letter. Otherwise, I could and would, not only +tell your Majesty the fact, but every word that the notes contained." + +"This is very extraordinary," said the King, "and I shall take care to +inquire into it." + +"I trust your Majesty will," replied the man boldly, for it may be +recollected that he had not carried any note, but had been merely +charged with a message to M. de Corvoie: "I trust that your Majesty +will; for I assure you, on the faith of a valet de chambre, that no +such transaction ever occurred. Did not they want to charge me--the +very men who I dare say have brought this accusation--did they not +want to charge me with having abstracted your Majesty's commission to +Messieurs St. Helie and Pelisson, and with having placed a pack of +cards in its stead; and were they not brought to shame by its being +found out, that they themselves had done it, by fragments of the +commission being found in one of their valises, wrapped like a dirty +rag about an old tobacco box?" + +"How is this? How is this?" exclaimed the King. "I heard that the +commission had been abstracted, but I heard not this result--fragments +of the commission wrapping a tobacco box found in their own valises!" + +"Ay, Sire," replied the man, "'tis all too true, for the examination +was conducted in presence of Monsieur de Rouvré;" and with earnest +volubility Maître Jerome set to work, and, in his own particular +manner, gave the monarch a long and detailed, but rapid account of +what had taken place on the return of the Count de Morseiul to +Poitiers, adding cunning commentaries in words, gesticulations, and +grimaces, which scarcely left the King the power of retaining his due +gravity, especially when Riquet personated to the life, the worthy +Curé of Guadrieul, on the discovery of the paper in his valise. + +While he was in the very act of making this detail, however, the door +of the royal cabinet was opened, and a man of a harsh and disagreeable +countenance, with a face somewhat red and blotched, but with great +fire and intelligence in his eyes, entered the room, pausing for a +single moment at the door, as if for permission. + +"Come in, Monsieur de Louvois, come in," said the King. "This is +Jerome Riquet, the valet of the Count de Morseiul, whom I told you I +intended to examine. He puts a very different face upon several +matters, however, from that which we expected to find," and the King +briefly recapitulated to his famous minister the information he had +received from Riquet, leaving out however the first part of the +conversation between them, which contained matter that could not be +very agreeable to the minister. + +A somewhat sneering smile came upon Louvois' countenance as he +listened; and he replied, "I am very happy to hear, Sire, that the +Count de Morseiul is so good and faithful a servant to your Majesty. +May I be permitted to ask this worthy person a question or two in your +presence?" + +The King bowed his head, and the minister, turning to Riquet, went on: +"Although we have much more reason to think favourably of your +master," he said, "than we had at first, yet there is one point in +regard to which, though he did not actually commit a fault, he greatly +neglected his duty, at least, so we are led to believe. We are +assured, that shortly before he came up to Versailles, a great meeting +of Huguenots in the open air took place upon a wild moor, within the +limits of the young Count's lands, which meeting, though held for the +peaceful purpose, we are told, of merely preaching in the open air, +terminated in bloodshed, and an attack upon a small body of the King's +dragoons who were watching the proceedings." + +Louvois' eye was fixed upon the valet all the time he spoke, and +Jerome Riquet was making up his mind to deny steadily any knowledge of +the transaction; but suddenly his whole views upon the subject were +changed by the minister coming to the head and front of the Count's +offence. + +"Now," continued Louvois, "although there was certainly no law to +compel the Count to be present on such an occasion, yet, when he knew +that a meeting of this kind was about to take place on his own +estates, and that dangerous consequences might ensue, he would but +have shown his zeal and duty in the service of the King by going to +the spot, and doing all that he could to make the proceedings tranquil +and inoffensive." + +"But the Count did go, Sir," exclaimed Riquet, "the Count did go, and +I remember the fact of his going particularly." + +"Are you ready to swear that he was there?" demanded Louvois. + +"All I can say," replied the valet, "is, that he left home for the +purpose of going there. I was not present myself, but I heard from +every one else that he was." + +"And pray at what hour did he return that night?" demanded Louvois, +"for the events that I speak of did not take place till near +nightfall, and if the Count had been there till the whole assemblage +had dispersed, a thousand to one no harm would have ensued." + +"I cannot exactly tell at what hour he returned," said the valet, who +was beginning to fancy that he was not exactly in the right road. "It +was after nightfall, however." + +"Recollect yourself," said Louvois, "was it nine, ten o'clock." + +"It might be nearly ten," said the man. + +"And, I think," said Louvois, his lip curling with a smile, bitter and +fiend-like, "I think you were one of those, were you not, who went +down on the following morning to the spot where the young Marquis de +Hericourt had been murdered? Your name is amongst those who were seen +there, so say no more. But now tell me, where is your master at this +moment?" + +Jerome Riquet smarted under a strong perception of having been +outwitted; and the consequence was, that knowing, or at least +believing, that when a man falls into one such piece of ill luck, it +generally goes on, with a sort of run against him; he made up his mind +to know as little as possible about any thing, for fear of falling +into a new error, and replied to Louvois' question, that he could not +tell. + +"Is he in his hotel at Versailles, or not, Sir?" said the minister +sternly; "endeavour to forget for once that you are professionally a +liar, and give a straight-forward answer, for on your telling truth +depends your immediate transmission to the Bastille or not. Was your +master at home when you left the house, or out?" + +"He was out then, Sir, certainly," replied Riquet. + +"On horseback, or on foot?" demanded Louvois. + +"On horseback," replied the man. "Now, answer me one other question," +continued the minister. "Have you not been heard, this very morning, +to tell the head groom to have horses ready to go to Paris?" + +"Sir," said Jerome, with a look of impudent raillery that he dared not +assume towards the King, but which nothing upon earth could have +repressed in addressing Louvois at that moment, "Sir, I feel convinced +that I must possess a valet de chambre without knowing it, for nobody +on earth could repeat my words so accurately, unless I had some +scoundrel of a valet to betray them as soon as they were spoken." + +"Sir, your impudence shall have its just punishment," said Louvois, +taking up a pen and dipping it in the ink, but the King waved his +hand, saying, "Put down the pen, Monsieur de Louvois! You forget that +you are in the King's cabinet and in his presence!--Riquet, you may +retire." + +Riquet did not need a second bidding, but, with a look of profound awe +and reverence towards Louis, laid his hand upon his heart, lifted up +his shoulders, like the jaws of a crocodile ready to swallow up his +head, and bowing almost to the ground, walked backward out of the +room. Louvois stood before the King, for an instant, with a look of +angry mortification, which he suppressed with difficulty. Louis +suffered him to remain thus, and, perhaps, did not enjoy a little the +humiliation he had inflicted upon a man whom he, more than once in his +life, declared to be perfectly insupportable, though he could not do +without him. At length, however, he spoke in a grave but not an angry +tone, saying, + +"From the questions that you asked that man just now, Monsieur de +Louvois, I am led to believe that you have received some fresh +information regarding this young gentleman--this Count de Morseiul. My +determination up to this moment, strengthened by the advice of +Monsieur de Meaux, Monsieur Pelisson, and others, is simply this: to +pursue to the utmost the means of persuasion and conciliation in order +to induce him, by fair means, to return to the bosom of the Catholic +church." + +"Better, Sire," replied Louvois, "far better cut him off like a +withered and corrupted branch, unfit to be grafted on that goodly +tree." + +"You know, Marquis," said the King, "that I am always amenable to +reason. I have expressed the determination which I had taken under +particular circumstances. If you have other circumstances to +communicate to me which may make me alter that opinion, do so +straight-forwardly. Kings are as liable to error as other +men,--perhaps, indeed, more so; for they see truth at a distance, and +require perspective glasses to examine it well, which are not always +at hand. If I am wrong I am ready to change my resolution, though it +is always a part of a king's duty to decide speedily when he can do it +wisely." + +"The simple fact, Sire," replied Louvois, with the mortification under +which he still smarted affecting his tone of voice; "the simple fact +is, as your Majesty must have divined from the answers that man gave +me, I have now clear and distinct proof that this Count de Morseiul +has, throughout the insignificant but annoying troubles occasioned by +the Huguenots in Poitou, been the great fomenter of all their +discontent, and their leader in actual insurrection. He was not only +present at this preaching in the desert, as these fanatics call it, +and led all the proceedings, by a speech upon the occasion highly +insulting to your Majesty's authority and dignity; with all which your +Majesty has already been made acquainted----" + +"But upon not very clear and conclusive evidence," said the King. +"Upon evidence, Monsieur de Louvois, which should condemn none of my +subjects before a court of law, and, therefore, not before his +sovereign. That he made a speech is clear; but some of the witnesses +deposed, that it was only to recommend moderation and tranquillity, +and to beseech them, on no account, to appear on such occasions with +arms." + +"All hypocrisy, Sire," replied Louvois. "I have had two of the +dragoons with me this morning who were present with my unfortunate +cousin, young De Hericourt, and they are quite ready and willing to +swear that he, this Count de Morseiul, began the affray by striking +that young officer from his horse." + +"Without provocation?" demanded the King, his brow growing somewhat +cloudy. + +"They saw none given," replied Louvois, "and they were close to him. +Not only this, but, as it is shown that he did not himself return to +his own house till late at night; that De Hericourt never returned at +all; and that the two were angry rivals for the hand of this very +Mademoiselle de Marly, there is strong reason to believe that they met +after the affair on the moor, and that the unhappy young man was slain +by the hand of the Count of Morseiul." + +"This is something new, indeed," said the King. "Have you any further +information, Monsieur de Louvois?" + +"Merely the following, Sire," replied the minister, "that, in the +course of yesterday evening, the famous fanatic minister, Claude de +l'Estang, the great stay of the self-styled reformed church, who, on +more than one occasion, in his youth opposed your royal father in +arms, and has, through life, been the great friend and adviser of +these Counts of Morseiul, arrived in Paris last night, sent a billet +down to the Count this morning, and further, that the Count +immediately went up to visit him. Unfortunately the news was +communicated to me too late to take measures for tracking the Count +from Versailles to the hiding-place of the minister, whom it is +desirable to lay hands upon if possible. The Count was tracked, +indeed, to his own hotel in Paris; but, just before I came hither, the +messenger returned to tell me, that as soon as Monsieur de Morseiul +had arrived at his own house he had gone out again on foot, and all +further trace of him was lost. What I would urge upon your Majesty's +attention, then, is this, that if you suffer him to trifle away many +days, persuading you and good Monsieur Bossuet, that he intends to +yield and return to the church, you will suffer this affair of the +preaching, the tumult, the murder of some of your loyal subjects, and +the previous factious conduct of this young man, to drop and be +forgotten; and you cannot well revive it after any length of time, as +it is known, already, that full information has been laid before you +on the subject. It does seem to me, Sire," continued the minister, +seeing that Louis was much moved by his reasonings, "it does seem to +me that you have but one choice. You must either, believing, as I do, +that the Count de Morseiul has not the slightest intention of ever +becoming a convert from the heresy which he now professes, determine +upon arresting him and punishing him for the crimes with which he is +charged, should they be proved; or else you must grant him your royal +favour and pardon, put it out of your own power to investigate further +the matter, bestow upon him the hand of Mademoiselle de Marly, and +leave fate, and his own inclinations, to convert him to the Catholic +faith, or not, as may happen." + +"I certainly shall not take the latter alternative," replied the King. +"The circumstances you have brought forward are extremely strong, +especially this renewed visit to Claude de l'Estang. I am not one to +show indecision where firmness is necessary, Louvois. In an hour or +two, whenever I think it probable that he is returned to Versailles, I +will send to require his presence. I will question him myself upon his +belief, ascertain the probability of his conversion, and determine at +once. If I find your statement correct----" + +"Sire," cried Louvois, interrupting the King, as was too often his +custom to do, "there is little use of your asking him any questions +but one simple one; the answer to which must, at once, satisfy so +great and magnanimous a mind as yours, and you will see that I +entertain no feeling of personal enmity to the young man by the +question that I am about to suggest. If he answer that question +candidly, straightforwardly, and, at once, in the manner and sense +which your Majesty can approve, give him your favour, raise him high, +distinguish him in every manner: but if he prevaricates, hesitates, or +answers in a sense and manner which your Majesty cannot approve, send +him to the Bastille." + +"But what is the question?" demanded the King eagerly. "What is the +question, Monsieur de Louvois?" + +"This, Sire," replied Louvois: "Monsieur de Morseiul, I beg and +command of you, as your king and your benefactor, to tell me whether +there is, or is not, really any chance of your ever becoming a convert +to the true Catholic faith of this realm?" + +Louvois, by putting such a question into the King's mouth, showed not +only how intimately he was acquainted with Louis's weaknesses, but +also how well he knew the firmness and candour of the young Count de +Morseiul. He knew, in short, that the latter would tell the truth, and +that the former would condemn it. + +"Nothing can be fairer," replied the King, "nothing can be fairer, +Monsieur de Louvois. I will put that question to him exactly, and upon +his answer to it he shall stand or fall." + +"So thoroughly am I convinced, Sire, of what the result will be," +continued Louvois, "that I will beseech your Majesty to give me +authority to have him arrested immediately after he leaves you, in +case you send me no order to the contrary." + +"Certainly," replied the King, "certainly. I will sign the order +immediately." + +"Allow me to remind you, Sire," replied Louvois, "that you signed one +the other day, which is already in the hands of Cantal, only you +ordered me to suspend the execution. That will do quite well, and +Cantal will be at hand to put it in force." + +"Be it so," said the Monarch, "be it so: but let Cantal be in the way +at the time I send for the young Count, that I may signify to him that +he is not to arrest the Count if the answer I receive satisfies me. +And now, Monsieur de Louvois, what news regarding this business of +Dunkirk?" + +The King and his minister then turned to other matters, and having +concluded the principal part of the affairs they had in hand, were +talking somewhat lightly of other matters, when one of the attendants, +who knew that the hour of Louvois was over, opened the door and +interrupted their further conversation, by announcing, to the surprise +of both, that the Count de Morseiul was in waiting, beseeching, +earnestly, a moment's audience of the Monarch. The King turned his +eyes upon Louvois, as if to inquire, "What is the meaning of this?" +but a moment or two after he bade the attendant give the Count +admission. + +"Then I had better take my leave, Sire," said the minister, "and give +Cantal a hint to be in readiness;" and taking up the papers from which +he had been reading some extracts to the Monarch, Louvois bowed low +and quitted the room. + + + + END OF THE SECOND VOLUME. + + + + London: + Printed by A. Spottiswoode, + New-Street-Square. + + + + + + THE HUGUENOT. + + + VOL. III. + + + + + + + London: + Printed by A. Spottiswoode, + New-Street-Square. + + + + + + + THE + + HUGUENOT + + A TALE + + OF + + THE FRENCH PROTESTANTS. + + + + + BY THE AUTHOR OF + + "THE GIPSY," "THE ROBBER," + &c. &c. + + + + * * * + + IN THREE VOLUMES. + + VOL. III. + + * * * + + + + LONDON: + + PRINTED FOR + + LONGMAN, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS, + + PATERNOSTER-ROW. + + 1839. + + + + + + + THE HUGUENOT. + + * * * + + + + + CHAPTER I. + + THE UNFORESEEN BLOW. + + +To have judged by the affable and agreeable smile which Louvois bore +upon his countenance as he passed the young Count de Morseuil in one +of the anterooms, a stranger to that minister would have imagined that +he was extremely well disposed towards the gentleman whom he was in +fact labouring to ruin. No such error, however, could have taken place +with regard to the aspect with which the King received the young +Count, which, though not frowning and severe, was grave and somewhat +stern. + +The countenance and conduct of Albert of Morseiul was calm, tranquil, +and serene; and Louis, who, intending to cut the interview as short as +possible, had risen, could not help saying within himself, "That looks +not like the face of a man conscious of crime." + +As the King paused while he made this remark to himself, the Count +imagined that he waited for him to begin and open the cause of his +coming; and, consequently, he said at once, "Sire, I have ventured to +intrude upon your Majesty, notwithstanding your intimation that you +would send for me when your convenience served, inasmuch as I have +matters of some importance to lay before you, which would bear no +delay." + +"Pray," demanded Louis, "pray, Monsieur de Morseiul, before you +proceed further, be so good as to inform me, whether the matters to +which you allude refer to yourself or to the state?" + +"By no means to myself," replied the Count, who was not altogether +satisfied with the King's tone and manner. "They refer entirely to the +safety of the state and your Majesty. On my own affairs I would not +have presumed to intrude upon you again." + +"Very well, then," said the King dryly, "since such is the case, you +will be good enough to communicate whatever you may have to say upon +such subjects to Monsieur de Louvois, Monsieur de Seignelai, or +Monsieur Colbert de Croissy, as the case may be; such being the usual +course by which matters of importance are brought to my ears. And now, +Monsieur de Morseiul, though I have but a single moment to attend to +any thing at this particular time, let me ask you one question,--Is +there or is there not any hope of my receiving the great gratification +of being enabled to show you as much favour and distinction as I could +wish, by your abjuring the heresy in which you have been unfortunately +brought up, and seeking repose in the bosom of the Catholic church?" + +The Count de Morseiul felt that a crisis in his fate had arrived; but, +with the question put to him so simply and straight-forwardly, he felt +that he could not evade the decision, and he would not prevaricate +even for safety. + +"If, Sire," he said, "what your Majesty demands is to know my own +opinion upon the subject at this moment--" + +"I mean, Sir," said the King, "plainly, Do you believe that there +exists a likelihood of your becoming converted to the Catholic faith?" + +"I do not believe so, Sire," replied the Count. "With deep and +profound respect for your Majesty, with much veneration and regard for +Monsieur Bossuet, and with all the advantage of being even now reading +some of his works upon religion, I should be deceiving your Majesty, I +should be wronging myself, I should be showing myself unworthy of the +high opinion which Monsieur de Meaux has expressed of me, if I did not +clearly and distinctly state that I see no likelihood whatsoever of my +changing opinions instilled into me in infancy." + +"Nay, nay," cried the King, considerably moved and struck by the calm, +yet respectful dignity of the young Count's demeanour. "Think better +of it! In God's name think better of it! Let me hope that the +eloquence of Bossuet will prevail--let me hope that I may yet have the +opportunity of conferring upon you all those favours that I am most +eager to bestow." + +There was an eagerness and sincerity in the King's manner, which +affected the Count in turn. "Alas, Sire," he said, "what would I not +do to merit the favour of such a King? but still I must not deceive +you. Whatever hopes your Majesty is pleased to entertain of my +conversion to the established religion of the realm, may be derived +from the knowledge--from the powerful gratitude--which your Majesty's +generosity and high qualities of every kind must call up in your +subjects and your servants; or they may arise from your knowledge of +the deep and persuasive eloquence of the Bishop of Meaux: but they +must not arise from any thing that I have said, or can say, regarding +the state of my mind at this moment." + +"I grieve, Monsieur de Morseiul, I grieve bitterly to hear it," +replied the King; and he then paused, looking down thoughtfully for +some moments; after which he added, "Let me remonstrate with you, that +nothing may be left undone, which I can do, to justify me in treating +you as I could wish. Surely, Monsieur de Morseiul, there can be +nothing very difficult to believe in that which so many--nay, I may +say all the holiest, the wisest, and the best have believed, since the +first preaching of our religion. Surely, the great body of authority +which has accumulated throughout ages, in favour of the Catholic +church, is not to be shaken by such men as Luther and Calvin. You +yourselves acknowledge that there are--as there must ever be when +heavenly things are revealed to earthly understanding--mysteries which +we cannot subject to the ordinary test of human knowledge, in the +whole scheme of our redemption--you acknowledge it; and yet with faith +you believe in those mysteries, rejecting only those which do not suit +you, and pretending that the Scripture does not warrant them. But let +me ask you, upon what authority we are to rely for the right +interpretation of those very passages? Is it to be upon the word of +two such men as Luther and Calvin, learned though they might be, or on +the authority of the church, throughout all ages, supported by the +unbiassed opinions of a whole host of the learned and the wise in +every century? Are we to rely upon the opinion of two men, originally +stirred up by avarice and bad passions, in preference to the whole +body of saints and martyrs, who have lived long lives of piety and +holiness, meditating upon those very mysteries which you reject. I am +but a weak and feeble advocate, Monsieur de Morseiul, and should not, +perhaps, have raised my voice at all after the eloquence of a Bossuet +has failed to produce its effect; but my zealous and anxious wish both +to see you reunited to the church, and to show you that favour which +such a conversion would justify, have made me say thus much." + +The young Count was too prudent by far to enter into any theological +discussions with the King, and he, therefore, contented himself with +replying, "I fear, Sire, that our belief is not in our own power. Most +sincerely do I hope and trust, that, if I be now in the wrong, God may +open my eyes to the truth. At present however----" + +"Say no more, Sir! say no more!" said the King, bending his head as a +signal that the young nobleman might retire. "I am heartily sorry for +your state of mind! I had hoped better things. As to any other +information you may have to communicate, you will be pleased to give +it to one of the secretaries of state, according to the department to +which it naturally refers itself." + +The King once more bowed his head, and the Count with a low +inclination retired. "I had better go at once to the apartments of +Louvois," he thought; "for this affair of Hatréaumont may be already +on the eve of bursting forth, and I would fain have the last act of my +stay in my native land one of loyalty to the King who drives me +forth." + +When he reached the open air, then, he turned to the right, to seek +the apartments of Louvois; but, ere he reached them, he was met by the +Chevalier de Rohan, whom we have already mentioned, who stopped him +with a gay and nonchalant air, saying, "Oh, my dear Count, you have +made my fortune! The hundred louis that you lent me have brought good +luck, and I am now a richer man than I have been for the last twelve +months. I won ten thousand franks yesterday." + +"And, doubtless, will lose them again today," answered the Count. "I +wish to Heaven you would change this life--but, my dear Chevalier, I +must hasten on, for I am on business." + +"When shall I have an hour to talk with you, Count?" exclaimed the +Chevalier de Rohan, still detaining him. "I want very much to explain +to you my plan for raising myself--I am down low enough, certainly, +just now." + +"When next we meet, Chevalier--when next we meet!" said the Count, +smiling as he thought of his approaching departure. "I am in great +haste now." + +But ere he could disengage himself from the hold of the persevering +Chevalier de Rohan, he felt a hand laid gently upon his arm, and +turning round, saw a gentleman whose face was not familiar to him. + +"Monsieur le Comte de Morseiul, I believe," said the stranger; and, on +the Count bowing his head, he went on. "I have to apologise for +interrupting your conversation; but I have a word for your private ear +of some importance." + +The Chevalier de Rohan had by this time turned away, with a nod of the +head; and the Count replied to the other, "I am in some haste, Sir. +Pray, what may be your pleasure?" + +"I have an unpleasant task to perform towards you, Monsieur de +Morseiul," said the stranger; "but it is my wish to execute it as +gently and delicately as possible. My orders are to arrest and convey +you to the Bastille." + +The Count de Morseiul felt that painful tightening of the heart which +every man, thus suddenly stopped in the full career of liberty, and +destined to be conveyed to long and uncertain imprisonment, to be shut +out from all the happy sounds and sights of earth, to be debarred all +the sweet intercourses of friendship and affection, has felt and must +feel. At the same time all the various points of anxiety and +difficulty in his situation rushed through his mind with such rapidity +as to turn him dizzy with the whirling numbers of such painful +thoughts. Clémence de Marly, whose hand was to have been his that very +night, the good old pastor, his friends, his servants, all might, for +aught he knew, be kept in utter ignorance of his fate for many days. +The hands, too, of the unscrupulous and feelingless instruments of +despotic power, would be in every cabinet of his house and his +château, invading all the little storehouses of past affections, +perhaps scattering to the winds all the fond memorials of the loved +and dead. The dark lock of his mother's hair, which he had preserved +from boyhood--the few fragments of her handwriting, and some verses +that she had composed shortly before her death--all his father's +letters to him, from the time that he first sent him forth, a gallant +boy girt with the sword of a high race, to win renown, through all +that period when the son, growing up in glory, shone back upon his +father's name the light that he had thence received, and paid amply +all the cares which had been bestowed upon him, by the joy of his +great deeds, up to that sad moment, when, with a trembling hand, the +dying parent announced to his son the commencement and progress of the +fatal malady that carried him to the grave.--All these were to be +opened, examined, perhaps dispersed by the cold, if not by the +scornful; and all the sanctities of private affection violated. + +Such and a thousand other such feelings, rapid, innumerable, and, in +some instances, contradictory to and opposing each other, rushed +through his bosom in a moment at the announcement of the officer's +errand. The whole facts of his situation, in short, with every minute +particular, were conjured up before his eyes, as in a picture, by +those few words; and the first effort of deliberate thought was made +while De Cantal went on to say, "As I have said, Monsieur de Morseiul, +it is my wish to save you any unnecessary pain, and therefore I have +ordered the carriage, which is to convey you to the Bastille, to wait +at the further end of the first street. A couple of musketeers and +myself will accompany you inside; so that there will be no unnecessary +parade about the matter: and I doubt not that you will be liberated +shortly." + +"I trust it may be so, Sir," replied the Count; "and am obliged to you +for your kindness. I have violated no law, divine or human; and +though, of course, I have many sins to atone towards my God, yet I +have none towards my King. I am quite ready to accompany you, but I +suppose that I shall not be permitted to return to my own house, even +to seek those things which may be necessary for my comfort in the +Bastille." + +"Quite impossible, Sir," replied the officer. "It would be as much as +my head is worth to permit you to set foot in your own dwelling." + +The thoughts of the young Count, as may well be supposed, were turned, +at that moment, particularly to Clémence de Marly; and he was most +anxious, on every account, to make his servants acquainted with the +fact of his having been arrested, in the hope that Riquet would have +the good sense to convey the tidings to the Hôtel de Rouvré. To have +explained this, in any degree, to the officer who had him in charge, +would have been to frustrate the whole design; and therefore he +replied, + +"Far be it from me, Sir, to wish you to do any thing but your duty: +but you see, as I have been accustomed, throughout my life, to +somewhat perhaps too much luxury, I should be very desirous of +procuring some changes of apparel. That, I am aware, may be permitted +to me unless I am to be in the strictest and most severe kind of +imprisonment which the Bastille admits of. You know by the orders you +have received whether such is to be the case or not, and of course I +do not wish you to deviate from your orders. Am I to be kept _au +secret?_" + +"Oh dear no, not at all," replied the officer. "The order merely +implies your safe custody; and, probably, unless some private commands +are given farther, you will have what is called the great liberties of +the Bastille: but still that would not, by any means, justify me in +permitting you to go to your own house." + +"No," replied the Count; "but it renders it perfectly possible--if you +are, as I believe, disposed to treat a person in my unfortunate +situation with kindness and liberality--for you to send down one of +your own attendants to my valet, Jerome Riquet, with my orders to send +me up, in the course of the day, such clothes as may be necessary for +a week. Let the message be verbal, so as to guard against any +dangerous communication; and let the clothes be addressed to the care +of the governor of the prison, in order that they may be inspected +before they are given to me." + +"Oh, to that, of course, there can be no objection," replied the young +officer. "We will do it immediately. But we must lose no time, +Monsieur de Morseiul, for the order is countersigned by Monsieur de +Louvois, and you know he likes prompt obedience." + +The Count accompanied him at a rapid pace, deriving no slight +consolation under the unhappy circumstances in which he was placed, at +the idea of Clémence being fully informed of the cause of his not +appearing at the time he had promised. At the spot which Monsieur de +Cantal had mentioned, was found a plain carriage, with a coachman and +lackey in grey, and two musketeers of the guard seated quietly in the +inside. While the Count was entering the vehicle, the officer called +the lackey to his side and said, "Run down as fast as possible to the +house of the Count de Morseiul, and inquire for his valet. What did +you say his name is, Monsieur de Morseiul?" + +"Jerome Riquet," said the Count. + +"Ay, Jerome Riquet," said the officer. "Inquire for his valet, Jerome +Riquet: tell him that the King has judged it right that his master +should pass a short time in the Bastille, and that, therefore, he must +send up thither to-night, addressed to the care of the governor, what +clothes he judges the Count may require. The house is next door but +one to that of Monsieur de Meaux. Run quick, and take the little alley +at the end of the street, so that you may join us at the corner of the +road." + +The young officer then entered the carriage, and the coachman drove +on; but before they proceeded along the high road they were obliged to +pause for a moment or two, in order to give time for the arrival of +the lackey, who, when he came, spoke a few words through the window to +Monsieur de Cantal, in the course of which the word "Exempt" was +frequently audible. + +"That is unpleasant," said the young officer, turning to the Count: "I +find that an Exempt has been sent to your house already,--to seal up +your papers, I suppose; and, on hearing the man give the message to +one of your servants, he was very angry, it seems, sending word to +wait for him here; but, as I am not under his orders or authority, I +think I shall even tell the coachman to go on." + +He said this in a hesitating tone, however, evidently afraid that he +had done wrong; and before he could execute his purpose of bidding the +carriage proceed, the lackey said, "Here comes the Exempt, Sir. Here +he is!" + +In a moment after, a tall, meager, gaunt-looking man, dressed in the +peculiar robes of an Exempt of the court, with a nose extraordinarily +red, scarcely any eyebrows, and a mouth which seemed capable of +swallowing the vehicle that he approached and all that it contained, +came up to the side of the carriage, and spoke to the young officer +through the window. The words that passed between them seemed to be +sharp; and, at length, the Exempt exclaimed, in a louder tone, so as +to be completely audible to the Count--although his articulation was +of that round spluttering kind which rendered it very difficult to +make out what he said--"I shall do so, however, Sir; I shall do so, +however. I have authority for what I do. I will suffer no such +communications as these, and I will not quit the carriage till I have +seen the prisoner safely lodged in the hands of the governor of the +Bastille." + +"Well, Sir," replied the officer, a little heated; "if you choose to +overstep your duty I cannot help it, and certainly shall not attempt +to prevent your going with the coachman if you think fit. In the +inside of the carriage you shall not come, for there I will guard my +prisoner myself." + +"That you may do, Sir, if you like," cried the Exempt, shaking the +awful mass of wig in which his head was plunged: "but I will take care +that there shall be no more communications.--Linen! What the devil +does a prisoner in the Bastille want with linen? Why, in the very +first packet sent to him there might be all sorts of treasonable +things written upon the linen. Have we not heard of ink of sympathy +and all manner of things?" + +"Well, well, Sir," exclaimed the young officer: "I saw no harm in what +I was doing, or else I should not have done it. But get up, if you are +going to get up, for I shall order the coachman to go on." + +The Exempt sprang up the high and difficult ascent which led to a +coachbox of those days, with a degree of activity which could hardly +have been expected from a person of his pompous dignity, and the coach +then drove on upon its weary way to Paris. + +"A very violent and self-conceited person, indeed, that seems to be," +said the Count. "Do you know him?" + +"Not I," replied the young officer, "though he threatens to make me +know him pretty sufficiently, by complaining to Louvois about sending +for these cursed clothes of yours." + +The officer was evidently out of temper; and the Count, therefore, +left him to himself, and fell into a fit of musing over his own +situation. That fit of musing, dark and painful as it was, lasted, +without cessation, till the vehicle entered one of the suburbs of the +great city of Paris. There, however, it met with an interruption of a +very unexpected kind; for, in trying to pass between two heavy carts, +which were going along in opposite directions, the coachman contrived +to get the wheels of the carriage locked with those of both the other +vehicles; and with such force was this done that the lackey behind was +thrown down and hurt, the Exempt himself nearly pitched off the +coachbox, and obliged to cling with both his hands, while the coachman +lost his hat and the reins. + +The idea of making his escape crossed the mind of the Count de +Morseiul; but he evidently saw that even if he were out of the +carriage, surrounded as he was by a great number of people, without +any large sum of money upon his person, and with the eyes of the +officer, the musketeers, and the Exempt upon him, it would be vain to +make the attempt. + +To render the situation of the vehicle as bad as possible, one of the +horses, either irritated by the uncouth and not very gentle terms with +which the coachman attempted to back out of the difficulty, or galled +by part of the cart pressing upon it, began to kick most vehemently; +and Monsieur de Cantal, the officer, having previously sent the two +musketeers to aid the coachman and the Exempt in disentangling the +carriage, now showed a strong inclination to go himself. After looking +anxiously at the Count de Morseiul for a moment, he at length said, "I +must either go and set those men right, or suffer the carriage to be +kicked to pieces. If I go, Monsieur de Morseiul, will you give me your +word not to try to escape?" + +The Count paused for an instant; but then the same consideration +returned upon him, and he replied, "Go, Sir, go: I do give you my +word." + +The officer then sprang out; but scarcely had he been away a moment, +when the head of the Exempt appeared looking in at the window. "Hist, +hist, Monsieur de Morseiul!" he said, in a voice totally different +from that which he had used before, and which was wonderfully familiar +to the ears of the Count; "hist, hist! On the very first linen you +receive, there will be information written for you. It will be +invisible to all eyes till it is held to the fire. But the flame of a +strong lamp will do, if you cannot sham an ague and get some wood to +warm you." + +"I can scarcely believe my eyes," said the Count, in the same low +voice. + +"Do not doubt them, do not doubt them," said the Exempt. "I knew of +your arrest before you knew of it yourself, but could not warn you, +and was making all ready when the man came to the hotel. I have +sacrificed much for you, Count; as goodly a pair of eyebrows as ever +valet had in this world; and I dare not blow my nose for fear of +wiping off the paint: Louvois outwitted me this morning, and now I'll +outwit him if I have but time. Heavens, how that beast is plunging and +kicking! The pin I ran into its stomach is sticking there yet I +suppose; ay, she's quieter now; here they come, and I must +splutter.--Monsieur," he said, as the officer now returned to the side +of the carriage, "Monsieur, this is guarding your prisoner securely, +is it not? Here I come to the window and find not a single soul to +prevent his escaping, when he might have got out in a moment, and run +up the Rue de Bièvre, and passed through the Rue de l'Ecole, and +across the Place de l'Université, and then down to the river----" + +"Psha!" said the officer impatiently; "let me have no more of this +impertinence, Sir. The Count gave me his word that he would not +escape. If I deliver my prisoner safely at the Bastille, that is +sufficient, and I will not have my conduct questioned. If you have any +complaint to make, make it to Monsieur de Louvois. Come, get up, Sir, +don't answer; the carriage is now clear, and enough of it left +together to carry us to the Bastille. Go on, coachman." + +The coachman, however, pertinaciously remained in a state of +tranquillity, till the Exempt was once more comfortably seated by his +side; and then the carriage rolling on through the back streets of the +capital, made a little turn by the Rue de Jean Beausire, into the Rue +St. Antoine, and approached the gates of that redoubted prison, in +which so many of the best and noblest in France have lingered out, at +different times, a part of their existence. To few, to very few, have +the tall gloomy towers of that awful fortress appeared without +creating feelings of pain and apprehension; and however confident he +might be of his own innocence, however great might be his trust in the +good providence and protection of God, however strong he might be in a +good cause and a firm spirit, it cannot be denied that Albert of +Morseiul felt deeply and painfully, and with an anxious and a +sickening heart, his entrance into that dark solitary abode of crime, +and sorrow, and suffering. + +The carriage drew up just opposite the drawbridge, and the officer +getting out, left his prisoner in charge of the two musketeers, and +went forward to speak to the officer on guard at the gates. To him he +notified, in due form, that he had brought a prisoner, with orders +from the King for his incarceration; and the carriage, was kept for +some time standing there, while the officer on guard proceeded to the +dwelling of the governor, to demand the keys of the great gates. When +he had obtained them and returned, the doors were opened; the guard +was turned out under arms; the great drawbridge let down; the bell +which communicated with the interior of the building rung; and the +vehicle containing the Count, slowly rolled on into the outer court, +called the Cour du Gouvernement. + +There the carriage paused, the governor of the prison having expressed +his intention of coming down to receive the prisoner from the hands of +the officer who brought him: otherwise, the carriage would have gone +on into the inner court. A short pause ensued, and at length the +well-known Besmaux was seen approaching, presenting exactly that +appearance which might be expected from his character; for the traits +of debauchery, levity, and ferocity, which distinguished his actual +life, had stamped themselves upon his countenance in ineffacable +characters. + +"Ah, good day, Monsieur de Morseiul," he said, as the door of the +carriage opened, and the Count descended. "Monsieur de Cantal, your +very humble servant. Gentlemen, both, you had better step into the +Corps de Garde, where I will receive your prisoner, Monsieur de +Cantal, and read the letters for his detention." + +Thus saying, with a slow and important step he walked into the +building, seated himself, called for pen and ink, and a light, and +then read the King's letter for the arrest and imprisonment of the +Count de Morseiul. + +"Monsieur de Louvois is varying these letters every day," he said; +"one never knows what one is doing. However, there stands the King's +name, and that is quite enough; so, Monsieur de Morseiul, you are +welcome to the Bastille. You are to have our great liberties, I +suppose. I must beg you to give me your sword, however, and also every +thing you have about your person, if you please; letters, papers, +money, jewels, and every thing else, in short, except your seal, or +your signet ring, which you keep for the purposes about to be +explained to you." + +With very painful feelings the Count unbuckled his sword, and laid it +down upon the table. He then gave up all the money that he possessed, +one or two ordinary papers of no import, and the other usual articles +of the same kind, which are borne about the person. The note which he +had received from Clémence in the morning, he had luckily destroyed. +While this was doing, the governor continued to write, examining the +different things that he put down before him, and he then said, "Is +this all, Sir?" + +"It is," replied the Count, "upon my word." + +"One of the men must put his hands in your pocket, Count," said the +governor; "that is a ceremony everyone has to undergo here." The +prisoner shut his teeth hard, but made no remark, and offered no +resistance, though, if he had given way to his feelings, he would +certainly have dashed the man to the ground at once, who, with +unceremonious hands, now searched his person. When that also was over, +Besmaux wrote down a few more words at the end of the list of things +he had made out, and handed it to the Count to read. The only +observation that the young nobleman made, was, that the governor had +put down his sword as having a silver hilt, when the hilt was of gold. + +"Ah, it is of gold, is it?" said de Besmaux, taking it up and looking +at it, while several of the attendants who stood round grinned from +ear to ear. "Well, we will alter it, and put it down gold. Now, +Monsieur de Morseiul, will you have the goodness to sign that paper, +which, with these letters, we fold up thus? and now with the seal +which you retain, you will have the goodness to seal them, and write +your name round the seal." + +With all these forms the Count complied, and the governor then +intimated to him, that he was ready to conduct him into the interior +of the Bastille, the spot where they then were, though within the +walls and drawbridge, being actually considered as without the +château. + +"Here, then, I take leave of you, Monsieur de Morseiul," said the +officer who had brought him thither, "and I will do my best, on my +return to Versailles, to insure that the clothes you want shall be +sent, notwithstanding the interference of that impertinent Exempt, who +took himself off on the outside of the drawbridge, and has doubtless +gone back to lay his complaint against me before Louvois. I know the +King, however; and knowing that he wishes no one to be treated with +harshness or severity, have therefore no fear of the consequences." + +The Count held out his hand to him frankly. "I am very much obliged to +you, Monsieur de Cantal," he said, "for the kindness and politeness +you have shown me. It is at such moments as these, that kindness and +politeness become real benefits." + +The officer took his hand respectfully, and then, without more words, +retired; the carriage passed out; the gates creaked upon their hinges; +and the heavy drawbridge swung slowly up, with a jarring sound of +chains, and heavy iron work, sadly harmonious with the uses of the +building, which they shut out from the world. + +The governor then led the way towards the large and heavy mass of +gloomy masonry, with its eight tall gaunt towers, which formed the +real prison of the Bastille, and approached the gate in the centre, +that looked towards the gardens and buildings of the arsenal. The +drawbridge there was by this time down, and the gates were open for +the admission of the prisoner; while what was called the staff of the +Bastille stood ready to receive him, and the guard of the grand court +was drawn up in line on either side. + +"You see we have an extensive court here," said the governor, leading +the way. "It is somewhat dark to be sure, on account of the buildings +being so high; but, however, some of our people, when they have been +accustomed to it for a year or two, find it cheerful enough. We will +put you, I think, Monsieur de Morseiul, into what is called the Tower +of Liberty, both because the name is a pleasant name--though it is but +a name after all, either here or elsewhere--and also because it is +close to the library, and as long as you have the great liberties, +as they are called, you may go in there, and amuse yourself. Most of +you Huguenots, I believe, are somewhat of bookworms, and when a man +cannot find many of the living to talk to, he likes just as well to +talk to the dead. I do not suppose, that, like some of our inmates +here on their first arrival, you are going to mope and pine like a +half-starved cat, or a sick hen. It is hard to bear at first I +acknowledge; but there's nothing like bearing a thing gaily after all. +This way, Monsieur de Morseiul, this way, and I will show you your +apartment." + +He accordingly led him to the extreme angle of the grand court on the +left hand, where a large transverse mass of architecture, containing +the library, the hall of the council, and various other apartments, +separated that part from the lesser court, called the Court of the +well. A small stone doorway opened the way to a narrow spiral +staircase, which made the head dizzy with its manifold turning; and +about halfway up the steps the governor paused, and opened a door +which communicated by a narrow but crooked passage, with a single +tolerable sized chamber, handsomely furnished. + +"You see we treat you well, Monsieur de Morseiul," said Besmaux; "and +if any thing can be done to make your residence here pleasant, we +shall not fail to do it. There is but little use, if any, of causing +doors to be locked or sentries to be placed. Some of the guards, or +some of the officers of the staff, will be very willing to show you as +much as is right of the rest of the building: and, in the mean time, +can I serve you?" + +"In nothing, I am afraid," replied the Count. "I have neither clothes, +nor baggage, nor any thing else with me, which will put me to some +inconvenience till they send it to me; but I understand that orders +have been given to that effect already; and I should only be glad to +have any clothes and linen that may arrive as soon as possible." + +"I will see to it, I will see to it," replied Besmaux. "You have dined +of course, Count; but to-night you will sup with me." + +"If my stay here is to be long," said the Count, after thanking the +governor for his invitation, "I should, of course, be very glad to +have the attendance of a domestic. I care not much, indeed, whether it +be one of my own, or whether it be one with which you can supply me +for the time, but I am not used to be without some sort of +attendance." + +The governor smiled. "You must not be nice in the Bastille, Monsieur +de Morseiul," he said; "we all do with few attendants here, but we +will see what can be done for you. At present we know nothing, but +that here you are. The order for your reception is of that kind which +leaves every thing doubtful but the fact that, for the time, you are +not to be confined very strictly; and, indeed, as the letter is +somewhat informal, as every thing is that comes from the hands of +Monsieur de Louvois, I must write to him again for farther +information. As soon as I receive it, the whole shall be arranged as +far as I can to your satisfaction. In the mean time we will give you +every indulgence, as far as our own general rules will allow, though, +perhaps, you will think that share of indulgence very small." + +The Count expressed his thanks in commonplace terms, well knowing the +character of Besmaux, and that his fair speeches only promised a +degree of courtesy which his actions generally failed to fulfil. + +After lingering for a moment or two, the governor left his prisoner in +the abode assigned to him, and returned to his own dwelling, without +locking the door of the apartment. + +There are states of mind in which the necessity of calm contemplation +is so strong and overpowering, that none of the ordinary motives which +affect our nature have any influence upon us for the time,--states in +which even vanity the most irritable, and curiosity the most active of +our moral prompters in this world, slumber inactive, and leave thought +and judgment paramount. Such was the case with the Count de Morseiul. +Although he had certainly been interested with every thing concerning +the prison, which was to be his abode for an undefined length of time; +although all that took place indicative of his future destiny was, of +course, not without attraction and excitement, he had grown weary of +the formalities of his entrance into the Bastille, less because they +were wearisome in themselves than because he longed to be alone, and +to have a few minutes for calm and silent reflection. + +When he did come to reflect, however, the prospect presented was dark, +gloomy, and sad. He was cut off from the escape he had meditated. The +only thing that could have saved him from the most imminent dangers +and difficulties, the only scheme which he had been able to fall upon +to secure even the probability of peace and safety upon earth, had +been now frustrated. The charges likely to be brought against him, if +once averred by the decision of a court of justice, were such as, he +well knew, could not and would not be followed by pardon; and when he +looked at the chances that existed of those charges being sanctioned, +confirmed, and declared just, by any commission that might sit to try +him, he found that the probabilities were altogether against him; and +that if party feeling biassed the opinion of one single magistrate, +his cause was utterly lost. In cases where circumstantial evidence is +every thing--and therein lies the horror and danger of judging by +circumstantial evidence--so light a word, so small a turn will give a +completely different view to the whole circumstances of any case, will +so completely prejudice the question, and bias the minds of hearers, +that he was quite aware if any zealous Catholics should be engaged in +the task of persecuting him to the last, he could scarcely hope to +escape from such serious imputations, as would justify perhaps his +permanent detention, if not his death. He had been at the meeting of +the Protestants on the moor, which though not illegal at the time, had +been declared to be so since. He had then addressed the people, and +had exhorted them to tranquillity and to peace; but where were the +witnesses to come from in order to prove that such was the case. He +had gone unarmed to that meeting; but others had been there in arms +and with arms concealed. He, himself, with his own hand, had struck +the first blow, from which such awful consequences had sprung; but how +was he to prove the provocation which he had, in the first instance, +received; or the protection which he had afterwards given to the base +and unworthy young man, who had escaped from death by his means, only +to become a murderer the moment after. The only witnesses that he +could call were persons of the party inimical to the court, who might +now be found with difficulty--when emigration was taking place from +every part of France,--who would only be partially believed if they +could be heard, and who would place themselves in danger by bearing +testimony on his behalf. + +The witnesses against him would be the hired miscreants who had fired +into a body of unoffending people, but who were of the religion of the +judges, the unscrupulous adherents of the cause to which those judges +were bound by every tie of interest and of prejudice, and who were +serving under a monarch that, on one terrible occasion, had stepped in +to overrule the decision of a court of justice, and to inflict severer +punishment than even his own creatures had dared to assign. Death, +therefore, seemed to be the only probable end of his imprisonment, +death, or eternal loss of liberty! and the Count knew the court, and +the character of those with whom he had to deal, too well, to derive +any degree of consolation from the lenity with which he was treated at +first. + +Had he been now in heart and mind, as he was not very long before, +when quitting the army on the signature of the truce he had returned +to the home of his ancestors, the prospect would have been far less +terrible to him, far less painful. His heart was then in some degree +solitary, his mind was comparatively alone in the world. He had spent +the whole of his active life in scenes of danger and of strife. He had +confronted death so often, that the lean and horrid monster had lost +his terrors and become familiar with one, who had seemed to seek his +acquaintance as if in sport. His ties to the world had been few; for +the existence of bright days, and happy careless moments, and splendid +fortune, and the means of luxury and enjoyment at command, are not the +things that bind and attach us to life. The tie, the strong, the +mighty tie of deep and powerful affection to some being, or beings, +like himself, had been wanting. There were many that he liked; there +were many that he esteemed; there were many he protected and supported +even at that time; but he knew and felt that if he were gone the next +moment, they would be liked, and esteemed, and supported, and +protected by others, and would feel the same, or nearly the same, +towards those who succeeded as towards him, when he had passed away +from the green and sunny earth and left them to the care of newer +friends. + +But now other ties had arisen around him--ties, the strength, the +durability, the firm pressure of which he had never known before. +There was now a being on the earth to whom he was attached by feelings +that can only once be felt, for whom he, himself, would have been +ready to sacrifice every thing else; who for him, and for his love, +had shewn herself willing to cast from her all of those bright and +pageant-like days of splendour, in which she had once seemed to take +so much delight. The tie, the strong tie of human affection--the +rending of which is the great and agonising pang of death--had twined +itself round his heart, and bound every feeling and every thought. The +great, the surpassing quality of sentient being, the capability of +loving, and being loved, had risen up to crush and to leave void all +the lesser things of life, but also to give death terrors that it knew +not before; to make the grave the bitter parting place where joy ends +for ever, and to poison the shaft that lays us low with venom that is +felt in agony ere the dark, dreamless sleep succeeds and extinguishes +all. + +But was this all that rendered his situation now more terrible than it +had been before? Alas, no! The sense of religion was strong, and he +might confidently trust that though earthly passion ended with the +grave, and the mortal fire of his love for Clémence de Marly would +there become extinct--he might confidently trust that, in another +world, with his love for her exalted as well as purified, rendered +more intense and sublime, though less passionate and human, they +should meet again, known to each other, bound together by the immortal +memory of vast affection, and only distinct from other spirits, bright +and happy as themselves, by the glorious consciousness of love, and +the intense happiness of having loved well, loved nobly, and to the +last. + +Such might have been his consolation in the prospect of parting with +her who had become so dear to him, if he had left her in calm and +peaceful security, in a happy land, and without danger or difficulty +surrounding her. But when he thought of the religion she had embraced, +of the perils which surrounded her at every step, of the anguish which +would fall upon her at his fate, of the utterly unprotected, +uncomforted, unconsoled state in which she must remain, the heart of +the strong warrior failed, and the trust of the Christian was drowned +in human tears. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + THE CONSPIRATORS. + + +In such dark anticipations and gloomy reflections, as we have +mentioned in the end of the last chapter, the Count de Morseiul passed +the solitary hours, till a servant appeared to conduct him to the +supper table of the governor. Had he not wished to think, indeed, he +might have easily found amusement, either in the court below, where a +number of the other prisoners were walking, or in the small library of +the château; but he did wish to think, and however sad and sombre the +stream of thought might be at that moment, its course only seemed too +soon interrupted. + +The governor was civil, and even intended to be very affable; but +Albert of Morseiul was not of a character to be amused with the +anecdotes of a debauched soldier's life; and the only variety which +the conversation of Besmaux afforded were tales of the regency of Anne +of Austria, which, though they might at any other moment have served +to entertain an idle hour, were too light and insignificant to take +hold of a mind agitated and writhing like that of the Count. + +The governor thought his guest very dull, and, after having made +various essays to enliven him, he proposed that they should sit down +to play for sums, written upon pieces of paper, which were to be +accounted for after the Count's liberation. The young nobleman would +have certainly lost the good opinion of Besmaux for ever by declining +this proposal, had it not so occurred that two incidents intervened +which prevented him from pressing it. The first was the arrival of a +large packet of linen and other clothes for the use of the Count; and +the governor, who found a real pleasure in the execution of the task +of a gaoler, proceeded to examine with his own eyes and hands every +separate article which had been sent. It may be supposed that, after +the intimation which he had received on the road, the young Count's +heart felt no slight agitation and interest during the scrutiny; but +if any thing was written in the manner which Riquet had stated, no +discovery thereof was made; and, having completely satisfied himself, +Besmaux ordered the packet to be carried to the chamber of the Count. + +The little excitement thus produced had scarcely worn away, when +the great bell was heard to ring, and the officer upon guard +appeared to demand the keys. According to the usual form the governor +demanded--"For whose admission?" + +"For the admission," said the officer, reading from a scrap of paper, +"for the admission of Louis de Rohan, called the Chevalier de Rohan." + +The governor started up in some surprise--"On what charge?" he +demanded. + +"For high treason," replied the officer; and Besmaux immediately gave +orders for the Chevalier to be brought to his apartments. "Monsieur +de Morseiul," he said, "you will be good enough to follow that +porte-clef, who will conduct you back to your chamber. Do you feel it +cold?--for the King allows firing." + +"I have felt it slightly cold," the Count replied, "and of course the +state of a prisoner does not tend to warm the heart." + +"Give wood to the Count in his chamber," said Besmaux, to one of the +turnkeys, who had entered at the same time with the officer on guard; +"and now, good night, Count. No word to the prisoner, if you pass him +on the stairs!" + +The Count rose and departed; and, as the governor had anticipated, met +the Chevalier de Rohan at the foot of the stairs. That unfortunate +gentleman was guarded by a musketeer on either side, and a man holding +a torch preceding him. The moment that his eye fell upon the Count de +Morseuil, he stopped, and appeared as if he were about to speak: but +an officer who was behind, and, in whom the Count de Morseiul +instantly recognised the Marquis of Brissac, major of the King's +guard, exclaimed aloud, "Pass on, Monsieur de Rohan!" + +The Count, who certainly had no desire to hold any communications with +him, merely bowed his head, and followed by the turnkey, passed out +into the court. Though Brissac knew him well, he took not the +slightest notice of him as he passed, and the Count was conducted to +his chamber in the tower of liberty, as it was called, where firing +and lights were almost immediately afterwards brought him. On leaving +him, however, the turnkey showed, by locking the heavy door without, +that the name of the tower had but little real meaning, and the harsh +sound of the grating iron fell heavy and painfully upon the Count's +ear. + +There was, however, the hope before him of receiving some intelligence +from his friends without, and as soon as he had made sure that the +turnkey was gone for the night, he eagerly opened the packet of +clothes that had been sent, and endeavoured, by the means which had +been pointed out, to discover any thing which might be written on +them. At first he was disappointed, and was beginning to fear that +Riquet had been prevented from executing the purpose which he had +entertained. At length, however, as he held one of the handkerchiefs +before the fire, some slight yellow lines began to appear, grew +gradually darker and darker, and assumed the form of letters, words, +lines, and sentences. The first thing that was written at the top was +in the hand of the valet himself, and contained words of hope and +encouragement. It was to the following effect:-- + +"Fear not; you shall soon be free. The lady has been told of all. The +priest has gone safely back to Poitou. No suspicion attaches to any +one, and means are taking to do away the evil." + +The next sentences were in a different handwriting; and perhaps the +young Count might not have been able to recognise whose it was--so +different did it seem upon the linen, and in that ink, from the usual +writing of Clémence,--had not the words been sufficient to show him +from whom it proceeded. + +"Fear not, dear Albert," the writing went; "I have heard all and +grieve, but do not despond. I have been sent for to see one to-morrow +morning early, who is all-powerful. She loved me in my childhood; she +promised me many things in my youth, which I was too proud to accept; +but I will now cast all pride away for the sake of him I love." + +A few lines more were written still further down, but as the Count was +turning eagerly to read them, numerous sounds were heard from the +court below, the clang of soldiers grounding their arms, and voices +speaking, and the moment after, various footsteps might be +distinguished ascending the staircase which came towards the room. +Fearful that he should be discovered, the Count concealed the +handkerchief in his bosom; but the steps passed by the door of his +apartment, and, immediately after, heavy footfalls were heard in the +room above, with voices speaking in sharp and angry tones. Those +sounds soon ceased above, however; four or five persons were heard to +descend the stairs, and then all became quiet, except that a quick +footstep was still heard pacing backwards and forwards in the +apartment over head. + +"That is the Chevalier de Rohan," thought the Count. "What crime I +wonder can that weak libertine have committed, to deserve the rigorous +imprisonment to which it seems he is to be subjected?" + +With such brief thought, however, he dismissed the subject from his +mind, and turned once more to the writing. By this time it had nearly +vanished; but being again exposed to the fire it re-appeared, though +more faintly than before. Fearful of interruption, the Count turned to +the last lines which he had not read. They seemed to him, as far as he +could judge, to be written in the hand of the Chevalier d'Evran, whom, +to say sooth, in the joys and fears and agitations of the few +preceding days, he had nearly forgotten. + +"I have just returned to Paris, dear Albert," it said, "having gone +down to Poitou to secure evidence, which they would never have +suffered to transpire, if some friend of yours had not been upon the +spot. I have secured it. Fear not, therefore, for I and your belle +Clémence are labouring together to set you free." + +Oh, human nature, strange and extraordinary state of existence, how +many contradictions dost thou contain! Although filled with such good +hopes, although containing such proofs of friendship, although +conveying such important intelligence, the lines written by the +Chevalier d'Evran were not altogether pleasing to the Count de +Morseiul, and he felt sensations that he was angry with himself for +feeling, but which all his schooling of his own heart could scarcely +banish. + +"I shall hate myself," he continued, "if I feel thus. Must there ever +be some counterbalancing thing in life and in feeling, to poize the +bad against the good, and to make us less happy, less wise, less +generous than we otherwise might be? Here new sensations have sprung +up in my bosom, of a deeper and a finer kind than I ever knew before; +and must there come some petty jealousy, some small, low, mean want of +confidence, even in those I esteem and love to debase me as much as +those other feelings might elevate me? I will think of such things no +more; and will only think of Louis with gratitude and affection." + +Thus saying, or rather thus thinking, he re-read the lines that had +been written by Clémence, and found therein a balm and a consolation +which healed all the evil of the other. Having done so, his next care +was to efface the writing; but that he found by no means difficult, +damping the handkerchief in the cruise of water which had been left +for him, and which, in a few minutes, left not a vestige of the lines +which had been traced for his eye alone. He sat up for some time after +this examination, soothed and calmed by the tidings he had received, +and certainly far more tranquil in every respect than during the first +few hours of his confinement. + +The waning of the lights, however, which had been given to him, warned +him, at length, that it was time to retire to rest, and after some +brief prayers to the Almighty for guidance, protection, and +deliverance, he undressed himself, extinguished the lights, and lay +down to seek repose; but it was in vain that he did so, for as he lay +on the small prison bed which was allotted to him, and gazed round +upon the massy walls of the chamber in which he was confined, with the +flickering light of the half-extinguished fire flashing from time to +time on all the various objects round about, the sensation of +imprisonment, of the utter loss of liberty, of being cut off from all +correspondence or communication with his fellow-men, of being in the +power and at the mercy of others, without any appeal against their +will, or any means of deliverance from their hands, came upon him more +strongly, more forcibly than ever, and made a heart, not easily bent +or affected by any apprehensions, sink with a cold feeling of deep and +utter despondency. + +Thus passed several hours till, at length, weariness overcame thought, +and he obtained sleep towards the morning. He was awakened by the +entrance of one of the turnkeys, accompanied by the major of the +Bastille; but the tidings which the latter officer brought to the +Count de Morseiul were by no means pleasant, or calculated to confirm +the hopes that the words of Clémence and the Chevalier d'Evran had +held out to him. + +"I am sorry to tell you, Monsieur de Morseiul," he said, "that the +governor last night received orders from Monsieur de Louvois to place +you in stricter confinement, and he is, therefore, obliged to say that +you can no longer be permitted to quit your chamber. Any thing that +can be done, consistent with his duty, to render your confinement less +painful to you, shall be done, depend upon it." + +The officer was then bowing, as if to retire; but the Count stopped +him by asking, "Is there any objection to my inquiring, Sir, whether +there is a cause assigned for this new order?" + +"In regard to that I am as ignorant as yourself," replied the major. +"All I can tell is, that the order was brought by Monsieur de Brissac +at the same time that he conveyed hither the Chevalier de Rohan," and, +without waiting for any further questions, he quitted the room in +haste; and the turnkey, having brought the Count his breakfast, and, +as far as possible, arranged the room with some degree of neatness, +followed the major and locked the door. + +The full horrors of imprisonment now fell upon the Count de Morseiul, +and the day wore away without his holding any further intercourse with +any human being, except when his dinner and his supper were brought to +him by one of the turnkeys. We need not pause upon his sensations, nor +describe minutely all the dark and horrible anticipations which rose, +like phantoms, to people his solitary chamber. Night came at length, +and this night, at least, he slept; for the exhaustion of his +corporeal frame, by the intense emotions of his mind, was far greater +than that which could have been produced by a day of the most unusual +exercise. Day had scarcely dawned on the following morning, however, +when he was roused by two of the officers of the prison entering his +chamber, and desiring him to rise, as an officer from the King was +waiting to convey him to the royal chamber, at the arsenal, where a +commission was sitting for the purpose of interrogating him and his +accomplices. The Count made no observation, but hastened to do as he +was directed; and, as soon as he was dressed, he descended the narrow +and tortuous staircase into the great court of the Bastille, where he +found the soldiers of the garrison drawn up in arms on either side, +together with a number of officers belonging to the staff of the +garrison, various turnkeys and other gaolers, and in their hands, +evidently as prisoners, the unfortunate Chevalier de Rohan, and an old +white-headed man, apparently of seventy years of age, with a shrewd +and cunning countenance, more strongly expressive of acuteness than +vigour of mind. + +Without suffering him to speak with any one, the officers of the +prison placed him in file immediately after the Chevalier de Rohan--a +gaoler, however, interposing between each of the prisoners and the one +that followed;--and thus, between a double row of soldiery, they +marched on into the _Cour du Gouvernement_, as if they were about to +be conducted to the house of the governor. When they reached that +court, however, they turned at once to the left, mounted a flight of +steps leading to a raised terrace which overlooked the water, and then +passing onward, approached the grating which separated that court from +the gardens of the arsenal. + +At the grating appeared a large body of musketeers, commanded by an +officer of the name of Jouvelle, who had served under the Count de +Morseiul himself, and into his hands the officers of the Bastille +delivered their prisoners, who were then marched, under a strong +escort, to the arsenal, where the commission was sitting. All the +gates of the gardens and of the building itself, the Count remarked, +were in the hands of the musketeers of the King, and not another +individual was to be seen besides the soldiery, in the gardens usually +so thronged with the good citizens of Paris. + +Passing through several of the narrow and intricate passages of the +building, the three prisoners were placed in a room which seemed to +have been destined for a military mess-room; and, while they were kept +separate by their guards, an inferior officer was sent out to see +whether the commission was ready to proceed. In a few minutes he +returned with two officers of the court, who demanded the presence of +Louis Chevalier de Rohan. + +The interrogation of this prisoner lasted for a great length of +time; but, at the end of about an hour and a half, the same officers +re-appeared, demanding the presence of Affinius Vandenenden, upon +which the old man, whom we have mentioned, rose and followed them out +of the room. The Chevalier, however, had not returned with the +officers, and during the space of half an hour longer the Count de +Morseiul remained in suspense, in regard to what was proceeding. At +length the officers once more appeared, and with them the captain of +the musketeers, de Jouvelle, who, while the ushers pronounced the name +of "Albert Count of Morseiul," passed by the prisoner, as if to speak +to one of the soldiers, saying, in a low voice, as he did so, "Be of +good cheer, Count; they have said nothing to criminate you." + +The Count passed on without reply, and followed the ushers into +another chamber at the farther end of the passage, where he found a +number of lawyers and counsellors of state assembled as a royal +commission, and presided by the well-known La Reynie. The aspect of +the room was not that of a court of justice, and it was evident that +the commissioners met simply for the purpose of carrying on the +preliminary interrogatories. The Count was furnished with a seat, and +after a whispering consultation, for a moment, between La Reynie and +one of his brethren, the former commenced the interrogation of the +Count by assuring him of the clemency and mercy of the King's +disposition, and adjuring him to tell, frankly and straight-forwardly, +the whole truth, as the only means of clearing his reputation, and +re-establishing himself in the royal favour. To this exordium the +Count de Morseiul merely replied by an inclination of the head, very +well knowing that with some of the gentlemen whom he saw before him it +was advisable to be as niggardly of speech as possible. La Reynie then +proceeded to ask how long he had been acquainted with the Chevalier de +Rohan, and the Count replied that he had known him for many years. + +"When did you see him last?" demanded the judge, "and where?" + +"In the gardens of Versailles," answered the Count, calmly, "not five +minutes before I was myself arrested." + +"And upon what occasion," demanded the judge, "did you see him +previously?" + +"I saw him," replied the Count, "when I visited the Duc de Rouvré, at +Poitiers, and once also upon the road between Paris and Versailles, +about three or four days ago." + +"Are you sure that these are the only days that you have seen him?" +demanded the judge. "Recollect yourself, Monsieur le Comte. I think +you must have forgotten." + +"No, I have not," replied the Count. "I have only seen him on these +two occasions since I arrived in Paris, and two or three times during +my stay at Poitiers." + +"Ay, there is the fact," said La Reynie. "You saw him frequently at +Poitiers." + +"I also saw various blacksmiths, and lackeys, and horse-boys," said +the Count, unable to conceive what connection there could exist +between any charges against himself and those against the Chevalier de +Rohan, who was known to be a zealous Catholic, "and with them, the +blacksmiths, lackeys, and horse-boys, I had as much to do as I had +with the Chevalier de Rohan, and no more." + +"And pray," continued La Reynie, in the same tone, "what private +conversations took place between you and the Chevalier at Poitiers? To +the best of your recollection repeat the substance thereof." + +The Count smiled. "To the best of my recollection, then," he said, +"the substance was as follows: 'Good day, Count de Morseiul. Good +morning, Monsieur de Rohan. What a beautiful day it is, Monsieur de +Morseiul. It is the most charming weather I remember. There is a sad +want of rain, Monsieur le Chevalier, and I fear the poor peasantry +will suffer. Do you go out with the duke to hunt to-day? I think not, +for my horses are tired.' Such, Sir, is the substance of the only +private conversations that took place between myself and the Chevalier +at Poitiers." + +"Was that all, Monsieur de Morseiul?" demanded La Reynie, with +tolerable good humour. "Are you sure you have forgot nothing of equal +importance?" + +"I believe I have not forgot one word," replied the Count, "except +that, on one occasion, Monsieur de Rohan said to me, 'Your hat is +unlooped, Count:' when, I am afraid, I looped it without thanking +him." + +"Well, then, now to somewhat longer and more important conversations, +my good young gentleman," said La Reynie. "What has passed between you +and the Chevalier de Rohan when you have met him since your arrival at +the court?" + +"Why, Sir," replied the Count, with a grave and somewhat grieved air, +"I give you my word that nothing passed between the Chevalier de Rohan +and myself which at all affected his Majesty's service, and I would +fain, if it were possible, avoid entering into particulars which, if +told to every body, might be painful to a gentleman of my +acquaintance, who, I trust, may yet clear himself of any serious +charge." + +"Monsieur le Comte de Morseiul," said the Counsellor Ormesson, "we +respect your motives, and have regard to the manner in which you have +expressed them; but the Chevalier de Rohan, I am sorry to inform you, +stands charged with high treason upon very strong presumptive +evidence. There are particular circumstances which induce a belief +that you may have had something to do with his schemes. We trust that +such is not the case: but it is absolutely necessary that you should +clearly and explicitly state the nature of any transactions which may +have taken place between you and him, both for your own safety, for +his, and out of respect and duty to the King." + +"Then, Sir, I have no other choice," replied the Count, "but to yield +to your reasons, and to beg that you would put your questions in such +a shape that I may answer them distinctly and easily." + +"Very well, Monsieur de Morseiul," said La Reynie; "we have always +heard that you are a gentleman of honour, who would not prevaricate +even to save his own life. Pray inform us what was the nature of the +conversation between you and the Chevalier de Rohan, on the morning of +the 23d of this month." + +"It was a very short one," replied the Count, somewhat surprised to +see what accurate information of his proceedings had been obtained. +"The Chevalier overtook me as I was going to Versailles, and on that +occasion Monsieur de Rohan informed me that he had lost a large sum at +the gaming table on the night before, and begged me to lend him a +hundred louis, in the hopes of recovering it by the same means. I +advised him strongly to abstain from such proceedings, but of course +did not refuse to lend him what he asked." + +"Then did you lend him the hundred louis on the spot?" demanded La +Reynie. + +"No," replied the Count; "I told him that I had not such a sum with +me, but promised to send it to him at his lodgings in the course of +the afternoon, which I did as soon as ever I arrived at Versailles." + +"Pray how happened it, Monsieur de Morseiul," demanded Ormesson, "that +as you were going to Versailles, and the Chevalier overtook you going +thither also; you did not ride on together, as would seem natural for +two gentlemen like yourselves?" + +"Nay," replied the Count, smiling, "that I think is pressing the +matter rather too far, Monsieur. My society might not be pleasant to +the Chevalier, or the reverse might be the case; or we might have +other business by the way. A thousand circumstances of the same kind +might occur." + +"Well, then, I will put the question straightforwardly and at once," +said Ormesson. "Had you, or had you not, any reason to believe that +the Chevalier de Rohan was at that time engaged in schemes dangerous +to the state?" + +"None in the world," replied the Count, "and no such feelings or ideas +whatsoever had any share in preventing my riding on with the Chevalier +de Rohan." + +The Commissioners looked at each other for a moment with an inquiring +glance, and then La Reynie placed before the Count a note which was to +the following effect:-- + + +"My Dear Count, + +"I have received what you sent me, for which I return you many thanks, +and I have not the slightest doubt, by your assistance, to be able to +accomplish the purpose I have in view. + + "Your devoted, + + "The Chevalier De Rohan." + + +"Pray, Monsieur de Morseiul," said the Counsellor, "do you recognise +that note?" + +"Most assuredly," replied the Count. "I received that note from the +Chevalier de Rohan, on the very evening of the day we have just +mentioned." + +"And pray, what is the interpretation you put upon it?" demanded La +Reynie. + +"Simply," replied the Count, "that he had received the hundred louis +which I sent him, and hoped by employing them at the gaming-table to +be enabled to win back the sum that he had lost." + +"It seems to me," said the judge, "that the note will very well bear +two interpretations, Count, and that supposing a gentleman unfortunate +enough to have laid schemes for introducing a foreign enemy into the +country, or for causing any of the provinces of the kingdom to revolt, +and supposing him, at the same time, to be greatly straightened for +money and assistance--it seems to me, I say, that the note before us +is just such a one as he would write to a friend who had come to his +aid at the moment of need, either by giving him aid of a pecuniary or +of any other kind." + +"All I can say, Sir," replied the Count, "is that the note before you +I received from the Chevalier de Rohan, and that no other +interpretation than the one I have given was, or could be, put upon it +by me. I knew of no schemes whatsoever against the state, and the +Chevalier himself had certainly no other meaning than the one I have +assigned. It will be very easy for you, however, gentlemen, to place +the note before the Chevalier, and make him explain it himself. Though +an unfortunate gentleman, he is still a gentleman of honour, and will +tell you the truth. We have had no conversation together upon the +subject. We have not even interchanged a word as we came hither, and +you can compare his statement with mine." + +"Perhaps that may have been done already, Monsieur de Morseiul," said +Ormesson, "but at all events we think we may close your examination +for to-day. The interrogation may be resumed at a future period, when +other things have become manifest; and we have only, at present, to +exhort you, on all occasions, to deal frankly and openly with the +court." + +"Such is always my custom to do, Sir," replied the Count. "I stand +before you conscious of my innocence of any crime whatsoever, and, +having nothing to conceal, am always ready to state frankly and truly +what I know, except when by so doing I may wound or injure others." + +Thus saying, he bowed to the Commissioners and retired. At the door of +the chamber he found two musketeers waiting for his coming out, and, +being placed between them, he was once more conducted back to the +Bastille by the same way he had come. He was then led by the turnkeys, +who were in waiting to receive him, to the same apartment which he had +previously occupied; but before nightfall, it was notified to him that +the liberties of the Bastille were restored to him, and he received +some slight solace by knowing that he should not, for some time at +least, be confined to the solitary discomfort of his own apartment, +with no occupation but to stride from one side to the other, or gazing +out of the narrow window, endeavour to gain a sight of what was +passing in the rue St. Antoine. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + THE EXECUTION. + + +Within the walls of the Bastille, some weeks passed over almost +without incident, but not without pain to the Count de Morseiul; but +it would be tedious to detail all the feelings and the thoughts that +crossed each other in his bosom during that period. He was still +allowed a great degree of liberty, was permitted to take exercise in +the great court, to converse with many of the other prisoners, and to +hear whispers of what was taking place in the world without. But none +of those whispers gave him any tidings of those he loved, any +indication of his own probable fate, or any news of the church to +which he belonged; and he remarked with pain, that while many of the +other prisoners received visits from their friends and acquaintances, +either no one sought to see him, or else those who did so were +excluded by some express order. + +He grieved over this, and perhaps felt, with some degree of bitterness +of spirit, that the iron of captivity might not only enter into the +soul, but might wear and corrode the mind on which it pressed. Such +feelings made him at once apply himself eagerly to every thing that +could occupy his thoughts, and turn them from contemplations which he +knew to be not only painful, but hurtful also; and he soon created for +himself a number of those occupations which many an unhappy man +besides himself has devised at different times for the solace of +captivity. + +The library, however, was his greatest enjoyment. Though so fond of +all manly exercises, and famous for his skill therein, he had from his +youth loved the communing with other minds, in the pages which the +hand of genius has traced, and which have been given forth as the +deliberate effort of the writer's spirit. He loved, I say, that +communing with other men's hearts and minds which is undisturbed by +discussion, or wordy dispute, or any of the petty vanities that creep +into the living conversation even of the great, the learned, and the +good; and now, though the library was small, and perhaps not very well +selected, yet there was many a book therein which afforded him sweet +occupation during some, at least, of the melancholy hours of +imprisonment. + +At other times he walked the length of the court yard, gaining where +he could a gleam of sunshine; and rather than suffer his thoughts, as +he did so walk, to dwell upon the painful theme of his own fate, he +would count the very stones of the pavement, and moralise upon their +shapes and colours. Almost every day, during the period we have +mentioned, the guard was turned out, the prisoners having their +liberties were ordered to keep back, and a train of others in the +stricter state of imprisonment were marched out to the arsenal. +Amongst these was usually the unhappy Chevalier de Rohan; and the +wistful, longing gaze with which one day he looked round the court as +he passed through, seeming to envy the other prisoners the sort of +liberty they enjoyed, caused the Count de Morseiul to task severely +his own heart for the repinings which he felt at his own situation. + +Various little occurrences of the same kind took place from time to +time, affording a momentary matter of interest in the midst of the +dark sameness of the prison life. At one period, during the whole of +several nights, the Count de Morseiul heard at intervals voices which +seemed to be shouting through speaking trumpets. The place from which +the sound proceeded varied constantly; and the young prisoner could +only conclude that some friends of one of the sad inhabitants of the +Bastille were prowling round it, endeavouring to communicate +intelligence. He listened eagerly, in the supposition that those +sounds might be addressed to him; but though from time to time he +could catch a single word, such as "dead," "told," &c., he could make +no continuous sense of what was said. + +The first time this occurred was shortly after his examination before +the commission, and it continued, for three or four nights, to be +repeated at different hours; but still the sounds were too distant for +him to ascertain the meaning of the speakers, and he was obliged to +content himself with believing that this intelligence was not intended +for himself, and hoping that it had been more distinct to the +unfortunate person for whose ears it was designed.[2] After having +listened during the whole of one night, and the words not being +repeated, he determined to ask one of his fellow-prisoners, who had +the liberty like himself of walking in the court, whether he had heard +it, and had been able to make out what was said. + + +--------------------- + +[Footnote 2: The words were intended for the unfortunate Chevalier de +Rohan, and were "Hatréaumont est mort, et n'a rien dit." The unhappy +prisoner, like the Count de Morseiul, was not able to distinguish the +meaning of his friends; otherwise those words, if he had shaped his +course accordingly, would have insured his safety.] + +--------------------- + + +The personage whom he fixed upon in his own mind for that purpose was +a tall, upright, elderly man, with a soldier-like air, and a good deal +of frankness of manner, approaching, perhaps, to what is called +bluffness, without being in the slightest degree rude or uncivil. He +seemed to seek nobody, but to converse willingly with any one when he +was sought--gave his opinion in few words, but distinctly, accurately, +and positively--bore his imprisonment with perfect lightness and +indifference--never referred in the slightest degree to the cause +thereof or to his own history, though without appearing to avoid the +subject at all--and, in short, impressed strongly on the minds of +those who saw him, and were accustomed to judge of the world, that he +was a frank, upright, straight-forward soldier, accustomed to various +kinds of endurance, and bearing all with manly firmness and +resolution. + +He spoke French with great fluency and accuracy; but at times, in +conversing with him, the Count de Morseiul had fancied he could remark +a foreign accent, though very slight, and he was inclined to believe +that the old officer was one of the Weimerians who had served so long +in the pay of France. His countenance, indeed, was not like that of a +German; there was more quickness and brightness of the eye, and the +features were more elongated, and somewhat sharper than is common +amongst the Teutonic races. But still a great part of the Weimerian +troops had been levied on the borders of the Rhine, where the mixture +of French and other blood often makes itself strongly to be remarked +amongst the German population. His ordinary walk was from one corner +of the court-yard to the opposite angle, which gave the utmost extent +of space that could be had; and there the young Count, on descending +the staircase, found him walking up and down with his usual quick pace +and erect carriage. Though the old man neither paused nor noticed him +further than by a passing "Good morning, Sir," the Count joined him, +and at once spoke of the matter in question. + +"Have you heard," he said, "during this last night or two, some people +shouting, apparently through speaking trumpets, as if they wished to +convey intelligence to one of us prisoners?" + +"Once or twice very faintly," replied the other. "But I am on the +opposite side of the prison to you, you know, and the sounds I heard +seemed to come from your side, or, at all events, not further round +than the Well Tower. Do you think they were addressed to you?" + +"I think not," replied the Count; "and if they were, I certainly could +make nothing of them. I looked out of my window to get a sight as far +as possible of the speakers by the moonlight the other night, but I +was not successful; for I can see, as I am placed, into the little +Place St. Antoine, but no further. However, I tried to distinguish the +voices, and certainly they were not those of any one I know." + +"A speaking trumpet makes a great difference," replied his companion. +"I should have liked to have heard them more distinctly." + +"Do you think they were intended for you?" said the Count. + +"Oh dear no," replied the other; "nobody can have any thing to tell +me. If ever my liberty comes, it will come at once; and as to either +trying me or punishing me in any other way than by imprisonment, that +they dare not do." + +"That is in some degree a happy situation," said the Count. "But I +scarcely know how that can be, for judging by my own case, and that of +many others, I have no slight reason to believe that they dare try or +punish any man in France, whether guilty or not." + +"Any Frenchman you mean, Count," replied the stranger; "but that does +not happen to be my case; and though my own King may be rascal and +fool enough to let me stay here wearing out the last days of a life, +the greater part of which has been devoted to the service of himself +and his ungrateful ancestors, yet I do not believe that he dare for +his life suffer me to be publicly injured. A trial would, as a matter +of course, be known sooner or later. They may poison me, perhaps," he +continued, "to keep me quiet, though I do not think it either. Your +King is not so bad as that, though he is a great tyrant; but he is not +bloody by his nature. However, Monsieur de Morseiul, as I am not in +here for any crime, as I never had any thing to do with a conspiracy +of any kind, as I am not a native of this country, or a subject of +your King, as I have not a secret in the world, and little more money +than will serve to feed and clothe me, I do not see that any one can +have either object or interest in hallooing at me through a speaking +trumpet." + +"You have excited my curiosity," said the Count, "and a Frenchman's +curiosity, you know, is always somewhat intrusive; but as you have +just said that you have not a secret in the world, it will seem less +impertinent than it otherwise would be if I ask what, in the name of +fortune, you can be here for?" + +"Not in the least impertinent," replied the other. "I am in here for +something of the same kind that they tell me you are in here for: +namely, for differing from the King of France in regard to +transubstantiation; for thinking that he'll go to the devil at once +when he dies, without stopping half-way at a posthouse, called +Purgatory, which a set of scoundrels have established for their own +particular convenience; and for judging it a great deal better that +people should sing psalms, and say their prayers, in a language that +they understand, than in a tongue they know not a word of. I mean, in +short, for being a Protestant; for if it had not been for that, I +should not have been in here. The fact was, I served long in this +country in former times, and having taken it into my head to see it +again, and to visit some old friends, I undertook a commission to +bring back a couple of brats of a poor cousin of mine, who had been +left here for their education. Louis found out what I was about, +declared that I came to make Protestant converts, and shut me up in +the Bastille, where I have been now nearly nine months. I sent a +message over to the King of England by a fellow-prisoner who was set +at liberty some time ago. But every one knows that Charles would have +sold his own soul by the pound, and thrown his father and mother, and +all his family, into the scale, for the sake of a few crowns, at any +time. This Popish rascal, too, who is now on the throne, doubtless +thinks that I am just as well where I am, so I calculate upon +whistling away my days within the four walls of this court.--I don't +care, it can't last very long. I was sixty-five on the third of last +month, and though there feels some life in these old limbs, the days +of Mathuselah, thank God, are gone by, and we've no more kicking about +now for a thousand years. I shouldn't wonder," he continued, "if the +people you heard were hallooing to that unfortunate Chevalier de +Rohan, whom they dragged through this morning to be interrogated +again. They say he'll have his head chopped off to a certainty. If we +could have found out what the people said we might have told him, for +prisoners will get at each other let them do what they like." + +"I listened for one whole night," said the Count, "but found it quite +in vain. The judges I suppose are satisfied that I had nothing to do +with this business of the Chevalier de Rohan's, otherwise they would +have had me up again for examination." + +"God knows," replied his companion. "Tyranny is like an actor at a +country fair, and one never knows which way he will kick next." + +Thus passed the conversation between the Count and the old English +officer, whose name, somewhat disfigured indeed, may be found written +in the registers of the Bastille as arrested on suspicion; for which +crime he, like many others, was subjected to imprisonment for a +lengthened period. He and the Count de Morseiul now usually took their +walk together, and in his society the young nobleman found no small +delight, for there was a sort of quaint indifference which gave salt +and flavour to considerable good sense and originality of thought. The +old man himself seemed to take a pleasure in conversing with the young +Count; which was evidently not the case with the generality of his +fellow-prisoners. One morning, however, towards the end of the period +we have mentioned, the sound of the falling drawbridge was heard, the +soldiers drew up in double line, the order for all the other prisoners +to fall back was given, and the Chevalier de Rohan, followed by two or +three other prisoners, amongst whom were Vandenenden and a lady, were +brought in as if from examination. + +The countenances of almost all were very pale, with the exception of +that of the Chevalier de Rohan, which was inflamed, with a fiery spot +on either cheek, while his eyes flashed fire, and his lips were +absolutely covered with foam. Four times between the great gate of the +court and the tower in which he was confined, he halted abruptly, and +turning round with furious gestures to the guards and gaolers who +surrounded him, poured forth a torrent of fierce and angry words, +exclaiming that he had been deceived, cheated, that the King's name +had been used to assure him of safety, and that now the King had +retracted the promises and was going to murder him. + +It was in vain that the guards tried to stop him, and endeavoured to +force him onward. Still he turned round as soon as ever he had an +opportunity, and shouted forth the same accusation with horrible +imprecations and even blasphemies. The second prisoner, who seemed to +be a military man, paused and regarded the Chevalier with a stern and +somewhat scornful air, but the lady and the old man, Vandenenden, were +drowned in tears, and from all the Count saw he concluded that the +trial of the Chevalier and his accomplices had either terminated in +their condemnation, or else had taken such a turn as showed that +result to be inevitable. + +From that time none of the prisoners who had the liberties of the +Bastille were allowed to remain in the court when the Chevalier and +his accomplices passed through it, an order being given before the +gates were opened, for every one to retire to his own apartments. +Three days after this new regulation, such an order having been given, +the Count obeyed it willingly, for the weather had become cold and +damp, and the court of the Bastille felt like a well. He had obtained +permission to take some books out of the library, in which there was +no fire allowed, and sitting by the embers in his own apartment, he +was endeavouring to amuse himself by reading, when the sounds of what +seemed to him carts, in greater numbers than usual, mingled with the +tongues of many persons speaking, called him to the little window of +his chamber. + +He saw that the small Place St. Antoine was filled with a crowd of +people surrounding two or three large carts as they seemed, but he +could not make out what the persons present were about, and, after +looking on for a few minutes, he returned to his book. + +Every thing within the walls of the Bastille seemed to be unusually +still and quiet, and for rather more than an hour and a half he read +on, till some sound of a peculiar character, or some sudden impression +on his own mind which he could not account for, made him again rise +and hasten to the window. When he did so, a sight was presented to his +eyes which would have required long years to efface its recollection. +The carts which he had seen, and the materials they contained, had +been by this time erected into a scaffold; and in the front thereof, +turned towards the Rue St. Antoine, which, as well as the square +itself, was filled with an immense multitude of people, was a block +with the axe leaning against the side. + +At one corner of the scaffold was erected a gibbet, and in the front, +within a foot or two of the block, stood the unfortunate Chevalier de +Rohan, with a priest, on one side of him, pouring consolation or +instruction into his ear, while the executioner, on the other side, +was busily cutting off his hair to prepare his neck for the stroke. +Two or three other prisoners were behind with several priests and the +assistants of the executioner, and amongst them again was seen the +form of the old man, Vandenenden, and of the lady whom the Count had +beheld pass through the court of the castle. + +The old man seemed scarcely able to support himself, and was upheld +near the foot of the gallows by two of the guards; but the lady, with +her head uncovered and her fine hair gathered together in a knot near +the top of her head, stood alone, calm, and, to all appearance, +perfectly self-possessed; and as she turned, for a moment, to look at +the weak old man, whose writhing agitation at parting with a life that +he could not expect to prolong for many years even if pardoned was +truly lamentable, she showed the Count de Morseiul a fine though +somewhat faded countenance, with every line expressive of perfect +resolution and tranquillity. + +The Count de Morseiul was a brave man, who had confronted death a +thousand times, who had seen it in many an awful shape and accompanied +by many a terrible accessory; but when he looked at the upturned faces +of the multitude, the block, the axe, the gibbet, the executioners, +the cold grey sky above that spoke of hopelessness, the thronged +windows all around teeming with gaping faces, and all the horrible +parade of public execution, he could not but wonder at the +self-possession and the calmness of that lady's look and demeanour, as +one about to suffer in that awful scene. + +His, however, was no heart that could delight in such spectacles, and +withdrawing almost immediately from the window, he waited in deep +thought. In about a minute after there was a sort of low murmur, +followed by a heavy stroke; and then the murmur sounded like the +rushing of a distant wind. In a few moments after that, again came +another blow, and the Count thought that there was a suppressed +scream, mingled with the wave-like sound of the multitude. Again came +that harsh blow, accompanied by a similar noise, and, lastly, a loud +shout, in which there were mingled tones of ferocity and derision, +very different from any which had been heard before. Not aware of what +could have produced the change, the Count was once more irresistibly +led to the window, where he beheld swinging and writhing on the +gibbet, the form of the old man Vandenenden, whose pusillanimity +seemed to have excited the contempt and indignation of the populace. +On the other parts of the scaffold the executioner and his assistants +were seen gathering up the bloody ruins of the human temples they had +overthrown. Sickened and pained, the Count turned away, and covered +his eyes with his hands, asking himself in the low voice of thought, +"When will this be my fate also?" + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + THE WOMAN'S JUDGMENT. + + +We must now, for a little, change the scene entirely; and, as we find +often done most naturally, both in reality and poetry, bring the +prison and the palace side by side. It was in one of the smaller +chambers, then, of the palace at Versailles--exquisitely fitted up +with furniture of the most costly, if not of the most splendid +materials, with very great taste shown in every thing, grace in all +the ornaments, harmony in all the colours, and a certain degree of +justness and appropriateness in every object around--that there sat a +lady, late on the evening of an autumnal day, busily reading from a +book, illustrated with some of the richest and most beautiful +miniatures that the artists of the French capital could then produce. + +She was, at the time we speak, of somewhat past the middle age,--that +is to say, she was nearly approaching to the age of fifty, but she +looked considerably younger than she really was, and forty was the +very extreme at which any one by the mere look would have ventured to +place the number of her years. The rich worked candelabra of gold +under which she was reading cast its light upon not a single grey +hair. The form was full and rounded; the arms white and delicate; the +hand, which in general loses its symmetry sooner than aught else, +except, perhaps, the lips, was as tapering, as soft, and as beautiful +in contour as ever. The eyes were large and expressive, and there was +a thoughtfulness about the whole countenance which had nothing of +melancholy in its character, perhaps a little of worldliness, but more +of mind and intellect than either. + +After she had been reading for some time, the door was quietly opened, +and the King himself entered with a soft and almost noiseless step. +The lady immediately laid down her book and rose, but the King took +her by the hand, led her back to her chair, and seated himself beside +her. + +"Still busy, reading," he said. + +"I am anxious to do so, your Majesty," she answered, "at every moment +that I can possibly command. In the sort of life which I am destined +to lead, and in your Majesty's splendid court, temptations to forget +what is right, and to think of nothing but pleasures and enjoyments, +are so manifold, that one has need to have recourse to such calmer +counsellors as these," and she laid her hand upon the book, +"counsellors who are not disturbed by such seductions, and whose words +have with them a portion of the tranquillity of the dead." + +The words were of a soberer character than Louis had been accustomed +to hear from the lips of woman during the greater part of his life, +but still they did not displease him, and he replied only by saying,-- + +"But we must have a few more living counsels at present, Madame, for +the fate of Louis----" + +"Which is the fate of France," she said in so low a voice that it +could scarcely be termed an interruption. + +"For the fate of Louis and of his domestic happiness--a word, alas, +which is so little known to kings--is even now in the balance. +Madame," he continued, taking that fair hand in his, "Madame, it is +scarcely necessary at this hour to tell you that I love you; it is +scarcely necessary to speak what are the wishes and the hopes of the +King; scarcely necessary to say what would be his conduct were not +motives, strong and almost overpowering, opposed to all that he most +desires." + +Madame de Maintenon, for she it was, had risen from her seat; had +withdrawn her hand from that of the King, and for a moment pressed +both her hands tightly upon her heart, while her countenance, which +had become as pale as death, spoke that the emotion which she felt was +real. + +"Cease, Sire; oh, cease," she exclaimed, "if you would not have me +drop at your feet! Indeed," she continued more vehemently, "that is my +proper place," and she cast herself at once upon her knees before the +King, taking the hand from which she had just disengaged her own, to +bend her lips over it with a look of reverence and affection. + +"Hear me, Sire, hear me," she said, as the King endeavoured to raise +her, "hear me even as I am; for notwithstanding the deep and sincere +love and veneration which are in my heart, I must yet offend in one +person the monarch whom every voice in Europe proclaims the greatest +in the earth; the man whom my own heart tells me is the most worthy to +be loved. There is one, however, Sire, who must be loved and venerated +first, and beyond all--I mean the Almighty; and from his law, and from +his commands, nothing on earth shall ever induce me to swerve. Now, +for more than a year, such has been my constant reply to your Majesty +on these occasions. I have besought you, I have entreated you never to +speak on such subjects again, unless that were possible which I know +to be impossible." + +"Nay," replied the Monarch, interrupting her, and raising her with a +little gentle force, "nay, nothing is impossible, but for me to see +you kneeling there." + +"Oh yes, indeed, indeed, it is, your Majesty!" she said; "I have long +known it, I have long been sure of it. You once condescended to dream +of it yourself; you mentioned it to me, and I for a single instant was +deceived by hope; but as soon as I came to examine it, I became +convinced, fully convinced, that such a thing was utterly and entirely +impossible, that your Majesty should descend from your high station, +and that you should oppose and over-rule the advice and opinion of +courtiers and ministers, who, though perhaps a little touched with +jealousy, can easily find sound and rational reasons enough to oppose +your will in this instance. Oh, no, no, Sire, I know it is impossible; +for Heaven's sake do not agitate me by a dream of happiness that can +never be realised!" + +"So little is it impossible, dear friend," replied the King, "that it +is scarcely half an hour ago since I spoke with Louvois upon the +subject." + +"And what did he say?" exclaimed Madame de Maintenon, with an +eagerness that she could not master. "He opposed it, of course--and +doubtless wisely. But oh, Sire, you must grant me a favour: the last +of many, but still a very great one. You must let me retire from your +court, from this place of cruel and terrible temptation, where they +look upon me, from the favour which your Majesty has been pleased to +show me, in a light which I dare not name. No, Sire, no, I will never +have it said, that I lived on at your court knowing that I bore the +name of your concubine. However false, the imputation is too terrible +to be undergone--I, who have ever raised my voice against such acts, +I, who have risked offending your Majesty by remonstrances and +exhortations. No, Sire, no! I cannot, indeed I cannot, undergo it any +longer. It is terrible to me, it is injurious to your Majesty, who has +so nobly triumphed over yourself in another instance. It matters not +what Monsieur de Louvois has said, though I trust he said nothing on +earth to lead you to believe that I am capable of yielding to unlawful +love." + +"Oh no," replied the King, "his opposition was but to the marriage, +and that as usual was rude, gross, and insulting to his King. I wonder +that I have patience with him. But it will some day soon give way." + +"I hope and trust, Sire," cried Madame de Maintenon, clasping her +hands earnestly, "I hope and trust that your Majesty has not suffered +insult on my account. Then, indeed, it were high time that I should +go." + +"No," replied Louis, "not absolute insult. Louvois means but to act +well. He said every thing in opposition, I acknowledge, coarsely and +rudely, and in the end he cast himself upon his knees before me, +unsheathed his sword, and, offering the hilt, besought me to take his +life, rather than to do what I contemplated." + +"He did!" cried Madame de Maintenon, with a bright red spot in either +cheek. "He did! The famous minister of Louis XIV. has been studying at +the theatre lately I know! But still, Sire, though doubtless he was +right in some part of his view, Françoise d'Aubigné is not quite so +lowly as to be an object of scorn to the son of Michael le Tellier, +whose ancestors I believe sold drugs at Rheims, while my grandfather +supported the throne of yours with his sword, his blood, and his +wisdom. He might have spared his scorn, methinks, and saved his wit +for argument. But I must not speak so freely in my own cause, for that +it is my own, I acknowledge," and she wiped away some tears from her +fine eyes. "It is my own, for when I beseech your Majesty to let me +leave you, I tear my own heart, I trample upon all my own feelings. +But oh, believe me, Sire," she continued ardently, "believe me when I +say, that I would rather that heart were broken, as it soon will be, +than that your Majesty should do any thing derogatory to your crown +and dignity, or I must add, than I would do myself any thing in +violation of the precepts of virtue and religion." + +She wept a good deal; but she wept gracefully, and hers was one of +those faces which looked none the worse for tears. The King gently +drew her to her seat, for she had still been standing; saying, "Nay, +nay, be comforted. You have yet the King. You think not really then," +he said, "really and sincerely you think not, that there is any true +degradation in a monarch wedding a subject? I ask you yourself, I ask +you to speak candidly!" + +"Nay, Sire," cried Madame de Maintenon, "how can you ask me, deeply +interested as I am--how can you ask any woman? For we all feel alike +in such things, and differently from you men. There is not one woman, +proud or humble in your Majesty's court, that would not give you the +same answer, if she spoke sincerely." + +"Indeed!" exclaimed the King; "then we men must be certainly in the +wrong. But what think you," he continued, "what think you, as a +proof--what would yon fair girl Clémence de Marly say, were we to ask +her? I saw her but now, as I passed, reading with the Dauphine in +somewhat melancholy guise." + +"Well may she be melancholy, Sire!" replied the lady, somewhat sadly, +"when the King hears not her prayers. But methinks it would be hardly +fair to make her a judge." + +"Why, why?" demanded Louis quickly; "because she is so proud and +haughty?--Remember, you said the proudest in our court." + +"So I say still, Sire," replied Madame de Maintenon in a gentle tone; +"but I do not think her proud. She would be too favourable a judge; +that was my sole objection. Her own station in the court is doubtful; +and besides, Sire, you could not think of submitting that, on which +none--no, not the wisest minister you have--can judge so well as +yourself, to the decision of a girl." + +"Fear not," replied the King; "I will but take her voice on the +matter, without her knowing aught of that on which her opinion is +called for. I would fain hear what a young and unpractised tongue +would say. Let her be called in." + +Madame de Maintenon hesitated for a moment. The risk seemed great; the +object of long years was at stake; and her own fate, and that of +France, might depend upon the words of a wild, proud girl. But she saw +no means of avoiding the trial; and she rang the bell: even in the +very act of doing so, remembering many a trait of Clémence, both in +childhood and youth, which gave her some assurance. A page appeared +instantly, and was despatched to the apartments of the Dauphine to +call Mademoiselle de Marly to the presence of the King. + +The feet of Clémence bore her thither like light, though her heart +beat wildly with fear and agitation; and the hue of her cheek, once so +bright and glowing, was now as pale as death. She was glad, however, +to find the King and Madame de Maintenon alone, for she had succeeded +in interesting the latter in the fate of the Count de Morseiul, and +she doubted not that she would exert herself, as much as she dared to +do for any one, to persuade the King to deal with him gently. So many +long and weary days had passed, however, with but little progress, +that she had well nigh sunk into despair, when the summons of this +night made her suppose that her fate, and that of her lover, was upon +the eve of being decided. + +The page who conducted her closed the door as soon as she had entered, +and Clémence stood before the King with feelings of awe and agitation, +such as in former days she knew not that she could feel towards the +greatest potentate on earth: but Clémence de Marly loved, and her +whole feelings had been changed. + +Not a little was her surprise, however, when the King addressed her in +a tone half playful, half serious,-- + +"Come hither, spoiled beauty," he said, "come hither: and sit down +upon that stool--or, in truth, I should give you up this chair, for +you are going to act a part that you never performed before--that of +judge, and in a matter of taste, too." + +Clémence put her hand to her brow, as if to clear away the thoughts +with which she had come thither. But, after gazing in the King's face +for a moment with a bewildered look, she recovered herself, and +replied,-- + +"Indeed, Sire, I am, of all people, the most unfit; but I will do my +best to please your Majesty. What may be the question?" + +"Why," answered the King, smiling at her evident surprise and +embarrassment, the real cause of which he had quite forgotten in his +own thoughts and feelings, "why the matter is this; a new play has +been submitted to us for approval by one of our best poets. It turns +upon an ancient king becoming in love with one of his own subjects, +and marrying her while his ministers wish him to marry a neighbouring +queen. The question of the policy, however, is not the thing. We have +settled all that, but the point in dispute between me and this fair +lady is, whether the poet would have done better to have made the +heroine turn out, after all, to be some princess unknown. I say not; +but our sweet friend, whose opinion, perhaps, is better than my own, +contends that it would have been better, in order to preserve the +king's dignity." + +Madame de Maintenon panted for breath, and grasped the book that lay +on the table to prevent herself from betraying her agitation; but she +dared not say a word, nor even look up. + +She was almost instantly relieved, however, for Clémence exclaimed, +almost before the King had done speaking,--"Oh, no! oh, no! Dear lady, +you are wrong, believe me. Kings lose their dignity only by evil acts; +they rise in transcendent majesty when they tread upon base +prejudices. I know nothing of the policy; you tell me that is apart; +and the only question is whether she was worthy that he chose. Was +she, Sire--was she noble and good?" + +"Most noble, and most excellent!" said the King. + +"Was she religious, wise, well educated?" continued Clémence, eagerly. + +"She was all!" answered Louis, "all in a most eminent degree." + +"Was she in knowledge, demeanour, character, worthy of his love and of +himself?" asked the enthusiastic girl, with her whole face glowing. + +"In demeanour not inferior, in character equal, in knowledge +superior--in all respects worthy!" replied the Monarch, catching her +enthusiasm. + +But he was stopped by the agitated sobs of Madame de Maintenon, who, +sinking from her chair at his feet, clasped his knees, exclaiming, +"Spare me, Sire! Spare me, or I shall die!" + +The King gazed at her tenderly for a moment, then bent down his head, +kissed her check, and, whispering a few brief words, placed her in the +chair where he himself had been sitting. He then turned to Clémence de +Marly, who stood by, astonished at the agitation that her words had +produced, and fearful that the consequences might be the destruction +of all her own hopes. + +The countenance of Louis, as he turned towards her, somewhat +re-assured her; but still she could not help exclaiming with no slight +anxiety, "I hope, Sire, I have not offended. I fear I have done so +unintentionally." + +"If you have," said the King, smiling upon her graciously, "we will +find a punishment for you; and as we have made you act as a judge +where you little perhaps expected it, we will now make you a witness +of things that you expected still less, but which your lips must never +divulge till you are authorised to do so. Go as fast as possible to my +oratory close by the little cabinet of audience, there you will find +good Monsieur la Chaise: direct him to ring the bell, and--after +having told Bontems to summon Monsieur de Montchevreuil and the +Archbishop, who is still here, I think--to come hither himself as +speedily as possible. You will accompany him." + +What were the King's intentions Clémence de Marly scarcely could +divine; but seeing that her words had evidently given happiness both +to the King and to Madame de Maintenon, and judging from that fact +that her own best hopes for the deliverance of him she loved might be +on the eve of accomplishment, she flew rather than ran to obey the +King's directions. She found the King's confessor, La Chaise, waiting, +evidently for the return of the King, with some impatience. The +message which she brought him seemed to excite his astonishment +greatly; but after pausing for a moment to consider what kind of event +that message might indicate, the old man clasped his hands, +exclaiming, "This is God's work, the King's salvation is now secure." + +He then did as he had been directed, rang the bell for Bontems, gave +the order as he had received it, and hurried after Clémence along the +corridor of the palace. At the door of Madame de Maintenon's apartment +the young lady paused, for there were voices speaking eagerly within, +and she feared to intrude upon the monarch. His commands to return, +however, had been distinct, and she consequently opened the door and +entered. Madame de Maintenon was standing by the table with her eyes +bent down, and her colour much heightened. The King was also standing, +and with a slight frown upon his countenance was regarding a person +who had been added to the party since Clémence had left it. This was +no other than the minister Louvois, whose coarse harsh features seemed +filled with sullen mortification, which even the presence of the King +could scarcely restrain from breaking forth in angry words. His eyes +were bent down, not in humility but in stubborness, his shoulders a +little raised, and he was muttering rather than speaking when Clémence +entered. The only words, however, that were audible were, "Your +Majesty's will must be a law to yourself as well as to your people. I +have ventured in all sincerity to express my opinion, and have nothing +more to say." + +The opening of the door caused Madame de Maintenon to raise her eyes, +and when she saw Clémence and the confessor a glad and relieved smile +played over her countenance, which was greatly increased by the words +which the confessor addressed to the King immediately on his entrance. + +"Sire," he said, without waiting for Louis to speak, "from what I have +heard, and from what I see, I believe--nay, I am sure, that your +Majesty is about to take a step which will, more than any that I know +of, tend to insure your eternal salvation. Am I not right?" and he +extended his hand towards Madame de Maintenon, as if that gesture were +quite sufficient to indicate his full meaning. + +"You are, my good father," replied the King; "and I am happy to find +that so wise and so good a man as yourself approves of what I am +doing. Monsieur Louvois here still seems discontented, though I have +conceded so much to his views of policy as to promise that this +marriage shall remain for ever private." + +"What are views of policy," cried Père la Chaise, "to your Majesty's +eternal salvation? There are greater, there are higher considerations +than worldly policy, Sire; but even were worldly policy all, I should +differ with Monsieur Louvois, and say that you were acting as wisely +in the things of this world as in reference to another." + +"God knows, and this lady knows," said Louvois, "that my only +opposition proceeds from views of policy. For herself, personally," he +added, feeling that he might have offended one who was more powerful +than even himself, "for herself, personally, she well knows that I +have the most deep and profound respect; and, since it is to be, I +trust that his Majesty will allow me to be one of the witnesses." + +"Assuredly," replied the King. "I had so determined in my own mind, +Monsieur de Louvois; and as we need not have more than three, we will +dispense with this young lady's presence. Oh, here comes the +Archbishop and Montchevreuil; my good father La Chaise, let me beg you +to prepare an altar, even here. I have determined that all doubt and +discussion upon this subject shall be over to-night. Explain, I beg +you, to Monsieur de Harlay what are my views and intentions. One word, +belle Clémence," he added, advancing to Clémence, and speaking to her +with a gracious smile, "we shall not need your presence, fair lady, +but you shall not want the bridemaid's presents. Come hither to-morrow +half an hour before I go to the council; and as you have judged well +and wisely in this cause to-night, we will endeavour to judge +leniently on any cause that you may bring before us to-morrow." + +Although the King spoke low, his words did not escape the keen ear of +Louvois; and when Clémence raised her eyes to reply, they met those of +the minister gazing upon her with a look of fiend-like anger, which +seemed to imply, "You have triumphed over me for the time, and have +thwarted me in a matter of deep moment. You think at the same time you +have gained your own private end, but I will disappoint you." + +Such at least was the interpretation that Clémence put upon that angry +glance. For an instant it made her heart sink, but, recollecting her +former courage the next instant, she replied boldly to the King, "My +trust is always in your Majesty alone. I have ever had that trust; and +what I have seen to-night would show me clearly, that let us expect +what we may of your Majesty's magnanimity and generosity no +disappointment will await us." + +Thus saying she retired; and what farther passed in the chamber that +she quitted--though it affected the destinies of Louis, and of France, +and of Europe, more than any event which had taken place for +years--remains in the records of history amongst those things which +are known though not proved, and are never doubted even though no +evidence of their reality exists. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + THE ESCAPE. + + +The hope delayed, which maketh the heart sick, had its wearing effect +upon the Count de Morseiul. His countenance showed it in every line; +the florid hue of strong health was beginning to pass away; and one +morning, in taking his usual walk up and down the court of the +Bastille in company with the bluff old English officer we have +mentioned, his companion, after gazing in his face for a moment, as if +something therein had suddenly struck him, said, "You look ill, young +gentleman; what is the matter?" + +"How is it possible that I can be otherwise," said the Count, +"confined as I am here, and lingering on from day to day, without any +knowledge of what is passing regarding myself, or of the fate of +friends that I love, or of the condition of all those in whose +happiness I am interested?" + +"Poo! you must bear things more lightly," answered the old soldier. +"Why here, you, a youth, a mere boy, have plenty of time before you to +spare a year or two for imprisonment. Think of what a difference there +is between you and me: here am I without a day too much to spare in +life; while to you neither months nor years are any thing. As to your +friends without, too, trouble not your brain about them. The world +would go on just as well without you and I, if we were put out of it +to-morrow; friends would find new friends, sweethearts gain new +lovers, servants betake them to new masters, and the roses would grow, +and the birds would sing, and love, and war, and policy, and the wind +of heaven, would have their course as if nothing had happened. There +might be a few drops in some eyes which would fall like a spring +shower, and be dried up again as soon. However," he added, seeing that +his philosophy was not very much to the taste of the young Count, "you +must live in the world as long as I have done ere you can take such +hard lessons home; and if it be but communication with your friends +without that you want, I should think that might be obtained easily." + +"I see not how that is to be done," replied the Count. "If they had +allowed me to have my valet here there would have been no difficulty, +for I do not think that even stone walls would keep in his wit." + +"Oh, we can do without him, I dare say," replied the old man. "If you +write me down a note, containing few words, and no treason, doubtless +I can find means, perhaps this very day, of sending it forth to any +one that you will. In my apartment we shall find paper, which I got +not long ago; some sort of ink we will easily manufacture for +ourselves. So, come: that will revive hope a little for you; and +though I cannot promise you an answer, yet perhaps one may be obtained +too. There are old friends of mine that sometimes will drop in to see +me; and what I propose to do, is to give your note to one of the +prisoners I have spoken with, who expects to be liberated to-day or +to-morrow, and direct the answer to be sent by some one who is likely +to come to see me." + +The young Count gladly availed himself of this proposal; and the means +of writing having, by one prison resource or another, been obtained, +he wrote a few brief words, detailing the anxiety and pain he +suffered, and begging some immediate information as to the probability +of his obtaining his freedom, and regarding the situation of those +that he loved best. He couched his meaning in language as vague as +possible, and addressed the note to his valet, Jerome Riquet, fearing +to write to Clémence, lest he should by any means draw suspicion and +consequent evil upon her. The old English officer undertook to give +all the necessary directions for its delivery, and when they met again +in the evening, he assured him that the note was gone. + +At an early hour on the following morning the Englishman was called +away from him to speak with some one admitted by an order from the +minister; and in about ten minutes after he joined the Count, and +slipped a small piece of folded paper into his hand, saying, in a low +voice, "Do not look at it now, or leave me immediately, for there are +several of these turnkeys about, and we must not create suspicion." +After a few more turns, however, the old man said, "Now, Monsieur de +Morseiul," and the Count hastening to his chamber, opened the note +which was in the handwriting of Riquet. + +"I have been obliged," it said, "to keep out of the way, and to change +my shape a dozen times, on account of the business of the Exempt; +but--from what the Count says, and from hearing that Monsieur de +Louvois swore last night by all the gods that he worships, that, on +account of some offence just given, he will bring the Count's head to +the block within a week, as he did that of Monsieur de Rohan--a bold +stroke will be struck to-day. The Count will be set at liberty about +two o'clock, and the moment he is at liberty he must neither go to +King nor ministers, nor to his own house, either in Paris or at +Versailles, but to the little inn called the Golden Cock, in the Rue +du Faubourg St. Antoine, call himself Monsieur du Sac, and ask for the +horse his servant brought. Having got it, let him ride on for Poitou +as fast as he can go. He will meet friends by the way." + +This was all that the note contained, and what was the bold stroke +that Riquet alluded to the Count could not divine. He judged, indeed, +that perhaps it was quite as well he should be ignorant of the facts; +and after having impressed all the directions contained in the note +upon his mind, he destroyed the paper, and was preparing to go down +again into the court. + +It so happened, however, that he paused for a moment, and took up one +of the books which he was still reading, when an officer, who was +called the Major of the Bastille, entered the room, and summoned him +to the presence of the governor. The Count immediately followed, and +passing through the gate into the Court of Government, he found +Besmaux waiting in the corps de garde, with a blithe and smiling +countenance. + +"Good morning, Monsieur de Morseiul," he said; "I have got some good +news for you, which perhaps you do not expect." + +He fixed his eyes scrutinisingly upon the Count's face, but all was +calm. "Here is an order for your liberation," he continued, "which, +doubtless, you will be glad to hear." + +"Most glad," exclaimed the Count; "for, to say the truth, I am growing +both sick and weary of this imprisonment, especially as I know that I +have done nothing to deserve it." + +"That is better than being imprisoned knowing you have done something +to deserve it," said Besmaux. "However, here is the order; and though +it is not exactly in accurate form, I must obey, I suppose, and set +you at liberty, for here is the King's handwriting in every line." + +"That you must judge of yourself, Monsieur de Besmaux," replied the +Count. "But I hope, of course, that you will not detain me any longer +than is necessary." + +"No, no," said Besmaux; "I must obey the order, for it is in the +King's hand distinctly. Here are all the things that were upon your +person, Monsieur de Morseiul. Be so good as to break the seal +yourself, examine them, and give me an acknowledgment--as is usual +here--that they have been returned to you. There is the ordinary form; +you have nothing to do but to sign it." + +The Count did as he was required to do, and the governor then restored +to him his sword, saying, "There is your sword, Monsieur le Comte. It +is customary to give some little acknowledgment to the turnkeys if you +think fit; and now, Monsieur le Comte, you are free. Will you do me +the honour of supping with me again to-night?" + +"I fear not to-night, Monsieur de Besmaux; some other time I will have +that pleasure. But, of course, after this unexpected and sudden +enlargement, there is much to be done." + +"Of course," replied the governor; "you will have to thank the King, +and Monsieur de Louvois, and all that. Some other time then be it. It +is strange they have sent no carriage or horse for you. Perhaps you +would like to wait till they arrive?" + +"Oh, no," replied the Count. "Freedom before every thing, Monsieur de +Besmaux. By your permission I will send for the apparel I have left in +my chamber. But now, to set my foot beyond the drawbridge is my great +ambition." + +"We will conduct you so far," replied Besmaux, and led the way towards +the gate. The drawbridge was lowered, the gates opened, and the Count, +distributing the greater part of the money which had been restored to +him amongst the turnkeys, turned and took leave of the governor, and +issued forth from the Bastille. He remarked, however, that Besmaux, +with the major of the prison, and two or three others, remained upon +the bridge, as if they felt some suspicion, and were watching his +farther proceedings. He, accordingly, rendered his pace somewhat slow, +and turned towards his own hotel in Paris, while two or three boys, +who hung about the gates of the Bastille, followed, importunately +looking up in his face. He passed along two streets before he could +get rid of them, but then, suddenly turning up one of the narrow lanes +of the city, he made the best of his way to the little inn, or rather +public house, which Jerome Riquet had pointed out to him in his +letter, where a bright golden cock, somewhat larger than life, stood +out into the street from a pole thrust into the front of the house. +Before he turned in he looked down the street towards the Bastille, +but saw no cause for suspicion, and entered the narrow entrance. As +was not uncommon in such houses at that time, no door on either hand +gave admission to the rooms of the inn till the visiter had threaded +half way through the small ill-lighted passage. At length, however, +doors appeared, and the sound of a footstep instantly called out a +stout, jovial-looking personage, with a considerable nose and +abundance of cheek and stomach, who, without saying any thing, merely +planted himself directly in the Count's way. + +"Are you the landlord?" demanded the Count. + +"Yes, Sir," replied the cabaretier, much more laconically than might +have been expected from his appearance. "Who are you?" + +"I am Monsieur du Sac," replied the Count. + +"Oh, oh!" cried the host, laying his forefinger on the side of his +face. "If you are Monsieur du Sac, your horse will be ready in a +crack. But you had better come into the stable; there are people +drinking in the hall." + +The Count followed him without saying any more, and found three horses +standing ready saddled, and wanting only the girths tightened, and the +bridles in their mouths. The centre one he instantly recognised as one +of his own finest horses, famous for its great strength and courage. +The other two were powerful animals, but of a different breed; and the +Count was somewhat surprised when the landlord ordered a stable boy, +who was found waiting, to make haste and girth them all up. The boy +began with the farther horse; but the landlord then exclaimed, "No, +no, the gentleman's first, the others will do after;" and in a moment +the Count's horse was ready to set out. + +"Better go by the back gate, Sir," said the host; "then if you follow +round by the gardens of the convent of St. Mary, up the little lane to +the left, you will come into the road again, where all is clear. +Where's the bottle, boy, I told you to have ready? Monsieur du Sac +will want a draught before he goes." A large bottle was instantly +produced from a nook in the stable, and a tumbler full of excellent +wine poured out. The Count took it, and drank, for excitement had made +him thirsty, and he might well want that support, which the juice of +the grape or any other thing could afford, when he reflected that the +die was now cast; that he had been liberated from prison, as he could +not doubt by some counterfeit order; and that he was flying from the +court of France, certainly never to return, unless it were as a +captive brought back probably to death. + +The blow being struck, however, he was not a man to feel regret or +hesitation, and there was something in the sensation of being at +liberty, of having cast off the dark load of imprisonment, which was +in itself inspiring. He sprang upon his horse then with joyful speed, +cast the landlord one of the few gold pieces that remained in his +purse, and while the boy held open the back gates of the inn court, he +rode out once more free to turn his steps whithersoever he would. That +part of the city was not unknown to him, and passing round the +gardens, and through the narrow lanes which at that time were +intermingled with the Faubourg St. Antoine, he entered the high road +again just where the town ended, and the country began; and putting +his horse into a quick pace, made the best of his way onward toward +Poitou. + +As he now went forth he looked not back, and he had gone on for five +or six miles, when the belief that he heard the feet of horses +following fast made him pause and turn. He was not mistaken in the +supposition. There were two horsemen on the road, about five or six +hundred yards behind him; but they slackened their pace as soon as he +paused; and remembering the words written by Jerome Riquet, that he +would find friends upon the road, he thought it better not to inquire +into the matter any further, but make the most of his time, and go on. +He thus proceeded without drawing a rein for about five and thirty +miles, the men who were behind him still keeping him in sight, but +never approaching nearer than a certain distance. + +The road which he had chosen was that of Orleans, though not the most +direct; but by taking it, he avoided all that part of the country +through which he was most likely to be pursued if his flight were +speedily discovered. At length, in the neighbourhood of the little +town of Angerville, a man appeared on horseback at the turning of one +of the roads. He was evidently waiting for some one, and rode up to +the Count as soon as ever he appeared, saying merely, "Monsieur du +Sac." + +"The same," replied the Count; and the man immediately said, "This +way, then, Sir." + +The Count followed without any reply, and the man rode on at a quick +pace for the distance of fully three miles further. The horsemen +turned as the Count had turned, but the road had become tortuous, and +they were soon lost to his sight. At length, however, the high stone +walls, overtopped with trees, and partly covered with ivy, which +usually surrounded the park of an old French château, appeared, and +making a circuit round three sides of this enclosure, the Count and +his guide came suddenly to the large iron gates, which gave admission +to a paved court leading to another set of gates, with a green +esplanade and a terrace above; while the whole was crowned by a heavy +mass of stonework, referable to no sort of architecture but itself. +Round these courts were various small buildings, scarcely fitted +indeed for human habitation, but appropriated to gardeners and +gatekeepers, and other personages of the kind; and from one of these, +as soon as the Count appeared, instantly rushed forth Jerome Riquet +himself, kissing his master's hand with sincere joy and affection, +which was not at all decreased by a consciousness that his liberation +had been effected by the skill, genius, and intrigue of the said +Jerome Riquet himself. + +"Dismount, my Lord, in all safety," he said; "we have taken measures +to insure that you should not be traced. Refreshments of every kind +are ready for you; and if you so please, you can take a comfortable +night's repose before you go on." + +"That were scarcely prudent, Riquet," replied the Count; "but I will +at all events pause for a time, and you can tell me all that has +happened. First, whose dwelling is this?" + +"The house of good Monsieur Perault at Angerville," replied the valet. +"He has been dead for about two months, and his old maître d'hôtel, +being a friend of mine, and still in the family, gave me the keys of +the château to be your first resting place." + +On entering the château, Albert of Morseiul found it completely +thronged with his own servants; and the joyful faces that crowded +round, some in smiles and some in tears, to see their young lord +liberated, was not a little sweet to his heart. Some balm, indeed, was +necessary to heal old wounds, before new ones were inflicted; and, +though Riquet moved through the assembled attendants with the +conscious dignity of one who had conferred the benefit in which they +rejoiced, yet he hastened to lead his young lord on, and to have the +room cleared, having much indeed to tell. His tale was painful to the +Count in many respects; but, being given by snatches, as the various +questions of his master elicited one fact after another, we will +attempt to put it in more continuous form, and somewhat shorter +language, taking it up at events which, though long past, were now +first explained. + +From an accidental reference to the Count's journey from Morseiul to +Poitiers, Riquet was led to declare the whole facts in regard to the +commission which had been given by the King to Pelisson and St. Helie. +The insatiable spirit of curiosity by which Maître Jerome was +possessed, never let him rest till he had made the unhappy Curé of +Guadrieul declare, by a man[oe]uvre before related, what was in the +sheepskin bag he carried; and, as soon as the valet heard that it was +a commission from the King, his curiosity was still more strongly +excited to ascertain the precise contents. For the purpose of so +doing, he attached himself firmly to the Curé during the rest of the +evening, made him smoke manifold pipes, induced him to eat every +promotive of drinking that he could lay his hands upon, plied him with +wine, and then when half besotted, ventured to insinuate a wish to +peep into the bag. The Curé, however, was firm to his trust even in +the midst of drunkenness; he would peep into the bag with curious +longings himself, but he would allow no one else to do so, and Riquet +had no resource but to finish what he had so well commenced by a +bottle of heady Burgundy in addition, which left the poor priest but +strength enough to roll away to his chamber, and, conscious that he +was burthened with matters which he was incompetent to defend, to lock +the door tight behind him before he sunk insensible on his bed. He +forgot, however, one thing, which it is as well for every one to +remember; namely, that chambers have windows as well as doors; and +Jerome Riquet, whose genius for running along house gutters was not +less than his other high qualities, found not the slightest difficulty +of effecting an entrance, and spending three or four hours in the +examination of the sheepskin bag and its contents. With as much skill +as if he had been brought up in the French post-office of that day, he +opened the royal packet without even breaking the seals, and only +inflicting a very slight and accidental tear on one part of the +envelope, which the keen eyes of Pelisson had afterwards discovered. + +As soon as he saw the nature of the King's commission, Riquet,--who +was no friend to persecution of any kind, and who well knew that all +his master's plans would be frustrated, and the whole province of +Poitou thrown into confusion if such a commission were opened on the +first assembling of the states,--determined to do away with it +altogether, and substitute an old pack of cards which he happened to +have in his valise in place of that important document. He then +proceeded to examine minutely and accurately the contents of the +Curé's trunk mail, and more from a species of jocose malice than any +thing else, he tore off a piece of the King's commission which could +do no harm to any one, and folded it round the old tobacco box, which +he had found wrapped up in a piece of paper very similar amongst the +goods and chattels of the priest. + +Besides this adventure, he had various others to detail to the Count, +with the most important of which: namely, his interview with the King +and Louvois at Versailles, the reader is already acquainted. But he +went on from that point to relate, that, lingering about in the +neighbourhood of the King's apartments, he had heard the order for his +master's arrest given to Monsieur de Cantal. He flew home with all +speed, but on arriving at the Count's hotel found that he had already +gone to the palace, and that his arrest was certain. + +His next question to himself was how he might best serve him under +such circumstances; and, habituated from the very infancy of his +valethood to travesty himself in all sorts of disguises, he determined +instantly on assuming the character of an Exempt of one of the courts +of law, as affording the greatest probability of answering his +purpose. He felt a degree of enjoyment and excitement in every species +of trick of the kind which carried him through, when the least +timidity or hesitation would have frustrated his whole plans. The fact +is, that although it may seem a contradiction in terms, yet Maître +Jerome was never so much in his own character as when he was +personating somebody else. + +The result of his acting on this occasion we already know, as far as +the Count was concerned; but the moment that he had seen him lodged in +the Bastille, the valet, calculating that his frolic might render +Versailles a dangerous neighbourhood, retired to the Count's hotel in +Paris, where a part of his apparel was still to be found, compounded +rapidly the sympathetic ink from one of the many receipts stored up in +his brain, and then flew with a handkerchief, properly prepared, to +Clémence de Marly, whom he found alone with the Chevalier d'Evran. As +his master had not made him acquainted with the occasional feelings of +jealousy which he had experienced towards that gentleman, Jerome +believed he had fallen upon the two persons from whom, out of all the +world, his master would be most delighted to hear. The whole facts of +the Count's arrest then were detailed and discussed, and the words +written, which, as we have seen, were received by Albert of Morseuil +in prison. + +Afraid to go back to Versailles, Riquet hastened away into Poitou +leaving to Clémence de Marly and the Chevalier d'Evran the task of +liberating his lord, of which they seemed to entertain considerable +hopes. On his return, however, he found, first, that all his +fellow-servants having been faithful to him, the investigations +regarding the appearance of the Exempt had ended in nothing being +discovered, except that somebody had profanely personated one of those +awful personages; and, secondly, that the Count was not only still in +durance, but that little, if any, progress had been made towards +effecting his liberation. The Duc de Rouvré, who seemed to be restored +to the King's favour, was now a guest at the palace of Versailles: +with Clémence de Marly the valet could not obtain an interview, though +he daily saw her in company with the Chevalier d'Evran, and the report +began to be revived that the King intended to bestow her hand upon +that gentleman, who was now in exceedingly high favour with the +monarch. + +A scheme now took possession of the mind of Riquet, which only +suggested itself in utter despair of any other plan succeeding; and +as, to use his own expression, the very attempt, if frustrated, would +bring his head under the axe, he acknowledged to his lord that he had +hesitated and trembled even while he prepared every thing for its +execution. He went down once more into Poitou; he communicated with +all the friends and most favoured vassals of his master; he obtained +money and means for carrying every part of his scheme into effect, as +soon as his lord should be liberated from the Bastille, and for +securing his escape into Poitou, where a choice of plans remained +before him, of which we shall have to speak hereafter. + +The great point, however, was to enable the Count to make his exit +from the prison, and it was at this that the heart of Jerome Riquet +failed. His was one of those far-seeing geniuses that never forget, in +any situation, to obtain, from the circumstances of the present, any +thing which may be, however remotely, advantageous in the future. Upon +this principle he had acted in his conference with the King, and +without any definite and immediate object but that of obtaining pardon +for himself for past offences, he had induced the monarch, we must +remember, to give him a document, of which he now proposed to take +advantage. By a chemical process, very easily effected, he completely +took out the ink in those parts of the document where his own name was +written, and then, with slow and minute labour, substituted the name +of his master in the place, imitating, even to the slightest stroke, +the writing of the King. The date underwent the same change to suit +his purpose, so that a complete pardon, in what appeared the undoubted +hand of the King himself, was prepared for the Count de Morseiul. + +This step having been taken, Riquet contemplated his work with pride, +but fear, and the matter remained there for the whole day: but by the +next morning he had become habituated to daring; and, resolved to make +the document complete, he spent eight hours in forging, underneath, an +order, in due form, for the Count's liberation; and the most practised +eye could have scarcely found any difference between the lines there +written and those of the King himself. In all probability, if Riquet +could have obtained a scrap of Louvois' writing he would have added +the countersign of the minister, but, as that was not to be had, he +again laid the paper by, and was seized with some degree of panic at +what he had done. + +He had brought up, however, from Poitou, his lord's intendant, and +several others of his confidential servants and attendants, promising +them, with the utmost conceit and self-confidence, to set the Count at +liberty. They now pressed him to fulfil his design, and while he +hesitated, with some degree of tremour, the note which the old English +officer had conveyed to him was put into his hands, and decided him at +once. He entrusted the forged order to a person whom he could fully +rely upon to deliver it at the gates of the Bastille, stationed his +relays upon the road, and prepared every thing for his master's +escape. + +Such was the account which he gave to his young lord, as he sat in the +château of Angerville, and though he did not exactly express all that +he had heard in regard to Clémence de Marly and the Chevalier d'Evran, +he told quite enough to renew feelings in the bosom of the Count which +he had struggled against long and eagerly. + +"Who were the men," demanded the Count, "that followed me on +horseback?" + +"Both of them, Sir," replied the man, "were persons who would have +delayed any pursuit of you at the peril of their own lives. One of +them was your own man, Martin, whom you saved from being hung for a +spy, by the night attack you made upon the Prince of Orange's +quarters. The other, Sir, was poor Paul Virlay, who came up with the +intendant of his own accord, with his heart well nigh broken, and with +all the courage of despair about him." + +"Poor Paul Virlay!" exclaimed the Count--"his heart well nigh broken! +Why, what has happened to him, Jerome? I left him in health and in +happiness." + +"Ay, Sir," replied the man, "but things have changed since then. Two +hellish priests--I've a great mind to become a Huguenot myself--got +hold of his little girl, and got her to say, or at least swore that +she said, she would renounce her father's religion. He was furious; +and her mother, who had been ill for some days, grew worse, and took +to her bed. The girl said she never had said so; the priests said she +had, and brought a witness; and they seized her in her father's own +house, and carried her away to a convent. He was out when it happened, +and when he came back he found his wife dying and his child gone. The +mother died two days after; and Paul, poor fellow, whose brain was +quite turned, was away for three days with his large sledgehammer with +him, which nobody but himself could wield. Every body said that he was +gone to seek after the priests, to dash their brains out with the +hammer, but they heard of it, and escaped out of the province; and at +the end of three days he came back quite calm and cool, but every body +saw that his heart was broken. I saw him at Morseiul, poor fellow, and +I have seldom seen so terrible a sight. The mayor, who has turned +Catholic, you know, Sir, asked him if he had gone after the priests, +to which he said 'No;' but every one thinks that he did." + +While Riquet was telling this tale the Count had placed his hands +before his eyes, and it was evident that he trembled violently, moved +by terrible and strongly conflicting feelings, the fiery struggle of +which might well have such an influence on his corporeal frame. He +rose from his seat slowly, however, when the man had done, and walked +up and down the room more than once with a stern heavy step. At +length, turning to Riquet again, he demanded, + +"And in what state is the province?" + +"Why, almost in a state of revolt, Sir," replied Riquet. "As far as I +can hear, there are as many as a couple of thousand men in arms in +different places. It is true they are doing no great things; that the +intendant of the province, sometimes with the Bishop, sometimes with +the Abbé St. Helie, marches hither and thither with a large body of +troops, and puts down the revolt here, or puts down the revolt there. +Till he hears that it has broken out in another place, he remains +where it last appeared, quartering his soldiers upon the inhabitants, +and, in the order of the day, allowing them _to do every thing but +kill_. Then he drives the people by thousands at a time to the +churches of our religion, makes them take the mass, and breaks a few +of them on the wheel when they spit the host out of their mouths. He +then writes up to the King that he has made wonderful conversions; but +before his letter can well reach Paris he is obliged to march to +another part of the province, to put down the insurrection there, and +to make converts, and break on the wheel as before." + +"Say no more, say no more," cried the Count. "Oh, God! wilt thou +suffer this to go on?" + +Again he paced the room for several minutes, and then turning suddenly +to Riquet, he said--"Riquet, you have shown yourself at once devoted, +courageous, and resolute in the highest degree." + +"Oh, Sir," interrupted the man, "you mistake: I am the most desperate +coward that ever breathed." + +"No jesting now, Riquet," said the Count, in a sorrowful tone; "no +jesting now. My spirits are too much crushed, my heart too much torn +to suffer me to hear one light word. After all that you have done for +me, will you do one act more? Have you the courage to return to Paris +this night, and carry a letter for me to Mademoiselle de Marly, and to +bring me back her reply?" + +"Well, Sir, well," said Riquet, rubbing his hands, and then putting +his fore-finger under his collar, and running it round his neck with a +significant gesture, "a man can be hanged but once in his life, at +least as far as I know of; and, as Cæsar said, 'A brave man is but +hanged once, a coward is hanged every day;' therefore, as I see no +other object that my father and mother could have in bringing me into +the world, but that I should be hanged in your service, I will go to +Paris, at the risk of accomplishing my destiny, with all my heart." + +"Hark you, Riquet," replied the Count, "I will give you a means of +security. If by any means you should be taken, and likely to be put to +death for what you have done, tell those who take you, that, upon a +distinct promise of pardon to you under the King's own hand, the Count +of Morseiul will surrender himself in your place. I will give you that +promise under my hand, if you like." + +"That is not necessary, Sir," replied Riquet. "Every body in all +France knows that you keep your word. But pray write the letter +quickly; for, ride as hard as I will, I shall have scarce time to +reach Paris before bed-time; and I suppose you would not have the +young lady wakened." + +There was a degree of cold bitterness in Riquet's manner when he spoke +thus of Clémence, which made the Count of Morseiul feel that the man +thought he was deceived. But still, after what had passed before, he +felt that he was bound to be more upon his guard against himself than +against others; and he resolved that he would not be suspicious, that +he would drive from his bosom every such feeling, that he would +remember the indubitable proofs of affection that she had given him, +and that he would act toward her as if her whole conduct had been +under his eye, and had been such as he could most approve. The +materials for writing were instantly procured, and while Riquet caused +a fresh horse to be saddled, and prepared for his journey, the Count +sat down and wrote as follows:-- + + +"My Beloved Clémence, + +"Thank God, I am once more at liberty; but the brightness of that +blessing, great as it is under any circumstances, would be nearly all +tarnished and lost if I had not the hope that you would share it with +me. I am now some way on the road to Poitou, where I hear that the +most horrible and aggravated barbarities are daily being committed +upon my fellow Protestants. My conduct there must be determined by +circumstances; but I will own that my blood boils at the butchery and +persecution I hear of. I remember the dear and cheering promises you +have made--I remember the willingness and the joyfulness with which +those promises were made, and that recollection renders it not +madness,--renders it not selfishness to say to you, Come to me, my +Clémence, come to me as speedily as possible; come and decide for me, +when perhaps I may not have calmness to decide for myself! Come, and +let us unite our fate for ever, and so far acquire the power of +setting the will of the world at defiance. Were it possible, I would +trust entirely to your love and your promises, in the hope that you +would suffer the bearer of this, most faithful and devoted as he has +shown himself to be, to guide you to me; but I fear that the little +time he dare stay in Paris would render it impossible for you to make +your escape with him. Should this, as I fear, be the case, write to +me, if it be but a few lines, to tell me how I can assist or aid you +in your escape, and when it can be made. Adieu! Heaven bless and guard +you." + + +Before he had concluded Riquet had again appeared, telling him that he +was ready to set out, and taking the somewhat useless precaution to +seal his letter, the Count gave it into his hands, and saw him depart. + +It was now about five o'clock in the evening; and as he knew that many +a weary and expectant hour must pass before the man could return, the +Count conferred with all the various attendants who had been collected +at Angerville, and found that the account which Riquet had given him +of the state of Poitou was confirmed in every respect. Each had some +tale of horror or of cruelty. Paul Virlay, however, whom he had asked +for more than once, did not appear; and it was discovered on inquiry +that he had not even remained at Angerville, but with the cold and +sullen sort of despair that had fallen upon him had ridden on, now +that he judged the Count was in safety. + +After a time the young nobleman, anxious for some repose both of mind +and of body, cast himself upon a bed, in the hope of obtaining sleep; +but it visited not his eyelids; dark and horrible and agitating +visions peopled the hours of darkness, though slumber had no share in +calling them up. At length, full two hours before he had expected that +Riquet could return, the sound of a horse's feet, coming at a rapid +pace, struck the Count's ear, as he lay and listened to the howling of +the November wind; and, starting up, he went to the window of the room +and gazed out. It was a clear night, with the moon up, though there +were some occasional clouds floating quickly over the sky, and he +clearly saw that the horseman was Riquet, and alone. Proceeding into +the other room where he had left a light, he hastened down to meet +him, asking whether he had obtained an answer. + +"I have, Sir," replied the man; "though I saw not the fair lady +herself: yet Maria, the waiting woman, brought it in no long time. +There it is;" and drawing it from his pocket, he gave it into the +Count's hand. Albert of Morseiul hastened back with the letter, and +tore it eagerly open; but what were the words that his eyes saw? + +"Cruel and unkind," it began, "and must I not add--alas, must I not +add even to the man that I love--ungenerous and ungrateful? What would +I not have sacrificed, what would I not have done, rather than that +this should have occurred, and that the first use you make of your +liberty should be to fly to wage actual war against the crown! How +shall I dare look up? I, who for weeks have been pleading that no such +thought would ever enter into your noble and loyal nature. No, Albert, +I cannot follow the messenger you send; or, to use the more true and +straight-forward word, I _will_ not; and never by my presence with +you, however much I may still love you, will I countenance the acts to +which you are now hurrying." + +It was signed "Clémence;" but it fell from the Count's hand ere his +eye had reached that word, and he gazed at it fixedly as it lay upon +the ground for several moments, without attempting to raise it; then, +turning with a sudden start to Riquet and another servant who stood +by, as if for orders, he exclaimed--"To horse!" + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + THE PASTOR'S PRISON. + + +The pillow of Clémence de Marly was wet with her tears, and sleep had +not visited her eyes, when a quick knocking was heard at her door, and +she demanded timidly who was there. + +"It is I, Madam," replied the voice of the Duchess de Rouvré's maid. + +"Then wait a moment, Mariette," replied Clémence, "and I will open the +door. She rose, put on a dressing gown, and by the light of the lamp +which still stood unextinguished on the table, she raised and +concealed, in a small casket, two letters which she had left open, and +which bore evident signs of having been wept over before she retired +to rest. The one was in the clear free handwriting of youth and +strength; the other was in characters, every line of which spoke the +feeble hand of age, infirmity, or sickness. When that was done, she +opened the door which was locked, and admitted the Duchess's maid, who +was followed into the room by her own attendant Maria, who usually +slept in a little chamber hard by. + +"What is the matter, Mariette?" demanded the young lady. "I can +scarcely say that I have closed my eyes ere I am again disturbed." + +"I am sorry, Mademoiselle, to alarm you," replied the woman; "but +Maria would positively not wake you, so I was obliged to do it, for +the Duke was sent for just as he was going to bed, and after remaining +for two hours with the King has returned, and given immediate orders +to prepare for a long journey. The Duchess sent me to let you know +that such was the case, and that the carriages would be at the door in +less than two hours." + +"Do you know whither they are going," demanded Clémence, "and if I am +to accompany them?" + +"I know nothing from the Duke or the Duchess, Mademoiselle," replied +the woman, "but the Duke's valet said that we were going either to +Brittany or Poitou, for my lord had brought away a packet from the +King addressed to somebody in those quarters; and you are going +certainly, Mademoiselle, for the Duchess told me to tell you so, and +the valet says that it is on account of you we are going; for that the +Chevalier came back with my lord the Duke, and when he parted with +him, said, 'Tell Clémence, she shall hear from me soon.'" + +Clémence mused, but made no answer; and when in about an hour after, +she descended to the saloon of the hotel, she found every thing in the +confusion of departure, and the Duc de Rouvré standing by the table, +at which his wife was seated, waiting for the moment of setting out, +with a face wan, indeed, and somewhat anxious, but not so sorrowful or +dejected as perhaps Clémence expected to see. + +"I fear, my dear Duke," she said, approaching him and leaning her two +hands affectionately upon his arm, "I fear that you, who have been to +your poor Clémence a father indeed, are destined to have even more +than a father's share of pains and anxieties with her. I am sure that +all this to-night is owing to me, or to those that are dear to me, and +that you have fallen under the King's displeasure on account of the +rash steps of him whom I cannot yet cease to love." + +"Not at all, my sweet Clémence; not at all, my sweet child," said the +old nobleman, kissing her hand with that mingled air of gallant +respect and affection which he always showed towards her. "I do not +mean to say, that your fair self has nothing to do with this business +in any way, but certainly not in that way. It is about another +business altogether, Clémence, that we are ordered to retire from the +court; but not in disgrace, my dear young friend, we are by no means +in disgrace. The King is perfectly satisfied that you have had no +share in all the business of poor Albert of Morseiul; and when I told +him how bitterly and deeply grieved you were, and how struck to the +heart you seemed to have been, when you heard that the Count had fled +to join the rebels in Poitou, he told me to bid you console yourself, +saying, that he would find you another and a better husband soon." + +Clémence's eyes were bent down upon the ground with an expression of +grief and pain; but she looked up in a moment, and said, "Is it +permitted me to ask you, my lord, how I am connected with this sudden +removal?" + +"Nay," he said, "nay, sweet Clémence, that I must not tell you. I +scruple not to say, that I think his Majesty is acting without due +consideration; but, of course, my first duty, like that of all his +other subjects, is to obey; and he particularly wishes that nothing +should be said to you on the subject, as it might render one duty +difficult by opposing to it another. At present the whole matter is +quite simple; we have nothing to do but to set out as soon as these +villanous lackeys have got the carriages ready." + +Thus saying, the Duke turned away, evidently wishing to avoid further +inquiries, and in about half an hour after Clémence was rolling away +from Versailles with the Duke and Duchess de Rouvré, followed by a +long train of carriages and attendants. + +It is needless to trace a melancholy journey in the darkest and +gloomiest weather of the month of November; but it was evident that +the Duc de Rouvré was in haste, travelling early and late, and it also +appeared, from his conversation as they went, that, though he was +charged with no special mission from the King, he proposed only +pausing for a short time in Poitou, and then bending his steps to some +of his other estates. Indeed, he suffered it to be understood that, in +all probability, for many months he should take but little repose, +frequently changing his place of abode, and travelling from one city +to another. Although the health of Madame de Rouvré was by no means +vigorous, and though far and rapid travelling never, at any time, had +agreed with her, she made no objection, but seemed contented and happy +with the arrangement, and even suggested that a journey to Italy might +be beneficial to them all. + +Clémence wondered but was silent; and at length, late on the afternoon +of the sixth day after their departure, they arrived at the small town +of Thouars, over which was brooding the dark grey fogs of a November +evening. Not many miles remained to travel from Thouars to Ruffigny; +and the Duke, who was of course well known in that part of the +country, received visits of congratulation on his arrival from the +principal officers and inhabitants of the town. At these visits, +however, Clémence was not present. She sent down an excuse for not +appearing during the evening; and when the Duke sent up to say he +wished to see her for a moment, she was not to be found, nor had she, +indeed, returned at the end of an hour. + +Where was Clémence de Marly? it may be asked. She was in the dark and +gloomy abode, often of crime and often of innocence, but ever of +anguish and of sorrow. She was in the prison of the old château of +Thouars. Not, indeed, as one of those unfortunate beings, the +involuntary inmates of the place, but as one coming upon the sad and +solemn errand of visiting a dear and well-beloved friend for the last +time. The office of governor of the prison, as it was seldom if ever +used for the confinement of state offenders, had been suffered to fall +into the hands of the mayor of the place, who delegated his charge to +an old lieutenant, who again entrusted it to two subordinate gaolers, +antique and rusty in their office as the keys they carried. It was +with one of these that Clémence was speaking eagerly in the small dark +passage that led into the interior of the building. She was habited in +the ordinary grey cloak in which we have seen her twice before, and +had with her still, on this occasion also, the faithful servant who +had then attended her. + +"Come, come, pretty mistress," said the man, thrusting himself +steadfastly in the way, "I tell you it is as much as my head is worth. +He is condemned to be broken on the wheel to-morrow, and I dare admit +nobody to him." + +"Look at these," said Clémence, pouring some gold pieces from her +purse into her open hand. "I offer you these if you will allow me to +speak with him for an hour, and if you refuse I shall certainly insist +upon seeing the lieutenant of the governor himself. You know what +manner of man he is, and whether he will reject what I shall offer +him; so he will get the money, and you will not, and I shall see the +prisoner notwithstanding." + +The man's resolution was evidently shaken to the foundation. He was an +old man and fond of gold. The sight was pleasant to him, and, putting +forth his hand, he lifted one piece between his finger and thumb, +turned it over, and dropped it back again upon the others. The sound +completed what the touch had begun. + +"Well," he said at length, "I do not see why he should get it and I +not. He is asleep, too, now in the arm-chair; so it were a pity to +wake him. You want to be with the old man an hour, do you, young +woman? Well, you must both go in then; and I must go away and be +absent with the keys, for fear the lieutenant should wake and go to +see the prisoner." + +"Do you mean to lock us in with him, then?" exclaimed the maid, in +some terror. + +"Fear not, Maria!" said her mistress. "You, who have ever given me +encouragement and support, must not fear now. There is God even here." + +"Be quick, then, and come along," said the gaoler, "but first give me +the money." Clémence poured it into his hand; and when he had got it, +he paused, hesitating as if he were tempted by the spirit of evil to +keep the gold and refuse her admission. But if such were the case, a +moment's reflection showed him that to attempt it would be ruinous; +and he, therefore, led the way along the passage in which they were, +putting his finger upon his lips to enjoin silence, as they passed by +a part of the prison which seemed to be inhabited by those who had +some means of obtaining luxuries. At length, however, he lowered a +lantern which he carried, and pointed to two or three steps which led +into another passage, narrower, damper, and colder than the former. At +the distance of about fifty feet from the steps this corridor was +crossed by another; and turning to the right over a rough uneven +flooring of earth, with the faint light of the lantern gleaming here +and there on the damp green glistening mould of the walls, he walked +on till he reached the end, and then opened a low heavy door. + +All within was dark, and, as the man drew back to let his female +companions pass, the attendant, Maria, laid her hand upon the lantern, +saying, "Give us a light, at least!" + +"Ah! well, you may have it," grumbled forth the gaoler; and Clémence, +who though resolute to her purpose, still felt the natural fears of +her sex and her situation, turned to him, saying, "I give you three +more of those pieces when you open the door again for me." + +"Oh, I'll do that--I'll do that!" replied the man, quickened by the +gold; and while Maria took the lantern and passed the door, Clémence +gazed down the step or two that led into the dungeon, and then with a +pale cheek and wrung heart followed. The door closed behind them; the +harsh bolt of the lock grated as the man turned the key; and, the +power of retreat being at an end, the beautiful girl threw back the +hood of the cloak, and gazed on before her into the obscure vault, +which the feeble light of the lantern had scarcely deprived of any +part of its darkness. The only thing that she could perceive, at +first, was a large heavy pillar in the midst, supporting the pointed +vault of the dungeon, with the faint outline of a low wooden bed, with +the head thereof resting against the column. + +No one spoke; and nothing but a faint moan broke the awful silence. It +required the pause of a moment or two ere Clémence could overcome the +feelings of her own heart sufficiently to take the lantern and +advance; opening a part of the dim horn as she did so, in order to +give greater light. A step or two farther forward brought her to the +side of the bed; and the light of the lantern now showed her +distinctly the venerable form of Claude de l'Estang stretched out upon +the straw with which the pallet was filled. A heavy chain was round +his middle, and the farther end thereof was fastened to a stanchion in +the column. + +The minister was dressed in a loose grey prison gown, and, although he +saw the approach of some one in the abode of misery in which he was +placed, he moved not at all, but remained with his arm bent under his +head, his eyes turned slightly towards the door, his lower lip +dropping as if with debility or pain, and his whole attitude +displaying the utter lassitude and apathy of exhaustion and despair. +When Clémence was within a foot or two of his side, however, he slowly +raised his eyes towards her; and in a moment, when he beheld her face, +a bright gleam came over his faded countenance, awakening in it all +those peculiar signs and marks of strong intellect and intense feeling +which the moment before had seemed extinct and gone. It was like the +lightning flashing over some noble ruin in the midst of the deep +darkness of the night. + +"Is it you, my sweet child?" he cried, in a faint voice that was +scarcely audible even in the midst of the still silence. "Is it you +that have come to visit me in this abode of wretchedness and agony? +This is indeed a blessing and a comfort; a blessing to see that there +are some faithful even to the last, a comfort and a joy to find that +she on whose truth and steadfastness I had fixed such hopes, has not +deceived me;--and yet," he exclaimed, while Clémence gazed upon him +with the tears rolling rapidly over her cheeks, and the sobs +struggling hard for utterance, "and yet, why, oh why have you come +here? why have you risked so much, my child, to soothe the few short +hours that to-morrow's noon shall see at an end?" + +"Oh, dear friend," said Clémence, kneeling down beside the pallet, +"could I do otherwise, when I was in this very town, than strive to +see you, my guide, my instructor, my teacher in right, my warner of +the path that I ought to shun? Could I do otherwise, when I thought +that there was none to soothe, that there was none to console you, +that in the darkness and the agony of these awful hours there was not +one voice to speak comfort, or to say one word of sympathy?" + +"My child, you are mistaken," replied the old man, striving to raise +himself upon his arm, and sinking back again with a low groan. "There +has been one to comfort, there has been one to support me. He, to whom +I go, has never abandoned me: neither in the midst of insult and +degradation; no, nor in the moment of agony and torture, nor in those +long and weary hours that have passed since they bore these ancient +limbs from the rack on which they had bound them, and cast them down +here to endure the time in darkness, in pain, and in utter +helplessness, till at noon to-morrow the work will be accomplished on +the bloody wheel, and the prisoner in this ruined clay will receive a +joyful summons to fly far to his Redeemer's throne." + +The tears rained down from the eyes of Clémence de Marly like the +drops of a summer shower; but she dared not trust herself to speak: +and after pausing to take breath, which came evidently with +difficulty, the old man went on, "But still I say, Clémence, still I +say, why have you come hither? You know not the danger, you know not +the peril in which you are." + +"What!" cried Clémence, "should I fear danger, should I fear peril in +such a case as this? Let them do to me what they will, let them do to +me what God permits them to do. To have knelt here beside you, to have +spoken one word of comfort to you, to have wiped the drops from that +venerable brow in this awful moment, would be a sufficient recompense +to Clémence de Marly for all that she could suffer." + +"God forbid," cried the pastor, "that they should make you suffer as +they can. You know not what it is, my child--you know not what it is! +If it were possible that an immortal spirit, armed with God's truth, +should consent unto a lie, that torture might well produce so awful a +falling off! But you recall me, my child, to what I was saying. I have +not been alone, I have not been uncomforted even here. The word of God +has been with me in my heart, the Spirit of God has sustained my +spirit, the sufferings of my Saviour have drowned my sufferings, the +hope of immortality has made me bear the utmost pains of earth. When +they had taken away the printed words from before mine eyes, when they +had shut out the light of heaven, so that I could not have seen, even +if the holy book had been left, they thought they had deprived me of +my solace. But they forgot that every word thereof was in my heart; +that it was written there, with the bright memories of my early days; +that it was traced there with the calm recollections of my manhood; +that it was printed there with sufferings and with tears; that it was +graven there with smiles and joys; that with every act of my life, and +thought of my past being, those words of the revealed will of God were +mingled, and never could be separated; and it came back to me even +here, and blessed me in the dungeon; it came back to me before the +tribunal of my enemies, and gave me a mouth and wisdom; it came back +to me on the torturing rack, and gave me strength to endure without a +groan; it came back to me even as I was lying mangled here, and made +the wheel of to-morrow seem a blessed resting-place." + +"Alas, alas!" cried Clémence, "when I see you here; when I see you +thus suffering; when I see you thus the sport of cruelty and +persecution, I feel that I have judged too harshly of poor Albert, in +regard to his taking arms against the oppressors; I feel that perhaps, +like him, I should have thus acted, even though I called the charge of +ingratitude upon my head." + +"And is he free, then? is he free?" demanded the pastor, eagerly. + +"He is free," replied Clémence, "and, as we hear, in arms against the +King." + +"Oh, entreat him to lay them down," exclaimed the pastor; "beseech him +not to attempt it Tell him that ruin and death can be the only +consequences: tell him that the Protestant church is at an end in +France: tell him that flight to lands where the pure faith is known +and loved is the only hope: tell him that resistance is destruction to +him, and to all others. Tell him so, my child, tell him so from me: +tell him so--but, hark!" he continued, "what awful sound is that?" for +even while he was speaking, and apparently close to the spot where the +dungeon was situated, a sharp explosion took place, followed by a +multitude of heavy blows given with the most extraordinary rapidity. +No voices were distinguished for some minutes; and the blows continued +without a moment's cessation, thundering one upon the other with a +vehemence and force which seemed to shake the whole building. + +"It is surely," said Clémence, "somebody attacking the prison door. +Perhaps, oh Heaven! perhaps it is some one trying to deliver you." + +"Heaven forbid!" exclaimed the old man; "Heaven forbid that they +should madly rush to such an attempt for the purpose of saving, for a +few short hours, this wretched frame from that death which will be a +relief. Hark, do you not hear cries and shouts?" + +Clémence listened, and she distinctly heard many voices apparently +elevated, but at a distance, while the sound of the blows continued +thundering upon what was evidently the door of the prison, and a low +murmur, as if of persons speaking round, joined with the space to make +the farther cries indistinct. A pause succeeded for a moment or two; +but then came the sound of galloping horse, and then a sharp discharge +of musketry, instantly followed by the loud report of fire-arms from a +spot immediately adjacent to the building. Clémence clasped her hands +in terror, while her attendant Maria, filled with the dangerous +situation in which they were placed, ran and pushed the door of the +dungeon, idly endeavouring to force it open. + +In the mean while, for two or three minutes nothing was heard but +shouts and cries, with two or three musket shots; then came a volley, +then another, then two or three more shots, then the charging of horse +mingled with cries, and shouts, and screams, while still the +thundering blows continued, and at length a loud and tremendous crash +was heard shaking the whole building. A momentary pause succeeded, the +blows were no longer heard, and the next sound was the rush of many +feet. A moment of doubt and apprehension, of anxiety, nay of terror, +followed. Clémence was joyful at the thought of the pastor's +deliverance; but what, she asked herself, was to be her own fate, even +if the purpose of those who approached was the good man's liberation. +Another volley from without broke in upon the other sounds; but in an +instant after the rushing of the feet approached the door where they +were, and manifold voices were heard speaking. + +"It is locked," cried one; "where can the villain be with the keys?" + +"Get back," cried another loud voice; "give me but a fair stroke at +it." + +A blow like thunder followed; and, seeming to fall upon the locks and +bolts of the door, dashed them at once to pieces, driving a part of +the wood-work into the dungeon itself. Two more blows cast the whole +mass wrenched from its hinges to the ground. A multitude of people +rushed in, some of them bearing lights, all armed to the teeth, some +bloody, some begrimed with smoke and gunpowder; fierce excitement +flashing from every eye, and eager energy upon every face. + +"He is here, he is here," they shouted to the others without. "Make +way, make way, let us bring him out." + +"But who are these women?" cried another voice. + +"Friends, friends, dear friends, come to comfort me," cried the +pastor. + +"Blessings on the tongue that so often has taught us," cried other +voices, while several ran forward and kissed his hands with tears; +"blessings on the heart that has guided and directed us." + +"Stand back, my friends, stand back," cried a gigantic man, with an +immense sledge-hammer in his hand, "let me break the chain;" and at a +single blow he dashed the strong links to atoms. + +"Now bring them all along!" he cried, "now bring them all along! Take +up the good man on the bed, and carry him out." + +"Bring them all along! bring them all along!" cried a thousand voices, +and without being listened to in any thing that she had to say, +Clémence, clinging as closely as she could to her attendant, was +hurried out along the narrow passages of the prison, which were now +flashing with manifold lights, into the dark little square which was +found filled with people. Multitudes of lights were in all the windows +round, and, covering the prison, a strong band of men were drawn up +facing the opposite street. A number of persons on horseback were in +front of the band, and, by the lights which were flashing from the +torches in the street, one commanding figure appeared to the eyes of +Clémence at the very moment she was brought forth from the doors of +the prison, stretching out his hand towards the men behind him, and +shouting, in a voice that she could never forget, though now that +voice was raised into tones of loud command, such as she had never +heard it use. "Hold! hold! the man that fires a shot dies! Not one +unnecessary shot, not one unnecessary blow!" + +Clémence strove to turn that way, and to fly towards the hotel where +Monsieur de Rouvré lodged; but she was borne away by the stream, which +seemed to be now retreating from the town. At the same moment an armed +man laid gently hold of her cloak, seeing her efforts to free herself, +and said,-- + +"This way, lady, this way. It is madness for you to think to go back +now. You are with friends. You are with one who will protect you with +his life, for your kindness to the murdered and the lost." + +She turned round to gaze upon him, not recollecting his voice; and his +face, in the indistinct light, seemed to her like a face remembered in +a dream, connected with the awful scene of the preaching on the moor, +and the dark piece of water, and the dying girl killed by the shot of +the dragoons. Ere she could ask any questions, however, the stream of +people hurried her on, and in a few minutes she was out of Thouars, +and in the midst of the open country round. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + THE DEATH OF THE PERSECUTED. + + +When the flight had been conducted for about two miles in the midst of +the perfect darkness which surrounded the whole scene--for the lights +and torches which had appeared in the town had been extinguished with +the exception of one or two, on leaving it--the voice which had before +addressed Clémence de Marly again spoke nearer, apparently giving +command, as some one in authority over the others. + +"Where is the litter?" he exclaimed.--"Where is the litter that was +brought for the good minister? Bring it hither: he will be more easy +in that." + +Clémence had kept as near as she could to the spot where Claude de +l'Estang was carried, and she now heard him answer in a faint and +feeble voice,-- + +"Do not move me: in pity do not move me. My limbs are so strained and +dislocated by the rack, that the slightest movement pains me. Carry me +as I am, if you will; but move me not from this bed." + +"Well, then, place these two ladies in the litter," said the same +voice. "We shall go faster then." + +Without asking her consent, Clémence de Marly was placed in the small +hand-litter which had been brought for the pastor; her maid took the +place by her side, and, lifted on the shoulders of four men, she was +carried on more quickly, gaining a faint and indistinct view of what +was passing around, from the more elevated situation in which she now +was. + +They were mounting slowly the side of the hill, about two miles from +the town of Thouars, and she could catch a distant view of the dark +towers and masses of the town as it then existed, rising above the +objects around. From thence, as far as her eye was able to +distinguish, a stream of people was flowing on all along the road to +the very spot where she was, and several detached parties were seen +here and there, crossing the different eminences on either side, so +that the force assembled must have been very considerable. She +listened eagerly for any sound from the direction of Thouars, +apprehensive at every moment that she would hear the firing renewed; +for she knew, or at least she believed she knew, that Albert of +Morseiul, with the better disciplined band which he seemed to command, +would be the last to leave the city he had so boldly entered. Nothing, +however, confirmed her expectation. There was a reddish light over the +town, as if there were either fires in the streets, or that the houses +were generally lighted up; but all was silent, except a dull distant +murmur, heard when the sound of the marching feet ceased from any +cause for a moment. Few words passed between Clémence and her +attendant; for though Maria was a woman of a calm determined spirit in +moments of immediate danger, and possessed with a degree of religious +zeal, which was a strong support in times of peril and difficulty, yet +the scenes in the prison and the dungeon, the horrors which she had +only dreamt of before brought actually before her eyes, had not +precisely unnerved, but had rendered her thoughtful and silent. The +only sentence which she ventured to address to her mistress, without +being spoken to, was,-- + +"Oh, Madam, is the young Count so much to blame, after all?" + +"Alas, Maria," replied Clémence, in the same low tone, "I think that +all are to blame, more or less. Deep provocation has certainly been +given; but I do think that Albert ought to have acted differently. He +had not these scenes before his eyes when he fled to put himself at +the head of the insurgents; and ere he did so, he certainly owed +something to me and something to the King. Nevertheless, since I have +seen what I have seen, and heard what I have heard, I can make excuses +which I could not make before." + +The attendant made no reply, and the conversation dropped. The march +continued rapidly for three or four hours, till at length there was a +short halt; and a brief consultation seemed to take place between two +or three of the leaders on horseback. The principal part of the men on +foot, exhausted as it appeared by great exertion, sat or lay down by +the road side; but ere the conference had gone on for above five +minutes, a cavalier, followed by several other men on horseback, came +up at the full gallop; and again the deep mellow tones of that +remarkable voice struck the ear of Clémence de Marly, and made her +whole frame thrill. His words, or as they appeared commands, were but +few; and, without either approaching the side of Claude de l'Estang or +herself, he rode back again in haste, and the march was renewed. + +Ere long a fine cold rain began to fall, chilling those it lighted on +to the very heart; and Clémence thought she perceived that as they +advanced the number of people gradually fell away. At length, after a +long and fatiguing march through the night, as the faint grey of the +dawn began to appear, she found that, at the very utmost, there were +not above a hundred of the armed Protestants around her. The party was +evidently under the command of a short but powerfully made man, on +horseback, whom she recognised as the person who had carried the +unfortunate novice Claire in his arms to the house of Claude de +l'Estang. He rode on constantly by the side of the bed in which the +good pastor was carried on men's shoulders, and bowing down his head +from time to time, he spoke to him with what seemed words of comfort +and hope. They were now on a part of the road from Thouars towards +Nantes, that passed through the midst of one of those wide sandy +tracts called in France _landes_, across which a sort of causeway had +been made by felled trees, rough and painful of passage even to the +common carts of the country. This causeway, however, was soon quitted +by command of Armand Herval. One party took its way through the sands +to the right; and the rest, following the litters, bent their course +across the country, towards a spot where a dark heavy line bounded the +portion of the _landes_ within sight, and seemed to denote a large +wood of the deep black pine, which grows better than any other tree in +that sandy soil. It was near an hour before they reached the wood; and +even underneath its shadow the shifting sand continued, only +diversified a little by a few thin blades of green grass, sufficient +to feed the scanty flocks of sheep, which form the only riches of that +tract. + +In the midst of the wood--where they had found or formed a little +oasis around them--were two shepherds' cottages; and to these the +party commanded by Armand Herval at once directed its course. An old +man and two boys came out as they approached, but with no signs of +surprise; and Claude de l'Estang was carried to one of the cottages, +into which Clémence followed. She had caught a sight of the good man's +face as they bore him past her, and she saw that there was another sad +and painful task before her, for which she nerved her mind. + +"Now, good Antoine," said Armand Herval, speaking to one of the +shepherds, "lead out the sheep with all speed, and take them over all +the tracks of men and horses that you may meet with. You will do it +carefully, I know. We have delivered the good man, as you see; but I +fear--I fear much that we have after all come too late, for the +butchers have put him to the question, and almost torn him limb from +limb. God knows I made what speed I could, and so did the Count." + +The old shepherd to whom he spoke made no reply, but listened, gazing +in his face with a look of deep melancholy. One of the younger men who +stood by, however, said, "We heard the firing. I suppose they strove +hard to keep him." + +"That they assuredly did!" replied Herval, his brows knitting as he +spoke; "and if we had not been commanded by such a man, they would not +only have kept him, but us too. One half of our people failed us. +Boursault was not there. Kerac and his band never came. We were full +seven hundred short, and then the petard went off too soon, and did no +good, but brought the whole town upon us. They had dragoons, too, from +Niort; and tried first to drive us back, then to take us in flank by +the tower-street, then to barricade the way behind us; but they found +they had to do with a Count de Morseiul, and they were met every +where, and every where defeated. Yet, after all," continued the man, +"he will ruin us from his fear of shedding any blood but his own. But +I must go in and see after the good man; and then speed to the woods. +We shall be close round about, and one sound of a conch[3] will bring +a couple of hundred to help you, good Antoine." + + +--------------------- + +[Footnote 3: This large shell is used in many of the sea-coast +districts of France still, for the purpose of giving signals. The +sound, when properly blown, is very powerful and peculiar. They assert +that across a level country it can be heard six miles. I have myself +heard it more than two, and so distinctly, that it must have been +audible at a much greater distance.] + +--------------------- + + +Thus saying, he went into the cottage, where Clémence had already +taken her place by the side of the unhappy pastor's bed; and, on the +approach of Herval, she raised her finger gently to indicate that he +slept. He had, indeed, fallen into momentary slumber, utterly +exhausted by suffering and fatigue; but the fallen temples--the +sharpened features--the pale ashy hue of the countenance, showed to +the eyes of Clémence, at least, that the sleep was not that from which +he would wake refreshed and better. Herval, less acute in his +perceptions, judged differently; and, after assuring Clémence in a +whisper that she was quite in safety there, as the woods round were +filled with the band, he left her, promising to return ere night. + +Clémence would fain have asked after Albert of Morseiul, and might, +perhaps, have expressed a wish to see him; but there were strange +feelings of timidity in her heart which kept her silent till the man +was gone, and then she regretted that she had not spoken, and accused +herself of weakness. During the time that she now sat watching by the +pastor's side, she had matter enough for thought in her own situation. +What was now to become of her, was a question that frequently +addressed itself to her heart; and, more than once, as she thus sat +and pondered, the warm ingenuous blood rushed up into her cheek at +thoughts which naturally arose in her bosom from the consideration of +the strange position in which she was placed. Albert of Morseiul had +not seen her, she knew. He could not even divine or imagine that she +was at Thouars at all, much less in the prison itself; but yet she +felt somewhat reproachfully towards him, as if he should have divined +that it was she whom he saw borne along, not far from the unhappy +pastor. Though she acknowledged, too, in her own heart, that there +were great excuses to be made for the decided part which her lover had +taken in the insurrection of that part of the country, still she was +not satisfied, altogether, with his having done so; still she called +him, in her own heart, both rash and ungrateful. + +On the other hand, she remembered, that she had written to him in +haste, and in some degree of anger, or, at least, of bitter +disappointment; that she had refused, without explaining all the +circumstances which prevented her, to share his flight as she had +previously promised; that, hurried and confused, she had neither told +him that, at the very time she was writing, the Duchess de Rouvré +waited to accompany her to the court, and that to fly at such a moment +was impossible; nor that, during the whole of the following day, she +was to remain at Versailles, where the eyes of every one would be upon +her, more especially attracted towards her by the news of her lover's +flight, which must, by that time, be generally known. She feared, too, +that in that letter she had expressed herself harshly, even unkindly; +she feared that those very words might have driven the Count into the +desperate course which he had adopted, and she asked herself, with +feelings such as she had never experienced before, when contemplating +a meeting with Albert of Morseiul, how would he receive her? + +In short, in thinking of the Count, she felt that she had been +somewhat in the wrong in regard to her conduct towards him. But she +felt, also, at the same time, that he had been likewise in the wrong, +and, therefore, what she had first to anticipate were the words of +mutual reproach, rather than the words of mutual affection. Such was +one painful theme of thought, and how she was to shape her own +immediate conduct was another. To return to the house of the Duc de +Rouvré seemed utterly out of the question. She had been found in the +prison of Claude de l'Estang. Her religious feelings could no longer +be concealed; her renunciation of the Catholic faith was sure, at that +time, to be looked upon as nothing short of treason; and death or +eternal imprisonment was the only fate that would befall her, if she +were once cast into the hands of the Roman Catholic party. + +What then was she to do? Was she to throw herself at once upon the +protection of Albert of Morseiul? Was she to bind her fate to his for +ever, at the very moment when painful points of difference had arisen +between them? Was she to cast herself upon his bounty as a suppliant, +instead of holding the same proud situation she had formerly +held,--instead of being enabled to confer upon him that which he would +consider an inestimable benefit, while she herself enhanced its value +beyond all price, by the sacrifice of all and every thing for him? Was +she now, on the contrary,--when it seemed as if she had refused to +make that sacrifice for his sake,--to come to him, as a fugitive, +claiming his protection, to demand his bounty and his support, and to +supplicate permission to share the fate in which he might think she +had shown a disinclination to participate, till she was compelled to +do so? + +The heart of Clémence de Marly was wrung at the thought. She knew that +Albert of Morseiul was generous, noble, kind-hearted. She felt that, +very likely, he might view the case in much brighter hues than she +herself depicted it to her own mind; she felt that, if she were a +suppliant to him, no reproach would ever spring to his lips; no cold +averted look would ever tell her that he thought she had treated him +ill. But she asked herself whether those reproaches would not be in +his heart; and the pride, which might have taken arms and supported +her under any distinct and open charge, gave way at the thought of +being condemned, and yet cherished. + +How should she act, then? how should she act? she asked herself; and +as Clémence de Marly was far from one of those perfect creatures who +always act right from the first impulse, the struggle between +contending feelings was long and terrible, and mingled with some +tears. Her determination, however, was right at length. + +"I will tell him all I have felt, and all I think," she said. "I will +utter no reproach: I will say not one word to wound him: I will let +him see once more, how deeply and truly I love him. I will hear, +without either pride or anger, any thing that Albert of Morseiul will +say to me, and then, having done so, I will trust to his generosity to +do the rest. I need not fear! Surely, I need not fear!" and, with this +resolution, she became more composed, the surest and the strongest +proof that it was right. + +But, to say the truth, since the perils of the night just passed, +since she had beheld him she loved in a new character; since, with her +own eyes, she had seen him commanding in the strife of men, and every +thing seeming to yield to the will of his powerful and intrepid mind, +new feelings had mingled with her love for him, of which, what she had +experienced when he rode beside her at the hunting party at Poitiers, +had been but, as it were, a type. It was not fear, but it was some +degree of awe. She felt that, with all her own strength of mind, with +all her own brightness of intellect and self-possession, there were +mightier qualities in his character to which she must bow down: that +she, in fact, was woman, altogether woman, in his presence. + +As she thus thought, a slight motion on the bed where Claude de +l'Estang was laid made her turn her eyes thither. The old man had +awoke from his short slumber, and his eyes, still bright and +intelligent, notwithstanding the approach of death and the exhaustion +of his shattered frame, were turned towards her with an earnest and a +melancholy expression. + +"I hope you feel refreshed," said Clémence, bending over him. "You +have had some sleep; and I trust it has done you good." + +"Do not deceive yourself, my dear child," replied the old man. "No +sleep can do me good, but that deep powerful one which is soon coming. +I wait but God's will, Clémence, and I trust that he will soon give +the spirit liberty. It will be in mercy, Clémence, that he sends +death; for were life to be prolonged, think what it would be to this +torn and mangled frame. Neither hand nor foot can I move, nor were it +possible to give back strength to my limbs or ease to my body. Every +hour that I remain, I look upon but as a trial of patience and of +faith, and I will not murmur: no, Clémence, not even in thought, +against His almighty will, who bids me drag on the weary minutes +longer. But yet, when the last of those minutes has come, oh! how +gladly shall I feel the summons that others dread and fly from! I +would fain, my child," he said, "I would fain hear: and from your +lips: some of that blessed word which the misguided persecutors of our +church deny unmutilated to the blind followers of their faith, though +every word therein speaks hope, and consolation, and counsel, and +direction to the heart of man." + +"Alas! good father," replied Clémence, "the Bible which I always carry +with me, was left behind when I came to see you in prison, and I know +not where to find one here." + +"The people in this, or the neighbouring cottage, have one," said the +pastor. "They are good honest souls, whom I have often visited in +former days." + +As the good woman of the cottage had gone out, almost immediately +after the arrival of the party, to procure some herbs, which she +declared would soothe the pastor greatly, Clémence proceeded to the +other cottage, where she found an old man with a Bible in his hand, +busily reading a portion thereof to a little boy who stood near. He +looked up, and gave her the book as soon as she told him the purpose +for which she came, and then, following into the cottage where the +pastor lay, he and the boy stood by, and listened attentively while +she read such chapters as Claude de l'Estang expressed a wish to hear. +Those chapters were not, in general, such as might have been supposed. +They were not those which hold out the glorious promises of +everlasting life to men who suffer for their faith in this state of +being. They were not such as pourtray to us, in its real and spiritual +character, that other world, to which the footsteps of all are +tending. It seemed as if, of such things, the mind of the pastor was +so fully convinced, so intimately and perfectly sure, that they were +as parts of his own being. But the passages that he selected were +those in which our Redeemer lays down all the bright, perfect, and +unchangeable precepts for the rule and governance of man's own +conduct, which form the only code of law and philosophy that can +indeed be called divine. And in that last hour it seemed the greatest +hope and consolation which the dying man could receive, to ponder upon +those proofs of divine love and wisdom which nothing but the Spirit of +God himself could have dictated. + +Thus passed the whole of the day. From time to time Clémence paused, +and the pastor spoke a few words to those who surrounded him: words of +humble comment on what was read, or pious exhortation. At other times, +when his fair companion was tired, the attendant Maria would take the +book and read. No noises, no visit from without, disturbed the calm. +It seemed as if their persecutors were at fault; and though from time +to time one of the different members of those shepherd families passed +in or out, no other persons were seen moving upon the face of the +_landes_; no sounds were heard but their own low voices throughout the +short light of a November day. To one fresh from the buzz of cities, +and the busy activity of man, the contrast of the stillness and the +solitude was strange; but doubly strange and exceeding solemn were +they to the mind of her who came, fresh from the perturbed and fevered +visions of the preceding night, and saw that day lapse away like a +long and quiet sleep. + +Towards the dusk of the evening, however, her attendant laid her hand +upon her arm as she was still reading, saying, "There is a change +coming;" and Clémence paused and gazed down upon the old man's +countenance. It looked very grey; but whether from the shadows of the +evening, or from the loss of whatever hue of living health remained, +she could hardly tell. But the difference was not so great in the +colour as in the expression. The look of pain and suffering which, +notwithstanding all his efforts to bear his fate with tranquillity, +had still marked that fine expressive countenance, was gone, and a +calm and tranquil aspect had succeeded, although the features were +extremely sharpened, the eye sunk, and the temples hollow. It was the +look of a body and a spirit at peace; and, for a moment, as the eyes +were turned up towards the sky, Clémence imagined that the spirit was +gone: but the next moment he looked round towards her, as if inquiring +why she stopped. + +"How are you, Sir?" she said. "You seem more at ease." + +"I am quite at ease, Clémence," replied the old man. "All pain has +left me. I am somewhat cold, but that is natural; and for the last +half hour the remains of yesterday's agony have been wearing away, as +I have seen snow upon a hill's side melt in the April sunshine. It is +strange, and scarcely to be believed, that death should be so +pleasant; for this is death, my child, and I go away from this world +of care and pain with a foretaste of the mercies of the next. It is +very slow, but still it is coming, Clémence, and bringing healing on +its wings. Death, the messenger of God's will, to one that trusts in +his mercy, is indeed the harbinger of that peace of God which passes +all understanding." + +He paused a little, and his voice had grown considerably weaker, even +while he spoke. "God forgive my enemies," he said at length, "and the +mistaken men who persecute others for their soul's sake. God forgive +them, and yield them a better light; for, oh how I wish that all men +could feel death only as I feel it!" + +Such were the last words of Claude de l'Estang. They were perfectly +audible and distinct to every one present, and they were spoken with +the usual calm sweet simplicity of manner which had characterised all +the latter part of his life. But after he had again paused for two or +three minutes, he opened his lips as if to say something more, but no +sound was heard. He instantly felt that such was the case, and ceased; +but he feebly stretched forth his hand toward Clémence, who bent her +head over it, and dewed it with her tears. + +When she raised her eyes, they fell upon the face of the dead. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + THE DISCOVERY OF ERROR. + + +We must now change the scene and time, though the spot to which we +will conduct the reader is not situated more than ten miles from that +in which the events took place recorded in the last chapter, and only +one day's interval had elapsed. Considerably more inland, it presented +none of that sandy appearance which characterises the _landes_. The +vegetation also was totally different, the rich, even rank, grass +spreading under the tall trees of the forest, and the ivy covering +those which had lost their leaves thus early in the year. + +There was a little château belonging to an inferior noble of the +province, situated in the midst of one of those wide woods which the +French of that day took the greatest pains to maintain in a +flourishing condition, both for the sake of the fuel which they +afforded, and the cover that they gave to the objects of the chase. +The château itself was built, as usual, upon an eminence of +considerable elevation, overlooking the forest world around, and in +its immediate neighbourhood the wood was cleared away so as to give an +open esplanade, along which, upon the present occasion, some fifteen +hundred or two thousand men had passed the preceding day and night: +having liberated the poor pastor of Auron on the night before. Some +few tents of rude construction, some huts hastily raised, had been +their only shelter; but they murmured not; and indeed it was not from +such causes that any of those who deserted from the body of Protestant +insurgents quitted the standard of their leader. It was, that the +agents of the governing priesthood had long been busy amongst them, +and had sapped the principles and shaken the resolution of many of +those who even showed themselves willing to take arms, but who soon +fell away in the hour of need, acting more detrimentally on their own +cause than if they had absolutely opposed it, or abandoned it from the +first. Doubts of each other, and hesitation in their purposes, had +thus been spread through the Protestants; and though, of the number +assembled there, few existed who had now either inclination or +opportunity to turn back, yet they thought with gloomy apprehension +upon the defection that was daily taking place in the great body of +Huguenots throughout France; and their energies were chilled even if +their resolution was not shaken. + +The day of which we now speak rose with a brighter aspect than the +preceding one, and it was scarcely more than daylight when the gates +of the castle were opened, the horses of the Count de Morseiul and his +immediate officers and attendants were brought out; and in a minute +after, he himself, booted and spurred, and bearing energetic activity +in his eye, came forth upon the esplanade, surrounded by a number of +persons, who were giving him information, or receiving his orders. The +men who were gathered in arms on the slope of the hill gazed up +towards him with that sort of expectation which is near akin to hope; +and the prompt rapidity of his gestures, the quickness with which he +was speaking, the ease with which he seemed to comprehend every body, +and the readiness and capability, if we may so call it, of his own +demeanour, was marked by all those that looked upon him, and gave +trust and confidence even to the faintest heart there. + +"Where is Riquet?" the Count said, after speaking to some of the +gentlemen who had taken arms; "where is Riquet? He told me that two +persons had arrived from Paris last night, and were safe in his +chamber. Where is Riquet?" + +"Riquet! Riquet!" shouted several voices, sending the sound back into +the castle; but in the mean time the Count went on speaking to those +around them in a sorrowful tone. + +"So poor Monsieur de l'Estang is dead!" he said. "That is a shining +light, indeed, put out. He died yesterday evening you say--God forgive +me that I should regret him at such a moment as this, and wish that he +had been left to us. There was not a nobler or a wiser, or, what is +the same thing, a better man in France. I have known him from my +childhood, gentlemen, and you must not think me weak that I cannot +bear this loss as manly as might be," and he dashed a tear away from +his eye. "That they should torture such a venerable form as that!" he +added; "that they should stretch upon the rack him, who never pained +or tortured any one! These things are too fearful, gentlemen, almost +to be believed. The time will come when they shall be looked upon but +as a doubtful tale. Is it not six of our pastors, in Poitou alone, +that they have broken on the wheel? Out upon them, inhuman savages! +Out upon them! I say. But what was this you told me of some ladies +having been freed from the prison?--Oh, here is Riquet. Now, sirrah, +what are your tidings? Who are these personages from Paris?" + +"One of them, Sir," replied Riquet, whose tone was changed in no +degree by the new situation in which he was placed, "one of them is +your Lordship's own man, or rather your Lordship's man's man, Peter. +He is the personage that I left in Paris to give the order for your +liberation that you wot of." + +"Ay!" said the Count; "what made him so long in following us? He was +not detained, by any chance, was he?" + +"Oh no, my Lord," replied the valet, "he was not detained, only he +thought--he thought--I do not know very well what he thought. But, +however, he stayed for two or three days, and is only just come on +hither." + +"Does he bring any news?" demanded the Count. + +"None, but that the Prince de Conti is dead, very suddenly indeed, of +the smallpox, caught of his fair wife; that all Protestants are +ordered to quit Paris immediately; and that the Duke of Berwick has +made formal abjuration." + +"I grieve for the Prince de Conti," said the Count, "he was +promising and soldier-like; though the other, the young Prince de la +Roche-sur-Yon, is full of still higher qualities. So, the boy Duke of +Berwick has abjured. That might be expected. No other news?" + +"None, my Lord, from him," replied the man, who evidently was a little +embarrassed in speaking on the subject of his fellow-servant; and he +added immediately, "The other gentleman seems to have news; but he +will communicate it to none but yourself." + +"I will speak with them both," replied the Count. "Bring them hither +immediately, Riquet." + +"Why, my Lord," said the valet, "as to Peter, I do not well know +where----" + +"You must know where, within three minutes," replied the Count, who, +in general interpreted pretty accurately the external signs and +symbols of what was going on in Riquet's heart. "You must know where, +within three minutes, and that where must be here, by my side. Maître +Riquet, remember, though somewhat indulgent in the saloon or the +cabinet, I am not to be trifled with in the field. Now, gentlemen, +what were we speaking of just now? Oh, these ladies. Have you any idea +of what they were in prison for? Doubtless, for worshipping God +according to their consciences. That is the great crime now. But I did +not know that they had begun to persecute poor women;" and a shade of +deep melancholy came over his fine features, as he thought of what +might be the situation of Clémence de Marly. + +"Why, it would seem, Sir," replied one of the gentlemen, "from what I +can hear, that the ladies were not there as prisoners; but were two +charitable persons of the town of Thouars, who had come to give +comfort and consolation to our poor friend, Monsieur de l'Estang." + +"God's blessing will be upon them," replied the Count, "for it was a +noble and a generous deed in such times as these. But here comes +Master Riquet, with our two newly arrived friends. Good heavens, my +old acquaintance of the Bastille! Sir, I am very glad to see you free, +and should be glad to see you in this poor province of Poitou, could +we but give you any other entertainment than bullets and hard blows, +and scenes of sorrow or of strife." + +"No matter, no matter, my young friend," replied the old Englishman; +"to such entertainment I am well accustomed. It has been meat and +drink to me from my youth; and though I cannot exactly say that I will +take any other part in these transactions, being bound in honour, in +some sense, not to do so, yet I will take my part in any dangers that +are going, willingly. But do not let me stop you, if you are going to +ask any questions of that fellow, who came the last five or six miles +with me; for if you don't get him out of the hands of that rascal of +yours, there will be no such thing as truth in him in five minutes." + +"Come hither, Peter," cried the Count. "Maître Riquet you have face +enough for any thing; so stand here. Now, Peter, the truth at one +word! What was it that Riquet was telling you not to tell me?" + +"Why, my Lord," replied the man, glancing his eye from his master to +the valet, and the awe of the former in a moment overpowering the awe +of the latter; "why, my Lord, he was saying, that there was no need to +tell your Lordship that I never delivered the order that he gave me to +deliver at the gates of the Bastille." + +The Count stood for a moment gazing on him thunderstruck. "You never +delivered the order!" he exclaimed. "Do you mean to say you never +delivered the order he gave you for my liberation?" + +"No, my Lord," replied the man, beginning to quake in every limb for +fear that he had done something wrong. "I never did deliver the order. +But I'll tell your Lordship why. I thought there was no use of +delivering it, for just as I was walking up to do so, and had made +myself look as like a courier of the court as I could, I saw you +yourself going along the Rue St. Antoine, with two boys staring up in +your face, and I thought I might only make mischief for myself or you +if I went and said any thing more about the matter. When I knew you +were free, I thought that was quite enough." + +"Certainly, certainly," replied the Count; "but in the name of Heaven, +then, by whom have I been delivered?" + +"Why, my Lord, that is difficult to say," replied Riquet, "but not by +that fellow who has brought me back the order as I gave it to him; and +now--as very likely your Lordship would wish to know--I told him not +to tell you, simply because it would tease you to no purpose, and take +away from me the honour of having set your Lordship free, without +doing you any good." + +"You are certainly impudent enough for your profession," replied the +Count, "and in this instance as foolish as knavish. The endeavour and +the risk were still the same, and it is for that I owe you thanks, not +for the success or want of success." + +"Ah, Sir," replied Riquet, "if all masters were so noble and generous, +we poor valets should not get spoilt so early. But how you have been +liberated, Heaven only knows." + +"That's a mistake," replied the old English officer; "every body at +the court of France knows. The King was in a liberating mood one week; +and he himself gave an order for the Count's liberation one day, and +for mine two days afterwards. I heard of it when I went to present +myself before the King, and the whole court was ringing with what they +called your ingratitude, Count; for by that time it was known on what +errand you had set off hither." + +The Count clasped his hands together, and looked down upon the ground. +"I fear," he said in a low voice, "that I have been sadly misled." + +"Not by me, my Lord, upon my honour!" cried Riquet, with an earnest +look. "I did my best to serve you, and to deliver you; and I fully +thought that by my means it had been done. The man can tell you that +he had the order from me: he can produce it now--" + +"I blame you not, Riquet," said his master, "I blame you not! you +acted for the best; but most unhappily has this chanced, to bring +discredit on a name which never yet was stained. It is now too late to +think of it, however. My part is chosen, and there is no retracting." + +"When on my visit to the court," said the old English officer, "in +order to return thanks for my liberation, and to demand certain acts +of justice, I heard you blamed, I replied, my good Sir, that we in +England held that private affections must never interfere with public +duties; and that doubtless you felt the part you had chosen to be a +public duty. They seemed not to relish the doctrine there--nor you +fully to feel its force, I think." + +"My dear Sir," said the Count, "I have not time to discuss nicely all +the collateral points which affect that question. All I will say is, +that in following such a broad rule, there is much need to be upon our +guard against one of man's greatest enemies--his own deceitful heart; +and to make sure that, in choosing the seeming part of public duty, to +be not as much influenced by private affections--amongst which I class +vanity, pride, anger, revenge--as in adopting the opposite course." + +"That is true, too; that is true, too," replied the other. "Man puts +me in mind of an ape I once saw, whose greatest delight was to tickle +himself; but if any one else tried to do it, he would bite to the +bone. But I see you are about to march--and some of your people have +got their troops already in motion. If you will allow me half an +hour's conversation as we ride along, I shall be glad. I will get my +horse, and mount in a minute." + +"The horse that brought you here must be tired," replied the Count; +"my people have several fresh ones. Riquet, see that a horse be +saddled quickly for--this gentleman. A strange piece of ignorance, +Sir," he continued, "but I am still unacquainted with your name." + +"Oh, Thomas Cecil, my good Count," replied the old officer, "Sir +Thomas Cecil; but I will go get the horse, and be with you in a +moment." + +The Count bowed his head, and while the Englishman was away, proceeded +to conclude all his arrangements for the march. In something like +regular order, but still with evident symptoms of no long training in +the severe rules of military discipline, the Count's little force +began to march, and a great part thereof was winding down the hill +when the old Englishman returned. + +"That is a fine troop," he said, "just now getting into motion. If you +had many such as that, you might do something." + +"They are a hundred of my own Protestant tenantry and citizens," +replied the Count. "They have all served under me long in the late +war, and were disbanded after the Truce of twenty years was signed. +There is not a braver or steadier handful in Europe; and since I have +been placed as I am, I make it a point to lead them at the head in any +offensive operations on our part, and to follow with them in the rear +in the event of retreat, which you see is the case now. You will let +them precede us a little, and then we can converse at leisure." + +Thus saying, he mounted his horse, and after seeing the little body, +which he called his legion, take its way down the hill, he followed +accompanied by Sir Thomas, with a small party of attendants fifty +yards behind them. + +"And now, my good Sir," said the young nobleman, "you will not think +me of scanty courtesy if I say that it may be necessary to tell me in +what I can serve you; or, in fact, to speak more plainly, if I ask the +object of your coming to my quarters, at once, as I am informed that +the intendant of the province, with what troops he can bring together +from Berry and Rouergue, forming altogether a very superior force to +our own, is marching to attack us. If he can do so in our retreat, of +course he will be glad to avail himself of the opportunity, especially +as I have been led away from the part of the country which it is most +easy to defend with such troops as ours, in order to prevent an act of +brutal persecution which they were going to perpetrate on one of the +best of men. Thus our time for conversation may be short." + +"Why, you have not let him surprise you, I hope?" exclaimed the old +officer. + +"Not exactly that," replied the Count; "but we are come into a part of +the country where the people are principally Catholic, and we find a +difficulty in getting information. I am also obliged to make a +considerable movement to the left of my real line of retreat, in order +to prevent one of our most gallant fellows, and his band of nearly +three hundred men, from being cut off. He is, it is true, both brave +and skilful, and quite capable of taking care of himself; but I am +sorry to say grief and excitement have had an effect upon his brain, +and he is occasionally quite insane, so that, without seeming to +interfere with him too much, I am obliged, for the sake of those who +are with him, to give more attention to his proceedings than might +otherwise have been necessary." + +The Count paused, and the old officer replied, in a thoughtful tone, +"I am in great hopes, from what I hear, that you will find more mild +measures adopted towards you than you anticipate. Are you aware of who +it is that has been sent down to command the troops in this district, +in place of the former rash and cruel man?" + +"No," replied the Count, "but, from what I have heard during these +last four days, I have been led to believe that a man of far greater +skill and science is at the head of the King's troops. All their +combinations have been so much more masterly, that I have found it +necessary to be extremely cautious, whereas a fortnight ago I could +march from one side of the country to the other without any risk." + +"The officer," replied Sir Thomas Cecil, "was raised to the rank of +major-general for the purpose, and is, I understand, an old friend of +yours, the Chevalier d'Evran." + +The Count suddenly pulled up his horse, and gazed, for a moment, in +the old man's face. "Then," said he, "the Protestant cause is +ruined.--It is not solely on account of Louis d'Evran's skill," he +added, "that I say so: though if ever any one was made for a great +commander he is that man; but he is mild and moderate, conciliating +and good-humoured; and I have remarked that a little sort of fondness +for mystery which he affects,--concealing all things that he intends +in a sort of dark cloud, till it flashes forth like lightning,--has a +very powerful effect upon all minds that are not of the first order. +The only bond that has kept the Protestants together has been sharp +and bitter persecution lately endured. If any one equally gentle and +firm, powerful and yet conciliating, appears against us, I shall not +have five hundred men left in two days." + +"And perhaps, Count," said the old man, "not very sorry for it?" + +The Count turned his eyes upon him, and looked steadily in his face +for a moment. "That, I think," he said, "is hardly a fair question, my +good friend. I believe you, Sir, from all I have seen of you, to be an +upright and honourable man, and I have looked upon you as a sincere +Protestant, and one suffering, in some degree, from your attachment to +that faith. I take it for granted, then, that nothing which I have +said to you this day is to be repeated." + +"Nothing, upon my honour," replied Sir Thomas Cecil, frankly. "You are +quite right in your estimation of me, I assure you. If I ask any +question, it is for my own satisfaction, and because, Sir, I take an +interest in you. Nothing that passes your lips shall be repeated by +me without your permission; though I tell you fairly, and at once, +that I am going very soon to the head quarters of the Chevalier +d'Evran, to fulfil a mission to him, which will be unsuccessful I +know, but which must still be fulfilled. Will you trust me so far as +this, Count? Will you let me know whether you really wish this state +of insurrection to go on; or would not rather, if mild--I will not +call them equitable--terms could be obtained for the Protestants of +this district, that peace should be restored and a hopeless struggle +ended? I do not say hopeless," he continued, "at all to disparage you +efforts; but----" + +"My dear Sir," replied the Count, "act as bluntly by me as you did in +the Bastille, call the struggle hopeless if you will. There are not +ten men in my little force who do not know it to be hopeless, and +those ten are fools. The only choice left, Sir, to the Protestants of +this district when I arrived here was between timid despair and +courageous despair; to die by the slow fire of persecution without +resistance, or to die with swords in our hands in a good cause. We +chose the latter, which afforded, indeed, the only hope of wringing +toleration from our enemies by a vigorous effort. But I am as well +aware as you are that we have no power sufficient to resist the power +of the crown; that in the mountains, woods, and fastnesses of this +district and of Brittany, upon which I am now retreating, I might, +perhaps, frustrate the pursuit of the royal forces, for months, nay, +for years; living, for weeks, as a chief of banditti, and only +appearing for a single day, from time to time, as the general of an +army. Day by day my followers would decrease; for the scissars of +inconvenience often shear down the forces of an insurgent leader more +fatally than the sharp sword of war. Then, a thousand to one, no means +that I could take would prevent all my people from committing evil +acts. I, and a just and holy cause, would acquire a bad name, and the +whole would end by the worst of my people betraying me to death upon +the scaffold. All this, Sir, was considered before I drew the sword; +but you must remember that I had not the slightest idea whatsoever +that the King had shown any disposition to treat me personally with +any thing but bitter severity.--To return to your former question, +then, and to answer it candidly and straight-forwardly, but merely +remember between you and I, I should not grieve on such reasonable +terms being granted to the generality of Protestants as would enable +them to live peacefully, adhering to their own religion, though it be +in private; to see my men reduced, as I have said, to five hundred, +ay, or to one hundred: provided those gallant men, who, with firm +determination, adhere to the faith of their fathers, and are resolved +neither to conceal that faith nor submit to its oppression, have the +means of seeking liberty of conscience in another land. As for +myself," he continued, with a deep sigh, "my mind is at present in +such a state that I should little care, if once I saw this settled, to +go to-morrow and lay my head at the foot of the King's throne. Abjure +my religion I never will; live in a land where it is persecuted I +never will; but life has lately become a load to me, and it were as +well for all, under such circumstances, that it were terminated. This +latter part of what I have said, Sir, you may tell the Chevalier +d'Evran: namely that, on the Government granting such terms to the +Protestants of this district as will insure the two objects I have +mentioned, the Count of Morseiul is willing to surrender himself to +the pleasure of the King; though, till such terms are granted, and my +people so secured, nothing shall induce me to sheath the sword:--and +yet I acknowledge that I am bitterly grieved and mortified that this +error has taken place in regard to the order for my liberation, and +that thus an imputation of ingratitude has been brought upon me which +I do not deserve." + +The old officer held out his hand to him, and shook that of the Count +heartily, adding with a somewhat profane oath, which characterises the +English nation, "Sir, you deserve your reputation!" + +He went on a minute or two afterwards to say, "I have been accustomed, +in some degree, to such transactions; and I will report your words and +nothing more: but, by your leave, I think you had better alter the +latter part, and stipulate that you shall be allowed yourself to +emigrate with a certain number of your followers. Louvois is extremely +anxious to keep from the King's ears the extent of this insurrection, +having always persuaded him that there would be none. He will, +therefore, be extremely glad to have it put down without more noise on +easy terms, and doubtless he has given the Chevalier d'Evran +instructions to that effect." + +"No, no," replied the Count; "I must endeavour, Sir, to wipe away the +stain that has been cast upon me. Do you propose to go to the +Chevalier's head quarters at once?" + +"Not exactly," replied the old Englishman. "I am first going to +Thouars, having some business with the Duc de Rouvré." + +"Good God!" exclaimed the Count; "is the Duc du Rouvré at Thouars?" +and a confused image of the truth, that Clémence de Marly had been one +of the two persons found in the prison with Claude de l'Estang, now +flashed on his mind. Ere the old man could reply, however, two of the +persons who were following, and who seemed to have ridden some way +to the left of the direct road, rode up as fast as they could come, +and informed the Count de Morseiul, that what seemed a large body of +men, was marching up towards their flank by a path which ran up the +hollow-way between them and the opposite hills. + +The little force of the Count had by this time emerged from the woods, +and was marching along the side of the hill, that gradually sank away +into those _landes_, across which Armand Herval had, as we have seen, +led Clémence de Marly. Up the valley, on the left, lay a deep ravine, +bringing the cross road from Thouars into the road in which the +Huguenots were, so that the flank of the Count's force was exposed to +the approach of the enemy on that side, though it had somewhat the +advantage of the ground. No other line, however, had been open for +him, the country on the other side leading into tracts much more +exposed to attack; and, in fact, on that morning no choice had been +left but either to run the risk of what now appeared to have happened, +or to leave Herval and his men to their fate, they not having joined +the main force on the preceding day as they had been directed to do. + +The Count instantly turned his horse's head galloped to the spot from +whence the men had seen the head of the enemy's column, paused for a +single instant, in order, if possible, to ascertain their force, and +then riding back, commanded the small troop, which he called his +legion, to face about. While, by his orders, they traversed a piece +of broken ground to the left, so as to approach a spot where the +hollow-way debouched upon the open country, he sent five or six of his +attendants with rapid orders to the different noblemen who were under +his command, in regard to assuming a position upon the hill. + +"Tell Monsieur du Bar," he said to one of the men, "to march on as +quickly as possible till he reaches the windmill, to garnish that +little wood on the slope with musketeers, to plant the two pieces of +cannon by the mill so as to bear upon the road, to strengthen himself +by the mill and the walls round it, and to hold that spot firm to the +very last. Jean, bid the Marquis send off a man instantly to Herval, +that he may join us with his Chauve-souris, and in the mean time ask +him to keep the line of the hill from the left of Monsieur du Bar to +the cottage on the slope, so that the enemy may not turn our flank. If +I remember right, there are two farm roads there, so that all +movements will be easy from right to left, or from front to rear. As +soon as Herval comes up, let the Marquis throw him forward, with his +marksmen, to cover my movements, and then commence the general retreat +by detachments from each flank, holding firm by the mill and the wood +to the last; for they dare not advance while those are in our hands. I +can detain them here for a quarter of an hour, but not longer.--Sir +Thomas Cecil," he added, "take my advice, and ride off for Thouars +with all speed. This will be a place for plenty of bullets, but no +glory." + +Thus saying, he galloped down to his troop; and in a moment after the +old English officer, who stood with the utmost sang-froid to witness +the fight, saw him charge into the hollow-way at the head of his men. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + THE BATTLE AND THE RETREAT. + + +We must now return to the small shepherds cottage in the _landes_; +and, passing over the intervening day which had been occupied in the +burial of the good pastor, we must take up the story of Clémence de +Marly on the morning of which we have just been speaking. At an early +hour on that day Armand Herval came into the cottage, where the people +were setting before her the simple meal of ewe milk and black bread, +which was all that they could afford to give; and, standing by her +side with somewhat of a wild air, he asked her if she were ready to +go. She had seen him several times on the preceding day, and his +behaviour had always been so respectful, his grief for the death of +Claude de l'Estang so sincere, and the emotions which he displayed at +the burial of the body in the sand so deep and unaffected, that +Clémence had conceived no slight confidence in a man, whom she might +have shrunk from with terror, had she known that in him she beheld the +same plunderer, who, under the name of Brown Keroual, had held her for +some time a prisoner in the forest near Auron. + +"To go where, Sir?" she demanded, with some degree of agitation. "I +knew not that I was about to go any where." + +"Oh, yes!" replied the man, in the same wild way. "We should have gone +yesterday, and I shall be broke for insubordination. You do not know +how stern he is when he thinks fit, and how no prayers or intreaties +can move him." + +"Whom do you speak of, Sir?" demanded Clémence. "I do not know whom +you mean." + +"Why, the General to be sure," replied the man, "the +Commander-in-Chief,--your husband--the Count de Morseiul." + +The blood rushed up into the cheek of Clémence de Marly. "You are +mistaken," she said; "he is not my husband." + +"Then he soon will be," replied the man with a laugh; "though the +grave is a cold bridal bed.--I know that, lady!--I know that full +well; for when I held her to my heart on the day of our nuptials, the +cheek that used to feel so warm when I kissed it, was as cold as +stone; and when you come to kiss his cheek, or brow, too, after they +have shot him, you will find it like ice--cold--cold--with a coldness +that creeps to your very soul, and all the heat that used to be in +your heart goes into your brain, and there you feel it burning like a +coal." + +Clémence shuddered, both at the evident insanity of the person who was +talking to her, and at the images which his words called up before her +eyes. He was about to go on, but a tall, dark, powerful man came in +from the cottage door where he had been previously standing, and laid +hold of Herval's arm, saying, "Come, Keroual, come. You are only +frightening the lady; and, indeed, you ought to be upon the march. +What will my Lord say? The fit is upon him now, Madam," he continued, +addressing Clémence, "but it will soon go away again. They drove him +mad, by shooting a poor girl he was in love with at the preaching on +the moor, which you may remember. I am not sure, but I think you were +there too. If I could get him to play a little upon the musette at the +door, the fit would soon leave him. He used to be so fond of it, and +play it so well.--Poor fellow, he is terribly mad! See how he is +looking at us without speaking.--Come Keroual, come; here is the +musette at the door;" and he led him away by the arm. + +"Ay," said the old shepherd as they went out, "one is not much less +mad than the other. There, they ought both to have gone to have joined +the Count last night. But the burying of poor Monsieur de l'Estang +seemed to set them both off; and now there are all the men drawn out +and ready to march, and they will sit and play the musette there, Lord +knows how long!" + +"But what did they mean by asking if I were ready?" said Clémence. "Do +they intend to take me with them?" + +"Why yes, Madam," replied the old man; "I suppose so. The litter was +ready for you last night, and as the army is going to retreat I hear, +it would not be safe for you to stay here, as the Catholics are coming +up in great force under the Chevalier d'Evran." + +Clémence started and turned round, while the colour again rushed +violently into her cheeks; and then she covered her eyes with her +hands, as if to think more rapidly by shutting out all external +objects. She was roused, however, almost immediately, by the sound of +the musette, and saying, "I will go! I am quite ready to go!" she +advanced to the door of the cottage. + +It was a strange and extraordinary sight that presented itself. Herval +and Paul Virlay, dressed in a sort of anomalous military costume, and +armed with manifold weapons, were sitting together on the stone bench +at the cottage door, the one playing beautifully upon the instrument +of his native province, and the other listening, apparently well +satisfied; while several groups of men of every complexion and +expression, were standing round, gazing upon the two, and attending to +the music. The air that Herval or Keroual was playing was one of the +ordinary psalm tunes in use amongst the Protestants, and he gave it +vast expression; so that pleasure in the music and religious +enthusiasm seemed entirely to withdraw the attention of the men from +the madness of the act at that moment. Paul Virlay, however, was mad +in that kind, if mad at all, which is anxious and cunning in +concealing itself; and the moment he saw Clémence, he started up with +somewhat of shame in his look, saying,-- + +"He is better now, Madam; he is better now. Come, Herval," he +continued, touching his arm, "let us go." + +Herval, however, continued till he had played the tune once over +again, and then laying down the musette, he looked in Virlay's face +for a moment without speaking; but at length replied,-- + +"Very well, Paul, let us go. I am better now. Madam, I beg your +pardon; I am afraid we have hurried you." + +Even as he spoke a messenger came up at full speed, his horse in a +lather of foam, and eagerness and excitement in his countenance. + +"In the name of Heaven, Keroual, what are you about?" he cried. "Here +is the Count and Monsieur du Bar engaged with the whole force of the +enemy within two miles of you. In Heaven's name put your men in array, +and march as fast as possible, or you will be cut off, and they +defeated." + +The look of intelligence and clear sense came back into Herval's +countenance in a moment. + +"Good God! I have been very foolish," he said, putting his hand to his +head. "Quick, my men: each to his post: Sound the conch there. But the +lady," he continued, turning to the man who had ridden up; "what can +we do with the lady?" + +"Oh, she must be taken with you, by all means," replied the man. "We +can send her on from the cross road into the front. They will sweep +all this country, depend upon it; and they are not men to spare a +lady." + +Clémence turned somewhat pale as the man spoke; and though, in fact, +her fate was utterly in the hands of those who surrounded her, she +turned an inquiring look upon Maria, who stood near, as if asking what +she should do. + +"Oh, go, lady! go!" cried the attendant, in a language which the men +did not understand, but which Clémence seemed to speak fluently; and +after a few more words she retired into the cottage, to wait for the +litter, while the band of Brown Keroual, some on horseback and some on +foot, began to file off towards the scene of action. In a few minutes +after the litter appeared; but by this time two mules had been +procured for it, and, with a man who knew the country well for their +driver, Clémence and Maria set off with the last troop of the +Huguenots, which was brought up by Herval himself. He was now all +intelligence and activity; and no one to see him could have conceived +that it was the same man, whose mind but a few minutes before seemed +totally lost. He urged on their march as fast as possible, pressing +the party of foot which was attached to his mounted band; and in a few +minutes after a sharp fire of musketry met the ear of Clémence as she +was borne forward. This continued for a little time, as they passed +round the edge of a low wood which flanked the hills on one side, and +seemed the connecting link between the _landes_ and the cultivated +country. About five minutes after, however, louder and more rending +sounds were heard; and it was evident that cannon were now employed on +both sides. The voices of several people shouting, too, were heard, +and a horse without a rider came rushing by, and startled the mules +that bore the litter. + +Clémence de Marly could but raise her prayers to God for his blessing +on the right cause. It was not fear that she felt, for fear is +personal. It was awe. It was the impressive consciousness of being in +the midst of mighty scenes, which sometimes in her moments of wild +enthusiasm she had wished to see, but which she now felt to be no +matter for sport or curiosity. + +Another instant she was out upon the side of the hill beyond the wood; +and the whole scene laid open before her. That scene was very awful, +notwithstanding the confusion which prevented her from comprehending +clearly what was going on. A large body of troops was evidently +marching up the valley to the attack of the heights. A windmill +surrounded by some low stone walls, not a hundred yards to the left of +the spot where she was placed, appeared at the moment she first saw it +one blaze of fire, from the discharge of musketry and cannon, which +seemed to be directed, as far as she could judge, against the flank of +a body of cavalry coming up a road in the valley. On the slope of the +hill, however, to the right, a considerable body of infantry was +making its way up to the attack of the farther angle of the wood, +round which she herself had just passed; and, from amongst the trees +and brushwood, nearly stripped of their leaves as they were, she could +see poured forth almost an incessant torrent of smoke and flame upon +the assailing party, seeming almost at every other step to make them +waver, as if ready to turn back. + +The object, however, which engaged her principal attention was a small +body of horsemen, apparently rallying, and reposing for a moment, +under shelter of the fire from the hill. Why she knew not,--for the +features of none of those composing that party were at all +discernible,--but her heart beat anxiously, as if she felt that there +was some beloved being there. + +The next instant that small body of men was again put in motion, and +galloping down like lightning, might be seen, though half hidden by +the clouds of dust, to hurl itself violently against the head of the +advancing column, like an avalanche against some mighty rock. Almost +at the same moment, however, an officer rode furiously up to Herval, +and gave him some directions in a quick and eager voice. Herval merely +nodded his head; then turned to the driver of the mules, and told him +to make as much haste as he could towards Mortagne, along the high +road. + +"Remain with the head of the column," he said; "and, above all things, +keep your beasts to the work, for you must neither embarrass the +march, nor let the lady be left behind." + +The man obeyed at once; but before he had left the brow of the hill, +Clémence saw the band of Keroual begin to descend towards the small +body of cavaliers we have mentioned, while a company of musketeers, at +a very few yards distance from her, began to file off as if for +retreat. All the confusion of such a scene succeeded, the jostling, +the rushing, the quarrels, the reproaches, the invectives, which take +place upon the retreat of an irregular force. But several bodies of +better disciplined men taking their way along the road close to +Clémence, preserved some order and gave her some protection; and as +they passed rapidly onward, the sounds of strife and contention, the +shouts and vociferations of the various commanders, the rattle of the +small arms and the roar of the artillery, gradually diminished; and +while Clémence hoped in her heart that the battle was over, she looked +round for some one coming up from the rear to inquire for the fate of +him for whom her heart had beat principally during that morning. + +For about half an hour, however, nobody came, the retreat assumed the +appearance of an orderly march, and all was going on tranquilly, when +a horseman came up at a quick pace, and pulled in his charger beside +the litter. Clémence looked towards him. It was not the face that she +expected to see, but, on the contrary, that of a tall, thin, hale old +man, perfectly a stranger to her. He pulled off his hat with military +courtesy, and bowed low. + +"I beg your pardon, Madam," he said, "but I have just been informed of +your name, quality, and situation, and also with the circumstances of +your being brought from Thouare hither. I come to say," he added, +lowering his voice and bending down, "that I am just going to visit an +old friend, the Duke de Rouvré, who, I understand, is your guardian. +Now, I do not know whether you are here of your own good will, or +whether there be any degree of force in the matter. Should you, +however, be disposed to send any message to the Duke, I am ready to +take it." + +"I give you many thanks, Sir," replied Clémence, "but, of course, I +can send no long message now, nor detailed explanation of my +situation. Assure him only, and the Duchess, who has been a mother to +me, of my deep love, and gratitude, and respect." + +"But shall I tell them," said the old man, "that you are here with +your consent, or without your consent?" + +"You may tell them," replied Clémence, "that I was brought here indeed +without my consent, though being here I must now remain voluntarily. +My fate is decided." + +"Do you mean to say, Madam?" demanded the old gentleman, bluffly, +"that I am to tell them you are married? That is the only way in +general that a woman's fate can be decided which I know of." + +"No, Sir," replied Clémence, colouring, "there is in this country a +different decision of one's fate. I am a Protestant! It must no +longer, and it can no longer be concealed." + +A bright and noble smile came upon the old man's countenance. "I beg +your pardon, Madam," he said. "I have spoken somewhat rudely, perhaps; +but I will deliver your message, and at some future time may ask your +pardon, if you will permit me, for having called the colour into a +lady's cheek, a thing that I am not fond of doing, though it be +beautiful to see." + +Thus saying, and bowing low, he was about to turn his horse and canter +back again, when an eager look that lighted up Clémence's features, +made him pause even before she spoke, and ride on a little further +beside her. + +"You came from the rear, Sir, I think," she said, in a low and +faltering voice. "May I ask how has gone the day?--Is the Count de +Morseiul safe?" + +The old man smiled again sweetly upon her. "Madam," he said, "did not +sad experience often show us that it were not so, I should think, from +the fate of the Count of Morseiul this day, that a gallant and all +daring heart is a buckler which neither steel nor lead can penetrate. +I myself have sat and watched him, while in six successive charges he +attacked and drove back an immensely superior force of the enemy's +cavalry, charging and retreating every time under the most tremendous +and well sustained fire of the light infantry on their flanks that +ever I saw. Scarcely a man of his whole troop has escaped without +wounds, and but too many are killed. The Count himself, however, is +perfectly unhurt. I saw him five minutes ago bringing up the rear, and +as by that time the enemy were showing no disposition to pursue +vigorously, he may be considered as safe, having effected his retreat +from a very difficult situation in the most masterly manner. Is there +any one else, Madam, of whom I can give you information?" + +"I fear not," replied the lady. "There is, indeed, one that I would +fain ask for; but as you have been with the Count de Morseiul, +probably you do not know him. I mean the Chevalier d'Evran." + +"What, both the commanders!" exclaimed the old gentleman, with a smile +which again called the colour into Clémence's cheek. "But I beg your +pardon, Madam," he added; "I have a better right to tell tales than to +make comments. In this instance I cannot give you such accurate +information as I did in the other, for I do not know the person of the +Chevalier d'Evran. But as far as this little perspective glass could +show me, the gentleman who has been commanding the royal forces, and +whom I was informed was the Chevalier d'Evran, is still commanding +them, and apparently unhurt. I discovered him by his philomot scarf, +and sword knot, after losing sight of him for a time. But he was still +upon horseback, commanding in the midst of his staff, and has the +credit of having won the day, though the immense superiority of his +forces rendered any other result out of the question, even if he had +not acted as well and skilfully as he has done. I will now once more +beg pardon for intruding upon you, and trust that fair fortune and +prosperity may attend you." + +Thus saying, he turned and cantered away; and on looking round to her +maid, Clémence perceived that Maria had drawn the hood of her grey +cloak over her head. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + THE LOVER'S REUNION. + + +The march was over, the pursuers left behind, and the Count of +Morseiul had pitched his tents in a strong position, with some +shepherds' huts and one or two cottages and farm-houses in the midst +of his camp. A nunnery of no great extent, situated upon a little +eminence, was within the limits of his position, and a small chapel +belonging thereunto, nearly at the bottom of the hill, and commanding +the passage of a stream and morass, was occupied by a strong body of +his followers, under Herval and Virlay, while the Marquis du Bar, who +had been slightly wounded in the course of that day's strife, insisted +upon fixing his quarters on the most exposed side of the camp, where +any attack was likely to take place. + +No attempt had been made to take possession of the nunnery, as it was +only occupied by women, and as the Count was aware that in case of +need, he could obtain entrance in a moment. At the same time he could +fully depend not only upon the courage and firmness, but upon the +vigilance of Du Bar, and he therefore looked upon his small force as +completely in security. Provisions, too, had been found in abundance, +and the people of the neighbouring country were somewhat better +disposed towards the Huguenot cause, than those of the district which +they had just left. + +His men, however, had suffered tremendously, even in the brief +struggle which had taken place with the overpowering force of the +Catholics. Of his own troop, not more than thirty men were found +capable of action at the end of that day, and, at least, one third of +the whole Huguenot force was unfit for service. This was a lamentable +prospect, as the insurgents had no points of strength to fall back +upon, and had not the leaders been animated by the consciousness of +having performed great actions in that day's contest and having held +at bay the royal army with a force six times inferior in number, the +proposal of dispersing and carrying on the warfare by desultory +efforts in the woods, which was suggested in one of their little +councils, would certainly have been adopted. + +In the mean time, however, the spirit of the men was kept up, and +their resolution fortified, by the prayers and exhortations of the +various ministers who accompanied the camp; and on going round to the +different quarters just after nightfall, the Count found some bodies +of the Protestants still engaged in their religious exercises, some +just concluded, but all less depressed at heart than he was himself. + +When he had done his round, he paused before the door of one of the +farm-houses--the best and most comfortable--and dismissing the men who +had followed, he turned to enter. There was a slight degree of +hesitation, however, seemed to come over him as he did so, and he +remained for some moments with his hand upon the latch. He at length +raised it, and entered the kitchen of the farm-house, where the family +of the proprietor were assembled round the ample hearth, on which was +a full supply of blazing wood. At that very moment, speaking to the +mistress of the house, was Clémence's attendant, Maria; but Clémence +herself was not present, and on inquiring for her, the Count was told +that she was in an upper chamber, to which the woman immediately led +him. + +Albert of Morseiul followed her step by step, and when the door +opened, he saw Clémence sitting at the table, with her head resting on +her hand, and her eyes turned towards the fire; but with such a look +of deep sadness and painful thought, as made his heart ache to see and +to know that he could not change it. + +"Here is the Count de Morseiul," said the maid; and instantly Clémence +started up, and turned towards the door, while the Count entered, and +the maid retired. The face of Clémence de Marly assumed two or three +different expressions in a moment. There was joy to see him, there was +doubt, there was apprehension; but she advanced towards him at once, +and the look of love was not to be doubted. He took the hands that she +held out to him, he kissed them tenderly and often: but still there +was deep sadness on his brow, as there was in his heart, and his first +words were, "Oh, Clémence, at what a moment have you come to me at +last!" + +"Albert," she said in reply, "I have much to say to you. Since I have +been here, and seen what I have seen, I have found many excuses for +your conduct; and I have learned to think that what I wrote briefly I +may have written harshly and unkindly, and to blame myself as much, +nay more than you: believing, though I had no time to explain why I +could not come at the moment as I could have wished, yet, that I +should still have added, such words as might show you that I was yours +unchanged, however much I might judge that you had acted rashly, +unadvisedly, and unlike yourself. I have determined to tell you all +this at once, Albert, and, acknowledging that I blame myself, to +shelter myself from all reproaches on your part in your kindness and +generosity." + +"Thanks, thanks, dearest Clémence," replied the Count, pressing her to +his heart; "this is, indeed, balm after such a day as this: but I +think, my Clémence, when you hear all, you will yourself exculpate me +from blame,--though I fear that the charge of ingratitude which others +may bring against me, will never be done away in the less generous +minds of the world in general, without a terrible sacrifice. You I +know, Clémence, will believe every word I tell you." + +"Oh, every word!" she exclaimed; "to doubt you, Albert, were to doubt +truth itself." + +"Well, then, believe, Clémence," he said, "when I tell you, that till +this morning,--till this very morning,--I had not the slightest idea +whatsoever that my liberation was attributable to the King. Not only +I, but all my domestics, every attendant that I have, my man Riquet +himself, all believed that it was through an artifice of his that I +had been set at liberty. Had I thought otherwise, upon my word, my +first act would have been to fly to Versailles, to express my thanks, +whatever my after conduct might have been." + +He then explained to her every thing that had taken place, and the +mistake under which he had himself laboured throughout. + +"What confirmed me in the belief that the whole of Riquet's story was +perfectly correct," he said, "was the fact that Besmaux, when he set +me at liberty, observed that the order under which he did it, was not +quite in the usual form, together with some remarks that he made upon +there being no carriage sent for me with the order." + +"Alas! alas!" cried Clémence, wringing her hands, "it was my weakness; +it was my foolish fears and anxiety, that produced all this mischief. +Listen to my tale now, Albert, and forgive me, forgive me for what I +have done." + +She then related to her lover almost all that had taken place between +the King, herself, and Madame de Maintenon. We say almost, because she +did not relate the whole; but though Albert of Morseiul saw it, he +divined from what she did tell, that there were matters which she was +bound not to divulge. Perhaps he divined the important truth itself, +and at all events he did not love her a bit the less for a concealment +which had no want of confidence in it. + +"On the following morning," she said, "at the hour that the King had +appointed, I did not fail to be in attendance. I found him writing; +but it was soon over, and he handed me the paper, saying, 'There, +lady, we have judged the cause that you have at heart as favourably as +you judged ours last night. Tell him,' he added, 'when you see him, +that--though we cannot alter the strict laws, which we have found it +necessary to make, for his sake--we will grant him all that may +reasonably make him happy, either in our own land, or in another!'" + +"And I have borne arms against him," cried the Count, clasping his +arms together. + +"Yet hear me out, Albert," continued Clémence, "for the fault is mine. +The order was for your immediate liberation. I took it eagerly, +thanked the King, and retired, well knowing that it ought to be +countersigned by Louvois, and sent through his office. But during the +evening before, on the occasion of something that was said, he gave me +such a fiend-like look of revenge, that I knew he would seek your +destruction, if not mine. I was well aware, too, that in many an +instance he has interrupted the King's clemency, or his bounty; and +weakly, most weakly, I sent the order without his signature--ay, and +without a moment's delay, by a servant belonging to the Duc de Rouvré. +Thus, thus it was, that I, in my eagerness for your safety, have +plunged you into new dangers,--dangers from which, alas! I fear that +there is scarcely a possible means of escape." + +The Count looked down upon the ground for a moment, and he then +replied, "I will write to the King myself, Clémence. It is very +possible that he will not even read the letter of a rebel with arms in +his hand. But still it will be a satisfaction to me to do so. I must +first get to the sea side, however, in order that I may place poor +Riquet in security, for were the tale told and he afterwards +discovered, I fear that no tortures would be considered too horrible +to punish the daring act that he committed." + +"I, too, will write," replied Clémence. "I will write and tell the +whole to one, who, though she will refuse at first, I know, to do any +thing in our behalf, yet will not fail, calmly and quietly, to labour +in our favour, thinking that she owes something to me. I will tell her +the whole; I will tell her distinctly, Albert; and if you will procure +it for me I will send her even the forged order that you mention, with +the attestation of the man who brought it back from Paris." + +Albert of Morseiul pressed her to his heart, and she added, "At all +events, Albert, we shall be able to fly. We are now not far from the +sea; ships can easily be procured, and we may be happy in another +land." + +Albert of Morseiul kissed her cheek for his only reply: but his heart +was sad, and he could scarcely command even a smile to countenance the +false hope she had expressed. His own determinations were taken, his +own resolutions formed; but he thought it better and more kind not to +make them known to Clémence de Marly till the moment arrived for +putting them in execution. + +While they were yet speaking, the attendant again came into the room +to inform the Count that three persons waited below to see him, and on +going down he found Riquet, with one of the Protestants attached to +the Marquis du Bar, and a gentleman, who appeared to be an inferior +officer in the royal service. The two latter instantly stepped forward +when he appeared. + +"Monsieur du Bar," said the Protestant soldier, "has sent you this +gentleman, bearing a flag of truce, from the Chevalier d'Evran. He +carries a letter to yourself, and a letter to the lady from Thouars." + +The Count bowed to the stranger, and begged to see the letter to +himself. It was simply addressed to the Count de Morseiul, and he +opened it with some emotion, for it was strange to see the hand of +Louis d'Evran, writing to him as from one adversary to another. The +style and tone of the letter, however, though it was very short, were +precisely as if nothing had occurred to interrupt their intimacy, or +array them hostilely against each other. It ran-- + + +"Dear Albert, + +"I write to you simply to know whether I am to regard the +communication made to me, on your part, by an English gentleman, +called Sir Thomas Cecil, as formal and definitive, as I must be made +aware of that fact before I can transmit it to the court. I trust and +hope that good results may proceed from it: but you must not forget +that it is an awful risk. For my part I will do my best to quiet the +province with as little harshness as possible, and with that object I +accepted, or rather may say, solicited this command. In every respect, +however, my duty must be done to the King, and shall be so done to the +utmost. You never in your life fought better than you did this +morning. Your defence of the heights was quite a Turenne affair; but +you made a mistake in your morning movement to the left, which showed +me your flank. Perhaps, however, you had some reason for it, for I +think there was a fresh corps came up towards the close of the affair. +Look to yourself, dear Albert, for be you sure that I shall give you +no breathing time; and so God speed you! + + "Louis d'Evran. + +"Post Scriptum. I find myself called upon by my duty, to require you +formally to send back la belle Clémence to her good friend de Rouvré, +and to address a letter to her upon the subject of her return." + + +The Count had read this epistle with a thoughtful and a somewhat +frowning brow. It was quite characteristic of the Chevalier d'Evran, +but yet there was something in it that did not please him. He turned, +however, to the officer courteously, saying,-- + +"The Chevalier d'Evran notifies to me, that he has sent a letter to +Mademoiselle de Marly, and seems to leave it to me to deliver it. I +would rather, however, that you did so yourself, if that lady will +permit me to introduce you to her, when you can bear her answer from +her own mouth. Riquet," he said, "go up and inquire, whether +Mademoiselle de Marly will grant this gentleman a few minutes' +audience." + +A short pause ensued: for Clémence hesitated for some time. At length, +however, Riquet returned with an answer in the affirmative, and the +Count led the officer to her presence. + +"I am commanded, Madame," said the stranger, "by Monsieur le Chevalier +d'Evran, lieutenant-general of the province, to deliver you this +letter, and to say, that, at any time to-morrow which you will name, +he will send a proper carriage and attendants, to convey you back to +the town of Thouars, from which he understands that you were forcibly +carried away, some night ago." + +Clémence merely bowed her head, and held out her hand for the letter, +which she opened and read. A faint smile came over her countenance as +she proceeded, and when she had done, she handed the epistle to her +lover, asking, "What shall I do or say?" + +"Nay, I can give you no advice," replied the Count. "In this matter, +Clémence, you must act by your own judgment: advice from me, situated +as you are now, would bear somewhat the character of dictation. Do you +wish me to read the letter?" + +"Certainly," she replied. "My mind will be easily made up as to the +answer." + +The Count then proceeded to read the letter, which was merely one of +form; and began-- + + +"Mademoiselle, + +"I am urged by Monsieur le Duc de Rouvré, and feel it a part of my +duty, to apply to you immediately to return to the care and protection +of that gentleman and the Duchess, under whose charge and guardianship +you have been placed by the King. Although we are fully informed that +you were carried away from the town of Thouars without your own +consent and approbation, we feel sure, from the high character and +reputation of the Count de Morseiul, though now unfortunately in open +rebellion, that he will be most anxious you should return, and will do +all that he can to facilitate the arrangements for that purpose. Such +being the case, let me exhort you, Mademoiselle, to make all haste to +quit the camp of a body of men in open insurrection, and to place +yourself under the protection of legitimate authority. + + "I have the honour to be, + + "Mademoiselle, + + "Your devoted servant, + + "Louis d'Evran." + + +The Count returned the letter with no other comment than, "It is +strange;" and Clémence paused for a moment, gazing upon the back of +the letter, but evidently occupied by deep thoughts. + +She then turned to the officer, who had remained standing, and +said, "I will not detain you, Sir, to write, as my answer must +be merely what the Chevalier d'Evran expects. You will inform +him--notwithstanding that it may seem bold of me to say so--that +although I was certainly not brought here with my consent, I, +nevertheless, am here by my consent; and as I have long been disposed +to return to that faith in which I was originally instructed, and have +for some time embraced it upon sincere conviction, I cannot consent to +place myself in a situation where the exercise of the reformed +religion will be denied to me; but must, on the contrary, remain with +those who will protect and support me in my adherence to what I +consider the only pure and true faith." + +"In short, Madam," replied the officer, "I am to tell the Chevalier +that you are a Huguenot?" + +"Exactly, Sir," replied Clémence; "and that I have been so for some +time." + +The officer showed an inclination to pause, and to add something to +what had been said; but the Count stopped him. + +"You are, Sir," he said, "I think but the bearer of a letter; nothing +in that has been shown us giving you at all the title of an envoy. You +have, therefore, but to bear back the reply which this lady has +given." + +"And your own, Sir," said the officer, "which I have not received." + +"It is as simple as her own, Sir," replied the Count. "Assure the +Chevalier d'Evran of my best regard; tell him he may trust entirely +and fully to the proposal made to him on my part, to which he alludes, +as far at least as I myself am concerned. In respect, however, to what +will satisfy the other leaders, who are in arms for the maintenance of +their just liberties, and for the attainment of immunity in +worshipping God according to their own consciences, he must deal with +themselves. In that I cannot, and do not interfere, and have only to +support them with my sword and counsels till such time as they have +obtained their rights, or are satisfied with any arrangement +proposed." + +"I shall not fail," replied the officer, "to convey these messages +distinctly;" and thus saying, he bowed, and left the room, followed by +the Count of Morseiul, who, giving directions that his eyes should be +properly bandaged, placed him in the hands of the Protestant soldier +who had accompanied him, and of the guard which was waiting without. +He then made a sign to Riquet to follow him up stairs, and bade his +valet repeat to Clémence de Marly all that had occurred respecting his +liberation from the Bastille. + +"And now, Riquet," he said, when the man had given a much more +straight-forward and decided statement than he usually made, "it is my +intention, as soon as possible, to lay the whole of these facts before +the King, feeling it due to my own honour to show him that I have not +been so ungrateful as he thinks. As the act, however, which you have +committed might prove very dangerous to you, if you should fall into +the hands of the Catholic party, I shall take care, before I give this +account, that you have an opportunity of seeking refuge in another +land. I know that all countries are to you alike: and I will ensure +that you shall be provided with full means of obtaining for yourself +comfort and repose." + +"Sir," said the man, with some feeling, "all countries, as you say, +are to me alike. But such is not the case with regard to all masters. +Please God, I will never serve another but yourself. If you quit the +country, I will quit it with you: if you remain, I will remain. I am +already--am I not?--in arms against the crown. I am just as much a +rebel riding after you from place to place, and every now and then +firing a musket when I think nobody sees me, as if I were at the head +of the whole business, and people called it the rebellion of Riquet. +You may therefore lay the whole statement before the King if you +please, and I will myself write down the plain facts, in fewer words +than a paper drawn up by a notary's clerk without a fee. I have no +fear, Sir, of gathering together upon my shoulders a few more stray +crimes and misdemeanours. That does not lie in the way of my +cowardice. My neck is thin and long, and whether it be the axe or the +cord that has to do with it, it will neither give the cord nor the +edge much trouble; while I have always one consolation, which is, that +if the experiment of hanging should prove disagreeable, it cannot be +tried upon me twice. I will go and get the paper directly, Sir, which +the man, Peter, brought back again. I will put down all his sayings +and doings, and all my own; and the King, who is said to have a high +taste in all branches of skill, ought to declare when he sees the +order for your liberation which I manufactured, that there is not a +piece of mosaic like it in all Versailles, and grant me a high reward +for such a specimen of dexterity in my art." + +"I fear, you deceive yourself, Riquet," replied the Count; but the man +shook his head. "No, Sir, I do not," he said, "I assure you. All +things considered and well weighed, I do not think that I run a bit +more risk by this matter being told to the King, than if it never +reached his ears." + +Thus saying he left the room, and Albert of Morseiul turned to other +and sweeter thoughts. "Dear, dear Clémence," he said, gazing tenderly +upon her, "you have now, indeed, chosen your part as I could expect +Clémence to do, and by the words that you have this day spoken, you +have swept away every feeling in my bosom that could give me a +moment's pain." + +"Hush, Albert, hush," said Clémence. "I know the kind of pain to +which you allude. But you should never have entertained it. Love, +Albert,--the love of a heart such as yours, ought never to doubt." + +"But, dear Clémence," replied the Count, "is it possible for love to +be satisfied while there is any thing touching its affection +concealed?" + +Clémence smiled, but shook her head; and as she was about to reply, a +single musket shot was heard disturbing the tranquillity which had +fallen over the camp. The Count listened, and his ear caught the +distant sounds of "Alerte! Alerte!" followed almost immediately +afterwards by a more general discharge of musketry. Clémence had +turned very pale. + +"Fear not, dear Clémence," he said, "this is merely a night attack +upon some of our quarters which will soon be repelled, for I have +taken sufficient precautions. I will see what it is, and return +immediately." + +Thus saying he left her, and Clémence, with a heart full of strong and +mingled emotions, leaned her head upon the little table and wept. + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + THE NIGHT ATTACK. + + +Particular orders had been issued by the Count de Morseiul that no +offence should be given to the religious feelings of the Catholics: +and, in issuing his commands for the occupation of the little chapel +at the bottom of the hill, he had directed that the building +appropriated to the ceremonies of the church should not be entered, +except in case of necessity; the porch and the sacristy being taken +possession of, and the piece of consecrated ground around it, which +was strongly walled, affording a sort of fort, in which the men +constructed huts, or set up their tents. + +They were accustomed, indeed, to abide in the forest, and found no +difficulty or discomfort in taking their night's rest where they were. +Three fine spreading yew trees, of unknown age and immense thickness, +afforded a pleasant shelter to many; and wine, which had been found +plentifully in the hamlet above, as well as in a little town at no +great distance, flowed liberally amongst a body of men who had fought +hard and marched long since the morning. + +There was a great difference, however, to be remarked between them and +the religious insurgents of more northern countries; for though both +the sterner fanaticism which characterised Scotland and England not +long before, and the wilder imaginations and fanciful enthusiasms of +the far south were occasionally to be found in individuals, the great +mass were entirely and decidedly French, possessing the character of +light, and somewhat thoughtless gaiety, so peculiar to that +indifferent and laughter-loving nation. + +Thus, though they had prayed earnestly, after having fought with +determination in the cause which to them was the cause of conscience, +they were now quite ready to forget both prayer and strife, till some +other cause should re-produce the enthusiasm which gave vigour to +either. + +They sat in groups, then, round fires of an old apple tree or two +which they had pulled down, and drank the wine--procured, it must be +acknowledged, by various different means; but though they sang not, as +perhaps they might have done under other circumstances, nothing else +distinguished them from any other party of gay French soldiers +carousing after a laborious day. + +Herval and Virlay, as the commanders of that peculiar body, had taken +possession of the little sacristy, and made themselves as comfortable +therein as circumstances admitted. They were both somewhat inclined to +scoff at, and do dishonour to every thing connected with the +ceremonies of the church of Rome; but the commands of the Count were +still sufficiently potent with them to prevent them from indulging +such feelings; and they remained conversing both over the events of +the day, and also over past times, without any farther insult to the +Roman Catholic faith than merely a scornful glance towards the +vestments of the priests, the rich purple and lace of which excited +their indignation even more than many articles of faith. + +Several hours of the evening had thus worn away, and their +conversation, far from being like that of their men without, was sad, +dark, and solemn. The proximity of the convent had recalled to the +mind of Herval the situation of her he had loved; and though they +talked much of her fate, yet by some peculiar accident, which we shall +not attempt to explain, that subject, dark and painful as it was, did +not disturb his mental faculties as might have been expected. It +produced, however, both on him and on Virlay, that dark and profound +gloom, from which actions of a fierce and cruel nature more frequently +have birth, than even from the keen and active excitement of strife +and anger. + +"Ay, and your child, too, Virlay," said Herval: "it is strange, is it +not, that we have not yet found her? I should not wonder if she were +in this very convent, up here upon the hill. The Count will not surely +want you to leave it unsearched, when we march to-morrow." + +"It matters little whether he do or not," replied Virlay. "Search it I +will; and that as soon as it be grey day-light. My child I will have, +if she be in France: and, oh, Herval, how often, when we are near a +monastery or a convent, do I long to put a torch to the gate of it, +and burn it all to the ground!" + +"No, no," replied Herval, "that would not do; you would be burning the +innocent with the guilty." + +"Ay, true," answered Virlay, "and thus I might burn my own poor +child." + +"Ay, or my Claire," replied Herval,--"that is to say, if she had been +living, poor thing! You know they shot her, Paul. They shot her to the +heart. But as I was saying, you might burn your own poor child, or the +child of many a man that loves his as well as you do yours." + +"I wonder if she be in there," said Paul Virlay. "Why should I not +take ten or twelve men up, and make them open the gates and see?" + +"Better wait till day," replied Herval; "better wait till day, Virlay. +They have thousands of places that you might miss in the night. Hark! +some one knocked at the door--Who is it? Come in!" + +"Only a poor old woman," replied a voice from without, half opening +the door, "only a poor old woman soliciting charity and peace;" and a +minute after, with timid and shaking steps, a woman, dressed in a grey +gown like the portress of some convent, gradually drew herself within +the doorway, and crossed herself twenty times in a minute, as she +gazed upon the two Protestants sitting with the gloom of their late +conversation still upon their faces. + +"What do you want, old woman?" said Herval sharply. "Don't you know +that you risk a great deal by coming out at this hour? My men are not +lambs, nor wood pigeons, nor turtle doves." + +"Oh, Heaven bless you, Sir, I know that," replied the old lady, "and +in a great fright I am too: but after all I'm the least in a fright in +the convent; and Sister Bridget--when she came to me with her teeth +chattering in her head just after the men had come round and knocked +at the door, and swore they would burn the place to the ground before +morning--she talked so much about my courage, that I thought I had +some, and agreed to come down; and then when she had got me out, she +locked the wicket, and vowed I should not come in till I had been down +to do the errand. So I came quietly on, and through the little gate, +and got out of the way of the great gate, because I saw there were a +number of fires there; and when I saw a light under the sacristy door, +I said to myself, the officers will be in there, and they will be +gentler and kinder----" + +"Well, and what was your errand when you did come?" demanded Herval +sharply. + +"Why, Sir," replied the old woman, "we have a young lady amongst us--" +Paul Virlay started suddenly on his feet--"and a sweet young lady she +is too," continued the poor old nun, "as sweet a young lady and as +pretty as ever I set my eyes on, and she told our good lady mother, +the superior----" + +"What is her name, woman?" cried Paul Virlay, advancing upon the poor +sister who retreated before him, but who still, with woman's intuitive +tact in such things, saw that she had got the advantage. "What is her +name, woman? It is my child! Oh, Herval, it is my child!" + +"So she said to my lady mother," continued the good nun, as soon as +she could make her voice heard; "so she said to my lady mother, that +she was sure that if her father was in the Count of Morseiul's camp, +he would come up in a minute with a guard of men to protect the +convent--especially if he knew that we had been kind and good to her." + +"Where is she?--Take me to her," cried Paul Virlay. "Woman, take me to +my child.--I will bring a guard,--I will protect you. Where is my poor +Margette?" + +"Are you her father, then, Sir?" demanded the old woman. "Is your name +Monsieur Virlay?" + +"Yes, yes, yes," cried he impetuously: "I am Paul Virlay, woman." + +"Then, Sir," she replied, "if you will bring up a guard and undertake +to protect the convent, you can have the young lady, only pray----" + +"I will take a guard," cried he; "do not be afraid, woman! Nobody +shall hurt you. I will take a guard," he continued speaking to Herval, +as if in excuse for taking away part of the men from an important +post, "I will take a guard for fear there should be men up there, and +they should want to keep Margette. The Count said, too, that the only +reason he did not occupy the convent was, that he did not like to +disturb the nuns. Now, when they ask it themselves, I may well go. You +can send for me in a moment if I be wanted." + +"There is no fear of that," replied Herval; "go, in God's name, and +see your child." + +Paul Virlay hastened away, drawing the old woman by the arm after him, +while Herval remained behind shaking his head, with a melancholy +motion, and saying, "He will see his child again, and she will cling +round his neck and kiss his cheek, and they will be happy: but I shall +never see my poor Claire, as long as I linger on upon this dull +world." He paused, and leaning his head upon his hand, plunged into +melancholy thought. + +There was a little bustle without, while Virlay chose out such men as +he thought he could best depend upon, and then, that part of the camp +did not exactly sink into tranquillity, but the general noise of the +party was less. There was still loud talking amongst the men, and wine +seemed to have done its work too, as in one or two instances, +especially near the little sacristy, where the wilder and less +tractable of Herval's band had been placed to be under his own eye, +the psalms with which the evening had begun had deviated into gayer +songs; and he sat and listened gravely, while one of the men near the +door carolled to his comrades a light ditty. + + + SONG. + + In the deep woods when I was young, + Sly the happy, happy sunshine stole. + Under the green leaves, where the birds sung, + And merry, merry music filled the whole; + For Mary sat there, + And all her care + Was to outsing the linnet,--Dear little soul! + + Through the long grass, then would I steal, + In music and sunshine to have my part. + That no one was coming, seemed she to feel, + Till the warm kiss, made the sweet maid start. + Then would she smile, + Through her blushes the while, + And vow she did not love me,--Dear little heart! + + The sunshine is stealing still through the trees. + Still in the green woods the gay birds sing, + But those leaves have fall'n by the wintry breeze, + And many birds have dropped, that were then on the wing, + All, all alone, + Beneath the cold stone, + Lies my sweet Mary!--Poor little thing! + + +Herval wept bitterly. It was one of the songs of his own youth, which +he had himself sung in many a joyous hour: a song which was the +master-key to visions of early happiness, and touching in its light +emptiness upon all the most painful themes of thought. The song, the +dear song of remembered happiness, sung at that moment of painful +bereavement, was like a soldier's child springing to meet its father +returning from the wars, and unconsciously plunging the arrow head +deeper into the wound from which he suffered. + +As he thus sat and wept, he was suddenly roused by the sound of a +single musket shot at no great distance, and starting up, he listened, +when loud cries from the other side of the chapel caught his ear, and +he rushed out. All was dark; not a star was in the sky; but the air +was free from vapour, and looking towards the spot from which the +sounds proceeded, he could see a dark body moving rapidly along the +side of the hill, beyond the enclosure round the chapel. The shot that +had been fired was not returned, and hurrying up to the spot as fast +as possible, he clearly distinguished a column of infantry marching +along at a quick pace in that direction, and evidently seeking to +force its way between the convent and the chapel. There was none but a +single sentry in that direction--the man who had discharged his +musket--and Herval exclaimed in agony, "Good God, how is this? They +have been suffered to pass the morass and the stream!" + +"I fired as soon as I saw them," replied the man; "but Virlay carried +off all the men from down below there, and marched them up to the +convent." + +Herval struck his clenched hand against his brow, exclaiming, "Fool +that I was to suffer him!" Then rushing back as fast as possible, he +called all the rest of his troop to arms, and with the mere handful +that assembled in a moment, rushed out by the gate through which the +portress of the convent had entered, and attempted to cast himself in +the way of the head of the enemy's column. + +It was in vain, however, that he did so. A company of light infantry +faced about, and met his first furious attack with a tremendous fire, +while the rest of the force moved on. The sound, however, of the +combat thus commenced, roused the rest of the camp, and the Count of +Morseiul, himself on foot, and at the head of a considerable body of +the most determined Huguenots, was advancing, ere five minutes were +over, not to repel the attack of the enemy--for by what he saw, Albert +of Morseiul instantly became aware, that, his camp being forced at the +strongest point, it was in vain to hope that the King's army could be +repulsed--but at least to cover the retreat of his troops with as +little loss as possible. + +All the confusion of a night combat now took place, the hurrying up by +the dull and doubtful light; the cowardice that shows itself in many +men when the eye of day is not upon them; the rashness and emotion of +others, who indeed are not afraid, but only agitated; the mistakes of +friends for foes, and foes for friends; the want of all knowledge of +which party is successful in those points where the strife is going on +at a distance. + +As far as it was possible in such circumstances, Albert of Morseiul +restored some degree of order and regularity to the defence. Relying +almost altogether upon his infantry, he held the royalists in check, +while he sent orders to some of the inferior commanders to evacuate +the camp in as orderly a manner as possible, gathering the horse +together upon the brow of the hill, so as to be ready when the +occasion served to charge and support the infantry. His particular +directions were despatched to Monsieur du Bar to maintain his post to +the last, as the Count well knew that the forces of the Chevalier +d'Evran were sufficient to attack the Huguenot camp on both sides at +once. + +Such, indeed, had been the plan of the Chevalier; but it was not +followed correctly. He had placed himself at the head of the attack +upon the side of the convent, as by far the most hazardous and +difficult. The officer who commanded the other attack was a man of +considerable skill, but he had with him the Intendant of the province; +a personage as weak and presumptuous as he was cruel and bigoted: and +insisting upon it, that the officer at the head of the troops had made +a mistake in regard to the way, he entangled him in the morass, and +delayed him for more than an hour. + +Had the attack on that side succeeded, as well as that on the side of +the chapel, the little force of the Huguenots must have been +absolutely annihilated, and had the attack there even commenced at the +same time that it began on the other side, the disasters of that night +must have been tenfold greater than they proved. As it was, the Count +de Morseiul had time to offer at least some resistance, and to +organise his retreat. A horse was soon brought to him, and perceiving +by the firing on the flank of the enemy's column, that Herval and his +men were striving desperately to retrieve the error which had been +committed, he called up a small body of horse, and making a gallant +charge at their head, drove back some of the infantry companies that +interposed between himself and the chapel, and opened a communication +with Herval and the men. Giving orders to the officer in command of +the horse to make another rapid charge, but not to entangle his men +too far, the Count himself rode down to Herval, to ascertain what was +proceeding in that quarter. He found the man covered with blood and +gunpowder, raging like a wolf in the midst of a flock. + +"Herval," he exclaimed, "a great mistake has been committed. A handful +of men could have defended that bridge against an army." + +"I know it, Count, I know it," replied Herval. "I have been a fool, +Virlay has been a madman. I should never have trusted him by himself. +It is time I should die." + +"It is rather time, Herval," replied the Count, "that you should live +and exert your good sense to remedy what is amiss. Do you not see that +by spending your strength here you are doing no good, and losing your +men every minute? Gather them together: quick, and follow me. We want +support, there, upon the hill. The chapel is untenable now. Quick: +lose not a moment. Good God!" he said, "they are not charging as I +ordered, and in another moment we shall be cut off!" + +It was indeed as he said. The young officer, to whom he had given the +command, was shot through the head at the very moment that he was +about to execute it. The charge was not made; the body which had been +driven back by the Count were rallied by the Chevalier d'Evran; the +infantry of the Huguenots, which had been guarding the heights, +wavered before the superior force brought against them; and by the +time that Herval's men were collected, a large body of foot interposed +between the Count de Morseiul and the spot where he had left his +troops. Nothing remained but to lead round Herval's little force by +the hollow-way on the edge of the morass, and climbing the steeper +part of the hill, by the road that led to the little hamlet and farm +houses, to rejoin the principal body of the Protestants there, and to +make one more effort to hold the hamlet against the advancing force of +the royalists, till Monsieur du Bar had time to draw off his troops. + +Ere the Count, however, could reach the ground where he had fixed his +own head quarters, both the infantry and cavalry, which he had left, +had been driven back, and, by a terrible oversight, instead of +retiring upon the hamlet, had taken the way to the right, along which +the other bodies of troops had been ordered to retreat. The royalists +thus, at the time that the Count arrived, were pouring in amongst the +cottages and farm houses, and when he reached the little knoll +immediately behind the house, where he had left Clémence de Marly, he +was instantly assailed by a tremendous fire from behind the walls of +the court yard, and the lower windows of the house itself. He had no +troops with him but Herval's band, and a small body of foot which +arrived at that moment to his assistance from the Marquis du Bar, and +he paused for an instant in agony of heart, knowing and feeling that +it was utterly hopeless to attempt to retake the farmhouse, and enable +Clémence to effect her escape. The grief and pain of a whole life +seemed summed up in that one moment. + +"I will not," he cried, in the rashness of despair, "I will not leave +her without an effort." + +Herval was by his side. "Sir," he said, "I must not live over this +night. Let us advance at all risks." + +The Count gave the order, and the men advanced gallantly, though the +enemy's fire was terrible. They were actually scaling the wall of the +court-yard, when suddenly a fire was opened upon them from the houses +and walls on either side. Herval fell over amidst the enemy, the +Count's horse dropped at once under him, and he felt himself drawn +forcibly out from beneath the dying animal, and carried along by the +men in full retreat from that scene of slaughter. + +"Here is a horse, Count,--here is a horse," cried a voice near him. +"Mount, quick, and oh take care of my poor girl. She is on with the +troops before. I have lost you the battle, and know what must come of +it." + +The Count turned and saw Paul Virlay by his side; but before he could +reply the man left the bridle in his hand, and rushed into the midst +of the enemy. + +Springing on the charger's back the Count gazed round him. Herval's +band was all in confusion; but beginning to rally upon the body of +infantry sent by Du Bar. The hamlet was in full possession of the +enemy: the only means of communication between Du Bar and the troops +that were retreating was along the hill side. Albert of Morseiul saw +that if he did not maintain that line, his gallant friend would be cut +off, and, for the moment, casting from his mind all the other bitter +anxieties that preyed upon it, he hastened to occupy a little rising +ground, terribly exposed, indeed, to the enemy's fire, but which would +protect the flank of his friend's little corps, while they joined the +rest who were in retreat. That he was just in time was proved to +Albert of Morseiul, by the sound of a load cannonade, which commenced +from the very direction of Du Bar's quarters; and, sending that +officer orders to retreat directly, he remained, for twenty minutes, +repelling every charge of the enemy; and, by the example of his own +desperate courage and perfect self-command, seeming to inspire his men +with resolution unconquerable. In the mean time the Marquis du Bar +retreated before the other body of royalists which had now come up, +and having seen his men in comparative safety, rode back, with a small +body of horse, to aid the Count in covering the retreat. The royalists +now, however, had gained their object; the camp of the Huguenots was +in their hands; the slaughter on both sides had been dreadful, +considering the short space of time which the strife had lasted; the +country beyond was difficult and defensible, and the order for +stopping further pursuit was given as soon as no more resistance was +made in the Huguenot camp. + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + THE ROYALIST CAMP. + + +"I am astonished, Sir, that you should presume to interfere," said the +Chevalier d'Evran, speaking to the Intendant of the province, whom he +had found on riding down to the post of the second in command, in +order to ascertain what was the cause of the attack having been so +long delayed in that quarter. "I am astonished that you should presume +to interfere at all. The weak gentlemen who have hitherto been +commanding in this country have been indulgent to such insolence: but +you will find very different consequences if you attempt to practise +it upon me." + +"Insolence, Sir!--Insolence!" exclaimed the intendant, foaming with +rage and mortified pride at being thus addressed in the presence of +many hundreds of witnesses. "Insolence in me!--Why, who am I, Sir? Am +I not the intendant of justice, police, and finance in this province?" + +"Yes, Sir, insolence!" replied the Chevalier d'Evran. "You are the +intendant of justice, police, and finance; but before I assumed the +command of the King's forces in this province, you yourself had +required martial law to be proclaimed, so that you not only put every +one else under the authority of the military power, but yourself also; +and, by heavens, if you stare in my face in that manner one moment +longer, I will have you hanged up to yonder tree. Bring a drum here," +he continued, "and summon four officers from the regiments of Lorraine +and Berry. We will soon see who is to command here." + +The unfortunate intendant turned as pale as ashes; for the gallantry +and decision which the Chevalier d'Evran had shown since he assumed +the command, were of a very impressive character, and gave weight to +his threats. The officer who had laid the complaint against him, +however, now interfered. "For God's sake, General," he said, "have +mercy upon this poor man, and consider what will be the result of +calling a drum-head court-martial." + +"I should always be very willing, Sir," replied the Chevalier, drawing +up his fine person to its full height, "I should always be very +willing to attend to your recommendations; but, Sir, in the course of +this night and the preceding day, I have obtained two great and signal +successes over this body of insurgents; and I think that those +successes will fully justify me in the eyes of the King, for punishing +with such authority as is vested in my hands the person to whom we may +attribute that our success was not complete, by the annihilation of +the Huguenot party in the province. If the intendant chooses +immediately to make a humble apology for what has passed, and to +promise in the most solemn manner never to interfere in any one thing +in my camp, or under my command, I will so far overlook the matter for +the time, as not to carry this extreme measure into execution against +him at once. But, in the mean time, I will hold it suspended over his +head, and if required, execute it on the moment." + +The apologies and promises were as full and ample as the Chevalier +could demand; and, leaving strict orders that the worthy intendant +should be kept in a sort of honourable surveillance in the camp, the +Chevalier turned his horse's head, and rode back with his staff +towards the village, smiling slightly over what had just passed, for, +to say the truth, he had been acting a part much more harsh and severe +than he was inclined to pursue in reality. The truth is, that after +the engagement of the preceding morning, the intendant had shown some +disposition to take possession of one or two prisoners that had fallen +into the royalists' hands, for the purpose of employing the rack and +the wheel in their conversion; but the Chevalier, having determined +from the first to put a stop to such measures, had evaded all +discussion for the time, very sure that ere long the intendant would +give him an opportunity of depriving him, at least for the time, of +all authority in the province. + +The smile, however, was soon succeeded by a somewhat more anxious +expression; for knowing as he did that Clémence de Marly was in the +camp of the Huguenots, he was not a little apprehensive of what might +have been her fate in the course of the struggle of that night. He had +given particular instructions regarding her, however; had made it so +fully understood, that he would have no unnecessary bloodshed, and had +exhorted his troops and inferior officers so eloquently to regard the +Protestants merely as erring brothers, as soon as the arms were out of +their hands, that he felt little or no apprehension of any excesses +being committed after the engagement. As soon, then, as he had +ascertained that Mademoiselle de Marly was in the farmhouse on the top +of the hill, and was perfectly safe, he contented himself with sending +a message to her, telling her that he would visit her in the morning, +and begging her in the mean time to put her mind completely at ease. +He then proceeded to investigate the amount of his own loss, and that +of the Huguenots. Nearly an equal number had fallen on each side; but +the army of the Chevalier d'Evran could afford to lose a thousand men +without any serious diminution of its strength, while the same loss on +the part of the Protestant force reduced it in a lamentable degree. + +"Now," thought the Chevalier, when he heard the result of the +inquiries that he caused to be made, "if I can but drive Albert of +Morseiul to the sea, and force him to embark with the most determined +of his sect, while the others lay down their arms and conform, we +shall do very well. These battles were necessary to dishearten the +desperate fellows, and to give me power to do them good, and treat +them mercifully. But we may change our system now, and press them hard +without losing the lives of gallant men. What this old Cecil tells me +of the mistake about the liberation, may, if properly shown, mitigate +a part of the King's anger towards Albert; but it will never do the +whole, and I fear flight is his only resource. This offer that he has +made, however, stands desperately in the way, and yet it must be +communicated to the King. I dare not conceal it." + +While he thus thought, sitting in the room of one of the cottages, +information was brought him that one of the wounded Huguenots, who was +kept with other prisoners in a barn hard by, was very anxious to see +him. + +"I will come immediately," he replied to the officer, and then sitting +down, he wrote a brief despatch to Louvois, in which he detailed all +the events that had occurred; but at the same time, knowing the views +of the minister, he intimated that the only means of keeping the +extent of the insurrection from the King's knowledge, and from general +publicity throughout the whole of Europe, would be to give him the +full power of pardoning all men on laying down their arms. He begged +the minister to believe that he had not the slightest desire +whatsoever that the little services he had performed should be +reported to Louis; but at the same time he pointed out that those +services could not be ultimately beneficial, unless the power that he +demanded was granted to him, and all other authority in the province +superseded for at least one month. He felt very sure that this would +be granted by Louvois, as that minister had become greatly alarmed, +and had openly expressed to the young commander his anxiety lest the +extent of the revolt which had taken place in consequence of measures +he had advised, should ruin him for ever with the King. The Chevalier +trusted, also--although he was obliged, in the end of his epistle, to +state the proposal made by the Count de Morseiul--that the powers +granted by the minister would be such as to enable him to serve that +nobleman. + +When this despatch was concluded, and sent off, he demanded where the +person was who had wished to see him, and was led to a small out-house +close by the farm in which Clémence abode. The door, which was +padlocked, and at which a sentry appeared, was opened to give him +admission, and he found stretched upon piles of straw on the floor of +the building two or three men, apparently in a dying state, and +another seated in a somewhat extraordinary attitude in one corner of +the shed. The sight was very horrible; the straw in many parts was +stained with blood, and anguish was legibly written on the pale +countenances of the dying. + +"Who was the prisoner that wished to speak with me?" said the +Chevalier, going in; but they each answered by claiming to be heard: +one demanding a little water, one asking to be taken into the open +air, and one who, before the words had fully passed his lips, lay a +corpse upon the straw, asking pardon and life, and promising obedience +and conversion. The Chevalier ordered every thing that could make them +comfortable to be supplied as far as possible, adding some sharp +reproaches to his own people for the state in which he found the +wounded: and he then said, "But there was some one who, as I +understood, wished to speak with me more particularly." + +"It was I," said the man who was sitting down in the corner, at once +starting up into the likeness of Jerome Riquet; while at the same +moment another faint voice from the farther part of the building said, +"It was I, General. I told the officer who came here, that I would +fain see you about the Count de Morseiul." + +"Riquet," said the Chevalier, "I will attend to you presently. You +seem well, and unhurt; answer me three questions, and I may say +something that will satisfy you in return. Have you been engaged in +this unfortunate business simply as the servant of the Count de +Morseiul?" + +"As nothing else, upon my word, Sir," replied Riquet. + +"Are you a Catholic or a Protestant?" + +"As Catholic as salt fish on a Friday," replied Riquet. "Surrounded on +all sides by heretics, I was at one time in great fear for myself, +like a man in a city where there is a plague. But bless you, Sir, I +found it was not catching, and here I am more Catholic than ever." + +"Have you, then, in any instance, borne arms in this war?" demanded +the Chevalier. + +"No, on my honour, Chevalier," replied the valet. "No arms have I +borne except a shaving-brush, a razor, a pair of tweezers, and a +toothpick." + +"Well, then," replied the Chevalier, "I can promise you pardon; but +remember you are a prisoner on parole. Do you give me your word that +you will not try to escape?" + +"Lord bless you, Sir," replied the man, "I would not escape for the +world. I am with the winning side. You don't suppose Riquet's a fool, +to go over to the poor devils that you're driving into the sea!" + +"Scoundrel!" said a deep but faint voice from the other side of the +building; and telling Riquet to bring the light with him, the +Chevalier advanced to the spot, where, stretched upon the straw, in +the most remote corner of the shed, lay the unfortunate Armand Herval, +dying from the effects of at least twenty wounds. As soon as the eyes +of the wounded man fell upon Riquet, he exclaimed, angrily,--"Get thee +hence, traitor! Let me not see your face, scoundrel! To abandon thus +your noble lord at the first moment of misfortune!" + +"You mistake, Monsieur," replied Riquet quietly--"I am not a bit more +of a scoundrel than you are, Monsieur Herval, nor, indeed, of a +traitor either: every one serves his lord in his own way, Master +Herval, that's all. You in your way, and I in mine. If you had waited +a little, to hear what I had to say to the Chevalier, you would have +seen that I was quite as ready to make sacrifices for my Lord as +yourself." + +"Herval!" said the Chevalier, as he listened to their conversation; +"that name is surely familiar to me." + +"Well it might be," answered Riquet; "for I dare say my Lord must have +told you, Monsieur le Chevalier. This man, or I am much mistaken, +would have killed the King himself, if my Lord had not prevented him." + +"Indeed!" demanded the Chevalier. "Can we get any proof of this?" + +"Proof, Sir?" replied the dying man; "it was on that account I sent +for you. The Count de Morseiul is ruined; and the cause of the +reformed church is over; and all this evil has happened through my +fault. I have heard, too, that he has offered to surrender himself to +the axe, in order to buy safety for the rest of us. But surely the +King--let him be as great a tyrant as he may--will not murder the man +that saved his life." + +"The King, Sir, is no tyrant," replied the Chevalier, "but a generous +and noble master to those who are obedient and loyal: even to the +disobedient he is most merciful; and if this fact could be made known +to him, and proved beyond all doubt, I feel perfectly convinced that +he would not only pardon the Count de Morseiul for his past errors, +but show him some mark of favour, in gratitude for what he has done." + +"The King does know it," replied Herval, sharply; "the King must know +it; for I have heard that the whole papers of Hatréaumont fell into +the hands of Louvois; and I have myself seen that foul tiger's name +written to an order for my arrest as one of Hatréaumont's +accomplices." + +"But that does not prove," replied the Chevalier, "that either the +King or Louvois knew of this act of the Count's." + +"It does prove it," replied the dying man; "for the only letter I ever +wrote to Hatréaumont in my life was to tell him that I had failed in +my purpose of killing the tyrant; that every thing had gone fair till +the Count de Morseiul came in between me and him, and declared, that I +should take his life first. I told him all, every thing--how I got +into the gardens of Versailles at night, and hid under the terrace +where the King walked alone--how yon babbling fool betrayed my purpose +to the Count, and he came and prevented me doing the deed I ought to +have done, even if I had taken his life first. I told him all this, +and I cursed the Count of Morseiul in my madness, over again and +again--and now the man whose life he saved is seeking to bring him to +the block." + +"This is extraordinary and important," said the Chevalier: "I cannot +believe that the King knows it. Louvois must have kept it from his +ears. Will you make a deposition of this, my good fellow, as early +to-morrow as we can get proper witnesses and a notary?" + +"Early to-morrow?" said the man faintly, "early to-morrow, +Chevalier?--I shall never see a to-morrow. Now is your only moment, +and as for witnesses, quick, get paper and pen and ink. There is not +half an hour's life in me. If you had come when first I sent, there +would have been plenty of time. But now every moment is a loss." + +"Quick, Riquet," cried the Chevalier, "bid the officer at the door run +to my quarters, and bring down pen and ink and paper, without a +moment's delay." + +Riquet lost no time, and the Chevalier endeavoured as far as possible +to keep Herval quiet till the means of writing were brought. The dying +man would go on speaking, however, but with his voice becoming lower +and lower, and his ideas evidently in some degree confused. Once or +twice he spoke as if he were at Versailles, and in the presence of the +King: then seemed as if he fancied himself conversing with +Hatréaumont; and then again pronounced the name of Claire more than +once, and talked of happiness. When Riquet and the officer returned, +however, with the materials for writing, he had still strength and +recollection enough to commence his declaration in a formal manner. + +"I, Armand Herval," he said, "do hereby declare, and on the bed of +death affirm most solemnly, that had it not been that the Count de +Morseiul prevented me, I would have shot the King of France, upon the +terrace at Versailles, after the play, on the night before the arrest +of the Chevalier de Rohan, and that all I said was perfectly true, in +a letter which was written by me to Monsieur de Hatréaumont, dated on +the--I cannot recollect the day:" he added, in a lower tone, "it seems +as if a mist had come over that part of my memory." + +"Never mind," said the Chevalier, "go on, my good friend, go on, the +date is unimportant." + +"Was it the twenty-fourth or the twenty-fifth?" continued the man. "I +cannot recollect for the life of me, your Majesty. It's a short life, +too. Mine will soon be spent, and Claire's is all gone----" + +He spoke very faintly, indeed; and the Chevalier said, "You forget, my +friend, you forget. We were talking of the Count de Morseiul." + +"Ah!" cried the man, with a greater effort, and starting up on +the straw--"Ah, so we were.--What a fool I am!--Write it down, +quick!--Write it down, quick!--But take your fingers off my +throat!--Take your fingers off my throat!--I cannot speak if you stop +my breath!--What's the use of putting out the light?--Why do you put +out the light?--Oh, Heaven, it is death, it is death," and, falling +back upon the straw, the strong frame shook for a moment, as if an +ague had seized him, and then all was still. + +The Chevalier d'Evran shut his teeth close, saying, "This is +unfortunate. However, you are a witness, Riquet, to all that he said." + +"Lord bless you, noble Sir," replied the valet, "nobody will believe a +word that I say. I should consider my character ruined for ever if +there was any body, in all Europe, that would believe me upon my +oath." + +"I had forgot," said the Chevalier, dryly; "your character is in no +danger, I believe, on that score. But my word will be believed, and my +voice, at least, shall be heard." + +"Well, Sir," replied Riquet, perhaps a little piqued at the +Chevalier's reply, "let me add my voice too; for though they may +believe me in nothing else, they may, perhaps, believe me in a +confession which will go to twist my own neck. I wish to be sent to +the King, Sir; though if you can find out when he is in a good humour +I should prefer it. But my object is to inform him that it was +altogether my fault, and my foolishness, and my crime, that prevented +the Count de Morseiul from going to Versailles as soon as he was +liberated from the Bastille to throw himself at the King's feet. If it +had not been for that aforesaid foolishness of mine he would never +have come hither, would never have led the rebels at all, and most +likely, by this time, would have been as high in the King's good +graces as ever." + +"I have heard all this before," said the Chevalier. "But are you +positively resolved, my good friend, to go voluntarily and make +confession of all these things?--Do you remember the consequences?--Do +you think of the risks?" + +"No, Sir," replied Riquet, "I do quite the contrary. I try to forget +them all as fast as possible, being resolved to go at any rate, and, +therefore, judging that the less I think about risks and consequences +the better." + +"By Heaven, thou art right," replied the Chevalier, "and thou shalt +have a bottle of Burgundy, if there be one in the camp, to keep warm +thy good philosophy. See, there is the grey of the morning coming in, +and I may well go away satisfied with having found one man in the +world who is not so great a scoundrel as I thought him." + +The Chevalier returned to the hut in which he had established his +quarters, and cast himself down for an hour's repose; but before the +daylight had been long in the sky he was on foot again, and at the +door of the farm-house which contained Clémence de Marly. He was +immediately admitted; and, strange as it may seem, if the Count de +Morseiul had witnessed that meeting, it would certainly have wrung his +heart more than the loss of a great battle. The royalist commander +advanced at once to his fair prisoner, and, putting his arms slightly +round her, kissed her cheek without any apparent reluctance on her +part; and her first exclamation was, "Oh, Louis, I am glad to see you +safe! You know not how my heart is torn!" + +"I dare say it is, my pretty Clémence," replied the Chevalier, in his +usual light tone; "but you, who have been doing nothing else but +tearing other people's hearts for the last five years, must take your +turn now. You have placed me in a terrible predicament, however, +thoughtless girl," he added. "You are obstinate as an Arragonese mule +about this matter of religion, and will not be contented till you have +got yourself roasted in this world as preparatory to----" + +"But tell me, Louis--tell me about him!" demanded Clémence. "Is he +safe? Has he escaped from this awful night?" + +"I suppose you mean Morseiul, by _he_ and _him_," said the Chevalier, +"and if so, he is safe, as far as I know. He has escaped. That is to +say, he has not been taken, thank God--though one time he was very +near it; for, by the flash of the guns, I saw his face in the middle +of our men:--but I dare say now, Clémence, that you would a +thousand-fold rather have me killed than this heretic of yours?" + +"Do not be unkind, Louis," replied Clémence--"I would of course rather +have neither of you killed; but now that you have got me, tell me what +is to be my fate?" + +"Why, that question is difficult to answer," said the Chevalier; +"Heaven knows, I did not want you, Madam. I was obliged to write you a +formal summons to return, for mere decency's sake; but I certainly +never expected you would obey it. You might have said, No, silly girl, +without telling all the world that you had turned Huguenot--all for +the love of a gallant knight." + +"Nonsense, Louis! Do speak seriously," replied Clémence: "you very +well know I was what you call a Huguenot long before." + +"Not quite, Clémence! not quite!" cried the Chevalier: "you were what +may be called Huguenoting. But this rash and imprudent determination +of declaring your feelings, doubts, or whatever they may be, at the +very moment when the sword of persecution is drawn, was, indeed, very +silly, Clémence. What is to be done now is rendered doubly difficult, +and I suppose I must of course connive at your escape. We must take +means to have an intimation conveyed for some trading vessels to hover +about the coast, to give you an opportunity of getting away till this +fierce bigotry has gone by. It will not last long; and in a year or +two, I doubt not, exiles will be permitted to return. The only +difficulty will be to have the ships opportunely; but I think I can +manage that." + +"Oh, do, do, Louis!" exclaimed Clémence, eagerly. "That is all that +can be desired; and pray try to persuade Albert to fly at once." + +"Nay, nay," replied the Chevalier, laughing, "that must not be my +task, Clémence. On that subject I dare not say a word. But you may +well do what you will. I will take care that the means of flight to +another country shall be provided for you, and you may take with you +any one that is willing to go." + +"But then," exclaimed Clémence, "I must have the opportunity of +persuading him." + +"Certainly," exclaimed the Chevalier: "the first thing you have to do +is to get out of my camp as fast as you can. I would not have you +three days here for the world; for as affairs go at present, I cannot +answer that the power of protecting you will be left to me for three +days. However," he added, after a moment's thought, "to-day you must +stay and march on with us, and before to-morrow, I trust I shall be +able to put you under such protection as will insure you safety and +support in your flight; and now, pretty maid, I must leave you. We +shall begin to march about noon. In the mean time there is a courier +going to Montaigu, so send off thither for whatever you may need to +make you comfortable. An easy horse shall be ready for you; and if at +any time you may feel yourself inclined to gallop away, you may take +him with you as a present from me. By the way, little heretic," he +added, when he got to the door, "you will want money for your +peregrinations." + +"Oh, no," replied Clémence, "I have plenty. I have plenty, I assure +you. I have near two hundred double louis which I took to the prison +in hopes----." + +"Little do you know of what you may want, silly girl," replied the +Chevalier. "Why one of these very merchant ships may demand the half +of that for carrying you over. Here," he added, drawing forth a +leathern purse embroidered in gold--"I don't know how much there is +here, but you must take it too; and if by any unforeseen circumstance +you should need more when in England, draw on me what they call a bill +of exchange." + +Clémence took the money without ceremony, as if it were a mere matter +of course, and only added, "Come and see me again before we march, +Louis." + +The Chevalier nodded his head and left her. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII + + THE LAST EFFORTS. + + +To describe the military man[oe]uvres which took place during the +three or four following days would be neither amusing nor instructive +to the reader. Suffice it to say, that the small force of the Count de +Morseiul diminished as he retreated, while the army of the Chevalier +d'Evran was increased by the arrival of two new regiments. The latter +had thus an opportunity of extending his line, and frustrating a +vigorous effort made by the Count to cut his way into Brittany. Every +effort that the Protestant leader made to bring to his aid those who +had promised very soon to join him, only showed him that the +estimation which he had formed of the degree of vigour and unanimity +to be expected from the Huguenots was but too accurate. Almost all +those determined and daring leaders of the lower orders who had given +energy and activity to all the movements of the insurgents had fallen +in the preceding skirmishes. Herval was heard of no more; Paul Virlay +had been seen by one of the soldiers to fall by a shot through the +head towards the close of the last affair; and at length, with not +more than five hundred men under his command, Albert of Morseiul found +himself shut in between a force of eight thousand men and the sea. The +only consolation that he had was to hear that Clémence de Marly was +safe, and the only hope was that some vessels from Rochelle, for which +he had despatched a shallop in haste, might be tempted by the large +sum he offered to hasten round and carry off a certain portion of his +troops, comprising the principal leaders, while the rest laid down +their arms, and he himself surrendered to the fate that awaited him. + +Such were his plans and purposes when the last day of the insurrection +dawned upon the world; and we must pause for an instant to describe +the situation of his little force on that eventful morning. + +There is upon that coast a small rocky island, not so high as the +celebrated Mont St. Michel, which is on the opposite side of the +peninsula of Brittany, but in almost every other respect similar to +that famous rock. At the time we speak of this island was fortified, +and the guns of the castle commanded almost entirely the small bay in +which it was situated. At low water the island becomes a peninsula, +being joined to the land like the Mont St. Michel by a narrow neck of +land, along the top of which there ran a paved causeway, covered +entirely by the sea to the depth of five or six feet at the time of +high water. The commandant of the fort was a Protestant gentleman who +had distinguished himself in some degree in the service. He had been +raised, and greatly favoured by the influence of the Counts of +Morseiul, and owed his post to them. He had not only promised to +co-operate with the young Count in the commencement of the unfortunate +revolt, but he had sent him some assistance, and a large quantity of +ammunition; and when the Count found that he was cut off from forcing +his way into Brittany on the one hand, or reaching Sainctonge on the +other, he had shaped his course past Montaigu towards the little bay +in which this island was situated, and had succeeded in reaching it, +notwithstanding the efforts of the royalist corps to prevent him. + +Opposite to the island was a small village, on a high bank above the +sea-shore. It possessed a large church, and two or three walled farm +houses; and during one half of the night after his arrival, the Count +toiled with the country people, who were principally Protestants, to +throw up breastworks and plant pallisades, so as to fortify the +village in as strong a manner as possible. Four cannon, which were all +that he possessed, were planted to command the principal road leading +to the village, and ere morning the whole was brought to such a +condition as to enable the little band of Protestants to offer a +determined and lengthened resistance, should they be driven to do so. + +Was it then, it may be asked, the purpose of the Count to offer that +resistance? It certainly was not; but feeling perfectly sure that the +Chevalier d'Evran was disposed to grant the Protestants the most +lenient terms consistent with his duty, he took these measures in +order to give him the best excuse for treating with the insurgents, +and granting them a favourable capitulation. "If," he thought, "the +Chevalier can show to the King that it would have cost him two or +three thousand of his best troops to overcome or slaughter a poor body +of five hundred men, Louis is too wise and too good a soldier himself +not to hold him perfectly justified for granting the mildest terms." + +When all was completed, the Count cast himself down to rest, and slept +for some time from utter exhaustion. By the first ray of morning, +however, he was upon the shore, looking towards the sea, and beheld, +to his no small joy and satisfaction, three vessels, at the distance +of about four or five miles, standing off and on, as if waiting for +the tide to enter the bay. The tide, however, though not quite at the +ebb, had sank so low that there was no chance of their being able to +come in till it had quite gone down and risen again; and Albert of +Morseiul looked with anxiety for the passing of six or seven hours, +which must thus elapse. + +His anxiety now led him to the other side of the village, and going to +one of the farm houses, situated at the corner of a small cart-road +which he had barricaded, he went up to a window on the first floor, +and looked over the wide view that sloped away below. There appeared, +what he had expected to find, the camp of the Chevalier d'Evran, +hemming him in on all sides. The distance between the village and the +first tents was about two miles, so that at any time, without more +than half an hour's notice, the attack upon his little fortress might +commence. He was quite prepared, it is true, and doubted not to be +able to maintain his post for many hours, knowing that his men would +fight with the energy of despair. + +But no movement whatsoever in the royalist camp indicated any great +haste to attack him. There were no groups of officers busily +reconnoitring; there were no regiments drawn up as if to march to the +assault; and the only objects that were seen were two files of +soldiers marching along to relieve the guard at different points of +the camp. All this was satisfactory to an experienced eye like that of +the Count de Morseiul, and well knowing his opponent, he judged that +the Chevalier was waiting for some reply from Paris, ere he gave any +answer to the terms which he, the Count, had suggested. + +He paused, therefore, for nearly twenty minutes, gazing over the +scene, when suddenly, from a point of the camp where nothing seemed +stirring before, a little group of persons on horseback drew out, and +rode swiftly towards the village. The moment after the Count perceived +that two of those persons were clad in women's garments; and the +rapidity with which they came, showed him that they were fearful of +being stopped. Going down from the window in haste, he sprang upon +horseback, and with the attendants who were waiting for him below, +rode out upon the side of the hill, in order to assist the fugitives +in case of need; but no sign of pursuit took place till one half of +the distance or more had been passed by the little party; and the +Count dismounting about a quarter of a mile from the village, watched +their coming with eager eyes and a beating heart, as he recognised the +form of Clémence de Marly. When she was beyond all risk of being +overtaken, a small party of cavaliers issued forth from another part +of the camp, and rode on towards the village, but slowly, and they +were still at more than a miles distance when Clémence was in the arms +of her lover, and weeping upon his bosom. He led her in as fast as +possible, followed by the maid Maria, and no less a person than Jerome +Riquet, who seemed to have found of breaking his word so strong a +temptation, that he could not resist it. + +A rumour had spread amongst the Protestants in the town that something +of interest was proceeding without, and when the Count and Clémence +turned towards the village, they found that their meeting had been +witnessed by many eyes. But in the faces of those they passed, Albert +of Morseiul read courage brightened, and resolution strengthened, by +that which they had just seen; and there was not a man within that +little encampment whose heart did not feel elevated and confirmed by +witnessing the bursting forth of those tender and ennobling feelings, +which ever, when pure and true, dignify man's spirit, and brighten his +mind. + +When they were within the barriers, the Count turned for a moment to +look at the other group which had drawn out from the camp; but it did +not seem that they were in pursuit of Clémence, for they shaped their +course along the road towards the principal entrance of the village, +and when the Count turned, he clearly saw them displaying a flag of +truce. He led Clémence into the house where he had taken up his head +quarters, however, and saying a few soothing words, left her to see +what was the intelligence which the Chevalier's envoys conveyed. As he +walked down he met a messenger coming to demand his presence at the +barrier; and on approaching it, he found waiting, in the guard-house, +the old English officer, Sir Thomas Cecil, with one or two French, +gentlemen with whom he was slightly acquainted. + +"Monsieur de Morseiul," said the old Englishman, "I have been charged +by Major-General the Chevalier d'Evran to communicate to you the only +terms which he is permitted by the King to grant under the +circumstances in which you respectively stand. He was long in hopes +that those terms would have been more favourable than they are, and +they are very painful to me to announce. But as you conveyed to him a +message through me, he thought that I ought to undertake to bear the +reply." + +"I thank you, my dear Sir," replied the Count, "most sincerely for +undertaking the task. But, as a preliminary, let me tell you before +these gentlemen who have come with you, as well as before Monsieur du +Bar here, and my own friends around me, that the only terms which I +will accept are those which I notified to the Chevalier d'Evran +through you, namely, permission for any one hundred of my friends of +the reformed religion to retire from France unmolested; a free pardon +to all the rest, except myself, on laying down their arms, and a +promise that they shall be permitted to exercise their religion in +private without annoyance. On these conditions we will immediately lay +down our arms, and I will surrender myself at discretion to his +Majesty's pleasure." + +"No, no!--No, no!" cried several voices amongst the Protestants; "we +cannot submit to that. We will die at our post with arms in our hands, +rather than that the Count shall be sacrificed." + +"My good friends," replied the Count, "that is a personal matter +altogether. I have made the best terms that I can for you, and I have +done what I judge right for myself; knowing that the only way of +dealing with his Majesty is to throw myself upon his magnanimity." + +The old Englishman wiped away a tear from his eye. "I am sorry to +say, Sir," he rejoined, "that I cannot even mention such favourable +terms as those. On condition of your immediately laying down your +arms, the Chevalier d'Evran, in the name of the King, offers the +following:--Permission for every one not absolutely a subject of +France to leave the country unmolested. Free pardon to all but the +actual leaders of the revolt, specified in the following list. They +must unconditionally surrender to the King's pleasure, and trust to +his mercy." + +The list apparently contained about fifty names; at the head of which +stood that of the Count of Morseiul. The Count looked round upon the +Protestant gentlemen by whom he was surrounded. On all their +countenances but one or two there was awe, but not fear. As the only +reply needful, the Marquis du Bar laid his finger upon the hilt of his +sword, and the Count turning to Sir Thomas Cecil, said, "You perceive, +Sir, that it is utterly impossible we can accede to this demand. I +know not whether it has been made under any mistaken impression; but +when I offered what I did offer through you to the Chevalier d'Evran, +I was just as certain that we should be reduced to the situation in +which we are at present as I am now--nay, expected it to be worse than +it is. We can but die, Sir; and I have not the slightest objection to +lead you round the preparations which I have made for resisting to the +last; so that if our blood must be shed, and the Chevalier is +determined to sacrifice the lives of a large body of our royal +master's troops, he may be satisfied that he cannot carry this +position without the loss of two or three thousand men." + +"It is not necessary, Count. It is not necessary," replied the old +officer. "The Chevalier has no choice; the terms are dictated by +higher authority; and all that he can do farther than signify those +terms to you is to grant you five hours to consider of them. If you +like to accept a truce for that time you may take it." + +The Count was not a little surprised at this indulgence, but he took +care to express none; and accepting the truce willingly, suffered the +old officer to depart. One or two of the young French officers, whom +he had known in the army, wrung his hand as they went away, and +besought him, with kindly feelings, to think well of what he was +about. One of them, however, ere he went, whispered a more important +word in his ear. + +"There are ships out at sea," he said. "You and the other leaders may +get off before the five hours are out." + +The Count took no notice, but wished him Good-by; and returning with +Monsieur du Bar and the rest of the officers, he held a brief +consultation with them in the saloon of the little inn. + +"Had we more boats," he said, "the matter would be easily managed. But +there are but two on the shore, which will not carry out above twenty +of us. However, my good friends, it becomes necessary to take some +prompt resolution. I have begun to be somewhat doubtful to-day of Le +Luc, who commands in the fort. He has sent me no answer to my note of +last night, and though I do not believe that he would be so great a +scoundrel, after all his promises, as to turn against us, yet I must +ascertain decidedly what are his intentions; for he might sink the +boats as they passed under his guns. If he be still friendly to us, +and willing really to aid us, we are safe, for while the soldiery lay +down their arms and surrender upon promise of free pardon, you, +gentlemen, who all of you, I find, are upon this long list of +proscription, can march along the causeway into the fort, and embark +in the ships that lie out there. If, on the contrary, we find him a +traitor, we must make the boats hold as many as they will, and take +the chance of the scoundrel firing upon them. I shall only claim to +have one place reserved in one of the boats." + +"Two," said du Bar; "surely two, Morseiul. Did I not see a lady?" + +"It is for her I speak," replied the Count. "Du Bar, in pity do not +urge me in matters where my resolution is taken. I have pangs and +agony at my heart sufficient at this moment, believe me, to be spared +that of refusing a friend.--Now then, gentlemen," he added, after a +moment's pause, "let five of you accompany me along the causeway which +must be passable by this time, to speak to Governor Le Luc. If you +will mount your horses, I will be down with you in an instant," and he +went up to take one hurried embrace of her he loved, and to explain to +her what had happened, and what was proposed, concealing from her, as +far as he could, the dangers and difficulties of their situation; but +concealing from her still more carefully his own purpose of +surrendering at discretion. + +When this was done he went down, and finding the other gentlemen +ready, sprang upon his horse, without noticing that a multitude of the +inferior Protestants had gathered round, and seemed to be watching +them with somewhat suspicious eyes. + +The sea had not quite left the causeway dry, except in one or two +places, and the sands were still quite covered. But the only result of +this was to force the Count and his train to proceed slowly, and one +by one, while he himself led the way, the white stone pavement being +clearly discernible through the thin water. + +In the mean time, however, the Protestants who had been gazing at him +as he mounted, gathered into knots together, and seemed to be speaking +hastily and discontentedly. Some of the inferior officers joined them, +and a great deal of tumult and talking ensued, which called out +several of the gentlemen of the party to remonstrate. But remonstrance +seemed in vain, and the crowd soon after trooped away out of the +little open space where they had assembled, in the direction of the +corps de garde, where the small battery of cannon was placed. Various +broken sentences, however, were heard from time to time, such as, "I +would hardly have believed it. To take care of themselves, and leave +us to perish. I always said, we should be made the sacrifice. Better +be a Catholic and at peace, than that." + +"Ride after the Count and tell him what is going on," said one of the +gentlemen to another, "while I go to our good minister, Monsieur +Vigni, and get him to reason with them. You see they are mistaking the +matter altogether, and think that we are going to abandon them. Make +haste, or it will be too late." + +The suggestion was instantly followed; but ere the officer could get +his horse and ride down to the sea shore, the Count and his party were +nearly at the fort, and to them we must now turn. + +The progress of the young general of the Huguenots had been slower +than it might have been, not only on account of the causeway being +partially covered with water, but also because the stone, with which +it was composed, had in some places been broken up or carried away. He +at length reached, however, the fortified head of the causeway at the +foot of the rock, and then demanded admission to speak with the +governor. + +This was refused him; but as such might naturally be the case, his +suspicions were but little increased by that event. He, however, +directed the officer in command immediately to send up and inform the +governor Le Luc of his being there, and of his desire to speak with +him. + +After keeping him some time, the officer returned, saying, "that +Monsieur le Luc would come down himself to speak with the Count," and +during the period that the Protestant leaders were thus occupied in +waiting for the appearance of the governor, the Protestant officer +arrived from the village, bringing news that the soldiery which had +been left behind were in a state of actual mutiny, having entirely +mistaken the object of the Count and his companions, and imagined that +they were engaged in seeking their own safety, leaving the soldiers to +meet whatever fate might befall them. + +"In the name of Heaven, ride back, Du Bar," said the Count, "and quiet +them till I return. It is better for me to stay and speak to this +worthy gentleman, who seems to be showing us a cold face, as you know +he owes every thing to my house. I will return instantly, as soon as +he condescends to favour us with his presence." + +Du Bar did not reply, but turned his horse, for they were still kept +on the outside even of the causeway head, and rode back as fast as he +could go, accompanied by one of the other officers. + +The Count remained, growing more and more impatient every moment; and +the governor, perhaps thinking that he would get tired of waiting, and +retire without an answer, kept him nearly half an hour before he made +his appearance. He then came down with that dull and dogged look, +which generally accompanies the purpose of disgraceful actions; and +the Count, restraining his indignation, called to him to cause the +drawbridge to be lowered, in order that he might speak to him more +privately. + +"No, indeed," replied the governor, with a scoff; "with the little +force I have in here, I shall not think of causing the drawbridge to +be lowered, when I know that the village is occupied by a large party +of armed traitors." + +"Traitors!" exclaimed the Count; but again overcoming his anger, he +added, in a cooler tone, "Monsieur le Luc, up to this moment I have +believed you to be of the reformed church." + +"I am so no longer," muttered the governor. + +"Well, Sir," continued the Count, "there are other things which may +have influence upon men of honour and good feeling besides their +religion. There is at the village, as you say, a large party of +Protestant gentlemen, assembled in defence of their liberty and +freedom of conscience: they find themselves unable to resist the power +of those that would oppress them; terms are proposed for extending a +free pardon to all but some thirty or forty; those thirty or forty are +desirous of obtaining shelter in this fortress for one or two hours at +the utmost, till they can embark in those ships, which are waiting for +the rising of the tide. Now, Monsieur le Luc, my father gave you the +first commission that you held under the crown. He obtained for you +your first promotion, and I bestowed upon you the post in this +fortress which you now hold. Will you, Sir, grant us the shelter that +we demand at your hand. + +"Very pretty," replied Le Luc, "to talk of honour, and ask me to +betray the trust that the King reposes in me." + +Still the Count kept his temper. "You refuse, then?" he demanded. + +"Yes, that I do," answered the governor in a rude tone; "and the +sooner you take yourself back to the land the better, for I am in no +humour to be trifled with." + +It was with difficulty that the Count restrained himself; but there +was one chance more, and he tried it. + +"Yet another word, my good friend," he said. "There is a matter in +which you can favour us without endangering your own safety, or +getting into discredit with the government. If we attempt to pass to +the ships in what boats we can find, will you pledge me your word that +you do not fire into them?" + +"If you do not make haste away from the gates of this fortress," +replied the governor, who saw, by the quivering of the Count's lip the +contempt that he could not help feeling, "I will fire upon you where +you are, and will sink the boat of every traitor that comes within +shot." + +"Sir," said the Count, "you are a dastardly, pitiful, contemptible +scoundrel. It is only happy for you that the drawbridge is between us, +or I would treat you like an ill-conditioned hound, and lash you +within an inch of your life under my horse's feet." + +"You shall hear more, traitor; you shall hear more in a minute," +replied the governor. "And mind I tell you, the faster you go the +better for you." + +Thus saying, he turned away, and mounted the zigzag staircase in the +rock with a rapid step. The Count paused, and turned his horse; but at +that very moment he saw a party of horsemen at the other end of the +causeway apparently coming towards him with great speed, part of them +upon the sands, which by this time had been left dry, part of them +following the road in the midst. + +"It is Du Bar and the rest," said he, in a low voice, to one of the +gentlemen near him. "I have a very great mind to stay here, and try to +punish that fellow for his insolence. I could swim that little bit of +sea in a moment, and the drawbridge once in our possession, the castle +would be ours." + +"Count, Count," shouted the officer of the guard from the +fortress-side of the drawbridge "for God's sake make haste and ride +back. I hear that governor of ours giving orders for charging the +cannon with grape. He will fire upon you as sure as I am alive, for he +sent word to the Chevalier d'Evran last night that he would do so." + +"I thank you, Sir, for your courtesy," replied the Count calmly. +"Under these circumstances, my friends, it is better for us to so +back." + +The other officers put their horses into a quick pace, and they rode +on; but they had scarcely gone a hundred yards when the cannon of the +castle opened a fire of grape upon them. The shot, however, flew over +their heads, as they were too near the walls to be easily hit, except +from the drawbridge, where the Count could see preparations being made +for following up the same course. At the same moment, however, he +pulled up his horse, exclaiming, "Good God, that is not the Marquis du +Bar: it is the Chevalier d'Evran!" + +The officers who were with him paused also, and to their surprise, and +somewhat to their consternation, perceived that, shut in as they were +by the sea on two sides, and by the fortress on another, the only open +ground before them was occupied by the Commander-in-chief of the +royalist forces, with a numerous staff, and a small escort of cavalry. + +"We have nothing for it, my friends," said the Count de Morseiul in a +low, calm tone, "but to surrender; it is evident our men have +capitulated in the village. Let us ride on and meet them." + +Thus saying he spurred on his horse, while the Chevalier d'Evran +galloped forward on his side, waving his hat, and shaking his clenched +fist towards the people on the walls of the fort. They either did not +recognise him, however, or did not choose to obey his commands; and +before he and the Count de Morseiul met, a second discharge of +grape-shot took place from the cannon of the castle. At the same +moment the Count de Morseiul beheld the Chevalier d'Evran suddenly +check up his horse, press his hand upon his side, and fall headlong to +the ground, while one of the horses of the Count's party was killed +upon the spot, and an officer of the Chevalier's staff fell wounded, +but rose up again immediately. + +The Count galloped eagerly on to the spot where he had seen the +Chevalier d'Evran fall, and the memory of long friendship came +painfully back upon his heart. Before he had reached the group of +soldiers and officers, however, five or six men had raised the +unfortunate commander from the ground, and were bearing him rapidly +back towards the village. So eagerly were those who remained +conversing together, and so fully occupied with their own thoughts, +that the Count de Morseiul might, to all appearance, have passed by +them without opposition or inquiry; but he himself drew in his rein, +demanding, "Is he much hurt?" + +"Alas! Monsieur de Morseiul," replied the officer, who seemed to be +next in command, "he is dead! Killed on the spot by that infernal +shot! and a nobler gentleman, or better soldier, never lived. But some +of your own people are killed also; are they not?" + +"One of the horses only, I believe," replied the Count. "Pray, may I +ask how all this has happened?--Poor Louis!" + +"Ride on, ride on, Charliot," said the officer, speaking to one of his +own men before he answered the Count, "that scoundrel will fire upon +us again. Tell him I will hang him over the drawbridge if he fires +another shot Monsieur de Morseiul, I will explain all this as we ride +back, for you will have but little time to make your arrangements. +Scarcely half an hour ago as Monsieur d'Evran and the rest of us were +reconnoitring pretty close to your camp, a party of your men came out +and offered to capitulate on certain terms, which the Chevalier +instantly agreed to, and they gave us possession of the gate and the +corps de garde. Just at that moment, however, came up Monsieur du Bar, +who remonstrated somewhat angrily with the Chevalier on signing a +capitulation with the men, when he had given the officers a truce of +five hours to consider of his terms. He represented that in those five +hours all the gentlemen named in the proscribed list might have made +their escape. On that the Chevalier replied, that he intended to take +no advantage; that the truce should be held to exist notwithstanding +the capitulation; and that every gentleman on that list might act +exactly as he pleased, without any one trying to impede him. He could +not suffer them, of course, to pass through our camp; but if they +could escape by sea they might. He said, however, that he wished to +speak with this Le Luc, and that he would take the liberty of riding +down through the village. Du Bar then asked if he intended to bid Le +Luc fire on the boats or ships. He answered quite the contrary; that +his only intention was to supersede him in his command, and put an +officer in his place who would keep the truce to the letter. You have, +therefore, yet four hours nearly, to do what you will in, Monsieur de +Morseiul; for I, of course, taking the Chevalier's command, shall +maintain all his arrangements, and act in their full spirit." + +The Count had listened sadly and attentively, and when the royalist +officer had done speaking, he replied that by his leave he would ride +on as fast as possible to the village, and consult with his +companions. + +"Do so! do so!" answered the other; "and now I think of it, I had +better go on to the fort, and put the Chevelier's intentions in +execution. For this firing upon you may be considered already a breach +of the truce. I shall find you on my return; and at the little auberge +you will meet with an English gentleman most anxious to speak with +you." Thus saying, he turned again towards the fort, and the Count, +with a sad heart, rode back to the village. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + THE BITTER PARTING. + + +Just at the entrance of the village, the Count met with his companion +Du Bar. + +"Have you heard all?" demanded that officer. "What is to be done?" + +"Get the boats ready with all speed," replied the Count. "The tide +will turn within half an hour, the ships will be able to come farther +in. Twenty or thirty persons may get off in the first boats, which +must come back again for a second freight. I see clearly, my friend, +that there is no intention of dealing harshly with us. All the +officers wish us to escape, and there will be no more firing from the +castle. I must leave the embarkation, and all that, to you, Du Bar, +for I have things to go through that will try my heart to the utmost. +I must have a few minutes to make up my mind to parting with my +friends and companions, and all that I love on earth, forever.--Du +Bar," he continued, while the other wrung his hand affectionately, +"there will be a young lady who will accompany you, and that girl, the +daughter of poor Virlay. You have a wife and children yourself, whom +you love, I know, fondly and devotedly. They are in safety, you told +me, on those opposite shores which I shall never see. But let me +beseech you,--by the memory of these dark and terrible days, when the +hand that now presses yours is laid in the dust, as I know too well +must soon be the case,--let me beseech you, I say, to give every aid +and assistance to those two that I now commit to your charge. Be to +the one as a brother, Du Bar, and to the other as a father. I know you +to be honest and true as you are brave and wise; and I shall lay my +head upon the block with more peace at my heart, if you promise me +that which I now ask." + +"I do, I do," replied the Marquis, with the tears standing in his +eyes. "I do promise you, from my heart, and I would fain persuade you +even now to consider----" + +But the Count waved his hand and rode on. + +There was a considerable crowd round the entrance of the little inn, +and he had some difficulty in making his way in. At the door of the +room where he had fixed his own quarters, he found two or three of the +royalist soldiers; but, passing by them, he entered the room, when a +sight met his eye which might well chill and wring his heart. + +The room was nearly empty, but stretched upon the long table, which +occupied the midst, was the fine noble form of the Chevalier d'Evran, +now still in death. Standing near the head of the body, was the old +English officer, Sir Thomas Cecil, with an air of deep stern grief +upon his fine and striking countenance. His hat was off, showing his +white hair, his arms were crossed upon his chest, his head was erect +as ever, and nothing like a tear was in his eye: but there was no +mistaking the expression of his countenance. It was that of intense +sorrow. But on the other side of the table grief was displaying itself +in a different manner, and in a different form. For there knelt +Clémence de Marly, with her beautiful head bent down over the dead +body; her hair, fallen from its bindings, scattered wildly, partly +over her own shoulders, partly over the breast of the Chevalier; her +left hand clasping that of the dead man, her eyes and face buried on +his bosom, while the convulsing sobs that shook her whole frame, told +how bitterly she was weeping. + +The Count paused with a look of deep sadness: but there was no anger +or jealousy in his countenance. The old English officer, however, as +soon as he perceived him, hurried forward, and took both his hands, +saying, in a low and solemn voice, "You must let her weep, Count, you +must let her weep! It is her brother!" + +"I have been sure of it for several days," replied the Count. "She +told me not, but I knew it from what she did tell me. This day of +agony, however, Sir, is not yet over. I must disturb her grief but to +waken her to more. You know the short time that is allowed for flight. +You know the fate that would await her here if she were to remain in +this country as what is called a relapsed heretic, by the cruel +persecutors of this land. Within two hours from this time, my good +Sir, she must take her departure for ever. The boats will be ready, +and not a moment must be lost; and in those two short hours she must +part with one who loves her as well as ever woman yet was loved, with +one who truly believes she loves him as well as woman's heart can +love--and who shall say where is the boundary of that boundless +affection? She must part with him, Sir, for ever, and with her native +land." + +"This is not her native land," replied the old officer. "The lady +Clémence Cecil, Sir, is an English woman. But in one respect you say +true. My poor niece must go, for I have experienced in my own person, +as you know, now daring is the injustice of arbitrary power in this +land, in the prisons of which, I, an English subject, have been +detained for more than a year and a half, till our own papistical and +despotic King chose to apply to your despot for my liberation, and for +the restoration of my brother's children. She must leave this land +indeed. But your words imply that you must stay behind. Tell me, tell +me, my noble friend, is this absolutely necessary, in honour and in +conscience?" + +The Count grasped his hand, and pointed to the dead body. "I promised +him," he said, "who lies there, that I would surrender myself to the +King's pleasure. I have every reason to believe, that, in +consideration of that promise, he dealt as favourably with us as he +was permitted; that he even went beyond the strict line of his duty to +give us some facilities of escape; and I must hold my promise to the +dead as well as if he were here to claim it." + +"God forbid," said Sir Thomas Cecil, "that I should say one word +against it, terrible as is your determination--for you must well know +the fate that awaits you. It seems to me that there was only that one +act wanting, to make you all that our poor Clémence ought to love on +earth, at the very moment she is to lose you for ever. See, she is +raising her head. Speak to her, my friend, speak to her!" + +The Count advanced and threw his arms round her. He knew that the +grief which she felt was one that words could do nothing to mitigate, +and the only consolation that he offered was thus by pressing her +fondly to his heart, as if to express that there was love and +tenderness yet left for her on earth. Clémence rose and wiped; way her +tears, for she felt he might think that some doubt of his affection +mingled with her grief for her brother, if she suffered it to fall +into excess. + +"Oh, Albert," she said, "this is very terrible. I have but you +now----" + +A hesitation came over the Count de Morseiul as she spoke those words, +gazing tenderly and confidingly upon him: a hesitation, as to whether +he should at once tell her his determination, or not let her know that +he was about to remain behind, till she was absolutely in the boat +destined to bear her away. It was a terrible question that he thus put +to his own heart. But he thought it would be cruel not to tell her, +however dreadful might be the struggle to witness and to share. + +"Alas, Clémence," he replied, "I must soon trust you, for a time at +least, to other guidance, to other protection than my own. The boats +are preparing to carry off a certain number of our friends to England. +You must go in one of them, Clémence, and that immediately. Your noble +uncle here, for such I understand he is, Sir Thomas Cecil, will +protect you I know, and be a father to you. The Marquis du Bar, too, +one of the noblest of men, will be to you, as a brother." + +Clémence replied not, but gazed with a look of deep, earnest, +imploring inquiry in the countenance of her lover, and after a moment +he answered that look by adding, "I have given my promise, Clémence, +to remain behind!" + +"To death, to death!" cried Clémence, casting herself upon his bosom, +and weeping bitterly, "you are remaining to die. I know it, I know it, +and I will never quit you!" + +The Count kissed her tenderly, and pressed her to his heart; but he +suffered not his resolution to be shaken. "Listen to me, my Clémence," +he said. "What may be my fate I know not: but I trust in God's mercy, +and in my own uprightness of intentions. But think, Clémence, only +think, dear Clémence, how terrible would be my feelings, how tenfold +deep and agonising would be all that I may have to suffer, if I knew +that, not only I myself was in danger, but that you also were in still +greater peril. If I knew that you were in imprisonment, that the +having followed the dictates of your conscience was imputed to you as +a crime; that you were to be tormented by the agony of trial, before a +tyrannical tribunal, and doomed to torture, to cruel death, or to +eternal imprisonment. Conceive, Clémence, conceive how my heart would +be wrung under such circumstances. Conceive how to every pang that I +may otherwise suffer would be added the infinite weight of grief, and +indignation, and suspense on your account. Conceive all this, and +then, oh Clémence, be merciful, be kind, and give me the blessing of +seeing you depart in safety, as a consolation and a support under all +that I may have myself to suffer." + +Clémence wept bitterly upon his bosom, and the Count soothed her by +every endearing and tender word. At length, she suddenly raised her +head, as if some new idea had struck her, and she exclaimed, "I will +go, Albert. I will go upon one condition, without torturing you more +by opposition." + +"What is that condition, dear Clémence?" demanded the Count, gazing on +her face, which was glowing warmly even through her tears. "What is +that condition, dearest Clémence?" + +Clémence hid her face again upon his breast, and answered, "It is, +that I may become your wife before I quit this shore. We have +Protestant ministers here; the ceremony can be easily performed. My +uncle, I know, will offer no opposition; and I would fain bear the +name of one so noble and so beloved, to another land, and to the +grave, which may, perhaps, soon reunite us." + +The Count's heart was wrung, but he replied, "Oh, beloved Clémence, +why, why propose that which must not--which cannot be; why propose +that which, though so tempting to every feeling of my heart, would +cover me with well-deserved shame if I yielded to it?--Think, think +Clémence, what would deservedly be said of me if I were to consent--if +I were to allow you to become my wife; to part with you at the altar, +and perhaps by my death as a condemned criminal, to leave you an +unprotected widow within a few days." + +Clémence clasped her hands, vehemently exclaiming, "So help me Heaven +as I would rather be the widow of Albert of Morseiul, than the wife of +any other man that ever lived on earth!" + +Sir Thomas Cecil, however, interposed. "Clémence," he said, "your +lover is right: but he will not use arguments to persuade you that I +may use. This is a severe and bitter trial. The Almighty only knows +how it will terminate: but, my dear child, remember that this is no +ordinary man you love. Let his character be complete to the last! Do +not--do not, by any solicitation of your's, Clémence, take the least +brightness from his bright example. Let him go on, my child, to do +what he believes his duty at all risks, and through all sacrifices. +Let there not be one selfish spot from the beginning to the end for +man to point at; and the Almighty will protect and reward him to whom +he has given power to act uprightly to the last;--if not in this +world, in another he will be blest, Clémence, and to that other we +must turn our hopes of happiness, for here it is God's will that we +should have tribulation." + +Clémence clasped her hands, and bent down her eyes to the ground. For +several minutes she remained as if in deep thought, and then said, in +a low but a firmer voice, "Albert, I yield; and knowing from what is +in my own heart, how dreadful this moment must be to you, I will not +render it more dreadful by asking you any thing more that you must +refuse. I will endeavour to be as calm as I can, Albert;--but weep I +must. Perhaps," she added, with a faint, faint smile upon her lips, "I +might weep less if there were no hope; if it were all despair: but I +see a glimmering for exertion on my part, if not exactly for hope; and +that exertion may certainly be better made in another land than if I +were to remain here:--and now for the pain of departure. That must be +undergone, and I am ready to undergo it rather at once than when I +have forgotten my faint resolution. Do you go with me?" she continued, +turning to her uncle; "if it be needful that you stay, I fear not to +go alone." + +Sir Thomas Cecil, however, replied that he was ready to accompany her. +Her maid, Maria, was warned to prepare with all speed; and ere a few +more sentences were spoken on either part, the Marquis du Bar came to +inform the Count, that the boats were afloat, and the vessels standing +in, as far as they could into the bay. The Huguenot gentlemen +mentioned in the list of proscription were already on the shore, and +not a little eager to be in the first boats to put off. The soldiery +were drawn up under arms to await the expiration of the truce; and as +the Count and Sir Thomas Cecil led down Clémence, weeping bitterly, to +the sands, a murmur of sympathy and compassion ran through the crowd, +and through the ranks of the soldiery, and the gentlemen drew back to +give her the first place in the boats. Before they reached the edge, +however, the Count, whose eye had been raised for a moment to the +vessels, pointed towards them with a smile of satisfaction. + +"Gentlemen," he said, looking round, "I am happy to see that you will +all be able to get off without risk. Do you not perceive they are +sending off their boats for you? Clémence," he said, in a lower voice, +"will you go at once, or will you wait till the other boats arrive, +and all go together?" + +"Let me wait--let me wait," said Clémence, in the same low tone. +"Every moment that my hand touches yours is a treasure." + +The other boats came in rapidly with the returning tide; and as soon +as their keels touched the sand, and a few words had been spoken to +ascertain that all was right and understood, the Count turned and +said,-- + +"Now, gentlemen." + +There were some twenty or thirty yards of shallow water between the +sands and the boats, and Albert of Morseiul raised Clémence in his +arms, and carried her to the edge of the first. Neither of them spoke +a word; but as leaning over, he placed her in the boat, she felt his +arms clasp more tightly round her, and his lips were pressed upon +hers. + +"The Almighty bless thee!" and "God protect and deliver you!" was all +that was said on either side; and the Count turned back to the shore. + +One by one the different officers advanced to him in silence, and +grasped his hand before they proceeded to the boats. When they were +all in, and the boats began to push off, the Count pulled off his hat, +and stood bareheaded, looking up to Heaven. But at that moment a loud +shout burst from the soldiery, of "The Count, the Count, they have +forgotten the Count!" + +But the Count of Morseiul turned round towards them, and said aloud, +in his usual calm, firm tone: "They have not forgotten me, my friends. +It was you that were mistaken when you thought that I had forgotten +you. I remain to meet my fate, whatever it may be." + +A number of men in the ranks instantly threw down their muskets, and +rushing forward, clasped his knees, beseeching him to go. But he waved +his hand, saying gently, "It is in vain, my friends! My determination +has been taken for many days. Go back to your ranks, my good fellows, +go back to your ranks! I will but see the boats safe, and then join +you, to surrender the village and lay down our arms." + +The Count then turned again to the sea, and watched the four boats row +onward from the shore. They reached the vessels in safety in a few +minutes; in a few minutes more the boats belonging to the village +began to row back empty. After a little pause some more canvass was +seen displayed upon the yards of the vessels. They began to move; they +sailed out of the harbour; and, after gazing down upon the sand +fixedly and intently while one might count a hundred, the Count of +Morseiul, feeling himself solitary, turned, gave the word of command, +and marched the men back into the village. He entered immediately into +the room where the Chevalier d'Evran lay, and although by this time +all the principal officers of the royalist force were there, with +several other persons, amongst whom was his own servant Riquet, he +walked silently up to the head of the corpse, and gazed for several +minutes on the dead man's face. Then lifting the cold hand, he pressed +it affectionately in his. + +"God receive thee, Louis! God receive thee!" he said, and his eyes +filled with the first tears that they had shed that day. + +"I see no use now, Sir," he continued, turning to the officer who had +taken the command of the royal forces, "I see no use of delaying any +longer the surrender of the village. I am ready in person to give it +up to you this moment, and also to surrender my sword. The only favour +I have to ask is, that you will make it known to his Majesty that I +had no share in the event by which my unhappy friend here fell. The +shot which slew him was intended for me, as you are doubtless aware." + +"Perfectly," replied the commander; "and I have already sent off a +despatch to the King, giving him an account of the events of this +morning; and I myself, joined with all the officers here present, have +not failed to testify our sense of the noble, upright, and +disinterested conduct of the Count of Morseiul. I would fain speak +with him a word alone, however," and he drew him aside to the window. +"Count," he said, "I shall not demand your sword, nor in any way +affect your liberty, if you will promise to go to Paris immediately, +and surrender yourself there. If you would take my advice, you would +go at once to the King, and cast yourself at his feet. Ask for no +audience, but seek admission to him at some public moment If fortune +favours you, which I trust it will, you may have an opportunity of +explaining to his Majesty many things that have probably been +misrepresented." + +"I shall certainly follow your advice," said the Count, "since you put +it in my power to do so." + +"Ah, gentlemen," cried Riquet, who had been listening unperceived to +all they said. "If the poor Chevalier had lived, the Count would have +been quite safe, for he had the means of proving that the Count saved +the King's life not long ago, of which his Majesty knows nothing. I +heard the man Herval make his confession to the Chevalier with my own +ears; but he could not take it down, for the man died before pen and +ink could do their work." + +"That is unfortunate, indeed," said the commander; "but still you can +give your testimony of the facts, my good friend." + +"Bless you, Sir," replied Riquet, "they will never believe any thing I +can say." + +"I fear not, indeed," replied the Count. "Besides, Sir, my good friend +Riquet, if he went to Paris, would have so much to confess on his own +account, that they would not mind what he said in regard to the +confessions of others." + +"Unfortunately, too," said the commander, "all the papers of +Hatréaumont, if I remember right, were ordered to be burnt by the +common hangman. Such was the sentence of the court, I know, and it +must have been executed long ago. However, Count, the plan that I have +proposed is still the best. Speed to Paris with what haste you may; +cast yourself upon the King's mercy; tell him all and every thing, if +he will permit you to do so, and engage all your friends to support +your cause at the same moment. Take your way at once into Brittany," +he added, dropping his voice, "and from thence to Paris; for I very +much fear that the result would be fatal if you were to fall into the +hands of the intendant of Poitou. He is exasperated to the highest +degree. You have surrendered at discretion, taken with arms in your +hand. He has already broken on the wheel two or three under the same +circumstances; and I dare not deal with him in the same way that the +Chevalier d'Evran did, for I have not sufficient power." + +The Count thanked him for his advice, and followed it; and, as we must +not pause upon such circumstances as the surrender of the village, we +shall let that event be supposed to have taken place; and in our next +chapter shall, if possible, pursue this sad history to its conclusion. + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + THE END. + + +It was in the great reception room at Versailles, an hour after the +King had held the council, which failed not to meet every day. His +mood was neither more nor less severe than ordinary; for if, on the +one hand, events had taken place which had given him pleasure, other +events had reached his ears from the south of France, which showed +him, notwithstanding all Louvois's efforts to conceal the extent of +the evil, that serious disturbances in the Cevennes, and other parts +of France, near the mouth of the Rhone, were likely to follow the +measures which had been adopted against the Protestants. + +Louvois himself was present, and in no very placable mood, the King +having replied to him more than once during the morning haughtily and +angrily, and repressed the insolence by which his demeanour was +sometimes characterised, with that severe dignity which the minister +was very willing to see exercised towards any one but himself. + +Louis, who was dressed in the most sumptuous manner, held in his hand +a roll of papers, which had been given him just before his entrance +into the chamber; but he did not read them, and merely turned them +round and round from time to time, as if he were handling a truncheon. +Many eyes were fixed upon him, and various were the hopes and fears +which the aspect of that one man created in the breasts of those who +surrounded him. All, however, were silent at that moment, for an event +was about to take place highly flattering to the pride of the +ostentatious King of France, and the eyes of all were fixed upon the +doors at the end of the hall. + +At length they opened, and a fine looking middle-aged man, dressed in +a robe of red velvet, followed by four others in black velvet, was led +into the apartment and approached the King. He bowed low and +reverently, and then addressed the French sovereign without +embarrassment, and with apparent ease, assuring the monarch in vague, +but still flattering terms, that the republic of Genoa, of which he +was Doge, had entertained nothing, throughout the course of events +lately passed, but profound respect for the crown of France. + +Somewhat to the left of the King, amongst the multitude of French +princes and officers, appeared one or two groups, consisting of the +ambassadors from different barbaric nations; and, while the Doge of +Genoa spoke, offering excuses for the conduct of the state he ruled, +the eye of Louis glanced from time to time to the Indian envoys in +their gorgeous apparel, as they eagerly asked questions of their +interpreter, and were told that it was the prince of an independent +state come to humble himself before the mighty monarch that he had +offended. When the audience of the Doge of Genoa was over, and he +withdrew, a multitude of the courtiers followed, so that the audience +hall was nearly clear, and the King paused for a moment, talking over +the Doge's demeanour to those who surrounded him, and apparently about +to retire immediately. He had taken a step forward, indeed, to do so, +when the Prince de Marsillac, who certainly dared to press the King +upon disagreeable subjects, when no one else would run the risk, +advanced, and, bowing low, pointed to the papers in the King's hand. + +"I ventured, Sire," he said, "before your Majesty came here, to +present to you those papers which you promised to look at." + +The King's brow instantly darkened. "I see at once, Prince," he said, +"that they refer to the Count of Morseiul, a rebel, as I am informed, +taken with arms in his hand, in regard to whom the laws of the land +must have their course." + +The Prince was somewhat abashed, and hesitated; but another gentleman +stepped forward with stern and somewhat harsh features, but with a +noble air and look that bespoke fearless sincerity. + +"What is it, Montausier?" said the King, sharply addressing that +celebrated nobleman, who is supposed to have been represented by +Molière under the character of the misanthrope. + +"Merely to say, Sire," replied the Duke in a firm, strong tone of +voice, "that some one has falsified the truth to your Majesty. My +nephew, in command of the troops to whom the Count surrendered, +informs me that he was not taken with arms in his hand, as you have +said; but, on the contrary, (and here lies a great difference,) +surrendered voluntarily, when, according to the truce of five hours +granted to the Huguenots by the Chevalier d'Evran, he had every +opportunity of escaping to England had he so pleased, as all the rest +of the leaders on that occasion did." + +"How is this, Sir?" demanded the King, turning to Louvois. "I speak +from your statements, and I hope you have not made me speak falsely." + +"Sire," replied Louvois, with a look of effrontery, "I have just heard +that what the Duke says is the case; but I judged that all such points +could naturally be investigated at the Count's trial." + +The King seemed struck with this observation; but Montausier instantly +replied--"Monsieur de Louvois, if his Majesty will permit me to tell +you so, you have been, for the first time in your life, sadly tardy in +receiving information; for my nephew informs me that he gave you +intelligence of this fact no less than three days ago; and, in the +next place, you are very well aware of what you have not thought fit +to say, that by investigating such things at a trial, you would +directly frustrate the express object for which the Count de Morseiul +surrendered himself when he might have escaped, which was to cast +himself at the King's feet, and explain to him the strange and +extraordinary misconception by which he was cast into rebellion, and +to prove that as soon as ever he discovered the mistake which had been +committed, he had expressed himself ready to surrender, and trust to +the King's clemency, which is as great a quality as his justice." + +Louvois's face had grown fiery red. "Expressed his readiness to +surrender!" cried he with a scoff. "Did he not fight two battles after +that?" + +"How, Sir?" exclaimed the King. "I had understood from you that no +battles had been fought at all. Mere skirmishes you said--affairs of +posts--that the insurrection was nothing but the revolt of a few +peasants." + +Louvois stammered forth some excuse about the numbers being +insignificant, and the whole business crushed within nine days after +the Chevalier d'Evran took the command; but the King turned away +angrily, saying, "Monsieur de Louvois, no more interruption. I find in +my middle age, as I found in my youth, that a king must see with his +own eyes. Now, Marsillac, what is it you wish? What is it you desire +of me, Montausier?" + +"For my part, Sire," replied the Prince de Marsillac, "I only desire +that your Majesty should run your eyes over those papers. They are +very brief, and to the point; and every fact that is therein stated I +can assure you can be proved on indisputable authority." + +"And I," said the Duke of Montausier, "have only to beg that your +Majesty would see and hear the Count of Morseiul. From him, as every +man here present knows, you will hear the pure and simple truth, which +is a thing that happens to your Majesty perhaps once in five or six +years, and will do you good." + +The King smiled, and turned his eyes upon the papers; and when he had +read them nearly through, he smiled again, even more gaily than +before. + +"It turns out, gentlemen," he said, "that an affair has happened to me +which I fancy happens to us all more than once in our lives. I have +been completely cheated by a valet. I remember giving the villain the +paper well, out of which it seems he manufactured a free pardon for +his master. At all events, this frees the Count from the charge of +base ingratitude which has been heavily urged against him. Your +statement of his willing surrender, Montausier, greatly diminishes his +actual and undoubted crime; and as I have complied with the request of +the Prince de Marsillac, and looked at the papers, I must not refuse +you yours. Either to-day, if the Count have arrived, or to-morrow, I +will hear his story from his own lips." + +"Sire," replied the Duke of Montausier, "I have been daring enough to +receive him in my apartments." + +The cloud came slightly again over Louis's countenance; but though he +replied with dignified gravity, yet it was not with anger. "You have +done wrong," he said; "but since it is so, call him to my presence. +All you ladies and gentlemen around shall judge if I deal harshly with +him." + +There was a pretty girl standing not far from the King, and close +between her own mother and the interpreter of the ambassadors from +Siam. We have spoken of her before, under the name of Annette de +Marville; and while she had remained in that spot, her eyes had more +than once involuntarily filled with tears. She was timid and retiring +in her nature; and as the Duke of Montausier turned away to obey the +King, every one was surprised to hear her voice raised sufficiently +loud to reach even the ear of Louis himself, saying to the +interpreter, "Tell them that they are now going to see how +magnanimously the King will pardon one who has offended him." + +The King looked another way; but it was evident to those who were +accustomed to watch his countenance, that he connected the words he +had just heard with the humiliation he had inflicted on the Doge of +Genoa, and that the contrast struck and pleased him not a little. + +In a very short time, before this impression had at all faded away, +the door again opened, and the Duke of Montausier re-entered with the +Count of Morseiul. The latter was pale, but perfectly firm and +composed. He did not wear his sword, but he carried it sheathed in his +hand, and advancing directly towards Louis, he bent one knee before +the King, at the same time laying down the weapon at the monarch's +feet. + +"Sire," he said, without rising, "I have brought you a sword, which +for more than ten years was drawn in every campaign in your Majesty's +service. It has, unfortunately, been drawn against you; and that it +has been so, and at the very moment when your Majesty had a right to +expect gratitude at my hands, is the bitterest recollection of my +life; so bitter indeed, so horrible, so painful, that the moment I +discovered the terrible error into which I had been hurried, the +moment that I discovered that I owed my liberation to your Majesty, I +instantly determined, whatever might be the result of the events that +were then taking place, to surrender myself, unconditionally, to your +Majesty's pleasure, to embrace no means of escape, to reject every +opportunity of flight; and if your indignation so far overcame your +mercy as to doom me to death, to submit to it, not alone with courage, +which every man in your Majesty's service possesses, but with perfect +resignation to your royal will." + +The words, the manner, the action, all pleased the King, and the +countenance with which he looked upon the young nobleman was by no +means severe. + +"You have, I fear, greatly erred, Monsieur de Morseiul," he replied. +"But still I believe you have been much misled. Is there any favour +that you have to ask me?" + +The Count gazed up in the King's face, still kneeling; and every head +was bent forward, every ear listened eagerly. A momentary pause +followed, as if there was a great struggle within him; and then he +answered. "Sire, I will not ask my life of your Majesty;--not from any +false pride, for I feel and acknowledge that it is yours to give or to +take,--but because my conduct, however much it might originate in +mistake, must appear so ungrateful to you that you cannot, at this +moment, feel I deserve your mercy. The only favour I will ask, then, +is this: that should I be brought to a trial, which must end, as I +know, inevitably in my fall, you will read every word of my +deposition, and I therein promise to give your Majesty a full and true +account, without the falsification of a single word, of all that has +taken place in this last lamentable business." + +Louvois took a half step forward as if to speak, and not a little +anxiety was upon his countenance. But, contrary to the general +impression of those present, all that the Count had said had pleased +the King; though his latter words had not a little alarmed the +minister, who knew that truths might be displayed which he was most +anxious to conceal. + +"Monsieur de Morseiul," replied the King, "I will promise what you +ask, at all events. But what you have said has pleased me, for it +shows that you understand my spirit towards my subjects, and that I +can grant without being asked. Your life, Sir, is given to you. What +punishment we shall inflict may, perhaps, depend upon the sentence of +a judicial court or of our council." + +"May it please your Majesty," said Louvois, stepping forward, "to hear +me one moment. You have, perhaps, thought me inimical to Monsieur de +Morseiul, but such, indeed, is not the case; and I would propose, that +instead of subjecting him to any trial at all, you, at once, pronounce +sentence of banishment upon him, which is all the mercy that he can +expect. His estates, as ought to be the case, must be forfeited to the +crown." + +"And he driven forth," said the King, "to employ his military talents +in the service of our enemies." + +"Never, never, never, Sire!" exclaimed the Count, clasping his hands +eagerly. "Never should my sword be drawn against my native land. I +would rather beg my bread in misery, from door to door: I would rather +live in want, and die in sorrow, than do so base an act!" + +There was truth and zeal upon his countenance, and Louvois urged what +he had proposed; but while he was addressing the Monarch, in a lower +tone, one of the side doors of the hall opened, and a lady came partly +in, speaking to some one behind her, as if she knew not that any one +was in the hall. The moment that she perceived her mistake, Madame de +Maintenon drew back; but the King advanced a step and besought her to +come in. + +"We want your presence much, Madam," he said with a smile, "for we +cannot decide upon what is to be done with this young culprit. But you +seem in haste, and who is this with you? I have somewhere seen his +face before." + +The King might well fail to recognise the countenance of Jerome +Riquet, for it was at that moment actually cadaverous in appearance, +from the various emotions that were going on in his heart. + +"I was at that moment seeking your Majesty," said Madame de Maintenon, +advancing with her usual calm grace, "and was passing this way to your +cabinet, to crave an audience ere you went out. But I thought the +ceremony of the day was over." + +"What are your commands, Madam?" said the King. "Your wishes are to be +attended to at all times." + +"You know, Sir," she said, "that I am not fond of ever asking one, who +is only over generous to his servants, for any thing. But I was eager +at that moment to beseech your Majesty to grant at once your pardon to +this unfortunate man who some time ago committed a great crime in +misapplying your Majesty's handwriting, and who has now just committed +another, for which I understand the officers of justice are in pursuit +of him, though the swiftness of the horse which brought him here has +enabled him to escape for the moment. He found out my apartments, I +know not how, and I brought him instantly to your Majesty as soon as I +had heard his story, and read this paper." + +"What is this paper?" demanded the King, taking it; "ticketed I see in +the hand of Monsieur de la Reynie, 'Letter from the said Herval to the +Sieur de Hatréaumont!' How come you possessed of this, sirrah?" + +Riquet advanced and knelt before the King, while Louvois suddenly +seemed to recollect some business, and retired from the circle. +"Sire," said the valet, in the briefest possible terms, "in serving my +master I was taken by your Majesty's forces, shut up in a barn with +some wounded prisoners, heard the well known leader, Herval, confess +to the Chevalier d'Evran, that he had written a letter to the traitor +Hatréaumont, regarding his having been prevented from murdering your +Majesty by the Count de Morseiul, (in which prevention I had some +little share). The man died before his words could be taken down. The +Chevalier d'Evran said it did not signify, for you would believe his +evidence. But the Chevalier d'Evran was killed. My word I knew would +not be believed; but I heard that the papers of Hatréaumont were to be +burnt this day by the common hangman, opposite the Bastille.[4] I had +a swift horse saddled. I got close to the fire. I fixed my eyes upon +the papers one by one as they were thrown in, till seeing the writing +of Herval, I seized the letter, and galloped hither as hard as I +could. This is my tale, Sire, and on my word it is true." + + +--------------------- + +Footnote 4: The papers of Hatréaumont were preserved for some time +after his death, in order to give light in regard to the guilt of his +accomplices. + + +--------------------- + + +The King hastily opened the paper, and read the contents, the +expression of his countenance changing several times as he proceeded. +But when he had done, he turned towards the Count, saying, "Monsieur +de Morseiul, I require no one now to advise me how to act towards you. +You are freely and entirely pardoned. I have given up the hope again +of ever seeing you cast away the errors of your faith. But even that +must not make me harsh towards the man who has saved my life. I would +only fain know how it was that you did not inform me of this at the +time?" + +"Sire," replied the Count, "I came to your Majesty for the purpose. +Your Majesty most remember, that I told you that I had matters of deep +importance to communicate. You referred me to Monsieur de Louvois, and +as I was proceeding to his house, I was arrested. In the Bastille I +was allowed to communicate with no one, and the rest you know." + +"We have been all very unfortunate, Count," replied the King. +"However, I trust, that these embarrassments are at an end. You have +your free pardon for the past, and now for the future. I cannot +violate in your favour the laws that I have laid down for the +regulation of the land, and for the establishment of one general +religion throughout the country. If you stay in France, you, with +others, lose the means of exercising the ceremonies of your sect. But, +as I said to the Count de Schomberg, I say to you: in consideration of +the great services that you have rendered, I will allow you to sell +all your possessions if you choose to retire to another land, and this +is, I fear, all I can do." + +"Your Majesty overwhelms me with bounty," said the Count, "but there +are yet two favours that I would ask." + +"What more?" said the King. + +"One request is, Sire," said the Count, "to be allowed once in every +year to present myself before your Majesty; and the other, that I may +retain the château and the immediate grounds around it belonging to my +ancestors. Thus every fond recollection that I have attached to France +will still be gratified; and though in exile, I shall live a Frenchman +to the last." + +"Your request is granted," replied the King, with a smile. "And now, +gentlemen and ladies, as by your faces round I judge you are all well +satisfied, we will not detain you longer." + +Thus saying, Louis turned and withdrew. + +Ere the Count of Morseiul retired from the room, and before any of his +friends therein could speak with him, Madame de Maintenon said a word +in his ear in a low voice. + +"Go to the hotel of the British ambassador," she said. "You will there +find those that you do not expect." + +The heart of the Count of Morseiul beat high. He had words of +gratitude to speak to many there present; but as soon as that was +done, he hurried to Paris without a moment's pause; and in a few +minutes clasped Clémence de Marly to a joyful heart. + +We need not tell here the brief story she related of her flight from +the coast of France to London; and of her having found an affectionate +parent in one who, by the wiles of an artful second wife, and an +intriguing priest, had been persuaded to leave his children, by a +first marriage with a Protestant lady, to the charge of her Catholic +relations in France; and to the care of the King of that country. +Louis had become the godfather of the eldest (known to us as the +Chevalier d'Evran), while the earl himself was in exile during the +troubles of the great rebellion. A Catholic himself, the Earl had been +easily induced to believe that his children's salvation depended upon +their being educated in a Catholic country; even though concealed +there from Protestant relations by assumed names. But on the death of +his second wife, all his feelings of natural affection returned, and +during an illness, which made him believe that he was on his +death-bed, he sent his brother to seek and bring back his children. We +need not enter into the detail any farther. The reader can and will +imagine it all. All that remains to be said is, that Clémence, in her +eagerness, had easily persuaded that parent, whose only child she now +was--for the three which had sprung from the second marriage had not +survived--to hasten over to Paris, invested with every authority from +the King, with whom his religion rendered him a favourite, to solicit +the pardon of the Count of Morseiul. In consequence of the +considerable round the Count was obliged to take in his journey to the +capital, and the difficulty of obtaining an audience of the King, she +had arrived the day before his fate was finally decided. + +The only part of that fate which could yet be doubtful, was now in her +hands; and, if the King of France had shown himself merciful to the +Count de Morseiul, she showed herself devoted to him through life, +making him as happy, as the combination of the rarest qualities of +mind and person with the noblest, and the deepest, and the dearest +qualities of the heart, could make such a man as we have endeavoured +to depict the Huguenot. + + + + THE END. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Huguenot: (Volumes I-III), by +G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HUGUENOT: (VOLUMES I-III) *** + +***** This file should be named 39520-8.txt or 39520-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/5/2/39520/ + +Produced by Charles Bowen, from page scans provided by +Google Books (Oxford University) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at + www.gutenberg.org/license. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 +North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email +contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the +Foundation's web site and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |