diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 4016.txt | 24537 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 4016.zip | bin | 0 -> 431825 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
5 files changed, 24553 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4016.txt b/4016.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..29f63ff --- /dev/null +++ b/4016.txt @@ -0,0 +1,24537 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Prince Eugene and His Times, by L. Muhlbach +#10 in our series by L. Muhlbach + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. The words +are carefully chosen to provide users with the information they +need about what they can legally do with the texts. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These Etexts Are Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below, including for donations. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3) +organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541 + + + +Title: Prince Eugene and His Times + +Author: L. Muhlbach + +Release Date: May, 2003 [Etext #4016] +[Yes, we are about one year ahead of schedule] +[The actual date this file first posted = 10/14/01] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Prince Eugene and His Times, by L. Muhlbach +************This file should be named 4016.txt or 4016.zip*********** + +This etext was produced by Charles Franks and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any +of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our books one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to send us error messages even years after +the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our sites at: +https://gutenberg.org +http://promo.net/pg + + +Those of you who want to download any Etext before announcement +can surf to them as follows, and just download by date; this is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 +or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release fifty new Etext +files per month, or 500 more Etexts in 2000 for a total of 3000+ +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +should reach over 300 billion Etexts given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third +of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 4,000 Etexts unless we +manage to get some real funding. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of July 12, 2001 contributions are only being solicited from people in: +Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, +Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, +Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North +Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina*, South Dakota, +Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, +Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +*In Progress + +We have filed in about 45 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising +will begin in the additional states. Please feel +free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork +to legally request donations in all 50 states. If +your state is not listed and you would like to know +if we have added it since the list you have, just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in +states where we are not yet registered, we know +of no prohibition against accepting donations +from donors in these states who approach us with +an offer to donate. + + +International donations are accepted, +but we don't know ANYTHING about how +to make them tax-deductible, or +even if they CAN be made deductible, +and don't have the staff to handle it +even if there are ways. + +All donations should be made to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3) +organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541, +and has been approved as a 501(c)(3) organization by the US Internal +Revenue Service (IRS). Donations are tax-deductible to the maximum +extent permitted by law. As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising will begin in the +additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org +if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if +it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . . + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +*** + + +Example command-line FTP session: + +ftp ftp.ibiblio.org +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg +cd etext90 through etext99 or etext00 through etext02, etc. +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET GUTINDEX.?? [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99] +GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books] + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etexts, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this etext, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the etext, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this header are copyright (C) 2001 by Michael S. Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced by Charles Franks and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +PRINCE EUGENE AND HIS TIMES + +An Historical Novel + +BY + +L. MUHLBACH + + +AUTHOR OF FREDERICK THE GREAT AND HIS COURT, THE MERCHANT OF BERLIN, +BERLIN AND SANS-SOUCI, JOSEPH II. AND HIS COURT, ETC. + + +TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN +BY ADELAIDE DeV. CHAUDRON + + + + +CONTENTS. + +BOOK I. + + I. The Countess of Soissons + II. The Laboratory + III. Prince Eugene + IV. The Riot + V. Barbesieur Louvois + VI. The State Reception + VII. Help in Time of Need + VIII. The Flight + IX. The Parting + + +BOOK II. + + I. Marianna Mancini + II. The Trial + III. A Skirmish + IV. Louvois' Daughter + V. The Court-Ball + VI. The Lady of the Bedchamber + VII. The Lady of the Bedchamber + VIII. First Love + IX. The Betrayal + + +BOOK III. + + I. The Disappointment + II. The Foes + III. The Repulse + IV. The Farewell + V. A Page from History + VI. The Emperor Leopold I. + VII. The Council of War + VIII. The Plains of Kitsee + IX. The Baptism of Blood + X. Vienna + XI. The Re-enforcements + +BOOK IV. + + I. The Fall of Buda + II. The Friends + III. The Marquis Strozzi + IV. Laura + V. The Regatta + VI. The Negotiator + VII. The Lovers reunited + VIII. Antonio's Expiation + IX. The Dungeon + +BOOK V. + + I. A Twofold Victory + II. The Dumb Music + III. The Retirement of the Commander-in-Chief + IV. The Fall of Belgrade + V. The Marchioness + VI. The Flight + VII. The Forester's Hut + +BOOK VI. + + I. Sister Angelica + II. Louis the Fourteenth + III. The King and the Petitioners + IV. The Window that was too large + V. The Imperial Diet at Regensburg + VI. The Judith of Esslingen + VII. Her Return + +BOOK VII. + + I. The Island of Bliss + II. The French in Speier + III. The Treasure + IV. Caspar's Vengeance + V. The Duchess of Orleans + VI. The Deliverance of Trier + VII. The Fire-tongs + VIII. Brave Hearts + +BOOK VIII. + + I. The Advance into France + II. The Ravens + III. Sick and Well + IV. The Duke's Dangerous Illness + V. The Marquis Strozzi + VI. Insanity and Revenge + VII. The Ambrosia + VIII. The Betrothal + IX. Vengeance + + + + + + +PRINCE EUGENE AND HIS TIMES. + + + + +BOOK I. + + +PRINCE EUGENE, THE LITTLE ABBE + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE COUNTESS OF SOISSONS. + + +"Is that your last word, madame?" said Louvois, in a tone so +emphatic as to be almost threatening. + +"My last word," replied the countess, haughtily. "My daughter is too +young to marry, and were she older, I would not impose a husband +upon her who was not the man of her choice. She shall bestow her +hand and heart together." + +"Do you mean that it is impossible for your daughter to love my +son?" asked Louvois, hastily. + +The countess raised her shoulders and smiled superciliously, while +from her large black eyes there darted forth a glance that spoke +volumes to the mind of the irritated minister. + +"It would appear," said she, "that there can be no sympathy between +the Mancinis and the Louvois, and that their antipathies are to be +perpetuated from generation to generation." + +"You would remind me of the similarity which the fate of my son as a +wooer bears to that of his father?" asked Louvois. "I do not deny +it; the repulse which twenty-one years ago I received from Olympia +Mancini, she repeats to-day in the person of her daughter. But it +may be that on some other occasion the Mancinis shall be repulsed by +the Louvois." + +"A threat?" said the countess, angrily. + +Now it was the shoulders of the minister that were raised. "I have +sowed love and reaped hate," said he, quietly. + +The countess laughed. "Ah," said she, "I see that you have +remodelled your speech according to the pious formulary of Madame de +Maintenon, and that you seek for your troubadours among the +prophets." + +"Yes--the Scriptural prophets satisfy MY cravings for knowledge," +replied Louvois, smiling. "Pity that everybody else is not as +orthodox as I!" + +"What do you mean?" asked the countess, uneasily. + +"I mean that it would be better for the Countess de Soissons if she +imitated the discretion of Madame de Maintenon, and eschewed +association with those unholy prophets who draw their inspiration +from the stars." + +"Do you think so? And yet the book of the stars is inspired and +contains truth, for therein it stands written that our two families +will never be united by the bonds of love. What is the use of +striving against destiny? Fate has willed our enmity, and we must +submit with resignation," said the countess, with an affected drawl. +"You see," added she, pathetically, "how beautifully I fall into +your new-fashioned dialect, and how harmoniously my dulcet notes +mingle with those of the court chorus." + +"I remember the dulcet notes of a poem written years ago, which were +wont to edify the court with a strain that would sound inharmonious +there to-day. What would De Montespan and De Maintenon say to such +discordant lines as these?" And Louvois began to hum the following: + + "La belle Olympe n'a point de seconde, + Et l'Amour a bien reuni + Dedans l'infanta Mancini + Par un avantage supreme + Tout ce qui force a dire: J'aime! + Et qui l'a fait dire a nos dieux!" + [Footnote: "Les Nieces de Mazarion," par Renee, p. 177.] + +"What they would say?" replied the countess; "why, they would listen +approvingly to a rhapsody which time has falsified, and imagine that +I wince to hear it sung. But they would be in error. I thank you for +recalling to my mind the golden vision of the past, wherein a king +knelt at my feet, and Louvois lived upon my smiles. She who can look +back upon conquests such as these, can afford to despise the +contrarieties of the present, while she plumes her victorious wings +for future flight, wherein she shall attain indemnification for the +trifling vexations of to-day." + +"I wish you may realize your joyous anticipations," replied Louvois, +with a sneer. "But if you will allow me to draw your horoscope, you +will confess that I am a wiser seer than your dear friend La +Voisin." + +For one moment the features of the countess contracted painfully, +but she mastered her emotion and was able to reply with a tranquil +smile,--"Do so, your excellency, I am all attention." + +"I read in the stars that snares encompass you, Countess de +Soissons. You have enemies, numerous, powerful, and crafty. At their +head stands the queen, who can never forgive you for having opened +one of her letters, and having stolen thence a note addressed to the +king, which accused her of secret machinations with Spain. Then +there is poor Louise de la Valliere, who for your cruel sarcasms +shed such oceans of tears--" + +"She is in a convent." + +"True, but the scars of your persecutions are upon her heart; and +although she may be a Christian, think you that she has ceased to be +a woman? Third--among the number of those who hate you is the +Marquise de Montespan, to whom the brilliant assemblages at the +Hotel de Soissons are a source of mortification, for she can never +forget that, on more than one occasion, the king has forgotten his +rendezvous with her, to linger at the side of his fascinating +hostess. And we must not overlook the pious De Maintenon, who lives +in constant terror lest some day or other your presence should +recall to the king that golden vision of his youth, whereof Olympia +Mancini was the enshrined divinity. For this reason you are more +obnoxious to the ex-governess than De Montespan herself. The star of +the latter favorite is already on the wane, whereas yours may rise +again at the bidding of Memory. These four women have long-meditated +your destruction, and many are the thorns with which they have +strewed your path in life. But, to compass your ruin, there was +wanting ONE strong arm that could concentrate their scattered +missiles, and hurl them in ONE great bomb at your head. Countess de +Soissons, that arm is mine--I, Louvois, the trusted minister of the +king, the friend of De Maintenon, the mightiest subject in France--I +am the man whose arm shall strike on behalf of your enemies, of whom +in me behold the chief! You have thrown me your gauntlet, and I +raise it. I proclaim myself your foe, and since there must be war +between our races, we shall see whether for the future the Mancinis +may not be made to suffer through the Louvois! This is my horoscope, +and now mark well my last words: La Voisin the soothsayer was +arrested last night." + +All the self-control which she could gather to meet this sinister +disclosure, could not smother the groan which was upheaved from +Olympia's sinking heart. + +Louvois affected not to hear it. He bowed low and prepared to take +his leave. The countess made no effort to detain him; she was too +frightened for circumspection, and she followed his retreating +figure with eyes that were all aflame with hate. Nor did their fiery +glow abate when, having reached the door, Louvois turned and +confronted her. + +He surveyed her calmly, but his eye returned hate for hate, and so +for a moment they stared at each other, while there passed between +the two a silent challenge, which both felt was to be fought out to +the death. + +After a pause Louvois spoke. His mouth dilated with a cruel smile, +which, when its mocking light was seen, betokened peril to those who +offended him. + +"Madame," said he. "not only has La Voisin been arrested, but her +private papers have been seized." So saying, he bowed again and +disappeared behind the portiere. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE LABORATORY. + + +The countess listened to his echoing footsteps until they were no +longer audible, nor did she move until she heard the roll of the +carriage which bore him away. + +Gradually the sound of the receding vehicle melted into distance, +and a deep silence ensued. This silence first roused the countess +from her lethargy. A tremor convulsed her limbs; her dilated orbs +which had been fixed upon the door relaxed, and wandered from the +silken hangings of the walls to the gilded furniture around her; +from the tables of Florentine marble to the rainbow-tinted +chandeliers, whose pendants swayed to and fro in the sunshine. And +now they rested dreamily upon a picture which, conspicuous for size +and beauty, hung immediately opposite to the sofa whereon she was +reclining. It was the full length portrait of a handsome youth. He +was not tall, but he was gracefully proportioned. His shoulders were +broad; and, rising from the midst of a slender throat, adorned with +a fall of lace, appeared his stately head crowned with a wealth of +long, brown curls. His face was of a beautiful oval, his complexion +clear, his mouth wreathed with happy smiles. The brow was high and +arched, and the fine gray eyes beamed with hope and energy. In one +hand he held a rose, which he extended to a person not represented +in the picture; the other band, half veiled by its overhanging fall +of gossamer lace, rested carelessly on the table, while close by lay +two rose-buds, which seemed just to have been dropped from the half- +open fingers. Over an arm-chair in the background was thrown a +mantle of royal ermine, which partially concealed the kingly crown +that surmounted its high carved back. + +The eyes of the countess were fixed upon this picture with an +expression of tender sadness, and slowly, as if yielding to an +influence altogether objective, she rose from her seat and advanced +toward the portrait, where she remained gazing until her sight was +dimmed by tears, while the youth smiled ever, and ever held out the +rose. + +What golden tribute had his homage brought to her ambition! What +ecstasy had it poured into her heart! How truly had she loved that +princely boy, who, careless, happy, and fickle, was bestowing upon +other women the roses which for her had withered years ago, leaving +upon their blighted stems the sharp and cruel thorns of his +inconstancy! + +Since then, twenty-three years had gone by; she had become a wife +and the mother of seven children, but the wound still festered; the +old sorrow still sang its mournful dirge within a heart which to-day +beat as wildly as ever, and felt a pang as keen as when it first +grew jealous, and learned that not she, but Marie, had become the +divinity whom Louis worshipped. + +Marie, too, had been forsaken, and had stifled the cries of her +despairing heart by marriage with another. The fate of both sisters +had been the same--a short dream of gratified ambition, followed by +long years of humiliation. It seemed that the prosperity and +happiness of Cardinal Mazarin's nieces had been coexistent with his +life, for when the eyes of their uncle closed in death, the light of +their fortunes grew dim and expired. + +The portrait of Louis XIV., which was calling up the spectres of so +many buried joys, had been painted expressly for Olympia Mancini. It +represented his first declaration of love to her, and had been sent +as a souvenir of "the brightest hour of his life." He had barely +reached his thirty-seventh year, and yet this winsome youth had been +transformed into a demure devotee, who, despising the vanities of +the world, had turned his heart toward heaven, and spent his life +doing penance for the sins of his early manhood! + +And this transformation was the work of a woman who had neither +beauty, youth, nor birth to recommend her to the favor of a monarch- +-a woman who had been the paid governess of the king's bastards, and +was not even gifted with intellect enough to cover her other +deficiencies! + +These last thoughts brought a smile to the face of the countess. +Turning suddenly away from the portrait she crossed the room with +rapid steps, and placed herself directly in front of a large +Venetian mirror which occupied the space between two windows. It +gave back the reflection of an exquisite figure, whose outlines +contributed much to the grace with which the folds of a blue satin +dress fell in rich profusion around it. The white shoulders were +scarcely concealed by a shawl of superb lace, and the arms, still +round, were set off by costly bracelets. The raven hair, with not a +trace of time's finger to discolor its glossy blackness, fell around +her face in curls as delicate as the tendrils of a grape. Her brow +was smooth and polished, her eyes aglow with passionate longing, +and, as her lips curved into a complacent smile, they disclosed two +rows of pearly teeth, compact and without a fleck. + +Yes, she was not deceived. Olympia de Soissons was a handsome woman, +and with so much comeliness, such ready wit, and such unrivalled +powers of conversation, she might gird up her loins to do battle +with her rivals. Was not Madame de Maintenon her elder by three +years? And as for De Montespan, was she not wasting away into an old +woman? If they had found it possible to win the heart of this +sensual Louis, why not she? This heart had once been all her own, +and why should not she, who combined the beauty of one mistress with +the shrewdness of the other, dispossess them both, and re-enter into +possession of her old domains? + +She smiled again, and saw how well her smiles became her. "Yes," +said she to herself, "yes, I will recall this truant merlin, and he +shall return to perch upon the hand he used to love! I will be +mistress of his heart and mistress of his realms. She foretold it +all, and gave me the charm wherewith to work the spell." + +But as she gave utterance to these last words, her lips began to +quiver, and her fine features were distorted by some sudden pain. +She had just called to mind the fearful intelligence of La Voisin's +arrest. + +"Great God! If my letters should have been found among her papers! +What, oh what would be MY fate?" + +She shuddered--and in place of the triumphant vision of a heart +recaptured, a monarch at her feet, there arose the fearful spectacle +of an execution which, four years before, she had witnessed at the +bloody Place de Greve. Once more she saw the square, black with a +mass of human beings, who, jeering, shouting, and cursing, moved +hither and thither like the waves of a turbulent ocean; at every +window that looked out upon the place, she saw gayly-dressed ladies +who peered anxiously out to catch a glimpse of one gloomy object +that loomed darkly up from its centre. She saw the crowd give way +and part, as, keeping pace with the dull sound of a muffled drum, a +sad procession entered upon the scene. At its head marched a +battalion of soldiers, and behind them, seated in the felon's cart, +came a pale, beautiful woman, who ever and anon pressed to her +quivering lips the crucifix held out to her by a priest--that last +link of sympathy between the convict and his fellow-creatures. At +the criminal's side, in symbolic robes of sanguinary red, was the +executioner that was to sever this slender tie, and wrench the +spirit from the body to whose guardianship God had committed it on +earth. Silently the hideous cortege moved on, while the crowd fell +back to let it pass, until the scaffold came to view. How joyously +the sun's rays seemed to play around the glittering axe that was to +end a career of secret crime! How eagerly the high-born dames bend +forward to catch sight of the criminal, as, leaning on the arm of +the priest, she tottered to her doom! Olympia remembered only too +well the moment when the drum ceased its "discordant sound," and +when the silence was so oppressive that the low voice of the +condemned was heard uttering her last prayer. She knelt beside the +block--a circle of light was described upon the air--and the head +fell upon the blood-besprinkled sand. + +The Countess de Soissons sickened as she remembered that the woman +whom she had seen executed was one of high position, no less a +personage than the beautiful and fascinating Marquise de +Brinvilliers. Neither her rank, her charms, nor the strenuous +efforts of her powerful friends, had been adequate to save her from +the headsman's axe. She had been convicted of poisoning, and had +shared the fate of other malefactors of less repute. Her confidante +La Voisin had been arrested at the time, but as nothing proved her +to have been an accomplice of her former mistress she had escaped +conviction. + +Something new with regard to the fortune-teller must have +transpired, for Louvois had considered her arrest as an ill-omen for +the Countess de Soissons. Not only for Olympia, however, was the +arrest of Catherine a calamity, for she was the trusty counsellor of +many a noble lady who, before suspicion had sullied her name, had +been the dear and intimate associate of the Marquise de +Brinvilliers. + +The countess had turned away from the contemplation of her mellow +charms, and was on her way to her boudoir. She bolted the door +within, and, crossing the room, mounted a chair that stood by the +side of a tall mirror set in a thick gilt frame. She touched a +spring, when the mirror glided noiselessly aside, revealing a dark +recess within the wall. + +Olympia slipped through the opening, which closed behind her, darted +up a narrow staircase, and, hastily drawing a key from a pocket +concealed within the folds of her dress, she unlocked the door of a +room whose aspect was anything but appropriate to the pursuits of a +lady of quality. + +It was to all appearances a kitchen, for one entire side of it was +occupied by a hearth full of recesses, each one of which contained a +furnace fitted up with iron utensils for cooking. On the mantel, +which corresponded to this immense hearth, were ranged pipkins and +other vessels of different sizes, interspersed with rows of phials +and flasks containing liquids of every imaginable color. On a +massive oaken table, in the centre of the apartment, were placed a +number of bowls and dishes, and near them lay a disorderly pile of +papers, books, and pamphlets. + +Olympia approached the hearth, stooped over one of the furnaces, and +from a fagot lying near gathered a few small sticks. Over these +sticks she poured a fluid from one of her flasks, and then rubbing +them briskly together, they began to emit sparks. She placed them +under the furnace, added a little more fuel, and in a few moments +had a good fire. + +She now sprang to her feet, and hastily pushing aside a row of +pipkins, opened a small door which had been concealed behind them, +above the mantel. From a recess within the wall she took a brass- +bound casket, which she placed upon the table. + +The casket contained some books, papers, and several diminutive +phials. One of these phials she held up to the light, contemplating +its contents with manifest satisfaction. + +"Herein lies the spell that is to lure my faithless monarch back +again. La Voisin may rot in prison, but her mantle of science has +fallen upon me, and her secrets are mine. Her last, best gift shall +restore me to my throne. Not only did she leave me the means of +success, but she foretold the certainty of that success besides. It +must be so: La Voisin never erred in her predictions, and I shall +triumph!" + +Pressing the phial to her lips, Olympia hid it beneath the folds of +her lace tucker, murmuring the while, "I shall sip of this nectar +anon; for the present, I must provide for discovery." + +She took the papers that lay in the casket, and weighing them in her +hand said musingly: + +"How light they are, and yet how heavy was the gold with which I +purchased them! 'Tis a pity they should be destroyed: what if I +should forget? But no! oblivion of their treasured secrets were +impossible to me; so away with you! You might turn traitors, and I +had best anticipate treachery by destruction." + +Then followed the books and the contents of the phials remaining in +the casket. The blue flames leaped high as these last were added to +the cremation, and the room became oppressive with their unwholesome +vapor. + +"The window must be opened," said Olympia. "This odor might betray +me. People might suspect me of having cooked arsenic in my kitchen +instead of onions." + +With, these words she opened the casement, and the noxious cloud +passed slowly out into the air. + +"Now all is safe. Louvois can send as many bailiffs as he lists, and +should they poke their inquisitive noses into my sanctum, they will +find nothing for their pains but an innocent laboratory wherein the +Countess de Soissons prepares her cosmetics, and makes experiments +in the chemistry of the toilet." + +She replaced her casket, searched the mantel carefully, and then +glanced sharply around the room to assure herself that she was alone +and undiscovered. + +Yes! Alone, the witnesses of her guilt consumed, and their ashes +etherealized throughout space. + +The countess smiled, and, as she locked the door of her laboratory, +her spirits revived and her thoughts once more reverted to the +ambitious dreams of the morning. When she had reached her boudoir +again, and the complaisant mirror had resumed its place, she drew +the flask from her bosom, removed the glass stopper, inhaled for a +moment its perfume, and then, raising it to her lips, drained the +contents to their last drop. + +"And this philter is to make me mistress of your heart, King Louis! +How I long to begin my reign!" + +A slight rustling was heard outside, and the guilty woman trembled +anew. She concealed the phial, and listened breathlessly, while her +straining eyes were fixed upon the door as though they had hoped to +see through its panels of oak whether friend or foe stood without. + +A slight knock was heard, and now, in spite of herself, the Countess +de Soissons grew pale and shivered. What if the myrmidons of Louvois +had come with a lettre de cachet! What if--No! not even HE would go +so far in his enmity to the niece of the great cardinal, the +relative of the reigning Duke of Savoy, and the daughter-in-law of +the Princess Carignan. + +So she summoned resolution enough to cross the room, draw back the +bolt, and to say in a loud, imperious tone: "Come in." + +The door opened, and admitted a young man. The countess no sooner +recognized him than she smiled, and, with a slight elevation of her +shoulders, said, "Nobody but you." + +"Nobody but me," replied the youth, sadly. "I come to ask of my +gracious mother an interview." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +PRINCE EUGENE. + + +The countess inclined her head in token of assent; but, as she did +so, her eyes rested on the diminutive form of her son with an +expression that savored of disdain. The look was unmotherly, and +seemed to say, "How can a man of such insignificant appearance be +the son of the stately Countess de Soissons?" + +And indeed to a careless observer the words were not inappropriate +to his dwarfish proportions. His head, which, between his +excessively wide shoulders, was perched upon the top of a very long +neck, was too large, much too large for his body. His face was +narrow, his complexion swarthy, his sallow cheeks high and sunken. A +nose slightly turned up, gave an expression of boldness to his +countenance, increased by the shortness of his upper lip, which +exposed to view two large front teeth that were almost ferocious in +their size. On either side of his high, narrow forehead, his hair, +instead of being worn according to the prevailing fashion, was +suffered to fall in long elf-locks about his ears. Notwithstanding +all these disadvantages, his eyes were so superlatively beautiful +that they almost persuaded you into the belief that he was handsome. +From their lustrous depths there streamed a meteoric splendor, +which, more than words, revealed the genius, the enthusiasm, and the +noble soul to which Nature had assigned such unworthy corporality. + +Those speaking eyes were fixed upon the countess in tender sadness, +while, in a respectful attitude near the door, he awaited her +permission to approach. + +She languidly extended her hand, and, Eugene coming forward, bent +over and imprinted upon it a heartfelt kiss. + +"My dear mother then consents?" said he, humbly. + +"I know of no reason why I should refuse," replied the countess, +carelessly. "Neither am I able to divine wherefore you make your +request in a tone of such unusual solemnity. One would suppose that +the little abbe has come to invite his mother to a confession of her +sins, so portentous is his demeanor." + +"Would I could receive that confession," exclaimed he, earnestly; +"would I could look into my mother's heart and read the secrets +there!" + +"Indeed! and have you come hither to catechise your mother, then?" +said the countess, with a frown. + +"No, dear mother, no," cried Eugene, eagerly; "I have come to ask of +you whether I may walk with head erect before the world, or whether +I must die because of our dishonor?" + +"An extraordinary alternative to present for my decision, certainly; +and I confess that I am very curious to learn how it happens that I +can assist you in your dilemma. Speak, then, and I will listen." + +With these words the countess threw herself indolently into an arm- +chair, and motioned Eugene to a seat. But he only advanced a step or +two, and gazed wistfully upon her handsome, hardened face. + +"Mother," said he, in a low, husky voice, "the soothsayer La Voisin +has been arrested." + +"Ah! what else?" asked the countess, with perfect composure. + +"Her house is guarded, every corner has been searched, and her +papers have all been seized." + +"And what else?" repeated the countess. + +Her son looked up, and a ray of hope shot athwart his pale and +anxious face. "Nothing is talked of in Paris," continued he, "but +the strange revelations connected with her arrest. It is said that +she not only drew the horoscope of those who were accustomed to +visit her, and gave them philters, but--but--" + +"But," echoed the countess as her son paused. + +"But that she prepared secret poisons, one of which, called 'La +poudre de succession,' was specially designed for the use of those +who wished to remove an inconvenient relative." + +This time the countess was silent; her brow contracted, and she +shivered perceptibly. + +An involuntary cry burst from the lips of her son, which recalled +her to a sense of her imprudence. + +"What ails you?" asked she, abruptly. "Have you seen a ghost, that +you cry out in a voice so unearthly?" + +"Yes, mother, I have seen a ghost--the ghost of my father! "And +while the countess grew pale, and her eyes dilated with fear, her +unhappy son sank upon his knees before her, and clasped his hands +with agony of apprehension. + +"Mother, have mercy on me, and forgive me if, in the anguish of my +writhing soul, I ask you whether you are innocent of my father's +death?" + +"Has any one dared to accuse me?" asked she, with a scowl. + +"Ay! And so publicly, that men spoke of it together as I passed them +in the streets to-day. Need I say that I was ready to die of grief +as I heard the epithet of murderess applied to the mother who to me +has been the ideal of beauty, goodness, and excellence, which my +heart has worshipped to the exclusion of all other loves! My brain +was on fire as I dashed through the scornful crowd, and made my way +to you, mother, here to look upon your dear face, and read in your +eyes your innocence of the hideous crime. We are alone with God: in +mercy tell me, are you innocent or guilty?" + +As he raised his face to hers, the countess saw there such powerful +love struggling with his anguish, that her heart was touched, and +the angry words she had meditated died upon her lips. + +"These are cruel doubts wherewith to assail your mother, Eugene," +said she, after a pause. "Follow me, and in the presence of your +forefathers you shall he answered." + +With a lofty bend of the head, she left the room, followed by her +stricken child. They crossed a spacious hall, and traversed one +after another the apartments of state which were thrown open to +guests on occasions of great ceremony, and led to the grand hall of +reception. At the farther end of this hall, under a canopy of purple +velvet, surmounted by a ducal crown, were the two thrones which, on +the days of these state receptions, the Count and Countess de +Soissons were privileged to occupy in presence of their guests, +provided his majesty were not of the number. This right they held by +virtue of their connection with the royal house of France, and their +close relationship to the Duke of Savoy. At the time of the marriage +of his niece with the Count de Soissons, Cardinal Mazarin had +obtained from Louis XIV. an acknowledgment of her husband as a +prince of the blood, and, by virtue of this acknowledgment, his +right to attend without invitation all court festivities, to appear +at the public and private levees of the king, and in his own palace +to sit upon a throne. + +On either side of the throne-room of the Hotel de Soissons were +ranged the portraits of their ancestors, in armor, in ducal or +episcopal robes, in doublet and hose, or in flowing wigs. Silently +the mother and son walked by the stately effigies of princes and +princesses, until they had reached the farthest portrait there. + +With outstretched arms the countess pointed to the likeness of a +handsome man, clad in a rich court-suit, which well became his +aristocratic figure. As he gazed upon the pleasant smile that +illumined a face expressive of exceeding goodness, the eyes of young +Eugene filled with tears. + +His mother surveyed him with a curl of her lip. + +"Tears!" said she. "And yet you stand before the portrait of your +father, whom you accuse me of having murdered!" + +"No, no," cried her son, eagerly, "I did not accuse, I--I--" + +"You inquired," interrupted the countess, disdainfully. "And by your +inquiry you insinuate that such a crime by the hand of your mother +was not only possible, but probable." + +"Unhappily, I have more than once seen La Voisin in your boudoir, +mother." + +The countess affected not to hear. "Then a son considers himself +justifiable in asking of his mother whether or not she poisoned his +father; he should do so with the sword of justice in his hand, not +with an eyelid that trembles with cowardly tears." + +"Mother, have pity on me," sobbed Eugene, throwing himself at her +feet. "Do not answer my cruel question, for I read your innocence in +the noble scorn that flashes from your eye, and beams from every +feature of your dear, truthful face. Pardon me, beloved mother; +pardon your repentant child." + +"No, I shall not pardon the poltroon who, believing that his mother +has disgraced his escutcheon, weeps like a woman over wrongs which +he should avenge like a man. But I forgot. The little abbe of Savoy +is not accustomed to wear a sword; HIS weapon is the missal. Go, +then, to your prayers, and when you pray for your father's soul, ask +forgiveness of God for your heartless and ungrateful conduct to his +widow." + +"Dear, dear mother, have pity!" sobbed Eugene, still kneeling at her +feet. + +"Was there any pity in your heart for me when you asked that +shameful question?" + +"I was demented," cried he; "maddened by the sneers that were flung +at me in the streets to-day." + +"And, to console yourself, you joined in the popular cry. 'Vox +populi vox Dei,' I suppose, is your pious motto." + +"Mother!" cried Eugene, springing to his feet, "crush me, if you +will, under the weight of your anger, but do not stretch me upon the +rack of your scorn. I am no devotee; and, if the king, my family, +and yourself, are, forcing me into a career which is repugnant to +every instinct of my manhood, pity me, if you will, but do not +insult me." + +"Pity you!" sneered the countess. "I am a woman; but he who would +venture to pity ME, would receive my glove in his face for his +insolence. Go, faint heart! You are fit for nothing but a whining +priest, for there is not a spark of manhood within your sluggish +breast. No generous blood of the princes of Savoy mantles in your +sallow check; 'tis the ichorous fluid of the churchman Mazarin that- +-" + +"Mother!" thundered Eugene, with a force that gave the lie to her +derisive words--"mother, you shall go no further in your disdain of +me, for the blood of Savoy is seething within my veins, and I may, +perchance, forget that she who so affronts my father's son, is my +mother!" + +"You have already forgotten," replied the countess, coldly. "My +answer to your infamous charge shall be made not to you, but to your +ancestors." + +So saying, she bent her steps toward the ducal throne, and seating +herself thereon, addressed her son: + +"Eugene of Savoy, Prince of Carignan, Bourbon, and Piedmont, bend +your knee before the mother that bore you, and hearken to her +words." + +The prince obeyed, and knelt at the foot of the throne. + +The countess raised her arm, and pointed to the portraits that hung: +around. "You have been witnesses," said she, addressing them all, +"to the outrage which has been put upon me to-day by him who +inherits your name, but not your worth. If I am the guilty wretch +which he has pronounced me to be, strike me to the earth for my +crimes, and justify his parricidal words. But you know that I am +innocent, and that, with bitter tears, I lamented the death of my +murdered husband!" + +"Murdered!" exclaimed Eugene. "It is, then, true that he was +murdered?" + +"Yes," replied the countess, "he was murdered, but not by bowl or +dagger." + +With these words, she rose, and, slowly descending from her throne, +she returned to the spot which she had left, and gazed mournfully +upon her husband's portrait. "He was a noble, brave, and gallant +prince," said she, softly. "He loved me unspeakably, and wherefore +should I have taken the life of him whose whole pleasure lay in +ministering to my happiness? What could I gain by the death of the +dearest friend I ever had? Ah, never would he have mistrusted his +Olympia! Had the envious rabble of Paris defamed me while he lived +to defend my honor, it is not your father, Prince Eugene, that would +have joined my traducers and outraged my woman-hood, as you have +done to-day!" + +"Forgive me," murmured the prince. + +"Yes, my beloved," continued she, addressing the picture, "they +accuse me of murdering thee, because they seek my ruin as they +compassed thine." + +"Who, dear mother, who?" cried Eugene, passionately. "Who are the +fiends that murdered my father and calumniate my mother?" + +"They are Louis XIV.," exclaimed the countess, "his minister +Louvois, and his two mistresses, De Montespan and De Maintenon." + +"The king!" echoed Eugene, in a voice of such fury, that his mother +turned her eyes from the portrait, and stared at him with amazement. + +"You hate the king?" said she, hurriedly. + +"Yes," said Eugene, his eyes flashing fire; "yes, I hate him." + +"And why?" + +"Do not ask me, mother; I dare not say wherefore I hate the king." + +"Then I will tell you why. You hate him because you believe the +scandalous reports which my enemies have spread throughout Europe as +regards my relations, in years gone by, with Louis. You believe that +your mother was once the king's mistress, and that, to hide her +shame, she borrowed the name of the Count de Soissons." + +Eugene made no reply. + +"Ah, why have I no son to shelter me from these infamous suspicions! +Why must I live and die under such false and disgraceful +imputations?" + +"Then, it is not true?" cried Eugene, joyfully. "You did not love +the king, mother?" + +"Yes, I did love him," said she, calmly, "and loved him as an +Italian alone can love." + +Eugene groaned, and covered his face with his hands. + +"I do not deny the love," continued the countess, "for it was all +the work of Cardinal Mazarin. He brought me from Italy, and bade me +win the king's heart and become a queen; and when he did so he added +a recommendation to me to be a good, dutiful niece, and never to +forget who it was had helped me to a crown. I saw the youth whom the +cardinal desired me to love: the handsomest, wittiest, and most +accomplished cavalier in France. I obeyed but too willingly, and +Louis became the idol of my life." + +"Then it is true that my mother was beloved by the king?" said +Eugene, sternly. + +"Beloved by him, but never his mistress!" returned the countess, +proudly. "Yes, he loved me as I did him, with the trust, the +strength, the passion, that are characteristic of a first love. I +was ambitious for him as well as for myself, and would have had him +a monarch in deed as well as in name. I led him away from the +frivolous regions of indolent enjoyment to the starry realms of +poetry, art, and science; and, had Louis ever risen to the fame of +Numa, I should have merited that of Egeria. But this conflicted with +the ambition of the cardinal. He had no sooner comprehended the +nature of the influence I exerted over his royal tool, than he +poisoned his ear by insinuating that ambition, not love, was the +spring of all my efforts to elevate him to the level of his +magnificent destiny. Poor, weak Louis! He was anything that Cardinal +Mazarin chose to make him; so at the word of command he ceased to +love, and went to make an offering of his accommodating affections +to Marie. She made him take an oath never to look at me again." + +"Did he respect the oath?" + +"Just so long as he loved Marie. I need not tell you that I suffered +from his inconstancy. I was inexpressibly grieved; but pride upheld +me, and Louis never received a word or look of reproach for his +faithlessness. Meanwhile your father offered his hand, and before I +accepted it he was made acquainted with the history of my heart. I +concealed nothing from him, so that he was at once the confidant of +my past sorrows, and their comforter." + +"Thank you, dear, dear mother," said Eugene, tenderly. "In the name +of all your children, let me thank you for your noble candor." + +"I married the Prince de Soissons, and here, in presence of his +assembled ancestors, I swear that I have kept unstained the faith I +pledged him at the marriage-altar. Let the world belie me as it +will, Olympia Mancini has ever been a spotless wife. So true is +this, that Louis, when he had abandoned Marie, and had tired of his +queen, returned to me with vows of a love which he swore had been +the only genuine passion of his life; and when, as my husband's +loyal wife, I repulsed the advances of his sovereign, that sovereign +became my bitterest enemy. Not even after he had consoled himself +with the insipid charms of that poor, flimsy creature, La Valliere, +did Louis relent; his animosity, because of some witticism of mine +on the subject of his hysterical mistress, has pursued me throughout +life; not only me, but every member of my family. For a mere epigram +I was banished from Paris, and your father stripped of a lucrative +and honorable office. We managed after a time to return to court, +but my enemies were more powerful than I. Through the jealousy of +the Marquise de Montespan I was a second time banished; but before +we left, your father fought two duels with noblemen who had +circulated the calumnies which the marquise had originated +concerning me. The Duke de Noailles was wounded, and the Chevalier +de Grand Mercy killed. Although the challenges had been honorably +sent and accepted, the Count de Soissons was summoned before the +king and publicly rebuked. Oh, let me speak no longer of the +contumely we endured during those bitter days! My husband died, +blessing me, and cursing the selfish monarch who had ruined us +both." + +Eugene clinched his hand. "I shall remember the curse," cried he, +"and it shall be verified if God give me strength, mother!" + +"Yes, avenge us if you can, Eugene, but, until the day of reckoning +come, we must be politic and wary. Be silent and discreet as I was, +when, on being allowed to return to Paris, I humbled myself for my +dear children's sake, and not only swore to write no more epigrams, +but went in person to sue to Madame de Montespan for pardon and +protection!" + +"Mother, is it possible! Far better had it been for us to die +obscurely in some provincial village, than purchase our admission to +court at the price of such humiliation as that!" + +"No, no--I had sworn to be revenged upon my persecutors, and no plan +of vendetta could I carry out in a provincial village. Do you +remember what I told my sons on the day of our return to the Hotel +de Soissons?" + +"Ay, mother, that do I. You said: 'Bow your heads in ostensible +humility, but never forget that the Bourbons have robbed you of your +inheritance. Never forget that if you are poor, it is because on +some idle pretext of a conspiracy that never could be proved, Louis +XIV. sequestered the estates of the Counts de Soissons.' These were +your words, and you see that I have not forgotten them. They are the +steel on which I have sharpened the hate I feel for the King of +France. And now that its edge is keen, why may I not lift it against +the man who belied my mother, and murdered my father? Oh mother, +mother, why will you force me to become a priest?" + +"What else could you become?" asked Olympia. "The king is your +guardian, and he it is that from your childhood has destined you for +the church." + +"I hate this garb," exclaimed Eugene, touching his cassock. "My +vocation is not for the priesthood, and, if I am called upon to +utter compulsory vows, I feel that I shall disgrace my cloth. Dear +mother, loosen the detested bonds that bind me to a listless and +contemplative life! Gird me with a sword, and let me go out to +battle with the world like a man!" + +The countess looked disdainfully at the diminutive figure of her +son, and raised her shoulders with contempt. "You a soldier!" + +"Yes!" exclaimed Eugene, passionately. "Yes! My soul abhors the +cloister, and yearns for the battle-field. While you have fancied +that I was studying theology, I have been poring over the lives of +great commanders; and, instead of preparing my soul for heaven, I +have trained my body for earthly strife. Look not so compassionately +upon my stature, mother. This body is slender, but 'tis the coat of +mail that covers an intrepid soul, and I have hardened it until it +can bid defiance to wind or weather. With this arm I curb the +wildest horse, nor will its sinews yield to the blow of the most +practised swordsman in France. I have studied the science of warfare +in books: my life has been one long preparation for its practice, +and I cannot, will not relinquish my day-dreams of glory." + +"There is no help for it, I tell you. All princes of the blood are +wards of the king: your royal guardian has chosen your profession, +and you must either submit or bear the consequences of his wrath." + +"What care I for his wrath? Let him give me my freedom, and I will +promise never to seek my fortune at his hands." + +"At all events, wait for some favorable opportunity to rebel, +Eugene. We are poor and dependent now, and your brother's scandalous +marriage has forever marred our hopes of seeing him heir to the +duchy of Savoy. To think of a Prince de Carignan uniting himself to +the daughter of the equerry of the Prince de Conde! What a +disgrace!" + +"My brother consulted his heart and not his escutcheon," replied +Eugene, with a smile. "He followed the example of his father, and +may God bless him with a wife as beautiful and as virtuous as his +mother!" + +The countess, who had begun to frown at Eugene's apology for his +brother, could not resist this filial flattery. She gave him her +hand, which he kissed devoutly. + +"You no longer believe me guilty, my son?" said she. Eugene knelt +and murmured: "Pardon, dear, dear mother! My life will be all too +short to expiate my unworthy doubts, and to avenge your wrongs." + +"Avenge them, but do not exasperate the king. Imitate Richelieu and +Mazarin, and the priest's gown will no longer be distasteful to you. +They were great in the field and in the cabinet, and both possessed +more than regal power, for both were the rulers of kings." + +Eugene was about to reply, but Olympia raised her hand in +remonstrance, and continued: + +"I exact of you, for a time at least, apparent submission and +perfect silence. When the hour is ripe for retaliation, you shall +strike, and repay me for all that I have endured at the hands of the +king. But, for the present, breathe not the name of Louis above a +whisper. I have a deadlier foe than he to encounter now. Louvois, +Louvois, I dread above all other men; and if you have the strength +of a man in your arm, Eugene, let the force of its vengeance fall +upon the head of him, whose animosity is more potent than that of +all my other enemies united." + +"It shall crush him and all who seek to injure you, mother. +Revenge!--yes, revenge for your wrongs, for my father's death, and +for MY bondage!" + +"Ay, revenge, Eugene! A man may wear the garb of an ecclesiastic +with the heart of a hero, and to your brave heart these Princes of +Carignan commit my cause! Come, let us leave our ancestors to their +grim repose. May they lend their ghostly aid to the arm that wields +the carnal weapons of our righteous vengeance!" + +As she turned to leave the gallery, the train of her blue satin +dress became entangled in the claws of the lion which supported the +throne. Eugene stooped hastily to release it, and, instead of +dropping it again, he smiled affectionately upon his mother and +placed himself in the attitude of a page. + +The countess looked pleased at the attention, and said, "Have you +learned, among your other accomplishments, to be a trainbearer?" + +"Yes, mother, I have learned to be your trainbearer, but to no other +mortal would I condescend to do such service." + +But Olympia was not listening. She was day-dreaming again, and the +substance of her dreams was as follows: + +"How soon, perchance, the court of France may bear my train along, +while I, victorious and exultant, crush the head of my enemies +beneath my heel! I feel the glow of the philter as it courses +through my veins, warming the blood that shall mantle in my cheeks, +kindling the fire that shall flash from my eyes! The hour is nigh +when I am to make my last supreme effort for mastery over the heart +of Louis: if I fail--I have an avenger in Eugene, who--" + +At this moment an outcry was heard in the streets, and as Olympia +opened the door of her cabinet, she was confronted by her steward, +who, unannounced, stood pale as death before his astonished +mistress. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE RIOT. + + +"What, in the name of Heaven, is the matter?" exclaimed she. "Whence +these discordant yells without, and how comes it that you enter my +private apartments without a summons?" + +"I trust your highness will pardon my boldness; the case is too +urgent to admit of formalities, and I come to receive your +instructions as to--" + +Here the voice of the steward was overpowered by the yells of the +populace without, and for several moments the countess and her son +stood in speechless amazement, waiting an explanation. "What can it +mean?" asked she at last. + +"Your highness," replied the trembling steward, "the court is filled +with an infuriated mob, who rushed in before we had time to close +the gates." + +Eugene, with an exclamation of dismay, would have darted to the +window, but the steward raised his hand imploringly. + +"Do not let them see you, prince," cried he. "They have torn up the +pavement, and with the stones have shattered the windows of the +lower story." + +"Then it is a riot," said the countess, "and the canaille of Paris +have rebelled against the aristocracy." + +"Unhappily, your highness, their anger is directed exclusively +against the Hotel Soissons, and, if I judged by the number of our +assailants, I should say that all Paris has joined in the attack. +Not only the canaille are here, but, as I was hurrying to the corps +de garde to ask for protection, I saw more than one well-dressed +personage descend from his carriage and come thither to increase the +number of our enemies." + +"I understand," said the countess, setting her teeth, "the anger of +the mob is directed against ME." + +"Mother," whispered Eugene, "they must be the same men whom I met in +the streets, and whose jeers drove me thither to add to your misery +the stab of my unfilial doubts." + +"Did you say that you had sent off for guards?" asked she of Latour. + +"Yes. your highness. I went at once to the headquarters of the corps +de garde, and the officer of the day promised immediate succor." + +"It will not be sent," returned Olympia. "But hark! What tumult is +this?" + +"They are battering the palace-doors," said Eugene, who, in spite of +the steward's entreaties, had approached the window and was looking +down upon the mob. The palace de Soissons fronted the Poie Deux +Ecus, from which it was separated by a tall iron railing. The +enclosure was filled with a throng so dense that there was scarcely +room for them to move a limb; and yet, in their regular assaults +upon the palace-doors, they seemed to be obeying the commands of +some unseen chief. + +Eugene surveyed the scene with something of that calm but powerful +interest which possesses the soul of a commander about to engage the +enemy. + +"The multitude increase," said he. "If they continue to press in +much longer, the court will be so thronged that no more missiles can +be thrown." + +At that very moment the windows were assailed by a hail-storm of +stones, one of which fell at Olympia's feet. She touched it with the +point of her satin slipper, remarking as she did so, "This is a +greeting from Louvois." + +"For God's sake, your highness, be not so rash!" exclaimed Latour, +as a second stone flew over the head of the prince, and shattered +part of a cornice close by. + +Eugene had not moved. He heeded neither steward nor stone, but stood +with folded arms, looking upon the terrible concourse of his +mother's accusers. His face was very pale and resolute; it expressed +nothing beyond stern endurance; but the eye was threatening, and the +dwarfish figure had expanded until the abbe was forgotten, and in +his place stood the implacable foe of Louis XIV. + +"Yes," said he, "I was right. The crowd is so dense that they now +threaten one another, and, unless they force the entrance to the +palace, they will be crushed by their own numbers." + +"They will never force the entrance," said Latour. "The door is +barred and bolted, and they may bombard it for a day before they +ever make an impression upon the stout plates of iron with which it +is lined." + +"Ay," replied Eugene, with a smile. "Catharine de Medicis knew how +to build a stronghold. She knew from experience what it is to face +an insurrection, and took her precautions accordingly. We owe her a +debt of gratitude for our security--Good heavens!" cried he, +interrupting himself, "they have found means to send us another +salvo." + +A shower of stones came rattling toward the very window where he +stood, one of which struck the countess on the shoulder and caused +her to wince. + +Once more Latour besought her to take refuge in another apartment. + +"You have said that they cannot force the entrance: what do you +fear?" said she. + +"I fear the stones, your highness." + +"Then I will prove to the rabble that I, no more than Cardinal +Mazarin, am to be terrified by stones," returned Olympia, +approaching the window and placing herself at the side of her son. + +The multitude, as they recognized her, broke forth into a wild shout +of abhorrence. + +"Look! there is the woman who murdered her husband, and would have +murdered her children too!" "There is the wretch who would have +poisoned the king!" "There stands the accomplice of La Voisin!" "And +while her tool languishes in prison, she has no right to breathe the +free air of heaven!" "Away with her to the Bastile!" "To the +Bastile, to the Bastile!" "No! let her be burned for her crimes!" + +"Louvois! Louvois!" murmured Olympia, her brow reddening with +humiliation. + +Another yell from the besiegers was silenced by a loud voice, whose +words of command rose clear above the tumult. + +"I knew it," said Eugene, "they have a leader. There is a method in +these manifestations which shows that they are not the disconnected +efforts of a many-headed monster." + +"Great God! And the guards are not even to be seen!" cried Latour, +who stood with folded hands, murmuring snatches of prayer for help. + +"Nor will they be seen," added Olympia, in a low voice. + +Eugene was glancing now at his mother, now at her persecutors. As +his eye wandered from one to another of the uplifted and angry faces +below, he saw two men somewhat elevated above the rest, who with +their outstretched arms were giving the signal for a fresh +onslaught. No demonstration, however, followed the command, for the +people had gravitated into one solid body, of which no portion was +capable of independent action. + +"Now," thought the prince, "now would be the opportunity for +retaliation. If I had but the means!--Latour." continued he, aloud, +"do the iron gates of entrance open within or without?" + +"Without, your highness." + +"So that if we could get access to the street, we might cage up +these base-born villains, might we not?" + +"Yes, your highness; but he who shuts the gates must undo the chains +by which they are fastened back." + +"Who has the keys?" + +"I, your highness. I have them now upon my person." + +"There are outlets by which you could gain access to the gates +without facing the people?" + +"Certainly, your highness," began Latour; but his words were drowned +in another outburst of howlings from the maddened mob, and another +discharge of stones whizzed through the air, crushing the mullions +of the windows to splinters, and dashing their fragments of +shivering glass into the very faces of the unfortunate besieged. + +"If the guards would but come!" said Latour, reiterating for the +twentieth time his doleful refrain. + +"Since it appears that they have no intention of coming," replied +the prince, "we must e'en take this matter of defence in our own +hands. Hasten, Latour, to the street--undo the fastenings, and quick +as thought lock the gates!" + +"But, your highness, do you suppose that I shall be suffered by that +infuriated crowd to lock or unlock the gates at pleasure?" + +"Never fear; their faces are all turned toward the palace. You will +have accomplished the thing before they know that you have +undertaken it. Take two other men with you, who, as soon as you +release the chains, must fling the gates together, while you relock +them. Now be dexterous, and you will have performed no unimportant +feat of strategy." + +"I will do my best, your highness." + +"Before you go, summon the household to my presence. How many men +are there at home to-day?" + +"Twelve, your highness." + +"Enough to settle with two thousand such wretches." + +Latour darted away on his double mission, and the prince turned to +his mother, who, undaunted and defiant, still stood before the +window contemplating her assailants, giving back look for look of +scorn and abhorrence. + +"May I beg of my dear mother permission to absent myself for a +while?" said Eugene. + +The countess looked round with inquiring eyes. "Whither would you +go, my son?" asked she. + +"I wish to give some orders to the domestics, to arm them, and +assign to each man his post." + +"Where will you find weapons, my son?" + +"I have among my effects a small collection of fire-arms. They are +all in good order, and all loaded. I have nothing to do but +distribute them, and place my men." + +The countess smiled. "In good sooth, I begin to believe that you are +fitter for a soldier than for a churchman. But you are not in +earnest when you speak of using firearms?" + +"Why not? We are attacked, and, obeying the laws of necessity, we +defend ourselves. Unfortunately, we are forced to remain on the +defensive; I only wish I had an opportunity to attack." + +"But what means that new outbreak of fury?" asked the countess, +returning to the window. + +"It means," cried Eugene, joyfully, "that Latour has been +successful, and the gates are locked. The ruffians have discovered +the snare, and they howl accordingly. Now to my garrison; I must +station it with judgment, for it is not numerous." + +"I will accompany you, my son," said the countess. "I would not miss +the sight of the first exploit of my future cardinal, him who +promises to unite in his own person the wisdom of Mazarin with the +prowess of Richelieu!" + +The servants were assembled in the hall, whither they had taken +refuge from the stones and splintering glass, that were flying in +the palace windows. They were not a very valiant-looking body of +troops, but their commander made no comment upon their dismayed +faces. He merely counted them and spoke to his valet. + +"Darmont, conduct these men to the armory, and provide each one with +a musket. Let them handle the guns carefully, for they are heavily +loaded. Bring me my pistols also. And now, away! and return +quickly." + +Silently, and, to all appearances, not much edified by these +recommendations, the domestics followed Darmont, while Eugene +returned to his station at the window. + +"Not only have they a leader," said he, "but I believe that they +were instigated to make this attack, mother." + +"No doubt of it," replied Olympia; "and since Louvois has dared so +much, we may infer that he has the sanction of the king for his +brutality." + +"Look!" cried Eugene, catching her arm, "there is the leader!--that +tall man in the brown suit, with bright buttons, who stands upon the +stone seat, near the gates." + +"I see him," returned the countess. "He is speaking with two men who +are directly in front of him. This person looks familiar to me: I +have surely seen that tall figure and those wide shoulders before. +If his hat were not drawn so far over his brows, and we could but +see his face, our doubts as to the source of this outrage would +speedily be solved." + +"He has been giving instructions, for the two men are addressing the +crowd. I fear we must look out for another bombardment." + +And so it seemed; for the mob, having recovered from their momentary +fright, were evidently preparing for action. Hundreds of brawny +arms, each one of which grasped a stone, were raised into the air: +while as many stooping forms were seen, crouching close to the +ground, that they might leave room for the slingers to hurl their +missiles without impediment. + +"That is a good manoeuvre," said Eugene. "Their leader understands +strategic warfare. They are ready, and await the word of command. It +comes! Stand back, mother!" + +A crash was heard, but not a stone had been aimed at the windows. +"Ah, I understand," cried Eugene. "They are trying to force the +door, and so obtain their release. Thank Heaven! Here comes the +garrison, a handful of braves who, I hope, are destined to change +the fortunes of the day.--Now," continued he, advancing to meet +them, "listen to me. There are twelve of you, and the hall has seven +openings. Leave the central window free, and station yourselves two +at each one of the other six. Throw open the casements, cock your +guns, and be ready for the word of command. Darmont, give me my +pistols." + +With one of these in either hand, Eugene stationed himself at the +window in the centre, while his mother stood by his side. + +"They are about to favor us with another volley," said the prince. +"Neither they nor their leader have as yet remarked the changed +aspect of the palace-windows." + +"The hat of the leader is purposely drawn down, and, while he +succeeds in concealing his features, he loses sight of the danger +which threatens from above. So much the better for us; but I do long +to have a sight of his face," returned the countess. + +"You shall have your wish," replied Eugene, with a smile. "I will +knock off his hat, and your curiosity shall be gratified." + +"How will you manage to do that?" + +"You shall see," said he, raising the pistol that he held in his +right hand. + +He fired, and when the smoke had cleared away, the face of the +leader was exposed to view. The ball had struck the hat, which had +fallen, and now a pair of dark, sinister eyes were glaring at the +spot whence the insult had been sent. + +"Have a care," said the prince, leaning forward and addressing the +crowd. "If you send another missile against these walls, I will have +twelve of your lives!" + +The men, who were just about to fling their stones, paused and +stared at one another in dumb perplexity. + +Their leader, pale with rage, gave the word of command. + +Eugene heard it, and called out in clear, defiant tones: "If the +leader of this riot attempt a repetition of his order, I will break +his right arm." + +"Another volley, men!" shouted the chief. + +A second report from the window was heard, which was answered by a +yell from below. Eugene's ball had pierced the elbow of the leader, +and the dismayed crowd had made a hasty movement toward the gates. + +"Do you not see that there is no egress for you except through the +palace? Look at the murderess there, instigating her whelp to new +crimes! She exults over your weakness, and laughs at your panic. On! +on! Batter down the doors!" + +"On!" echoed the mob; and their stones were flung with such frenzy +against the palace-doors, that its very walls trembled. + +"Fire!" called out the sonorous voice of Eugene, and in another +moment might be seen the sinking forms of twelve of the rioters, +while, among the others, some were pale with fright, and a few cried +out that they would he revenged. + +"Revenge is for those whom you have insulted and attacked," replied +the prince, deliberately. "You have made a cowardly assault upon a +noble lady, and not one of you shall leave this place alive!--Make +ready! Take aim!" continued he to his men. + +The click of the locks was distinctly heard, and in the crowd each +man fancied that one of those carbines was aimed at his own head. +The mob was losing heart; not even their leader was to be seen or +heard. He had taken refuge in a sheltered corner of the court, where +his wounds were being bound up by his lieutenants. Inconspicuous as +he was, however, the sharp eyes of Olympia had followed him to his +retreat. Not for one moment did she lose sight of him; she was +determined to solve the enigma of his identity. As the last +bellicose words of Prince Eugene rang through the ears of his +dismayed followers, the wounded ringleader flung back his head with +such sudden haste, that its masses of dark, tangled hair were +entirely thrown aside, and the face that was revealed by their +removal, caused the countess to start and utter an exclamation of +surprise. As Eugene was about to give the command to fire, his +mother caught his arm, and whispered in his ear: + +"My son, I now think that I can tell you the name of yonder caitiff +there, and, if I have guessed rightly, it were better for us to +cease hostile demonstrations, and capitulate." + +"Capitulate!" cried the prince, indignantly. "Capitulate with the +rabble! Who can be this man that has so suddenly cowered the heart +of my noble mother?" + +"I think that he is the son of Louvois," whispered she. + +"Ah, the presuming Barbesieur, who would have given his name to a +Princess de Carignan?" + +"Yes--the same. His beard is dyed, and he wears false locks, but, +spite of his disguise, I feel sure that it is Barbesieur. And I warn +you, Eugene! harm not a hair on his head, for he is the favorite son +of the mightiest man in France--mighty and vindictive. Kill as many +of the rabble as you will; but give positive orders to your men not +to touch Barbesieur Louvois." + +"I ought to command them to fire on no other man, for he is +responsible for the acts of every rioter here." + +"That would be to cast your entire family into the very jaws of +destruction. These men who call me murderess, could not be made to +believe that I have the tenderness of a mother for my children; but +you, Eugene, who know how dearly I love you all, you can understand +that no revenge would be sweet that was purchased at the expense of +my children's welfare. Spare, then, I implore you, the man who holds +your destinies in his unfriendly hand." + +"So be it," sighed Eugene, and he went from man to man, saying in a +low voice, "Direct your fire toward the left." He then took his +station at the central window, and, raising his arm, called out a +second time: "Make ready! Take aim!" + +The multitude heard, and their exceeding consternation found +utterance in one prolonged shriek of horror. + +"Do not fire!" screamed a hundred voices. "Do not fire! We are +defenceless!" + +The order was countermanded, and the self-possessed defender of the +beleaguered palace advanced his head and contemplated the ignoble +faces of his enemies. + +"You acknowledge yourself baffled, then? You are willing to +retreat?" + +"Ay!" was the ready response of every rioter there. + +"You swear to desist now and forever from your infamous attack upon +this palace? You swear never more to make use of vituperative +epithets toward the family of the deceased Count de Soissons?" + +"We swear, we swear! Open the gates! Let us out! Let us out!" was +now the universal cry. + +"Not so fast. Before you have my permission to retire, I must have +unequivocal, outspoken evidence of your repentance and conversion. +You have presumed to asperse the good name of the Countess de +Soissons. Take back your injurious words, and cheer her now, right +lustily. Cry out three times, 'Long live the noble Countess de +Soissons!' and, if your acclamations are to my mind, I will open the +gates." + +The reply to these conditions was a greeting so enthusiastic and so +unanimous, that you would have sworn the mob had assembled before +the hotel to tender to its inmates a popular ovation. + +"Miserable canaille!" muttered their chief; "they are base enough to +hurl their stones at ME, if that beardless manikin up there should +require it of them, as a peace-offering to his immaculate mother!" + +"I told your excellency that you could not trust them," replied the +companion on whose arm he was leaning. "It is a dangerous thing to +be identified with any action of theirs." + +"You were right, Francois. Give me your arm, and let us try to reach +the gates, so as to be the first to escape from this accursed man- +trap." + +"You have cheered the countess but once," cried Eugene to the +multitude. "Do you wish me to renew our strife?" + +"Long live the noble Countess de Soissons!" was the prompt reply. +And, without waiting for a third suggestion, they shouted again and +again, "Long live the Countess de Soissons!" + +Olympia's flashing eyes rested proudly on her son. "I thank you, +Eugene: you have avenged me effectually. All Paris will be filled +with lampoons on the ridiculous repulse of the valiant Barbesieur +and his followers." + +Eugene made no reply. His eyes were fixed upon the personage whom +they supposed to be the son of Louvois, and the prince knew +perfectly well wherefore he seemed in such nervous haste to reach +the gates. + +"He hopes to escape without recognition," muttered Eugene, "but I +must have a word with him before we part." + +"Open the gates!" clamored the populace anew; then suddenly there +was a cry of alarm which was echoed from man to man, from group to +group, until it shaped itself into these words: "The guards! The +guards!" + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +BARBESIEUR LOUVOIS. + + +Thundering down the street came a troop of horsemen who halted +directly in front of the palace-gates. + +"Louvois' spies have been reporting the failure of his son's warlike +expedition," remarked Olympia, "and the guards whom WE had vainly +called to our help, have come in hot haste to protect our +assailants." + +By this time the officer in command was at the gates making vain +efforts to open them. + +"What does this signify?" asked he. "And what is this multitude +about in the court of the Hotel de Soissons?" + +"Look at the palace-windows and the palace-doors, and you will read +your answer there," replied Eugene. "I closed the gates against a +furious and misguided mob; but we have come to terms, and I am about +to liberate them. I crave your indulgence for these poor fellows: +they have been deceived, and knew not what they did, and I hope that +you will make good the forgiveness I have extended to their fault, +by allowing them to go hence without molestation." + +"If so," replied the officer, "I shall be happy to confirm you +highness's clemency by carrying out your order for their release." + +"Is it possible," asked the countess of her son, "that you are in +earnest? You intend to suffer those wretches to go away unharmed! +Because I asked your forbearance for one man, shall this vile horde +be snatched from the hands of justice!" + +"Do you suppose that justice has any intention of overtaking them?" +asked Eugene, with a significant smile. "Believe me, dear mother, I +do but anticipate the object for which the guards were sent, and +spare myself and you the humiliation of publishing to the world that +neither law nor justice takes cognizance of the wrongs of the +Countess de Soissons. These men have come hither to succor our +enemies, not us." + +"Ah, my son, I begin to appreciate you. You have inherited the +sagacity of your great uncle," returned Olympia. + +"Open the gates! open the gates!" cried the rioters. + +"Will your highness be pleased to send some one to release your +prisoners?" asked the captain of the guardsmen. + +"I shall be there myself, in a moment," was the reply. + +"You!" exclaimed the countess. "Would you expose yourself to the +vengeance of the populace, Eugene?" + +"They will not molest me. Barbesieur Louvois has reached the gates, +and I must greet him ere he goes.--Come, Latour and Darmont, and +show me the way by the private staircase. The rest of you keep your +posts and be watchful, for the struggle may be renewed, and it is +just possible that I may have to order you to fire.--And now shall I +conduct my mother to her boudoir?" + +"No, my son, I remain here to observe what passes below, nor will I +retire until I shall have seen the ending of this curious +spectacle." + +Eugene bowed and withdrew. "Go before, Latour," said he. "I am +unacquainted with the private inlets and outlets of the palace." + +Latour obeyed, saying to himself: "They may well make a priest of +this virtuous youth, who knows nothing of the secret windings of his +own hotel. His father and his brother were wiser than he; and many a +night have they gone in and out on visits of gallantry, when they +were young enough to be as squeamish as he, or old enough to have +reformed their ways." + +"Give me the keys," said Eugene, as they emerged from the side- +entrance. "I will unlock the gates, and when I cry 'Halt!' do you +seize upon a man whom I shall point out to you as he attempts to +force the passage in advance of his confederates." + +"Let us alone for holding him fast, your highness." + +Eugene went a few steps farther; then, turning round, he said: "Yes- +-grasp him well, hut be careful not to take him by the right arm, +for I believe that it is wounded." + +As he spoke these merciful words, Eugene blushed, for he saw a +derisive smile on Latour's face. + +"I was in error," thought the steward. "Such a soft heart ought to +have been lodged in the body of a woman." + +They had now reached the palace-front, where, in return for the +obsequious salutation of the captain of the guard, Eugene slightly +inclined his head. + +"You came late to the rescue," said the prince. "Had you answered +the requisition of my steward, you would have spared me the painful +necessity of wounding a dozen of those poor devils." + +"Was there bloodshed?" returned the officer. + +"Of course there was. You can hardly imagine that I quieted these +turbulent rioters with a lullaby. Yes, there has been bloodshed, and +I have had satisfaction for the affront offered to my house to-day. +I hope you hold me justified in my method of procedure." + +"Perfectly justified, your highness." + +"Then the matter rests here, and peace is proclaimed. From my +amnesty, however, I except one man, him who is responsible for all +the evil that has been done by his followers." + +"Your highness has only to point him out, and I will have him +arrested forthwith." + +"You give me your word of honor that he shall not escape +punishment?" + +"My word of honor, your highness." + +"Latour and Darmont, station yourselves one on either side of me, +while I unlock the gates." + +They took their positions, and Eugene slowly drew out his ponderous +keys. They were heard to click in the locks, and at the welcome +sound, there was a shout of joy from the imprisoned rioters. They +pressed eagerly forward--the gates parted--and the crowd began to +pour out into the streets. Eugene soon perceived the tall form of +the ringleader, although he had borrowed the hat of his companion, +and wore it slouched far down over his face. + +As he approached the entrance, Eugene gave the signal agreed upon, +and he was seized by Latour and Darmont. But they had forgotten the +precaution given them as regarded his wounded arm, for as they +touched him he had been unable to suppress a cry of pain. + +"Hold him, Latour," said the prince, "and you, Darmont, close the +gates so that only one man may pass at a time. Some of those guards +might be of service to us. Have I your permission to employ them, +captain?" + +Eight men were ordered to dismount and to station themselves at the +gates, which, spite of the tremendous pressure from within, they +managed to secure, so that each man as he passed could be scanned by +him, who, notwithstanding his delicate build and diminutive stature, +was unquestionably the hero of the day. + +"Now that the court is empty, you can see what devastation has been +committed," said he to the captain of the guard. + +"Yes, indeed," replied the latter, raising himself in his stirrups +to overlook the railing, "they have uprooted the whole pavement." + +"And have seriously damaged the windows," added Eugene. "For all +this destruction we have to thank yonder churl," continued he, +pointing to a man of almost gigantic stature, who was struggling to +free himself from the hands of Latour and Darmont. "Not content with +the laurels he has won as the ringleader of a mob, he has aspired to +achieve renown by defaming women. He has incited the populace to +asperse the good name of my honored mother, and by Heaven, he shall +suffer for every opprobrious word that has fallen from the tongue of +every base-born villain that followed him hither!" + +"Your highness shall yourself dictate his punishment," replied the +officer, courteously. + +"Then order your men to capture the twelve last rioters that leave +the enclosure, and let their leader, who is a thousand times more +guilty than they, oversee the restoration of the pavement, and +himself remove yonder Druid's temple, that lies before the central +window there." + +"Never!" exclaimed the giant, redoubling his efforts to escape, and +writhing so vigorously that Latour and Darmont had to strain every +sinew to retain their hold of his huge body. + +Eugene eyed his prisoner with withering scorn. "You hear him, +captain! He says 'Never!' as though it were for him to decide +whether or not my judgment is a righteous one. And yet I think it +most moderate amends to make for such immeasurable wrong." + +"Indeed, your highness, it is most disproportionate to the enormity +of the offence. It is only too merciful!--Here! Eight men to carry +out the orders of the noble Prince of Savoy!" shouted he, +peremptorily. + +The crowd, meanwhile, by this time convinced that submission was +their only alternative, were passing slowly and silently through the +gates. They were so completely subdued, that not one ventured a +remonstrance. They were intent each man upon his own retreat, and +nobody was troubled about the fate of the chief. + +"There are just twelve men within the enclosure," said the officer. +"Instead of capturing them singly, close the gates, and secure them +all at once." + +"But first let us admit my distinguished prisoner.--Thrust him in, +Latour, and conduct him to his task. He must expiate his offence +against the Countess de Soissons, by removing that heap of stones, +which were cast by his command against my palace-doors. If he prove +intractable, bring him to his senses by administering a blow or two +with a stout cudgel." + +The chief, who for a few moments had been hoping by affected +submission to withdraw the attention of Eugene from himself to his +followers, gave a howl of rage, and looked around for his companion. +The latter, instead of passing out with the crowd, had remained +voluntarily in the enclosure with the twelve who were to suffer for +all. + +They whispered together, after which the subordinate, approaching +the captain of the guard, said: "Captain, I come to offer myself in +the place of my poor brother, who, having been wounded in the arm, +is helpless, and incapable of removing the smallest of those +stones." + +"What says your highness?" asked the officer of the prince. + +"I grant the petition, for it is reasonable. Let him confine +himself, then, to the superintendence of the work." + +"Captain, I crave permission to conduct my brother to a surgeon, +where his wound may be dressed. It is impossible that any man can be +so brutal as to require him to stay here with a bullet in his arm," +said the subordinate. + +"The bullet was no impediment while outrage was to be committed on +the properly of the Countess de Soissons," thundered Eugene, "and I +exact that he remain." + +"Your highness's commands shall be obeyed," replied the officer. + +"Captain," said the ringleader, dragging himself forward, while in +his tremendous strength he forced his captors along with him, +"captain, I must have a word in private with you. I have something +of importance to communicate, and you must come nearer that I may +whisper in your ear." + +So imperious was the sound of his voice that the captain +involuntarily obeyed, and bent down his ear to listen. Although the +latter was on horseback and the former on fact, his tall figure was +almost on a level with the officer's head. + +He spoke a few low words, the captain started, and, quickly raising +his head, he surveyed the gigantic chief from head to foot. He then +conferred with him a few moments, after which he addressed himself +in a very embarrassed manner to Eugene. + +"Your highness, this poor man complains so piteously of the agony he +endures, that it would be cruel to detain him any longer. If you +have no objection, I will send him to the surgeon, accompanied by +four of my men, who, when his wound shall have been dressed, can +reconduct him hither." + +"He will not return," replied Eugene, with a shrug. "He will find +means to escape the vigilance of the police. So be it. Let his +wounds be dressed, and let him depart whither he lists. But I have a +few words of adieu to speak ere he goes." So saying, he approached +his tall adversary, and so commanding was his presence, so fiery his +eye, and so proud his demeanor, that Eugene of Savoy looked mightier +than the wide-shouldered giant before him. + +"I wish merely to say to this fellow that he is a knave," said the +prince. "Yes, captain, a knave, although you start to hear me call +him thus. I neither know his name, nor wish to know it; hut I shall +recognize him among a thousand, and, if ever I meet him again, I +will give him a knave's portion--a sound horsewhipping. And now away +with him! His presence is intolerable!" + +"I go," replied the other, pale and trembling with rage. "But +beware, little priestling, how you cross MY path! If ever you dare +intrude yourself upon my sight, I will crush your diminutive carcass +as an elephant does a crawling worm!" He went, followed by him who +had claimed him as a brother, and accompanied by four guardsmen, who +rode at some distance behind their prisoners. + +"And now, captain," said Eugene, "since your sympathizing heart has +made it impossible for you to allow justice its way, you will, I +presume, see fit to appoint another man to supervise the repairing +of my court-yard." + +"I myself will attend to it, your highness," said the officer, +bowing to his saddle-bow. "Not only that; I will send workmen to +replace the broken panes and restore the window-frames, so that by +to-morrow no trace of the damage done shall remain." + +Eugene laughed. "You are certainly most accommodating! As much so as +if the city guard had participated in the riot! Adieu, sir! And may +this be our last meeting of the sort!" + +Accompanied by his two domestics, he re-entered the palace. His +twelve men were at their posts, and the countess was still standing +at the window whence she had witnessed the scene below. Eugene +dismissed his household, gave orders to have his weapons carefully +replaced in his armory, and then, with a deep inclination to his +mother, he asked if he might now conduct her to her boudoir. + +She gave a smiling assent, took his proffered arm, and returned to +her cabinet. Once there, she turned toward her son, and, +contemplating him for the first time in her life with pride and +admiration, she thanked him warmly for what he had done. + +"My dear son," said she, "I must congratulate you upon your strength +of character. Believe me, you looked mightier far than Louvois' +overgrown Titan. If he surpassed you in stature, your great soul +towered far above his lofty person. I could not hear what you were +saying to those two men, Eugene, but I read in the glance of your +fearless eye that your words were such as would have rejoiced my +heart to overhear. In that moment my soul went far out into the +future, and there I saw you great, glorious, renowned. You know, +Eugene, that I have sometimes strange revelations of things hidden +from ordinary mortals: I have visions that are prophetic, and I tell +you that you are destined to earn imperishable fame. Go, my son, and +fulfil your destiny!" + +Eugene, his features illumined by enthusiasm and radiant with hope, +covered his mother's hand with kisses, and again besought her +forgiveness for his unfilial behavior in the gallery. "Dear mother," +said he, tearfully. "are you indeed reconciled to your unworthy +child?" + +"Yes, Eugene, yes. When you compelled that unwilling multitude to do +me homage, I forgave you from my heart. I have always loved you as +my child, but from this day forward I honor you as my deliverer. +Come to my arms and take the mother's kiss that shall consecrate you +to glory." + +Eugene, intoxicated with happiness, threw himself upon her bosom, +and was clasped to her heart. "With this kiss I greet the hero whose +exploits shall shed new lustre upon his princely house. God bless +thee, my son! Sweeter lips may meet thine in the glow of a love more +passionate, but never will they kiss thee with a tenderness more +true than does thy proud mother this day!" + +"And never will I love woman more tenderly than I do my precious +mother. You were my ideal of womanly perfection as a child, and your +adored image will be my soul's divinity to the latest hour of my +life! Never again will I doubt you; were the whole world to scorn +you, I at least will believe in you, and honor you with a faith as +implicit as that which leads man to martyrdom for his Redeemer's +sake." + +"Believe in me, and trust me," returned the countess, again +impressing a kiss on her son's forehead. "And when you are great and +powerful, think of this hour, my child. 'Tis one of the brightest of +my life; one of the few wherein I have unveiled my heart to mortal +man. Think of it, then, Eugene, when you wear the hat of a cardinal, +and--" + +"What, mother! You would devote me to the priesthood, after all that +has passed between us to-day!" + +"'Tis your only path to renown; 'tis the only ladder by which +ambition can climb to power. With Louis' favor, you may become a +cardinal and a statesman; without it you will never become a field- +marshal. We must take fate as we find it, Eugene; not whine because +we may not fashion it to our own liking." + +"Then be it so: I submit. But I tell you, for the last time, that +under my priestly gown there will be heard the wild and unseemly +throbbings of a heart that not only pants for glory, but yearns for +love." + +"Cardinals may hope for both," returned Olympia, with a strange, +unpleasant smile. "Ask the widowed Queen Anne, whether Richelieu +knew how to love. And ask her whether Mazarin was not as fond as he +was sagacious. But enough of day-dreams: we must return to the +affairs of real life. There has been a demonstration of serious +import against me to-day. I must oppose it by another. Louvois and +his minions must learn that I am not to be intimidated by their +menaces, nor to be browbeaten by their contumely." + +Near her hand, on a porphyry table, lay a golden bell--a marvel of +Benvenuto Cellini's workmanship. The countess took it up and rang. + +The steward answered the summons, and begged to know what her +highness was pleased to command. + +"Let the palace-doors be thrown open, that the people may know how +little I fear their dislike. Send all the lackeys out, and let them +announce to the court that to-day I hold a special levee, and that +my rooms will be opened to visitors at nine this evening. Let the +equerry be informed that in half an hour I shall take a drive in my +open caleche, with six horses and two outriders, all in livery of +state." + +The steward bowed and left the room. When he had gone, the countess +again addressed her son: "In half an hour the court will be +assembled at the Pre aux Clercs; no doubt it would gratify more than +one of those envious Parisians were I absent to-day. But they shall +not enjoy any such satisfaction. They shall greet me as usual, and +I--I--I intend to approach the king!" + +"And I, dearest mother," said Eugene, "beg to be allowed to +accompany you in your ride." + +"You shall do so, son of my heart," exclaimed Olympia, giving him +her hand. "I see that you are not only the child of my love, but +bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. Yes, Eugene, you shall be my +knight, and no loving maiden was ever prouder of her cavalier than I +shall be of mine!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE STATE RECEPTION. + + +The commands of the countess were promptly obeyed. All Paris (that +is, the Paris of the aristocracy) were informed that a special +reception would be held at the Hotel de Soissons, and messengers +were dispatched with official announcement of the same to the royal +household. The ponderous gates were flung wide open to admit the +carriage of state. Eugene's superb gelding was led out by his +jockey; while near the open portiere stood the equerry whose office +it was to hand the countess to her carriage. + +Her turnout was magnificent. The frame of the carriage was of dead +gilt, while above the burnished wheels rose its body, in shape and +color like the wonderful lily of the Amazon. Its exterior of snowy +whiteness was relieved by the rich coloring of the arms of Carignan +and Soissons emblazoned on the panels; the interior was cushioned +with purple velvet embroidered in gold. To this sumptuous vehicle +were harnessed six white horses, whose head-gear of velvet was +adorned with ostrich-plumes so delicate, that, as the air breathed +upon them, they looked like wreaths of snowy vapor. Perched high +above the hammer-cloth, which in color and material corresponded +with the inner decorations of the carriage, sat the chub-faced +coachman, his head buried in the vast expanse of a flowing wig, and +surmounted by a gold-and-purple cocked hat. The handle of his coach- +whip was of steel inlaid with gold, and he flourished it with as +much ostentation as if it had been the baton of a field-marshal. +Behind this princely equipage were two footmen in state livery; on +either side were two outriders. + +The countess emerged from her palace-doors, clad in mantle of sky- +blue velvet bordered with gold. She was followed by the prince, who, +as the equerry advanced to assist his mistress, gently waved him +away, and took his place. Olympia smiled fondly upon her son, and +with graceful negligence sank back among her luxurious cushions. + +The equerry approached for orders. "Let the coachman drive leisurely +through the streets, and still more slowly when we enter the Pre aux +Clercs." + +Eugene mounted his impatient gelding, and his mother, inclining her +head to the equerry, gave the signal for their departure. + +Slowly went the cortege, through the Eue des Deux Ecus and along the +Quartier St. Honore, while from every house, as they passed, the +windows were cautiously opened, and sneering faces looked down upon +the vain pomp with which Olympia de Soissons would have sustained +the falling ruins of her good name. + +But things grew worse, when the outriders would have opened a +passage for the carriage through the crowded streets. As soon as the +people recognized the liveries, all the conventional homage with +which they were accustomed to greet such splendor, was transformed +into scorn. + +"The poisoner! the poisoner!" they cried. "She braves us in the open +streets! Away with her! Away with the accomplice of La Voisin!" + +The object of all this contumely preserved an appearance of +consummate indifference to it all; but her son! her unhappy son +blushed with shame and anger. He turned his sympathizing eyes upon +her, whom he believed to be an impersonation of every feminine +virtue, and she replied to his glance by an unconscious smile. + +At last they reached the Pre aux Clercs, the fashionable promenade +of the day. Here the aristocracy were accustomed to drive, the king +and queen invariably appearing there to receive, sometimes, in the +case of the former, to pay homage. How often had he leaned upon the +carriage of Olympia, while princes and princesses of the blood had +been obliged to wait behind, until the Countess de Soissons was +ready to move on, and allow them to proceed! And how they had +flattered and praised, and curried favor with the divinity of the +hour! + +"It must all be enacted anew," thought the ex-favorite, as she +slightly raised her head to see if the king was in sight. "The +philter will work: from the moment I catch his eye, he is mine! This +was La Voisin's promise." + +Yes--the royal equipages were there, at the other end of the shaded +avenue, and, following in their wake, were those of the court. +Olympia cast aside her nonchalance, and raised her head that she +might be seen. The crisis had come! She was now to quaff the +intoxicating drink of success, or drain the poisoned chalice of +defeat! + +She could see the very smile on his face as he whispered flattering +words in the ear of some beauty who was in advance, and whom Olympia +could not recognize. One moment more, and her equipage would pass! +He would meet her eye, and the passion of his youth would be +rekindled in his heart, never more to die out! + +But what commotion was this among the lords and ladies that +surrounded the king? His majesty spoke with his chief equerry; the +equerry sprang forward, and presently the royal equipages came +rushing by, close, close to the caleche of the countess, who vainly +sought to meet the eye of Louis, for he was conversing with the +queen, and his head was turned away. + +Scarcely had the royal carriages been put in motion, before the +entire cortege followed at the same rapid pace. Princes and +princesses of the blood,--dukes, counts, and marquises,--duchesses +and marchionesses, rushed by so swiftly that not one of her court +friends had time to give so much as a passing nod to her who +nevertheless was allied by marriage to the reigning Duke of Savoy. + +The last equipage had just gone by. "Is it the will of your highness +that we follow?" asked the equerry. + +The countess inclined her head, and the equerry passed the word to +the coachman: "Follow the cortege." But the horses stirred not a +foot. + +Eugene repeated the order, when the coachman slowly shook his head. +"Impossible, gracious prince, impossible!--The countess would never +forgive me, and I should be despised by every coachman of +distinction, were I so far to forget my duty as to suffer that an +equipage bearing the ducal arms of Savoy should follow the carriage +of a nobleman so insignificant as the Vicomte de Charlieu. Why, he +goes back but ten generations!" + +Eugene smiled and delivered the portentous message to his mother. + +"He is right," replied she; "and were he wrong, it would avail me +nothing to contend with him on a point of etiquette. The coachmen of +people of quality are more tenacious of their rights than the noble +families they serve. Not long ago, the Duchesses of Chartres and of +Luynes waited four hours in the rain, because, having met in a very +narrow street, neither one of their coachmen would back out, to give +the other an opportunity of passing. I must imitate their patience, +and wait for the return of the cortege, to take my proper place." + +The decision of the countess being transmitted to the coachman, he +nodded approvingly. "I thought her highness would understand," +replied he. "Our place is after the Duchess de Bourbon, the sixth +carriage from that of his majesty. The coachman of the Duke de +Cheneuse knows it as well as I do, and he will yield us precedence +as soon as he sees me ready to fall in." + +They waited--the countess in perfect composure, her large black eyes +cast upward in complete forgetfulness of the actual state of things +around her; Eugene, with visible annoyance on his face, darting +anxious and uneasy glances down the avenue through which the king +was expected to return. And so passed an hour, at the end of which +the avenue was still and empty as a desert. It now became apparent +that his majesty had selected some other route by which to reach the +Louvre, and Olympia, awaking from her golden day-dreams, began to +realize the exceeding awkwardness of her position. For the first +time her heart faltered, and a cloud passed over her face. + +Eugene rode up to the portiere, and addressing the countess in +Italian: "Mother," said he, "if we remain here any longer, I shall +choke with rage." + +"Home," said Olympia to the equerry. "Home! Quick! Urge your horses +to their fullest speed!" + +On the evening of that eventful day, every reception-room in the +Hotel Soissons was thrown open, and the palace front was one blaze +of light. But the steward had been obliged to close the gates, and +station four armed men within them, to protect the entrance from the +rabble who had again begun to assemble, again begun to threaten. + +The countess was either ignorant of this unpleasant circumstance, or +she considered it beneath her notice. From her carriage she had +passed to her cabinet, whence she had never emerged until compelled +to make her toilet for the evening. Her temporary discouragement +overcome, she entered the throne-room magnificently attired, +sparkling with jewels, and radiant with feverish expectation. She +was still upheld by the confidence she reposed in La Voisin's +predictions, and the firm faith with which she clung to the virtues +of her philter. + +She could not, however, repress the scowl that darkened her brow, +as, glancing around her vast suite of empty rooms, she beheld not +one visitor!--no living being besides her own three daughters, the +young Princesses de Carignan, who came forward to kiss her hand, and +pay her their tribute of affectionate admiration. + +She paid very little attention to their sweet flattery; her restless +eyes wandered from door to door, where not a form was seen but those +of the four lackeys, who were in waiting to announce the +distinguished guests as they arrived. + +The mocking echo of her tread, as she traversed the void which +should have been filled with a courtly throng, sounded ominous in +her ear, and the haughty woman began to quail. She had heard it said +that when a ship was doomed to destruction, no rats were ever known +to leave port in its hold. Was she a sinking ship? Was her doom +sealed? Once more her longing eyes sought the lofty, open doors, +through which so often the court had passed to do her homage on her +throne, and she shivered almost perceptibly. But she forced a smile, +and observed to her eldest daughter: "Our guests are unusually late +to-night. Even the Duchess de Bouillon, generally so punctual, has +not yet made her appearance." + +"Even your adorer, Marshal de Luxemburg, mamma, is not vet here." +returned the princess, with a smile. + +The countess looked sharply at her daughter. Why had she mentioned +the name of De Luxemburg? Why named him in conjunction with the +Duchess de Bouillon? Did Johanna know that these two were her +confidants, and that they were accustomed to visit La Voisin +together? That only five days before, they had met in the den of the +soothsayer, to have their horoscope drawn for the last time? Did +Johanna know that through De Luxemburg's efforts Louis's valet had +been bribed to rob him of a lock of his hair, without which the +precious philter could never have been distilled? Oh, no! She was +silly--nervous--the events of the day had disheartened her, and she +was growing to be a craven. How should Johanna know her secrets? The +allusion to the marshal was accidental. + +The wax-lights were growing fearfully short, and still the invited +guests tarried. Never in her life before had Olympia condescended to +rest her gaze upon the faces of those who served her; to-night she +could not resist an inclination to glance for one moment at their +countenances. As she looked athwart those features, erst so +submissive and so reverent, she saw significant smirks, and an +expression of disdain for which she could have felled them to the +earth. + +Meanwhile the three princesses, their lips distorted with forced +smiles, stood around their mother, sometimes raising their anxious +eyes to her stormy face, sometimes exchanging uneasy glances one +with another; but not one of them daring to break the oppressive +silence by a single word. + +At last the painful lull was broken by a slight rustling. The door +of the anteroom was opened, and a solitary figure was seen +traversing the long suite of apartments. + +"Eugene," exclaimed Johanna. "Our little abbe!" And, delighted to +put an end to their embarrassment, the sisters went forward with +outstretched hands to meet him. + +But Eugene could not respond to their greeting. His eyes were fixed +upon the chandelier, under whose blaze he beheld a pale, sinister +face, and a tall, haughty figure; his mother, attired with regal +splendor, looking every inch a queen; but ah! a dethroned queen, for +her subjects had deserted her and among them "there was none so poor +to do her reverence." + +He approached her, and, as she silently extended her icy hand, he +covered it with loving kisses. "I had hardly expected to find my +dear mother here before me," said he, with a smile. + +"Why so, Eugene?" asked Olympia. + +"Because the hour for your reception was fixed for nine o'clock, and +it has not yet struck nine." + +The countess glanced quickly at the clock on the sculptured mantel- +piece. "It is almost ten," said she. + +"Your clock is nearly an hour too fast," said Eugene, who had +followed the direction of his mother's eyes. And he drew out his own +watch. + +She looked at it a moment. "True--your watch is slow. Eugene. You +knew, then, before you came hither, that no one had yet arrived?" + +"Dear mother," responded Eugene, "you think--" + +"I think that you are a tender, loving son," said she, interrupting +him. "But it is not necessary to deceive me, dear boy. I know that +it is almost an hour past the time I had appointed; but that +signifies nothing. It was not known until late that I would receive +to-night, and this is the reception-day of the Duchess de Luynes. My +guests will naturally have gone thither first, and they will come +later to us." + +"You are quite right," replied Eugene. "But would it not be better +for you to retire to your cabinet and rest until the company arrive? +I will call you as soon as the rooms begin to fill." + +She shook her head slowly. "No--I remain here. It would be cowardly +to retire now. Let us calmly await our distinguished guests. They +will be coming very soon." + +Eugene bowed his head in obedience to her commands, and stationed +himself by the side of his sisters. There was another long silence, +interrupted by the slow, inflexible strokes of the clock, which +announced the hour of "ten." + +Great drops of anguish stood out upon the pale, high forehead of the +prince, and his sisters could no longer restrain their tears. The +countess alone looked resolute: her features betrayed no emotion +whatever; but about her mouth there hovered a vindictive smile, and +in her eyes there was a light like that which glitters in the +serpent's head that looks out from the deadly jungles of India. + +"Would that I could breathe poison into the veins of yonder staring +menials at the door!" said she to herself. "Would that I could blind +their staring eyes with lightning! But for them I might leave this +fiery furnace of shame, and hide my face within the privacy of my +own room!" + +A sound was heard without, and the Princess Joanna unconsciously +clasped her hands with delight, exclaiming, "There comes a +carriage!" + +The countess turned around, and glanced fiercely at her +unsophisticated daughter. "Is there anything remarkable in the sound +of a carriage, that it should occasion so much joy, mademoiselle? +Are carriages so rare within the gates of the Hotel Soissons?" + +The door opened, and the gentleman-usher, with his gilded staff, +appeared on the threshold. + +"Madame la Marquise Dupont de Lanin," cried he, and the lady +followed the announcement at once. + +Often had the poor old marquise attended the levees of the Countess +de Soissons, but never before had she been accorded so distinguished +a reception. She was tolerated in the salons of Paris on account of +her high birth and connections; added to which she had a tongue in +her mouth like a two-edged sword, which flew hither and thither +about the reputations of those who slighted or forgot her claims to +courtesy. + +To-night she was most graciously, most cordially welcomed. Like the +dove which brought the olive-branch to Noah, the marquise was a +messenger from dry land. The waters had subsided--the deluge of +their troubles was over. + +With wreathed smiles and flattering words, Olympia came forward to +greet her first guest. The old marquise received the unprecedented +attention paid her without the least manifestation of surprise. With +her sharp old eyes, she traversed the empty vastness of the gilded +halls that were wont to swarm with the creme de la creme of Paris, +and understood the matter at once. She had scarcely had time to +reciprocate the politeness of her hostess before two other carriages +rolled into the court-yard and two more distinguished names were +announced by the usher. + +This time an old duchess and an equally venerable viscount entered +the room of state. Their social STATUS was similar to that of the +marquise: they belonged to the species whom the world is compelled +to invite, but whom it detests, because they never have been known +to decline an invitation. But they, too, were heartily welcomed, +and, by one not initiated in the mysteries of the hour, they would +have been set down as the countess's dearest friends. + +Eugene took no part in the conversation which ensued. He had again +resumed his taciturn and unsocial demeanor, and now, with folded +arms, he stood in the deep recess of a curtained window, sometimes +looking gloomily out into the night, anon glancing at the little +knot of adventurers, and personages of doubtful reputation, who +occasionally added another to the meagre group that were around his +mother. Olympia strove to converse gayly with her assemblage of +insupportables, but she was chafing like an infuriated lioness. + +"If Marianna and De Luxemburg would but come! I might, at least, +learn how I stand at court, and find out why the king returned to +the Louvre by an unusual route. Heavens! how long will I be able to +smile upon these hateful bores? How long sustain the burden of this +insufferable lie?" + +The evening waned, and neither Marianna, De Luxemburg, nor any other +member of the court circle appeared, to silence the apprehensions or +soothe the wounded pride of the haughty Countess de Soissons. But +late--very late--when she had relinquished all hopes of another +arrival, the doors were flung open, and the usher, in a loud voice, +announced: "His highness the Duke de Bouillon!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +HELP IN TIME OF NEED. + + +Olympia, who, with three or four wrinkled old fops, and as many +withered dames, had just taken her seat at a card-table, kissed her +hand, and received her brother-in-law, with a profusion of smiles +such as never before had greeted his entrance into the salons of the +Hotel Soissons. + +He seemed to be totally unconscious of her blandishments, as, with a +slight inclination to the company, he came very close to the +hostess, and, regardless of etiquette, whispered something in her +ear. + +His communication must have been of a nature to excite mirth, for +she threw back her head, and, laughing rather more boisterously than +was her wont, rose quickly from her seat. + +"Of course, my dear duke," said she, so as to be heard by all who +were around; "of course you shall have the drops for my sister. I +regret to hear that she needs them. Come with me to my cabinet, and +you shall receive them from my hand. I will even taste them in your +presence, that they may not be suspected of containing poison. +Follow me, if my kind friends will excuse us for a few moments." + +With a graceful bend of her head, the countess crossed the room, and +disappeared with her brother-in-law. From the window to which he had +retired, Eugene had seen and heard what was passing, and in the +stern expression of the Duke de Bouillon's face he had read +something of more significance than a whispered request for +headache-drops. No sooner had his mother left the room than he +followed her, and as she was about to enter her cabinet, he laid his +hand upon her shoulder: + +"Pardon, dear mother," said he, in fond and deprecating tones. "I +merely wish to say, that during your interview with my uncle, I will +remain in the little room adjoining. You may want me, perchance, to +execute some commission--it may be to bear an apology to our +guests." + +"It will be better for Prince Eugene to take part in our +conference," said the duke, with his usual moroseness. "He is the +only son you have in Paris, and, as the representative of the +family, it is proper for him to hear what I am about to +communicate." + +"I consent," replied Olympia, calmly. "I have no secrets from my +son, and your highness may speak without reserve what you have come +hither at this unusual hour to say." + +With these words she entered her cabinet, the others following +silently behind. The duke closed the door and looked around, to see +that there were no other occupants of the room. He peered curiously +at the heavy folds of the satin curtains which concealed the +windows, and, having satisfied himself that no listeners lurked +behind, he spoke. + +"You are quite sure that we cannot be overheard?" said he, +addressing the countess. + +"Perfectly sure," replied she. "Of these walls it may be said, that, +unlike walls of ordinary construction, they have no ears. Speak +without apprehension. But above all things let us be seated." + +"No, madame, let us remain as we are, and hearken to my words. You +know that La Voisin was arrested last night." + +"I know it. Monsieur Louvois brought me the news this morning, and +it was corroborated by the rabble that attacked us not long after +his departure from the palace. It is said that La Voisin is a +toxicologist, and that she has been in the habit of selling poison +to her patrons. Was this what you came to say?" + +"With this I intended to open my communication, madame. That La +Voisin has trafficked in poisons is proved, and she will assuredly +mount the scaffold for her crimes. But the next point is to inquire +to whom her poudre de succession has been sold." + +"Has the question been put to La Voisin?" asked the countess, +carelessly. "They have only to inquire of her; doubtless she will +reveal the names of her friends." + +The duke came nearer, and looked sternly in her face. "The question +has been asked, and it has been answered, madame." + +The countess shuddered, but recovered herself instantaneously. +Momentary as it was, however, Eugene had seen the motion, and now +his large dark eyes were fixed upon his uncle with a look of steady +defiance. + +"The confessions of La Voisin can be of no significance to the +Countess de Soissins," said he, haughtily. "She cannot have made any +declaration that would compromise a noble lady!" + +"Nevertheless she has compromised one of the noblest names in +France," returned the duke. "She was forced to reveal the names of +her confederates." + +"Yes! they have been as cruel as they were to poor Brinvilliers; +they have taken her to the chambre ardente." cried the countess, in +a trembling voice. + +"Yes, madame, she was taken to the chambre ardente, stretched upon +the rack, and then she confessed." "Confessed what?" gasped Olympia. + +"She confessed to have sold her poudre de succession; to have +foretold the future, and to have prepared love-philters." + +"I do not know that there is treason in drawing horoscopes and +brewing love-philters," returned the countess, with a forced laugh. + +"It is treason to brew love-philters, when they are designed to take +effect upon the King of France," replied the duke. "It is also +treason to steal a lock of his hair wherewith to prepare the +philter." + +"Did she say this?" screamed the countess, with the ferocity of a +tigress at bay. + +"She did. The lock of hair was obtained by Marshal Luxemburg, who +bribed the valet of his majesty; the philter was prepared for the +Countess de Soissons." + +"Her tortures must then have unsettled her reason," cried Olympia. +"To end her agony, the poor delirious wretch has confessed any thing +that her executioners may have suggested." + +"You are mistaken. When she had fully recovered her senses, she +repeated her declaration word for word. She signalized three persons +as her trustiest confidants. Two of the three were her accomplices; +the third is merely accused of having made use of La Voisin to raise +the devil. The two who are accused of murder are Monsieur de +Luxemburg and Madame de Soissons." + +"The third?" said Olympia, hoarsely. + +"My own wife," returned the duke, mournfully. "Not having been +accused of crime, she has not been sent to the Bastile; his majesty +has graciously permitted her to be imprisoned in her own hotel." + +"Not sent to the Bastile!" echoed the countess, with a shudder. +"Has--any one been--sent there?" + +"Yes. Two hours ago Monsieur de Luxemburg was arrested, and he is +now there in a criminal's cell." + +The countess uttered a cry of anguish, and tottered to a seat, for +her trembling limbs refused to support her. She put her hand to her +head, and looked wildly around. + +"And I?--am I to be arrested?" + +"Yes, madame. The lettre de cachet has been sent by Louvois to the +king, and--" "And the king!" said Olympia, almost inaudibly. + +"His majesty has signed it." + +The countess pressed her hands upon her heart, and then, suddenly +springing to her feet, she burst into a loud, frenzied laugh. "He +has signed! He has signed!--And you--you--" muttered she, with a +scowl at the duke, "did you offer to act as bailiff for the king?" + +As though he would have confronted a world to shield her from harm, +Eugene threw his arm around his mother's waist, and stood between +the two. + +"If such be your errand, Duke de Bouillon, you must first be the +assassin of her son. No blow shall reach her, until it shall have +pierced the heart of her only protector!" + +"Not so grandiloquent, my little abbe," replied De Bouillon, +superciliously. "Methinks, were I so disposed, I might snap the +feeble thread of your existence, without any extraordinary display +of valor, but I have no desire to deprive the countess of so valiant +a knight. I come, not to arrest, hut to deliver her. I come to save +herself from the headsman, her family from the foul blot of her +public execution." + +"Avenging God!" murmured the miserable woman. + +"You must fly, Olympia," continued the duke, compassionating her +fearful condition, "you must fly, and without delay." + +"Fly!" exclaimed Eugene, furiously. "Because a degraded wretch like +that La Voisin, in her delirium of agony, has spoken the name of the +Countess de Soissons, she shall become a fugitive from justice? No, +mother, no! Remain to confound your calumniators, and, with the good +sword of Right, and Truth, pierce the vile falsehood to its heart's +core!" + +The duke shook his head. "Let not ill-advised heroism tempt you to +defy your legions of accusers. Be you innocent or guilty, you are +prejudged, and will be condemned. Believe me, the danger is urgent, +and it were sheer imbecility to confront it." + +"You say the king has signed?" replied she, with a vacant stare. +Then clasping her hands, she burst into a flood of tears, repeating +o'er and o'er the piteous words, "Oh no! No! No! It cannot be! It +cannot be!" + +"Nevertheless, he has done it; done it at the instigation of Louvois +and De Montespan. But mark me well, and you too, abbe--listen to +what I am about to say. The king himself it was who sent me hither +to warn you; it is he who urges you to flight. That you may have +time to escape, the lettre de cachet is not to go into effect until +to-morrow morning. But the morrow is close at hand: hark!--the clock +strikes eleven, and you have but one hour. If after midnight you are +found within the gates of Paris, your doom is certain. The spies of +Louvois are close at hand; they watch before your palace-gates, and +await the twelfth stroke of the iron tongue that speaks from the +towers of Notre Dame, to force their way into the very room wherein +we stand. If they pass the threshold of the palace you are +irretrievably lost!" + +The countess spoke not a word in reply. They scarcely knew whether +she had understood the terrible import of the duke's appeal. She had +remained motionless, almost breathless; her face white as death, her +large orbs distended to their utmost, gazing, not upon the tangible +objects that were before them, but upon some fearful pageant that +was passing within the shadowy precincts of her soul. + +Her lips began to move, and she muttered incoherent words. "Ah! is +it so?" said she, almost inaudibly. "The end of that bright dream! +The philter! What!" cried she with sudden energy, "he warns me? He +grants me--one--one hour!" And then, overpowered by the reality of +her supreme desolation, she opened her arms, and looked defiantly +above, as if invoking the wrath of that Heaven which had forsaken +her. + +"Olympia," said the duke, touching her arm, "you have but three- +quarters of an hour to quit Paris." + +"Dear mother," implored Eugene, "decide quickly whether you go or +remain." + +She shuddered, and, with a deep sigh, suffered her arms to fall +listlessly at her side. + +"I must drink of this chalice of humiliation," said she, mournfully. +"I must fly." + +A groan of anguish broke from the depths of Eugene's suffering +heart, while a strange look shot athwart the countenance of the +duke. The groan was that of faith that faltered; the glance was that +of doubt made certainty. + +"I must make my escape," iterated Olympia in a tone more resolute. +"If Louvois has effected the arrest of a woman allied to the royal +family, it is because he is secure of her conviction. Rather than +become his victim, I will endure the shame of flight. Time enough +remains to me for justification." [Footnote: The countess's own +words.--See Amadee Renee, "The Nieces of Mazarin," p. 207.] + +"Justification shall come through me!" cried Eugene, raising his +right hand as though taking an oath. + +"Countess, countess," urged De Bouillon, "you have but half an +hour." + +"You are right," returned Olympia, summoning all her resolution to +her aid. "Time is flying, and I must be diligent." + +"I promised his majesty not to leave you until you were on your way, +Olympia," was the duke's reply, "and I shall remain to fulfil my +promise." + +"And I, mother," added Eugene, "will never leave you until you are +in perfect safety." + +"Then let us prepare," was Olympia's rejoinder. "You, duke, be so +kind as to collect my papers and money. They are in that ebony +secretary at your elbow. Here are the keys. You will find a casket +therein, where all that you find may be deposited for the present. I +myself will gather up my jewels and such clothing as cannot be +dispensed with. Eugene, my son, go at once to the stables: order my +travelling-chariot, and see that eight of my swiftest horses are +attached to it. In Brussels I shall find a friend in the Spanish +viceroy. Send forward relays to Rheims and Namur; and let the men be +clad in liveries of dark gray. Hasten, my son; before half an hour, +I must be hence!" + +When Eugene returned, he found his mother waiting. The duke hastily +threw over her shoulders a travelling-cloak bordered with fur, and +Olympia, drawing the hood closely around her face, prepared to quit +the room. + +"Shall I not call my sisters to bid you adieu?" asked her son. + +"No," said she, calmly. "Their absence would be remarked, and +nothing must arouse the suspicion of my guests. I leave to you, +Monsieur de Bouillon, the task of communicating my flight to my +daughters. May I request you to bear a message to the king also? +Tell him that whenever he will pass his royal word that I may return +without danger of incarceration, I shall be ready to appear before +my accusers, and defend my calumniated reputation. [Footnote: Her +own words.--See the "Letters of Madame de Sevigne," vol. iii.] Give +me your arm,--and yours, Eugene: we are late." + +Silently, and without a single expression of regret, she went +through the lofty corridors of the hotel, until she reached the +private staircase by which Eugene had passed to the street that +morning. The servants had assembled to bid her adieu, and, as they +tendered their good wishes, she bent her lofty head with the +condescension of a queen. Before descending, she addressed a few +words to the steward: + +"I am forced to leave Paris for a time, Latour. My enemies refuse me +the poor privilege of remaining here to refute the absurd charges +preferred against me by the senseless rabble that are in their pay. +During my absence, I leave you in full command of my household. You +shall receive your wages until you decide to seek employment +elsewhere. Farewell all!" + +The chariot with eight superb horses was at the postern, and around +it stood the lackeys in their liveries of sombre gray. The countess +took her seat in the carriage, and, bending forward to kiss her son, +said, "Bear my greetings to your sisters, Eugene." + +"Will my gracious uncle accept this commission?" asked he, turning +to the duke. + +"Why not you?" asked Olympia. + +"Because my place is with you, dearest mother," was the simple reply +of her devoted child, while he took his seat at her side. + +"It is right," remarked the duke, "and I begin to feel considerable +respect for our little abbe!" + +"I shall compel respect from more than the Duke de Bouillon," +thought his nephew. + +"Farewell!" said Olympia, with as much self possession as if she had +been starting for a tour of pleasure. "Tell the king that I forget +to pity my own impotence in compassionating his." + +The carriage rolled away, first under the illuminated windows of the +rooms of state, where the unconscious Princesses de Carignan were +doing their best to entertain the motley assemblage, that had been +so suddenly deserted by their mother; then along the dimly-lighted +streets where Eugene's heart beat with painful apprehension lest the +crowd should recognize the fugitive; then they entered the avenue +where the court had turned its back upon Olympia and her extravagant +hopes, and at last--they reached the gates. + +Meanwhile the Duke de Bouillon had returned to the salons, where he +announced the departure of the countess to her guests; the servants +had dispersed, and returned to their usual employments, all except +one, who crept stealthily out, and, turning the corner, advanced a +few paces into a dark and narrow alley. Two horsemen were waiting +his appearance there. + +"Has she gone?" asked one. + +"Yes," replied the man; "and relays have been ordered to hasten her +escape." + +"What route did she take?" + +"She goes to Brussels, by the way of Rheims, Rocroy, and Namur." + +"Here are your four louis d'ors." + +With these words, the two horsemen galloped away, turning their +horses' heads toward the palace of the minister of war. In the +porte-cochere stood Louvois himself, who, motioning them not to +dismount, spoke a few low words, and then handed to each one a +package of letters and a purse of gold. + +"Fly with all speed," said he, in his parting injunctions. "Kill as +many horses as you list--I pay for their carcasses; but see that at +every station you arrive a full hour before the countess." + +He then entered his carriage, and drove to the Louvre to inform the +king that his royal commands had been obeyed, and that the Countess +de Soissons had been suffered to escape. + +As the chariot that was bearing away the disgraced Olympia drove +through the barrier and entered upon the high-road, the two horsemen +galloped past, and so completely did they distance the unhappy +travellers, that in a few moments the echo of their horses' feet had +died away into silence. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE FLIGHT. + + +It was a glorious night--a night of sapphire skies, radiant with +stellar diamonds--one of those nights whose beauty intensifies +pleasure, and whose gentle influence soothes pain; which, to the +joyous heart seem to prefigure heaven; to the sorrowing are like the +healing touch of the Almighty hand, which, in exceeding love, has +stricken it with a passing pain. + +But not a ray of hope or consolation refreshed the dreary wastes of +the heart of Olympia de Soissons. She had withdrawn herself from the +embrace of her son, and leaned far back into the corner of the +carriage. But for the glare of her large, black eyes, as they +reflected the light of the lamps on either side, she might have been +asleep, so motionless she lay; but, whenever Eugene turned a timid +glance upon her rigid features, he saw that she seemed ever and ever +to be looking away from him, and far out upon the black and +shapeless masses of the woods through which they journeyed all that +night. + +He had tried to divert her by conversation; but to his remarks she +had made such curt and random replies, that he desisted, and left +her to the bleak solitude of her own reveries. + +And thus they passed the night. With fresh relays of eight spirited +horses, they travelled so swiftly, that when morning dawned, the +lofty towers of the Cathedral of Rheims were seen looming through +the mist, and the coachman drew up before the gates. + +But, although a courier had been sent in advance to order it, no +relay was there. The coachman turned to Eugene for instructions. + +"This is most unfortunate," replied he, "for it compels us to enter +the city and change horses at the royal post-house. While +arrangements are being made there, will it please my dear mother to +leave her carriage and partake of some refreshment?" + +The countess replied with a silent bend of the head, and Eugene sent +forward a courier, with orders to have breakfast prepared. The +carriage passed the old Roman gate, and entered the city, made +famous by the coronation of so many kings of France. The rattle of +the wheels over the rough stone pavement made the countess start +with apprehension of she knew not what, and she withdrew cautiously +from sight. + +"It is well that the roll of this clamorous carriage cannot awaken +our foes," said she, as they stopped before the post-house. + +Her rejoicings were premature; for the master of the post-horses +came leisurely forward, his face expressing a mixture of rude +curiosity with careless contempt. + +"You want post-horses?" asked he, with a familiar nod. + +Eugene's large eyes flashed fire. "It would appear," said he, "that +you do not know to whom you have the honor of speaking, or else you +would remove your hat." + +"Oh, yes, I know who you are," answered he, insolently. "That is the +Countess de Soissons, and you are the little abbe, her son. But I +keep on my hat, for it is cool this morning, and it suits me NOT to +remove it." + +"It suits you, then, to be a boor, a barefaced--" + +"Peace, Eugene!" interrupted Olympia, in Italian; "peace, or you +will cause me some detention that may imperil my life. See; in spite +of the undue hour, how many men are around our carriage. They are +not here by accident. Their presence only proves that Louvois' +couriers have anticipated us; and if ever we hope to pass the +frontiers of France, we must be discreet." + +"And I may not, therefore, chastise this varlet! I must sit tamely +by while he insults my mother!" + +"He is but a tool, Eugene. Spare the instrument, and strike the hand +that directs it against me." + +"By the Eternal God, I will smite that hand!" said Eugene, while the +master of the post-horses stood staring at Olympia with an +expression of familiarity that would have cost him his life, had she +been free to take it. But sweet as the honey of Hybla were the words +she spoke. + +"Good sir, would you be so obliging as to furnish us with eight +horses?" said she, almost imploringly. + +"Eight horses! for that light vehicle? It looks much as if you were +trying to make your escape, and were sore pressed to move on." + +"I am, indeed, sorely pressed," said she, in tones of distress; +"hasten, I implore of you, hasten!" + +"You cannot have them before half an hour," said he, turning on his +heel, and re-entering the house. + +The countess now called to one of her footmen: "Go, see if we can +have a room and some breakfast." + +The man obeyed, but returned almost immediately, with a most +embarrassed expression. + +"They have no vacant room, and say that your highness need not +trouble yourself to leave the carriage, in search of lodgings, were +it even for five minutes." + +"Then go and bring us each a cup of chocolate," replied the +countess, with a sigh. + +The footman renewed his petition, and this time returned, +accompanied by a woman, who, in angry haste, approached the unhappy +fugitives: + +"You are the Countess de Soissons?" asked she, with a bold stare. + +"Yes, madame, I am; and I hope you will do me the favor to serve us +a cup of chocolate." + +"You do--do you? Well, I have come out here to tell you that I shall +do no such thing. How do I know that your breath may not poison my +cup and--" + +"Woman!" cried Eugene, springing up from his seat. + +His mother put him firmly back. "I command you to keep silence," +said she, imperiously. Then, resuming her colloquy with the woman +who stood by, with arms akimbo: "I will tell you how you can oblige +me without any risk to yourself." + +"How, pray?" + +"Sell me, not only the chocolate, but the cups that contain it. I +will give you a louis d'or for each one." + +The woman's eyes glistened with greed of gold. "Two louis d'ors for +two cups of chocolate!" said she to herself, "that is a brave trade +for me. You shall have them," added she aloud. "I will fetch them in +a moment." + +And off she pattered with her slipshod shoes into the house. The +countess then addressed her son, who, leaning back in a corner of +the carriage, sat with his head buried in his hands. + +"Eugene," said she, emphatically, "if you are to accompany me any +farther, it must be as a peace-loving abbe not as an irascible +soldier. If you incense these people against us, your indiscreet +zeal will cause me to be captured. I have no longing for death; I +desire to live until my son, the mighty cardinal, has trampled under +foot the least as well as the greatest of my enemies." + +"Oh, mother, I have not only YOUR injuries to avenge, but mine! I +have the burning shame of yesterday to wipe out, although the wound +of my humiliation can never be healed." + +"Time--Nature's sweet balm--heals every wound, and in our days of +adversity let this be our consolation. To the sharp lash of Destiny +the wise man will bow in silence; but if the blow be from the hand +of man, it is from the crucible of the suffering it imposes that +must come the strength wherewith we retaliate; from the depths of +our wounded hearts that must spring the geysers of our seething +revenge. It would gratify me to have you the companion of my flight, +but, if in the impotence of your wrath you seek to defend me, it +will be better for us to part.--Ah, here comes the chocolate! I +confess that I rejoice to scent its fragrant aroma. Let us drink, +and afterward you will decide whether you subscribe to my exactions, +or return to Paris." + +The cups were cracked, without handles, and of coarse pottery--the +thrifty housewife having taken care to select the worst of her wares +to barter away. The countess smilingly accepted hers, and, as Eugene +was putting his impatiently away, she took it herself from the +servant's hands. + +"Drink," said she, "and hearken to a saying of our uncle, Cardinal +Mazarin: 'When a man is troubled in spirit, he must strengthen +himself in body. The world is a great campaign against contrarieties +with which we must daily anticipate a skirmish. And above all, on +the eve of a great battle, the soul, which is the chief, must see to +it that his soldier, which is the body, is in a condition to do him +service.' These were the words of a wise man, and they are worthy of +being remembered. Drink your chocolate, my son, for you well know +that we are about to go into action." + +He took the cup from his mother's hand, and, without another word, +emptied it of its contents. The woman, meanwhile, had been watching +her cups, lamenting their approaching destruction, which, spite of +the tremendous price at which they had been purchased, she looked +upon as a sacrifice greatly to be deplored. Seeing that the +catastrophe was approaching, she stepped forward to receive her pay. +In her hand she held a large pan of water, which she raised to a +level with the portiere of the carriage. + +"Now, madame," said she, "you have had your chocolate, give me my +louis d'ors." + +From her jewelled purse Olympia drew out two gold-pieces, which she +offered to the woman. But, instead of receiving them, she cried out +in a shrill voice: + +"Drop them in the water. After a few hours I may venture to touch +the gold that has passed through your hands!" + +The crowd, whom curiosity had drawn around the carriage, now burst +out into a shout of applause. + +"Right, right, Dame Margot! You are a prudent woman! Nobody knows +what might come of handling her louis d'ors." + +Olympia smiled. "Yes." said she, "you are a wise woman, and, as a +token of my admiration for your prudence, here are three louis d'ors +instead of the two I had promised." + +So saying, she dropped three gold-pieces in the basin. The woman +blushed, and looked ashamed. The crowd were astonished, and here and +there were heard a few murmured words of sympathy. "That was very +kind, was it not? After all, she may not be as bad as they say. It +may all be a lie about her poisoning her children!" + +Olympia heard it, and a proud smile flitted over her beautiful face. +The woman still lingered at the carriage-door. "And the cups?" asked +she, wistfully. "I suppose you will break them, will you not?" + +"No," replied the countess, speaking so that she might be heard by +the people. "No, my good woman, I will not break them: they shall +lie in the basin, so that, like the gold, they may be purified until +you find them worthy of being used again!" + +And again her jewelled hand was extended, and from her slender +fingers the cups were carefully dropped into the basin. + +"Your highness," exclaimed the woman, abashed, "I thank you a +thousand times for your generosity, and I hope you will forgive my +rudeness. I would not have been so forgetful of the respect I owe to +a lady of your rank, if I had not been put up to it by other people. +From my heart I beg your pardon, madame." + +"You are sincerely forgiven," replied Olympia, gently. "I am +accustomed to contumely, and when unjustly persecuted I follow the +example of my Saviour--I forgive those that hate and revile me." + +"Did you hear that?" whispered the multitude one to another. "And do +you mark what a beautiful countenance she has? Instead of being a +murderess, she may be a pious saint. Who knows?" + +"No," cried the vender of chocolate, bravely diving her hand into +the basin and withdrawing her louis d'ors, "no, she is no murderess, +she is a benevolent, Christian lady." + +"She is a benevolent Christian lady," shouted the people, and in +less than five minutes the countess was as popular as a prince who +has just ascended the throne. + +A third time the magic purse was drawn forth, and two more louis +d'ors glittered in the hand of Dame Margot! + +"May I ask of you the favor to give this to those good people, that +they may drink my health?" said Olympia. + +"You are an angel," cried Margot, while her eyes grew moist with +sympathizing tears. + +"Yes, an angel!" echoed the crowd. "So beautiful! So good! So +bountiful!" + +They were still in the height of their enthusiasm when the half hour +had expired, and the post-horses were brought out and harnessed. The +postilion sounded his horn, and the coachman cracked his whip. + +"Long live the noble Countess de Soissons!" cried Dame Margot, and +"Long live her highness!" echoed the converts, while the carriage +thundered through the streets, and the countess threw herself back +and laughed. + +"Miserable rabble!" said she, "whose love and hate are bought with +gold, and whom philanthropists regard as the exponents of the Divine +will! 'Vox populi vox Dei,' forsooth!"--Then, turning to Eugene, +who, during the whole performance, had remained sullenly silent, she +continued: "Have you decided whether to leave or accompany me? If +the latter, it must be in the character of a diplomatist, whose +weapons are sweet words and shining gold." + +"I go on with you, mother, as your loving and obedient son," said +Eugene, kissing her hand--even the one which still clasped the +wonder-working purse. "I have no right to despise this tiny +necromancer, for, by its beneficent power, you have been rescued +from dangers which I, a man, and not a coward, was impotent to +avert. I submit, dear mother, to your dictates--no longer your +champion, look upon me henceforth as your subject." + +The voice was very mournful in which Eugene made this profession of +vassalage, and at its conclusion his eyes were veiled by tears of +burning humiliation. His mother affected not to perceive his +emotion, as she replied in her blandest tones: + +"I thank you, my son. Your decision is a most filial and meritorious +one. The two days that have just passed over your head have proved +to me that, whatever may be your career, you are destined to render +it illustrious: either by statesmanship or prowess. Whether as an +ecclesiastic, a politician, or a soldier, you will certainly attain +distinction." + +"Mother, as a soldier, I MAY attain distinction; as a churchman, +never. For the present I accept my fate; but blessed will be the day +on which I go into the world free to feel the power of my manhood, +and to shape my fortunes with my own hand. Let women rise to dignity +through royal favor and family influence; man's only ally should be +his own strong arm. Far nobler to me is the lieutenant who wins his +epaulets upon the battle-field, than the prince who is born to the +command of an army." + +"Have a care how you speak such high-treason at the court of Louis +XIV.," replied his mother. "It would be repeated to his majesty, and +never would be forgiven." + +"I hope to do many things in my life that will be repeated to his +majesty of France--perchance some of which may never obtain his +forgiveness," replied Eugene, quietly. "But let us speak of the +present, and of you, beloved mother." + +Olympia threw herself back against the soft upholstery that lined +the back of the carriage. "Rather let us speak of nothing, my child. +Neither of us had any rest last night: I would gladly sleep awhile." + +She closed her eyes, and finally Nature asserted her long-frustrated +claims. In a few moments, the humiliations, the fears, and the +sufferings of the unhappy Olympia, were drowned in the drowsy waters +of profound sleep. + +She was not long permitted to remain in oblivion of her woes. Her +repose was broken by the hoots and hisses of another vulgar crowd, +that swarmed like hornets about the carriage-windows. They had +arrived at another station, where, in place of finding post-horses, +they were met by another mob as vituperative as the one they had +encountered before. + +Eugene thrust open the portiere, and, leaping into the very midst of +the rioters, he drew out his pistols. "The first one of you," cried +he, "that proffers another injurious word, I will shoot as I would a +vicious dog!" + +"Hear that sickly manikin! He is trying to browbeat us!" cried some +one in the crowd. + +"Yes, yes, trying to browbeat us!" echoed the chorus. + +"Yes--by the eternal heavens above us!" exclaimed the prince. "The +first that moves a foot toward us, dies!" + +His eyes flashed so boldly, and his attitude was so commanding, that +the people, ever cowed by true courage, faltered and fell back. + +Just then Olympia opened the door on her own side of the chariot, +and, without the slightest manifestation of fear or anger, stepped +to the ground, and, with one of her bewitching smiles, made her way +to the very center of her foes. Her voice was soft and low, but, to +a, practised ear, it would have seemed like that of a lioness, who, +forced to temporize, was longing to devour. + +"Good people," said the leonine siren, "pardon the irascibility of +this young man. He is my son, and, when he heard his mother's name +aspersed, his anger got the better of his discretion. Is it not +true," continued she, turning to a woman who had been most +vociferous in her maledictions, "is it not true, dear friend, that a +son is excusable who grows indignant when he hears his mother +accused of deeds the very thought of which would fill her with +horror? Perhaps you, too, have a son that loves you, and who, +knowing you to be a good and pious woman, would never suffer any man +to attack your good name." + +"Yes," replied the woman, entirely propitiated, "yes, madame, I have +a son who certainly would defend my good name against any man that +attacked it." + +"Then you will make allowances for mine, and speak a kind word for +him to your friends here, for we mothers understand one another, do +we not? And any one of us is ready to shelter the good son of some +other woman? Are we not?" + +"That we are," returned the woman, enthusiastically. "I will protect +your son, never fear." And, with her arms upraised, she dashed +through the crowd, and addressed those who were nearest to Eugene, +and who, partially over their panic, were just about to remember +that they were many against their one opponent. + +"Let him alone!" cried she. "He is her son! You see that we have +been deceived by those who told us that she had poisoned her +children. How should this one love her, if she were so wicked?" + +"Dear friends," cried Olympia, so as to be heard by ail around, "you +have been shamefully imposed upon, if you were told that I poisoned +my dear children. I have given birth to seven, who are all alive to +testify that their poor mother is innocent." + +"All seven alive! Seven children, and not one dead!" exclaimed the +"dear friend" whom Olympia had specially addressed. "Just think of +that! Why, of course she is innocent." + +And here and there the shrill voices of the women were heard +repeating the words, "She is innocent, of course she is innocent!" + +"You perceive, then," continued the countess, pursuing her +advantage, "that I have powerful enemies, since they precede me on +my journey with slanderous falsehoods, and try to turn the honest +hearts of the villagers of France against me and my son. I see that +they have been here, and have bribed you to insult me." + +"That is true," cried a chorus of rough voices. "We were paid to +insult you and to refuse you post-horses." + +"Well, then," returned Olympia, with one of her most enchanting +smiles, "I, too, will give you money, but it shall not be to bribe +you to resent my injuries. It will be to dispose of as your kind +hearts deem best." + +She threw out a handful of silver, for which some began to stoop and +scramble, while others, emboldened by the sight of such a largesse, +crowded around, stretching out their hands for a "souvenir." + +"Whoever, at the expiration of fifteen minutes, furnishes me eight +fresh horses, shall receive eight louis d'ors as a token of my +gratitude," said the sagacious Olympia. + +No sooner were the words spoken, than every man there flew to earn +the token. In less than a minute the ground was cleared, and naught +was to be seen but a few women and children, still bent upon +searching for the silver. + +The countess returned to her carriage, where she found Eugene, +looking embarrassed and ashamed. He immediately apologized for his +involuntary disregard of her injunctions. + +"Dear mother, forgive me; in this last dilemma I have conducted +myself like a madman, while you have shown that you possess true +heroism. I see how very much wiser you are than I; and I solemnly +promise to attempt no more violence, where personal violence is not +offered to us. But to say that I could exchange my weapons for +yours, I cannot. I never shall learn to dissimulate and flatter." + +His mother slightly raised her shoulders. "You will learn it in +time, when you will have learned to despise your fellows as I do.-- +But see! Heaven be praised, here come the horses." + +In a few moments, eight brown hands were outstretched to receive the +gold, and, amid the huzzas of the multitude, the Countess de +Soissons pursued her journey. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE PARTING. + + +Eugene looked gloomily out of the carriage-window, and heard a +succession of deep sighs. + +"Shall I tell you why you are so sad?" said Olympia to her son. + +"I am sad because I feel my miserable impotence," replied he, +moodily. "I am sad because I must at last acknowledge that Mazarin +was right when he said that gold was the only divinity devoutly +worshipped on earth." + +"Speak not slightingly of gold," cried Olympia, laughing; "it has +probably saved my life to-day. Unluckily we are far from the end of +our journey, and I may not have enough of this precious gold +wherewith to purchase forbearance as we go." + +"We are not far from the frontier, and once in Flanders, you are +safe." + +"Not so. There are no bounds to the realms of this yellow divinity. +Its worshippers are everywhere, and Louvois will seek them in France +and out of it. But I think I have a device whereby we may outwit our +mighty oppressor, and avoid further contumely." + +"What is it, mother?" + +"I will take another and a less public road. You shall go with me as +far as the boundaries. We can pass the night at Rocroy, and part on +the morrow: you to retrace your steps. I to continue my flight in a +plain carriage, with two horses and no attendants." + +"I have promised to submit, and will obey you implicitly," returned +Eugene, respectfully. "Since you command me to go, we will part at +Rocroy." + +"Ah!" sighed the countess, "I would we were there, for indeed I am +exhausted, and yearn for rest." + +Many hours, however, went by, before they reached Rocroy, and, +wherever their need compelled them to stop, they met with the same +insults; the same efforts were to be gone through, to propitiate the +rabble; and Eugene was forced to endure it all, while his martyred +heart was wrung with anguish that no words are adequate to picture. + +At last, to the relief of the prince, and the great joy of his +mother, who was almost fainting with fatigue, the fortress was +reached, the foaming horses were drawn up, and the officer in +command was seen coming through a postern, followed by six of his +men. + +It was the custom in France to search every vehicle that left the +frontier; and, in compliance with this custom, the officer advanced +promptly to meet the travellers. The countess had so often submitted +to this formality, that when her name and destination were asked, +she avowed them both without the least hesitation. + +"I hope," added she, "that the declaration of my name and rank will +exempt me from the detention usual in these cases, for I am in great +haste, and you will oblige me by ordering the gates to be opened at +once." + +"I am sorry to disoblige your highness," replied the officer, with a +supercilious smile, "but that very declaration compels me to refuse +you egress through the gates of Rocroy." + +"What in Heaven's name do you mean, sir?" exclaimed Olympia, +alarmed. + +"I mean that Monsieur Louvois's orders are express that the Countess +de Soissons shall not be suffered, to pass the fortress, and his +orders here are paramount." + +With these words the officer turned his back, made a sign to his +men, and in less than a minute the party had disappeared, and the +inexorable gates had closed. + +The countess sighed wearily. "Let us go farther," said she "In the +next village we will at least find lodgings, and rest for the +night." + +The horses' heads were turned, and the tired animals urged on, until +a neighboring town had been reached, whose stately inn, with its +brightly-illuminated entrance, gave promise of comfortable +entertainment for man and beast. + +Three well-dressed individuals stood in the lofty door-way, and as +the carriage drove up they came forward to meet it. Eugene, +shielding his mother from sight, asked if they could alight to sup +and lodge there for the night. + +"That depends upon circumstances," replied one of them. "You must +first have the goodness to give us your name." + +"My name is nothing to the purpose," cried Eugene, impatiently. "I +ask merely whether strangers can be accommodated with supper and +beds in this house." + +"The name is every thing, sir, and, before I answer your inquiry, I +must know it--unless, indeed, you are anxious to conceal it." + +"A Prince de Carignan has never yet had reason to conceal his name," +said Eugene, haughtily. + +"Ah! your highness, then, is the Prince de Carignan! And may this +lady in the corner there be your mother, the Countess de Soissons?" + +"Yes--the Countess de Soissons; and now that you are made acquainted +with our names--" + +"I regret that I cannot receive you," interrupted the host. "Were +you alone, my house and every thing within my doors would be at the +service of the Prince de Carignan, but for his mother we have no +accommodation. We are afraid of noble ladies that use poison." + +The words were scarcely out of his mouth, before he sprang up the +steps, and closed the doors of the inn in their faces. + +"Ah!" muttered Olympia between her teeth, "such cruelty as this is +enough to drive any one to the use of poison! And if I live I will +be revenged on yonder churl that has sent me out into the darkness, +denying me food and rest!" + +"Whither will your highness go now?" asked the footman; and, by the +tone of the inquiry, Olympia felt that her menials were rapidly +losing all respect for a "highness" that could no longer command +entrance into a public inn. + +"Take a by-way to the next village, and stop at the first peasant's +hut on the road." + +The coachman was growing surly, and the poor, worn-out horses were +so stiff that they could barely travel any longer. The village, +however, was only a few miles off, so that they were not more than +an hour in reaching a miserable hovel, at the door of which was a +man in the superlative degree of astonishment. He, at least, had +never heard of Louvois and Louvois's orders, so that, for the +promise of a gold-piece, he was easily induced to receive the +desponding party. But his only bed was of straw, and he feared their +excellencies would not be satisfied with his fare. + +"My friend," said Olympia, "to an exhausted traveller a litter of +straw is as welcome as a bed of down;" and, with a sigh of relief, +she took the arm of her son, and entered the hut. + +"Are you married?" asked she, taking her seat on a wooden stool, +near the chimney. + +"Yes; and here is my wife," said he, as a young woman, blushing and +courtesying, came forward to welcome her distinguished visitors. + +"Have you a wagon and horses?" continued the countess. + +"A wagon, your excellency, but no horses: we have two sturdy oxen, +instead." + +"Would you like to earn enough money to-night to buy yourself a +handsome team?" + +"Yes, indeed, we would," cried husband and wife simultaneously. + +"Then," said Olympia to the latter, "sell me your Sunday-gown, let +me have something to eat, and throw down some clean straw in the +corner, where I may sleep for a few hours. When I awake," added she +to the man, "harness your oxen, and take me in your wagon beyond the +frontier, to Flanders. If you will do this, you shall have fifty +louis d'ors for your trouble." + +The peasant grinned responsive. "That will I," cried he, slapping +his thigh; "and, if you say so, I'll take you as far as Chimay, +which is a good way beyond the frontier." + +"Right," said the countess, joyfully. "To Chimay we go. Now, my good +girl, bring me your best holiday-suit." + +The young woman ran, breathless with joy, to fetch her attire, while +the man went out to feed his oxen. Olympia then addressed herself to +Eugene: + +"Now, my son, we are alone, and I claim the fulfilment of your +promise. You have seen me to a place of safety, and you must return +to Paris. Listen now to my commands, perhaps the last I may ever +give you." + +"Command, dear mother, and I will obey. But do not ask me to abandon +you to the danger which still threatens you." + +"You exaggerate my danger, Eugene; and, by remaining with me, you +increase it. You are too impulsive to be a discreet companion, and I +exact of you to leave me. Disguised as a peasant-woman, and +travelling in an ox-cart, my foes will never discover me, and I have +every hope of reaching my destination in safety." + +"It is impossible," persisted Eugene, his eyes filling with tears. + +"My child, must I then force you to do my bidding?" + +"No force can compel me to do what I know to be craven and +dishonorable," cried the prince. "Mother, I must not--cannot obey." + +"For one short moment, the eyes of the countess flashed fire, but as +suddenly they softened, and she smilingly extended her hand:" + +"Well--let us contend no longer, dear boy; I see that, for once, I +must succumb to your strong will. Here comes the woman with my +disguise. Go out a while, and let me change my dress. Send the +footman with a little casket you will find in the carriage-box. Here +is the key. And, Eugene, do beg the man to send in our supper, that +it may be ready for us when I shall have metamorphosed myself into a +peasant-woman." + +About fifteen minutes later, the countess called her son. "How do +you like me?" she said. "Am I sufficiently disguised to pass for +that fellow's wife? What a strange picture we will make--you and I, +seated on a sack of wool, and drawn by a pair of creeping oxen! 'Tis +well for you that you are an abbe; were you any thing else, you +could not venture to travel by the side of a woman of low degree. +But--come, let us enjoy our supper; I, for one, am both hungry and +sleepy." + +She drew a stool up to the table, which was spread with a clean +cloth, and covered with platters of bread, butter, and cheese. +Between two wooden bowls stood a large pitcher of milk. These bowls +the countess filled to the brim, and handed one to her son. + +"Pledge me a bumper, and wish me a prosperous journey," said she, +playfully, while she put the cup to her lips, all the while narrowly +watching Eugene. + +He followed her example, and drained his bowl to its last drop. +Then, striving to fall in with her mood, he said: + +"You see how obedient I am, and yet you know that I am not one of +those that would be content to live in a land flowing with milk and +honey." + +"Thank you," replied his mother, "for this one act of obedience. I +could wish you were as submissive in other things. But--what is the +matter, boy? You are pale." + +"I do not know," stammered Eugene, his tongue seeming paralyzed. "I +am sick--I want-fresh air! Some air, mother!" + +He attempted to rise, but fell back into his seat. + +"Mother," murmured he, while his features were becoming distorted by +pain, "have you drugged--" + +He could articulate no longer, but gazed upon his mother with fast- +glazing eyes, until slowly his dull orbs closed, and his head +dropped heavily upon the table. + +"Three minutes," said the countess, quietly. "Only three minutes, +and he sleeps soundly. La Voisin was a wonderful creature! What a +high privilege it is to reign over the will of another human being +with a might as mysterious as it is irresistible? And greater yet +the privilege of dispensing life or death! Why did I not exercise +that power over the proud man that follows me with such unrelenting +hate? Ah, Louvois, had I been braver, I had not endured your +contumely! Poor, weak fool that I was, not to wrestle with fate and +master it! But--it is useless to repine. Let me see. Eugene will +sleep four hours, and, ere he wakes, I must be beyond the frontiers +of hostile France." + +She left the little room and joined the peasant's wife. + +"I have prevailed upon my son to return to Paris," said she, in that +caressing tone which she had practised so successfully through the +day. "His health is delicate, and the hardships of our hurried +journey have so exhausted him that he has fallen into a profound +sleep. Do not disturb him, I entreat of you, dear friend, and, when +he awakes, give him this note." + +She drew from her pocket-book a paper, and, giving it to the woman, +repeated her request that her dear boy should not be disturbed. + +"I will take my seat at the door, madame, and await the wakening of +Monsieur l'Abbe, to deliver your highness's note. But will you too +not rest awhile, before you go on? I think you look as if you needed +sleep quite as much as your son." + +"No, no, thank you, I must reach Flanders before sunrise," replied +Olympia, "and do beg your husband to use dispatch, for I am +impatient to start. Will you also be so obliging as to call my +servants? I must say a few words to them before we part." + +When the men came in, their mistress, in spite of her costume, wore +a demeanor so lofty, that they were afraid to betray their cognition +of her disguise, and were awed back into their usual stolid and +obsequious deportment. + +"You have witnessed," said the countess, "the persecutions that have +been heaped upon me since yesterday, and of course you are not +surprised to find that I have adopted a disguise by which I may hope +to escape further outrage. You have both been among the trustiest of +my servants, and to you, rather than to my son, I confide my parting +instructions. He is now asleep, and I will not even waken him to +take leave; for he would wish to accompany me, and so compromise +both his safety and mine. I therefore journey in secret and alone. +As for you, be in readiness to return to Paris by daylight, and do +all that you can for the comfort of my son on the way." + +"I served his father," replied the coachman, "and will do my duty by +his son, your highness. Rely upon me." + +"And I," added the footman, "will do my best to deserve the praise +your highness has so kindly vouchsafed to us, by serving my lord and +prince as faithfully as I know how." + +"Right, my good friends. You will always find him, in return, a +gracious and generous master. You will have no difficulty in +procuring relays or lodging on your return to Paris: oblige me, +then, by travelling with all speed, for it is important that my son +arrive quickly. And now farewell, and accept this as a remembrance." + +Dropping several gold-pieces into the hands of each one, their proud +mistress inclined her head, and passed out of the hut. + +"If your highness is ready," said the peasant's wife, meeting her on +the threshold, "my husband is in his wagon waiting." + +"In one moment," replied Olympia; "I must return to take a last kiss +from my son." + +She hastened back to the little room, and, stepping lightly, +advanced to the table, where Eugene, his head supported by his arms, +lay precisely in the position wherein she had left him. She lifted +the masses of his shaggy, black hair, and gazed wistfully upon his +pale face. "And if the stars are not false," whispered she, +tenderly, "this feeble body enshrines a mind that shall win renown +for the house of Savoy. God bless thee, my fragile, but great- +hearted Eugene! As I gaze upon thy pallid brow, my whole being is +inundated by the gushing waters of a love which to-night seems more +than maternal! So should angels love the sons of men! Take from my +lips the baptismal kisses that consecrate thee to glory! May God +bless and prosper thee, my boy!" + +She bent over the sleeping youth and kissed his forehead o'er and +o'er. When she raised her head, among the raven masses of Eugene's +hair there trembled here and there a tear, perhaps the purest that +ever flowed from the turbid spring of Olympia de Soisson's corrupt +heart. + +One more kiss she pressed upon his clasped hands, and then she +hurried away. The cart was before the door; she took her seat, and +slowly the creeping oxen went out into the darkness, bearing away +with them a secret which, to the wondering peasant-woman, was like +Jove's descent to the daughter of Acrisius. [Footnote: Louvois's +hate pursued the Countess de Soissous to Brussels, where the beggars +were bribed to insult her as she passed them in the streets. She was +so persecuted by the rabble that, on one occasion, when she was +purchasing lace at the convent of the Beguines, they assembled in +such multitudes at the entrance, that the nuns, to save her from +being torn to pieces, were compelled to permit her to remain with +them all night. Finally the governor of Netherlands was driven to +take her under his own personal protection, by which it became +unlawful to molest her further. After the governor became her +champion, the prejudices of the people wore gradually away, until at +last Olympia held her levees as she had done in her palmy days at +the Hotel de Soissons.--See Abbe de Choisy: Memoires, p. 224. Renee: +"Les Nieces de Mazarin," p. 212.] + +Four hours passed away, and the power of the drugged cup was at an +end. Day was breaking, and, although by the uncertain light of the +gray dawn, no object in that poor place was clearly defined, still +everything was visible. Eugene raised his head and looked, +bewildered, around the room. He saw at once that his mother was not +there, and with a gesture of wild alarm he sprang to his feet. + +"Mother, my mother!" exclaimed he. + +The door opened, and the smiling peasant with a deep courtesy came +forward to wish his highness good-morning. + +"Your mother, excellency, has been gone these four hours," said she. + +"Gone! Gracious Heaven! whither, and with whom?" + +"She went to Flanders, excellency, with my husband. Do not feel +unhappy, sir, I beg of you; my husband is a good, prudent fellow, +and he will take her safely to Chimay. Here is a paper she left for +you, and she bade me say that, as soon as I had given you an early +breakfast, you would return with your servants to Paris." + +Eugene clutched at the note, and returned to the table to read it. +Its contents were as follows: + +"My dear child, you would not obey me, and yet I could no longer +brook the danger of your attendance. Although I am no adept in the +art of poisoning, yet I have learned from La Voisin to prepare +harmless anodynes, one of which I mingled with the cup of milk you +took from my hand to-night. You sleep, dear Eugene, and I must go +forth to meet my fate alone. Your knightly repugnance to what you +looked upon as a desertion of your mother, has forced me to the use +of means which, though perfectly innocent, I would rather not have +employed. I knew no other device by which to escape your too loving +vigilance." + +"Go back to Paris, my Eugene, and go with all speed, for there you +can protect, there alone you can defend me. There are my enemies; +and, although I dedicate you to the church, I would not have you put +in practice that precept of the Scriptures which enjoins upon you to +forgive your traducers, and bless those who despitefully use you. +No, no! From my son's hand I await the blow that is to avenge my +wounded honor and my blasted existence. Farewell! The spirit of +Mazarin guide you to wisdom and success! Olympia." + +"I will avenge you, my own, my precious mother," said Eugene, his +teeth firmly set with bitter resolve. "The world has thrown its +gauntlet to us, and, by Heaven I will wear it on my front! I have +swept the dark circle of every imaginable sorrow, and my soul is +athirst for strife. 'Tis a priestly office to vindicate a mother's +good name, and I shall be the hierophant of an altar whereon the +blood of her enemies shall be sacrificed. And now, dear maligned +one," continued he, kissing the words her hand had traced, +"farewell! Thou wert my first passionate love, and in my faithful +heart nothing ever shall transcend thee!" + +Half an hour later he was on the road to Paris; but, desirous to +escape notice, Eugene travelled without footmen or outriders, and +confined himself to a span of horses for his carriage. The simple +equipage attracted no attention, and no one attempted to peer at its +silent occupant, so that on the morning of the next day he had +arrived in Paris. + +It was a clear, bright morning, and perchance this might be a reason +why the streets were unusually crowded; but as the prince was +remarking what a multitude were astir to enjoy the beauty of a sky +that was vaulted with pale-blue and silver, he observed at the same +time that all were going in one direction. The throng grew denser as +the carriage advanced, until it reached the Rue des Deux Ecus, when +it came to a dead stop. And after that it advanced but a few feet at +a time, for the whole world seemed to be going, with Eugene, to the +Hotel de Soissons. + +At last they reached the gates, and the prince was about to alight, +when, directly in front of the palace, and within the court, he saw +the sight which had attracted the multitude thither. + +Before the principal entrance of the palace were six horsemen, two +of whom in their right hands held long trumpets decked with flowing +ribbons. Behind these, bestriding four immense horses of Norman +breed, were four beadles in their long black gowns, and broad- +brimmed hats, looped up with cockades. Behind these four were two +mounted soldiers, dressed like those in front, in the municipal +colors of the city of Paris, and in place of trumpets they carried +halberds. + +As he saw this extraordinary group, who had apparently selected the +court of the Hotel Soissons wherein to enact some ridiculous +pageant, Eugene could scarcely believe his dazzled eyes. He looked +again, and saw the horsemen raise their trumpets to their lips, +while the air resounded with a fanfare that made the very windows of +the palace tremble in their frames. + +The multitude, that up to this moment had been struggling and +contending together for place and passage, suddenly grew breathless +with expectation, when a second fanfare rang out upon the air; and, +when its clang had died away, one of the black-robed beadles cried +out in a loud voice: + +"We, the appointed magistrate of the venerable city of Paris, hereby +do summon the Countess Olympia de Soissons, Princess of Carignan, +widow of the most high the Count de Soissons, Prince Royal of +Bourbon, and Prince of Carignan, to appear within three days before +our tribunal, at the town-hall of our good city of Paris." + +The trumpet sounded a third time, and another beadle continued the +summons: + +"And we, the appointed magistrate of the venerable city of Paris, do +hereby accuse said Countess Olympia de Soissons and Princess de +Carignan of sorcery and murder by poison. If she hold herself +innocent of these charges, she will appear within the three days by +law granted her wherein to answer our summons. If she do not appear +within three days, she shall he held guilty by contumacy, and +condemned." + +Scarcely had these last words been pronounced, when the people broke +out into jubilant shouts over the fearless rectitude of the +honorable city fathers, who were not afraid to lift the avenging arm +of justice against criminals in high places. + +Amid the din that followed, Eugene escaped from his carriage to the +private entrance, through which twice before he had passed in such +indescribable anguish of heart. + +Not a soul was there to greet the heir of this princely house, or +bid him welcome home. The servant, who, after his repeated +knockings, appeared to open the door, gazed at his young lord with a +countenance wherein terror and sympathy were strangely mingled. + +"Are the princesses at home?" asked Eugene. + +"No, your highness, they took refuge with their grandmother, the +Princess de Carignan." + +"Took refuge!" echoed Eugene, staring at the man in dumb dismay. + +"Yes, my lord, they were afraid of the people, who have gathered +here by thousands every day since the countess left. This is the +third summons that has been made for her highness, and at each one +the people of Paris have flocked to the hotel with such jeers and +curses, that the poor young ladies were too terrified to remain." + +"They acted prudently," replied Eugene, recovering his self- +possession. "But where is the steward? And where are the other +servants?" + +"Latour accompanied the princesses, your highness, and has not +returned. The remainder of the household have taken service +elsewhere." + +"What! my valet, Dupont?" + +"He thought your highness had left Paris for a long time, and looked +for another master." + +"Then how comes it that you are here, Conrad?" + +"I, my lord? Oh, that is quite another thing. I belong to a family +that have served the Princes de Carignan for three generations. I +myself have served them from my boyhood, and if your highness does +not discharge me, I shall not do so, were the hotel to be attacked +by every churl in Paris." + +As Conrad spoke these words, Eugene turned and looked affectionately +at his faithful servant. "Thank you, Conrad, for your loyalty and +courage; I can never grow unmindful of such devotion. From this day +you become my valet, and if you never quit my service until I +discharge you, we will roam the world together as long as we both +live! " + +Tears of gratitude glistened in Conrad's honest eyes. "Then to the +day of my death I remain with my dear lord," replied he, kneeling, +and devoutly kissing the hand which Eugene had extended. "And I +swear to your highness love and fealty, while God gives me life +wherewith to serve you." + +"I believe you, Conrad," replied Eugene, kindly, "and I thank you +for the solitary welcome you have given me on my return to this +unhappy house. Your loving words have drowned the clang of yonder +trumpets without.--And now let us part for a while: I feel inclined +to sleep." + +The prince turned into a hall that led to his apartments, and +entered his bed-chamber. He had scarcely taken a seat, and leaned +his weary head upon his hand, before the trumpet pealed another +blast, and the beadle again summoned the Countess de Soissons to +answer before the tribunal of justice for her crimes! + +The people shouted as though they would have rent the canopy of +heaven; and Eugene, overcome by such excess of degradation, burst +into a flood of tears. + + + + +BOOK II. + + +CHAPTER I. + +MARIANNA MANCINI. + + +For a day Eugene remained in his room, while Conrad kept vigil in +the antechamber without. The unhappy prince had longed so intensely +for the privilege of grieving without witnesses, that he felt as if +no boon on earth was comparable to solitude. Not only his +affections, but his honor, had been mortally wounded: what medicine +could ever restore it to life? + +And through the long night Conrad had listened to his slow, measured +step, as forth and back he had paced his room in the vain hope of +wooing sleep to + + "steep his senses in forgetfulness." + +Finally day dawned, and Conrad then ventured to knock and inquire +whether his lord would not breakfast. The door was not opened, but +Eugene thanked him, and refused. The poor fellow then threw himself +down on the carpet and slept for several hours. He was awakened by +his father, the only servant besides himself that had remained to +share the humiliations of the family, and who now came as bearer of +a letter from the Duke de Bouillon, which was to be delivered to the +prince without delay. + +Delighted to have a pretext that might gain him admittance to the +presence of his master, Conrad sprang up and knocked. The door was +just sufficiently opened to give passage to the latter, was hastily +closed, and the bolt was heard to slide. But two hours later Eugene +appeared, and greeted his two faithful attendants with a gracious +inclination of the head. + +"Now, Conrad," said he, "I am ready to oblige you by taking my +breakfast. Immediately after, I shall go out, and, as I go on an +affair of importance, order the state-coach, two footmen, and two +outriders. What makes you look so blank? Does it seem singular that +I ride in state through the streets of Paris?" + +"God forbid, your highness!" exclaimed Conrad, "but--" + +"But--" + +"But we have no footmen--no outriders, your highness." + +"True," said Eugene, "I had forgotten. But I suppose that the +rascals may be found and re-engaged. Go after them, Conrad, and-- +stay--where is the steward?" + +"He went with the princesses to the Hotel Carignan, your highness." + +"True--true--you told me so yesterday. Go to him, Conrad; bid him +return and resume his duties, for the Hotel de Soissons must be +open, and I must have a household befitting my rank. Be as diligent +as you can, my good fellow, and let the carriage be before the +entrance in one hour." + +"But first, your highness must breakfast." + +"And how can I breakfast if all the servants have deserted? Or has +the cook been more loyal than his companions?" + +"No, your highness; he went with the rest, but he is in the +neighborhood, and will be glad to return." + +"I am rejoiced to hear it. Fetch him, then, and let him provide +breakfast. But, above all things, find me footmen and outriders. I +would rather go out hungry than without attendants." + +"Your highness shall have all you desire," returned Conrad, with +alacrity; and he kept his word. An hour later, the state-coach stood +before the portal of the palace, and the outriders and footmen were +each man in his proper place. The prince had partaken of an +excellent breakfast, and was advancing to his carriage. + +When he saw old Philip, the coachman, he gave him a look of grateful +recognition, and inquired whether he had recovered from the fatigues +of their uncomfortable journey. + +"I endured no fatigue, your highness," was the old man's reply. "I +was on duty, and had no right to be fatigued." + +"Bravely answered," returned Eugene. "I see that you, at least, are +unchanged, and I may rely upon your loyalty. And the rest of you," +continued he, looking searchingly around at the captured deserters, +"you have returned, I perceive." + +"Your highness," replied one of them, eagerly, "I had the honor of +accompanying you to Flanders." + +"Oh, I do not allude to you, Louis. I know that I can count upon +you." + +"We, too, are loyal, your highness," replied the others, "and are +ready to serve you from the bottom of our hearts. The hotel was +empty, and we had supposed ourselves to be without places. But we +are only too happy to return." + +"Very well, I shall have occasion to test your fidelity this very +day. Conrad, get in the coach with me. I desire to converse with you +in private." + +Conrad dared not disobey, although to sit opposite to his master in +a carriage, seemed to him the acme of presumption. He took his seat +with a look of most comic embarrassment, and stared at the prince as +though he suspected him of being suddenly attacked with insanity. + +"To the Hotel Bouillon!" was the order given, and the coach went +thundering through the gates toward the Quai Malaquais. It was +stared at, precisely as before, when Eugene and his mother had +attempted to join the royal cortege at the Pre aux Clercs. The +people sneered at the equipage and escutcheon of a countess, who, +for three days in succession, had been publicly summoned before the +tribunal of justice; but of the young prince, who was the solitary +occupant of the coach, they took no notice whatever. He was not +guilty, therefore he provoked no curiosity; he was not handsome, +therefore he attracted no attention. As lonely and heart sick his +head reclined amid the velvet cushions, whose silken threads seemed +each a pricking thorn to give him pain, Eugene's resolves of +vengeance deepened into vows, and he swore an oath of enmity against +his mother's enemies, which long years after he redeemed. + +Conrad was perplexed, and ashamed of the honor conferred upon him; +but when after a long pause Eugene began to speak in low, earnest +tones, the embarrassed expression of the valet's countenance gave +place to a look of interest, and finally he ventured a smile. + +"Indeed, your highness," replied he, "it shall be accomplished to +your entire satisfaction, and old Philip will be delighted to be of +the party. He is already burning to revenge himself upon the Louvois +family for taking precedence of carriages that have the right to go +before them; and he has more than once approached the coachmen of +the nobles thus insulted, for their cowardice in suffering it." + +"Well--you will both have an opportunity of exhibiting your powers +to-day in the Pre aux Clercs, and I only hope that the court will be +there to witness it." + +"Philip will not fail, your highness, nor I either." + +"Thank you. There may be an affray, and perchance a blow or two in +store for you; but I will reward you handsomely. But what is this? +The carriage has stopped, and we have not yet reached the Hotel de +Bouillon." + +Conrad sprang out to ascertain the cause of their detention. + +"Your highness," said he, returning, "we cannot proceed any farther. +The street is blocked up with carriages that extend all the way to +the entrance of the hotel. Some of them are equipages of the princes +of the blood." + +"Then I must go on foot, and you and Philip can profit by your +leisure to discuss the manner of your attack. But by all means let +it be in the Pre aux Clercs, where all these carriages will be +filled with occupants." + +So saying, Eugene alighted, and hurried to the hotel. Its large +portals were flung wide open, and streams of elegantly-dressed +courtiers and ladies were entering the palace. In such a crowd, +where the men were in glittering uniforms, and the women, +resplendent with diamonds, wore long trains of velvet or satin, +borne by gayly-attired pages, nobody had eyes for a little abbe, +clad in russet gown, with buttons of brass; so that Eugene was more +than once forced back before he made his way to the state +apartments. Step by step he advanced, until at last he reached the +centre of the room, where the family were assembled to receive their +distinguished guests. + +The duke, in the uniform of a general, stood in the midst of the +group. At his side was the duchess, the celebrated Marianna Mancini, +the rival of Olympia de Soissons, not only in the affections of +Cardinal Mazarin, but also in those of the king. When the heart of +Louis had wearied of the elder sister, its capricious longings +fluttered toward the younger, for whose sake he deserted La +Valliere, and to whom, for a season, he swore every imaginable vow +of love and eternal constancy. + +Marianna had gained wisdom from the experience of her sister. Quite +convinced of the transitory nature of a king's favor, she formed the +bold design of capturing the hand as well as the heart of his +majesty of France. Perhaps Louis fathomed her intentions, and +resolved to punish her ambition, for he suddenly manifested a +willingness to marry the Spanish princess, whom Mazarin had vainly +endeavored to force upon him as a wife; and Marianna, like her +sister, sought consolation in marriage with another, and became +Duchess de Bouillon. [Footnote: This is a mistake. The one whom +Louis loved was Marie Mancini, Princess of Colonna.--TRANS.] + +Years had gone by, but Marianna was still a court beauty, and she +still possessed a certain influence over the heart of her royal +admirer. She alone refused to do homage to De Moutespan, and she +alone ventured to interrupt the pious conversations of the king with +his new favorite De Maintenon. When the obsequious courtiers were +vying with each other as to who should minister most successfully to +the vanity of the monarch that considered himself as the state; when +princes and princesses listened breathlessly to the oracles that +fell from his inspired lips, the Duchess de Bouillon was not afraid +to break their reverential silence, by conversing at her ease in a +tone of voice quite as audible as that of his majesty. + +She stood in the midst of that brilliant throng, accepting their +homage as though she had been born to a throne, and dispensing +gracious words with the proud consciousness that every smile of hers +was received as a condescension. And yet, in that very hour, the +Duchess de Bouillon was under impeachment for crime. Her summons had +been sent "in the name of the king;" but everybody knew that it was +the work of Louvois, and everybody knew equally well that the +compliment paid to the duchess that day, was especially gratifying +to the king, who himself had suggested it as a means of vexing his +arrogant minister. + +That morning, his majesty had held a grand levee, which was +punctually attended by all who had the inestimable privilege of +appearing there. Louis received his courtiers with that gay and +smiling affability which was the result of his temperament, and had +procured for him from one of his adorers the surname of Phoebus. +But, all of a sudden, a cloud was seen to obscure the face of the +sun, and the dismayed sycophants were in a flutter to know what was +passing behind it. The firmament had darkened at the approach of the +Duke de Vendome and the Cardinal d'Albret. + +"My lords," said the king, curtly, "I am surprised to see you here. +Methinks the proper place for you both this morning would be at the +side of your relative, the Duchess de Bouillon." + +"Sire," replied the young duke, "I came to see if the sun had risen. +I behold it now; and since the day has dawned on which my aunt is to +appear before her accusers, I hasten whither duty calls, to take my +place among her adherents." + +"And you, cardinal?" said Louis, to the handsome brother of the Duke +de Bouillon. + +"I, my sovereign, am accustomed to say my orisons before turning my +thoughts to the affairs of this world. Now that I have worshipped at +the shrine of my earthly divinity, I am ready to admit the claims of +my noble sister-in-law." + +The king received all this adulation as a matter of course, and, +without vouchsafing any reply, turned to his confessor. Pere la +Chaise looked displeased; he had no relish for court nonsense at any +time; but what availed his exhortations to humility, if his royal +penitent was to have his ears poisoned with such abominable stuff as +this! + +Louis guessed somewhat the nature of his confessor's vexation, for +he blushed, and spoke in a mild, conciliatory tone: + +"Pardon me, father, if this morning I have ventured to permit the +things of this world to take precedence of things spiritual. But a +king should be ready at all hours to do justice unto all men; and as +this is the day fixed for the trial of a noble lady of France, for +crimes of which I hope and believe that she will be found innocent, +I have deemed it proper to show my impartiality by upholding those +who have the courage to avow themselves champions or defenders of +the Duchess de Bouillon. Come, father, let us hasten to the chapel." + +He rose from his couch, and, with head bowed down, traversed his +apartments, until he reached a side-door which communicated with the +rooms of the Marquise de Maintenon. On either side were long rows of +obsequious courtiers, imitating as far as they could the devotional +demeanor of the king; and, following the latter, came Pere la +Chaise--the only man in all the crowd who walked with head erect. +His large, dark eyes wandered from one courtier to another, and +their glances were as significant as words. They asserted his +supremacy over king and court; they proclaimed him the ambassador of +the King of kings. + +At the threshold Louis turned, and, letting fall the mantle of his +humility, addressed his courtiers. + +"My lords," said he, imperiously, "we dispense with your attendance +in chapel this morning, and you are all free to go whithersoever you +deem best." + +With a slight bend of the head, he passed through the portiere and +disappeared. The courtiers had comprehended the motive of their +dismissal: it was a command from his majesty to repair to the Hotel +de Bouillon. They hastened to avail themselves of the royal +permission, and one and all were shortly after in presence of the +duchess, offering sympathy, countenance, and homage. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE TRIAL. + + +While she received her numerous visitors with cordiality, Marianna +Mancini tempered her affability with just enough of stateliness to +make it appear that their presence there was a matter of course, and +not of significance. She had arrayed herself with great splendor for +this extraordinary occasion of mingled humiliation and triumph. She +wore a dress of rose-colored satin, whose folds, as she moved, +changed from the rich hues of the carnation to the delicate tinge of +the peach-blossom. Her neck and arms were resplendent with diamonds, +and her whole person seemed invested with more than its usual +majesty and grace. + +She saw Eugene, who was making vain endeavors to approach her. With +mock-heroic air, she raised her white arm, and motioned away those +who were immediately around her person. + +"Let me request the mourners," said she, "to give place to the +priest, who advances to hear the last confession of the criminal. +Poor little abbe! How will he manage to sustain the weight of the +iniquities I shall pour into his ears?" + +A merry laugh followed this sally, and all eyes were turned upon +Eugene, who, blushing like a maiden, kissed his aunt's outstretched +hand, but was too much embarrassed to reply to her greeting. + +"Prince," said a tall personage coming forward, "will you allow me +to act as your substitute? My shoulders are broad, and will gladly +bear the burden of all the sins that have ever been committed by +your charming penitent." + +"I dare say. Monsieur la Fontaine," replied Eugene, recovering +himself, "and they will incommode you no longer than the time it +will occupy you to weave them into a tissue of pleasant fables." + +"Thanks, gallant abbe!" cried Marianna, pleased. "You look upon my +crimes, then, as fiction?" + +"Yes, dearest aunt," said Eugene, resolutely; "they are, I heartily +believe, as fictitious as those attributed to my dear and honored +mother." + +As he spoke, Eugene's large eyes looked courageously around, to read +the countenances of the men that were listening. Whatever they might +think of the mother, the chivalry of her son was indisputable, and +no one was disposed to wound his filial piety by so much as a +supercilious glance. + +The silence that ensued was broken by La Fontaine. "Did you know," +said he, "that Madame de Coulanges had been summoned to trial +yesterday?" + +"Yes," replied the duchess, "but I have not heard the result. Can +you tell it to us, my dear La Fontaine?" + +"I can. The judges paid her a compliment which I am sure she has not +received from anybody else, since the days of her childhood." + +"What was it!" + +"They gave in a verdict of--innocent." + +A hearty laugh followed this satire of La Fontaine's, and the +duchess indulged in so much mirth thereat, that her eyes sparkled +like the brilliants on her person, and her cheeks flushed until they +rivalled the deepest hues of her pink dress. + +"Ah!" cried La Fontaine, bending the knee before her, "La mere des +amours, et la reine des graces, c'est Bouillon, et Venus lui cede +ses emplois." [Footnote: La Fontaine's "Letters to the Duchess de +Bouillon," p. 49.] + +"Go on, go on, fabulist!" cried Marianna, laughing. + +La Fontaine continued: + +"Ah, que Marianne a de beautes, de graces, et de charmes; Elle sait +enchanter et l'esprit et les yeux; Mortels, aimez-la tous! mais ce +n'est qu'a des dieux, Qu'est reserve l'honneur de lui rendre les +armes!" + +[Footnote: See Works of La Fontaine.] + +"Do you, then, desert and go over to my enemies?" asked the duchess, +reproachfully. + +"I!" exclaimed La Fontaine, rising to his feet. "Who could so +calumniate me?" + +"Why, did not you say 'elle gait enchanter'? And is not that the +very crime of which I am accused?" + +La Fontaine was about to make some witty reply to this sportive +reproach, when the Duke de Bouillon announced to the duchess that +she must prepare herself to appear before her judges. + +"I am ready," was the response, and Marianna passed her arm within +that of her husband. + +"My friends." said she, addressing all present, "I invite you to +accompany me on my excursion to the Arsenal. Come, Eugene, give me +your other arm. It is fit that the criminal should go before her +accusers between her confessor and her victim." + +"Madame," returned Eugene, frowning, "I am no confessor. A confessor +should be an anointed of the Lord, which I am not." + +"Not anointed!" exclaimed the duchess. "I have an excellent receipt +for unguent given me by La Voisin; and, if you promise that I shall +not be made to mount the scaffold for my obliging act, I will anoint +you myself, whenever you like." + +"Mount the scaffold!" cried La Fontaine. "For such as you, duchess, +we erect altars, not scaffolds. True, you have bewitched our hearts, +but we forgive you, and hope to witness, not your disgrace, but your +triumph." + +And, indeed, the exit of the Duchess de Bouillon had the appearance +of an ovation. The streets were lined with people, who greeted her +with acclamations, as though they were longing to indemnify one +sister for the obloquy they had heaped upon the other. The +aristocracy, too, felt impelled to avenge the insult offered to +their order by the impeachment of the Countess de Soissons. In the +cortege of the Duchess de Bouillon were, all the flower of the +French nobility; and such as had not joined her train were at their +windows, waving their handkerchiefs and kissing their hands to +Marianna, who, in a state-carriage drawn by eight horses, returned +their greetings with as much unconcern as if she had been on her way +to her own coronation. + +Next to her equipage was that of the Countess de Soissons; and +bitter were the feelings with which Eugene gazed upon the multitude, +who, but a few days before, had driven his mother into exile. He was +absorbed in his own sorrowful musings, when the carriage stopped, +and it became his duty to alight and hand out his aunt. + +She received him with unruffled smiles, and they entered the +corridors of the Arsenal. Behind them came a gay concourse of +nobles, drawn out in one long glittering line, which, like a gilded +serpent, glided through the darksome windings of that gloomy palace +of justice. + +The usher that was stationed at the entrance of the council-chamber +was transfixed with amazement at the sight. He rubbed his eyes, and +wondered whether he had fallen asleep and was dreaming of the fairy +tales that years ago had delighted his childhood. And when he saw +the duchess smile, and heard her ringing laugh, he was so bewitched +with its music that, instead of challenging her train of followers, +he suffered them every one to pass into the chamber without a +protest. + +At the upper end of the hall of council, seated around a table +covered with a heavy black cloth, were the judges in their funeral +gowns and long wigs, which floated like ominous clouds around their +sinister faces. Close by, at a smaller table similarly draped, sat +the six lateral judges of the criminal court, and the scribes, who +were prepared to take notes of all that was said during the trial. + +When Marianna came in, with her cortege stretching out behind her +like the tail of a comet, the pens dropped from their hands and the +solemn judges themselves looked around in undisguised astonishment. + +The duchess, affecting complete unconsciousness of the sensation she +was creating, came in smiling, graceful, and self-possessed. While +the frowning faces of the judiciary scanned the gay host of +intruders, who were desecrating the solemnity of the council-chamber +with their levity, the duchess advanced until she stood directly in +front of their table, and there she smiled again and inclined her +head. + +The judges were still more astounded--so much so, that they were at +a loss how to express their indignation. It took the form of +exceeding respect, and their great black wigs were all +simultaneously bent down in acknowledgment of the lady's greeting. + +The only one among them who allowed expression to his displeasure +was the presiding judge, Laraynie, who, with a view to remind the +criminal that her blandishments were out of place, stiffened himself +considerably. + +"The Duchess de Bouillon has been summoned before this august +tribunal to answer for the crimes with which she has been charged," +said he, severely. "Are you the accused?" + +"My dear president," returned Marianna, flippantly, "how can you be +so absurd? If you have forgotten ME, I perfectly remember YOU. You +were formerly amanuensis to my uncle, Cardinal Mazarin, who promoted +you to the office, because of your dexterity in mending pens. Yes, I +am the Duchess de Bouillon, and nobody has a better right to know it +than you, who wrote out my marriage contract, and were handsomely +paid for your trouble." + +"Our business is not with the past, but the present," replied +Laraynie, haughtily. "The question is not whether you are or are not +the niece of the deceased Cardinal Mazarin, but whether you are or +are not guilty of the crimes for which you have been summoned +hither?--" + +"Which summons, you perceive, I have obeyed," interrupted the +duchess. "But I pray you to understand that I acknowledge no right +of yours to cite a duchess before your tribunal, sir. If I come at +your call, it is because it has been made in the name of the king, +my sovereign and yours!" [Footnote: The duchess's own words.--See +Renee, "The Nieces of Mazarin," p. 395.] + +"You have obeyed the citation, because it was your duty to obey it," +returned Laraynie. "But I see here a multitude who have come neither +by indictment nor invitation. It is natural enough that the Duke de +Bouillon should accompany his spouse on an occasion of such solemn +import to her safety; but who are all these people that have +obtruded themselves upon our presence?" + +"Did you not comply with my husband's request that I might be +accompanied to the Arsenal by a few of my friends?" + +"Yes--his petition was granted." + +"Well, then," replied Marianna, turning toward the brilliant +assembly that had grouped themselves around the room in a circle, +"these are a few of my most particular friends. You see on my right +the Dukes de Vendome and d'Albret, and the Prince of Savoy; on my +left, the Prince de Chatillon, and others with whose names and +persons you were familiar in the days of your secretaryship under +Cardinal Mazarin." + +"To our business!" cried Laraynie, angrily. "We will begin the +examination." + +"First let me have a seat," replied the duchess, looking around, as +though she had expected an accommodation of the kind. There was not +even a stool to be seen in the council-chamber. But at the table of +the judges stood a vacant armchair, the property of some absent +member; and in the twinkling of an eye Eugene had perceived and +rolled it forward. He placed it respectfully behind his aunt, and +resumed his position on her left. + +This bold act was received by the judiciary with a frown, by the +other spectators with a murmur of applause, and by the beautiful +daughter of the house of Mancini with one of those bewitching smiles +which have been celebrated in the sonnets of Benserade, Corneille, +Moliere, St. Evremont, and La Fontaine. + +She sank into the luxurious depths of the arm-chair, and her +"particular friends" drew nearer, and stationed themselves around +it. + +"Now, gentlemen," said she, in the tone of a queen about to hold a +levee, "now I am ready. What is it that you are curious to know as +regards my manner of life?" + +"First, your name, title, rank, position, age, and--" + +"Oh, gentlemen!" cried Marianna, interrupting the president in his +nomenclature, "is it possible that you can be so uncivil as to ask a +lady her age? I warn you, if you persist in your indiscreet +curiosity, that you will compel me to resort to falsehood, for I +positively will not tell you how old I am. As regards the rest of +your questions, you are all acquainted with my name, title, rank, +and position. Let us come to the point." + +"So be it," replied the president, who was gradually changing his +tone, and assuming a demeanor less haughty toward the duchess. "You +are accused of an attempt on the life of the Duke de Bouillon." + +"Who are my accusers?" asked Marianna. + +"You shall hear," replied Laraynie, trying to resume his official +severity. "Are you acquainted with La Voisin?" + +"Yes, I know her," said Marianna, without any embarrassment +whatever. + +"Why did you desire to rid yourself of your husband?" was the second +interrogatory. + +"To rid myself of my husband!" cried the duchess, with a merry +laugh. Then turning to the duke, "Ask him whether HE believes that I +ever meditated harm toward him." + +"No!" exclaimed the duke. "No! She has ever been to me a true and +loving wife, and we have lived too happily together for her ever to +have harbored ill-will toward me. Of evil deeds, my honored wife is +incapable!" + +"You hear him, judges; you hear him!" exclaimed Marianna, her face +beaming with exultation. "What more have you to ask of me now?" + +"Why were you in the habit of visiting La Voisin?" + +"Because she was shrewd and entertaining, and because she promised +me an interview with spirits." + +"Did you not show her a purse of gold, and promised it to her in +case these spirits made their appearance?" + +"No!" said Marianna, emphatically, "and that for the best of +reasons. I never was possessed of any but an empty purse--a +melancholy truth, to which my husband here can bear witness. That I +may have promised gold to La Voisin is just possible, but that she +ever saw any in my possession is impossible." + +Marianna glanced at her friends, who returned her look with +approving nods and smiles. + +"You deny, then," continued the judge, not exactly knowing what to +say next, "you deny that you ever made an attempt to poison your +husband?" + +"I do, and I am sure that La Voisin never originated a calumny so +base. But I confess that I was dying to see the spirits. Unhappily, +although La Voisin called them, they never came." + +"You confess, then, that you DID instigate La Voisin to cite +spirits?" + +"I certainly did, but it was all to no purpose. The spirits were +excessively disobliging, and refused to appear." + +Another murmur of approbation was heard among the friends of the +duchess, some of whom applauded audibly. + +"You are accused not only of raising spirits, but of citing the +devil," pursued Laraynie, in tones of marked reproof. "Have you ever +seen the devil?" + +"Oh, yes! He is before me now. He is old, ugly, and wears the +disguise of a presiding judge." + +This time the applause rang through the council-chamber. It was +accompanied by shouts of laughter, and no more attempt was made by +the amused spectators to preserve the least semblance of decorum. +The president, pale with rage, rose from his seat, and darting fiery +glances at the irreverent crowd, whom the duchess had named as her +particular friends, he cried out: + +"The trial is over, and I hereby dismiss the court." + +"What--already?" said the duchess, rising languidly from her seat. +"Have you nothing more to say to me, my dear President Laraynie?" + +Her "dear president" vouchsafed not a word in reply; he motioned to +his compeers to rise, and they all betook themselves to their hall +of conference. When the door had closed behind them, Marianna +addressed her friends. + +"My lords," said she, "I must apologize for the exceeding dulness of +the scene you have just witnessed. But who would ever have imagined +that such wise men could ask such a tissue of silly questions? I had +hoped to experience a sensation by having a distant glimpse of the +headsman's axe, and lo! I am cheated into an exhibition of President +Laraynie's long ears!" [Footnote: The duchess's own words. This +account of the trial is historical.--See Renee, "The Nieces of +Mazarin," p. 395.] + +"Come, Marianna," said her husband, passing her arm within his. "It +is time for our drive to the Pre aux Clercs; the king and court are +doubtless there already." + +"And I shall annoy Madame de Maintenon by entertaining his majesty +with an account of the absurd comedy that has just been performed in +the council-chamber of the Arsenal." + +So saying, Marianna led the way, and, followed by her adherents, +left the tribunal of justice, and drove off in triumph to the Pre +aux Clercs. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +A SKIRMISH. + + +Instead of accompanying his aunt from the council-chamber to her +carriage, Eugene fell back, and joined two young men, who were +walking arm in arm just behind the duke and duchess. + +They greeted him with marked cordiality, and congratulated him upon +the presence of mind with which he had captured the judicial arm- +chair, and pressed it into the service of his aunt. + +"My cousins of Conti are pleased to jest," replied Eugene. "Such +praise befits not him who removes a chair, but him who unsettles a +throne." + +"Have you any such ambitious designs?" asked Prince Louis de Conti, +sportively. + +"Why not?" returned his brother, Prince de la Roche. "It would not +be the first time that such a feat had been performed by an +ecclesiastic. Cardinal Mazarin removed the throne of France from the +Louvre to his bedchamber, and what Giulio Mazarini once +accomplished, may perchance be repeated by his kinsman, the abbe." + +"Who tells you that I am a priest?" said Eugene. + +"First--your garb; second, the will of your family; and third, the +command of the king." + +"You forget the will of the individual most interested. But of that +anon--I have a request to make of you both." + +"It is granted in advance," exclaimed the brothers with one voice. + +"Thank you, gracious kinsmen. Will you, then, accept a seat in my +carriage, and drive with me to the Pre aux Clercs?" + +"With pleasure. Is that all?" + +"Almost all," replied Eugene, laughing. "What else remains to be +done, must be performed by myself." + +"Ah! There is something then in the wind? May we ask what it is?" + +"You will witness it, and that is all I require of you. But here is +my carriage. Be so kind as to step in." + +Conrad stood at the portiere, and, while the young Princes de Conti +were entering the coach, he drew from under his cloak a slender +parcel, which he presented to his lord. + +Eugene received it with a smiling acknowledgment. "Is all prepared?" +he asked. + +"Yes, your highness. Old Philip is in ecstasies, and the other +lackeys are like a pack of hounds on the eve of a fox-chase." + +"They shall hear the fanfare presently," returned Eugene, following +his cousins, and taking his seat opposite to them. + +"What is that?" asked the Prince de Conti pointing to the long, thin +roll of white paper which Eugene held in his hand. + +"I suspect that it is a crucifix, and Eugene is going to entrap us +into a confession," returned De la Roche, who loved to banter his +cousin. + +"We shall see," replied Eugene, opening the paper, and exhibiting +its contents. "A whip!" exclaimed De Conti. + +"Yes, a stout, hunting-whip!" echoed De la Roche. "Are we to go on a +fox-hunt, dear little abbe?" + +"We are, dear, tall prince, and we shall shortly set out." + +"Things begin to look serious," observed De Conti, with a searching +glance at the pale, resolute face of his young relative. "You do not +really intend to chase your fox in presence of the king?" + +"Yes, I do. I intend to prove to his majesty that I am not +altogether unskilled in worldly craft, and, as regards my fox, I +intend that all Paris shall witness his punishment." + +"You mean that you have been insulted, and are resolved to disgrace +the man that has insulted you?" asked De la Roche. + +"You have guessed," said Eugene, deliberately, as he unwound the +long lash of the whip, and tried its strength. + +"But Eugene," said De Conti, earnestly, "remember that such +degradation is only to be wiped out with blood, and that your cloth +will not protect you from the consequences of so unpriestly an act." + +Eugene's eyes flashed fire. "Hear me," said he. "If my miserable +garb could prevent me from vindicating my honor as a man, I would +rend it into fragments, and cast it away as the livery of a coward. +A man's dress is not a symbol of his soul; and so help me, God! this +brown cassock shall some day be transformed into the panoply of a +soldier. But see! The carriage stops, and we are about to taste the +joys ineffable of seeing the King of France drive by." + +Two outriders in the royal livery were now seen to gallop down the +allee, as a signal for all vehicles whatsoever to drive aside until +the royal equipages had passed by. + +In this manner Louis was accustomed to exhibit himself to the +admiring gaze of his subjects, and to bestow upon them the +unspeakable privilege of a stray beam from the "son of France." +Never had he shed his rays upon a more numerous or more magnificent +concourse than the one assembled in the Pre aux Clercs; for the +Duchess de Bouillon had just entered with her cortege, and the allee +was lined on either side with splendid equipages and their +outriders--pages, equestrians, and foot-passengers. + +His majesty was gazing around, bowing affably to the crowd, when he +perceived the Duchess de Bouillon, and caught her eye. Louis waved +his hand, and smiled; and this royal congratulation filled up the +measure of Marianna's content. At that moment his face was illumined +by an expression of genuine feeling, perhaps a reflection of the +light of a love which had shone upon it in the golden morning of his +youth. + +The king's coach had gone by; following came the equipages of the +royal family, and the princes of the blood: then-- + +"My dear cousin," said Eugene, "be on your guard, and if the glasses +of our carriage-windows begin to splinter, close your eyes, for--" + +At this moment the coach darted suddenly forward, and took its place +behind the royal cortege. There was a tremendous concussion of +wheels and shafts, a crash of broken panes, a stamping and +struggling of horses; and, above all this din, the frantic oaths of +the coachmen that had suffered from the collision. + +"What do you mean, you ill-mannered churl! What do you mean by +driving in front of my horses?" cried a loud and angry voice. + +"What do you mean yourself, clown!" was the furious reply of the +Jehu addressed. "My horses were merely advancing to take the +position which belongs to them of right, and how dare you stop the +way!" + +"Do you hear?" asked Eugene, with composure. "The drama begins, and +I and my whip will shortly appear on the stage. It was my trusty old +Philip who began the fray, and--it has already gone from words to +blows, for it seems to me I heard something like a box on the ear--" + +"You did indeed!" exclaimed the Prince de Conti; "but what on earth +can it mean?" + +"You will find out presently," replied Eugene. "But wait a moment, I +must listen for my cue--" + +"Your cue will have to be a thunder-clap, if you are to hear it +above all this racket," said De la Roche, slightly lowering one of +the windows, and looking cautiously out. "Devil take me! but it is a +veritable pitched battle. These knights of the hammer-cloth are +dexterous in the use of their fists, and every one of your servants, +Eugene, are engaged in the fight!" + +The prince's last words were lost to his listeners, for a tremendous +crash drowned his voice, and something fell heavily to the ground. + +"This is my cue," cried Eugene. "Come--I am about to make my debut." +And before he had time to rise from his seat, the portiere flew +open, and Conrad hastily took down the carriage-steps. + +"Is his coach overturned?" asked the prince. + +"Yes, your highness, and he is inside. His footmen tried to get him +out; but with the help of some of our friends we fell upon them, and +so gave them plenty of occupation, until your highness was ready to +appear." + +"Well--let him out, Conrad. I am ready for him! Come," added he, +turning to his cousins. "Come, and let us survey the field." + +In truth, the Pre aux Clercs, at this moment, resembled a battle- +ground. Although the royal cortege had long gone by, the promenaders +were too curious to follow; they all remained to see the end of this +turbulent opening. Every one had witnessed old Philip's manoeuvre, +and everybody knew that the point of attack was the carriage of +Barbesieur Louvois, for the footmen of the Countess de Soissons had +been seen to seize the horses' reins, and force them out of the way. + +And now the coaches were all emptied of their occupants, who crowded +around the spot which Eugene, with his two cousins, was seen +approaching. They began to comprehend that this was no uproar among +lackeys, but a serious misunderstanding between their masters. The +Dukes de Bouillon, de Larochejaquelein, and de Luynes, the Princes +de Belmont and Conde, and many other nobles of distinction, came +forward and followed Prince Eugene to the field of action. The +coachman and lackeys of Barbesieur Louvois were trying to force the +footmen of the Countess de Soissons to right their overturned coach. +Old Philip cried out that the Princes de Carignan took precedence of +all manner of Louvois of whatever generation, and that he would not +stir. His companions had applauded his spirit, and both parties +having found allies among the other retainers of the nobles on the +ground, the battle had become general, and the number of fists +engaged was formidable. + +The tumult was at its height when the clear, commanding tones of +Eugene's voice were heard. + +"Churl and villain!" exclaimed he, "are you at last in my power?" + +In a moment every eye was turned upon the speaker, who, just as +Barbesieur was emerging from the coach-window, seized and held him +prisoner. The belligerent lackeys were so astounded, that on both +sides the upraised fists were suspended, while old Philip, taking +advantage of the momentary lull, cried out in stentorian tones: + +"Armistice for the servants! Their lords are here to decide the +difficulty!" + +Down went the fists, and all parties gazed in breathless silence at +the pale, young David, who confronted his Goliath with as firm +reliance on the justice of his cause as did the shepherd-warrior of +ancient Israel. Eugene was pale and collected, but his nostrils were +distended, and his eyes were aflame. Barbesieur's great chest heaved +with fury, as he felt himself in the grasp of his puny antagonist, +and turning met the glance of the son of Olympia de Soissons. + +For a few moments no word was spoken. The two enemies exchanged +glances; while princes, dukes, counts, and their followers, looked +on with breathless interest and expectation. + +Barbesieur now made one supreme effort to escape, but all in vain. +With one thrust of his muscular arm, Eugene forced him back into the +coach, his nether limbs within, his great trunk without the window. + +"Miserable coward," said the prince, "who to escape from the dangers +of a fray among lackeys, have taken refuge in the carriage of a +nobleman! Monsieur Louvois will assuredly have you punished for your +presumption; but before he hears of your insolence toward him, you +shall be chastised for the injuries you have inflicted upon me." + +"Dare harm one hair of my head," muttered Barbesieur, between his +teeth, "and your life shall be the forfeit. My father will avenge +me." + +"So be it; but first, let me avenge my mother," cried Eugene, +raising his whip on high. + +"Eugene, Eugene," exclaimed the Duke de Bouillon, trying to reach +his kinsman in time to prevent the descending stroke, "you are +mistaken. This gentleman is no intruder in the coach of the Louvois; +it is Barbesieur de Louvois himself!" + +"It is you that are in error," returned Eugene, holding fast to his +prisoner, who looked like some great monster in a trap. "This is not +Monsieur Louvois; this is a leader of mobs, an instigator of riots. +He is the knave that incited the people of Paris to malign my +mother, and to stone her palace.--Here! Philip! Conrad! Men of my +household, do you not recognize this man?" + +"Ay, ay!" was the prompt response, "he is the very man that led on +the rabble." + +"He is. The captain of the guard allowed him to escape, but before +he left I promised him a horsewhipping, and I never break my word.-- +You are a villain, for you have defamed a noble lady.--Take this! +You are a liar, for you have accused her of crime.--Take this! You +are a poltroon, for while you were inciting others to violent deeds, +you hid your face, and denied your name.--Take this!" + +At each opprobrious epithet, the lash fell heavily upon the +shoulders of Barbesieur, and every blow was answered by a cry of +mingled pain and rage. The multitude looked on in silence, almost in +terror; for who could calculate the consequence of such an indignity +offered to such a family! + +"And now," said Eugene, throwing the whip as far as he could send +it, "now you are free! My mother's defamer has been lashed like a +hound, and her son's heart is relieved of its load." + +So saying, he turned his back, and joined the group, among whom his +cousins were awaiting his return. + +"Which of you, my lords," said he, "cried out that I was mistaken in +the identity of yonder knave?" + +"It was I, Eugene," replied the Duke de Bouillon. + +"But you see your error now, do you not, uncle? since not only I, +but my whole household proclaim him to be the ring-leader of that +riot, which forced my mother into exile." + +"And yet he is assuredly Barbesieur Louvois," laughed the Prince de +Conti. + +"Well--we shall see," was the reply. "He has disengaged himself from +his coach-window, and if he is a gentleman he will know what he has +to do." + +And Eugene returned to the place where Barbesieur was now standing, +calling out to his friends to follow him. + +"Are you quite sure, my lords, that this individual is Monsieur +Louvois?" + +They answered with one voice, "We are!" while all eyes were fixed +upon the tall figure which, now relaxed and bent with shame, +resembled the stricken frame of an old man; while his eyes were +sedulously cast down, that they might not meet the glance of the +meanest man who had witnessed his disgrace. + +"I am still incredulous," said the prince. "But I reaffirm that this +is the brutal ringleader of the mob that attacked my mother's home, +and since I am ready to swear upon my honor that it is he, have not +I performed my duty by chastising him?" + +"Yes, Prince of Savoy, if you are sure that it is he," was the +unanimous reply. + +"I can prove that it is he. When, in spite of my warning, he +uplifted his right arm to urge the rabble to a new attack on the +palace, I aimed a bullet at his elbow, and it reached its mark. Now, +if this man be Monsieur Louvois, and not the knave I hold him to be, +let him raise his right arm, and so brand me as a liar." + +As he heard this challenge, Barbesieur trembled, and his face paled +to a deadly whiteness. His right hand was buried in the breast of +his coat, and well he knew that every eye was riveted upon that +spot. He made one superlative effort to straighten his arm, but no +sooner had he moved it than he uttered a stifled cry of pain, and +the wounded limb fell helpless to his side. + +"My lords," said Eugene, inclining his head, "you see that I am no +calumniator. This is the churl who maligned my mother's name." + +"And I am Barbesieur Louvois!" cried the churl, gnashing his teeth +with rage. "I am Barbesieur Louvois, and you shall learn it to your +sorrow, for my father will avenge the insult you have offered to his +son." + +"Your father!" echoed the Prince de Conti. "But yourself! What will +you do to mend your bruised honor? A nobleman knows but one means of +repairing that." + +Barbesieur blushed, and then grew very pale. "You see that I am +incapable of resorting to this means," replied he, in much +confusion. + +"Then you will not challenge the Prince de Carignan?" + +"It is not in my power to send a challenge. My right arm is useless +to me." + +"Sir," said De Conti, haughtily, "there are blots on a man's honor, +which can only be wiped out with blood; and when the right hand is +powerless, a nobleman learns to use his left." + +"I claim the privilege of waiting until I shall have regained the +use of my right hand," returned Barbesieur with a sinister glance at +De Conti. "I cannot be sure of my aim with an unpractised left hand; +and when I meet this miserable manikin, I wish to kill him.--Eugene +of Savoy, you have offered me a deadly affront; and as soon as my +wound is healed, you shall hear from me." + +"Don't give yourself the trouble of sending me a challenge," +returned Eugene coolly, "for I will not accept it." + +"Not accept it!" echoed Barbesieur, unable to suppress the gleam of +satisfaction that WOULD shoot across his countenance. "Your valor +then, which is equal to put opprobrium upon a defenceless man, will +not bear you out to face him in a duel? What say these gentlemen +here present, to such behavior on the part of a prince of the ducal +house of Savoy?" + +"When I shall have spoken a few more words to you, they can decide. +You have so outraged my mother, the Countess de Soissons, that the +falsehood with which you have befouled her honored name can never be +recalled! Not content with forcing her, by your persecutions, into +exile, your emissaries preceded her to every point whereat she +sought shelter, and incited the populace to refuse her the merest +necessaries of life! For wrongs such as these, nothing could repay +me but the infliction of a degradation both public and complete. I +have disgraced you; the marks of my lash are upon your back, and +think you that I shall bestow upon you one drop of my blood +wherewith to heal your stripes? No! I fight with no man whom I have +chastised as I would a serf; but if you have a friend that will +represent you, here is my gauntlet: let him raise it.--Gentlemen, +which of you will be the proxy that shall cleanse the sullied honor +of Barbesieur Louvois with his blood?" + +"Not I," said the two Princes de Conti, simultaneously. + +"Nor I," "Nor I," "Nor I!" echoed the others. + +"Nor I," cried the Duke de la Roche Guyon stepping forward so as to +be conspicuous and generally heard. "I am the son-in-law of Monsieur +Louvois, and unhappily this man is the brother of my dear and +honored wife. But he is no kinsman of mine; and if I raise this +glove, it is to return it to the Prince of Savoy, for among us all +he has not an enemy. He stands in the midst of his friends, and they +uphold and will sustain him, let the consequences of this day be +what they may." + +With a deep inclination of the head, the duke returned his glove to +Eugene, who, greatly affected, could scarcely murmur his thanks. + +With glaring eyes and scowl of hatred, Barbesieur had listened, +while his brother-in-law's repudiation of the tie that bound them to +one another had deepened and widened the gashes of his disgrace. +With muttered words of revenge, he mounted the horse of one of his +grooms, and galloped swiftly out of sight of the detested Pre aux +Clercs. + +"Gentlemen," resumed the Duke de la Roche Guyon, "I am about to seek +an audience with Monsieur Louvois, to relate to him the events that +have just transpired; and to exact of him as a man of honor that he +will seek no revenge for the affront offered to his son. Which of +you, then, will accompany me as witness?" + +"All, all," cried the cavaliers, with enthusiasm. "We sustain the +Prince of Savoy, and if Minister Louvois injures a hair of his head, +he shall be answerable for the deed to every nobleman in France." + +"And you, dear Eugene, whither are you going?" asked De Conti, +putting his hand on his cousin's shoulder, and contemplating him +with looks of affectionate admiration. + +"I?" said Eugene, softly. "I shall return home to the hall of my +ancestors, there to hang this gauntlet below my mother's portrait. +Would that kneeling I could lay it at her feet!" + +He was about to turn away, when De Conti remarked, "I wonder whether +Barbesieur will have the assurance to attend the court-ball to- +night?" + +"We shall see," replied Eugene, with a smile. + +"We! Why, you surely will not present yourself before the king, +until you find out in what way his majesty intends to view your +attack upon the favorite son of his favorite minister?" + +"I shall go to the ball to ascertain the sentiments of his majesty. +You know how I abhor society, and how awkward I am in the presence +of the beau monde; but not to attend this ball would be an act of +cowardice. I must overcome my disinclination to such assemblies, and +learn my fate to-night." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +LOUVOIS' DAUGHTER. + + +"Are you really in earnest, ma toute belle?" said Elizabeth- +Charlotte of Orleans. "Are you serious when you relinquish your +golden hours of untrammelled existence, to become my maid of honor?" + +The young girl, who was seated on a tabouret close by, lifted her +great black eyes, and for a moment contemplated the large, good- +natured features of the duchess; then, smiling as if in satisfaction +at the survey, she replied: + +"Certainly, if your highness accords me your gracious permission to +attach myself to your person." + +"And does your father approve? Has the powerful minister of his +majesty no objection to have his daughter enter my service?" + +"I told him that if he refused I would take the veil," returned the +young girl, with quiet decision. + +The duchess leaned forward, and contemplated her with interest. +"Take the veil!" exclaimed she. "What should such a pretty creature +do in a convent? You are not--you cannot be in earnest. Let those +transform themselves into nuns who have sins upon their consciences, +or sorrow within their hearts: you can have had no greater loss to +mourn than the flight of a canary, or the death of a greyhound." + +The maiden's eyes glistened with tears. "Your highness, I have lost +a mother." + +"Oh, how unfeeling of me to have forgotten it!" exclaimed the +duchess. "But, in good sooth, this heartless court-life corrupts us +all; we are so unaccustomed to genuine feeling, that we forget its +existence on earth. Dear child, forgive me; I am thoughtless, but +not cruel. Give me your hand and let us be friends." + +The girl pressed a fervent kiss upon the hand that was outstretched +to meet hers. "Oh!" cried she, feelingly, "my grandmother was right +when she told me that you were the best and noblest lady that ever +graced the court of France." + +"Did your grandmother say that, love?" asked the duchess. "I +remember her as one of the most delightful persons I ever met. She +was a spirited, intelligent, and pure-minded woman; and many are the +pleasant hours we have passed together. I was really grieved when +the Marquise de Bonaletta disappeared from court, and went into +retirement." + +"She left the court for love of my mother, whose marriage was a most +unhappy one; and who, although she had much strength of mind, had +not enough to cope with the malignity of the enemies that were of +her own household." + +"Your father was twice married, was he not?" + +"Yes, your highness; and, by his first marriage, had a son and a +daughter. With the latter, the present Duchess de la Roche Guyon, my +mother lived in perfect harmony, but her step-son, Barbesieur, hated +her, and finally caused her to quit her husband's house, and take +refuge with her mother, the Marchioness de Bonaletta." + +"I remember," returned the duchess. "Both ladies left Paris at the +same time, and nothing was ever heard of them afterward. They +retired to the country, did they not?" + +"Yes, your highness. My grandmother had inherited a handsome estate +from her husband; and thither they took refuge from the persecution +of Barbesieur--my brother, and yet the enemy who, before I had +attained my sixth year, had driven me to a state of orphanage, by +alienating from me my father's affection. Well--I scarcely missed +his protection, for dear mother's love filled up the measure of my +heart's cravings for sympathy, and her care supplied every +requirement of my mind. But my happiness was short-lived as a dream; +my mother's health had been sorely shattered by her many trials, and +I was not yet fourteen when it pleased God to take her to Himself." + +The duchess listened with tender sympathy. "I see, dear child," said +she, "that you are a loving daughter, for two years have gone by +since your misfortune, and yet your eyes are dim with tears." + +"Ah, your highness, time has increased, not lessened, my sorrow. The +longer the separation, the harder it is to bear, and I know not from +what source consolation is to flow. For a time, however, I had the +sympathy of my grandmother to soothe my grief. We visited her grave, +we spoke of her together. For love of her who was so eager for my +improvement, I applied myself heartily to my studies. Hoping, +believing that she looked down from heaven upon her child, I strove +to prove my love by cultivating to their utmost the powers which God +had bestowed upon me." + +"And no doubt you have become such a learned little lady, that you +will be quite formidable to such triflers as we," said the duchess, +with a smile. + +"No, indeed, dear lady. I am slightly proficient in music and +painting--these are my only accomplishments." + +"Ah, you love music? How it delights me to know this, for I, too, am +passionately fond of it! When I was a maiden in Heidelberg, I used +to roam about the woods, singing in concert with the larks and +nightingales; and my deceased father, the Elector Palatine, finally +declared that I was no German princess, but a metamorphosed lark, +whom he constantly expected to see spread out her wings, and depart +for Bird-land. Sometimes, when my reveries are mournful, I could +almost wish myself a lark, hovering over the fields that lie at the +foot of our dear castle at Heidelberg, or nestling among its towers, +wherein I have passed so many joyous hours. Now, if I were a Hindoo, +I would look forward with pleasure to the day of my transmigration; +for as a lark, I would fly to my dear native home, and sing the old +air of which my father was so fond:" + + "'The sky that bends over the Neckar is fair, + And its waters are kissed by the soft summer air'--" + +As the duchess attempted to hum this familiar strain, her voice grew +faint, and her eyes filled with tears. She dashed them hastily away. + +"My dear child," said she, after a pause, "I know not why your sweet +companionship should have brought to mind visions of home and +happiness that are long since buried in the grave of the past. I +seldom indulge in retrospection, Laura; it unfits me for endurance +of the heartless life we lead in Paris. But sometimes, when we are +alone, you will let me live over these sunny hours, and--" + +Again her voice faltered, and she buried her face in her hands, +while Laura looked on with sympathetic tears. + +There was a silence of several moments, at the end of which the +duchess gave a short sigh, and looked up. Her face was quite +composed, and, smiling affectionately upon her young companion, she +resumed their conversation. + +"And now, dear child, go on with what you were relating to me. My +little episode of weakness is ended, and I listen to your artless +narration with genuine pleasure. You lived with your grandmother on +her estate, and you were tenderly attached to each other?" + +"Yes, indeed, I loved my grandmother to adoration. My lonely heart +had concentrated all its love upon her who loved ME not only for my +own, but for my mother's sake; and we were beginning to find +happiness in our mutual affection, when death again snatched from me +my last stay, my only friend. My dear grandmother would have gone +joyfully, but for the sake of the poor child she was leaving behind. +When she felt her end approaching, she sent for my father, who +obeyed the summons at once. He arrived in time to receive her last +injunctions. They had a long private interview, at the end of which +I was called in, and formally delivered over to the guardianship of +my father, who promised me his love and protection. But my +grandmother added these words, which I have carefully treasured in +my memory:" + +"'If you should ever need advice or countenance from a woman, go to +the Duchess of Orleans. She is a virtuous and benevolent princess, +and will befriend you. With her for a protectress, you will be as +safe from harm as in the sheltering arms of your own mother.'" + +The duchess extended her hand. "I thank your grandmother, dear +child, for her confidence in my benevolence: if I have never +deserved it before, I will earn it now; and be assured that in me +you will find a loving protectress. But why should you need any +influence of mine? Your father is the most powerful subject at +court, and the whole world will be at your feet. Young, handsome, +and rich, every nobleman in France will be your suitor." + +"But I can never marry without love," replied Laura, +enthusiastically. "Love alone could reconcile me to the exigencies +of married life, and I must choose the man that is to rule over my +destiny. Let me be frank, and confess to your highness why I desire +to place myself under your protection. My father is trying to force +me into a marriage with the Marquis de Strozzi, the Venetian envoy. +He is young, handsome, rich, and may perhaps become Doge of Venice. +He is all this--but what are his recommendations to me? I do not +love him! More than that, he is the friend of Barbesieur, and +therefore I dislike him. The match, too, is of Barbesieur's making: +he it was that influenced my father to consent to it. I have already +declared that, sooner than marry the marquis, I will take the veil. +But my vocation is not for the cloister, and therefore I implore +your highness's protection. I beseech you, give me the place made +vacant by the marriage of your maid of honor, and save me from a +life of misery. In my father's house I am solitary and unloved: but +even loneliness of heart I could endure, if I were permitted to +endure it in peace! But a compulsory marriage is worse to me than +death! Save me, dear lady, and I will be the humblest and most +obedient of your subjects!" + +The duchess smilingly shook her head. "I am afraid," said she, "that +the daughter of Louvois will not be permitted to accept the office +you ask, my child. Do you know that my maids of honor are paid for +their services?" + +"Yes, your highness; but I crave permission to serve you without +salary. I am rich, and, as regards fortune, independent of my +father. On condition that I assume her name, my grandmother left me +the whole of her vast estates. I have wealth, then, more than enough +to gratify my wildest caprices;--but no mother--no friend. Oh, take +pity on me, and befriend a poor orphan!" + +"A poor orphan!" laughed the duchess. "A rich heiress, you mean--a +marchioness of fifteen years, who is possessed of sufficient +character to dispute the mandates of the powerful minister of the +King of France! But your resolute bearing pleases me. You are not +the puppet of circumstances, nor is your heart hardened by ambition. +It follows whither youthful enthusiasm beckons, and scorns the rein +of worldly restraint. I like your spirit, Laura, and I love YOU. You +may count upon me, therefore, as far as it lies in my power to serve +you. But understand that I am not a favorite at court. The king +honors me occasionally with his notice; but the two great magnates, +the 'powers that be,' De Montespan, and her rival De Maintenon, both +dislike me. They have reason to do so, for I do not love them. I am +at heart an honest German woman, and have no taste for gilded +corruption. I honor and love my brother-in-law, whom God preserve +and bless! But if the Lord would take these two marchionesses to +Himself, or send them below, to regions more congenial to their +tastes than heaven, I assure you that I would not die of grief at +their loss. De Montespan is merely a dissolute woman, who abandoned +her husband and children to become the mistress of a king. But that +De Maintenon! Her hypocrisy is enough to turn one's stomach. She not +only supplants her benefactress in the affections of her lover, but +dresses up her sins in the garments of a virtue, and affects piety! +She teaches his majesty to sin and pray, and pray and sin, hoping to +compound with Heaven for adultery, by sanctimony: perchance +expecting, as brokerage for her king's regenerated soul, an earthly +reward in the shape of a mantle edged with ermine! When I think of +that Iscariot in petticoats, I am ready to burst with indignation!" + +The duchess grew so excited that she had to wipe her face with her +embroidered handkerchief. After cooling herself for a few moments, +she resumed: + +"Yes! and to think that the princes of the blood and the queen +herself, are obsequious to these two lemans of a king! May I freeze +in the cold blast of royal disfavor, before I degrade my rank and +womanhood by such servility! And mark this well, little marchioness, +if you take service with me. Who goes to court with me, pays no +homage to the mistresses of the king.--But why do you kneel, my +child? What means this humility?" + +"How otherwise could I give expression to my reverence, my +admiration, my love?" exclaimed Laura, her countenance beaming with +beautiful enthusiasm. "And how otherwise could I thank my God that +so noble, so brave, so incomparable a woman is my protectress! Let +me kiss this honored hand that has never been contaminated by the +touch of corruption!" + +"You are a sweet enthusiast," said Elizabeth-Charlotte, bending down +and kissing Laura's brow. "In your eye there beams a light that +reveals to me a kindred spirit. Beautiful, young, hopeful though you +be (and I am none of these), there is a congeniality of soul between +us that leaps over all disparity, and proclaims us to be friends. +Come, dear child, to my heart." + +With a cry of joy, Laura threw herself into the arms of the duchess, +who held her fast, and kissed her o'er and o'er. + +"Sweet child," exclaimed she, "your spontaneous love is like a +flower springing from the hideous gaps of a grave. I greet it as a +gift of God, and it shall reanimate within me happiness and hope. +You are but fifteen, Laura, and I am a mature woman of thirty; but +my heart is as strong to love as yours; for many years it has pined +under clouds of neglect, but the sun of your sympathy has shone upon +it, and, warmed by its kindly beams, it will revive and bloom." + +"And oh how I shall love you in return!" cried the happy girl. "As a +mother whom I trust and revere--as a sister to whom I may confide my +girlish secrets--as a guardian angel whose blessing I shall implore. +But in the world, and when I bear your train, I will forget that I +am aught but the lowliest handmaiden of her royal highness, +Elizabeth-Charlotte, Duchess of Orleans." + +"And when we are alone and without witnesses, we will speak of those +we have loved; and I, alas! of some whom I have not loved; for, +Laura, MY marriage was a compulsory one. The altar on which I +pledged my faith was one of sacrifice; and I, the bride, the lamb +that was immolated for my country's good. Ah! many tears have I shed +since I was Duchess of Orleans; but your tender hand shall wipe them +away, and in your sweet society I shall grow joyous again. We will +sing the ditties of my fatherland; and, provided no one is within +hearing, I will teach you our German dances, which, because of the +corruption that dwells within their hearts, these French people +stigmatize as voluptuous. With such a birdling as you to carol +around me, the lark that once dwelt in my heart, will find its voice +again, and awake to sing a hymn of thankfulness to God, who has +enriched me with the blessing of your love." + +"And I, dear lady, will try to deserve the happiness He has +vouchsafed to me, by loving all His creatures--even Barbesieur +himself." + +"Ah! Barbesieur!" echoed the duchess, thoughtfully. "I doubt whether +he or your father will consent to give you to me, Laura. Nobody +knows better than Monsieur Louvois, how unimportant a personage at +court is the Duchess of Orleans." + +"He must give me to you or to the cloister," exclaimed Laura, +quickly. "And not only relinquish me, which would be no great loss, +but my worldly good, which are an important item in his estimation. +I am absolute mistress of my fortune, and nobody but the Chevalier +Lankey has a word to say in the matter. As for him--dear old fellow! +he is the tenderest guardian that ever pretended to have authority +over an heiress; and he loves me so sincerely, that if I were to +come and say that, to save me from misfortune, he must stab me to +the heart, he would do my bidding, and forthwith die of grief for +the act." + +"I can almost believe you, absurd child; for you are an enchantress, +and therefore irresistible." + +"Yes--I am irresistible," replied Laura, throwing her arms around +the duchess's neck, "and I vow and declare that it is my good +pleasure to live forever in the sunshine of your highness's +presence; so I consider myself as accepted and installed." + +"With all my heart, if your family be propitious! And with a view to +reconciling them, I must create an office for you of more dignity +than that of a mere maid of honor. You shall be lady of the +bedchamber; and I will announce your appointment with all due +formality to the king, the court, and my own household. You retain +the title of maid of honor, because that gives you the right to +remain constantly attached to my person; but, except on days of +extraordinary ceremony, you shall be dispensed with the duty of +following me as train-bearer." + +"I shall be dispensed with no such thing!" cried Laura, playfully; +"I do not intend to delegate my duties to anybody; above all, a duty +which to me will be a privilege." + +"We shall see, you self-willed girl," was the reply, "for I shall +forbid you in presence of my household, and, for decorum's sake, you +will be forced to obey. Neither shall you inhabit the third story of +the main palace, in common with the other maids of honor; you shall +occupy the pretty pavilion in the garden, and have an independent +household as befits your rank and fortune. Now, as regards your +table. You know that, by the laws of French etiquette, nobody is +permitted to sit at table with the princes or princesses of the +blood; and my lord, the duke, is so stringent in his observance of +these laws, that he would faint were he to witness a breach of them. +When his royal highness, then, dines with me, you will be served in +the pavilion, and are at liberty to invite whom you please to share +your repasts; but happily, I am honored with his presence but twice +a week; and on all other days, we shall breakfast and dine together. +The duke spends two days out hunting, and the other three with his +mistress, Madame de Rulhieres. You look surprised to hear me mention +this so coolly. Time was, when I felt humiliated to know that mine +were not the only children who kissed my husband, and called him +father. The caresses he bestowed upon his mistress, I never grudged. +She robbed me of nothing when she accepted them. As the wife of a +man whom I did not love, I could aspire to none of the joys of +wedded life; I have contented myself with fulfilling its duties, and +so conducting myself that I need never be ashamed to look my dear +children in the face. But enough of this: let us return to you. You +will keep your own carriage, use your own liveries, and be sole +mistress of your house and home, into which the Duchess of Orleans +shall not enter unannounced. You will find it larger than it looks +to be. It contains a parlor, sitting and dining rooms, a library +opening on the garden; a bed-room, three chambers for servants, and +two anterooms, large enough to accommodate your worshippers while +they await admission to your presence. This is all I have to offer +my lady of the bedchamber. May I hope that it is agreeable?" + +"Agreeable!" exclaimed Laura, affectionately. "It will place me on a +pinnacle of happiness. And now that I have heard of all the favors, +the privileges, and the honors that are to accrue to me from my +residence in the pavilion, will my gracious mistress deign to +instruct me as to the duties I am to perform, in return for her +bounty?" + +"Wilful creature, have I not already told you? On occasions of state +you are to be one of my trainbearers; and when his majesty comes to +visit me, you station yourself at my side. Then you are to drive out +with me daily, and as you alone will be with me in the carriage, we +can have many a pleasant chat, while the maids of honor come behind. +And we must be discreet, or they may inform monsieur of the +preference which madame has for her lady of the bedchamber; and +then, Heaven knows what the duke might do to us! Let us hope that he +would not poison you, as he did my poor little Italian greyhound, a +few weeks ago. He hated the dog because I loved it, and because it +was a present to me from my dear brother Carl. So be wary and +prudent, Laura: these maids of honor have sharp ears, and it is not +safe to talk when they are waiting in the anteroom, for some are in +the pay of De Maintenon and you will not have been here many days +before one of them is sold to your father. I can scarcely believe in +the reality of my new acquisition, for much as I regret to tell you +so, Laura, you cannot enter my service until Monsieur Louvois comes +hither to make the request himself. Otherwise, monsieur and Madame +de Maintenon would spread it about, that I had forcibly abducted the +Marchioness de Bonaletta, and torn her from her loving father's +arms." + +"My father will be here to-day to comply with all the formalities +that must precede my installation," replied Laura. "And, if your +highness will admit him, I shall have the happiness of being in your +train at the court-ball to-night." "Of course I must admit him, +since you will it, my queen of hearts. By what magic is it that you +have won my love so completely to-day, Laura?" + +"By the magic touch of my own heart that loves you so well, dear +lady--so well, that I ask no other boon of Heaven but that of +deserving and returning your affection." + +"Until some lover comes between us, and robs me of my treasure," +said the duchess, with a smile. "Have you seen the brigand yet? Do +you know him?" + +Laura laughed. "He is a myth--I have no faith in his existence," +said she. + +"He exists, nevertheless, my child, and will make his appearance +before long; for you are destined to have many suitors." + +"But none that approaches my ideal of manhood. Where shall I find +this hero of my dreams?--not at the court of France, your highness. +But--should he ever come out of the clouds, brave, noble, wise, as I +have pictured him, then, oh then! I should follow the destiny of +woman; leaving all other beings, even my gracious mistress herself, +to cleave unto him, and merge my soul in his! Were I to love, the +world itself would recede from view, leaving all space filled with +the image of the man I loved! Better he should never come down from +the moon--for, if he comes, I am lost!" + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE COURT-BALL. + + +The magnificent halls of the Louvre were open to receive the guests +of his majesty Louis XIV. Balls were "few and far between" at the +French court, and the festivities of the evening were significant, +as betokening triumph to De Montespan and mortification to De +Maintenon. + +For Louis, like Mohammed's coffin, was suspended between the heaven +of De Mainteuon's pious attractions, and the earth of De Montespan's +carnal fascinations. Neither the exhortations of Pere la Chaise, nor +the affectionate zeal of De Maintenon, had as yet overthrown the +power of De Montespan; and more than once, when wearied with the +solemn dulness of the former, had he sought refuge from drowsiness +in the rollicking companionship of the latter, who, if she was a +sinner, wore the livery of her master, and sinned honestly and +above-board. De Montespan always profited by these little intervals +of tenderness, to obtain some signal favor from Louis, which had the +effect of perplexing the court, and rendering it a doubtful matter +to those who would fain have gone over to the victorious party, +which of his two mistresses was truly sovereign of the king's +unstable affections. + +Such a concession was this ball, wrung from Louis, first by coaxing, +and finally by pouting and tears. De Montespan was elated, for it +was a double triumph; it was given at her request, and was to take +place on her birthday. + +And De Maintenon, of course, was proportionally crest-fallen. But, +after shedding just as many tears as she deemed appropriate, +Scarron's widow was clever enough to understand that wisdom lay in +acquiescence. She wiped her eyes, and suffered herself to be +caressed into a good-humor; was more amiable, more sprightly, more +fascinating than ever, with not a trace of disappointment in her +looks, save that which lay in the unusual paleness of her face. + +Louis was so touched by her magnanimity, that he absolutely begged +her pardon; and she was so overcome by the condescension of his +majesty, that she asked permission to be present at the ball. + +"He was only too happy!" that is to say, he did his best to conceal +his consternation at the unheard-of proposition. Sainte Maintenon at +a ball! What would she do in so unrighteous a place? And worse-- +still worse: what would his other charmer say when she heard of it? +What outbreak of indignation might not be expected, when De +Montespan was told that her ex-governess was to be present at a ball +given in her own honor? Between his saint and his sinner, Louis was +sorely perplexed. But he might have spared himself all uneasiness. +De Montespan was not in the least ruffled at the tidings; she rather +enjoyed the idea of setting off her own splendor against the +shabbiness of her rival. + +But the court was in a state of anxious excitement on the subject. +Everybody was dying of curiosity to see the meeting of the rivals, +and the effect that was to be produced by their presence on the poor +deserted queen. + +To which of the favorites will the king throw his handkerchief? With +which of the two will he converse most? Will he feel at ease as he +treads the minuet under the eyes of the devotee? Or will he venture +to recognize HER in presence of the courtesan? + +Such were the questions that were continually asked, but never +answered by the elegant crowd which thronged the halls of the palace +that evening. The rencontre of Eugene and Barbesieur was for the +moment forgotten. It was not likely that either one of the +disputants would venture to appear at court, until the king had +decided to which party belonged the blame of the affray; but, as +regarded the brush that was imminent between the king's mistresses, +that was a matter which concerned everybody, and everybody was in a +flutter to know the result. + +The lord chamberlain having announced that the court was about to +make its entrance, the throng pressed forward to the Gallery of +Apollo. Four immense chandeliers lit up the gorgeous frescoes on the +ceiling, and poured a flood of radiance upon the line of stately +courtiers and elegant women who were the guests of the king's leman +that night. The ladies coquetted with their large fans, whispered +with the cavaliers close by, and dispensed smiles and bewitching +glances upon those who were too far for speech until the master of +ceremonies flung open the doors, and announced "his majesty the +king." + +There was at once profound silence; and in a moment every head was +bent, and every eye sought the floor. The men bowed low, the women +courtesied lower, and nothing was to be seen but a chaos of jewels, +velvet, brocade, and llama, surmounted by feathered, flowered, or +ringleted heads, and long, flowing wigs. + +The one personage who had the right to hold himself erect in the +presence of this reverential multitude--the king--appeared, followed +by a glittering train of marshals, chamberlains, officers of the +royal household, and pages. His majesty traversed the gallery and +approached the throne, which, for this festive occasion, was hung +with white velvet, studded with golden lilies. Not far from the +royal arm-chair stood a lady, whose sad eyes looked wearily upon the +pageant, and whose pallid lips had long since forgotten how to +smile. It was Maria Theresa, the queen. She had made her entry +before the king, but it had scarcely been remarked. She was a +deserted wife, and, being without influence at court, had no favors +to bestow. She was, therefore, altogether sans consequence. + +Nevertheless, she was the queen-consort, and Louis, extending his +hand, and inclining his royal head, assisted her to mount the +throne. As soon as the kingly pair were seated, his majesty's voice +was heard-- + +"My guests are welcome." + +As if by enchantment, feathers, flowers, curls, and wigs, all rose +up out of chaos, and every eye was turned upon the handsome person +of the sovereign. + +While all this had been going on Eugene of Savoy stood erect, nor +once cast down his flashing eyes before the lightning of the royal +presence. He had entered quietly, had retired to the recess of a +window, and, as the crowd had simultaneously become a heap of +garments, he had curled his lip in contempt. Suddenly his eye grew +soft, and his mouth relaxed into a smile. Not far from the throne he +had seen one head--one beautiful head, and had met the glance of a +pair of glorious eyes, which were quietly surveying the scene, and, +as Eugene thought, enjoying it with an expression of suppressed +amusement. + +Who could she he, that, while every other person there had lost his +individuality and merged it into one monstrous concretion of +obsequiousness, had preserved her balance, and stood undazzled by +the rays of the sun of France? As young as she was lovely, whence +came the mingled self-possession and unconsciousness which made her +an observer instead of a worshipper? Eugene had never seen this +beautiful creature before; but from the depths of her starry eyes +there streamed a light that went straight to his heart, making +strange revelation of some half-forgotten bliss which, in an +anterior state of being, might once have been his own. + +But how came she hither? What had her fair, unclouded brow, her +innocent face, her maidenly bearing in common with the vain, +voluptuous, and corrupt women around, who were so lost to shame as +not only to do homage to the king's mistresses, but to envy them the +infamous distinction of his preference? + +Their eyes met; and in her glance of astonishment Eugene fancied +that he saw mirrored his own surprise at her extraordinary defiance +of courtly servility. She too seemed to ask, "How is it that you +stand so proudly erect, when every other head is bent in reverence +before our sovereign? Who are you, that presume to--" + +But the king and his suite passed between them, and the beautiful +face was lost to sight. In its place, Eugene beheld the haughty +monarch who had caused such bitter tears to flow from the eyes of +his dear, exiled mother; and the thought of that beloved mother led +to remembrance of his father's death, and to the tyranny which would +make of his father's son an unwilling priest. + +Meanwhile the king had seated himself on the throne, and the princes +and princesses of the blood had approached to pay their homage. Not +a sound was heard in that splendid gallery, save the subdued tones +of Louis, who was conversing with the Duke of Orleans; for, until +the former rose to make his grande tournee, etiquette required of +his adoring subjects to be dumb. + +A slight hum, however, began to be heard at the lower end of the +hall, and all eyes were turned toward the door which opened to admit +the woman whom the king delighted to honor. + +Her tall figure was set off to great advantage by a dress of purple +velvet, embroidered with silver. From her voluptuous shoulders +drooped a mantle, edged with richest ermine; and her swelling bust +was scarcely concealed by a drapery of silvered gauze. On her bosom +she wore a fleur de lis composed of emeralds, pearls, and diamonds, +and on her magnificent brow glittered a diadem of brilliants worthy +the acceptance of an empress. + +So haughty was her bearing, and so obsequious were the salutations +which greeted her entrance, that hut for the pale statue that +occupied a seat next the king, Madame de Montespan might have been +mistaken for the queen. + +Eugene's eyes had sought and found the young girl, whose sweet +vision had been displaced by the king, but who now, in full view of +the company, stood immediately behind the chair of the Duchess of +Orleans. Would she bow her incomparable head before that exalted +harlot? Would she outrage her maidenhood by acknowledgment of De +Montespan's title to consideration? No! Thank God, she was true to +her pure, womanly instincts. Her face crimsoned, her delicate brows +were slightly drawn together, and her head was unconsciously raised, +as if in protest against the public scandal of this woman's +intrusion. + +When Eugene saw this, his heart leaped with joy, and he yearned to +throw himself at her feet. + +"In Heaven's name who can she be, that fairy-queen, who fears not +mortal man?" thought he. "Who--" + +But suddenly his eye shot fire, and the expression of his face was +transformed. He had met the glance of Barbesieur Louvois, who, under +shelter of De Montespan's favor with Louis, and the protection of +his father, had intruded himself into the company of the proudest +nobles in France. How was it possible that the master of ceremonies +had allowed to a disgraced man the privilege of appearing before the +king and queen? + +"Gracious Heaven!" thought Eugene, "are honor and shame but empty +words? Is this, indeed, the Marchioness de Montespan, whose entrance +is greeted like that of a sovereign, while the Countess de Soissons +wanders in foreign lands, a fugitive from justice? Justice?--No! A +fugitive from oppression, and the kinsman who should have protected +her--her oppressor! And is yonder swaggering cavalier the caitiff +whose back is smarting with the lash of my hunting-whip? And those +smiling courtiers there, who take him by the hand--are they the +noblemen that upheld me in the act? By Heaven, they greet him as +though, like me, his veins were blue with the blood of kings! But +no!--not all! The Princes of Conti have refused to recognize him: +they bow to the minister of war, but pass without a word to his son. +For that act I shall hold them 'in my heart of hearts,' nor forget +their manliness while I live to honor worth and scorn servility!" + +Eugene looked affectionately at his cousins, until his eyes filled +with tears of gratitude; but they were unconscious of the comfort +they had ministered to his wounded heart, for they were not aware of +his presence in the ballroom. + +The king had not yet ended his long conversation with the Duke of +Orleans. The company stood still and expectant, and the Marchioness +de Montespan began to exhibit signs of impatience. She had hoped +that the ceremonial of compliments to and from the royal family +would have been over before her entrance; and now that she had been +there fully ten minutes, the king seemed as unconscious of her +presence as ever. + +But--thank Heaven! the colloquy was at an end; the king has risen, +and has signified to the queen that the princesses of the blood may +rise also. He descends from his throne, and De Montespan's heart is +wild with joy. The moment of her triumph approaches; Louis is about +to lead her out for the minuet, and so proclaim her queen of the +festival. She smiles ineffably; in her eagerness, she almost, rises +from her tabouret to meet him, but--what can he intend to do? Has he +not seen her?--He turns away, and--now he extends his hand to +another! + +De Montespan was perfectly overwhelmed, and, all etiquette +forgetting, she actually rose from her seat and took a step forward, +that she might see who was the person that had been so singularly +honored by the king. + +Who was it? Why, nobody but Sainte Maintenon, who, without pomp or +parade, had entered the room, and had taken her tabouret with as +much simplicity as she would have seated herself in church. + +Her toilet, as well as her demeanor, presented a singular contrast +with that of her sparkling rival. Her dress was of dark velvet, +buttoned up to the throat. Her wealth of beautiful black hair was +fastened up with a barbe of gossamer lace, and the only ornament she +wore around her neck was a delicate gold chain, to which was +attached a miniature of Louis set in superb brilliants. + +And upon this wearisome, insipid, old-fashioned puppet, the King of +France had bestowed his attentions. De Montespan would have given +her diadem to have been permitted to vent her humiliation in tears; +but pride restrained her, while she looked on, and saw how the king +led De Maintenon to the queen, an honor hitherto reserved for +princesses of the blood. And with what feline humility she knelt and +pressed her majesty's hands to her unholy lips! Oh! De Montespan +could have taken her life when she saw this! + +And she--she for whom this gay assemblage were called together, sat +unnoticed and alone; her expected triumph, defeat--every hope she +had cherished of love reciprocated, and ambition gratified, +transformed into despair, by one little act. The king had given his +hand to her rival! + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE LADY OF THE BEDCHAMBER. + + +The conversation between the king, the queen, and Madame de +Maintenon, was long and interesting. When she saw the former rise +and incline his head, De Montespan's heart fluttered with +expectation; but his majesty stopped before the Duchess of Orleans, +and there he lingered so long that everybody wondered what could be +the attraction there. Presently Elizabeth-Charlotte turned to the +young girl who stood beside her, and presented her to the king. How +beautiful she was! How enchanting her smile, how charming her +blushes! + +She was evidently a stranger, and De Montespan set her down as an +enemy, for she had not complied with the customs of the court, by +which every lady introduced there was expected to leave a card for +the mistress of the king. An enemy, then, she must be--perchance, a +rival! But who was she? + +"Yes, who is she?" thought Prince Eugene, as, transfixed with +admiration, he gazed upon her lovely face. "I must know," exclaimed +he aloud, while he pressed forward to make the inquiry. + +There was no one near to whom he could address himself, for he now +for the first time remarked that he stood quite alone. He began to +be aware that his friends were shy and kept aloof; but Eugene had +come to this ball to prove that the son of the Countess de Soissons +was not to be browbeaten by king or courtier; and he went on and on +until he stood so near to Louis that he could look him full in the +eye. + +The grand monarque knit his brows, and presumed that the Prince of +Savoy would understand the hint, and withdraw; but Eugene paid no +attention to the Olympic frown, or affected not to see it. + +Louis, who had been chatting with the little Duke of Maine, strode +angrily forward and addressed the prince: + +"I judge from your eyes, little abbe, that you have come hither to +ask some favor of us to-night?" + +"Then my eyes belie my purpose, your majesty," replied Eugene, +quietly. "I have no favor to ask of any one." + +"I understand," said the king, slightly raising his shoulders. "You +have come for an answer to your last petition?" + +"Pardon me, sire, I have presented no petition whatever to your +majesty." + +"If you have not, your mother, the Countess de Soissons, has +presented one for you. She begged me, not long ago, to appoint you +prebendary of a cathedral: as she has thought proper to abscond from +my dominions, I have had no opportunity of answering her request. +When you write to her, you can tell her that it is refused. Prince +Eugene of Savoy leads too worldly a life to deserve promotion in the +church. Bullies are not apt to distinguish themselves as +ecclesiastics." + +"Sire, I thank your majesty; for the sentiments to which you have +just given utterance release me from further obligation to enter +upon a career for which I have neither inclination nor calling." + +To these bold words Louis vouchsafed no answer. He annihilated the +offender with a glance, and passed on. Then turning to the Duke of +Orleans, he said in a voice that was intended to be generally heard, +"I cannot imagine what that little abbe of Savoy wants here to- +night. His face brings me bad luck." [Footnote: The king's own +words.--See "Memoirs of the Duke de St. Simon," vol. x] + +This was enough to damn Eugene forever at the French court. It was +the anathema maranatha of his sovereign, and cast him out from +association with all loyal subjects. Nobody in those vast halls +would have been seen in his vicinity; his best friends would not now +have ventured one look of sympathy or kindness toward a nobleman so +publicly and pointedly insulted by royalty. He was henceforth a +proscribed man. + +The Princes de Conti were sorely grieved, but they dared, no more +than their compeers, risk the displeasure of the king by upholding +their outraged kinsman. The eldest one, however, managed to whisper +a word or two in passing. + +"Dear Eugene," said he, "do be reasonable, and put an end to this +abominable scene by going home. Our hearts are all with you, but we +dare not affront the king by the smallest demonstration on your +behalf; he is looking out for it, and would revenge himself +effectually. We went this morning with De la Roche Guyon to Louvois, +and obtained his sacred promise to ignore your difficulty with his +son, and allow it to be settled between yourselves. But he has +evidently not kept his word; for the affair has been misrepresented +to the king, and the insult you have received is a proof of it. Go +away for a few weeks until it blows over, and all will have been +forgotten." + +"I have no desire to have my affairs forgotten; I trust that they +may be remembered," replied Eugene. "But hark! the music.--We are to +have the ineffable privilege of seeing the king dance. Doubtless you +have already secured a partner, and I will not detain you." + +The music was heard, and his majesty went through the usual form of +requesting the queen to open the ball. She answered, as she was +expected to do, that her health was too feeble for her to enjoy +dancing, and she hoped his majesty would excuse her, and find +another partner. + +This was always a time of suspense and excitement at court-balls; +for the lady who was then selected by the king was, de facto, the +queen of the festival. The minuet's enticing measure was calling +upon its votaries to commence; but, until the king had made his +choice, no one could stir. + +Madame de Montespan's heart began to throb anew with hope. 'This +time she was sure of being chosen, for De Maintenon did not dance; +and, after all, what signified a few words with the queen, compared +with the glory of being led out to the dance by the king? + +Her eyes sparkled with animation, her mouth began to ripple with +happy smiles, and oh! triumph and joy! the king was seen coming in +that direction. + +But again he stopped to speak with the Duchess of Orleans. What +could he want of her? If De Montespan had been within hearing, she +need not have wondered, for Louis merely requested the pleasure of +her hand for the dance. + +Elizabeth-Charlotte looked up in astonishment. + +"I hope I have not fallen into disfavor," said Louis, answering the +look. "You are not about to refuse me?" + +"Oh, sire," replied his sister-in-law, laughing, "I am merely +overcome with your condescension. But your majesty knows," continued +she, seriously, "that since my father's death I have never danced. I +was enjoying myself in this very hall while he was expiring at home; +and from that unhappy day I have never desired to dance again. +Moreover, I am a miserable partner, and you would be ashamed of me." + +"How ashamed?" asked Louis, amused at his sister-in-law's +artlessness. + +"I mean, sire, that strive as I will, I am always behind-hand in a +dance. I am like the snail, who, being invited to a wedding, arrived +there a year after, and found herself the first guest that had come +to the christening. As she entered the garden she fell into a ha-ha, +whereupon she said, 'More haste, worse speed.'" + +Louis laughed heartily. "Then I am refused, dear sister," said he, +"and I must acquiesce in your decision. But I must have satisfaction +for the affront. You must find a substitute." + +"A substitute!" exclaimed the duchess, reddening with anger, as she +fancied she saw the king's eyes wander to the tabouret whereon De +Montespan still waited and smiled. "Surely, your majesty would not +ask of me--" + +"Why not?" cried Louis, enjoying her perplexity. "Why may I not ask +you to procure me a substitute of your own selection? It is not much +for you to do--is it?" + +As he spoke, the eyes of the king rested unequivocally upon an +object which he perceived just behind the chair of the duchess. She +understood, and hastened to repair her blunder. "Sire," said she +"may I ask of your majesty a favor? My new lady of the bedchamber +has just arrived in Paris, where she is a perfect stranger. Will you +be so gracious as to give her this proof of your royal favor? She is +not only my favorite attendant, but the daughter of your majesty's +minister of war, and--" + +"And she is, above all things, herself--the beautiful Marchioness de +Bonaletta," interrupted the king, with somewhat of his youthful +courtliness and grace. "You propose her as your substitute, do you +not?" + +"Yes, sire--if your majesty is so good." + +"So good! I shall esteem myself most happy in the acquisition of so +charming a partner. Does the Marchioness de Bonaletta consent?" + +With these words, Louis offered his hand; and Laura, without +embarrassment or presumption, accepted the honor conferred upon her, +and was led out to the dance. A murmur of admiration followed her +appearance, but she seemed quite unconscious of the impression she +had made. Her lovely countenance was neither lit up by pride, nor +suffused by bashfulness. Her cheeks were slightly flushed by natural +modesty, and her sweet, unaffected bearing enhanced her incomparable +beauty of person. + +Even De Montespan herself could not withhold her tribute of +admiration. At first she had darted glances of hatred toward an +imaginary rival; but, a calm survey of Laura's pure and angelic +expression of face reassured her. This girl had no mind to entrap +the king, and if Louis had not courage enough to dance with HER (De +Montespan), in presence of that canting hypocrite De Maintenon, +perhaps it was quite as well that he had provided himself with a +partner sans coquetterie, and therefore sans consequence. + +Madame de Maintenon, too, had remarked Laura, as, gracefully +emerging from her concealment behind the seat of the duchess, she +had unostentatiously accepted the king's invitation to dance. + +"What a union of tact with tenderness of heart is apparent in all +that his majesty does," said she to the Duke de Maine, who was +standing beside her. "This young girl is the personification of +innocence and purity, and his majesty's selection of her as his +partner proves that he not only desires to pay homage to youth and +beauty, but also to virtue and modesty." + +"How beautiful she is!" murmured a young cavalier, who, with +Barbesieur Louvois, was watching the dancers. + +"Why do you sigh?" replied Barbesieur. "You ought rather to be proud +of your future bride." + +"My future bride!" echoed he, dolefully. "I would she were, my dear +friend. But although your father has so graciously given his +consent, I am as far from obtaining her as ever." + +"It you wait for that," whispered Barbesieur in return, "you may +wait until the day of judgment. My sister is one of those +incomprehensible beings that loves opposition for opposition's sake. +If she is disdainful, it is precisely because she is quite as much +enamored of you as you are of her. She is a sort of chaste Artemis +who is ashamed of her preference for a man, and would die rather +than confess it." + +"She enchants me at one moment, and drives me to despair the next," +sighed the marquis. + +"No need for despair," was the reply. "My dear marquis," continued +Barbesieur, coming close to the ear of the Italian, "what will you +give me if I promise that you shall become her husband?" + +The eyes of the marquis glowed with desire, and his swarthy face was +tinged with red. "What would I give?" cried he, as he caught a +glimpse of Laura on the dance. "The half of my fortune, the half of +my life, if, with one half of either, I might call her mine!" + +"Nay," said Barbesieur, with a sinister laugh, "I am neither robber +nor devil. I wish neither your fortune nor your soul in exchange for +my wares. Laura is so headstrong, that she will have to be forced +into happiness, and made to take what even now she is longing to +snatch. So if I make you both happy, you will not then object to +giving me a few of the crumbs that fall from your table?" + +"I will give you any thing you desire, and my eternal gratitude to +boot, if you will help me to become possessor of that angel." + +"I am passionately fond of hunting, and the Marchioness de Bonaletta +has the most tempting bit of woods that ever made a hunter's heart +ache to call it his. Now if you marry Laura, you become her +guardian, and have absolute power over her property." + +"I care nothing for her property," cried the marquis, passionately. +"Her beauty, her sweetness, and her noble birth, are wealth enough +for me. In the golden book of Venice the name of the richest noble +there inscribed is the Strozzi." + +"Everybody knows that, dear marquis, and therefore you will not +refuse the reward I claim from my sister's own possessions. 'Tis but +meet that she make a present to her brother on her wedding-day. So, +then, we understand each other: immediately after the ceremony of +your marriage, you make out a deed by which you relinquish to me the +usufruct of the Bonaletta estates in Savoy for life. Who gets them +after me, I care not." + +"I consent; and add thereunto a yearly pension of one thousand +ducats. Does that content you?" + +"Your liberality is really touching. A thousand ducats to boot! They +will fall like a refreshing shower into a purse that is always as +empty as the sieves of the Danaides. It is a bargain. YOU wed Laura +Bonaletta, and _I_ get her estates, and one thousand ducats a year." + +"Here is my hand." + +"And mine. In one month you shall both be on your way to Venice; you +a happy bridegroom, and she--your bride." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE LADY OF THE BEDCHAMBER. + + +The dance was over, and the king reconducted Laura to her chaperone. +"My dear sister," said he, "the fascinations of the partner you +selected for me are almost enough to reconcile one to a refusal from +yourself. I am convinced that I have been the envy of every cavalier +present. I withdraw, therefore, that I may not stand in the way of +the fair Laura's admirers." + +And gracefully saluting his partner, the royal flirt betook himself +at last to poor De Montespan, who had tact enough to smother her +chagrin, and give him a cordial reception. It was better to be +noticed late than never. + +"Your highness," whispered Laura, bending over the back of the +duchess's chair, "pray command me not to dance any more. Do you see +that swarthy, sinister face over there, close to Barbesieur? It is +the Marquis de Strozzi staring at me already. He is about to come +hither, and if you do not assist me I shall have to dance with him." + +"Never fear, darling," whispered the duchess in return. "They shall +not rob me of you so soon. Take your place, and, being on duty, no +one can claim you, were it the wild hunter himself." + +Laura hastened to resume her station, and, in doing so, glanced +toward the window, where stood the pale young man whom she had +noticed before. Their eyes met again, and again she blushed. Laura +bent her head, and, feigning to arrange a displaced ringlet on the +head of her mistress, she said, in low, earnest tones: "Pardon me, +gracious mistress; but will you tell me who is that young cavalier +in the recess of the window opposite?" + +"Certainly, my dear," replied the duchess in the same tone of voice. +"He is one whom all the courtiers avoid to-night--miserable +timeservers as they are--for he has fallen into disgrace with your +father and the king. He is Prince Eugene of Savoy." + +"Prince Eugene!" echoed Laura. "He who laid the weight of his whip +over Barbesieur's shoulders this morning!" + +"Yes, the same, and he has been publicly rebuked for it to-night. +Your father has received full satisfaction, Laura; for, not only has +his majesty offered a pointed slight to the man who disgraced +Barbesieur, but he has paid him a signal compliment by opening the +ball with his sister." + +"If I had imagined that any thought of Barbesieur mingled with the +compliment paid me by the king, I would have refused to dance with +him." + +The duchess looked up astounded. "Why, Laura, such an insult to his +majesty would almost amount to treason. For Heaven's sake, never +utter such sentiments at court, child!" + +"What care I for the court?" cried Laura, her eyes filling with +tears. "I am overwhelmed with the shame of having been made use of +as a tool wherewith to humiliate the noble Prince de Carignan! But I +shall repair the wrong I have done him, and that in presence of the +court!" + +"Thoughtless, impulsive child, what would you do?" said Elizabeth- +Charlotte, anxiously. "I really believe you are ready to go up and +give him a kiss, by way of proving that you are not a party to his +humiliation to-night!" + +"Perhaps I am!" exclaimed Laura, passionately. "The prince was right +to punish Barbesieur for his cowardly attack upon a noble lady; and +my brother-in-law, De la Roche Guyon, was one of those who justify +him. I, too, applaud his spirit; for, in avenging his mother, ho +avenged mine. This morning, when no king was by to uphold the +calumniator, all these nobles were the friends of the prince, and +not one of them would lift the gauntlet which, with his brave hand, +he flung to the world. And to-night they desert him!--They are not +worthy to touch the hem of his garment!--But I will take his hand-- +the noble hand that had disgraced his mother's traducer beyond the +power of royalty to undo!" + +"You will do no such thing, you dear little madcap!" returned the +duchess, glancing admiringly at the beaming countenance of the +beautiful enthusiast. "You have a brave heart, dear child; but you +must not allow it to run away with your judgment. You must keep your +place at my side, nor let magnanimity get the better of discretion. +The latter is a cardinal virtue in woman. But--see how the Marquis +de Strozzi devours us with his eyes; he is waiting until I cease +speaking to come forward and claim your hand. Be comforted--he shall +not have it. Here he comes--let the chamberlain have a chance to +present him." + +So saying, she turned away from Laura, and began to fan herself +vigorously, while the marquis and the chamberlain advanced. + +"Your royal highness," said the latter, reverentially, "may I +present the Marquis de Strozzi?" + +"I am acquainted with him," interrupted the duchess. "He needs no +introduction. How do you like Paris, marquis? Why are you not +dancing this evening?" + +"Your royal highness has anticipated my wishes," was the reply. "I +am anxious to dance, and crave your permission to offer my hand to +the Marchioness de Bonaletta." + +"I regret to disoblige you," answered the duchess, "but you see that +she is on duty, and etiquette forbids her to leave her post, except +for two dances. His majesty has had the first, and for the second +she is engaged." + +"Then I shall follow her example, and decline to dance," returned De +Strozzi, with his burning glances rivetted upon Laura's face. + +She drew back haughtily. "The Marquis de Strozzi will oblige me by +following the example of some other person. I have no desire to be +remarked by him in any way." + +The marquis's brow grew dark, and his eyes glowed like coals of +fire. But he made an attempt to smile as he replied, "However I +might be inclined to obey your commands, I have it not in my power +to comply with a request so unreasonable." + +The duchess saw how the crimson blood was mantling in the cheeks of +her "dear little madcap," and she thought it prudent to put an end +to the skirmish by rising from her seat. + +"I will take a turn through the ballroom," said she. "Come, +marchioness." + +She came down from the platform reserved to the various members of +the royal family, and mingled with the gay groups below, addressing +here and there a greeting to her friends, or stopping to receive +their heartfelt homage. Side by side came the duchess and her lady +of the bedchamber; the latter all unconscious of her beauty, +enjoying the scene with the zest of youth, unmindful of the fact +that at every step she took, her admirers increased, until the +cortege was as long as the trail of a comet. + +But one face she sees--the noble countenance of Prince Eugene--who, +as she approaches the window near which he stands, looks as though +the morning sun had shone upon his heart, driving away all darkness +and all night. She sees that joyous look, and with a wild bound her +heart leaps to meet his. Her brow crimsons with shame, and she +presses close to the duchess, as if to seek protection from her own +emotion. + +Elizabeth-Charlotte misunderstood the movement, or she may have +guessed the longing that was struggling with decorum in the heart of +her young attendant. She advanced toward the prince, and signed for +him to approach. + +Eugene started forward and stood directly in front of them. "How is +the Princess de Carignan?" asked the duchess, kindly, "and why is +she not here to-night? I hope she is not indisposed!" + +"Your highness," returned Eugene, with a smile, "she is ill with a +malady that has attacked every member of our family." + +"What malady, prince?" + +"The malady of royal disfavor, your highness." + +"That is indeed a fearful malady, prince, for it rarely attacks the +innocent." + +"Pardon me, your highness," returned Eugene, calmly, "since the +death of Cardinal Mazarin 'tis a heritage in our family, and--" + +"Madame," said a voice behind the duchess, "be so good as to take my +arm. The queen desires your attendance." + +Eugene looked up, and saw a small, effeminate personage, +magnificently attired, and wearing the broad, blue band of the order +of St. Louis. He recognized the king's brother, the Duke of Orleans. + +The duchess, with a sigh, laid her arm within that of her husband; +but, disregarding his frowns, she remained to say a parting word to +the victim of kingly displeasure. + +"Give my regards to the princess, your grandmother, and tell her +that if her indisposition lasts, I will go in person to express my +sympathy with you both." + +"Madame," said the duke, angrily, while, with little regard to +courtesy, he almost dragged her along with him, "you will do no such +thing. I cannot understand your audacity; still less will I +countenance it. The Prince of Savoy has been so pointedly slighted +by his majesty, that no one dares be seen conversing with him; it +seems to me that you set a shameful example to the court by noticing +one whom your king has been pleased to reprove." + +"It seems to me that my example would be worse, were I to ignore my +acquaintances because they happen to be momentarily out of favor at +court," replied Elizabeth-Charlotte. "Such miserable servility may +beseem a courtier, but it ill becomes our princely station. And if +the king speaks to me on the subject, I shall say as much to him, +for his majesty has a noble heart and will approve my independence." + +While their royal highnesses were thus interchanging opinions on the +subject of court ethics, a scene was being enacted behind them, +which, had he witnessed it, would have called forth the indignation +of the duke. + +The Marchioness Bonaletta, as a matter of course, had followed her +mistress; but during his short colloquy with the latter, Eugene had +received so sweet a smile from her attendant, that he followed at a +distance; resolved, since he could do no more, to gaze at her until +the ball was over. In spite of the throng which closed as fast as +the ducal pair went by, Eugene saw that the marchioness had dropped +her fan. It became entangled in the train of another lady, and +finally was dragged to the floor. + +Eugene rescued it from destruction, and hastened with it to its +owner, who appeared just to have discovered her loss. + +"You are looking for your fan?" said he, with a beaming smile. + +"Yes, prince," replied she, giving him in return a look that almost +maddened him with joy--it was so kind, so gentle, so sympathizing. + +"I have been so fortunate as to find it," replied he, in a voice +whose music thrilled the heart of her to whom he spoke. "And to be +permitted to return it to you, confers upon me the first pleasurable +sensation I have felt since I entered this unfriendly palace to- +night." + +"I am happy to have been the means," she began. But just then the +Duke of Orleans turned around, and his indignation may be imagined +when he saw the Prince of Savoy in conversation with a lady of the +duchess's household! + +"Call your lady of the bedchamber hither," said he, imperiously. +"That little abbe has the assurance to follow us, as though to defy +his majesty, and prove to the court that, if nobody else esteems +him, he has friends in the household of the Duchess of Orleans. Send +that young lady on some errand." + +The duchess walked a few steps farther, then turning around she +beckoned to Laura. "Come, Marchioness de Bonaletta, I must present +you to the queen." + +"Ah!" thought Eugene, as he took up his position in the window +again, "if I may not follow her, at least I know her name! +Marchioness Bonaletta--what a pretty name it is! I have never heard +it before, nor have I ever seen any thing that reminded me of her +lovely person. 'Tis plain that she is a stranger at this corrupt +court. Those limpid eyes, that brow of innocence, those heavenly +smiles--O my God! what sudden thrill of joy is this which pervades +my being? What flood of ecstasy is this which drowns my soul in +bliss! Oh, angel of beauty--" + +But his raptures were suddenly brought to a close by the sight of +Louvois, who with his son joined the party of the Duchess of +Orleans. He did not like to see him so near his angel; but his +uneasiness increased to positive pain when he saw her extend her +hand, and greet him with one of her sweetest smiles. + +"So," thought Eugene, "she is like the rest! Louvois is the favorite +of the king, and of De Maintenon, and therefore she greets him as +though he were a near and dear friend. But what is it to me? I came +here to show his majesty that I shall maintain my rights in the face +of his displeasure, and here I shall remain, though she and every +other woman here do homage to my foes. What is the Marchioness +Bonaletta to me?" + +But, in spite of himself, his eyes would wander to the spot where +she stood, and his heart seemed ready to burst when he beheld +Barbesieur approach her. He spoke to her and she answered him; but +Eugene could see that she was displeased. Could he have heard the +words she addressed to Barbesieur, he would have hated himself for +his unworthy suspicions, and would have acknowledged that she was +not like the rest. + +"So my lovely sister has refused to dance with the Marquis de +Strozzi?" said Barbesieur. + +"Yes," was the curt reply. + +"And may one venture to inquire why?" + +She darted a glance of contempt at him. "Because he is your friend." + +Barbesieur laughed. "I really believe that you are in earnest, my +candid sister. It is enough for a man to be my friend to earn your +enmity." + +"You are right," said she, deliberately. + +"But you will hardly go so far as to say that it suffices for a man +to be my foe, to be your friend," said he with an ugly frown. + +"What if it were so?" said she. + +"If it were so, I would advise my sister not to provoke me too far. +I would advise her not to make any more demonstrations of regard to +the little abbe of Savoy, and to remember that she is my sister." + +"When I heard of all that took place this morning at the Pre aux +Clercs," said Laura, "I remembered it to my shame and sorrow." + +Barbesieur grew pale with rage and hissed into his sister's ear-- +"Have a care, girl, how you rouse me to retaliation! I can crush you +like a worm under my heel; and as for yonder princely beggar, be +assured that I shall remember him to his cost." + +"Which means that you will bring suit against him, and obtain +damages," replied she, contemptuously; "for you know that the Prince +of Savoy will not condescend to fight a duel with Barbesieur de +Louvois." + +"I would not make myself ridiculous by fighting with such an apology +for a man; but I will crush him as I would any other reptile that +attempts to injure me. There shall not be a day of his life that +does not bring him some pang which he shall owe to the hate of +Barbesieur de Louvois. And I counsel YOU not to imitate his +audacity, for--" + +"Why, you scarcely expect me to bestow a horsewhipping upon you?" +laughed Laura. "But I am not afraid of you, Barbesieur; it is not in +your power to injure me." + +"If you are not afraid of me, so much the worse for you; I should +have thought that you had learned from your mother, how Barbesieur +de Louvois nurses his hate, and how it blossoms into misery for +those on whom he bestows it." + +Laura's eyes filled with tears, and her voice faltered. "I did learn +it from her martyrdom; but she was not like me. She submitted where +I would resist." + +"Resistance will only increase the bitterness of your punishment, +and once more I warn you not to make friends of my enemies, and not +to offer slights to my friends. The Marquis de Strozzi wishes to +marry you; your father is anxious for the match--SO AM _I_, and you +shall marry the marquis, of that be assured. He has asked you to +dance, to-night, and you shall dance with him, too. This plea of an +engagement is a falsehood. Where is your partner?" + +"I will remind him of our engagement, now that I am prepared to +fulfil mine," answered Laura, And, yielding to an impulse of +aversion to Barbesieur, resolved to give him then and there proof +unquestionable of her contempt; impelled, too, by an enthusiastic +longing to sympathize with one whom all had united to slight, and +forgetful of the social restraints which it is always unwise for a +woman to overleap, Laura pressed through the crowds that were +assembling for the dance, and stepped so proudly by, that all +wondered at the solemn earnestness of her mien, more resembling that +of a priestess than of a young maiden at her first ball. + +If all other eyes were gazing upon her, those of Eugene were riveted +upon her advancing figure with mingled rapture and wonder. He had +long since forgotten the rudeness of the king and the contumely of +his courtiers. Laura's image filled his heart, and left no space +therein for painful emotions. He had watched her countenance while +Barbesieur had been speaking to her, and had guessed that their +colloquy was anything but friendly. He had seen her turn suddenly +away, and now she came nearer and nearer, until her dazzled +worshipper lost all sense of time and place, and his enfranchised +soul went out to meet hers. + +But at last she came so near, that he wakened from his ecstasy, and +remembered that he had nothing in common with that high-born girl; +for, shame had fallen upon his house, and royalty had turned its +back upon him. + +But he had scarcely time to pass from heaven to earth before she +stood directly before him, her starry eyes uplifted to meet his, her +sweet voice drowning his senses in melody. + +"Prince," said she, in clear, self-possessed tones that attracted +the attention of those immediately around, "it appears that you have +forgotten the engagement you made to dance with me this evening. +Pardon me if I recall it to you." + +So saying, she extended her little hand to Eugene, who, bewildered +with joy, was almost afraid to touch the delicate embroidered glove +that lay so temptingly near his. He was afraid that he had gone mad. +But Laura smiled, and came a step nearer; whereupon he gave himself +up to the intoxicating dream, and led her away to the dance. + +They took their place among the others, but the dancers looked upon +them with glances of uneasiness and displeasure. How were they to +know that they might not be compromised by their vicinity to an +ostracized man, and how did they know that the king was not +observing them, to see how they would receive this bold intruder? + +They might have spared themselves all anxiety; for, in the first +place, the king was in another room, at the card-table, and, in the +second place, their sensitive loyalty was soon relieved from its +perplexities. + +As a matter of course, Laura's generous indiscretion had been +witnessed by Barbesieur; not only by him, however, but by her father +and the Duchess of Orleans. Barbesieur, enraged, would have +followed, and torn her violently away, but Louvois' hand was laid +upon his shoulder, and Louvois' voice (imperious even in a whisper) +bade him remain. + +"No eclat, my son: we are the guests of his majesty." + +"But I cannot brook her insolence," muttered Barbesieur, in return. +"She is my sister, and before she shall dance with a man that has +insulted me, I will fell him to the earth, were the king at my side +to witness it." + +"Be quiet, I command you, or you shall sleep to-night within the +walls of the Bastile," was the reply. "God knows that you ought to +avoid notoriety; for, your affair with Prince Eugene has not covered +you with glory. Retire, then, if you cannot control yourself, and I +will find means to put an end to this foolish demonstration of your +sister." + +The means were at hand; they were concentrated in the person of his +royal highness the Duke of Orleans. He had been about to join the +dance, when he, too, witnessed the terrible sight of Laura de +Bonaletta standing at the side of the little abbe of Savoy! + +With a hasty apology to his partner, the Duchess de Chevreuse, he +strode away and joined madame. Elizabeth-Charlotte saw him coming +and heaved a sigh. "Now for a tempest in a teapot!" thought she. "To +be sure, the anger of my lord is not much like that of a thundering +Jove; yet I don't know but what it is better to be struck dead by +lightning, than to live forever within sound of the scolding tongue +of a fishwife! I must try, however, to be conciliatory in my tones, +or poor Laura will get into trouble." + +So she smiled as graciously as she could, but her affability was +lost upon the duke. He was in a towering passion. + +"Madame," said he, in a low, but snappish voice, "do you know that +your lady of the bedchamber is dancing with the Prince of Savoy?" + +The duchess turned around, as if to see whether Laura were not at +her post. "True enough," replied she, "she is not here. I was so +absorbed in my conversation with the queen that I had not missed +her. I suppose she thought I could spare her for a while, and so +allowed herself to be persuaded to dance." + +"But when I tell you that she is dancing with Prince Eugene!--with +the son of the Countess de Soissons!" cried the duke, impatiently. + +"I understand your highness. The prince is in disgrace, and has the +plague. But you must pardon my little marchioness, for she is new to +court customs, and does not know how contagious is her partner's +malady. She will learn prudence, all in good time, and, perchance, +become as obse--I mean as discreet--as the rest of us." + +"You will be so good as to begin her education at once, by reproving +her sharply for her indecorous behavior here to-night," said the +duke, beginning to stammer. + +"When he stammers," thought his wife, "he is in a rage. I had better +try the effect of soft words. What would your highness have me say?" +added she aloud. + +"I would have you send a peremptory message to the marchioness to +quit the dance immediately; and, if she does not obey, I would have +you go yourself and--" + +"My dear lord," whispered madame, laying the weight of her hand upon +monsieur's arm, "do you forget that she is the daughter of Louvois, +and that we dare not affront her lightly? And have you forgotten +that her father has promised to obtain for you, from his majesty, +the woods of St. Germain. In accordance with your desire and that of +her father, who is powerful enough to command everybody at this +court, I have taken this young girl into my service since this +morning. Would you undo what I have done for your advantage?" + +"But it is an outrage," murmured the duke, somewhat pacified. "It is +an outrage against his majesty." + +"I will put an end to the outrage then, but I will do so by gentle +means.--My Lord Marquis de Valmy, I am suffering terribly with a +migraine, and am compelled to retire. Will you bear my apology to +the Marchioness de Bonaletta, and say that I regret to be obliged to +interrupt her pleasures, but must request her attendance." + +The marquis hastened away with his message, and just as Prince +Eugene had so far recovered himself as to be able to address a few +murmured words of thanks to his beautiful partner, just as she was +looking bashfully into his face, and had seen that his large black +eyes were moistened with tears, she heard a voice at her side: + +"Madame is suddenly indisposed, and regrets to say that she requires +the attendance of the Marchioness de Bonaletta. Her highness is +sorry to be obliged to interrupt you, mademoiselle." + +"I will have the honor of conducting mademoiselle to her highness," +replied Eugene, regaining in a moment all his self-possession. + +Laura had just laid her arm within his, when monsieur approached +with most undignified haste. + +"Give me your arm, mademoiselle," said he. "Her highness has +requested me to accompany you to her seat." + +And without a word or look significative of his knowledge that +Eugene was nigh, the duke placed Laura's other arm within his own, +and stalked away. + +The prince left the dancers, and retired again to his window-seat. +He was pale with the shock of his sudden disappointment, but was +callous to the fresh insult offered him by the king's brother. Still +less was he conscious of the titter that was going around at his +expense, or of the scornful looks directed to him from the eyes of +many who until that day had called themselves his friends. He had +neither eyes, ears, nor understanding, for any creature but the one +who had braved the ridicule of the court, and the displeasure of its +sovereign, to show her sympathy with a man in adversity. He must--he +WOULD see her again! He must thank her for her magnanimity, let the +consequences be what they would! + +He darted forward toward the door through which the Duke and Duchess +of Orleans were passing, with their suite. On the stairway he caught +a glimpse of Laura's white satin dress, and one look at her +beautiful face. He made a desperate effort to follow, but before he +could put his foot on the top step, the Duke of Orleans and his +suite, returning to the ballroom, stopped the way. + +"Too late! too late!" groaned Eugene. "But I will see her again, if +it costs me my life!" + +The carriage of madame, meanwhile, was rolling homeward. She and her +attendant were seated opposite each other, both keeping a profound +silence. At length Laura could bear it no longer. Gliding from her +seat, and kneeling at the feet of the duchess, she took her hand and +pressed it to her lips. + +"Dear lady," sobbed she, passionately, "have I done wrong? If I +have, reprove me; but speak. Your silence is harder to bear than +rebuke." + +The duchess, no longer able to keep up her affected displeasure, put +her arms around the young girl, and kissed her forehead. "I +certainly ought to reprove you," said she, "for your conduct has +been almost unmaidenly, but I have not the heart to chide you for +indiscretion that springs from the overflowing of a generous nature. +You have violated every rule of etiquette and decorum; but what +would you? I am the least conventional of beings myself; and, +instead of condemning you, I positively admire your impropriety. You +have raised a tempest about your ears, child; but I will do my best +to defend you against the king, monsieur, and the censorious world. +Against your father and your brother you can defend yourself." + +"They may think of me whatever they please," cried Laura, joyfully. +"I shall not defend myself against anybody, for you are not +displeased, and HE!--oh, I believe that I conferred upon him one +moment of happiness!" + +"He! Who? Of whom do you speak?" + +"Of Prince Eugene," murmured Laura, blushing. + +"Prince Eugene!" echoed the duchess. + +"Yes," exclaimed she, passionately, "of him, the noble, brave +knight, who, like another St. George, sets his foot upon the dragon +of this world's wickedness, and towers above its miserable +worshippers, like an archangel!" + +"Great Heavens! what has possessed the girl?" exclaimed the duchess. +"She speaks of that little abbe as if he were an impersonation of +manly beauty!" + +"And so he is! His eyes are aflame with the light of a noble soul, +and his face is as that of a demi-god!" + +"A demi-god!" cried madame, clasping her hands. "I do believe she +has fallen in love with him!" + +Laura buried her face in the folds of the duchess's dress. "Pray for +me, dear lady," sobbed she; "pray for me. Never would my father +consent to bestow my hand upon the son of the Countess de Soissons, +and I!--oh, if I should love him, I would forsake the whole world +for his sake. Alas! alas! I believe that he is lord and sovereign of +my heart, for it bounds to meet his, as though it felt that he was +master of its destiny!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +FIRST LOVE. + + +Four days had elapsed since the ball, and its events, triumphs, and +contrarieties were already forgotten. Nobody bestowed a thought upon +Prince Eugene, who, concealed from view by the thick cloud of the +king's dislike, had fallen into complete oblivion. + +Nobody said a word about the ignominious punishment administered to +Barbesieur de Louvois, for the king had treated him with +consideration; and his majesty's countenance had healed his stripes, +and cured his wounded honor. So that Barbesieur de Louvois was +greeted with the courtesy due to a noble knight, and Eugene of Savoy +was spurned as a base-born churl. + +Was it for this that he was so pale, so silent, and so shy? Was it +for this that he sat alone in his room for hours, murmuring words of +passionate tenderness, and extending his arms to heaven, as if he +expected some seraph to visit him in his desolate home? Was it for +this that by night he paced the length of a garden-wall, and stood +with folded arms before its trellised gates? Had sorrow and slight +unsettled his reason? + +If they had, there was "method in his madness," for his steps were +ever directed toward the same place, the hotel of the Duke of +Orleans. + +On this fourth day after the ball, at dusk, Eugene left the Hotel de +Soissons, and took the way, as usual, toward the Palais Royal. Its +long facade was dimly lighted, and every thing within seemed hushed. + +"I am fortunate," thought he; "the duchess has dismissed her +attendants, and SHE has retired to the pavilion." + +He continued his way along the side-wing of the palace, until he +arrived at the garden which occupied the space now contained between +the Rue Vivienne and the Bourse. This magnificent garden was +refreshed by plashing fountains, and decorated by noble trees and +gay parterres; but it was encompassed by a high stone wall, of which +the summit was defended by short iron spikes whose uplifted points +gave warning to all passers-by that intrusion into this paradise was +attended with danger. + +But what cares love for "stony limits," or when did danger ever +intimidate a stout heart? + +Eugene was now at the extreme end of the garden. The deep, unbroken +stillness of solitude reigned around. At times, and at a distance, +was heard the faint rumbling of a coach; but otherwise nothing +interrupted the loneliness of the place and the hour. For, although +nine o'clock had just sounded from the tower of St. Jacques, all +Paris was at rest, save the few aristocrats who were on their way to +balls and banquets, or the houseless wretches who, with their dark +lanterns, were searching the gutters for a lost penny. + +So that Eugene was unobserved, and had full opportunity to draw from +his cloak a package which proved to be a rope-ladder of silk; to +unroll, and fling it over the garden wall. It caught in the prongs, +and in a few moments he was within the enchanted walls of the palace +where Laura de Bonaletta dwelt. + +She was alone in her pavilion, in the room which led into the +garden, and its glass doors now stood wide open. She had thrown +aside her court-dress, and was now attired in a white peignior edged +with delicate lace. Her feet were encased in slippers of blue satin +embroidered with silver, and her hair, stripped of all ornament, was +twisted into a coronal around her graceful head. + +She had dismissed her attendants, and sat beside a table of white +marble, holding in her hand a book which she seemed to read--yet not +to read. She turned its pages, and her eyes were fixed upon them, +but little saw Laura of their contents, she was looking into another +book, the book of her own heart; and mysterious were the pages +thereof, half painful, half pleasant, to peruse. + +Around her all was silent. From time to time the night wind sighed +through the branches of the trees without, and a few sorrowing +leaves fell rustling to the ground, while she, her book now laid +aside, and her pretty hands folded in her lap, gazed and gazed at +sky and earth, at moonlit paths, and darkly looming trees, but saw +nothing of them all. Something broke the perfect stillness. It was +neither summer breeze, nor rustling leaf; 'twas the crackling gravel +that was being displaced by approaching footsteps. The sound was all +unheeded by Laura, who heard nothing but the voice of her heart as +it sang its first anthem of love. + +The moon emerged from a silver cloud, and Eugene's figure darkened +the threshold. For one moment he contemplated the beautiful picture +before him, then with noiseless steps he approached and knelt at her +feet. + +"Kill me for my presumption," whispered he, "for I deserve death. +But I would rather die at your feet than live another hour out of +your sight." + +Laura spoke not a word in return, but neither did she cry out in +terror or surprise. She merely gazed at Eugene with distended eyes, +whose mysterious expressions he dreaded to interpret. + +A feeling of anguish inexpressible pervaded his being. "I thought +so," murmured he, bitterly. "I thought so; and yet I could not have +done otherwise. Had I known that I was to be racked for my temerity, +I must have sought you, alone and unattended--sought you as I would +my Maker, when no curious eye was upon me to see my tears, no +mocking tongue to echo my sighs; hut when, unfettered by the bonds +of a conventional world, I was free to pour out the oceans of love +that are drowning me in their sweetness; and then!--to live or die, +as you should determine. I love you! Do you hear? I love you! And +with such strength of love, that if I am unworthy; if, poor, ill- +favored, unfortunate, the Prince of Savoy may not aspire to your +hand, then call your people, and drive me hence; for whether you +welcome or whether you spurn, you still must hear me, while my +yearning heart cries out for judgment. Speak, beloved! I await my +sentence--is it life or death?" + +He raised his pleading eyes to hers, and as they met, her beautiful +head drooped lower and lower, until it almost touched his own. He +felt the soft touch of her hands upon his shoulders, and heard the +thrilling accents of her trembling voice, as, in tones so inaudible +that none but a lover's ear could have guessed their sweet import, +she whispered these words: + +"I was waiting for thee." + +With a wild cry of rapture, Eugene caught her to his heart, and +imprinted one long, loving lass upon her lips. Then he gazed upon +her with an expression of passionate tenderness, which transfigured +his homely features and lent them beauty. + +"Say that thou lovest me," cried he, "oh, say it again--again-- +again." + +"I love thee," repeated Laura, "I love thee, Eugene. When first our +eyes met, I knew that my heart had found its sovereign. Oh, sweet +vassalage, that never again will seek enfranchisement! Oh, happy +bondage, than liberty more precious! Bondage that makes me thine, +and thou mine forever!" + +"Ay, forever!" echoed Eugene, while tears streamed from his eyes at +sound of her delicious avowal. "We love each other! Oh, my Laura, +what magic in those blessed words! We love each other! I could weary +echo with repetition of the sound: WE! 'Tis the first time in my +life that my name has ever been joined with that of a fellow-being. +My brothers, who enjoyed the privileges of their birth and rank, +looked down with contempt upon one who was condemned to the +obscurity of the priesthood; my young sisters feared me, and I was +too shy to ask for their love; in my proud and beautiful mother's +heart there was no room for the son, to whom fate had allotted no +share of her loveliness and grace. Alone in the midst of a family +circle, alone in society, alone in the world, I thrust back into my +sorrowing soul the hopes, the loves, the aspirations of youth, and +refused to listen to their pleadings. But in the depths of the +night, when no mortal was by, and I stood alone in the presence of +God. I called them up, and bade them weep with me that life and +light were denied them. I mourned, and prayed for deliverance, but +no friendly voice ever bade me be comforted. And so I lived, shunned +and despised by my fellows." + +"No, no, my Eugene, not shunned and despised," exclaimed Laura, +while her gentle hands wiped away the tears that were streaming down +her lover's cheeks. "You belie yourself and the world. It may not +love you, but it has divined your worth." + +Eugene answered with a faint smile. "My worth is small, beloved; but +no human being has ever divined the secrets of my ambitious heart. +But ah! how changed is life to me to-night! I went to that ball to +throw down the gauntlet of my hate before Louvois and his son. I was +rebuked by the king, slighted by his nobles; but I had no eyes to +see, no pride to resent their insults. When I saw thee. the sun +shone upon my heart, and there was light and love within. But oh! +when thou earnest so near that I felt the perfume of thy breath upon +my cheek, and the touch of thy hand within my hand, then I was born +again to a life of hope and happiness. My soul's better half was +found, and nevermore shall it wander from my side. I am here at thy +feet to ask thee for my wife. I have neither wealth nor repute to +offer thee: I am a poor appanagist, a prince without fortune or +distinction. But, dearest, if thou wilt be mine, I swear by all the +imprisoned aspirations which thy coming has liberated, that the wife +of Eugene of Savoy shall have pride in her husband! Be mine, be +mine, and I will make thy name illustrious!" + +"I am thine," said Laura, fervently, "for time and for eternity. I +care not whether thy name be obscure or thy fortunes adverse; I love +thee as thou art." And so saying, she extended her hand. + +He grasped it in his own and covered it with rapturous kisses. "From +this blissful hour, then, thou art my betrothed; and to-morrow I +shall ask the consent of madame to our marriage. Or hast thou +relatives whom I must know and propitiate?" + +At this innocent question, Laura's youth and animal spirits got the +better of her sentiment. She laughed heartily. "What!" cried she, +"you do not know who I am?" + +"No, sweetest; I know not, I care not who thou art. What have I to +do with thy surroundings? I love thee--only thee. If thou hast +father and mother, I will throw myself at their feet, and beg their +blessing for us both." + +Laura's hilarity had all vanished. As Eugene had spoken of her +father and mother, her cheeks had blanched, and the smile had died +from the rosy lips. "Alas!" cried she, clasping her hands, "he knows +not who I am!" + +"I know thou art an angel, and that is enough to make me the +happiest of men." + +"True, true," murmured Laura. "When my grandmother retired from +court, he was but a boy." + +"And had I been a man, what to me are the comings and goings of the +ladies of the court?" said Eugene, simply. "But why art thou +troubled, my beloved?" + +"Alas! alas!" murmured Laura, her eyes filling with tears. "May God +grant that you spoke the truth, Eugene de Carignan, when you said +that you cared not who was my father or my mother!" + +"So help me Heaven, I do not care!" was the fervent response, while +he gazed passionately upon his new-found treasure. + +She bent her head, and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Eugene," +said she, almost gasping for breath, "I bear my mother's name; but I +am the daughter of your bitterest enemy, Louvois." + +Eugene started back in horror. "Louvois! Louvois!" echoed he, +mournfully. "And Barbesieur, her brother!" + +"Not my own brother," cried Laura, terrified at the effect of her +revelation. "Before I had seen you, I approved your act, and bade +God bless the son that had avenged his mother's wrongs upon her +traducer. Ah, Eugene! my affianced, say that you do not hate me! I +knew that you were the son of the Countess de Soissons, and yet I +loved YOU!--perhaps the more, that Barbesieur was your enemy." + +"And I love you, my own one, despite your parentage. I love you so +far beyond all feelings of pride or enmity, that I am ready to +humble myself before my mother's enemy, and be to him a son." + +"He will never receive you as such," cried she, bitterly. "Woe is +me, if he should learn what has transpired to-night between us! He +would part us by force." + +"Part us he shall not!" exclaimed Eugene, passionately, while he +flung his arm around the maiden's slender waist, and pressed her +wildly to his heart. "Thou art Louvois' daughter, but my betrothed." + +"I am Barbesieur's sister, but thou art my affianced!" + +"Neither daughter nor sister of any man, my Laura; thou art thyself- +-and being thyself--mine." + +"Thine for life and death," was her reply, "and from this hour I +know no will of mine." + +"Then, ere thy father suspects our love, it must be sanctified +before the altar of God. Our faith once plighted there, no hand of +mortal can wrest thee from my side. Art ready to speak the +irrevocable words that bind us together as man and wife?" + +"I am ready," replied she, clasping her hands, and looking solemnly +up to heaven. "If, in my eager acquiescence, I seem unmaidenly, +forgive me; but I dare not be coy, Eugene; we have no time for +conventional reserve, and I must act as becomes a brave and trusting +woman, for every moment is fraught with danger. I am surrounded by +spies, even of my own household, and, until I hear the blessing of +the priest, I shall disbelieve my own happiness." + +"Then hear me, dearest. I know how crafty are the spies of Louvois, +and I tremble lest the whispering breeze betray our secret. Yes, we +must be diligent, so diligent that Fate shall stand between our love +and all contingency. For two days I shall part from thee--long days +that will steep my soul in darkness! But day after to-morrow, at +this same hour of the evening, I shall be here with the chaplain of +the Princess de Carignan, an old and dear friend, who will bless our +bridal. As witnesses, I will be accompanied by my kinsmen, the +Princes de Conti, two of the worthiest nobles of France. Be in +readiness, my best beloved, that not a word need be spoken until we +are married. Then away with me to the Hotel de Soissons, where those +who love, may seek thee in thy husband's home." + +"So soon?" murmured Laura, blushing. "Shall I leave my dear mistress +without a word? Is she not to share our secret?" + +"Assuredly not; for it would burden her with a painful +responsibility. It would be her duty to betray you, artless child." + +"Oh, I will not speak!" exclaimed Laura, eagerly. "I will be silent; +and when--when we are married, we will beg so humbly for forgiveness +that she will have to grant it." + +"You must leave a note declaring everything; for with our marriage +ends all secrecy. I will neither see you nor write until the +appointed time. Dismiss your household as early as possible, and, if +all is propitious, place a light in yonder window. If I see it, I +will enter with the priest, and, lest there should be interruption, +he will begin the ceremony at once." + +"Alas, Eugene!" said Laura, looking anxiously around, "some evil +spirit is about. It whispers me that this shall never be! Speak to +me--in mercy speak! Let me hear thy voice, for even now its sinister +threatenings are freezing the blood in my veins!" + +"Nay, sweet one, fear nothing! My love shall compass thee with a +charm that shall keep away all evil spirits, and make thy life a +waking dream of bliss." + +"How can I ever prove to thee how much I love thee?" + +"Thou wilt prove it to me when, day after to-morrow, thou forsakest +father and brother, to cleave to me alone; for never will my +mother's son take the hand of Barbesieur Louvois." + +"Nor my mother's daughter," cried Laura, vehemently, + +"for she, too, has a debt of hatred to pay to the man who broke that +mother's heart. And believe me, our marriage will avenge us both; +for it will end his contemptible intrigues to sell my hand to +whomsoever chinks most gold in his. And now, dear Eugene, good- +night!" + +"Must I be exiled so soon, Laura? What have I done to be thus driven +from paradise?" + +"Nothing--nothing," stammered she. "But my mother's name has made me +fear that--that I am wrong to hold such long parley with you in +secret and at night. Methinks I see that mother's pleading eyes +before me, and oh, Eugene! whenever they rest upon me thus, 'tis +because danger threatens! Go, beloved, and God be with you!" + +"I go," sighed he. "I would not stay one moment to wound your sweet +scruples, my madonna. One more kiss, and then--good-night!" + +They walked side by side until they stood upon the threshold. Eugene +put his arm around her waist, and kissed her fair brow. + +"Look," said she, "at yonder star that is just emerging from a +fleecy cloud. It soars joyously upward now, and shall be to us an +omen of hope and happiness. Farewell." + +"Farewell!" was the sad response, and Eugene went slowly down the +dark avenue, until he was lost in the gloom of night. Laura lingered +for a while, listening to his footsteps, then resumed her seat at +the table. + +A half hour went by, and Laura sought her chamber. To her surprise +she found her waiting-woman stretched at full length on the carpet, +in a deep sleep, so deep that her mistress had much trouble to waken +her. When, at last, she had been made to rise, she seemed scarcely +to know where she was, or to whom she was speaking. + +"I beg your ladyship's pardon," said she drowsily, "I was dreaming. +I thought I heard robbers in the house, and when your ladyship +spoke, I was struggling." + +"God be thanked, there are no robbers here!" returned Laura, kindly. +"Perhaps you heard the sentry's step in the park, and you ought to +know that the Palais Royal is strictly guarded. But why are you not +in bed with the rest? I dismissed you all." + +"I have no right to retire before my mistress," returned the girl, +obsequiously. "Therefore, I sat in your ladyship's room. to await +you, but sleep overcame me, and I humbly crave your pardon. Shall I +close the door that leads to the garden?" + +"What! still afraid of robbers, Louise?" laughed Laura. "Well--close +the door, if you will--good-night." + +"Can I do nothing for your ladyship?" + +"Thank you--yes. Open the door of Madame Dupont's room, and let me +feel that I am within hearing of my dear old Cerberus. That is all." + +The waiting-woman did as she was bidden, and then retired to her +room, but not to sleep. She seated herself before a table, drew out +her portfolio, and began to write. Now and then she paused and +looked up, when the sinister light that shone in her eyes streamed +through the room like the phosphorescent glow of the lichen that +moulds in the churchyard. + +She wrote the whole night long, and day dawned before she rose from +her task. + +"Ah," sighed she, "for such a service surely he will return to me! I +have repeated their conversation, word for word, not a sigh or a +kiss have I forgotten. Who but his poor Louise would have served him +so faithfully! 'Tis a vile trade, that of a spy; nor would I have +accepted such a mission for all the gold in the king's treasury; +but, for love of Barbesieur Louvois, I would sell my own sister to +infamy--why not his?" + +While thus soliloquizing, she had left her own room and crossed the +corridor that led to the men's apartments. She opened the door of +one of the rooms without knocking, and going directly up to a bed +she touched the sleeper, and having wakened him, whispered: + +"George, awake--awake!--rouse up quickly!" + +"What is it?" mumbled George, stretching himself. + +"Hist!--It is I, Louise. Dress yourself as speedily as you can, and +away with this packet to your master. Give it to no messenger, but +place it in his own hands, and he will reward you magnificently, for +you will have done him a great service." + +She glided away and returned to her own room, leaving the door open. +In less than fifteen minutes George stood before her, equipped for +secret service. "Mademoiselle Louise," whispered he, "I shall be +with Monsieur de Louvois in ten minutes; for I have the key of the +postern, and can slip out and back again without anybody being the +wiser for my little excursion." + +"So much the better. Away with you, and the sooner the better!" + +George went on his way, and Louise stood in her doorway until she +heard him softly open and close the outer door below; then she threw +herself upon her bed to sleep. Her last words were these: + +"Oh, faithless but loved--now can I dream that thine arms are around +me once more!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE BETRAYAL. + + +The sun was high in the heavens when Laura awoke, and rang for her +waiting-woman. Mademoiselle Louise, fresh, smiling, and officious, +came at once from the anteroom, and began the toilet of her +mistress. She seemed to take more pleasure than usual in gathering +her magnificent dark coils into a net of gold and pearls, and to +linger more admiringly than ever over the last little touches given +to the lace that bordered Laura's neglige of spotless white mull. + +She certainly was one of the loveliest of created beings, and so +thought good Madame Dupont, as her ex-pupil came into the dining- +room, and imprinted two hearty kisses on her withered old cheeks. +They sat down together to breakfast, and George, looking as innocent +as if he had just awaked from the sleep of the righteous, came in +with their morning chocolate. All went on as usual, except with the +young marchioness, who, instead of laughing and chatting of Italy, +and Bonaletta, as she was accustomed to do with her "dear Dupont," +sipped her chocolate in silent abstraction. Breakfast had long been +over, and still she sat in her arm-chair, looking dreamily into the +garden, her head leaning on her hand, her lips sometimes rippling +with a smile, sometimes opening with a gentle sigh. + +She had been plunged in her blissful reverie for almost an hour, +when the door was opened, and George appeared before her. + +"Your ladyship," said he, "a man without desires speech with you." + +"Who is he, George?" asked Laura, reluctantly returning to the world +and its exigencies. + +"He will not say, my lady. He wears no livery, but says that your +ladyship knows whence he comes and why. He has a bouquet which was +forgotten yesterday evening." + +Laura darted from her chair; then, blushing deeply, she stopped, and +recalled her wandering senses. + +"Admit him," said she, trying to speak carelessly. "I will inquire +what this means." + +"Oh, 'tis a greeting from him," thought she; but before she had time +to surmise any further, the door reopened, and a young man entered +the room, holding in his hand a superb bouquet of rare and exquisite +flowers. + +"Who sent you hither?" asked Laura, with wildly-beating heart. + +"A cavalier whose name I do not know," replied the young man, +looking timidly up at the dazzling vision of beauty that stood +before him. "I am first clerk in the largest establishment of the +Marche aux Fleurs, and the gentleman who bespoke the bouquet ordered +the handsomest flowers in our collection. Your ladyship sees that we +have filled the order with the greatest care; for this bouquet +contains specimens of our rarest and most expensive flowers. To be +sure, the gentleman paid an enormous price for it, saying that +nothing we could furnish was too costly for the occasion." + +Laura had listened with wonderful patience to all this idle babble. +"Give me the flowers," she said. "They are indeed most beautiful, +and I am grateful for them, both to you and the amiable unknown who +sends them." + +"He is very small; of sallow complexion, but with large black eyes," +replied the clerk, while, with an awkward scrape and bow, he +presented the bouquet to Laura. "He was so pleased with our +selection, that he kissed one of the flowers." + +Before she had time to control her tongue, Laura had exclaimed, +"Which one?" + +"The blue one, your ladyship, called Comelina coelestis." + +Laura looked down at the Comelina coelestis, and fain would she have +robbed it of its kiss, but she consoled herself with the thought +that she would rifle it of its sweets as soon as the messenger left. + +He came closer. "Your ladyship," said he, in a very low voice, "I +bear a message, as well as a nosegay. Is there any one about, to +overhear me?" + +"No one," replied Laura, breathless and eager. + +"Search the bouquet, and under the Comelina your ladyship will find +something." + +Laura's rosy fingers were buried in the flowers, and she drew from +its fragrant hiding-place a small slip of paper. + +"Your ladyship is requested, if you consent, to return, as an +answer, the four first words of the note." + +Laura unrolled the paper, and read: "NOT TO-MORROW, BUT TO-DAY. +Danger threatens, and we must anticipate.--E." + +Her face flushed, and her eager eyes were fixed upon that little +scroll which, to her and her lover, was of such great import. What +could it mean? She read it again and again, until the words danced +before her reeling senses. + +The clerk came closer yet. "Your ladyship," whispered he, "I must +take back my answer. Somebody might come in." + +"The answer?" gasped she, scarcely knowing what he said. "True, +true, there must be an answer." She stood for a moment irresolute, +then a shudder thrilled through her frame, and she felt as if some +evil spirit had again come nigh. She raised her eyes to the face of +the messenger, as though she would have looked into the penetralia +of his thoughts. + +"I am to write four words?" asked she, plaintively. "You know, then, +where he lives?" + +The clerk replied without the least embarrassment: "Pardon me, I +told your ladyship that I was unacquainted with the cavalier. He +awaits my return in the flower-market, and lest I should be too long +absent, he hired a fiacre to bring me forth and back." + +"He awaits my answer," thought Laura. "Oh, it must be so! He shall +not be left in suspense!" + +She went hurriedly to a table, and wrote, "Not to-morrow, but to- +day." + +"Here," said she, "is my answer, and before you go, I beg you to +accept this for your trouble." + +She was about to hand him a purse of gold, when he retreated, and +raised his hand in token of refusal. + +"I thank your ladyship, I have already been paid, and have no right +to a reward from you. May I be permitted to take my leave?" + +"Yes; hasten, I implore you," returned Laura, wondering at his +disinterestedness. + +Scarcely had the commissionnaire taken his leave, when the door of +the antechamber was opened, and a lackey announced: + +"Madame, her royal highness the Duchess of Orleans!" + +Laura hastily thrust the paper in her bosom, and, coming forward, +kissed the hand of her friend. But as she did so, she felt the blood +rush to her temples, and bent low her head to hide her confusion. + +"I could not stay away any longer," began the unsuspecting duchess. +"For three days monsieur has been confined to his room with some +trifling ailment, for which peevishness seems to be his only +palliative. He is one of those who, when, he sneezes, imagines that +the earth is shaken, to her foundations; and when he snuffles, that +all the angels in heaven drop on their knees to pray for him. With +some trouble, I prevailed upon him to give me one hour wherein to +make some change in my dress. I have accomplished the change in +fifteen minutes, and the remainder of the hour I come to spend with +you." + +"Thank you, dear friend," replied Laura, who had now recovered her +self-possession, and was sincerely glad to see the duchess. Then +leading her to a divan, the graceful young hostess dropped down on a +cushion at the feet of her royal guest, and continued: "I have been +wondering why I did not see my gracious mistress; I thought she had +forgotten me." + +"How could you do her such injustice?" replied Elizabeth-Charlotte, +affectionately. "I have been longing for the sound of your carolling +voice, and the sight of your beaming face. Let me look at you," +continued she, taking Laura's head between her two hands, and gazing +upon her with fondest admiration. + +Poor Laura could ill bear the test of such loving scrutiny. She +blushed scarlet, and her long black eyelashes fell at once under the +searching look of the duchess's round blue eyes. + +"Laura!" exclaimed she, anxiously, "something ails you, my darling; +what have you on your heart that you are hiding from me?" + +"Dear, dear duchess," stammered Laura, "I have nothing to--" + +"Nay, child, do not stoop to untruth--" + +"I cannot--I will not," cried Laura, bursting into tears. "I have a- +-secret--but you shall know it--soon." + +"Gracious Heaven!" cried the duchess, turning very pale, "what has +happened? What evil tidings am I to hear?" + +"No evil tidings, my dearest mistress, no evil tidings! Nothing but +joy--joy unspeakable. Do you remember what I told you on that happy +morning of the ball, that if I ever loved I would leave even your +dear self to follow the man of my choice? Well!" cried she, her face +breaking out into bright smiles, while glistening tears lay like +dew-drops upon her rose-tinted cheeks, "he is here! He came down +from the moon on yesternight, and brought two great stars in his +head instead of eyes; stars that I had no sooner looked upon, than I +fell madly in love. Oh! he was sent hither by the good God, and it +is His will that I love him, and forsake all others, to follow +whithersoever he leads!" + +"Is she mad?" cried the duchess, in alarm. "Yesternight?--came from +the moon?--WHO came, Laura?" + +"God and my mother know his name, and both have blessed us; but I +dare not tell it yet--not even to you. Pray ask me no more--for I +may not say another word." + +"Not say another word?" said the duchess, shaking her head, and +looking reproachfully at her favorite. "Then there is something +wrong in this headlong love, and it is no message to your heart from +above. Afraid to say more to your best friend--to her who replaces +your mother?--When saw you this preterhuman being? Who?--Great God!" +cried she, suddenly, putting her hands to her heart, "can it be! +Yes--it must be Prince Eugene!" + +Laura clapped her hands, and then threw herself in the duchess's +arms. "Yes--you have guessed--it is he whom I shall love to-day, to- +morrow, and forever. But not another word, my own dear mistress. To- +morrow you shall know all, and be assured that there is no wrong +either done or to be done--I can say but this to-day, that he +certainly came down from the moon, and is the only luminary whose +rays shall ever shine upon my heart!" + +While Laura was pouring out her childish half-confidences, her +disinterested friend, the commissionnaire, was similarly engaged in +the anteroom with Master George. + +This latter worthy, after a few whispered words from the former, +excused himself to the lackeys of her royal highness, who were in +waiting there, and retreated to the corridor with the clerk. + +"Now, George," whispered he, "mark what I tell you. Your master says +that the coachman must be ready with the travelling-carriage of the +marchioness at ten o'clock to-night; that Mademoiselle Louise must +secretly pack up some of her lady's effects and her own, and have +them conveyed to the chariot throughout the day; and that all must +be done so that her ladyship shall suspect nothing." + +"It shall be done. And so her ladyship is to go on a journey at ten +o'clock to-night? What an hour to set out!" + +"Yes, at ten o'clock precisely, and the blessing of God go with +her!" + + + + +BOOK III. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE DISAPPOINTMENT. + + +All was bustle and confusion in the Hotel de Soissons. A crowd of +workmen filled its halls; some on ladders, regilding walls and +ceilings; some on their knees waxing the inlaid floors: and others +occupied in removing the coverings, and dusting the satin cushions +of the rich furniture of the state apartments. The first +upholsterers in Paris had been summoned to the work of preparation, +and the general-in-chief of the gilders stood in their midst, giving +orders to his staff, and sending off detachments for special +service. He held in his hand a roll of paper resembling a marshal's +baton, with which he assigned their posts to his men. Some of his +subalterns approached, to ask in what style the walls of the +reception-rooms were to be decorated. + +"I must see the Prince of Savoy about that," said he, with a +flourish. And he took his way for the prince's cabinet. "Announce me +to his highness," said he as he entered the antechamber. + +"His highness is at home to nobody to-day, sir," replied Conrad. + +"He will be at home for me," said the decorator, complacently. "Say +to the prince that I desire an interview on business of great +moment, connected with the embellishment of the hotel; and without a +conference with himself we cannot proceed. I am Monsieur Louis, the +master of the masters of decoration." + +Conrad, quite awed by the stateliness of Monsieur Louis, went at +once to announce him, and returned with a summons for him to enter +the cabinet. + +Eugene met him with a bright smile of welcome, and asked what he +could do to assist Monsieur Louis. + +"Your highness," replied monsieur, "my workmen have gilded, waxed, +and dusted the apartments, and the important task of decorating them +is about to commence. I am here to inquire of your highness what is +to be the character of the decorations. Are they to have a +significance that betokens Honor, Friendship, Art, or Love?" + +Eugene could not repress a smile as he asked whether, for the +expression of these various sentiments, there were different styles +of decoration. + +"Most assuredly," was the pompous reply. "It depends entirely upon +the nature of the guest or guests to be entertained. If your +highness is to receive a personage of distinction (a king, for +example), your decorations must be emblematic of respect. They must +consist of laurels, lilies, and banners. If a friend or one of your +own noble kinsmen, the decorations have no special significance; we +mingle flowers, festoons, and pictures that are not allegorical. If +you invite a company of artists, poets, musicians, and the like, the +principal decorations surmount the seat of the Maecenas who +entertains, and the rest of the apartment is left in simplicity." + +"But you spoke of a fourth style," said Eugene, blushing. + +"Indeed I did, your highness; and on that style we lavish our best +efforts. If the guest is to be a bride, then our walls and ceilings +must be ornamented with rich designs emblematic of love. We must +have cupids, billing doves, and wreaths of roses, mingled with +orange-flowers. Added to this, the decorations must begin in the +vestibule, and be carried out in character, through the entire +palace." + +"Well," said Eugene, his large eyes glowing with delight, "let your +decorations be appropriate to a bridal." + +"Impossible, your highness! This style requires great originality of +conception, and time to carry out the designs. It would require a +hundred workmen, and then I doubt--" + +"Employ more than a hundred," returned Eugene, "and it can be done +in a day. Indeed it must be done, and--I ask of you as a favor not +to mention to any one in what style you are decorating the Hotel de +Soissons." + +"Your highness, I will answer for myself, but I cannot answer for +the discretion of a hundred workmen, who, precisely because they are +asked to be silent, would prefer to be communicative." + +"Well--do your best, but remember that your work must be done to- +day." + +"It shall be done, your highness, and when you see it, you will +confess that I am the first decorateur of the age." + +So saying, Monsieur Louis made his bow and strutted off. + +Eugene looked after him with a smile. "He is proud and happy," said +the prince, "and yet he merely embellishes the palace wherein love's +festival is to be held. But for me--oh, happiest of mortals! is the +festival prepared. Laura, adored Laura. I must speak thy name to the +walls, or my heart will burst with the fullness of its joy! How +shall I kill the weary hours of this day of expectation? How cool +the hot blood that rushes wildly through my veins, and threatens me +with loss of reason from excess of bliss! I am no longer a solitary, +slighted abbe; I am a hero, a giant, for _I_ AM BELOVED!" + +At that moment the door was hastily opened, and Conrad made his +appearance. + +"Your highness," said he, "a messenger is here from her royal +highness, madame, and begs for an audience." + +Eugene started, and his brow clouded with anxiety. "A messenger from +madame," murmured he. "What can--how should the duchess?--But-- +Conrad, admit him." + +"Speak," cried Eugene, as soon as the messenger entered the room. +"What are her royal highness's commands?" + +"Her royal highness the Duchess of Orleans requests his highness +Prince Eugene of Savoy to visit her immediately. And that no delay +may occur, her royal highness's equipage is at the door, waiting for +his excellency." + +Eugene answered not a word. With an imperious wave of the hand, +which was justly interpreted into a command to clear the passage, he +strode on and on through the corridors of the Hotel de Soissons, +crushing with his foot Monsieur Louis's choicest garlands, that lay +on the floor ready to wreathe the walls and mirrors of the rooms of +state. + +Monsieur Louis was shocked at such desecration; but still more +shocked was he to observe what a change had come over the face of +the prince since their interview scarce half an hour ago. Reckless +of the ruined garlands that followed his track, pale and silent, he +went on and on, down the marble staircase, and through the +vestibule, until he flung himself into the coach, and cried: + +"On, for your life! urge your horses to their topmost speed!" + +The coachman obeyed, and went thundering down the streets, little +heeding whether the equipage that bore the royal arms trod down half +a dozen boors on its way or not. + +It drew up with a sudden jerk before the Palais Royal; and the +messenger, who had followed on horseback, asked if his highness +would follow him. He had madame's orders to introduce her visitor +without further ceremony, by a private staircase, leading to her own +apartments. + +Doubtless the duchess had heard the carriage as it stopped, for, +when Eugene entered the anteroom, she was standing in the door of +her cabinet, visibly impatient for his arrival. She beckoned him to +approach, and closed the door with her own hand. + +She gave him no time for ceremonious greeting. "God be thanked, you +are here!" exclaimed she. "Put down the portiere, that no one may +hear what I have to say." Eugene obeyed mechanically, and loosening +its heavy tassels, the crimson satin curtain fell heavily to the +floor. + +"And now," cried the duchess, indignantly, "now, Prince Eugene of +Savoy, I command you to tell me the truth, and the whole truth! What +have you done with her? How could you be so unknightly as to take +advantage of her innocent and affectionate nature, to wrong one of +the purest and most perfect of God's creatures! My heart is like to +break with its weight of sorrow and disgrace; and, had it not been +for Laura's sake, I would have laid my complaint before his majesty. +But I must not expose her to the world's contumely, and therefore I +endure your presence here. Tell me at once what have you done with +my darling?" + +Eugene could scarcely reply to this passionate appeal. His senses +reeled--his heart seemed to freeze within him. He thought he +comprehended; and yet-- + +"Who? Who is gone? Oh, duchess, be merciful; what mean these words +of mystery?" + +The duchess eyed him scornfully. "Base seducer, dare you question +me? Do you strive to delude me into believing that you do not know +of whom I speak? I demand of you at once the person of the +Marchioness de Bonaletta!" + +"Laura!" cried Eugene, in a tone of deepest despair. "Laura gone! +And you say that I enticed her away!" + +"Tell me the truth, tell me the truth," cried madame. + +"The truth!" groaned Eugene, while the duchess started from her +seat, and grasped both his hands in hers. + +"Have mercy," stammered he, trembling as if an ague had suddenly +seized him. "Is she no longer--here?" + +"She is no longer here," echoed the duchess, staring in astonishment +at the writhing features of the unhappy prince. + +"You know not where she is?" gasped he, faintly. + +"No," cried she, "no! You look as though you were yourself +astounded, Prince Eugene; but you will no longer deny your guilt +when I tell you that my poor innocent child has told me all." + +"What--all?" asked Eugene. + +"She told me that you were lovers. And now, prevaricate no longer; +it is useless and renders you still more infamous." + +"What more did she say?" asked Eugene, unconscious that his tone was +as imperative as that of an emperor. + +"Nothing more. She merely told me that in two days I should learn +all. Alas! I have learned it to my cost, and to her ruin!" + +"And you accuse me of enticing her! Great God! if my heart were not +breaking with anguish, it would break that such baseness could be +attributed to me. Would that I could answer you, duchess, but God in +heaven knows that I was ignorant of her departure, until I learned +it from yourself!" + +"Was ever a man so bold in falsehood!" cried the duchess, losing all +command of her temper. "I have in your own handwriting the proof of +your wickedness. Now mark me! This morning, the second woman in +waiting of the marchioness came frightened to my apartments to tell +me that her mistress, her woman Louise, and George, had disappeared +from the pavilion, no one could surmise when. I was so overcome with +terror that I hurried to the pavilion, and alas! found that it was +indeed so. Neither her own bed, nor that of the servant who +accompanied her, had been occupied. I looked everywhere for some +clew to the mystery, when, on the floor near her morning-dress, +which hung on a chair, I found this scrap of paper, which, as it is +signed with your initials, you will not deny, I presume." + +With eyes that flashed fire, she almost dashed the paper in his +face. Eugene took it, and, having given it one glance, he turned +pale as death, and it fluttered from his palsied hands to the floor. + +"Heavens, what can ail him!" cried the duchess, sympathizing, in +spite of herself, with his sudden sorrow. He was ghastly as a +spectre, and his whole frame shook like the leaf of an aspen. + +"I did not write it," gasped he, but almost inaudibly; for his teeth +chattered so that he could scarcely articulate a sound. + +"What!" exclaimed the duchess, now thoroughly convinced of his +innocence, and feeling her terror increase with the conviction, +"what! you did not write these words?" + +He shook his head, but no sound came from his blanched lips. He laid +his hands upon his heart as if to stifle its anguish; then, raising +them to his head, he pressed them to his temples, and so paced the +room for a while. Then he came and stood before the duchess, whose +compassionate eyes filled with tears as they met his look of +anguish. Finally, he heaved a long sigh, and spoke. + +"My name has been used to deceive her," said he. "She has never seen +my writing, and thus she fell into the snare." + +"But I cannot comprehend who it is that possessed such influence +over her as to frighten her into silent acquiescence of the fraud. +Laura is young, but she is prudent and resolute, These words had +some meaning which could be referred to you, or she would not have +understood them." + +"Ay," returned Eugene, solemnly, "they were chosen with satanic +shrewdness. They referred to our plans of to-day, and signified that +I had anticipated the time for our marriage. Ah! well I know what +happened; and well I know why Laura made no resistance! At ten +o'clock she extinguished all the lights in her parlor save one; and +as soon as this signal had been given, four men, whose faces were +concealed, entered the house. One of them was a priest, two were +witnesses, and the fourth--O God! that fourth one! Who was he I know +not; but I shall learn--alas! too soon. Without a word (for such had +been our agreement) he took her hand, and the priest read the +marriage ceremony. When the names had been signed, he raised my +Laura in his arms, bore her through the postern to a carriage, and, +O God! O God! tore her from me forever!" + +"But how come you to know these particulars, who knew not even of +her flight?" + +"Duchess, it was to have taken place to-night, and I was to have +been that bridegroom. We were overheard, and those accursed words, +'not to-morrow, but to-night,' were sent in my name. She thought to +give me her dear hand, while I--I--" + +He could not proceed. He gave one loud sob, and burst into tears. +Those tears, bitter though they were, saved his reason. + +The duchess, too, wept profusely. "Poor prince!" said she, "well may +you mourn, for you have lost an angel of goodness and--" + +"No!" interrupted Eugene, fiercely. "Say not that she is lost to me! +I must find her, for she is mine,--and I must find her ravisher. +Great God of heaven!" cried he, raising his clasped hands, "where +shall I find the robber that has so cruelly despoiled us both?" + +"Stay!" cried the duchess. "I know of a man that was her suitor, and +whose suit was countenanced by her father and her brother. She told +me of it herself, and to avoid their persecutions, took refuge with +me." + +"His name, his name, I implore you, his name!" + +"The Venetian ambassador, the Marquis de Strozzi." + +"I thank your highness," replied Eugene, approaching the door. + +"Whither do you go?" + +"To seek the Venetian ambassador." + +"And compromise Laura? You do not know that things transpired as you +imagine. She may merely have been removed by her father, to part her +from yourself. And suppose the marquis was no party to her flight? +You would make her ridiculous--nay, more; you would sully her name, +so that every gossip in Paris would fall upon your Laura's +reputation, and leave not a shred of it wherewith to protect her +from the world's contempt." + +Eugene wiped off the great drops of sweat that beaded his pallid +brow. "You are right," said he. "She must not be compromised--no, +not even if I died of grief for her loss: there are other means--I +will go to her father." + +Elizabeth nodded her head approvingly. "Yes--that you can do. You +may confide her secret to her father. Take the same carriage that +brought you hither, and, to make sure of obtaining speedy admission +to Louvois' presence, announce yourself as my envoy." + +"I thank your highness," replied Eugene, and, inclining his head, he +moved toward the door. The duchess followed him, and, taking his +hand affectionately, pressed it within her own. + +"I see that you love my darling as she deserves to be loved, and you +would have made her happy. Forgive my injustice and my hard words. I +was so wretched that I knew not the import of my accusations." + +"I do not remember them," returned Eugene, sadly. "But one thing +fills my heart--the thought of my Laura's loss. Farewell, dear lady. +Now, to question Louvois!" + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE FOES. + + +Great was the astonishment of the household of Louvois, when, +hastening to do honor to the liveries of the royal house of Orleans, +they saw emerging from the coach Prince Eugene of Savoy. + +"Announce me to Monsieur Louvois," said he. + +The message passed from vestibule to corridor, from corridor to +staircase, and finally reached the antechamber of the minister's +private cabinet. In a short while, the answer was forthcoming. + +"His excellency begged to decline the visit of his highness the +Prince of Savoy. He was particularly engaged." + +"He is at home," replied the prince; "then I shall certainly alight, +for I must and will see him." + +So he entered the house, and traversed the vestibule. The lackeys +made no effort to stop him, for he looked dangerous; but they were +certainly astounded at his boldness, who forced himself into the +presence of the minister, when he had declined the proffered visit. + +Eugene, disregarding their amazed looks, asked the way to the +cabinet, and no one ventured to refuse. So he was passed from lackey +to lackey, until he reached the antechamber. "Here," said the +servant that had accompanied him, "here your highness will find a +person to announce you." + +Eugene bowed his head, and entered. The "person" was certainly +within; but in lieu of announcing the prince, he stared at him in +speechless astonishment. + +Eugene paid no attention to him, but moved toward the door leading +to the prime minister's cabinet. When the valet saw this, he flew +across the room to stop the intruder, and, placing himself directly +in his way, he bowed and said, "Pardon me, your highness. You must +have been misinformed. His excellency regrets that he cannot receive +your highness's visit to-day. He is particularly engaged." + +"I have no visit to make to his excellency," replied the prince +without embarrassment. "I am the envoy of her royal highness the +Duchess of Orleans. Announce me as such." + +The valet soon returned, and, holding up the portiere so as to admit +Eugene, he said, "His excellency will receive the envoy of her royal +highness the Duchess of Orleans." + +Louvois was standing near a writing-table, from which he appeared at +that moment to have risen. His right hand rested on a book, and he +stood stiff and erect, awaiting an inclination from Eugene, to bend +his head in return. But the prince advanced so proudly that Louvois +involuntarily made a step toward him, and then recollecting himself, +stood still and frowned visibly. + +"You came under false colors to claim an audience from me, prince," +said he. "As you found (indeed, you should have known) that I would +not receive you in your own name, you borrowed that of her royal +highness; taking advantage of the respect due madame, to force +yourself into my presence. What is your business?" + +"In supposing that I have used her royal highness's name to force +myself upon you, you are mistaken," replied Eugene, calmly. "If you +will take the trouble to look out of yonder window, you will see +that I came hither in her highness's own coach." + +Louvois stepped to the window, looked out, and, affecting +astonishment, exclaimed, "True enough; there are the royal liveries, +and you have told the truth. You really must excuse me." + +"I do excuse you; for I do not consider that one bearing the name of +Louvois is in a position to affront me by doubting my word." + +"Lucky for you," returned Louvois, with his sinister laugh; "for +there is not likely to be much harmony between the two families. And +now to business. What message do you bear from madame?" + +"Her royal highness informs Monsieur de Louvois that on yesterday +night, the Marchioness de Bonaletta disappeared from her pavilion in +the Palais Royal. As Monsieur de Louvois is well posted in all that +takes place in or about Paris, her royal highness is convinced that +he is no stranger to this occurrence, and she requires that her lady +of the bedchamber be returned to her, or she be directed where to +find her." + +"Is that all?" asked Louvois, after a pause. + +"That is all that I have to say for the Duchess of Orleans." + +"You are so very emphatic that I infer you have something else to +say, after all. Am I right?" + +"You are." + +"Well, you may speak. But first, allow me to ask how you happen to +be her highness's messenger? Was it by way of sympathizing with the +Marchioness de Bonaletta, that you took service with her mistress?" + +"My lord prime minister," returned Eugene, proudly, "I serve myself +and the requirements of my honor only." + +"Ah, indeed! And does this respectable lady pay you well?" + +"She bestows upon me wherewith to pay those who venture to attack +her name." + +"Ha! ha! Then you must have heavy payments to make, not for yourself +only, but for your mother." + +Eugene clinched his fist, and made a motion toward his cruel enemy, +but Louvois calmly raised his hand. + +"Peace, young man," said he; "the hour for reckoning has not +arrived. I respect, in you, the representative of madame, and you +shall depart from my house uninjured, today. Take advantage, then, +of your opportunity; say all that you have to say, and spare +yourself the trouble of sending me your petitions by writing." + +"I have no petitions to make to you, oral or written. I came hither +to claim for her royal mistress the Marchioness de Bonaletta, your +daughter." + +"And I repeat my question. How came you to be the chosen ambassador +of her royal highness, on this strictly private affair between +herself and me?" + +"I was chosen," replied Eugene, breathing hard and growing pale, +"because I love the marchioness." + +Louvois laughed aloud. "You love my daughter, do you? I admire the +sagacity which directs your love toward the daughter of the prime +minister of France, and the richest heiress within its boundaries. I +congratulate you upon your choice." + +"Yes," repeated Eugene, "I love her, although she is your daughter. +And so dearly do I love her that, for her dear sake, I submit to be +affronted by my mother's traducer, because that traducer is the +father of my Laura. As regards your absurd insinuations respecting +her wealth, they pass by me as the 'idle wind which I respect not.' +And now, that I have satisfied your curiosity, be so good as to +answer me. The Duchess of Orleans wishes to know where is her lady +of the bedchamber: Eugene of Savoy demands his bride." + +"Demands his bride? This is too presuming! But I must be patient +with the representative of madame. Know, then, ambitious manikin, +that, with a father's right to save his misguided child from your +artifices and from the ridicule of the world, I rescued her from +ruin last night, and, to secure her honor, gave her in marriage to +an honorable man." + +Eugene was as overwhelmed with this intelligence as though he had +not foreseen it from the first. His wail was so piteous that Louvois +himself felt its terrible significance, and started. + +"You forced--forced her to give her hand to another?" gasped he. + +"Forced! I perceived no reluctance on my daughter's side, to her +marriage. She spoke a willing and distinct assent to the priest's +interrogatory. I ought to know, who myself was one of her +witnesses." + +"That merely proves that she was deceived by the lying note that you +forged in my name. How, in the sight of God, can a father so betray +his own child!" + +"It was sent with my approbation, but written by Barbesieur, as a +slight token of acknowledgment for your cowardly attack on him at +the Pre aux Clercs. Your mother was right, it appears, when a few +weeks ago she told me that no sympathy could exist between her race +and mine; and that every attempt at love between us was sure to end +in hate. Quite right she was, quite right. And now, Prince of Savoy, +your mission is fulfilled. Tell the Duchess of Orleans that her lady +of the bedchamber is secure, but cannot return to her service: she +is under the protection of her husband." + +"I will tell her," replied Eugene. "I will tell her that all honor, +all humanity, all justice, forgetting, a father has cruelly betrayed +his own daughter, and has cursed her life forever. Your wicked +action has broken the hearts of two of God's creatures, and has +consigned them to a misery that can only end with death. I say not, +'May God forgive you.' No! may God avenge my Laura's wrongs, and may +he choose Eugene of Savoy as the instrument of His wrath! for every +pang that rends the heart of my beloved, and for every throe that +racks my own, you shall answer to me, proud minister of France: and, +as there lives a God in heaven, you shall regret one day that you +rejected me for your son-in-law." + +Without another word or look toward Louvois, he left the room, and +returned to his carriage. When he re-entered the cabinet of madame, +his ghastly face, the very incarnation of woe, told its own story. + +"You bring me evil tidings," said she, mournfully. "My darling is +lost to us both!" + +"Alas, my prophetic heart! She is married!" was his cry of despair. + +"Poor Laura! poor Eugene!" sobbed the duchess, unable to restrain +her tears. + +"If you weep, what shall I do?" asked Eugene. "Why do you take it so +much to heart?" + +"Why?" exclaimed she. "Because I am no longer young, and I have lost +my last hope of happiness. You, at least, have life and the world +before you." + +"And I," said he, languidly--"I am young, and have a lifetime +wherein to suffer. The world is before me! Yes; but it is a waste, +without tree or flower. With scorched eyes and blistered feet, I +must tread its burning sands alone. Forgive me, dear lady, if I ask +permission to go. If I stay much longer, my aching head will burst." + +"You are wan as a spectre, my poor Eugene," returned the duchess, +laying her hand upon his arm. and looking him compassionately in the +face. + +"And, in truth, I am but the corpse of the living man of yesterday," +sighed he. "Let me go home, that I may bury myself and my dead hopes +together." + +The duchess rang for her gentleman in waiting, and requested him to +accompany the prince to his carriage, and thence to the Hotel de +Soissons; but Eugene gently refused the proffered escort, and begged +to be allowed to depart alone. He turned away, and as the duchess +watched his receding figure, she saw him reel from side to side, +like a man intoxicated. + +At last he was at home. He had strength left to alight, to ascend +the long marble staircase, whose balustrade was now hidden by a +thicket of climbing jessamines, and to enter the antechamber leading +to the apartments of state. + +Monsieur Louis, with the elite of his workmen, was decorating its +walls with hangings of white satin, looped with garlands suspended +from the bills of cooing doves. When he beheld the prince, he came +triumphantly forward. + +"See. your highness, this is but the vestibule of the temple! When +you will have seen its interior, you will confess that it is worthy +the abode of the loveliest bride that ever graced its princely +halls." + +Eugene neither interrupted nor answered him. He raised his large, +mournful eyes to the festooned roses, the gilded doves, the snowy, +shimmering satin, and to his fading senses they seemed gradually to +darken into cypress-wreaths and funereal palls. He pressed his hand +upon his bursting heart, and fell insensible to the floor. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE REPULSE. + + +Eight weeks had passed away since the disappearance of the +Marchioness de Bonaletta--eight weeks of suffering and delirium for +Eugene of Savoy. A nervous fever had ensued, which, if it had well- +nigh proved mortal, had proved, in one sense, beneficent; for it had +stricken him with unconsciousness of woe. Blissful dreams of love +hovered about his couch, and lit up with feverish brilliancy his +pallid countenance. At such times SHE seemed to sit beside him; for +he smiled, held out his hand, and addressed her in words of burning +love and ecstasy. Perhaps these joyful phantasms gave him strength +to recuperate from his terrible prostration, for he recovered; and, +after four weeks of struggle between life and death, was declared +convalescent. His grandmother and his sisters had nursed him +tenderly throughout, and they had the satisfaction of hearing from +his physician, that to their loving care he owed his restoration to +health. The poor sufferer himself could not find it in his heart to +be grateful for the boon. With returning reason came awakening +anguish, sharp as the first keen stroke that had laid low the +beautiful fabric of his ephemeral happiness. + +But he was resolved to face his sorrow--not to fly from it. "It +shall kill me or make a man of me, whom no shaft of adversity can +ever wound again," thought he. He confided his troubles to no one, +little dreaming that his secret was known not only to his +grandmother and his sisters, but to the Princes de Conti, who, +throughout their long watches by his bedside, had heard the history +of his love, its return by the beloved one, and its disastrous end. +But each and all respected the secret, and tacitly agreed to cover +it with a veil of profound silence. + +So Eugene suffered and struggled alone, until the tempest of his +grief had passed, and light once more dawned upon his soul. His +dreamy eyes, in whose depths one visionary object had been mirrored, +now rested upon things with quick and apprehensive intelligence; his +ears, that had been pained with one monotonous dirge of woe, now +opened to the sounds of the outer world around; and his thoughts, +which hitherto had kept unceasing plaint for their buried love, now +shook off repining, and hearkened to the trumpet-call of ambition. + +One morning he called Conrad, who (accustomed of late to see his +master reclining languidly on a sofa, seemingly interested in +nothing) was quite surprised to find him in the arsenal, busily +engaged in examining and cleaning his arms. + +Conrad could not repress a smile, and a glance of mingled +astonishment and delight. Eugene saw it, and replied at once. + +"You see," said he, gently, "that I am better, Conrad. I was very +slow to recover from my severe illness, but I believe that I am +quite sound again. I thank you for all your self-sacrificing +devotion to me, during that season of suffering; and never while my +heart beats will I forget it. Let me press your friendly hand within +my own, for well I know that your highest reward is to be found in +my esteem and affection." + +Conrad grasped the hand that was so kindly proffered, and tears of +joy fell upon its pale, attenuated fingers. + +"My dear lord," sobbed he, "how you have suffered! and oh, how +gladly I would have suffered for you!" + +"I believe it, good, true heart; but let us try to forget the past, +and make ready for the future. First--tell me whether the letter you +took for me yesterday is likely to reach the cabinet of his +majesty." + +"Yes, your highness," replied Conrad, with a happy smile. "My cousin +Lolo washes the plate at the Louvre, and is engaged to be married to +the king's second valet. I gave it to her, and charged her, as she +valued her salvation, to see that Leblond remitted it." + +"So far, so well, then. Order my state-carriage, livery, and +outriders; and then return to assist me in dressing. I must go to +court in half an hour." + +While Eugene was preparing to visit the king, his majesty with his +prime minister was in his cabinet, writing; while, not too far to be +out of reach of his majesty's admiring eyes, sat the demure De +Maintenon, profoundly engaged in tapestry-work. The conference over, +Louis signed to Louvois to gather up the papers to which the royal +signature had been attached, and to take his leave. Louvois hastened +to obey; put his portfolio under his arm, and was about to retire, +when the king bade him remain. + +"Apropos," said he, "I was about to forget a trifle that may as well +be attended to. I have received a letter from Prince Eugene of +Savoy. There is a vacancy in the dragoons, and the little prince +asks for it. Methinks it can be granted." + +Louvois smiled. "What, your majesty! Give a captaincy of dragoons to +that poor little weakling? Why, he would not survive one single +campaign." As he uttered these careless words, he glanced at the +marquise, who understood him at once. + +"In truth," observed she, in her soft, musical voice, whose melody +was as bewitching as that of the sea-maids of Sicily "in truth, poor +Prince Eugene seems as unsuited to the career of a soldier as to +that of an ecclesiastic. The dissipated and debauched life which, in +imitation of his mother, he has led since his boyhood, has exhausted +his energies. He is prematurely old--older far than your majesty." + +A complacent smile flitted over the features of the vain monarch. +"He certainly looked more dead than alive the last time we saw him, +and since then he has been very ill, has he not?" + +"Yes," replied Louvois, carelessly, "and for a long time his +recovery was considered doubtful." + +"Madame told me of it," resumed the king. "She seems very much +interested in the little prince." + +"Madame is the impersonation of goodness," observed De Maintenon, +"and by her very innocence is unfitted to judge of character. The +old Princess de Carignan imposed upon her credulity with some story +of an unhappy attachment, while veritably his illness is nothing +more than the natural consequence of his excesses." + +Louvois thanked his coadjutor with a second glance, and the marquise +acknowledged the compliment by a slight inclination of her head, +imperceptible to the king. + +"Be all this as it may," replied the latter, "I cannot refuse so +paltry a favor to the nephew of Cardinal Mazarin. If we do no more, +we ought at least to throw him a bone to gnaw." [Footnote: Louis' +own words.--"Memoires do Jeanne d'Albret de Luynes," vol. i., p. +85.] + +"Sire," said Louvois, hastily, "you do not know Prince Eugene. He is +a dangerous man, though a weakly one, for he is possessed of +insatiable ambition. He desires renown at any price." + +"At any price!" repeated Louis, with a shrug. "Such a poor devil as +that covet renown at any price!" + +"Sire!" exclaimed Louvois, earnestly, "he is an offshoot of the +ambitious house of Savoy, and a stranger besides. Strangers always +bring us ill-luck." + +"You are right," interposed the marquise, with a sigh. "Strangers +never bring us any but ill-luck." + +Louis turned and fixed his eyes upon her. Their glances met, and +there was such unequivocal love expressed in that of the pious +marquise, that her royal disciple blushed with gratification. He +went up to her and extended both his hands. + +She took them passionately within her own, and covered them with +kisses. Then raising her eyes pleadingly to his, she whispered, +"Sire, he is the son of his mother; and if your majesty show him +favor, I shall think that you have not ceased to love the Countess +de Soissons, and my heart will break." + +Louis was so touched by the charming jealousy unconsciously betrayed +by these words, that he whispered in return: + +"I will prove, then, that I love nobody but yourself." + +"Be so good," added he aloud to Louvois, "as to say to the usher +that the Prince of Savoy will have an audience." + +This being equivalent to a dismission, Louvois backed out of his +master's presence, and retired. As he was passing through the +antechamber, congratulating himself upon having effectually muzzled +his adversary, the minister saw his pale, serious face at the door. +Eugene was in the act of desiring the usher to announce him. + +"His majesty awaits the Prince of Savoy," said Louvois, and he +stepped aside to allow him entrance. + +Eugene came in, and the door was closed. The two enemies were alone, +face to face; and they surveyed each other as two lions might do on +the eve of a deathly contest. + +"It has pleased you to make an attempt to beg a commission in the +army, and to address yourself directly to the king," said Louvois, +after a pause. "And you presumed to do so without the intervention +of his majesty's minister of war." + +"I have no business with the servants of his majesty," replied +Eugene, tranquilly. "If I have a request to make, I address it to +the king my kinsman, and require no influence of his subordinates." + +"Sir!" exclaimed Louvois, angrily, "I counsel you--" + +"I desire no counsel from a man whom I despise," interrupted Eugene. + +"You shall give me satisfaction for this word," returned Louvois, +laying his hand on his sword. "You are a nobleman, and therefore--" + +"And therefore," interrupted Eugene again, "you shall have no +satisfaction from me, for you are not a nobleman, and I shall not +measure swords with you. Peace, monsieur," continued he, as Louvois +was about to insult him, "we are in the antechamber of the king, and +a servant may not resent his grievances within earshot of his +master. Take care that you become not too obstreperous, lest I +publish to the world the story of your crimes toward your unhappy +daughter. And now let me pass: the king awaits me." + +With these words Eugene crossed the antechamber, and stood near the +door that led to the king's cabinet. There he stopped, and, +addressing the indignant minister-- + +"Now, sir," said he, imperatively, "you can go out to the vestibule +and send the usher to announce me to his majesty." + +Louvois made a rush at the prince, and almost shrieked with rage. +"Sir, this insolence--" + +But at that moment the door of the king's cabinet opened, and the +voice of Louis asked, "Who presumes to speak so loud?" His angry +glances were launched first at one and then at the other offender, +and, as neither made any reply, his majesty resumed: + +"Ah, you are there, little abbe? You asked for an audience: it is +granted." + +He returned to his cabinet, Eugene following. The marquise was +assiduously occupied with her tapestry, but her large eyes were +raised for one glance; then, as quickly casting them down, she +appeared to be absorbed in her embroidery. + +The king threw himself carelessly back in an arm-chair, and signed +to Eugene to advance. + +"You would like to command a company of dragoons?" said Louis, +shortly. + +"Such is my desire, your majesty. I wish to become a soldier; I +hope--a brave one." + +Louis surveyed him with scorn. "I cannot grant your request," said +he. "You are too sickly to enter my service." + +He then rose from his chair and turned his back. This of course +signified that the audience was at an end; but, to his unspeakable +astonishment, he felt the touch of a hand upon his arm, and, turning +round, beheld Eugene! + +"Is that all your majesty has to say to me?" said the prince. + +"That is all," cried Louis, imperiously. "The audience is at an end- +-begone!" + +"Not yet," replied Eugene, "not yet." + +Madame de Maintenon uttered a cry of horror, and her tapestry fell +from her hands. + +"Do you know that you are a traitor?" exclaimed the king. + +"No, sire. I am but a man who, driven to despair, can no longer +withhold the cry of a heart wrung by every species of contumely and +injustice. Were I tamely to submit to all that you have done to +wound me, I were a hound unfit to bear the name of nobleman. By the +memory of Cardinal Mazarin, your benefactor, nay, more, the spouse +of your mother, I claim the right to remonstrate with your majesty, +and to ask you to reverse your decision." + +"You have summoned to your aid a name which I have ever cherished +and honored," replied Louis. "For his sake I grant you fifteen +minutes' audience. Be quick, then, and say what you will at once." + +"Then, sire, may I ask if you remember the solemn promise you made +to the cardinal on his death-bed?" + +"I do." + +"To the man who, during your minority, transformed a distracted +country into a powerful and peaceful empire, you promised friendship +and protection for his kindred. But how has this promise been +fulfilled? The family of Mazarin have, one and all, been given over +to persecution and injustice, and that by a sovereign who--" + +"Prince," cried Louis, "you forget that you address your king!" + +"My king! when has your conduct ever been to me that of a king, and +therefore of a father? I know that my uncle was once king of the +King of France; and by the God above us! he was a gracious monarch, +for he left to his successor a prosperous kingdom and an overflowing +treasury!" + +"Which was not fuller than his own private purse," retorted Louis. + +"The cardinal named you his heir, sire--why did you not accept the +heritage?" + +"Because I would not enrich myself at the expense of his family," +replied Louis, haughtily. + +"Because you knew very well that what you affected to relinquish, +that the world might admire your magnanimity, you intended to take +back by piecemeal. And to do this, you have persecuted the unhappy +family of your best friend with au ingenuity of malice that is +beneath the dignity not only of your station, but of your manhood!" + +"Sire," cried Madame de Maintenon, hastening to the king, "I beseech +you, drive from your presence this insolent madman." + +"Let him speak," said Louis, in a voice of suppressed rage. "I wish +to see how far he will carry his presumption." + +"Sire, it reaches past your crown, as far as the judgment-seat of +God, where it stands as your accuser. Sire, what have we done to +merit your aversion? My mother--that you allowed your minions to +traduce and drive her into exile? My father--who fought and bled for +you, that you offered him public insult, and so wounded his proud +spirit, that he died from the effects of your cruelty? My sisters-- +that you have robbed them of their patrimony! And I!--what have I +done that you should hold me up to the mockery of your court, and +deny me the paltry boon of a petty commission in your army? I had +forgiven your public affronts, so unworthy of a king and a +gentleman; and I had offered my hand and sword to your majesty as +proofs of my loyalty and superiority to resentment. As a kinsman and +your subject you have repulsed me: for the future, know me as an +alien and enemy." + +The king laughed scornfully. "Puny braggart, what care I for your +enmity?" + +"Time will show, sire; and, as truly as a lion once owed his life to +a mouse, your majesty will repent of your injustice to me." + +"I never repent," returned the king, hastily. + +"A day of repentance must come for all who have sinned, and it must +dawn for you. Beware lest it come so late that the prayers of yonder +sanctimonious marquise avail you nothing." + +"By heavens!" cried the king, starting from his seat and clutching +his bell, "my patience is exhausted. This arch-traitor shall--" + +But Madame de Maintenon was at his side in a moment. + +"Sire," said she, beseechingly, "in the name of the love and loyalty +I bear my sovereign, pardon this misguided youth. Remember that the +highest prerogative of power is the exercise of mercy. I, for my +part, forgive him freely, and I thank God that I am here to mediate +between him and your majesty's just anger." + +"You are an angel," cried Louis, clasping her hand in his own, and +covering them with kisses. "You are an angel whom God has sent for +my happiness in this world and the next." And turning to Eugene with +a lofty gesture, he said: "Go, young man. Madame de Maintenon's +magnanimity has earned your pardon. Go--that I may forget you and +your existence." + +"Sire," replied Eugene with emphasis, "I do not intend that you +shall forget me. In your pride of power, you have likened yourself +to a god, but, great as you are, you shall rue the day on which +Eugene of Savoy turned his back upon your kingdom!" + +"So you persist in believing yourself to be a man, do you?" + +"Yes, sire; such is my conviction. I aim at renown, and, in spite of +my enemies, of my poverty, and of my friendless condition, I have +strength and energy to attain it. I am no longer a subject of +France. I bid farewell to my country forever." + +With a slight inclination of his head, and without waiting for +permission, he turned his back, and left the room. + +Louis gazed upon his receding figure, with an expression so strange, +that Madame de Maintenon in great alarm flew to his side. His eyes +were fixed, and great drops of sweat stood out upon his forehead. +The marquise wiped them away with her handkerchief, all the while +whispering words of tender encouragement. + +Louis shivered, and seemed like one awakening from a dream. His +eyelids fell, the strained eyeballs moved, and he tried to smile. + +"Dearest friend," said he, "I know not what has happened; but, as +the Prince of Savoy disappeared from my sight, a voice seemed to +speak to my soul, and say that his threats had been prophetic, and +that I would dearly rue the day on which the nephew of Mazarin had +left me in anger. Can such things be? or am I the sport of--" + +"Sire, sovereign, beloved," cried the marquise, kneeling and +clasping his knees in her arms, "give no heed to this mocking voice. +'Tis but a temptation of the Evil One. Let us pray together." + +"Yes, let us pray. Send for Pere la Chaise, and let us away to the +chapel." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE FAREWELL. + + +Prince Eugene, meanwhile, was on his way to visit the Duchess of +Orleans. She met him with unaffected cordiality, and gave him a +hearty welcome. + +"Indeed," said she, extending both her hands, "I am rejoiced to see +you again. I made you many a visit of inquiry during your illness; +and it pained me deeply to hear from your grandmother that no effort +of those who love you had so far prevailed upon you to leave your +room. I am glad to see that your heart is returning to us, for you +know that I am foremost in the rank of your friends." + +"I know it, gracious lady," said Eugene, feelingly, "and for that +reason I am here." + +"And although you are pale, you are looking well. You have a brave +spirit, Eugene, and have met your sorrow like a man." + +"Yes. Suffering has made a man of me, and he that has received its +chrism with courage has overcome grief. I have come to give your +highness a proof of my fortitude. I"--but he paused, and his face +grew of a deadly pallor, while a convulsive sigh was upheaved from +his bosom. + +"Speak, poor boy," said the duchess, compassionately. + +"I wanted to ask if your highness has news from the Marchioness de +Bonaletta?" resumed he, with an effort. + +"Yes," replied the duchess, mournfully. + +"Has she written to you?" was the hurried rejoinder. + +The duchess shook her head. "She has not, and thereby I judge that +she is closely watched. For, if my darling were free to do so, she +would long ago have poured her sorrows into my heart. Sometimes I +feel her soft arms twining about my neck, and hear her voice, as, in +the simplicity of her trust, she said to me one day: 'Pray for me, +that I may never love, for if I should, I would forsake every thing +for the man of my choice--even yourself, my best friend.'" + +"She spoke thus?" cried Eugene, brightening. + +"She did; and, not long after, she glided up to me, and, giving me a +kiss, said: 'I have found him, I have found him--him whom I shall +love throughout all eternity.' 'Gracious Heavens!' I exclaimed, 'it +is not Prince Eugene!' whereupon she kissed me again, and said, 'But +it is he; and I shall love him forever!'" + +"Ah! I thought I had been stronger!" murmured Eugene, his eyes +filling with tears. "I had armed myself against misfortune, but the +memory of her love unmans me." + +"Poor Eugene! I have been thoughtlessly cruel: forgive me, for you +are the first one to whom I have dared, as yet, to mention her name. +Let me not probe your wounds further, but tell you at once what I +know. I have heard from Laura through the medium of her father only. +The day after her shameful immolation, he communicated his +daughter's marriage to the king; and, the evening after, gave a +grand ball in honor of the event. He excused her absence, and the +secrecy attending her wedding, by saying that her betrothed having +been suddenly summoned away, he had yielded to the solicitation of +the lovers, and had consented to have them married without +formality." + +"Liar and deceiver!" cried Eugene, gnashing his teeth. + +"Ay, indeed, liar and deceiver!" echoed the duchess. "And I had to +sit there, and hear him congratulated; and listen to the flattering +comments of his guests, every one of whom knew that not a word of +truth was being spoken on either side. Of course I had no choice +whether to absent myself or not; I was ordered to appear, and to +confirm the lie. And once or twice, when my face unconsciously +expressed my indignation, my husband was at hand to remind me that +my lady of the bedchamber had married with my consent and +approbation! The day after, Louvois distributed largesses among his +household, and bestowed princely sums upon the poor, all in honor of +the happy event! For a whole week I could neither eat nor sleep for +grief and anger. I can never recover from this blow. If you had +robbed me of Laura, I could have forgotten my own loss in her gain; +but to know that she is chained to the galley of an unhappy marriage +almost breaks my heart!" + +"She is not chained to that galley," said Eugene; "the oath she took +was not to the man whom the world calls her husband--it was pledged +to me. But do not fear that I will lay claim to her, duchess. Far be +it from me to take one step that could endanger her safety, or +unsettle her convictions. If she considers the oath binding which +she took to one man, supposing him to be another, I will bear my +fate with resignation; but if she scorns the lie that calls her his +wife, she will find means to let me know it; and, let her summons +come when it may, I shall be ready to obey it. Let her heart seek +mine, and I will take care that renown shall tell her where to find +me." + +"I feared as much," said the duchess. "I knew that you would not +remain at this false, corrupt court. Whither do you travel?" + +"I shall follow my brother. Your highness knows that he was banished +for having married the girl whom he loved, whose only fault was her +obscure birth. He is in the service of the Emperor of Austria; and, +if his imperial majesty will accept of me, I, too, will join the +Austrian army." + +"And you will live to replace the lost myrtles of your love with the +laurels of fame." + +"God grant that you may be a true prophetess! And now, your +highness, I have one more favor to ask. May I visit the room in +which I saw her last?" + +"Come. We can take a turn in the park, and enter the pavilion as if +by accident. Every thing is just as she left it." + +Accompanied by two maids of honor, and followed at a distance by two +lackeys, they descended to the gardens. For a time they confined +their stroll to the principal walks; but when they had reached the +pathway that led to the pavilion, the duchess, turning to her maids +of honor, requested them to await her at the intersection of the +avenues, and continued her way with the prince. Not a word was +spoken on either side until they had ascended the steps leading to +the room where, in one short hour, Eugene had seen the birth and +death of his ephemeral happiness. + +He opened the door; then, standing on the threshold, gazed +mournfully around him. Not an object in the room was missing. There, +in the embrasure of the window, stood her harp; there, on the table, +lay her books and drawings; and there, alas! hung the silver +chandelier whose solitary light was to have guided him to his +bridal. Every thing was there, as before, and yet nothing remained, +for she, who had been the soul of the habitation, had left it +forever! + +And now, as his wandering gaze rested upon the arm-chair where, +kneeling at her feet, he had received the intoxicating confession of +her love, he started forward, and, burying his face in its cushions, +wept aloud. + +The duchess, meanwhile, had remained outside on the perron. She +would not invade the sanctity of Eugene's grief by her presence, for +she felt that, in a moment of such supreme agony, the soul would be +alone with its Maker. + +Presently she heard the door open and Eugene joined her on the +balcony. For a while he looked at her in silence; then his lips +began to move, and she caught these words, uttered almost inaudibly: + +"I am about to go. Will you grant me one more request?" + +"Yes--what is it?" + +"You told me that, when she confided to you her love for me, she put +her arms around your neck, and kissed you. May I have that kiss from +your lips, dear duchess?" + +Instead of a reply, Elizabeth embraced the poor youth. "God bless +you, Eugene!" said she, fondly. "Go forth, into the world to fight +the battle of life, and win it." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A PAGE FROM HISTORY. + + +The year 1683 was full of significance for Austria. It was a period +of victory and defeat, of triumph and humiliation. Austria's wounds +were many and dangerous, but her cure was rapid. In the spring of +this momentous year she was threatened simultaneously from the East +and the West, and she had every reason to fear that she would be +similarly assailed from her northern and southern frontiers. + +Her troubles originated, as they had often done before, with +Hungary--that land of haughty Magyars and enthusiastic patriots. +Leopold I. ascended the throne in 1658, and from that time forward +every year of his reign had been marked by intestine wars. +Sometimes, by force of numbers, the rebellious Hungarians were, for +a time, held in subjection; but the fire of patriotism, though +smothered, was never extinguished in their hearts. Deep buried under +the ashes of many a deluded hope, it lived on, until some friendly +breath of encouragement fanned it to activity, and its flames leaped +upward, and defied the emperor anew. + +Hungary would not submit to be considered as a provincial dependency +on Austria. She claimed the constitutional rights guaranteed to her +from time immemorial, and recorded in the golden bull of King +Andreas. In 1654 the Emperor Ferdinand had promised, both for +himself and his successors, that this constitution should be held +inviolate; that all foreign troops should be withdrawn from Hungary, +while no Hungarians should be called upon to fight elsewhere than on +their native soil; that the crown lands were to be inalienable; all +offices bestowed upon native-born Hungarians; Protestants secured in +the exercise of their religion; and no war undertaken, nor treaty +concluded, with any foreign power, without the consent of the +Hungarian Diet. + +The Emperor Leopold had promised to ratify the constitution. But, in +1664, Austria declared war against Turkey, and called for money and +troops from Hungary. The Magyars, not having been consulted as to +the expediency of the war, refused to have any thing to do with it. +With the help of France, peace was made with the Porte; and, as soon +as his foreign difficulties were settled, Leopold bethought himself +of his turbulent Hungarians at home. Austrian troops were marched +into Hungary, and the Protestant Magyars, in the enjoyment of high +offices, were superseded by Catholics. + +The indignation of the Hungarians knew no bounds. They took up arms, +and swore never to lay them down until they had freed their native +land. The revolution broke out in 1670; and such was the fanaticism +of the patriots, that their banners bore the cross as their emblem, +and every soldier wore a cross upon his shoulder. By this sign they +swore eternal enmity to the detested Austrian lancers; and, however +they might be outnumbered, they hoped in God, and rushed by +thousands to fill up the ranks whence thousands had fallen. +Undaunted by reverses, undismayed by danger, new armies of warriors +seemed to spring from the blood of the slain. Nor were the brave +Hungarians without sympathy in their struggle for freedom; they had +allies both powerful and efficient. + +Two of their ablest generals. Zriny and Frangipany, had fallen into +the hands of the Austrians, and had perished ignominiously on the +scaffold; and another hero, Count Tokoly, had fallen at the siege of +Arva. But his son survived, a boy who had been rescued from the +enemy and conveyed to Transylvania. There he was taught to hate the +oppressors of his country; and no sooner was he of an age to serve, +than he entered the army. He brought with him succor from Prince +Apafy, of Transylvania, and the promise of aid from the Porte. Fired +by the enthusiasm of young Emerich Tokoly, the Hungarians renewed +the contest with Leopold, and fortune so favored their youthful +leader, that he conquered Upper Hungary, marched to Presburg, drove +out the Austrians, and called an imperial Diet to consult as to the +propriety of deposing the Emperor Leopold from the throne of +Hungary. + +But Emerich did not tarry at Presburg to attend the Diet. He marched +on to Buda to confer with Kara Mustapha, the grand-vizier of +Mohammed IV., on the affairs of Hungary. The victories of the young +hero had more effect upon Mustapha than any amount of pleading could +have done; he was therefore prepared to receive him favorably. +Mustapha was ambitious, covetous, and vindictive; he had latterly +felt some uneasiness as to the security of his own influence with +the Sultan, and he burned to reinstate himself by gaining a victory +or two over the Austrians. Moreover, he thought of the booty which +would follow each victory; and, in the hope of retrieving his defeat +at St. Gotthard's, he concluded a treaty with Count Emerich, which +was specially directed against Austria. He promised, in the Sultan's +name, arms, money, and men; and, as an earnest of the friendship of +his new ally, Emerich was declared King of Hungary. + +Under the ruined walls of the fortress of Fulek, which Emerich had +taken from the enemy, Mustapha handed him the diploma of royalty +which had been drawn up in Constantinople; at the same time +bestowing upon him the rank of a Turkish general, and presenting him +with a standard and a horsetail. + +The newly-appointed king pledged himself, in return, to consider the +Sultan as his lord-paramount, and to pay him a yearly tribute of +forty thousand florins. He was so elated with his title, and so +desirous of humiliating Austria, that, to free himself from the +emperor, he consented to become a vassal of the Porte. He signed the +treaty, whereupon Kara Mustapha rejected the proposals of alliance +which Leopold was making, and began to dream of extending the +dominion of the Crescent, and of founding a Moslem empire in the +West, whose capital should be Vienna. He dismissed the Austrian +ambassadors with cold indifference, and promised the Sultan that the +green banner of the Prophet should carry terror and devastation into +the very heart of Austria. This was the danger which threatened the +emperor from the East. He had equally powerful enemies in the West. +Hungary had sent ambassadors to the court of Louis XIV. These +ambassadors had been received in Paris as the accredited envoys of +an independent and recognized kingdom; and King Louis, a son of the +Catholic Church, had carried his hatred to Austria so far, that he +entered into a secret alliance with the unbelieving Porte, and +promised assistance to the Protestant rebels of Hungary. This +assistance he sent at once in the form of money and arms. French +officers were dispatched to Hungary, to join the insurgents and +discipline their soldiers. And, while Louis was secretly upholding +Turkey and Hungary, he was calling councils at home to establish +claims to a portion of the imperial dominions of Austria. + +These juridical councils were established at Metz and Brisach, and +they had instructions from Louis to reannex to his crown all the +domains which had ever been held in fief by any of his predecessors, +however remote. They began by summoning the lords of the Trois- +Eveches to acknowledge their vassalage to France; and they went on +to cite before their tribunal the Elector Palatine, the King of +Spain, and the King of Sweden; all and each of whom were called upon +to do homage to the king, or have their possessions sequestrated. + +All Europe was aghast at these monstrous pretensions, but nobody +ventured to put them down, for Louis had a standing army of one +hundred and forty thousand men, while the German empire, still +suffering from its losses in the Thirty Years' War, could scarcely +put into the field one-third of this number. + +So that, without the drawing of a sword, Louis was suffered to +possess himself of the important city of Strasburg, and subsequently +of all Alsatia. Finally he claimed the cloister of Wasserburg and +the province of Germersheim, and pushed his greed and arrogance to +such a height, that Germany at last awakened from her lethargy, and +found resolution enough to protest against the aggressions of this +royal robber. Louis, in return, proposed to call a universal council +at Frankfort, and have his claims investigated. This was agreed to, +and each sovereign sent his plenipotentiaries. Meanwhile the King of +France kept possession of all the lands in dispute, and stationed +his troops at Strasburg, and at every other town in Alsatia. + +Here was danger enough for the Emperor Leopold, from the west; +while, north and south, his horizon darkened also. The ambitious +Victor Amadeus, seeing that Austria was encompassed by enemies, now +bethought himself of annexing Lombardy to his dominions, while there +was every reason to fear that the bold and enterprising Peter the +Great would extend his frontiers to the Baltic Sea, and, with quite +as much right as Louis ever had to Strasburg, declare Dantzic to be +a part of his Russian territories. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE EMPEROR LEOPOLD I. + + +The Emperor Leopold had just returned from early mass. Throughout +the services, and during the excellent sermon of his celebrated +court-preacher Father Abraham, the face of his imperial majesty had +worn a troubled aspect; it had not even brightened at the appearance +of the Empress Eleonora. But when, in his cabinet, he saw his +professor of music, Herr Kircher, Leopold smiled, and his brow +cleared at once. The professor was occupied in putting a new string +to the emperor's spinet, which the evening before had been broken by +his majesty at a concert; and, having his back turned to the door, +was not aware of the emperor's entrance until the latter laid his +hand upon Kircher's shoulder. + +The musician would have risen, but Leopold gently forced him back +into his seat, observing that it was unbecoming in a teacher to rise +at the entrance of his pupil. + +"Of his pupil, your majesty, to whom there remains nothing for a +teacher to teach; for in good sooth, if your majesty felt disposed, +you are competent to fill the chair of a musical professorship, or +to become the maestro of your own imperial chapel." + +"I prefer my own position," replied Leopold, laughing, "although +there are times when the berth of an emperor is not an easy one. But +when as at present I am here with you, then I am truly happy, for +your conversation and music awaken in me pleasant thoughts and noble +aspirations. Let me enjoy the hour, for indeed, Kircher, I need +recreation." + +The emperor sighed, and sank slowly into an arm-chair, where, taking +off his plumed hat, he threw it wearily down on a tabouret close by. + +"Has your majesty any cause for vexation?" asked Kircher. + +"Not for vexation, but much for sorrow," returned Leopold. "Let me +forget it, and if you have no objection, take up that piece of music +on the table, and give me your opinion of it." + +Professor Kircher obeyed at once. "Your majesty has been composing, +I perceive, and your composition is in strict accordance with the +rules of counterpoint." + +"I have translated my sorrows into music," returned Leopold. "I +could not sleep last night, and there was running through my head +the words of a sad and beautiful Latin poem. I rose from my bed, and +treading softly so as not to disturb the empress, I came hither, and +set the poem to music. It gave me indescribable pleasure, and I wish +you would try it, that I may know whether my interpretation has +meaning for others as well as for myself." + +"My voice will not do it justice, your majesty; let me call Vittorio +Carambini to sing it, while I accompany him." + +"No," returned Leopold. "Carambini's voice would so beautify my +composition, that I would not recognize it. I prefer to hear it from +you. So sit you down, dear Kircher, and begin." + +Kircher made no further opposition, and commenced the prelude. The +emperor leaned back his head, and closed his eyes, as he was +accustomed to do, when listening attentively. Reclining among the +purple-velvet cushions of his luxurious arm-chair, Leopold presented +a handsome picture of imperial comeliness. His fine figure was set +off to advantage by his close-fitting Spanish doublet of black +velvet; his short Spanish cloak, looped up with large diamond +solitaires, fell in graceful folds from his shoulders, gently +stirring with its golden fringe the feathers of his hat that lay +beside him. The pale, regular features of the emperor harmonized +with the splendid costume which, from the days of Charles V., had +been in fashion at the imperial court of Vienna. Leopold had made +one modification, however, in his dress. In spite of his dislike to +the King of France, and all things French, he wore the long curled +wig which Louis XIV. had brought into vogue. + +His whole attention was absorbed by Kircher, who, with a wig similar +in fashion, but more modest in dimensions, sat playing and singing +the "Schmerz-Lied." He sang with great feeling, and he, as well as +the composer, felt the power and beauty of the music. + +It died away in gentle sighs, and there was a pause. Then the +emperor in a low voice said, "Thank you, Kircher; you have given me +great pleasure." + +"Your majesty, it is I who should thank you. Your composition is a +masterpiece; and, instead of criticising my miserable performance, +you praise it." + +"Do you really like it, then?" + +"Like it! It evinces genius, which is something more than a +conformity to musical rules. It is a gift from Heaven, whence surely +all musical inspiration descends. The man that could listen to your +'Schmerz-Lied' without emotion has no soul; and, to him that could +hear it with eyes undimmed, God has denied the gift of tears." + +"Kircher." said the emperor, with a delighted smile, "I thank you a +thousand times for your approbation. It emboldens me to confess that +I felt tears in my eyes while you sang. To you, a musician, I may +say as much; for you know that, to write a song of sorrow, a man +must have known sorrow himself. I fear that my 'Schmerz-Lied' will +have to give place to embateria, and our spinet to the discordant +drum." + +"And will it come to open war with the Porte?" asked Kircher, sadly. + +"I fear as much," sighed the emperor. "Is it not singular that I, a +man of peace, and lover of art, should be forever compelled to be at +war with the world? And is it not hard that a potentate should be +continually forced into measures which he abhors, and stand before +his fellow-creatures in a character that is not his own? History +will depict me as a heartless and bloodthirsty monarch, while no man +has ever more deprecated the shedding of blood than I. My only +comfort is, that, if my poor subjects suffer, it is 'ad majorem Dei +gloriam.'" + +And Leopold, who was not only a disciple but a lay member of the +order of Jesuits, bent his head, and made the sign of the cross. + +"Your majesty alludes to the bloodshed in Hungary?" + +"Yes," said Leopold, mournfully; "for I love those poor Hungarians, +though they be heretics and rebels, and I long for the rising of the +sun of peace upon their unhappy land. O Kircher, if we could but be +at peace abroad and at home, how happily would our days glide by! My +court should be the paradise of poetry and love, the home of art, +and the temple of all wisdom and science." + +"Your majesty is already the patron of all the arts; and artists are +proud to hail you as their brother. Are you not both a composer of +music and a performer? Do you not rival Hermann, Schildbach, and +Hamilton, in painting? And did you not astonish Fisher von Erlach +with the suggestions you offered him in the planning of the palace +of Schonbrunn? And in all your majesty's dominions, is there a +bolder horseman, a more valiant sportsman, a more graceful dancer +than yourself?" + +"To hear you, Kircher," said Leopold, laughing, "one would suppose +that you were describing the attributes of Phoebus-Apollo." + +"And so I am," laughed Kircher; "for out of the letters of your +majesty's name, Leopoldus A, did not Sigismund von Birken compose +the anagram, 'Deus Apollo?'" + +"It is very easy to make anagrams by misplacing a few letters, my +dear Kircher; but to convert a poor terrene German emperor into a +Magnus-Apollo, would require the upheaval of mountains by Titan +hands, from now until the millennium. I would be content to be +myself, were I regarded as a beneficent and peace-loving monarch. +Consilio et Industria is the motto of my choice--a motto, which, +though inappropriate to a god, is pertinent as the device of a +Leopold. I would wish to govern with judgment, and labor +industriously for the welfare of my people, accepting with Christian +resignation whatever it pleases my Maker to apportion. All I ask of +Providence is some little leisure for the cultivation of my favorite +art. From music I derive such indescribable enjoyment, that, if I +could, I would die within hearing of its delicious melody. And, +since I have said so much, Kircher, I will go on to request of you, +that when my end draws near, you will attend to the fulfilment of my +wish." + +"A melancholy duty you assign to me, gracious sovereign," sighed +Kircher. "But if I outlive you, it shall be lovingly performed. Let +us hope, however, for Austria's sake, that you will survive me by +many years." + +"Life and death are in the hands of God," returned Leopold, +reverently. "And now let us speak of matters less serious. Here is +the score of a new opera, lately sent to me from Rome. It is called +'La Principessa Fidele,' and is composed by Scarlatti, who, as you +know, is winning a great reputation." + +"Yes," growled Kircher. "he is winning reputation by tickling the +ears with soft strains which convey no meaning to the heart." + +"Well, well, maestro, let us hear, before we decide," replied +Leopold, laughing. + +Kircher placed the score upon the desk of the spinet, and began to +play. The emperor threw himself back again into his arm-chair, and, +closing his eyes, listened with an expression of great satisfaction. + +But his pleasure was of short duration. Scarcely had Kircher +finished the first grand aria, before the door opened, and the +chamberlain of the day presented himself. Leopold frowned, and, +raising his head, asked somewhat impatiently, "Well,--what is it?" + +"The members of your imperial majesty's council of war are in the +anteroom, and solicit an audience." + +"Ask them to assemble in the small council-chamber, and I will join +them in a moment." Then, turning to Kircher, the emperor shook his +head. "Something unusual must have happened for the council to +assemble at such an early hour. You see, Kircher, that in these +troublous times an emperor can have no leisure hours; and, however I +may yearn to remain, I must leave you." + +"Shall I return to-morrow morning?" asked Kircher. + +"Happy is the man who can dispose of the morrow," sighed Leopold. +"It is more than an Emperor of Germany dare do. I must first +ascertain what news my council bring me; but, under any +circumstances, come, Kircher; for if I am not here, some distant +strain of your music may reach my ear to lighten my cares of state." + +Resuming his hat, the emperor left the cabinet, and joined his +ministers in the council-chamber. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE COUNCIL OF WAR. + + +The president, vice-president, and three members of the council, +awaited the entrance of the emperor. The president, the Margrave of +Baden, stood in the embrasure of a window, engaged in a whispered +conversation with the vice-president, General Count von Starhemberg, +whose eyes were continually wandering to the spot where the Duke of +Lorraine was profoundly engaged in the contemplation of a full- +length portrait of Charles V. Beyond, in the recess of another +window, stood the Counts von Kinsky and Portia, conversing in low +but earnest tones; both from time to time glancing at the Duke of +Lorraine with an expression of aversion which neither attempted to +disguise from the other. + +"Do you think his majesty will bestow the chief command upon his +brother-in-law?" asked General Count Portia. + +"Yes," replied Count Kinsky, with a shrug. "The emperor is so +inordinately fond of the Duke of Lorraine that he fancies him +endowed with military genius." + +"General," whispered the Margrave of Baden to Count Starhemberg, "I +wish to say something to you in private. Can I rely upon your +discretion?" + +"Your highness does me honor," was the reply, "and I promise +absolute silence as regards any thing you may be pleased to +communicate." + +"Then I will go to the point at once. The Duke of Lorraine must not +have the command of the Austrian army. Do you sustain me?" + +"Ah! Your highness, too, hates him." + +The margrave smiled. "My dear general, that little word 'too ' +proves that we are of one mind. Yes, I hate the Duke of Lorraine, +not per se, nor for any evil quality that I know of. I hate him as +one dangerous to the welfare of the state, and too influential with +its ruler, the emperor. Though he has the reputation of being a +great general, he longs for peace and retirement among his books and +maps at home; and he would rather submit to be humbled by foreign +powers than declare war against their aggressions, however insolent. +In other words, he hates bloodshed, and, if he is a soldier, he is +one that loves the pen far more than he does the sword." + +"Your highness is right," returned Count Starhemberg; "the duke is +no soldier, and his appointment to the chief command of her armies +would be a misfortune for Austria. And, worse yet, he is so +opiniated that he never will listen to advice." + +"Therefore we must work together to avert his appointment. We need a +young commander, brave, ambitious, and eager for renown." + +"Like Prince Louis of Baden?" asked Von Starhemberg, smiling. + +"Yes, like Prince Louis of Baden," said the margrave, emphatically. +"He is quite as brave and skilful as the duke; but he is modest, is +willing to listen to advice, and to be guided by the experience of +good counsellors. Instead of ruling the war department, he will be +ruled by it, and thus we will have unanimity both in field and +council. It is to your interest, therefore, to defeat the Duke of +Lorraine, and secure the appointment of my nephew." + +"Your highness can count on me; but I am not very sanguine of +success." + +"It may be easier of accomplishment than you think; at all events +let us make the attempt. We must represent war as inevitable; and, +having given an account of the formidable preparations making by the +enemy, we must counterbalance it all by a glowing exposition of our +own strength and resources. This will arouse the duke's spirit of +opposition, and he will forthwith discourse on the horrors of war. I +will take advantage of his disinclination to fight, to suggest that, +with such sentiments, he had better not aspire to command our +armies. In your quality of vice-president you come forward to +sustain my--Chut! Here comes the emperor." + +All the members of the council bowed low, except the Duke of +Lorraine, who, having his back to the door, had not perceived the +entrance of the emperor. Leopold crossed the room, and the thickness +of the carpet so muffled his footfall that he had his hand on his +brother-in-law's shoulder before the latter had become aware of his +presence. + +"What are you thinking of?" asked he, with an affable smile. "You +appear to be absorbed in admiration of our great ancestor." + +"Yes, your majesty," replied the duke. "I was admiring the beauty of +his noble countenance, and thinking of the pride you must feel when +you remember that you are his descendant, and that his blood flows +in your veins." + +Leopold bent his head in token of assent. "You are right; I AM proud +of my descent. Such an ancestry as mine should inspire a man to +noble deeds; and if I encourage pride of birth in my subjects, it is +because I believe it to be an incentive to virtue and honor. +Remembering, then, with mingled gratulation and humility, that we +are the posterity of Charles V., let us determine to-day to act in a +manner worthy of our great progenitor; for, by your haste to +assemble here this morning, I judge that we have weighty matters to +discuss. Be seated, and let us proceed to business." + +So saying, the emperor glided into his arm-chair, which stood behind +a semicircular table, immediately under the portrait of Charles V., +and his five counsellors occupied the tabourets around. + +"And now, my lords," exclaimed Leopold, "let me hear what it is that +brings you hither at an hour so unusual." + +"Dispatches from General Count Caprara, your majesty," replied the +Margrave Herman of Baden. + +"And from France and Poland, likewise," added the Duke of Lorraine. + +"Let us hear from General Caprara. We sent him to Turkey to make a +last effort at pacification. Our propositions, through him, were +such as must have proved to the Porte our earnest longing for peace. +Why did the general not present his dispatches in person?" + +"Your majesty, it is out of his power to do so," was the reply. +"Your majesty's proposals were haughtily rejected, and, in their +stead, conditions were made which the general could not accept. The +grand-vizier was so incensed, that he arrested your envoy, and +forced him to accompany the Turkish embassy back to Constantinople. +He then marched his army to our frontiers, carrying along your +majesty's legation as prisoners of war. At Belgrade one of the +secretaries managed to make his escape, and to conceal on his person +the letters and documents of the general, which he has ridden day +and night to deliver into your majesty's hands." + +"What is the purport of these documents?" said Leopold, who had +listened with perfect calmness to this extraordinary recital. + +"First, your majesty, they contain an account of the general's peace +negotiations. They were all rejected, and the grand-vizier has +refused to renew the truce which has just expired. He requires new +conditions." + +"Name them," said Leopold. + +The margrave drew from his portfolio a document, and began to read. + +"Austria shall pay yearly tribute to the Porte. She shall raze every +fortress she has erected on the Turkish frontier. She shall +recognize Count Tokoly as King of Hungary. She shall deliver to him +the island of Schutt, the fortress of Comorn, and all other +strongholds in Hungary, and place him on an equal footing with the +Prince of Transylvania." + +"Which means neither more nor less than a declaration of war," cried +the emperor; "and General Caprara would have been a traitor had he +listened to such insulting proposals. My patience with this arrogant +Moslem is exhausted, and further forbearance would be a disgrace. We +have no alternative; we must go to war, trusting in God to defend +the right. Our cause is a holy one; and perhaps, with the blessing +of Heaven, it may be granted us to drive the infidel from Europe +forever. Go on, margrave. What other news have you?" + +"Important information, your majesty, as to the strength of the +enemy's forces. The Sultan, at Belgrade, reviewed an army of two +hundred thousand men, all fully equipped, and anxious to retrieve +their losses at St. Gotthard. They have carried their fanaticism to +such an extent that they talk of planting the Crescent where the +Cross now looms from the towers of St. Stephen's in Vienna. Kara +Mustapha himself told General Caprara that, in a few weeks from now, +a Sultan of the West would seat himself on the throne of the +Emperors of Germany." + +"God will punish his blasphemous boasting," returned Leopold. "God +will not suffer the Christian to perish before the might of the +Paynim. The die is cast for war, for war! At least, such is my +conviction: but if any one here be of opposite mind, let him speak +boldly. Freedom of speech in this chamber is not only his right, but +his solemn duty." + +"War! war!" echoed the councillors, four of them vociferously, the +Duke of Lorraine deliberately, and so slowly that his voice came as +an echo of the words that were spoken by his colleagues. + +The emperor was a little surprised. "Your highness is then of our +opinion?" asked he. + +"I am, your majesty. War is inevitable, and we must risk our meagre +forces against the two hundred thousand men of the Sultan." + +"True, we are not so numerous as the enemy," observed the Margrave +of Baden, "but our men are as well equipped and as enthusiastic as +those of the Porte, and, under the leadership of such a hero as the +Duke of Lorraine, we are certain of victory." + +The duke shook his head. "The greatest general that ever led an army +into battle cannot hope for victory, when, to forces immensely +superior to his own, he opposes troops neither well armed nor well +provided." + +"Happily," replied the margrave, "this is not the case with our men. +Without counting the auxiliaries that will be furnished by the +princes of the empire, we shall oppose a hundred thousand men to the +Turks. Moreover, we have been preparing for war, and for several +months have taken measures to arm our troops and provision them for +a campaign." + +"Permit me to dispute your last assertion," replied the duke, whose +mild countenance kindled, and whose soft eyes began to glow. "It is +my duty to speak the truth to his majesty, and I shall do it +fearlessly. No, my liege, we have NOT a hundred thousand men, and +our soldiers are ill equipped and ill provided. As regards the +auxiliaries of the princes of the German empire, your majesty knows +that their deputies have been in Frankfort for months without having +yet held one single council to deliberate on the expediency of +sending or not sending re-enforcements to our army. I grieve to say +so, but the truth must be spoken. We have an insignificant army, +which, of itself, is inadequate to repel the Turkish hordes; and, +should they march to Vienna, our capital must fall, for I regret to +say that no measures have been taken for its defence. There are but +ten guns on the bastions; the trenches are so dry that they can be +crossed by foot-passengers, and the garrison consists of our +ordinary city guard, and one thousand troops of the line. For Vienna +to withstand a siege in this defenceless condition is impossible; +and, should the Turks be allowed to march hither, your majesty would +have to surrender." + +"Your majesty," interrupted Count Starhemberg, vehemently, "leave to +me the defence of Vienna, and I swear that, sooner than deliver your +capital to the Turks, I will perish under its ruins." + +"And I," added the margrave. "solemnly adjure your majesty not to +confide the chief command of your forces to the Duke of Lorraine, +for it is evident that he does not desire so perilous an +appointment. His highness has no confidence in our ability to +prosecute the war successfully; and no general can lead his soldiers +to victory who beforehand is convinced that they are destined to +suffer defeat." + +"No general can lead his soldiers to victory who refuses to +contemplate the possibilities of defeat," exclaimed the Duke of +Lorraine, whose handsome face began to show traces of anger. "To +estimate his strength at its real value, he must at least learn +something of the size and condition of his army. It is the duty of a +commander-in-chief to see with his own eyes, and decide from his own +observation; for him, the men and stores that are exhibited to view +on the green cloth of a table within the walls of a council-chamber +have no significance whatever." + +"Does your highness accuse me of an intention to deceive his +majesty?" cried the margrave, haughtily. "Do you--" + +"Peace, gentlemen, peace!" interrupted the emperor. "We are here to +war with the stranger, not with our own flesh and blood. Every man +present shall speak his mind without censure from his colleagues; +and he who prevaricates is no true subject of mine. You are all free +to discuss our difficulties; it remains for me to decide in what +manner they shall be met. I beg to recall this fact to Count +Starhemberg, who unsolicited has offered to take upon himself the +defence of Vienna. My heartfelt thanks are due to the Duke of +Lorraine for his frank exposition of our disabilities; he is now, as +ever, the champion of truth and right. Has the Margrave of Baden any +further dispatches to lay before us?" + +"No, your majesty," answered the margrave, pale with anger. + +"Then let us have those of his highness of Lorraine," returned +Leopold, with an affectionate glance at his brother-in-law. + +"I have couriers, your majesty, from Count von Mansfeld and from +Count von Waldstein." + +"Let us hear the news from Paris first," replied Leopold, slightly +frowning. "Let us hear from our hereditary foe, who, under pretence +of coming to our rescue, pillages our property while the house is on +fire. We know full well that this fair-spoken Louis is in secret +league with our foes at home and abroad, and we confess that when he +invited us to be sponsor to his grandson, we accepted the honor with +an ill grace. By-the-by, has the young dauphin been baptized?" + +"Yes, your majesty, and Count von Mansfeld was your imperial +majesty's proxy. After the ceremony the king held a long and +gracious conversation with your majesty's representative, in which +he expressed his great sympathy with your majesty, and requested +Count Mansfeld to say that he remembered you night and morning in +his prayers." + +"The King of France will deceive neither the Lord of heaven nor His +servant the ruler of Austria, with his prayers," exclaimed Leopold, +with some show of warmth. "He merely means to say that he intends to +give us nothing more substantial. Would he but content himself with +cold neutrality, we would be willing to accept his prayers instead +of his works. But while he prays for us, he gives aid and comfort to +our enemies, who are less our enemies than such a sanctimonious +friend. But, enough of the King of France! To such an offensive +message I have no answer to return." + +"Count von Mansfeld left Paris at once, your majesty, and proceeded +to Spain to urge the claims of his imperial highness, the Archduke +Charles, to the Spanish succession." + +"Now let us hear from Count von Waldstein and Warsaw." + +"Count von Waldstein was received with distinguished consideration. +The King of Poland, at least, is your imperial majesty's friend. You +remember that his wife is a French woman?" + +"Yes," replied Leopold, shaking his head, "and a woman whose birth +is not illustrious enough for her station." + +"She is, nevertheless, Queen of Poland, my liege, and is recognized +as such by the Poles. When the grandson of the King of France was +born, he purposely sent notification of the event to the King of +Poland, ignoring in his dispatches the queen. This omission of a +courtesy, customary among royal heads, offended the queen; and to +her resentment we are to attribute the gracious reception given to +our ambassador. My liege, our alliance with Poland is a fixed fact. +A treaty has been concluded, by which John Sobiesky pledges himself +to sustain Austria against Turkey, furnishing at once forty thousand +men who are ready for action as soon as needed." + +"To what are we pledged in return for this?" asked Leopold. + +"Merely to furnish on our part sixty thousand men, and to consult +with his majesty as to our operations." + +"To consult with him!" repeated the emperor. "This looks as though +he expected to take part in our plans for the prosecution of this +war, instead of recognizing us as commander-in-chief." + +"To exact such recognition from him would be unseemly," replied the +duke. "The King of Poland is a great captain as well as a crowned +head; and it would ill become us to dictate to a warrior, from whom +we should all regard it as a privilege to receive advice. Moreover, +as a crowned head, John Sobiesky is entitled to the first rank in +the field as well as in the cabinet." + +"He is nothing more than an elected ruler," observed Leopold, with a +shrug. "For want of a better alliance, I must content myself with +that of John Sobiesky; but I put the question to you--suppose he +were to come to Vienna, how should I receive or entertain an elected +king?" + +"With open arms, if he come to deliver us from our foes," [Footnote: +The duke's own words.--See Armath, "Prince Eugene of Savoy," vol. +i.] was the prompt reply. "Welcome are all who visit us as true +friends, but doubly welcome those who come in time of need. The King +of Poland has been the first prince to respond to our offers of +alliance, the first to co-operate with us in our struggle with the +infidel." + +"But he will not be the last," interposed the Margrave of Baden. "I, +too, have good news for you, my liege. The Elector of Bavaria, to +whom I wrote for aid in your majesty's approaching troubles, has +promised not only a considerable body of troops, but offers to +command them in person. The Elector of Saxony, too, I think, will +co-operate with us. The council of the states of the German empire +also are in session at Frankfort, to consult as to the expediency of +joining your majesty's standard." + +"And before the electors equip their men, and the council make up +their mind, the Turks will have marched to Vienna, unless we make a +junction with the King of Poland and intercept them on their way. +Each day of delay increases the peril, for they are already on this +side of Belgrade. Unless we can oppose them now, we are lost, and +all Bavaria, Saxony, and the states of the empire, cannot avert our +doom." + +"Then, in God's name, let us act at once," cried the emperor, rising +from his seat. "President of the war department, let your troops be +in readiness to march, and see that our men are equipped and +provisioned." + +"Your majesty's commands shall be obeyed." + +"Duke of Lorraine," continued Leopold, "I appoint you to the chief +command of my forces. Go forth, and, with the blessing of God, do +battle for Christendom and Germany." + +"I accept, your majesty," returned the duke, solemnly bending his +head. "Victory is in the hands of Almighty God; but bravery, +loyalty, and struggle unto death, I promise, on behalf of your +majesty's army." + +"Count Rudiger von Starhemberg," resumed the emperor, "your petition +is granted. To you I commit the defence of my capital." + +"Thanks, your majesty," exclaimed Von Starhemberg fervently. "I will +defend it with the last drop of my blood; and if Vienna fall into +the hands of the infidel, he shall find nothing left of her +stateliness, save a heap of ruins and the lifeless bodies of her +defenders." + +"To you, Counts Portia and Kinsky, I commit the direction of the war +department, in conjunction with your colleague, the Margrave of +Baden. Let couriers be dispatched to all the European courts with +information of our declaration of war against the Porte. Let it be +announced to the world that, for the good of Christendom, Leopold +has grasped the sword; and, in this new crusade, may he confound the +unbelieving Turk, and glorify the standard of the Christian, in the +name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And may the +Blessed Virgin, the Mother of Christ, vouchsafe her protection and +her prayers!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE PLAINS OF KITSEE. + + +On the first of May, 1683, the Emperor Leopold reviewed his troops +on the plains of Kitsee, not far from Preshurg, To this review, all +who had promised to sustain Austria were invited. Her appeals had at +last roused the German princes to action; but they had been so +dilatory in their councils, that not one of them was prepared for +war. + +The army assembled on the plains of Kitsee was not numerous. There +were thirty-three thousand men in all, who, with their faded +uniforms and defective weapons, made no great show. + +The emperor, as he emerged from his tent, looked discouraged. +Sternly he rode forth on his richly-caparisoned gray horse, and, +when his men greeted him with enthusiastic shouts, he bowed his head +in silence, and sighed heavily. + +He turned to Charles of Lorraine, who rode a few paces behind him, +and said: + +"Come hither, Carl." The duke obeyed at once, and at one bound was +at the emperor's side. "Tell me, Carl," said he, anxiously, "how +many infantry are there here?" + +"Twenty-two thousand, your majesty." + +"And cavalry?" + +"Twelve thousand mounted troops." + +"About what may be the strength of the enemy?" + +"Your majesty, our scouts report that the combined forces of Turkey +and Hungary amount to more than two hundred thousand." + +Leopold raised his eyes to the calm, self-possessed face of his +brother-in-law. "You say that, as quietly as if it were a pleasant +piece of news; and yet methinks we are in a critical position." + +"Your majesty, I have known this for so long a time that I am +accustomed to contemplate it with equanimity. Before our decision +was made, I was timid and irresolute; but since the die is cast, I +am bold and self-reliant, for I know that I will either conquer or +die." + +"You think success then a possibility! With thirty-three thousand +men, you hope to repulse two hundred thousand?" + +"The King of Poland adds forty thousand to our number, the Electors +of Bavaria and Saxony are making preparations to re-enforce us, and +the other princes of Germany will soon follow their example. The +Moslem has put out all his strength for one decisive blow; the +longer we avoid an engagement the weaker he grows; while time to us +brings accession of numbers, and lessens his chance for reaching +Vienna." + +The emperor shook his head. "That you are a hero, Carl, I confess: +this hour proves you one. But I cannot share your hopefulness. When +I look around me at all these men, and think that they are death- +doomed, my heart grows faint, and my eyes dim." + +"Do not think so much of the number of your troops, sire; look at +their countenances. See those stern, resolute faces, and those fiery +eyes. Every man of them chafes to march against the infidel--" + +"Hurrah for our emperor!" cried out a lusty voice, close by. "Hurrah +for our general, Charles of Lorraine!" + +"Ah, Christopher III, are you there?" cried the duke, cordially. + +"Yes, your highness," replied the cuirassier, while his horse +stepped a few paces in front of the ranks. "Yes, your highness, I am +here to fight the infidel with a will as good as I had at St. +Gotthard's twenty years ago. That was a glorious day; and I thank +God that I am alive to see your highness win another victory as +great over the insolent Turk." + +"You think, then, that we will be victorious, Christopher?" + +"Ay, indeed, your highness, for God is with us." + +"Bravely spoken," said the emperor, gazing with visible satisfaction +at the wrinkled face and snow-white beard of the old cuirassier. + +The Duke of Lorraine signed to him to advance. "Your majesty," said +he to Leopold, "allow me to present one of your bravest soldiers, +Christopher III. In all the army there is not a man as old as his +youngest son, and I venture to say that he is the oldest man in +Europe under arms." + +"That is a broad assertion," replied Leopold. "How old may you be, +Christopher III?" + +"Last Thursday I was a hundred and nine years old, please your +imperial majesty," said Christopher, bowing to his saddle-bow. + +"A hundred and nine years old!" cried Leopold, incredulously. "Nay-- +that is impossible. No man of that age could sit a horse or carry a +sword as you do." + +"Your majesty, it is said in Holy Writ, that, when our fore-fathers +were five hundred years old, they were young and lusty; and I can +assure my emperor, that when once I am on my horse, with my sabre in +hand, I will fight with the best lad of twenty years. I mount rather +stiffly, because of a wound I received at Leipsic when we had the +ill-luck to be defeated by Gustavus Adolphus." + +"Why, man, do you mean to say that fifty-two years ago you were in +the army?" + +"Yes, sire; and there I received the wound from which I still suffer +to-day. The battle of Leipsic was far from being my first: it may +have been the twentieth, but I am not quite sure. When first I +entered the service, I used to mark our battles with a red cross +when we were victorious, and a black one when we were unfortunate; +but, after I had been in the army for twenty years, I stopped. There +were too many fights to record." + +"But you can remember your first battle, can you not?" + +"Certainly, sire. I began, as I am likely to end, by fighting the +Porte; and we defeated him then, as we assuredly intend to do now." + +"When was it?" asked Leopold, with interest. + +"Eighty years ago, sire, when the Hungarians and Turks made war upon +the Emperor Rudolph the Second. Yes, even then, the dogs were after +Vienna, and those mutinous Hungarians were giving trouble to your +majesty's forefathers. The Emperor Mathias, who succeeded his +brother, made a treaty with them for twenty years, for we had as +much on our hands as we could manage, with the rebels of Bohemia. +They rose again and again under the three Ferdinands, but we brought +them down at last. I have served under six emperors, and all have +vanquished their enemies, even as my last gracious sovereign Leopold +shall do. Long live our Leopold, the conqueror of the Turks!" + +"Long live our Leopold!" shouted the cuirassiers, delighted with the +condescension of the emperor to Christopher. The shout was taken up +by the other troops, until it resounded like rolling thunder along +the plains of Kitsee. + +The emperor greeted his army with something like a reflection of +their enthusiasm, and then returned to Christopher. + +"Christopher," said he, "you have served under six emperors, and +have done more than your duty toward Austria. I give you your +discharge, for he who has worked faithfully all day has a right to +rest when night sets in. I appoint you castellan of my palace at +Innspruck; and, in addition to your salary, bestow upon you a +pension of four hundred florins." + +"Thank your majesty, but indeed I cannot go," replied the old man, +resolutely. "I hardly think the Turkish hounds will ever get as far +as Innspruck, so I must e'en go forward with the army to fight them +wherever they are to be met. My night has not yet set in, sire." + +"What!" cried Leopold, laughing, "you refuse?" + +"Yes, your majesty. I crave neither pension nor sinecure. I intend +to follow the army, and, if God calls me hence, then I shall be +willing to rest; but before I go I hope to mow down a few Turks' +heads to take to St. Peter, for him to use as balls when he plays +ninepins. But, if your imperial majesty will grant it, you might do +me a favor." + +"What is it, my brave cuirassier? tell me." + +"Your majesty, will you allow me to present my sons, grandsons, +great-grandsons, and great-great-grandsons? They are all in my +regiment." + +"The Eleventh Cuirassiers of Herberstein, your majesty," added the +Duke of Lorraine. + +"Ah," cried the emperor, in a voice intended to be heard by all the +men, "that is an old and renowned regiment. Were you in it, +Christopher, when it was commanded by the great Dampierre in 16l9?" + +"Yes, your majesty, I was the first man enrolled. I was there when +the regiment rescued the Emperor Ferdinand from a body of +insurgents, who had surrounded his imperial palace, and were trying +to compel him to abdicate. Just as they were forcing the gates, the +trumpets of Dampierre sounded an alarm, and the emperor was saved. +The cuirassiers galloped into the midst of the insurgents, and +dispersed them like so many cats." + +"And to reward their loyalty and opportune aid," cried the emperor, +"Ferdinand conferred upon the Eleventh Cuirassiers the privilege of +riding through Vienna, trumpet sounding and colors flying, and of +pitching their tents on the Burgplatz." [Footnote: This is +historical, and in 1819, on the two hundredth anniversary of the +rescue, the privilege was extended to the present time.--See +Austrian Plutarch.] + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! The emperor knows our history," shouted Christopher +Ill. + +"Hurrah! Hurrah!" echoed the regiment, and once more through the +plains of Kitsee rang the jubilant cry, "Long live Leopold! Long +live our emperor!" + +"And now," said the emperor, when the shouts had died away, "now let +me see your children, my brave veteran.--Baron Dupin," added +Leopold, addressing himself to the colonel of the regiment, "will +you permit them to step out of their ranks?" + +Baron Dupin bowed, and, riding to the front with drawn sword, he +called out: "All the descendants of Christopher Ill--forward!" + +There was a general movement among the cuirassiers, and fifty-four +men rode up, and clustered around their common ancestor. There were +bronzed faces with white beards--others with gray; there were men in +the prime of life, and others in the flower; there were youths +approaching manhood, and lads that had scarcely emerged from +childhood; but from peeping bud to fruit that was about to fall, +they one and all resembled their parent stem; every mother's son of +them had Christopher Ill's aquiline nose, and large, sparkling eyes. + +"Your majesty perceives," said the old man, looking proudly around +him, "that if I have sabred many a Turk's head, I have replaced each +one by that of a Christian; so that I owe nothing to humanity for +the damage my sword has done.--Now, boys, cry out, 'Long live the +emperor!'" + +So the boys, young and old, echoed the shout; the regiment took it +up, and for the third time Leopold's heart was cheered by the +enthusiastic affection of the army. + +"Well, Christopher," said he, gayly, "although you reject my pension +for yourself, you will not, I hope, reject it for your sons. Let it +be divided between them, and long may you live to see them enjoy +it!" + +With these words, the emperor raised his hat, and waving it in token +of adieu, he returned to his tent, far happier than he had left it +some hours before. + +"Carl," said he to the Duke of Lorraine, "I thank you for presenting +Christopher III to my notice. That old man's spirit is catching, and +I feel the pleasant infection. I recognize the might of bravery, and +it seems as if my small army had doubled its numbers. This veteran, +who in his person unites the history of six of my predecessors, has +taught me that individuals are nothing in the sight of God. Six +emperors have succumbed to the immutable laws of Nature, but the +house of Hapsburg is still erect. What, then, if I meet with +reverses? The Lord has given me a son, who, if I should be +unfortunate, will prop up our dynasty, and avenge his father's +misfortunes." + +"We will try to leave him none to avenge, sire. Your men are full of +loyalty, and God will preserve your majesty's life until your son is +fit to be your successor." + +"His holy will be done!" said Leopold, crossing himself; then, +having given orders for an advance upon the fortress of Neuhausel, +he changed his dress preparatory to starting for Vienna. + +He had just been equipped in his black travelling-suit when Prince +Louis of Baden entered the tent, followed by a young man whose +simple costume presented a striking contrast to the magnificence of +the uniforms around. He wore a brown coat buttoned up to the throat, +leaving visible merely the ends of his cravat of costly Venetian +lace. Ruffles of the same encircled his white hands, which, it was +easy to see, had never been hardened by work, or browned by the sun. +His face, though youthful, bore traces of thought and suffering; and +his bearing was self-possessed, although every eye was upon him. + +"Whom bring you hither?" inquired Leopold, with a smile. + +"Your majesty, I bring nothing but a young Savoyard: nevertheless I +predict that, one of these days, he will be one of the great +generals of the world." [Footnote: The Margrave of Baden's own +words.--See Arinatli, "Prince Eugene," vol. i., p. 23.] + +"I am not so presumptuous as to expect that I will ever rival Prince +Louis of Baden or Charles of Lorraine," said Eugene. "All I have to +ask of your majesty is the favor of being allowed to serve under +them." + +There was a pause. Everybody looked in amazement at the bold being +who, all court etiquette disregarding, had ventured to address the +emperor without being spoken to by his majesty; but he was perfectly +unconscious of his blunder. He looked so frank, so modest, and yet +so unembarrassed, that the emperor was disarmed, and a smile +nickered over his pleasant face. + +"I see that he is a stranger," was Leopold's deprecatory remark. +"Present him, your highness, that I may welcome him to Austria." + +The prince, taking the young man by the hand, led him up to the +emperor. + +"Sire, I have the honor to present you my kinsman, Prince Eugene of +Savoy. He has come to Austria to join his brother, and like him, to +serve under the Austrian flag." + +"Prince Eugene of Savoy, you are welcome to Austria," said Leopold, +graciously. + +Eugene answered the salutation by a low bow, and then calmly raised +his head. But Prince Louis of Baden whispered in his ear, "The +Spanish genuflection--quick! bend the knee!" + +Eugene looked surprised, for he had not understood the warning. But +the emperor had overheard, and came once more to the rescue. + +"Never mind the Spanish genuflection," interposed he, with a good- +natured laugh. "The prince is not my subject; he has been educated +in France, where people know little or nothing of the customs and +usages of our court." + +But scarcely were the words out of Leopold's mouth before Eugene had +approached his arm-chair, and had fallen on one knee. + +"Sire," said he, in his soft, melodious voice, whose tones went +straight to the emperor's heart, "allow me to consider myself as +your subject, and to render you homage according to the usages of +your majesty's court. It is my misfortune to have been educated in +France, and thereby to have lost twenty years of my life." + +"Why lost?" inquired Leopold. "What was wanting in France to make +you happy?" + +"Every thing, sire!" cried Eugene, warmly. "And the only thing I did +not want was thrust upon me." + +"What was that?" + +"The tonsure, sire. I begged the King of France for an insignificant +commission in his army; I was scornfully repulsed. And now that I +have shaken the dust of his dominions from my feet, I never wish to +return thither unless--" + +"Well," said the emperor, as Eugene paused. "Finish your sentence. +'Unless'--" + +Eugene raised his magnificent eyes until they met those of the +emperor. Then, in a calm voice, he continued: + +"Unless I could do so as his majesty's victorious enemy." [Footnote: +Eugene's own words.--See Rene, "Mazarin's Nieces."] + +"Your majesty sees that he is the stuff of which heroes are made," +observed Louis of Baden. + +"You do not love France?" said Leopold. + +"Sire, my family and I have suffered persecution at the hands of the +French monarch, and I yearn for satisfaction. Your majesty sees how +unfit I am to be a priest, for I cannot love my enemies, nor do good +to those who despitefully use we." + +"Let us hope that you will learn this lesson later. Meanwhile you +seem more fitted for the career of a soldier than the vocation of a +churchman. Your appearance here reminds me of my own youth. I, too, +was destined for the priesthood, and wore the garb of an abbe. I was +a younger son, and nothing but an appendage to royalty. But it +pleased God of His servant to make a sovereign, and to send as His +messenger, death. My brother Ferdinand, the hope of Austria, died, +and I stepped forth from my insignificance to become the heir to a +mighty empire. Your brother Louis has frequently mentioned you to +me, and from him I learned that at the French court you were known +as 'the little abbe!' If of me, who was once a novice, Almighty God +has made an emperor--of you, little abbe, He may make a great +warrior!" + +"Sire, my fate is in His hands; but all that lies in my own, I will +do to serve your majesty as your loyal subject, hoping to follow +from afar in the footsteps of the distinguished models before me." +At the same time, Eugene bowed low to the Duke of Lorraine. + +"Will you take him as your pupil?" asked Leopold of his brother-in- +law. "No one in Austria can teach him better how to win laurels." + +"With your majesty's permission, I accept the task," replied the +duke. "But he must expect to find me a hard master, and, as my pupil +in war, to have little leisure for aught else." + +"You see," said Leopold, gayly, "what a miserable lot you have +chosen for yourself. You have fallen from Scylla into Charybdis, my +poor youth." + +"I have my Ulysses, your majesty, in his highness of Lorraine. I +give myself up to his sage guidance." + +"If Prince Eugene is as ready with his sword as with his tongue, my +enemies will have to look out, methinks," cried Leopold. "So take +him along, Duke of Lorraine, and of the little abbe of the King of +France make a great captain for the Emperor of Austria." + +"With your majesty's permission, I will confer upon him the rank of +colonel, and the first vacancy that occurs. Until then, prince, you +can accompany me as a volunteer." + +"As a volunteer for life, your highness," replied Eugene; "and, +although I have already to thank his majesty for much gracious +encouragement, I feel more grateful to him for placing me under your +highness's orders, than for any other of the favors he has so kindly +bestowed upon me to-day." + +"I am glad to know it," returned the emperor. "Follow your leader, +then, my young friend; and see that, although you have relinquished +the priesthood, you hold fast to Christianity. We part for a time, +but we shall meet again before long. Let us hope that it may be to +give thanks to God for victory and peace." + +The emperor then rose, and, followed by his officers, left the tent. +His carriage stood without, and in a few moments, amid the +respectful greetings of his staff, and the hurrahs of the army, he +disappeared from the plains of Kitsee. + +The Duke of Lorraine signed to Eugene to follow him. Laying his hand +gently upon the prince's shoulder, he said: "Young man, you have +requested me to be your instructor, and I have accepted the office, +for you please me, and my heart inclines toward you. Let me then +begin at once. I wish to give you some advice." + +"I am all attention, your highness." + +"Weigh well your words, before you give them utterance. You will +find enemies in the Austrian ranks, as well as in those of the +Turkish army. You have already gained a few; and by-and-by, if you +are not careful, you will have as many as myself." + +"What can I have done, your highness, during the half hour I have +spent in his majesty's tent, to provoke enmity from the strangers +around me? That you should have enemies, I comprehend; for +distinction always calls forth envy. But I, an unknown youth! who +could envy me?" + +"Those who saw how graciously you were welcomed by the Emperor of +Austria. But that is not all. You have offended your kinsman, Louis +of Baden. It was he who presented you to the king. He is a brave and +distinguished officer, and deserved all the compliments you bestowed +upon me. Believe me, if you know your own interest, you will select +him for your model and master in the art of war. He will be +flattered at your preference, and will serve you efficiently. His +friendship is worth having." + +"I love Louis of Baden from my heart," said Eugene; "and, AFTER your +highness, he has the first place in my consideration and esteem." + +"After me, say you? Give him the first place, and he will procure +you rapid advancement. For myself, I am unpopular, and if you love +or respect me, do so in secret. You will not long have been an +Austrian officer before you make the discovery that it is not +politic to praise Charles of Lorraine." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE BAPTISM OF BLOOD. + + +War had begun. Kara Mustapha advanced into Austria, looking neither +to the right nor the left, marching onward, onward to Vienna. Such +obstacles as he encountered on his way he removed by the might and +strength of his forces, as an elephant lifts his ponderous foot to +crush a pigmy lying in his path. His march was through burning +villages and devastated fields; the glare of his torch illumined the +sky, the blood of his victims reddened the earth. Austria's +desponding hopes were concentrated upon the Duke of Lorraine; for +the King of Poland had not arrived, and the Elector of Bavaria was +yet undecided. + +The army of the allied enemies increased daily, while that of the +Austrians was decimated partly by contagious diseases, partly by a +division of their forces, for the defence of the only fortress which +was in a condition to arrest the advance of the Turks. + +The duke's army, which now numbered twenty-three thousand men, was +encamped in front of the fortress of Raab; for here the Turks would +make their first attack, and to possess Raab was to hold the key of +Upper Hungary and Central Austria. The army had halted there in the +course of the afternoon, but, as night approached, the hum of action +gradually ceased, and gloomy silence reigned throughout. No groups +of merry soldiers gathered round the camp-fires with laugh, or jest, +or mirthful song. Some slept from exhaustion and discouragement, +others sat mournfully gazing toward the east, which, unlike the dark +horizon around, was lit up with a fiery glow, that marked the +advance of the ferocious invaders. In one tent pitched on a hillock +that overlooked the camp-ground, a faint light shone through the +crevices of the curtain; and this glimmering spark was the only sign +of life that was to be seen. The rest of the camp was in utter +darkness. + +The tent whence beamed this solitary light was that of the +commander-in-chief, to whom his scouts had just brought intelligence +which necessitated prompt action. He had sent for General Caprara +and Prince Louis of Baden; and when his interview with them Was at +an end, he dispatched his adjutant for Prince Eugene of Savoy. + +In a few moments Eugene raised the hangings of the tent and silently +saluted his commander. The latter seemed not to have perceived his +entrance. He stood before a table, leaning over a map on which he +was tracing and retracing lines with his fingers. Eugene stepped +closer, and followed the motions of the duke with his eyes. He +seemed to understand them; for his countenance expressed anxiety and +astonishment. + +A long pause ensued, after which the duke raised his head and spoke: + +"You have been here for some time?" + +"Yes, your highness; I came as soon as I received your orders." + +"I saw the shadow of your head on the map. You were watching my +fingers attentively. I was glad to see that you were interested. +What did you infer from your inspection of the map?" + +"I will try to tell your highness as well as I can," was the modest +reply. "You began by drawing a line from Stuhlweissenhurg with three +fingers. This represented the Turkish army, composed of three +columns. Your forefinger represented the left wing, your third the +right wing, and your middle finger the main body of the army. The +two wings were then detached, and made a circuitous march to capture +the fortress of Wesgrim. They again joined the main army, and I saw, +with astonishment, that the consolidated forces had flanked Raab, +Comorn, and Leopoldstadt, had passed by the shores of the Neusidler +Sea, and were now encamped on the banks of the Leitha." + +"You have guessed most accurately," cried the duke, who had listened +in amazement to Eugene's reply. + +"It was not difficult to do," remarked the latter. "Since I have had +the honor of serving under your highness, I have studied this map +daily. I know every thicket, every forest, every stream laid down +upon it. The whole country which it comprises is as familiar to me +as if I surveyed it all at a glance. It is not, then, surprising +that I should understand the movements of your highness's fingers." + +"You think it quite natural--I consider it extraordinary. But you +have raised my curiosity to know whether you also were able to +interpret what followed." + +"After accompanying the enemy to the banks of the Leitha, your +highness stopped, raised your hand, and laid your finger upon the +fortress of Raab. This, of course, denotes the position of our own +army, and the direction in which we are to move." + +"Move? We came here to defend this stronghold." + +"We have been flanked, and have nothing to gain by a defence of +Raab. With your finger, then, upon Raab, you were deliberating as to +the route we are to take; since it is evident that, if we are not +prompt, we will be cut off from Vienna. You made two divisions of +your army. One finger traced a line across the island of Schutt to +Presburg, and thence to Vienna; this, I presume, denotes the march +of the infantry. The other finger, on the left bank of the Danube, +drew a line from Wieselburg to Hamburg, and this route would be for +our cavalry--it is too rough for foot-soldiers." + +The duke listened with growing interest, and when Eugene ceased, he +put his arm affectionately around the neck of the young officer, and +exclaimed, "I congratulate you, Eugene. You will be a great captain. +You will be a better general than I. Let us hope that you will also +be a more fortunate one--that you will complete what I have begun-- +avenge Austria's wrongs on France, and restore her to her place as +one of the four great powers. You have not only the instincts of a +soldier, but the quickness and penetration which constitute military +genius. My pupil, I think, will ere long become my master." + +"Ah!" replied Eugene, "unless you keep me as a pupil, I shall never +become a master." + +"The little that I know you shall learn from me, Eugene. I have +predicted for you a glorious career, and, as far as lies in my +power, I will contribute to your success. But success is as much the +fruit of policy as of genius. You must not proclaim your preference +for me to the world; it will impede your advancement. To obtain +promotion you must be an ostensible adherent of my enemies; and for +this reason I shall give you some command near the persons of +General Caprara and Louis of Baden." + +"Your highness, Louis of Baden is not--" + +"My enemy, you would say? Believe me, I know human nature better +than you do; but I have no resentment against Louis on account of +his animosity. He is young, ambitious, and capable; it is therefore +but natural that he should covet my position. He will obtain it, for +all my enemies will give him their suffrages, and chief among them +all is the Margrave Herman. I, on the contrary, have but one friend- +-the emperor." + +"But the emperor is a host within himself," cried Eugene. + +"If you think so, it is because you are unacquainted with the +intrigues of the Austrian court. The privy council has more power +than Leopold; and the veritable ruler of Austria is the minister of +war, who, from his green-covered table, plans our battles and +commands our armies. What do you suppose are my instructions from +the war department? I must first, with my thirty-three thousand men, +hold the entire Turkish army in check; I must garrison Raab, Comorn, +and Leopoldstadt; I must defend fifty miles of frontier between the +pass of Jublunkau and Pettau; I must oppose the passage of the enemy +to Vienna; and having accomplished all these impossibilities, I must +end by giving him battle wherever and whenever I meet him." +[Footnote: Kausler, "Life of Eugene of Savoy."] + +"Impossible, indeed!" cried Eugene, indignantly. + +"And, for that very reason, assigned to me as my duty. For, as I +shall certainly not accomplish it, there will be an outcry at my +incapacity, and a pretext for my removal. I shall fulfil my +obligations nevertheless, as conscientiously to foes as to friends. +I have borne arms for the emperor against France, Sweden, Hungary, +and Turkey; if it serve his interests or those of Austria, I am +ready to struggle with his enemies at home; but, if my championship +is to be dangerous to my sovereign or to my country, I shall resign +without a protest. As for you, my son, the path of glory is open to +you; perhaps before another sun has set, you may flesh your maiden +sword in the blood of the infidel. You have anticipated my +intentions. We are about to march to Vienna. Do you hear the signal? +The men are being awakened; and in one hour we must be on our way. I +sent for you to bid you farewell. So far, you have been attached to +my person, and I have learned to esteem and love you. But the +opportunity for you to distinguish yourself is at hand, and I must +no longer retain you by me. I assign you to your brother's regiment +of dragoons. It belongs to the brigade of Prince Louis, and the +division of General Caprara. I part from you reluctantly, but I do +it for your own good; and I hope soon to make honorable mention of +my favorite officer to the emperor." + +"My dear lord," answered Eugene, in a voice that trembled with +emotion, "I will do all that I can to deserve your approval. I care +for naught else in this world; and if after a battle you say that +you are satisfied with me, I shall be richly rewarded for any peril, +any sacrifice." + +At this moment the curtain of the tent was drawn aside, and the +duke's staff entered. He waved his hand in token of adieu to Eugene, +at the same time saying: + +"And now, colonel, Prince of Savoy, you will join your brother's +regiment. It has received its orders, and is in readiness to +depart." + +Eugene bowed low and left the tent. + +The Austrian camp was now alive and in motion, but the men were +spiritless and taciturn. Conscious of the immense superiority of the +enemy, they advanced to meet him with more of resignation than of +hope. Not only were they out-numbered, but their foe was one whose +every step was marked by incendiarism and murder. The zest, the +incentive to gallantry, was gone; and, believing that they were +going forth to death, they went like victims to an inevitable doom. +Far different were the feelings with which Eugene mounted his horse, +and crossed the field to join the division of General Caprara. He +found Prince Louis of Savoy already in the saddle, awaiting his +arrival. The brothers greeted each other with fondest affection. + +"Dear Eugene," said Louis, "my heart is joyous, since I know that we +are to go in company. How sweet and home-like it is to have you with +me! By-and-by, we shall see you cutting off Turks' heads as if they +were poppies." + +"For each one that I send to his account, I mean to claim a kiss +from my beautiful sister-in-law." + +"You are welcome if you can get them," laughed Louis. "But Urania is +not prodigal of her kisses, Eugene; I never was able to obtain a +single one until she became my wife. But let us not speak of her. +Love is any thing but an incentive to valor; and just now I almost +envy you who have never loved. If you intend to be a soldier, twine +no myrtle with your laurels until you shall have attained renown." + +Eugene's brow darkened, and a gleam of anguish shot athwart his +countenance. "I shall never," began he-- + +But just at that moment the trumpet's peal was heard, and Prince +Louis, galloping off, gave the word of command to move on. + +And now was heard the roll of the drum, the clang of arms, the stamp +of horses, and the measured tread of men. The infantry took the +left, the cavalry the right bank of the Danube. When morning dawned, +the camp lay far behind them, but the road was long that led to +Vienna. + +The two Princes of Savoy rode together. Little had been said by +either one, but whenever their eyes met, each read in the glance of +the other that he was dearly loved, and then they smiled, and +relapsed into silence. After riding in this way for several miles, +Prince Louis spoke. + +"I wish to ask you something, Eugene. But promise not to ridicule +me." + +"I promise, with all my heart." + +"Then tell me--do you believe in dreams and presentiments?" + +Eugene reflected for a while and then said, "Yes--you know that our +family have every reason to believe in dreams. Mine have often been +realized; and often too, I must confess, that they have deceived me- +-but still I am a believer." + +"Well, then," said his brother, "I shall meet my death to-day." + +Eugene shuddered. "Meet your death!" exclaimed he. "This is a grim +jest, dear Louis." + +"No jest, brother; a serious prediction. Last night I saw myself +mortally wounded, and I heard the wailing of my wife and children, +when the news of my death was brought to them. It was so vivid that +it awakened me. Dear Eugene, if I fall, be a brother to my Urania, a +father to my children." + +"I will, I will, Louis, but God forbid that they should need +protection from me! Were you to die, I should lose my only friend, +for whom have I to love in this world besides yourself, dear +brother?" + +"Nay, Eugene," returned Louis, "I cannot be your only or your +dearest friend, for you do not trust me. From our cousins, the +Princes de Conti, I learned that you had endured some great sorrow +at the hands of Louvois, the French minister of war. I have waited +for you to confide your troubles to me, but--Great God! What is the +matter?" + +Eugene had reined in his horse with such force, that it seemed to be +falling back upon its haunches. His face was deadly pale, and his +hand raised imploringly. + +"My head reels," murmured he, in return. "I dare not think of the +past, much less speak of it. Dear, dear brother, do not exact it of +me. Be content to know that, for three days of my life, I was happy +beyond the power of man to express--but for three days only. What +followed almost cost me my reason; and the mere mention of my +misfortune unsettles it to-day. Give me your hand, and let us drop +this subject forever, Louis. I have no past; futurity is everything +to me." + +"So be it," replied Louis, grasping his brother's hand with fervor. +"From this day we are comrades for life!" + +Their hands remained clasped for a few seconds: then, as by a +simultaneous impulse, the brothers struck spurs into their horses' +flanks, and galloped swiftly onward. The troops were allowed to halt +but once during the day; they went on and on until sunset, when they +arrived within sight of the market-town of Petronelle. Between the +city and the tired troopers was a wide plain, whose uniformity was +broken here and there by the ruins of ancient Roman fortifications. + +Suddenly there was a cry, a clash of swords, and a clang of trumpets +uttering strange sounds; and, as the regiment of the Princes of +Savoy was defiling along a passage between the ruins, a troop of +Tartars that had been in ambuscade behind, sprang out, uttering the +most hideous yells. + +"Forward!" cried Prince Louis, brandishing his sword. + +"Forward!" echoed Eugene, joyfully, spurring his horse into their +very midst. For a while the brothers fought side by side, Louis with +calm intrepidity, Eugene with the instinct, the enthusiasm, the +inspiration of genius. His sword mowed down the Tartars as the +reaper's scythe sweeps away the grass; but unhappily the attack had +been so sudden, and the cries which had accompanied it so frightful, +that the Austrians became panic-stricken, and their ranks +disorderly. + +In vain the elder Prince of Savoy tried to rally them; in vain +Eugene, followed by a few veterans, called upon them to charge; his +reckless gallantry availed him nothing. Finally his arm with its +unsheathed sword, dropped discouraged at his side. + +"Lost, lost!" cried he to his brother. "Lost and disgraced!" + +"Yes, by Heaven, they are flying!" was the despairing reply. But as +he spoke the words, he saw that he was in error. The galloping +horses were coming nearer and nearer, and now they saw that re- +enforcement was at hand. The Duke of Lorraine with his cavalry was +flying to their rescue, and the fight was resumed. The dragoons, +encouraged by the sight of their Commander-in-chief, now charged the +Tartars, and they in their turn began to fly. + +Prince Louis was eager to pursue them, and, calling his men, the +chase began. His horse outstripped the others, and unhappily was so +conspicuous a mark, that the arrow of a Calmuck, hidden behind the +ruins of a triumphal arch, pierced his breast. Maddened by pain, the +animal leaped so high in the air that his rider was thrown to the +ground; and while the horse rushed on, his master was trodden down +by his own dragoons, who, in the eagerness of pursuit, trampled +their unfortunate commander to death. + +The enemy had been repulsed, and the troops were in better spirits. +Eugene rode from rank to rank, repeating the same words, "Where is +my brother? Where is the Prince of Savoy?" + +Not a man there could answer his questions, for not one had seen his +leader fall. At length, it was remembered that a wounded horse had +been seen madly rushing over the plain, but the excited troopers had +given no heed to the circumstance; it was an occurrence too common +in an engagement, to arrest them for a moment from their pursuit of +an enemy. + +Eugene's heart was bounding with joy, and he had been seeking his +brother to give and receive congratulations. His countenance, which +had been glowing with pride, became suddenly disturbed; his flashing +eyes grew dull and leaden, and so for one moment he sat, stricken +and motionless. But he started from his lethargy, and crying out to +his men, "Follow me!" they galloped away to the spot where the dying +and the dead were heaped together near the ruined arch where the +Tartars had been concealed. + +In an instant the unfortunate youth saw the body of his brother. He +flung himself from his horse, and knelt down by his side. Gracious +Heaven! was that bruised and shapeless mass all that remained of the +comeliness and grace of Louis of Savoy! + +Eugene bent down, and, lovingly as a mother lifts her newborn +infant, he raised his brother's mangled head, and rested it upon his +arm. The hot tears that fell upon that poor, bleeding face, awoke +the small remnant of life that was pulsating in the dying prince's +heart, and his filmy eyes unclosed. Their light was almost +extinguished, but Eugene saw that he was recognized, for the feeble +spark kindled, and the pale lips fluttered. + +"My dream!" were the words he uttered, "my dream!" + +"No, no!" cried Eugene, in piercing tones of anguish, while with his +trembling hand he stroked his brother's hair and wiped the death-dew +from his brow. + +"Eugene," murmured Louis, "my wife--my chil--" + +"Oh! they shall be mine--mine, beloved," was the passionate reply. + +"Kiss me, brother, and--bear the kiss to my Urania." + +Eugene stifled his sobs, and kissed the pale, cold lips. A shudder +crossed the frame of the dying man, a torrent of blood gushed from +his lips, and moving his head so that it rested close to his +brother's heart, he expired. + +With a groan, Eugene fell upon his lifeless body. How long he had +lain there he knew not, when he felt a gentle touch upon his +shoulder. He looked up, and beheld the Duke of Lorraine. + +"Prince Eugene," said he, "war has claimed from you a terrible +sacrifice. You have lost a brother whom you most tenderly loved. But +a soldier must conquer grief; and who more than he should remember +that death, however painful, cancels all human woes?" + +Eugene rose slowly to his feet, and raised his hand all purple with +his brother's gore. "See," said he, "my brother has given me the +baptism of war, and now I dedicate myself to strife. This blood- +besprinkled hand shall smite the Turk, shall ruin his fields, shall +devastate his towns.--Ah, Louis! Ambition has hitherto been my +incentive to glory, but revenge is stronger than ambition, and +revenge shall lift me to greatness!" + +The setting sun poured down a stream of light upon the speaker, who, +small, delicate, and insignificant, seemed transfigured into the +genius of war. The dragoons around looked upon him with awe; and, +long years after, they were accustomed to relate the circumstance of +Prince Louis's death, and Prince Eugene's vow. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +VIENNA. + + +"The Turks, the Turks! The Tartars are coming! The Duke of Lorraine +has been defeated! We are lost!" + +Such were the cries in Vienna, on the morning of the 8th of July, +1683. A courier from the Duke of Lorraine had brought news of the +unfortunate skirmish near Petronelle, and had warned the emperor of +the approach of the enemy. Leopold had acted upon the information at +once, and preparations were making by the royal family to evacuate +Vienna. + +This fact was no sooner known throughout the city, than thousands of +its inhabitants prepared to follow. If the emperor deserted his +capital, it was because he knew that it must fall; and those who +loved their lives were determined to fly. From palace to hut there +was but one common feeling--a frenzied desire to go elsewhere-- +anywhere rather than remain to be butchered by the infidel. + +Whosoever possessed a carriage, a wagon, a cart, was an object of +greater envy than he who counted his treasures by millions. +Incredible prices were offered and received for the roughest of +conveyances. Before every house stood vehicles of every kind, +crowded with fugitives, upon whom the poorer classes gazed with +longing eyes; many of them, by dint of tears and prayers, obtaining +liberty to hang on the wagons as they drove away. + +And now amid the throng arose a cry. "The emperor! the emperor!" + +Yes--he sat in his imperial carriage, pale, mournful, silent. And at +his side, sorrowful as he, was the Empress Eleanor. Behind them, in +another carriage, came the aja, with the crown prince of Austria in +her arms. Alas! not even for that innocent babe was there safety to +be found in the doomed city. + +The people, like madmen, rushed through the streets behind the +imperial cortege. Whither their sovereign went, they determined to +follow; for with him, they fancied, they would find refuge from the +terrible Turk. + +The retinue of the emperor took the way toward the Danube, and the +long train of carriages thundered over its wide bridge. At intervals +the people shouted: + +"Follow his imperial majesty! Whither our sovereign travels, we must +go for safety!" And for six hours the bridge was thronged with +passengers; some in vehicles, some clinging to vehicles; ladies and +lackeys together in rumbles, or together hanging to the carriage- +doors. Never in his life had such a cortege followed the Emperor of +Austria; and certainly a procession more mournful had never +accompanied a sovereign before. Leopold's destination was Linz; but +the way was tedious, the roads sandy, and the sun's rays scorching. +Poor horses! they were white with sweat; but still the drivers urged +them on, for relays there were none. Terror had almost depopulated +the country. Toward nightfall the fugitives were compelled to halt, +for their tired animals were too stiff to travel farther, and +themselves were weary and hungry. + +They had reached a small village, where Leopold gave orders to have +beds and supper prepared for his pale and worn-out empress. + +"Ah, yes!" sighed she, "I am hungry and sleepy." + +But from some mismanagement, the wagons containing the beds and +provisions of the imperial family had either stopped on the way, or +had never left Vienna. + +The poor empress folded her hands and began to pray. The emperor +bowed his head. "My house is sorely in need," said he, sadly, "but +we are all in the hands of Almighty God. Whithersoever it be His +will to exile us, I am ready to go; and may His holy will be done!" + +The imperial pair then left their carriage, and, a bed being made of +the cloaks of the pages, they laid them down to sleep under the +dark-blue vault of the spangled heavens. But, at the dawn of day, +they resumed their journey. The horses had rested, and the gentlemen +of the imperial household had procured some homely refreshments for +the famished monarch and his family. It consisted of eggs, milk, and +black bread; but hunger lent it savor, and their majesties ate with +more relish, perhaps, than they had ever done before. + +They set out again. Their way now lay over cornfields, where the +farmers, with their maids and men, were gathering the wheat, and +binding it into sheaves. They, too, were in terror of the Turks; +but, when they saw the imperial cortege slowly plodding its way +through the sandy road, they stopped their work, and, coming up to +the portieres, intruded their coarse, brutal faces into the very +carriages themselves. They stared at the empress and jeered at the +emperor; inquired how he liked his crown, and why he did not wear it +on his head. They added that it was a fine thing to be on a throne, +to be sure; but emperors had a right to their share of trouble in +this world, quite as much as other people; perhaps they deserved a +little more than others. + +When the officers and pages around heard this insolent scoffing, +they drew their swords, and would have made short work of the boors; +but Leopold forbade the use of violence. "Let them alone," said he, +mildly. "They are quite right. It is easy to be a monarch while the +sun shines, and the empire prospers; let me hope to prove to my +subjects that I can bear my reverses with humility and fortitude. +Let these people alone; for all trials come from above, and in His +own good time God will help us, and end our tribulations." + +The peasants, ashamed, slunk back into their fields, and the +imperial retinue went on to Linz, while for those that had remained +in Vienna there ensued a period of danger, hardships, and terrible +endurance. + +Count Rudiger von Starhemberg, who had been chosen to defend Vienna, +entered upon his perilous responsibilities with enthusiasm and +energy. Rich and poor, great and small, were called upon to +contribute to the general welfare. Nobles of high degree worked on +the defences; ladies brought baskets of provisions to the laborers; +and the mayor of Vienna, by way of setting the example to his +inferiors, carried sand all day in a wheelbarrow to the +fortifications. But bravely as they worked, each day augmented their +danger. The sentinels on St. Stephen's towers could see, by the +reddened heavens, that the Turk was approaching. On the 12th of July +the summit of the Kahlenberg was seen to be in flames; and the +besieged had no need to be told that a monastery had been destroyed, +and its occupants perchance put to the sword. Kara Mustapha invested +Vienna, and sent to demand the surrender of the city. It was +refused, and the siege was begun. + +The Turks pitched their tents at the distance of several miles, and +began to mine. Meanwhile a terrible fire broke out in Vienna which +threatened destruction to its inhabitants. Driven onward by a high +wind, it consumed street after street, and at length approached the +arsenal, within whose precincts were a shot-tower and the powder- +magazine. Thousands of citizens were at the engines, making +despairing efforts to arrest the conflagration; but the licking +flames came fast and faster toward the shot-tower. The wretched +Viennese had given up every hope of salvation, when Count Guido von +Starhemberg, the nephew of the commanding general, rescued Vienna at +the risk of his own life. Accompanied by a few soldiers, he entered +the tower, and deluged the powder-barrels with water. Animated by +the noble devotion of the young count, others followed him with new +supplies. The windows of the powder-magazine were then walled up, +and the fire extinguished. + +Scarcely had the Viennese recovered from this threatened catastrophe +before danger assailed them from another quarter. The Turkish lines +grew closer around the city, and the Duke of Lorraine, who, in the +interim, had arrived, and had encamped on an island in the Danube, +was forced back to Moravia, there to await the long-promised succor +of the King of Poland, and the long-procrastinated re-enforcements +of the Elector of Bavaria. + +Within the gates their foes were sickness, discouragement, hunger, +and mutiny. With these intestine enemies Count von Starhemberg +battled manfully. His own spirit and courage were the weapons he +used to keep down discontent. Day and night he was in the trenches; +and when, by skilful countermining, his men had succeeded in taking +the lives of a few hundred Turks, Count von Starhemberg embraced the +miners, and took the earliest opportunity of rewarding them. + +Undaunted by the Turkish bullets, he visited the ramparts three +times daily, until finally he was struck by one of the balls that +were constantly aimed at him, and severely wounded in the head. He +was picked up insensible, and carried home; but Rudiger Ton +Starhemberg had no time to be sick: so three days after he rose from +his bed, and, with his head bound up, mounted his horse, and +returned to his post. + +His short absence had been productive of much evil in Vienna. It had +dispirited the timid and emboldened the insubordinate. But Count +Rudiger had an iron will, and no sympathy for weakness that +endangered the state. An officer having neglected his watch, and +permitted the Turks to intrench themselves in front of a bastion +whereof he had the guard, Count von Starhemberg gave him his choice +between the gallows and a sortie wherein he should meet the death of +a soldier. The officer chose the latter alternative, and died after +performing prodigies of valor. + +Two soldiers had resisted the commands of their captain. Both were +arrested, and one of them accused the other of having instigated him +to insubordination. In presence of their regiment they were made to +throw for their lives, and he who threw the lowest number was taken +out and shot. + +From the fulfilment of their duty to the country, Count von +Starhemberg would exempt neither age nor sex. Two boys of less than +twelve years of age were accused of having secret understanding with +the enemy, by which, for a rich reward, they were to open the gates +at night, and deliver the city into Kara Mustapha's hands. Count von +Starhemberg investigated the matter thoroughly, and, the fact having +been proved upon the boys, they were executed. + +But hunger and disease were fast decreasing the ranks of the +besieged. The hospitals were so crowded with patients, that no more +could obtain admittance; and the commander, who seemed to have an +expedient for every disaster, appealed to the women of Vienna to +receive the sufferers in their houses. They responded, as woman +does, to the claims of humanity, and, carrying their devotion +further than was required, they visited the hospitals, and brought +food to the men on the ramparts, to refresh and invigorate them as +they worked. + +But unhappily, the day came when substantial food was no longer to +be gotten. The city was invested, and no supplies could come from +without. The Duke of Lorraine had promised re-enforcements toward +the end of the month; and yet the 30th day of August had dawned, and +no help was vouchsafed. + +But there was yet another night to pass before they would despair of +his coming. Crowds of men assembled on the towers of St. Stephen's, +that they might hear from the lips of the sentinels the first +tidings of joy; in the churches women and children were on their +knees imploring Heaven to send them succor; while without the Turks, +who had just begun a fresh assault, were thinning the ranks of their +defenders, and adding to the mournful numbers of the widows and +orphans of Vienna. + +By morning the Turks had mined a passage to the stronghold of +Ravelin. Thither rushed the men with pikes, sabres, and clubs; and +behind them came their wives and daughters with boiling pitch and +oil, with sacks of sand and ashes, to throw upon the invaders as +they emerged from their subterranean passage. The expedient was +successful; the enemy was repulsed with loss, and the fall of Vienna +averted for another day. + +A messenger from the emperor had managed to pass the Turkish lines, +promising help to the brave besieged, could they but hold out till +the middle of September; but, after ten weeks of struggle, patient +waiting, and hope deferred, two weeks seemed an eternity. +Nevertheless the indomitable Starhemberg reanimated their courage, +not only by words, but by his noble and unselfish endurance of +hardship, his fearless defiance of danger. They had resisted fifteen +assaults of the enemy, and had made twenty-one sallies outside of +the defences. He knew that, if they chose, their valiant souls would +sustain them for two weeks longer, and his burning words prevailed. + +Once more they rallied, and defended themselves with desperation. +Though shells were bursting over their houses and at their feet, +though sickness was raging in their hospitals, and hunger was +wasting away their kindred, they swore to resist for two weeks +longer. So they could but save Vienna, their fatherland, and their +emperor, they were willing to endure their sufferings to the bitter +end. The Turks pressed closer, but every foot of ground cost them +thousands of men; and their advance was disputed by heroes whose +bodies were weakened with fasting and sickness. Not a morsel of +bread or of fresh meat was to be seen; for a while a cat was +esteemed a great delicacy; and, finally, when the rats were +exhausted, the poor, famished Viennese were glad to eat mice. + +Meanwhile Kara Mustapha went about in his litter, calling upon his +men to exterminate these obstinate starvelings, bestowing rewards +upon those who had distinguished themselves, and beheading with his +own cimeter such as displeased or offended him. After each one of +these visits of the commander to his trenches, the Turks made a +fresh assault on the city. Had they made a general attack, the +besieged were lost; for there were within the walls of Vienna but +four thousand men capable of bearing arms, and these were so +exhausted by hunger, that they might easily have been overpowered. +No amount of heroism could supply the want of bodily strength; and +at last Count von Starhemberg himself was forced to acknowledge that +they must ere long capitulate. + +Every night from the towers of St. Stephen's signal-rockets +proclaimed to heaven and earth the distress and despair of the +people of Vienna; while the burning eyes of the brave commander were +strained to see a responsive light, and his ears intent to listen +for the answering boom of the cannon that was to have announced +approaching succor. One week of the two had painfully ebbed away; in +eight days more Vienna would be sacked, and the Crescent would +replace the Cross! + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE RE-ENFORCEMENTS. + + +On this same 8th of September--so fraught with discouragement to the +suffering inhabitants of Vienna--the Duke of Lorraine held a council +of war in his tent with his allies. The King of Poland was there, +burning with ardor to rescue the capital of Austria; the Elector of +Bavaria had arrived with heavy re-enforcements, which, added to the +troops furnished by Saxony, Swabia, and Franconia, swelled the army +to eighty-four thousand men. Other volunteers from various parts of +Germany had joined the standard of Austria, and all were eager to +uphold the cause of Christendom against the unbelieving infidel. + +For three days the Polish troops had been occupied building a +pontoon bridge, upon which, on the 8th day of September, the allied +forces began to cross the Danube. + +The first to cross were the King of Poland and the Duke of Lorraine. +No sooner had they gained the opposite bank than the army broke out +into one universal shout of joy. + +John Sobiesky's fine face was beaming with exultation. With a +triumphant smile he turned to the duke, who, with his usual serious +expression of countenance, was watching the troops while they came +across. + +"The Turks are lost!" said Sobiesky. + +"They were lost from the moment your majesty came to our rescue," +was the courteous reply. "From the moment that you assumed the chief +command, I felt certain of success." + +"My dear duke," said the king, warmly, "I am not so dazzled by your +generous praise as not to know which of us is the greater general of +the two. If I have accepted your highness's gracious relinquishment +of the chief command to me, I shall take good care not to exercise +it without advice from yourself. But I am in no trouble now as to +the issue of our contest with the Turks. They are already beaten. A +general who, at the head of two hundred thousand men, suffers us to +construct this bridge within five leagues of his camp, is a man of +no ability. He is as good as beaten." [Footnote: John Sobiesky's own +words.--See Kausler, "Prince Eugene of Savoy," vol. i., p. 22.] + +"Provided we reach Vienna before our poor hungry countrymen will +have been forced to surrender." + +The king's eyes flashed. "Ay, ay, indeed!" exclaimed he, eagerly; +"every thing depends upon that. The main question is, to march to +Vienna as quick as possible." + +"There are two roads to Vienna," replied the duke. + +The king nodded affirmatively. "Yes; the road lying through the +valley of the Danube is level; the one that leads to Vienna by the +Kahlenberg is steep and toilsome." + +"But much shorter," added the duke. + +"Let us then select the route over the Kahlenberg," answered the +king. "Your highness' understands giving sound advice under the garb +of a passing observation." + +Their conversation was just then interrupted by the appearance of +two young horsemen, who bowed respectfully as they rode by. One wore +the rich and becoming uniform of the Polish lancers--this was the +crown prince of Poland; the other, more simply attired, was Prince +Eugene of Savoy--the youngest colonel in the Austrian service. + +At a signal from the King of Poland, the youths reined in their +horses. + +"My son," said the king, touching the Polish prince on the shoulder, +"let me congratulate you that you are about to engage the enemy +under the command of one of the most distinguished generals of the +age." + +The duke shook his head, and smilingly addressed Eugene: "Prince of +Savoy," said he, "you see before you a king whose least glory is his +crown. Let him be your model, and when you confront the enemy let +the thought of John Sobiesky's fame urge you to deeds of prowess." + +"Your highness," replied Eugene, "not only when I confront the +enemy, but every day and every hour of my life, will I look back +with emotion to the time when I beheld the two most eminent +commanders of the age contemplating each other's greatness without +envy, and accepting each other's suggestions without cavil; and I +trust that, from the sight, I may receive inspiration as far as lies +within my capacity, to emulate their moral as well as their military +worth." + +"You will ere long have the opportunity of showing us how proximity +to John Sobiesky inspires men to valor," replied the duke. "We are +about to march to Vienna. Which road would you take, if you had to +choose for the army?" + +Eugene's large black eyes wandered over the horizon until they +rested on the summit of Kahlenberg. "If we gain those heights, we +overlook not only our friends, but the entire camp of the enemy." + +"Well answered," said John Sobiesky. "You are a military man by +intuition, I see, and are destined to make a figure in the world. +You are small in person, but would be great in council. Men of your +size and build are more frequently gifted with military genius than +those of lofty stature. I suppose," continued he, smiling, "that it +is because the brain, which reasons, and the heart that feels, lie +close together, and so can help each other. But," said he, +interrupting himself, "here comes the Elector Max Emmanuel. Allow me +to bid him welcome." + +The Duke of Lorraine followed him with his eyes, as, in company with +the crown prince, the king rode forward to meet the handsome Prince +of Bavaria. + +"The Poles did well," said he to himself, "to prefer John Sobiesky +to me; and, if I had known him personally, never would I have been +his competitor for a throne. He is better fitted to reign and govern +than I." + +"Has your highness any commands for me?" asked Eugene. + +"Yes, my dear young friend," replied the duke, solemnly. "We draw +near to Vienna. Avenge your brother's death, but prize and cherish +your own life. Do not wantonly expose your person, nor seek for +danger, he alone is a hero whose valor is restrained by prudence. I +shall place you, nevertheless, where danger is imminent and glory to +be earned; so that, when I recommend you for promotion to the +emperor, the world may not say that you owe your advancement to +favor." + +"Your highness's advice shall be followed to the letter," replied +Eugene, earnestly. "I will despise danger, that I may avenge my +brother; yet will I guard my life, that I may be the protector of +his wife and children. But nothing will more inspire me to heroic +deeds than the friendship which you so condescendingly evince for +me. May God bless and reward you for your sympathy with my suffering +heart!" + +At the end of three days, the army gained the heights of the +Kahlenberg. The men, tired and sleepy, dispersed, and throw +themselves down to rest under the trees; their commanders rode +farther to the mountain's brow, and there, beneath the fiery rays of +the setting sun, lay prisoned Vienna and her Turkish jailers. But +above was a cloud of smoke and dust, through which ever and anon +leaped columns of fire, while the air was heavy with reverberation +of cannon. The Turks were storming the city. + +The besieged, mindful of their promise, were defending themselves +with desperation. With imperturbable calm, Count von Starhemberg +headed every sortie, and his quick eye perceived every little +advantage that could be taken; while his wise precautions saved many +a life, and warded off many a peril. His redoubts were no sooner +damaged than repaired; trench after trench was dug; street by street +defended with palisades, improvised of rods and beams. + +As night came on, the heavy firing of the Turks ceased, and a dead +stillness followed the terrible boom of cannon. The streets were +ploughed with balls, the ashes of many a consumed building were +scattered about by the wind, while here and there a fitful blaze was +seen issuing from a shapeless mass that once had been the stately +home of some proud Austrian noble. Pale, ghastly figures wandered +among the ruins, searching for food, which, alas! they rarely found. +But, amid this "abomination of desolation," they still lifted their +eyes to heaven for help, and still clung to hope of rescue. + +Count Starhemberg, as usual, had ascended the tower of St. +Stephen's; while in the city below every form was prostrate in +prayer. With his own hand he fired the nightly rocket, and watched +its myriads of stars as they shot heavenward, illumined the +darkness, and then fell back into nothingness. His heart beat +painfully, as the last scintillations went out, and left but the +pall of night behind. But he gazed on in silence, and in anguish +unutterable. Suddenly he unclasped his rigid hands, for oh! joy! +joy! there was light on the summit of the Kahlenberg; the signal +darts up into the sky, and from Herman's peak the cannon proclaims +that help is nigh! + +One cry of rapture burst from the lips of all who stood around the +commander; the warder grasped his speaking-trumpet, and cried out to +the crowd below, "The signal is answered!" + +The sound was caught up by the eager multitude, the blessed tidings +were borne from street to street, and the people with one accord +knelt down and thanked God. Noble and simple, aged and young, all +hastened to St. Stephen's. Men clasped hands; and strangers that had +never met before, embraced one another like friends and kinsmen. +Hope had softened all hearts, joy's electric touch had made a +thousand interests one: men were no longer segregate, their lives +were blended into one great emotion. + +Count von Starhemberg was so overcome, that for some moments his +tongue refused him utterance. When he spoke, his voice, so +accustomed to command, trembled and grew soft--soft and gentle as +that of a young maiden. + +"Will some one fetch me pen and paper?" said he. And when a +portfolio was brought for him to write upon, he could scarcely +command his hand while it traced these few words: + +"Lose no time; in Heaven's name, be quick, or we are lost!" + +"Who will venture to swim across the Danube, and deliver this paper +to the Duke of Lorraine?" added he. + +Three young men volunteered at once. Count von Starhemberg chose the +one that seemed the strongest, and gave it to him. + +"Promise me that you will deliver it or die!" + +"I promise," was the reply of the young man, who, without tarrying +another moment, sprang down the steps and disappeared. + +In a few hours, another rocket from the mountain-top announced the +safe arrival of the messenger, and promised speedy relief. + +Yes, deliverance was at hand. At gray dawn, the army were ready to +march, and the King of Poland, the Duke of Lorraine, and Louis of +Baden were in the saddle. When all were assembled, John Sobiesky +dismounted, and kneeling before the altar of Leopold's chapel, +addressed a prayer to Heaven for a blessing on the approaching +struggle. In his priestly robes, within the chancel, stood Marcus +Avianus, the inspired Capuchin whom the pope had sent to Germany to +preach this new crusade. His burning words had done as much, for the +cause of Christianity as the stalwart arms of Austria's best +warriors; and now, as he raised his hands on high, and eighty +thousand men knelt to receive his blessing, their hearts throbbed +with joy, for they felt that the God of battles would be with them +that day. + +The rites done, John Sobiesky bestowed the honor of knighthood upon +his son, "thereby commemorating the proudest day of their lives;" +and at the conclusion of the ceremony, he addressed the Polish army, +exhorting them to fight as became a Christian host in a cause "where +death was not only the path to glory, but the way to heaven." + +"I have but one command to give my men," said he, in conclusion. +"Let them follow their king, and wherever he is to be seen, there +let them know that the battle rages fiercest." + +A tumultuous shout was the answer to this exhortation. It gathered +strength as it passed along the ranks, until it awoke a thousand +echoes from the mountain-tops around; while the rays of the sun, +like a consecrating fire, glistened from the point of every bayonet, +and flashed from the blade of every waving sword. + +The cheers of the Christians were borne on the summer air, until the +sound reached the very camp of the Turks. It sent consternation to +the heart of Kara Mustapha, as he lay smoking his hookah under a +tent of silk and velvet. For sixty days he had besieged Vienna with +his hundreds of thousands. Against its obstinate defenders warfare +had failed; and now that hunger was about to do what he had vainly +tried--to paralyze their valor, here came succor, to render his +victory doubtful. For he well knew that the Christians were full of +ardor, while his Turks were tired of fighting. That he might excite +their thirst for blood, he assembled all his prisoners, men, women, +and children, together, and, within view of his army, ordered them +all to be massacred. The work of death began, and the expiring cries +of his victims were the Paynim's answer to the shouts of the +Christians, that were raising their hearts to God. + +That fearful wail was heard, too, by the beleaguered men of Vienna; +and the thought of their butchered kindred gave strength to their +famished bodies. They hungered no longer for food! they thirsted for +blood. + +And now the bells, which for sixty days had been silent, rang out +their alarum, calling all to the last great struggle. The sick +raised their heads, and felt the glow of health thrilling through +their fevered veins; the aged worked like youths--the youths like +demi-gods. And full of hope, full of valor, the brave citizens of +Vienna awaited the coming of their liberators. + +The main body of the allied army was commanded by the Electors of +Bavaria and of Saxony; the right wing, by John Sobiesky; the left, +by the Duke of Lorraine and Louis of Baden. The plan of the attack +had been made according to the suggestions of the King of Poland. + +At the side of Louis of Baden rode Eugene of Savoy, his sorrows all +forgotten in the excitement of the occasion. His countenance beamed +with animation, his eyes darted fire. His black war-horse, too, +partook of his enthusiasm: he pranced, leaped into the air, and +neighed as if in defiance of the barbs that were to bear his enemies +into battle that morning. + +"My dear cousin," said Eugene to Louis, "I implore you let me go +early into action. Give me something to do as soon as we are in +sight of the enemy, and thereby prove me your love." + +"You shall have your wish, Eugene. Your division is to open the +engagement. As soon as you hear the discharge of the cannon from the +heights of the Kahlenberg, you advance." + +With a joyful wave of the hand, Eugene sprang forward, and placed +himself at the head of his dragoons, where, rigid as a statue, he +stood with his eyes raised to the summit of the Kahlenberg. + +The first shot rolled like thunder through the valley gorges. The +men grasped their muskets, the horses pawed the ground. The second, +the third, followed, and every eye glistened, and every heart +throbbed. The fourth--THE FIFTH! + +"En avant!" cried Eugene; and the dragoons galloped forward. They +were to drive the enemy from the valley of the Nussberg, and force +the pass of Heiligenstadt. But the Turks disputed every inch of the +ground, making breastworks of every hillock, trenches of every +hollow. They defended the way with such desperation that the +Austrian cavalry began to waver. + +An exclamation of fury was heard from the lips of Eugene. "Victory +or death!" cried he; and with these words the intrepid youth struck +spurs into his horse, and sprang through the pass; his sabre, +flashing like lightning through the air, as right and left it dealt +destruction to the Janizaries that disputed his passage. + +Amazed at such prowess, the dragoons gave one simultaneous cheer, +and leaped into the enemy's midst. From that moment they moved on +like a granite wall; onward in the track of their gallant commander, +all peril disregarding, they fought their way, until, inspired by +his heroism, encouraged by the soul-stirring tones of his blithe +young voice, they won the pass, and forced the enemy back. + +Meanwhile the imperial and Saxon forces had advanced from the +Kahlenberg, in one dense column, the sight of which had sorely +shaken the confidence of Kara Mustapha in his power to resist them. + +On swept the mighty mass, and in a few moments the deep thunder of +the cannon reverberated along the mountain gorges; the clashing of +swords and the rattling of musketry mingled with the cries of the +wounded, and the groans of the dying; while all above was fire and +smoke. The passes were reddened with blood, which drop by drop +flowed down their declivities, until it met another life-destroying +current on its way; and both glided onward to the Danube, empurpling +its waters with the mingled gore of Christian and Paynim. + +The battle raged, without any decisive advantage, until long after +noon. At four o'clock, however, the Ulans of the King of Poland were +about to be overpowered by superior numbers, when re-enforcement +came in the form of a charge on the right wing of the Turks, by the +troops under Charles of Lorraine. Those flying squadrons, beneath +whose horses' hoofs the ground is trembling as if upheaved by an +earthquake, are headed by Eugene--the indomitable Eugene. On his +foam-flecked steed, with a sword in his hand that is gory to the +hilt, comes the "little abbe," who was too much of a weakling to +obtain a commission in the army of the King of France. If his mother +could see him now, she would confess that he was no fit aspirant for +a scarlet hat. + +Side by side rode Eugene and Louis of Baden, both heading that +bloody chase. Over heaps of corpses, over struggling horses, falling +timbers, through smoke and fire, they dashed toward the gates of +Vienna. Count Starhemberg was there with his handful of braves, +making gallant resistance to the Janizaries. But for the mad charge +of Eugene, the little garrison would soon have been cut to pieces. +But the attack on their rear surprised the Janizaries; they fell +back, only to be confronted by the Duke of Lorraine, and, believing +resistance to be useless, they fled. + +The King of Poland meanwhile was within the gates engaged in a hand- +to-hand fight with the enemy in the streets. He was not left long to +struggle without help. Once more Eugene and his cavalry came to the +rescue; and now the Turkish legions are flying for their lives, +while the Christians are shouting for joy and victory! + +Kara Mustapha, who was to have made his seat of empire at Vienna, +has suddenly become a panic-stricken adventurer. With that singular +absence of fortitude which so often distinguishes tyrants in +adversity, he fell to weeping like a child, and went whining for +protection to the Khan of Tartary. + +"Save me, save me!" was his cowardly cry. + +The khan shook his head. "We know the King of Poland too well," said +he. "Nobody can withstand him." + +And from this moment nothing was thought of, in the Turkish camp, +but flight. Kara Mustapha's war-horse, with its housings of purple +velvet worked in pearls, was too heavy to bear him away from Vienna; +he mounted a fleet-footed Arabian, and sped away without thought of +the treasures he was leaving behind. His costly tent, his girdles of +diamonds, his cimeters inlaid with rubies and sapphires, his six +hundred sacks of piastres, all fell into the hands of John Sobiesky. + +While joy and jubilee prevailed throughout the streets of Vienna, +Eugene of Savoy was on his way to the dwelling of his widowed +sister: but, while he sorrowed with Urania and her orphans, his name +was being borne upon the trumpet-blast of fame, as chief among the +heroes that rescued Vienna from the infidel. + + + + +BOOK IV. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE FALL OF BUDA. + + +As a signal that the conference was at an end, the Emperor Leopold +rose from his arm-chair. The president and vice-president followed +his example, and the other members of the council bowed and retired. +The Margrave of Baden and Count von Starhemberg remained standing by +the green table, while the emperor, who had crossed the room, now +stood vacantly staring out of a window, drumming with his fingers on +one of the panes. + +His two counsellors were perfectly au fait to the import of this +drumming; it meant that the emperor's thoughts were with his army, +which was still in the field, although three years had gone by since +the siege of Vienna. During this protracted struggle both parties +had fought bravely, but neither one had as yet prevailed against the +other. In 1684 the Austrians had gained a brilliant victory over the +allied enemy; but, in the course of the same year, the Turks, by +their obstinate valor, had forced the Duke of Lorraine to abandon +the siege of Buda, which, since then, had remained in their +possession, and gave them entire control of Hungary. + +The emperor's thoughts, then, were at Buda, while his fingers still +drummed on the window-pane. At last he turned around. + +"Any news from the army?" asked he, hastily. + +"None, your majesty," replied the margrave. "Since the news of the +junction of the Duke of Lorraine's forces with those of Prince Louis +of Baden and Max Emmanuel, nothing further has been heard as to the +progress of the siege." + +"And that, of course, signifies that there is nothing good to be +told," added Von Starhemberg. "If the Duke of Lorraine had met with +any success, he would not have failed to send a courier with the +tidings." + +"Unhappily, since he has had command of the army, he has had many +more reverses to communicate than victories," replied the margrave, +with a sigh. + +"You forget his brilliant victory at Gran last year," returned the +emperor. "Away with your petty ill-will toward the duke! Forget your +personal grievances in admiration of his heroism." + +"Sire," replied the margrave, somewhat impetuously, "there are +personal grievances which will not allow themselves to be forgotten. +The Duke of Lorraine, in his dispatches, has not only accused me of +neglect in the provisioning and arming of his troops, but has also +declared me unqualified for my position, and has recommended another +man as minister of war." + +"And yet you retain your position," replied the emperor; "so that +neither one of you has influence enough with me to injure the other. +I have great confidence, nevertheless, in the judgment of my +brother-in-law; and, if occasionally he is of opinion that battles +are not to be planned on the green table of a council-chamber, but +in the field by the man, who is to fight them--not in theories but +in praxis--I am inclined to think that he is right." + +"One thing I hope that your majesty will do me the justice to +remember," answered Von Starhemberg, in a tone of vexation. "It is +this: the war department, at my suggestion, advised that Buda should +not be assaulted, but that the passes lying behind the city should +be seized, Stuhlweissemberg besieged, and Buda, by this means, cut +off from all intercourse with Turkey. Thus it would have fallen +without bloodshed; whereas we have nothing to expect, as the result +of a second direct attack, but the news of a second repulse." + +"Should the Duke of Lorraine be forced to raise the siege a second +time, I hope that the war department will remember that it was I, +and not my commander-in-chief, who rejected their advice. So that, +if we should be unfortunate, mine be the blame of the disaster, for +I ordered the attack." + +At this moment the door of the council-chamber was opened with some +precipitation, and the chamberlain of the day appeared on the +threshold. + +"What do you come to announce?" asked Leopold. + +"Sire, a bearer of dispatches from his highness of Lorraine." + +"Ah, lupus in fabula" said the emperor, with a smile. "Well--let in +the lupus." + +"Your majesty," interrupted the Margrave of Baden, "would it not be +better for me to receive the dispatches, and communicate their +contents to you? The news of another disaster will be a great blow: +your mind should be prepared to receive it." + +"I am prepared for whatever it may please God to assign," replied +Leopold, reverently. "If the news be bad, it is my duty to confront +it like a man; if good, let me taste it pure, as it comes from the +lips of the messenger. Let him enter!" + +The chamberlain stepped back, made a sign to the page in the +anteroom, and both sides of the door were flung open. + +"Our bearer is a person of distinction," said Leopold to himself. +"Both doors are opened for a reigning prince, a grandee of Spain, +or--" + +Just then the bearer of dispatches appeared--a small, slight person, +in a simple uniform, but his breast well covered with orders, both +Austrian and Spanish. + +"Prince Eugene of Savoy!" exclaimed Leopold, with evident pleasure. +And he made several steps toward the prince. + +"Prince Eugene of Savoy," muttered the margrave, with an ugly frown; +for well he knew that such an envoy would never have been chosen to +be the bearer of evil tidings. + +Meanwhile Eugene rapidly crossed the room, and knelt before the +emperor. + +"You forget," said Leopold, raising him, "that a knight of the +Golden Fleece is not obliged to conform to the court custom of +kneeling. His order kneel before the Almighty alone. Moreover, as +grandee of Spain, your highness has a right to appear with covered +head." + +"Sire, I came hither neither as a grandee nor a knight. I came as +the squire of my noble lord, the Duke of Lorraine, and as the +soldier and subject of my emperor. Let me, then, greet my sovereign +as my heart dictates." + +With these words Eugene knelt again. + +"Now," said Leopold, "rise, loyal subject, and satisfy my +impatience. Tell me, in one word, has Buda fallen?" + +"Yes, sire," was the exulting reply. + +The emperor raised his grateful eyes to heaven, while his two +councillors exchanged glances of dissatisfaction. Leopold saw this, +and addressed himself to both. + +"Gentlemen," said he, "pray remember that you were opposed to the +siege of Buda, and that it was undertaken at the request of the Duke +of Lorraine." + +"Your majesty told us that you had commanded it yourself," answered +the margrave. "The duke, then, has merely carried out orders!" + +"Orders given because of his request. He proved to me that Buda +could be taken; and, when I commanded this second attempt to reduce +it, I merely yielded to his better judgment. But let us change the +subject.--You are most welcome," continued he, to Prince Eugene. +"And now let us hear the details of your glad tidings." + +"Sire, the siege of Buda is an epic, worthy of the pen of a Homer. +None but a great poet can do justice to the deeds of valor of the +Duke of Lorraine." + +"Try you, nevertheless," replied Leopold. "But hold! It were selfish +to enjoy your narrative alone. The empress and the court shall +partake of our happiness to day. Count von Starhemberg, oblige me by +opening the door, and recalling the chamberlain." + +The count reluctantly obeyed, and the chamberlain reappeared. + +"You will announce to the ladies and gentlemen in waiting, that I +request the presence of the court. I myself will conduct the empress +hither." Then, with a wave of his hand to Prince Eugene, he added, +"Await our return." + +Not long after, the empress, conducted by her imperial husband, +entered the room and took her seat. The ladies and gentlemen in +waiting stood behind, and the margrave and Count von Starhemberg +were on either side of the emperor. + +"And now, Prince Eugene of Savoy," cried Leopold, "let us hear the +details of the fall of Buda." + +All eyes were turned upon Eugene, who, without boldness or +bashfulness, calmly surveyed the brilliant assembly before him. In +his plain, dark uniform, his black hair worn naturally and without +powder, he presented a striking contrast to the courtiers in their +magnificently-embroidered Spanish doublets, and huge, powdered wigs. + +He began his narrative, by alluding to the fact that for one hundred +and twenty years, in spite of six different attempts on the part of +Austria to retake it, the ancient capital of Hungary had been in the +hands of the Turks. He quoted the well-known saying of John +Sobiesky, "Buda has drunk such torrents of Christian blood, that +every handful of earth around its walls is red and moist with gore." +He made a few brief remarks on the subject of the last unsuccessful +attack, two years before; and then, with all the enthusiasm of a +warrior-poet, he entered upon the narration of the seventh siege. + +He spoke of the various stratagems, sallies, and skirmishes that +preceded the final assault. On the 18th of June the city was +invested, and by the end of July the allied army had effected an +entrance, and captured so many streets that the besieged had been +compelled to retire within the fortress. At the same time, +combustibles were thrown into the magazine, which exploded with +fearful destruction, and the Duke of Lorraine, compassionating the +condition of the brave old commander, Pacha Abdurrahmen, sent a +messenger, advising him to capitulate. Abdurrahmen, for all answer, +informed the duke that Allah and the Prophet would shortly punish +the audacity of the Christians, and, by way of anticipating Divine +justice, he caused one hundred Saxons, who had been captured a few +days before, to be hanged within view of the besiegers. + +This vindictive act was the signal for a new assault, and the +fortress was attacked on three sides. The assailants were several +times repulsed, for the Turks fought like demons. Undismayed, they +stood upon the walls, pouring fire and shot into the Christian ranks +until the hair was singed from their heads, and their scorched +clothes dropped from their bodies. If the allies were heroic in +their attack, the Turks were not less so in their defence. Finally +the women, too, were seen, some carrying ammunition, some bringing +refreshments to the gunners, while others, singing wild strains of +Turkish embateria, hurled stones from the walls upon the invading +army. + +More than two thousand Austrians had fallen, but they had succeeded +in establishing themselves within one of the bastions, and had +thereby obtained possession of the prison-tower. The day following, +however. Abdurrahmen sprung a mine, which killed one hundred of the +imperial troops, and so terrified the others, that they retired in +confusion, and the bastion remained in the hands of the Turks. + +Once more the Duke of Lorraine offered terms to the besieged, which +a second time were indignantly refused. For the grand-vizier had +arrived with re-enforcements, and on a plain just behind the city of +Buda his troops were drawn up in battle array. The besieged now +commenced an attack upon the besiegers; one of their bombs burst +almost at the feet of the Duke of Lorraine, killing and wounding +several of his staff; another fell into a heap of hand-grenades, +which produced a frightful conflagration. + +On the first of September Abdurrahmen was again summoned to +surrender. The white-haired hero presented two documents to the +envoys, one of which was from the high-priest of the Prophet at +Constantinople, the other from the Sultan. The first enjoined it +upon the pacha, as a religious duty, to defend Buda as the key to +the Ottoman empire; the other contained these few emphatic words: +"Either fall as a martyr before the sword of the invader, or die as +a traitor by the blade of the headsman." + +"You see," added Abdurrahmen, calmly, "that no discretion is allowed +me. I must prevail against you, or fight until I fall." + +This decided the question of capitulation forever; and although the +grand-vizier was there with his reserves, the Duke of Lorraine +determined to storm the fortress anew. It was a desperate resolve; +hut, like Abdurrahmen, he had made up his mind to conquer or die. + +At this point of his narration, Eugene paused for breath. The +emperor, perceiving that he was fatigued, made a sign to one of the +pages in attendance, who thereupon placed a chair for him--a +compliment never before paid by a sovereign of Austria to any man +below the rank of a reigning prince. + +"Prince Eugene of Savoy," said Leopold, "as a grandee of Spain, and +a knight of the Golden Fleece, you have a right to be seated in the +presence of your sovereign. Make use of the privilege, then; for if +you stand much longer, I see that you will not have strength to +finish your recital; and I would not abridge it by a word. It sounds +like martial music to my enraptured ear." + +"Sire," replied Eugene, accepting the chair, "'tis no wonder if the +boom of the cannon sound like music to the son of Charles V.; above +all, when it thunders to proclaim your majesty's success. On the 2d +of September began the last assault upon the fortress of Buda. It +was impossible not to admire the intrepidity of our enemies: to a +man, they seemed to have sworn, like their commander, to defend the +post or die amid its ruins. But your majesty's troops were as +resolute as they. After a terrible conflict fought over the bodies +of their slain comrades, they cut to pieces a detachment of +Janizaries that had been sent to oppose their passage." + +"'No quarter!' was the watchword of the Moslems. 'No quarter!' cried +the Christians in return. 'No quarter!' shouted the Bavarians, as +they mounted a breach in the fortress, and fought hand to hand with +its frenzied defenders. The latter poured out in such numbers that +the Bavarians wavered, and perhaps might have been repulsed, had not +the gallant Louis of Baden mounted the breach himself, and called +upon his men to follow. They obeyed; the Bavarians rallied, and the +prince ordered a fresh attack. Thanks to his valor and able +generalship, the Turks were forced back, and fled in confusion; some +finding refuge within the walls, others, in their dismay, plunging +into the moat. The Bavarians followed the fugitives, and now from +every castle-window waved the white flag of surrender." + +"To the hero of Buda, the brave Abdurrahmen, our commanders would +gladly have granted an honorable retreat. But he refused mercy at +the hands of his admiring antagonists. Alone he stood, sabre in +hand, defending the breach against our advancing troops, until he +fell, pierced by twenty balls, while the bodies of his slain foes +lay like a monument of his heroism around him. With the death of +Abdurrahmen the struggle ceased, and that night, as a last act of +defiance, the Turks sprung a mine in the fortress, and reduced it to +a heap of ruins." + +"The next morning, the grand-vizier retreated, and the plan of +attack, inspired by the genius of the Duke of Lorraine, had +destroyed the prestige of the Sultan in Hungary. Scarcely inferior +to this great commander was the ability displayed by Prince Louis of +Baden, and Max Emmanuel. No man who beheld them can ever forget the +sight of these two great heroes, handsome and brave as Hector and +Patroclus." + +"Sire, my tale is ended. Buda has fallen, and its conquerors have +immortalized themselves." + +"You say, your tale is at an end, Prince Eugene," replied the +emperor, smiling. "But you have omitted something in your recital." + +"What is it, your majesty?" + +"You have not once mentioned the name of the Prince of Savoy; and +yet he must have been there. You have exalted the genius of the Duke +of Lorraine, and you have likened his two generals to the heroes of +antiquity. It is said that the Prince of Savoy is the inseparable +companion of Prince Louis and Max Emmanuel. Where, then, was he, +while his friends were gaining immortality?" + +"Sire, he was with them; but, as he did no more than his duty, I +have nothing further to say." + +"It is your duty, as bearer of dispatches from your commander-in +chief, to answer my inquiries, let them relate to whomsoever they +will. Where were you, then, while your friends were astonishing you +with their valor?" + +"He was at their side, your majesty. Before the siege, the three +friends had sworn never to surrender to the enemy. It was therefore +natural that the Prince of Savoy should follow the example of his +superior officers, and imitate their gallantry." + +"But was he in no danger? Was he not wounded?" + +"Sire, on such a day, no soldier could hope to escape from danger; +above all, the officers who led them into action. The Prince of +Savoy's horse was shot under him, and he himself was slightly +wounded in the hand by an arrow." + +"Where was he stationed on that last day?" + +"He was ordered to skirmish with the enemy, and prevent them from +making sorties on the besiegers." + +"A hard task, for one so young." + +"Yes, sire; for it condemned him to inaction, while his comrades +were gaining glory. But before the close of the day, fate befriended +him. The grand-vizier having made no attempt to join the besieged, +the Prince of Savoy was so fortunate as to come in with his +dragoons, just as the Bavarians were about to be repulsed from the +breach." + +"Ah! I thought so!" exclaimed Leopold; "and doubtless his appearance +had much to do with the successful storming of the castle. And how +did the Duke of Lorraine reward his gallantry?" + +"Sire, he was rewarded far, far beyond his deserts. The Duke of +Lorraine, in presence of the army, folded him in his embrace." + +"That was well done. Come hither, Prince Eugene. I, too, would +reward you as the Duke of Lorraine did." + +Eugene hastened to the emperor, who folded him in his arms, and then +led him to the empress. + +"Your majesty," said he to his wife, "I present you a young hero, +who for three years has been gaining renown in the service of +Austria. I recommend him to your favor, and beg that you, too, will +bestow some reward upon him." + +The empress turned her soft blue eyes upon the prince, who bent his +knee, and kissed the hand she extended to him. "I will pray for +you," said she, "as long as I live; and, as a testimonial of my +regard, I beg you to accept my husband's portrait." + +Unclasping from her neck a heavy gold chain, to which was attached a +miniature set in brilliants, she threw it over Eugene's shoulder +with these words: + +"Let the emperor's likeness be to you a souvenir of your past +heroism, and may it inspire you for the future to serve him with +loyalty and love." + +"Your majesty," replied Eugene, "of my own free will I chose the +Emperor of Austria for my sovereign; but from this day forth I am +pledged to serve him as his native-born subject: and the chain so +graciously bestowed by your majesty, I shall wear as emblematic of +my fealty, for life." + +The emperor signed to Eugene to rise, and addressed himself to all +present. "Vienna, too, shall have her share in this day's joy. The +crescent, which for more than a hundred years has proclaimed to the +world that Austria's capital was once in the hands of the infidel, +shall be taken down from the tower of St. Stephen's. We have won the +right to displace the accursed emblem, and it shall once more give +place to the symbol of Christianity!" + +The crescent of which the emperor spoke, had been on the tower of +St. Stephen's since the year 1529, when Vienna was besieged by the +Sultan Soliman. His guns were being constantly directed against the +tower; and the Viennese having sent a deputation to request that the +Turks would not demolish their beautiful cathedral, Soliman +consented to spare it on one condition. This was, that the cross +should be removed, and the crescent take its place. In their +extremity, the promise was made; and, from that day, the Christian +church had borne the hated symbol of Mohammedanism. + +At the fall of Buda, Leopold refused to be bound any longer by the +promise extorted from his ancestors; and, in commemoration of the +capture of this important post, a cross was erected on the tower, +with this inscription: "Luna deposuit, et crux exaltata. Anno quo +Buda a Turcis capta, MDCLXXXVI." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE FRIENDS. + + +With the capture of Buda, the campaign of 1686 closed. The army went +into winter quarters, and the officers all congregrated in Vienna, +there to indemnify themselves for past hardships by a few months of +recreation. + +Eugene of Savoy participated very little in the gayety of court- +life. While his companion-in-arms, Louis of Baden, plunged headlong +into the vortex of pleasure, the shy young Frenchman led a most +retired existence, in his little hotel in the Herrengasse. He had +purchased this residence for his brother's widow and children, +intending to make it not only their home, but his own. The young +widow, after spending two years with her brother-in-law, forsook the +world and retired to a convent, there to lay her burden of grief at +the feet of her Lord. Her children she committed to the care of +their great-grandmother, the Princess de Carignan; and Eugene was +left to the solitude of a bachelor home, without one friendly voice +to bid him welcome to its cold hearth. + +Even Conrad, his faithful Conrad, was absent. Eugene had sent him to +Turin with messages to Victor Amadeus, which he had not thought it +prudent to write. For Conrad was not only loyal and affectionate; he +had proved himself a person of such uncommon ability, that he was +now his lord's secretary, no longer his servant. He had the care of +his money, the administration of his affairs, and was his trusty and +confidential friend. Eugene missed him sorely; for Conrad had +accompanied him "that night" to the Palais Royal, and although +Laura's name had never passed his lips, still her lover found some +solace in the companionship of the man who had tended him during +that dreadful illness, and who, he knew full well, had learned from +his unconscious lips the secret of his love and its blight. + +Eugene was in his cabinet. He had been engaged in the study of +mathematics, and the perusal of Julius Caesar's campaigns; after +which, by way of recreation, he sat down to his escritoire, and, +unfolding a sheet of paper, began to make plans of palaces and +gardens. + +He was so absorbed in his drawing, that he neither heard nor saw the +door open, and give entrance to a handsome young man in a rich +Spanish costume. For one moment the visitor paused on the threshold, +and smilingly surveyed Eugene; then, crossing the room on tiptoes, +he laid his hand upon the prince's shoulder. + +"I certainly thought I would surprise you inditing a poem or a +letter to the lady of your thoughts, and here I find you drawing +plans!" + +"Max Emmanuel!" exclaimed Eugene, rising joyfully, and embracing his +friend. + +"Yes, Max Emmanuel, who, having paid his devoirs to his imperial +father-in-law, has come with all haste to ask how it fares with his +friend. The servants told me you were in your cabinet, so I forbade +them to announce me, and made my way hither all alone, that I might +take you by surprise, and find out whether you loved me as much as I +do you. Seeing you intent upon writing, I was quite confident that I +was about to discover a great secret--when lo! I see nothing but a +sheet of drawing-paper, covered with porches and pilasters. Tell me +the truth, Eugene--why is it that, instead of worshipping Aphrodite, +like other youths, you are doing homage to the household gods of +domestic architecture?" + +"Why, my dear Max, domestic architecture interests me, because I +expect to build houses, and lay out grounds. I do not worship +Aphrodite like other youths, because--because I know her not." + +The elector looked searchingly into Eugene's solemn eyes. "Are you +in earnest?" asked he. "Do you intend me to believe that you are +unacquainted with the ecstasies and tribulations of love?" + +"No," replied Eugene, sadly, "for I am too truly your friend to +deceive you, Max. I have loved, but my love was unfortunate; and the +wound it has made in my heart is too painful to be probed. Dear +friend, let us speak of it nevermore!" + +"On the contrary, let us speak of it together without reserve. A +hero like Eugene, who has faced death, and so often wrested victory +from his enemies, can surely contemplate such a wound as Cupid's +dart inflicts upon a man! But tell me, what are unfortunate loves? +mine have all been crowned with myrtle, and smothered in roses." + +Eugene was silent for a time; then raising his large, melancholy +eyes, till they rested affectionately upon the bright, laughing +countenance of his friend, he spoke: "I can well believe that you +know nothing of the pangs inflicted by unhappy love; for you are +handsome, distinguished, and gifted. I, who am none of these, can +tell you what it is to love adversely. It is to love with passion; +to be parted from the object of your love; and not to know whether +she, like you, is constant to her vows, and suffers from your +absence, as you do from hers. Pray Heaven that love may never come +to you in such a shape as this." + +"No danger of me contracting the malady," replied Max; "I am +constitutionally incapable of receiving it. I pluck the fruit or +flower that grows nearest, never suffering my imagination to run +away with my longings. But never mind me and my sybaritic +interpretations of the tender passion. Are your woes irremediable? +Is the lady married?" + +"In the eyes of the world she is." + +"But not in the eyes of God, you would say. Then her marriage must +have been compulsory or fraudulent?" + +"It was fraudulent." + +"Then hie we to the pope for justice! His holiness will not refuse +it to such a brave crusader as you, and I myself will be your +advocate. Give me pen and paper. I will write at once, send your +signature and mine to the petition, and dispatch it by a courier +this very day; and then the world will see whether we, who stormed +Buda, may not storm adverse fortune also." + +"Dear friend, neither the pope nor you can storm my adverse +fortunes. I must hear from my beloved whether she is true to me +before I take one step to possess myself of her. For three years I +have waited in vain for her summons; and yet my longing arms are +outstretched to clasp her, and never while I live will they encircle +the form of another!" + +"Nay--these are the enthusiastic ravings of recent disappointment. +For a few years longer you may sorrow for your first love; but +oblivion will come, all in good time, and you will end by loving +some other woman as deserving as your absent mistress, and more +attainable. After all, ambition, not love, is the business of life; +and Cytherea's groves grow not a flower that can compare with the +laurels which fame places on the brow of the conqueror. It is well +for me that I am ten years your senior, else I should have been +obliged to come behind you, Eugene, and pick up your cast-off +leaves." + +"The Elector of Bavaria is not a man so easily set aside," was +Eugene's reply. + +"And yet efforts are continually being made to set him aside," cried +the elector, hastily. + +"Who could be so presuming as to lay his sacrilegious hand upon the +well-earned laurels of a warrior so distinguished as your highness?" + +"Who? You know quite as well as I, that it is the Duke of Lorraine." + +"Ah!" exclaimed Eugene, with enthusiasm, "who can compete with him? +He is the greatest man of the age. As learned as he is brave; as +prudent as he is resolute; a wise statesman, an unrivalled general; +equally distinguished in the cabinet and the field. How fortunate I +have been in having him for my master in the art of war!" + +"You are modest," said the elector, derisively. "As for me, I have +no ambition to follow any master in the art of war. I wish to carve +out my own plans and schemes, and I am weary of being subject to the +will of the Duke of Lorraine." + +"He is commander-in-chief of the army," urged Eugene. "No army can +be without a head, to which all its members must be subordinate." + +"But why must that head be Charles of Lorraine, pray?" + +"You surely would not dream of supplanting HIM!" cried Eugene. + +"Yes, I would; and I have determined to submit to his dictation no +longer. If I cannot have a command independent of the Duke of +Lorraine, I shall withdraw my troops, remain in Bavaria, and leave +my father-in-law to fight his own battles with the Turks." + +"You will do no such thing," said Eugene, laying his hand upon the +prince's shoulder, and looking anxiously into his face. "You will +not endanger the great cause for which we have fought together by +the interference of petty personal jealousies. No, Max Emmanuel, you +are too magnanimous to sacrifice the interests of Christendom to +such considerations. Moreover, you have gained too much renown as a +general, to be overshadowed by the reputation of any man." + +"I do not know THAT. I only know that the Duke of Lorraine is in my +way, and that for the future he must stand aside, or I resign my +commission in the imperial army. But these are matters of future +discussion. We will postpone this altercation until the opening of +our next campaign. Meanwhile--do you know what brought me hither +this morning? I come to snatch you away from cold contemplation, and +introduce you to society." + +"I have no taste for society," replied Eugene, shrinking from the +very thought. "I love solitude; and mine is peopled with delicious +visions of the past, as well as glorious aspirations for the +future." + +"Of what nature are your aspirations? They point to military +distinction, I hope. Do they not?" + +"Yes; and I trust that I shall attain it honorably. Fate will assign +me my place; the rest remains for me to do. I have too much to +learn, to mingle with the world." + +"Man learns not only through the study of books, but through that of +human nature," exclaimed Max Emmanuel; "and you need never hope for +greatness unless you gain knowledge of the world. I have come to +entice you away, and I will not be refused." + +"Whither would you entice me?" asked Eugene, smiling. + +"To the paradise of pleasure and of lovely women--to Venice!" + +Eugene started, and a glow overspread his pale face. "To Venice!" +echoed he. "To Venice!" + +"Ay, prince--to Venice," repeated Max Emmanuel. "To live over the +'Arabian Nights,' by joining the great carnival." + +"I have heard that Venice is the seat of all elegance and +refinement, and that no man who has not graduated in its school of +gallantry is considered perfect in worldly accomplishments." + +"Then you perceive that you, who are so ambitious, must go with me +to Venice to receive your diploma as a gallant. My heart beats with +joyful impatience as I think of the delights that await us. The +carnival is to be unusually brilliant this year. The Prince of +Hanover, the Margraves of Baireuth and of Baden, the brave +commander-in-chief of the republican armies, Morosini, and Admirals +Molino and Delphini, are all to be there. Morosini himself has +written me an invitation to the carnival, and you must accompany +me." + +"No, your highness," replied Eugene, seriously. "I have not been +invited; there is therefore no reason why I should go." + +"But if I tell you that I will consider it as a proof of your +friendship," persisted the elector, "then I hope you will no longer +refuse me. Indeed, you would do me the greatest favor." + +"How could it possibly be a favor?" asked Eugene. + +"I will tell you how. _I_ am impulsive and easily led away: YOUR +principles are firm as a rock. I have known you for three years, and +have closely observed your character, Eugene. You are sensible, +honorable, and independent; you are reserved, yet sincere--brave, +yet discreet. You are more than all this--you are an honest man, +rejoicing in the fame of others, and never blind to worth because of +envy or longing for notoriety." + +"My dear, dear friend," interrupted Eugene, "you overrate me beyond- +-" + +"No, I do not overrate you," was the elector's reply. "I appreciate +you--that is all; and I want you for a counsellor. You know how a +reigning prince is surrounded by flatterers; how his follies are +heralded to the world as virtues; and, above all, you know how many +snares are spread for such a gilded butterfly by artful women, who +long, not only for his heart, but for his gold; above all, when he +calls himself a prince, and is the son-in-law of an emperor." + +"You have a poor opinion of women," smiled Eugene. + +"They have given me no reason to think well of them. I know the +whole sex to be fickle, coquettish, and heartless; and yet I am +forever being led astray by their siren voices. And when the wicked +enchantresses smile and swear that they love me, I am ravished-- +albeit, I know that every word they utter is a lie." + +"You mean when they smiled and swore, I presume," said Eugene; "for +such delusions must have ended with your marriage. The husband of +the beautiful Archduchess Antonia need not fear the wiles of Phryne +or Lais." + +"Pardon me," replied the elector, with a woe-begone expression of +countenance, "they have become doubly dangerous, since they are +forbidden fruit. I never was intended to be a model of conjugal +fidelity, and my heart beats fearfully when I think of the starry +eyes, the raven hair, the pearly cheeks of the fair women of Venice! +I have very little confidence in my own valor, if I have to meet +them single-handed. Do, Eugene, come with me; let us be companions- +in-pleasure as we have been companions-in-arms. I depend upon you to +fortify my virtue in the hour of need." + +"Your true and loving friend I am and will be ever," replied Eugene; +"but do not ask me to go to Venice. I am too poor to go thither in +such distinguished companionship." + +"It is understood that you go as my guest; there can then be no +question of riches or poverty. I have engaged a palace for me and my +suite; my household are already there, and you have nothing to do +but to make yourself at home. Every thing I possess is at my +friend's disposal." + +"Which means that your highness considers me as one of your suite, +and perchance intends to supply me with pocket-money?" said Eugene, +proudly. + +"Nay, Eugene," replied the elector, offering his hand, "I meant +nothing that could offend my friend. I meant that he should share +with me as a brother whatever I possess." + +"There are two things, your highness, which no man can share with +another. One is his mistress, the other his honor. I am poor, and +therefore I cannot share with you your advantages of fortune; I am +obscure, and scorn to shine by the borrowed light of your highness's +exalted station. Sooner would I dwell in a cottage than in a palace +at another man's expense." + +Max Emmanuel had at first regarded Eugene with unmixed astonishment; +then the expression of his handsome face had changed to one of +admiration and tenderness. As the prince ceased, the elector rose +from his chair, and took both his friend's hands. + +"You are, indeed, one of Nature's noblemen," continued he, +affectionately. "Your view of this matter is, as usual, exceptional; +but it is the highest view that can be taken of such an offer; and, +although I am the loser thereby, I honor you for the refusal. I must +then renounce the pleasure I had promised myself of having your +company to Venice," added the elector, with a sigh. + +"Perhaps not," returned Eugene. "Any thing on earth I would do to +prove you my friendship; and I may go to Venice, not for the sake of +its beautiful women, but for the pleasure of bearing you company." + +"Thank you for that 'may,' Eugene. But let your decision be a speedy +one, I implore you; for I long to quit a court that bristles with so +many tiresome Spanish formalities. I would be glad to start to- +morrow, but I will wait for you. How long must I wait?" + +"Only until my secretary returns from Turin. I expect him to-day." + +"So much the better. Let me hear from you as soon as possible." + +"I will." + +The elector rose and took his leave, while Eugene returned to his +escritoire, and tried to resume his occupation. But his thoughts +were straying to Venice, and his hand lay listless on the paper. + +"To Venice!" murmured he. "To Venice--perchance to Laura!" + +As he pronounced her name, he broke into one wild ejaculation of +joy. + +"See her? Oh, yes!" cried he, passionately. "Gaze into my Laura's +eyes, I must--should the sight cost me my life! But--no!" faltered +he, suddenly. "I must not see her. She has forgotten me; and perhaps +at this very hour, when my heart throbs to bursting at the thought +of meeting her again, she jests with her husband at the silly +episode of her foolish fancy for me! Perhaps she rejoices at her +escape from alliance with the disgraced family of the De Soissons, +and blesses Heaven for--peace, doubting heart! I WILL believe--I +WILL hope--Laura, my Laura.--Ah, Conrad, are you here at last?" + +And Eugene, springing from his seat, clasped Conrad's hands within +his own. + +"Yes, your highness," replied Conrad, his face beaming with joy to +see his dear lord. "I have just alighted, and must apologize for my +dusty garb. I did not stop to change my dress." + +"You were right--quite right, and it needs no apology. Tell me the +result of your mission. Did you speak with the Duke of Savoy in +person?" + +"Yes, your highness, he was so kind as to grant me two audiences. I +related to him the entire history of your embarrassments, and their +cause. I told him of the sequestration of your estates by the +covetous King of France, and of the debts which this act of +injustice had compelled you to leave in Paris. He asked me what was +your pay as colonel in the Austrian service. I told him that the pay +was fluctuating as to amount, and uncertain as to receipt; but at +its maximum it might reach the sum of ten thousand florins a year. +Upon this, he said: 'Ten thousand florins a year to maintain a +prince of the house of Savoy, and one of the most distinguished +officers in the imperial service! Well may he be straitened in +purse!' Then I took courage, and told his highness that you could +not possibly live on less than fifteen thousand florins, and that +you appealed to him to assist you in maintaining the dignity of the +ducal house of Savoy, and saving its representatives from absolute +penury." + +"And what was the answer?" + +"He requested me to return the next day, which I did. I was most +kindly received, and his highness said that he hoped he had found a +remedy for your embarrassments, my lord. Although forbidden by the +laws of Savoy to pay a salary to any man not in the service of his +own dukedom, he would be happy to assist your highness from his own +privy purse, until he had arranged matters in a manner more +satisfactory and more secure. Prince Antony of Savoy, who is in a +dying condition, possesses the revenues of five abbeys, which his +highness of Savoy hopes to have transferred to your highness, thus +securing to you a fixed and certain income, not subject to the +sequestrations of the King of France." + +"He wrote no letter?" + +"No, your highness. The duke gave me four rouleaux of three hundred +ducats each for present need, and bade me take them as his answer to +your highness's letter." + +Eugene smiled. "Therein I recognize my prudent cousin, who dares not +trust his promises to writing. But I thank him for his golden +answer. How much did you say you brought, Conrad?" + +"Twelve hundred ducats, my lord, which will cover all expenses until +the opening of the spring campaign, when your pay is due." + +"But, my dear Conrad, you forget that we have debts to pay. And, by- +the-by, what news do you bring from Paris?" + +"Your highness's creditors there were so astounded at the prospect +of being paid, that I almost regretted to be obliged to disturb the +tranquillity with which they had accepted their losses. They were so +grateful that they bade me say they would be perfectly satisfied +with yearly instalments of any amount your highness would be pleased +to pay. So I made arrangements to close your whole indebtedness at +the end of three years." + +"A long time for those poor fellows to wait for their dues," said +Eugene, shaking his head. "Conrad, if we obtain the transfer of +those abbey revenues, the first sum we receive therefrom goes to my +creditors in Paris. Remember that." [Footnote: The payment of Prince +Eugene's debts was regarded as something ultra-honorable by the +people of Paris, and the Duchess Elizabeth-Charlotte speaks of it in +her letters as a noble action.--See "Letters of Elizabeth- +Charlotte."] + +"I shall be very sure to remember it, my lord; for it will be an +occasion of rejoicing to many an honest tradesman, each one of whom +will bless your highness's magnanimity." + +"Magnanimity! I call it bare justice!" said Eugene. "Give me the +memoranda." + +Conrad presented the package, which his lord opened, examining each +account until he had seen all. + +"I miss one account here which I would gladly pay," said he, with +some embarrassment. + +"The account of Monsieur Louis?" was Conrad's prompt reply. + +Eugene made a motion of assent, while Conrad continued: + +"My lord," said he, averting his eyes from the prince, "I went to +Monsieur Louis, as I did to your other creditors. He said that he +could not accept payment for decorations which had never been +completed. He would always hold sacred the remembrance of the day +when your highness fell insensible upon a heap of garlands that were +to have ornamented your reception-rooms, and he had been near to +lift you in his arms. He told me this with tears in his eyes, my +lord; pardon me if I have awakened painful reminiscences by the +recital; but he begged me to convey his message, and I felt bound to +comply." + +For some moments Eugene kept silence. After a pause, during which +Conrad dared not meet his eye, the prince replied: + +"Conrad," said he, "if I should ever afford to have a princely +retinue again, I will take Monsieur Louis into my service. At all +events, if I ever build a house, he shall decorate it, and shall be +well paid for his work.--And now to other things. Did you see her +highness the Duchess of Orleans?" + +"Yes, my lord. Her highness was walking in the park when your letter +was handed to her. She sent for me at once, and received me in the +little pavilion." + +"The pavilion! The pavilion! Go on." + +"She inquired minutely as to your health, prospects, and condition. +She asked if you were cheerful. I told her that you were always in +high spirits on the day of a battle. Then she would have me relate +to her the dangers you had incurred, spoke of her grief at hearing +you had been wounded, and seemed never to tire of your praises. Then +she sat down and begged me to wait until she wrote you a short +letter. Here it is, my lord." + +Eugene broke the seal; then, as if ashamed of the emotion that was +welling up from his agitated heart, he looked at Conrad, who +understood the appeal, and withdrew. + +As the letter was opened, a small bit of paper fell from its folds, +and fluttered to the carpet. Eugene, without observing it, began to +read his letter. It ran thus: + +"I cannot refrain from sending you a greeting in my own hand. My +dear prince, I hold you in affectionate remembrance; let me hope +that you have not forgotten me. Every thing remains here as when you +left; false, frivolous, and, to me, as antagonistic as of erst. I +have never been happy since SHE was so cruelly forced away from my +protection. I have had news of her. My daughter, who lives in Turin, +made a visit to Venice lately. I had begged her, if possible, to +give me tidings of----, and to give her my hearty love. They met for +a moment, when she pressed into my daughter's hand a little note for +me. I opened it, but it contained only the slip of paper I enclose. +Be assured of my sincere and constant friendship. ELIZABETH- +CHARLOTTE." + +"The paper! the paper!" exclaimed Eugene, as, with trembling hands, +he opened the sheet, and found nothing within. "Great God! the +duchess has forgotten to enclose it, and I must away to Paris, this +night, this very--" + +Just then his eyes rested on the carpet, and there at his feet lay +the treasured paper. It contained these words: + +"I am a prisoner--watched day and night. Have you, too, forgotten +me? I cannot believe it; and, after three long years of silence and +of suffering, I still await your coming." + +As Eugene read these tender words, he sank on his knees, and pressed +the paper to his lips. "Forgive me, my Laura," murmured he. "I was +weak in faith, and unworthy of you. But I will love you all the more +for my injustice. I come! I come!" + +He rose from his knees, calling for Conrad, who was in the +antechamber, awaiting a summons to return. Great was his +astonishment when he beheld Eugene advancing toward him, his lips +parted with a happy smile, his eyes beaming with animation, his +whole bearing transformed. What could it mean? + +"Conrad," cried he, and his very voice had a joyful peal, like the +chime of marriage-bells--"Conrad, we must leave Vienna this evening. +Let everything be in readiness. If we have not gold enough with our +cousin's ducats, borrow more; but be ready to go with me at once. +Stay--I had almost forgotten. Go to the palace; see the chamberlain +of his highness the Elector of Bavaria, and tell him to announce to +the prince that Prince Eugene of Savoy leaves this evening for +Venice. That is all. Make haste, Conrad! Away with you, and fly back +as soon as possible, for I tell you that we must be on our road +before night!" + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE MARQUIS STROZZI. + + +The Marquis Strozzi was alone in his cabinet, pacing the room with +clouded brow and compressed lips. Now and then he stopped before the +window which opened on a balcony overlooking the Canale Grande; and +the sight of the gayly-decked gondolas that shot hither and thither +with their freight of youth and youthful glee, seemed to intensify +his discontent, and rouse him to positive anger. + +"They are shouting their stupid welcome to these foreign princes," +muttered he, "and presently she will be attracted by the sound, and +seek to know what it means. My God!" ejaculated he, striking his +forehead, "this love is the curse of my life. It will drive me to +madness, and yet--and yet I cannot overcome it. To work, then, to +work! I must increase my number of spies." + +In the centre of the room, on a table of Florentine mosaic, lay a +little golden hell, fashioned by the master-hand of Benvenuto +Cellini. The marquis rang it gently, and, before he had replaced it, +a secret door in the wall slided back, giving entrance to a masked +figure, enveloped in a long black cloak. + +Strozzi surveyed him for a moment, then, throwing himself upon a +divan, he was lost in contemplation of the frescoes by Paul +Veronese, which decorated the ceiling of this luxurious apartment. +Meanwhile the mask had carefully closed the door, and stood +respectfully silent. + +Finally Strozzi condescended to speak. "Take off your mask." The man +obeyed, and Strozzi gazed upon a sinister face, disfigured by a +long, purple scar, which reached from the left temple to the chin. + +"Do you know," continued the marquis, "that if you were to appear +unmasked in the market-place, every child in Venice would recognize +you, Antonio?" + +"Yes, excellenza," was the humble reply. + +"How did you come by that scar?" sneered the patrician. + +Antonio moved impatiently, and glanced imploringly at the marquis. + +The latter merely repeated the question. + +Antonio heaved a sigh, and his head dropped to his breast. + +"It was inflicted by my father," murmured he, almost inaudibly. + +"Speak louder," said Strozzi. "Why did he inflict it?" + +The man's eyes shot fire, but he dared not remonstrate. His glance +fell before the cold glitter of Strozzi's black orbs, as he muttered +in reply, "I was trying to get at his money, when he rushed in upon +me, and gashed my face with a dagger." + +"Upon which YOU plunged your poniard into his throat, and made an +end of your respectable parent on the spot." + +"Excellenza," cried Antonio, in tones of deep emotion, "I had but +raised it to ward off the blow, when my father rushed upon it, and +so met his fate." + +The marquis laughed. "Rushed upon it--did he? Of course you are an +innocent lamb of a parricide, and the judgment passed upon your act +was a most iniquitous one. It was doubtless a shame that you were +publicly maimed, and then led back to prison to await your +execution. Possibly you may remember the night that followed your +punishment, when a priest entered your cell, and, on condition that +you paid him implicit obedience for five years, offered you life and +the release of your paramour--the woman for whose sake you murdered +your father." + +"Poor Caterina!" sighed Antonio. "To think that, for the life of a +babe not a day old, she should be imprisoned for five years!" + +"Why, then, did she murder it?" asked Strozzi. + +"To save herself from the vengeance of her husband, excellenza. But +I--I have kept my word, and have served you faithfully, have I not?" + +"Yes--you are a tolerably submissive hound," said Strozzi, +scornfully. "How long before your bondage ceases?" + +"Excellenza, it was in January, 1683, that you appeared to me in the +dress of a priest, and saved me from the headsman. I owe you still +one year, one month, and twenty-six days of service." + +"You are accurate--very; but mark me! If you fail in the least +point, the contract is null. I neither release your Caterina nor +you." + +"I am your slave, and have no will but yours." + +"'Tis well. What have you learned to-day?" + +"As regards the gracious marchioness, but little. She drew, played +on her harp, and embroidered, as usual, and wrote a letter, which +she committed to the hands of that demoiselle Victorine. who gives +out that she was sent to her ladyship by her friend the Duchess of +Orleans." + +"I know--I know. Where is the letter?" + +"Here it is, excellenza." + +The marquis examined the seal, to see that it had not been tampered +with by his underlings. "Any thing further?" added he, raising his +eyes to Antonio's woe-begone face. + +"Very little, excellenza. The signora went twice to the balcony to +look at the gondolas, Mademoiselle Victorine watching her from +within. The second time she went, she clasped her hands all of a +sudden, blushed, and leaned so far over the balustrade that +mademoiselle made sure that there was something unusual on the +canal. Pretending that she had some question to ask as to the +signora's dress, she followed, but the signora was so absorbed in +what she saw, that she did not remark her tire-woman." + +"What was it?" asked Strozzi, breathless with expectation. + +"The Canale Grande was so crowded with splendid gondolas that it was +hard to say what had attracted the marchioness's attention. But +after a moment or two of waiting, Mademoiselle Victorine saw that +one of the gondolas was stationary just opposite to the palace." + +"Whose gondola? Who was in it?" cried Strozzi, imperiously. + +"Besides the gondoliers, the gondola contained a young man, so +simply dressed, that he could not have been anybody of distinction, +for he wore a brown doublet with plain buttons. Mademoiselle +concluded that the lying-to of the gondola was accidental; he was +too insignificant to have interested the signora." + +"What do YOU think?" asked Strozzi, eying him searchingly. + +"I think it was premeditated, but I will soon find out." + +"What steps have you take a to--? But no!--go on--go on. What took +place afterward?" + +"Nothing, excellenza; for after this gondola, came that of my lord +the marquis, and the signora retreated hastily to her room." + +"Ah!--Now tell me what you have done?" + +"I posted one of my men, with his gondola, under the balcony. He is +to remain there, watching every gondola that passes both by day and +by night. I have stationed men at every entrance of the palace, who +are to give admittance to all who present themselves; but who are to +require the names and business of all who leave. Even those who are +in your excellency's pay are to be searched--for example, +Mademoiselle Victorine." + +"You are a well-trained dog," laughed Strozzi. "I really believe +that I will have to set you and your child-murderess free, some of +these days. Go, now, and bring me word who was in that gondola." + +Antonio resumed his mask, and disappeared through the door, which +closed, and left no trace upon the wall. + +At this moment, there was a knock at the door of the antechamber, +and a woman's voice was heard, asking admission. + +"Lucretia!" said Strozzi, rising and undoing the bolt. + +A lady entered the room. She was enveloped from head to foot in a +veil of costly Venetian guipure, fastened to the braids of her +raven-black hair by two large brilliants. Her face had been +concealed by the veil, but, as the door closed behind her, she threw +it back, and exposed to view a countenance of remarkable beauty. + +"Look at me, Ottario," said she. "Tell me candidly--am I handsome +enough to bewitch our guests, those princely bears of Germany?" + +The marquis surveyed her critically, just as a painter might examine +a fine picture. He looked at her pale, pearly skin, her scarlet +lips, her delicately-chiselled nose, and her low, wide forehead, so +like that of the Capitoline Venus. Then he gazed into her dark, +flashing eyes, at once so languishing and so passionate, with the +beautiful arched eyebrows that gave such finish to their splendor. +The black hair, like a frame of ebony, surrounded the face, and +brought out the graceful oval of her cheeks. Strozzi then followed +the luxurious outline of her well-developed bust, prisoned in a +bodice of blue velvet, which rested on her white shoulders like an +azure cloud upon the bosom of a snowy mountain-peak. The skirt, also +of blue velvet, was short in front, that it might not conceal a +fairy foot encased in blue satin slippers; but, behind, it fell in a +long train, whose rich folds lay on the carpet, perfecting the grace +and elegance of the beautiful living picture. + +"You are certainly charming," said Strozzi, at last--"quite charming +enough to bewitch a dozen German princes, supposing your husband to +offer no impediment to the spell." + +Here she drew out a fan of coral and gold. and, opening it with a +snap, began to fan herself. "Caro amico," said she, "you speak as if +you were ignorant of the character and virtues of Count Canossa, +when you yourself are the very tradesman that sold me to him." + +"You use very strong expressions, Lucretia." + +"Do I? Not stronger than are warranted by the transaction. You sold +me to him to rid yourself of your mother's dying charge, and you did +it, although you knew him to be a man so depraved that nothing on +earth was sacred in his eyes--not even the virtue of his wife." + +"Why, that," replied the marquis significantly, "is so much the +better for you." + +"You mean that otherwise he would not have married me?" asked +Lucretia. + +"I mean that he would have examined more carefully into the truth of +the rumor which accused the sister of the Strozzi of having a +liaison with a gondolier; of having fled with him to Padua, and of +having been caught and brought hack to Venice, while her patrician +lover was sent to the galleys." + +"I wish he had done so," was the reply, "and then you would have +been compelled to save my honor by allowing me to marry Giuseppe. Do +not laugh so heartlessly, Ottario. I loved him not only because of +his manly beauty, but because he was honorable and worthy of a +woman's purest love. His only fault was that of having loved me. You +sent him to the galleys; and I--I, too, have been condemned to the +galleys, and chained to a felon for life. Well I know that he +covered my indiscretions with his name for a stipulated sum, which +my generous brother paid to save my reputation, and he gambled it +away before the expiration of a year. Our palace resembles a ship +that has been visited by corsairs. It contains nothing but a pile of +lumber, for which not even a pawnbroker would give a bajocco. Were +it not for your alms, the Countess Canossa would starve." + +"Alms, call you my gifts?" said Strozzi, casting his eyes over her +rich toilet. "They dress you up handsomely, methinks." + +"But there they end," objected the countess. "I have neither lackeys +nor diamonds, neither gondola nor gondolier, and my saloons are so +shabby that I can receive no company at home. You give me as little +as decency permits." + +"If I gave you diamonds, our dear Canossa would steal them; and if I +furnished your parlors, he would gamble away the furniture in a +night." + +"You know the worth of the husband you selected for your mother's +child, and doubtless you had your own private reasons for +sacrificing her to such a man. His worthlessness, too, furnishes an +excuse for your niggardly allowance to me. The very dresses I wear +are the price of dishonor. I often feel ashamed of the part I play +toward your wife, Ottario, and I know not but some day I may throw +myself at her feet and acknowledge my treachery." + +"If you do, your acknowledgment will be forthwith conveyed to my +ears, and the doors of the palace Strozzi will be closed to you +forever." + +"I know it," sighed the countess; "and the fear of this expulsion +binds me to your wicked will." + +"Never mind what binds you, so you serve with fidelity; and, above +all things, I charge you to be watchful during the coming week. I +will not be able to keep my wife much longer from participation in +the social pleasures of Venice." + +"Why not? You have spread a report of her insanity, and nobody will +ever give a thought to her absence." + +"But she may desire to witness the carnival herself." + +"How so? when she has invariably refused to be presented to any one +as your wife?" + +"She might change her mind, and claim her right to be presented to +the doge and dogessa. She may wish to take part in the carnival, +because of a fancy for some foreign prince!--Great God! when I think +of such a possibility," cried Strozzi, interrupting himself, "I feel +as though I were going mad for jealousy!" + +"Poor fellow!" said Lucretia, "I pity you. You live with a perpetual +dagger in your heart." + +"And it will kill me unless you are loyal to your office, Lucretia. +Promise me to watch this woman closely. Listen to me.--She may wish +to go out, and if she does, it is quite natural that you, as well as +I, should accompany her. Swear that wheresoever you may be together, +you will not for one moment quit her side, or take your eyes off her +person." + +"For what do you take me. pray? Do you suppose that I attend the +carnival to yawn at the side of your wife? or do you imagine that +such eyes as mine were made for nothing better than to stare at a +woman?" + +"You will have as much opportunity as you can desire to use them to +your own advantage, Lucretia, for Laura will not go out often." + +"What will you give me in return for my self-denial?" + +"If the carnival passes off without misadventure, I will buy you a +splendid gondola, with two gondoliers dressed all in silk." + +"Give them to me now, and if I neglect my duty, then take them back. +But do--do give them to me to use during the carnival." + +"Very well, you shall have them to-morrow morning. And you swear +that my wife shall neither give her hand nor speak to any man in +Venice, and that you will report her very glances to me?" + +"I swear to guard your golden apple like a good dragon. And to- +morrow I shall join the great regatta," added she, clapping her +hands like a petted child. "Now, Ottario, listen to me--I have just +come from your wife's apartments with news for you." + +"What is it?" gasped Strozzi, clutching at the arms of his chair. + +"The beautiful Laura is no longer the cold vestal that came to +Venice as your wife. Her eye is bright, her cheek is flushed, her +lips are parted with womanly longing. I congratulate you upon the +change. Your love has at last awakened a corresponding sentiment, +and now is your time to woo and win. I came hither to tell you this +and make you happy. Do not forget my gondola! Addio, caro amico, +addio!" + +She kissed the tips of her rosy fingers, and then, coquettishly +drawing her veil around her shoulders, she bounded off like a +gazelle, through the corridors of the palace. + +"I wish I had your frivolity," murmured her brother, sinking back +upon the cushions of his divan. "I would that love, for me, were but +the episode of the hour!--But hark!--twelve o'clock--the hour for my +visit to her who is at once the blessing and the curse of my life!" + +He was about to quit the room, when he heard a rustling at the +secret door. "Come in," said he, and the mask re-entered the room. + +"You, Antonio! Already returned?" asked Strozzi, surprised. + +"Yes, excellenza. I know the name of the young man in the gondola +which stopped before the palace this morning." + +Strozzi was too much agitated to speak. He signed to the man to go +on. + +"It was Prince Eugene of Savoy. He arrived in Venice yesterday, and +has taken the little Palazzo Capello, next to the Palazzo +Manfredino, which since this morning is occupied by the Elector of +Bavaria." + +Strozzi was now as pale as a corpse; his brow darkened, and his +limbs trembled so that he was obliged to sit down. He mastered his +agitation as well as he could, and resumed his questionings. + +"You are quite sure, Antonio?" + +"Perfectly sure, excellenza." + +"And yet the Prince of Savoy is not among the invited?" + +"He came alone. The Marquis de Villars had rented the Palazzo +Capello for himself, but he has given it up to Prince Eugene, and +has accepted the invitation of the elector to occupy a suite on the +ground floor of the Palazzo Manfredino. The Prince of Savoy and the +elector are intimate friends; for no sooner had the former arrived, +than he left his address at the Palazzo Manfredino; and the latter +had not been here an hour before he was at the hotel of the White +Lion, where Prince Eugene had taken lodgings. By noon, the elector +had obtained the relinquishment of the Palazzo Capello for the +prince, and the Marquis de Villars had taken up his quarters at the +Palazzo Manfredino." + +"From whom did you learn all these details?" + +"From one of the gondoliers that rowed Prince Eugene this morning, +my half-brother Beppo. 'Whither shall I row you, excellenza?' asked +he. 'Anywhere,' said the prince, in excellent Italian, 'but take me +to see your famous palaces.' 'The Foscari, for example?' inquired +Beppo. 'Yes, and the Strozzi, which, I am told, is one of the finest +residences in Venice.' So they rowed to the Strozzi palace, and +there the prince bade Beppo stop for ever so long a time. The prince +will spend the entire carnival here. He has bought a gondola, and +his secretary is on the lookout for gondoliers, an Italian valet, +and a commissionnaire." + +"You will offer yourself as his commissionnaire, then," said +Strozzi, with a sinister scowl. "And be sure you get the place--do +you hear?" + +Antonio bowed, and the marquis continued: "In fifteen minutes return +to me, and meanwhile--begone!" + +Without a word of reply Antonio disappeared; Strozzi pressed down +into the wall the spring by which the door was opened, and then, +taking up his plumed hat, betook himself to the apartments of his +wife. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +LAURA. + + +She lay half buried in the yellow satin cushions of a soft ottoman. +Her large, dreamy eyes were fixed upon the ceiling, whereon groups +of flying Cupids were pelting one another with roses. Her lips were +parted with a happy smile, her fair brow was serene and cloudless, +and her cheeks were tinged with a faint flush like that of the rose +that is kissed by the first beams of the rising sun. She was the +same beautiful, spirited, hopeful being that had lived and loved in +the pavilion of the Palais Royal. + +She lay dreaming and smiling, smiling and dreaming, when the velvet +portiere that opened into her boudoir was drawn aside to give +entrance to the Marquis de Strozzi. Yesterday his visit had been a +martyrdom to Laura; to-day she was indifferent to it: she was far +beyond its influence, nor did she acknowledge it by so much as a +glance. + +But when he stood directly before her, and would have stooped to +kiss her hand, she withdrew it with a gesture of aversion, although +her countenance yet beamed with happiness. + +The marquis saw that she was excited, and he frowned. "You seem in +good spirits to-day, Marchioness de Strozzi," said he, moodily. + +"I am indeed in good spirits when I can endure your presence with +tranquillity, nor start at the sound of a title which is not mine. I +am not the Marchioness de Strozzi." + +"I do not know how that can be, when you are indubitably my wedded +wife." + +"No, no, I am no wedded wife of yours, nor am I bound to you by the +lying vows that gave me into your keeping. For three years, I have +endeavored to make you understand this, but you are singularly +obtuse." + +"I can never be made to understand that the woman who, in presence +of her father and brother, promised to be unto me a faithful wife, +is not my true and lawful spouse." + +"My vows were not for you; they were made to another." + +"Nay--I can show your signature to the contract, and the pope +himself cannot undo our marriage." + +"Our marriage!" exclaimed she, haughtily. "There is no marriage +between you and me, and be assured that there never will be. I would +sooner die than become your wife. Hear me," continued she, +passionately. "If I thought that I was indeed bound to you, I would- +-ay! I believe that I would commit the crime of suicide. Could you +convince me that the hand which received your accursed ring was +indeed yours, I would gather up all my strength of hate to strike it +off, and dash it in your face." + +"Great God! And I love you to madness!" cried he, throwing himself +on his knees, and clasping her hands so convulsively that all her +writhings could not release them. "I love you, I love you, and am +doomed to love you, albeit your cruelty is driving me to madness!" + +"'Tis the punishment of your crime toward me," answered Laura, +coldly. "You have sinned against love, and God has punished you +through love that shall be forever unrequited. Accept your fate, and +be resigned." + +"I cannot do it, Laura, I cannot do it! My love for you is like a +deadly poison that sets my blood on fire. It must be requited, or I +shall die a maniac. Oh, have pity! have pity!" + +"Pity for YOU!" said she, contemptuously. + +"Look at me," cried he, imploringly. "For once in your life, Laura, +turn your eyes upon me without hate, and see how love has corroded +my very life. Three years ago I was a happy man--to-day I am not yet +thirty, and my hair is gray, and my face wrinkled. Life has no +charms for me, and yet I am too cowardly to die, and leave you to +another. Oh, Laura, look at me, and be merciful! Deliver me from the +hell in which your hatred has plunged me!" + +"Nay--your sufferings are the purgatorial fires whereby you may +perchance be purified from the guilt of your treachery toward an +innocent girl. Marquis de Strozzi, now look at me. Am I, too, +changed since three years of misery unspeakable?" + +"No," sighed he, "you are as beautiful and youthful as you were when +first I saw you in Paris." + +"You are right," replied she. "I am altered neither in appearance +nor in heart. And do you know why? It is because Hope, bright-eyed +Hope, has sat day and night by my side, whispering sweet words of +encouragement, bidding me be firm; imparting to me strength to +endure the present, and to enjoy the future. I feel it in my soul +that he will come sooner or later to liberate me from my bondage." + +"If he ever comes, I will murder him!" hissed Strozzi. + +"You will try, but you will not succeed. God protects him, and he +wears the invisible armor of my love to shield him from your hate." + +"Very well. Pray for him if you will; but, as sure as I live, I will +find his vulnerable heel!" + +As he said this, Laura turned pale, and Strozzi remarked her pallor +with a malicious pleasure. "Ah! your faith is not strong! My +poisoned arrows will find the flaw, and upon him shall be avenged +every pang that you have inflicted upon my bleeding heart. You know +that he is here--I see it by your altered demeanor." + +"Yes, yes, I know it." + +"Be not too overjoyed thereat: for the daggers of my bravoes are +keen and sure, and the lagoons are deep, and give not up their +dead." + +"You would not sully your soul with secret murder!" exclaimed Laura, +shuddering. + +"That would I. He is my rival, and he shall be put out of my way-- +that is all." + +"No--that is not all. You dare not murder a prince, a hero upon whom +the eyes of all Europe are fixed in admiration. Such a man as he is +not to be put out of the way with impunity. Were you to murder +Eugene of Savoy, know that I myself would be your accuser; and your +uncle, the doge himself, is not powerful enough to save your head +from the executioner." + +"What care I for the executioner's axe, who for three years have +been stretched upon the rack of your aversion? So I make sure that +he has gone before me--so I have the sweet revenge of sending him to +Tartarus, what care I how soon I follow him thither?" + +"You are a monster!" exclaimed Laura. + +"I am the work of your hands," replied Strozzi. "If I am a monster, +my perdition he upon your head. And now, mark me! I came hither to +have one decisive interview with you. Prince Eugene is in Venice; +you are aware of it, for you sent him a greeting from your balcony +this morning, as his gondola lay in front of the palace." + +"Your spies are vigilant," said she. + +"Yes, they serve me well, and they are ubiquitous. They mark each +smile and report every tear that tells of silent joy or grief upon +your face. They are with you when you pray; they watch you while you +sleep, so that your very dreams are not your own. Now you are my +wife, howsoever you may protest against the name, and you shall not +sully that name, be assured of it. If, by word or look, by movement +or sign, you allow Prince Eugene to suppose that you recognize him, +he shall expiate your disobedience to my will by death. I am afraid +that you do not believe me; you think that I make a mere threat to +terrify you into submission. Is it so?" + +"Yes, marquis, it is so. You are treacherous and cruel; but, abhor +you as I may for the misery you have inflicted upon me, I do believe +you to be one degree above a bravo. You are not a coward--you would +not consent to be an assassin." + +"You flatter your keeper, that you may disarm him." + +"No; I speak the truth. I hate, but do not despise you to such a +degree as to believe your threats." + +"So much the worse for you. I would enjoy the privilege of plunging +a dagger into his heart with my own hands; but I must deny myself +that satisfaction. It is safer to employ a bravo, and to pay him. +You know how dearly I loved my mother, do you not?" + +"Yes, I have heard of it from your sister." + +"Well--that portrait hanging over your divan is my mother's. +Doubtless, had you known it, you would have banished it from the +walls of your boudoir for hatred of her son." + +"I have all along known that it is your mother. But I loved my own +too deeply ever to offer disrespect to yours. I have often raised my +imploring eyes to that mild face, and have poured out to her spirit +my plaint of her son's cruelty." + +"Raise your eyes to it again, then, and inform her that it rests +with you whether her son shall become an assassin or not. For, by my +mother's soul, I swear that, if ever there comes to pass the most +trifling interchange of thought between Prince Eugene and the +Marchioness de Strozzi, he shall die--die, if I have to expiate the +deed upon the scaffold! Do you believe me now?" + +"I must believe you," returned Laura, sickening with disgust. "But +while conviction despoils you of the last claim I supposed you to +possess to the name of a man, it does not terrify me for the life +you would destroy. God, who has protected him on the field of +battle--God, who has created him 'to give the world assurance of a +man'--God, who is the shield of the pure, the brave, the virtuous, +will not suffer the Prince of Savoy to fall under the dagger of your +hired bravi!" "Nous verrons.--And now, signora, let us speak of +other things. The carnival this year is to be of unusual splendor; a +number of foreigners of distinction have visited Venice to witness +it. Lucretia, without doubt, has apprised you of all this?" + +"She has." + +"So I presumed; for Lucretia is fond of gossip. She would gladly +induce you to go into society, knowing that a woman of your beauty +and extreme youth cannot appear in the world alone, and that she +would naturally be the person to accompany you. Would you like to +see the regatta?" + +This proposal terrified Laura, for she comprehended that he was in +earnest when he threatened Eugene's life. The marquis read her +thoughts, and replied to them. + +"I shall shun no occasion whatever that may justify me in keeping +the oath you heard me take a while ago. And, therefore, you are +welcome to appear at the regatta. The doge will be there in the +Bucentaur, attended by all the court. As you have refused to be +presented as my wife, you cannot take your proper place among the +ladies of rank. But it is not too late. If you wish, I can present +you to-day." + +"No--no," cried Laura, "I do not wish it." + +"Then perhaps you would like to go incognita. It will be many years +before another such regatta is seen in Venice." + +"True, I would like to see the sight," said the poor young victim. +And to herself she added: "I might perchance see HIM." + +"Be it so, then, signora; your wishes are my commands." + +"But I would like to see without being seen," added she. + +"Indeed!" exclaimed Strozzi, with a wicked sneer. "Then I will see +that your gondola is closely curtained. Will you allow me the honor +of accompanying you?" + +"As if I were free to refuse," said Laura, with quivering lip. + +"One thing more," said the marquis. "It is the custom for all who +join in the festivities of the carnival to appear in a costume of +some foregone century. May I commission my sister to select yours?" + +"I would like to select for myself." + +The marquis bowed his head. "As you please. The tradesmen of Venice +will be delighted at last to have a look at the beautiful wife of +the Strozzi." + +Laura shrank visibly. "I will not go," said she. "Let the Countess +Canossa select my costume. It matters little to me: but be so good +as to see that the gondola is well curtained." + +"I will not forget it," answered the marquis, as he bowed and left +the room. + +Laura's eyes followed him until he had crossed her whole suite, and +had closed the door behind him. Then, yielding to the bliss of being +left a few moments alone, she opened her arms, and, kneeling before +her prie-dieu, poured out her heart in prayer to Heaven for Eugene's +safety. Then, throwing herself again upon the divan, she began to +dream. She saw her gondola approaching his; she saw her lover--her +spouse, and made one rapid movement of her hand. His gondola touched +hers; she flung aside the curtains and leaped into the boat with +him. + +But as she dreamed, there floated over the water the sound of song. +This was no unusual sound on the Canale Grande, but the music was +not Italian; it was no languishing barcarolle, such as Venetian +lovers were wont to sing to their mistresses; the air was foreign-- +the words were French. She heard them distinctly; they were the +words of her own, dear, native language! + +"It is he!" cried she, springing out upon the balcony. + +Yes, it was he; he had called her with an old familiar air, and, +while he looked up in rapture, the music went on, for the singers +were in a gondola that followed. + +Laura was so wild with joy that she forgot the marquis, his spies, +and his threats. Snatching the first bouquet that presented itself, +she made an attempt to throw it to her lover. But she had not +calculated the distance, and it fell far short of its destination. + +"An evil omen," murmured she, and then she remembered the horrible +threat of the marquis. She gave one ejaculation of terror, and +bounded back into her boudoir. + +About fifteen minutes later, Strozzi entered the room. In his hand +he held a bouquet of beautiful roses, which he presented with mock +courtesy. + +"Signora, you were so unfortunate as to drop your bouquet in the +lagoon not long ago. The mermaids will be glad to receive so fair a +gift from so fair a hand. Allow me to replace it." + +"On the contrary, I must request you to take your roses away from my +boudoir. I do not like the odor of flowers, and I threw mine into +the water because their perfume oppressed me. I regret that you +should have taken so much useless trouble." + +"And I beg pardon for interrupting your reveries," said Strozzi, +with a sarcastic smile, as he bowed and retired with his bouquet. + +"Gracious Heaven, I was watched! Am I, then, given over to enemies, +and is there not one being here that I can trust?" + +At this moment a door opened, and a young girl entered the room. +"Victorine!" exclaimed Laura, joyfully, "come hither. God has sent +you to me to shield me from despair." + +The girl came smilingly forward, and, kneeling at her mistress's +side, looked affectionately at her, saying in Laura's own tongue: + +"What ails my dear mistress?" + +"Victorine," replied Laura, gazing earnestly into the maiden's eyes, +"Victorine, do you love me?" + +Victorine covered her hand with kisses, while she protested that she +loved her mistress with all her heart. "Dear lady," said she, "did I +not leave Paris for love of her whom her royal highness cherished as +a daughter? Was I not sent to you by the Duchess of Orleans, that +you might have one true friend among your troops of enemies? And now +that I had hoped to have proved to my dear mistress my devotion, she +asks if I love her!" + +"True, Victorine, I have no right to doubt your attachment. And +certainly I have proved that I trust you, by committing to your care +my letters to the duchess. Ah, Victorine, when will you bring me an +answer to those letters?" + +"The answers cannot have reached Venice as yet, dear mistress," said +Victorine, soothingly. "But I came to tell you something. May I +speak?" + +"Yes--speak--speak quickly!" + +Victorine went on tiptoe to the door, and, having convinced herself +that no one was near, she came close to Laura, and whispered in her +ear: "Madame, one of the foreign princes has been here to call on +you." + +"Who? who?" + +"Prince Eugene of Savoy," said Victorine, as though she was afraid +the breeze might betray her. + +Laura shivered, became deadly pale, and could scarcely gather +courage to say, "He was refused entrance?" + +"Yes, the porter told him that the marchioness was in bad health, +and received no visitors." + +"That was well. Go, Victorine, and tell the servants to convey +neither message nor card of Prince Eugene of Savoy to me. I will not +receive him. Go, go quickly, and then--" + +"And then?" said Victorine, coaxingly. + +Laura was silent for a while; then, putting her arms around +Victorine's neck, she drew the young girl's head upon her bosom. +"Try to find out where Prince Eugene is staying, and go to him. Say +that you come from the Marchioness Bonaletta, and you will be +admitted to his presence. Now tell him word for word what I shall +say to you. 'To-morrow the Marchioness Bonaletta will attend the +regatta. Her gondola will be closed, but whosoever wishes to +recognize it can see her as she descends the stair and enters it. +Let the gondola be closely followed, and when a hand holding a +nosegay of roses is seen outside the curtain, let the gondoliers be +instructed to come as close as possible to the hand, so that the two +gondolas collide. Then--let the prince await me.' Do you hear, +Victorine?" + +"Yes, dear mistress, I hear, and will report your words faithfully." + +"Tell him that Venice is alive with spies and bravi, and oh! bid him +be careful how he exposes himself to danger. Now go! and may Heaven +bless you for your fidelity to a wretched and betrayed woman!" + +Victorine withdrew. But before leaving the palace, she betook +herself to the cabinet of the marquis, where they had an interview +of some length. No sooner was she dismissed, than she retreated to +her own room, drew out a purse of gold from her bosom, chinked its +contents, emptied them out on the table, and counted them with +rapture. + +"Ten ducats! Ten ducats for each intercepted message," said she. "I +shall soon he rich enough to leave this abominable marsh of a +Venice, and return to my dear Paris!" + +Having locked up her gold, and tied the key of her chest around her +neck, she directed her steps to the hotel of Prince Eugene. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE REGATTA. + + +Prince Eugene was watching the little French clock on the marble +mantelpiece of his dressing-room, wondering, in his impatience, +whether it ever would strike the hour of twelve, the hour at which +he was to witness the departure of the Strozzis for the regatta. + +Mademoiselle Victorine had delivered her mistress's message, and the +heart of her lover was once more bounding with joy. His eyes flashed +with a light which, except on a day of battle, had never been seen +within their sad depths since the dreadful period of his parting +with Laura. Forgotten was all the anguish of those three long years; +forgotten all doubts, forgotten all fears. She loved him; she was +true to her vows, and he would bear her away from her ravisher to +the spouse that was hers before Heaven. + +But how long--how unspeakably long--the hours that intervened +between him and happiness! He was wishing for some interruption that +would break this monotonous waiting, when the door opened, and +Conrad came forward. + +"My lord, I have found a commissionnaire for you; one who professes +to know Venice and its golden book by heart." + +"Introduce him at once: I wish to speak with him." + +Conrad opened the door and signed to some one without, when the +commissionnaire advanced and bowed. + +"Why are you masked?" asked the prince, who remembered the warning +which Laura had sent him the day previous. + +"Excellenza, every Venetian of good character has a right to wear a +mask during the carnival." + +"And every criminal can take advantage of the right," replied +Eugene. "Behind a mask every man has a good character, for nobody +knows who he is." + +"I beg pardon, excellenza. The republican fathers, through their +sbirri, know every man in Venice. If you will take the trouble to +look around you in the market-place, you will see how now and then a +masker is touched on the shoulder, when his mask drops at once, or +he escapes among the crowd to avoid public exposure." + +"Then, I suppose that a stranger has no hope of seeing the beautiful +women here?" observed Eugene, smiling. + +"Pardon me; to-day, at the regatta, no masks will be worn, and your +excellency will see all the beauty of Venice, both patrician and +plebeian." + +"Why, then, do YOU wear a mask?" + +"I wear it habitually, having a fancy to go about incognito." + +"Nevertheless, you must remove it now, for I cannot take a man into +my service incognito." + +The man raised his left hand, withdrew the mask, and revealed to +sight a face that was colorless save where it had been marked with a +deep-red scar from temple to jaw. + +"You are indeed conspicuous, and not to be mistaken by those who +have seen you once. Whence came this scar?" + +"I received it two years ago, excellenza, at the taking of Prevosa." + +"You have been a soldier, then?" asked Eugene, his countenance at +once expressing interest. + +"I have, indeed; and but for the loss of my right hand by the sabre +of an infernal Turk, I would be a soldier still." + +"You have written the conquests of the republic upon your body, my +friend," said Eugene, kindly. "But your mutilations are so many +orders of valor; they are the ineffaceable laurels which victory +places on a brave man's brow." + +A slight flush overspread the sallow face of the ex-soldier, and his +eyes sought the floor. + +Eugene contemplated him for several moments with the sympathy--even +the respect--which a military man feels for extraordinary bravery, +as attested by such wounds as these. + +"With what manner of weapon were you cut in the face?" said he. "Not +with a sabre, for the scar is curved." + +"It was not a sabre-cut, excellenza," replied the man, in a low, +tremulous voice. "I was in the breech, fighting hand to hand with a +Turk, whom I had just overthrown. While I was stooping over his +prostrate body, he drew forth a yataghan and gashed my face as you +see." + +"I knew it was a dagger-thrust," replied Eugene. "Well, this scar +shall be your best recommendation to me, for I, too, am a soldier." + +"Excellenza, I thank you, but I have other and weighty +recommendations from my employers. Moreover, here is my license as +commissionnaire from the Signiory." + +So saying, he would have handed the prince a document with a large +seal appended to it, but Eugene waved it away. + +"I prefer the license to serve that is written on your body, my +friend. You have been a brave soldier, you will therefore be a +faithful servant. You say that you are well acquainted with Venice?" + +"Ay, indeed, signor; I know every palace and every den, every +nobleman and every bravo, in Venice." + +"You are, then, the very man I need. Make your terms with my +secretary. But be loyal to me, and remember that the scar you had +received in your country's service was the only recommendation I +required when I took you into mine." + +"Excellenza!" exclaimed the man, kneeling, and raising the prince's +doublet to his lips, "I will bear it in mind, and serve you +faithfully." + +"I believe you, my brave! Rise and tell me your name." + +"Antonio, signor." + +"Antonio.--Well, Antonio, you accompany me to the regatta to-day." + +"My lord," said Conrad, entering the room, "your gondola is below, +and his highness the Elector of Bavaria is here." + +A deep flush of joy overspread Eugene's countenance as he, advanced +to welcome his friend. Max Emmanuel had chosen the gorgeous costume +of a Russian boyar. His dress was of dark-blue velvet, bordered with +sables, and buttoned up to the throat with immense brilliants. On +his head he wore a Russian cap, with a heron's plume fastened in +front by a rosette of opals and diamonds. + +Eugene surveyed him with undisguised admiration. "You are as +gloriously handsome as a Grecian demi-god," cried he, +enthusiastically. "I pity the lovely women of Venice to-day, when +they come within sight of the hero of Buda." + +"I absolve them all from tribute except one," returned Max. + +"What! In love already!" + +"My dear young friend, I saw yesterday on a balcony a black-haired +beauty far beyond pari or houri of my imagination!--majestic as +Juno, voluptuous as Venus, with eyes that maddened, and smile that +ravished me. Unless I find this houri, I am a lost, broken-hearted +man!" + +"Then you have not yet begun your siege?" + +"Impossible to begin it. The Duke of Modena was with me, and you +know what an enterprising roue he is. To have pointed her out to him +would have been to retreat with loss. So I was obliged to say +nothing: but I will see her again if, to do so, I have to reduce +Venice to a heap of ashes!" + +"Peace, thou insatiable conqueror, or amorous ambition will +intoxicate you. You are certainly just the very cavalier to storm +and take the citadel of a woman's heart; but you are the Elector of +Bavaria, a reigning prince, and son-in-law of the Emperor of +Austria." + +"My dear Eugene, no ugly moral reflections, as you love me! I am +here to enjoy the glow of the warm blood that dances through my +veins to sip the ambrosia that pleasure holds to my lips--in short, +I am, body and soul, a son of the short-lived carnival that begins +to-day. Don't preach; but pray if you like, for my success, and help +me in my need." + +"Help you? I should like to know how I am to do that!" said Eugene, +laughing. "But stay--I have a man in my service who professes to +know everybody in Venice. So, if you should see your houri to-day, +point her out, and doubtless Antonio will tell us her name. Ah! +Twelve o'clock at last!--dome, come, let us go." + +"You have not made your toilet, Eugene. What costume have you +selected?" + +"The very respectable one of a little abbe," was the reply. + +"Respectable, if you will, but excessively unbecoming, and unworthy +of the Prince of Savoy. I perceive that you, at least, have no wish +to make conquests to-day." + +"No--all my victories I hope to win by the help of my good sword." + +"Do you go with me in my gondola, reverend sir?" + +"I in your magnificent gondola, at the side of such a Phoebus- +Apollo! I might well despair of making conquests in such company; +and, for aught you know, I may be desirous of attracting the +attention of some fair lady who is not taken by appearances." + +The elector looked up in surprise. He had never heard an expression +like this from Eugene's lips before; and now he saw clearly that his +demeanor had changed, that his eye was restless and bright, his +cheek flushed, his whole countenance beaming with some inward hope +or realized joy. + +"Eugene," said he, touching his friend's shoulder, "Venice holds the +secret of your love; and you have tidings that have lightened your +heart. I read them in your eyes, which are far from being as +discreet as your lips." + +"Perhaps so; but the secrets of love are sacred--sacred as those of +the confessional. Nevertheless, I may confide in you sooner than you +expect, for I may need your help as well as you mine." + +The two young men went out arm in arm, followed by the suite of the +elector, and, behind them, by Conrad and Antonio. + +"Who is that mask?" asked Max, as he passed by. + +"My new commissionnaire, Antonio--he that is to tell us the name of +your belle." + +They were by this time on the marble stairs that led to the water, +where side by side lay the superb gilded gondola of the Elector of +Bavaria and the inconspicuous one of the Prince of Savoy. + +As the two princes were descending the stairs, a gayly-dressed +nobleman sprang from the gondola of the elector, and advanced +respectfully to meet them. + +"Monsieur le Marquis de Villars," said Max, bowing, "I am happy to +see that you have accepted a seat with me." + +"It is an honor for which I am deeply grateful, your highness," +replied the marquis; "and one which I accept in the name of my +gracious sovereign, for whom alone such a compliment can be +intended." + +"You are mistaken, marquis; I invited you that I might enjoy the +pleasure of your company to-day. Allow me, Prince of Savoy, to +introduce to you the Marquis de Villars, the French ambassador to +the court of Bavaria." + +"There is no necessity for us to know each other," replied Eugene. +"The marquis is a Frenchman, and I have no love for that nation; +particularly for those who are favorites of Monsieur Louvois. Adieu, +your highness." + +And without vouchsafing a word to the French ambassador, Eugene +entered his gondola. + +"I must apologize for my friend," said the courteous Max Emmanuel to +the marquis. "He has been sorely injured both by the King of France +and his minister. Forget his bluntness, then, I beseech you, and +forgive his unpleasant remark." + +"He is your highness's friend, and that at once earns his +forgiveness," replied De Villars. "But that the friend of the +Elector of Bavaria should be the enemy of my sovereign I deeply +regret; for he may prejudice your highness against the King of +France. He may transfer his aversion to--" + +"Let us rather suppose that I may transfer my love of France to +him," said Max Emmanuel. "But let us eschew politics, and enjoy the +bliss of the hour. To-day la bella Venezia puts forth all her +charms. And as the swift gondolas skim over the green waters of the +lagoon, so flies my heart toward my bellissima Venetiana!" + +At twelve o'clock. Laura left her dressing-room to join the Marquis +de Strozzi and his sister in the drawing-room below. + +"Great heavens, how beautiful!" cried Lucretia, embracing her. "I +have not been wise in placing myself so near you, bewitching Laura. +Ottario, do look at her; did you ever see such a vision of beauty?" + +"Pray do not force the marquis to praise me," said Laura; "you are +perfectly aware that I am indifferent to his approbation. But as +regards beauty in Venice, where beautiful women abound, the Countess +Canossa is acknowledged to be la belleza delle belle. And to think +that nobody will see you to-day in my closed gondola!" + +"You adhere to your resolution to have your gondola curtained?" +asked the marquis. + +"Yes," replied Laura, without bestowing a glance upon him. + +"And I rejoice to know it," exclaimed he, passionately, "for I alone +will drink in all your beauty. For me alone have you worn this +becoming costume." + +"You know perfectly well that my dress was chosen by your sister." + +"Catharine Cornaro was by adoption a Venetian," returned Strozzi, +"and since you have willingly donned her dress, I must accept it as +an earnest of your consent to appear as the wife of a Venetian +noble." + +To this taunt Laura made no reply. She gave her hand to the +countess, and they passed into the corridors together. The walls +were hung with chefs-d'oeuvres of Titian, Tintoretto, Paul Veronese, +and Gioberti, all gorgeously framed in Italian style; and between +each picture was a mirror that extended from floor to ceiling. +Through these magnificent halls went Laura, as regardless of their +splendor as of the passionate glances of the man who walked by her +side, so near and yet so far, so very far away from her heart. + +The gondola that awaited them was an heir-loom of the Strozzis, and +was never used except on gala-days. It was well known to the +Venetians, every one of whom was accustomed to point to it with +pride, saying, "There goes the bucentoro of the Strozzis!" + +As Laura was about to step into this glittering bucentoro, the +gondoliers around, delighted with her beauty, shouted, "Evviva la +Marchesa Strozzi!" To their great astonishment, the marchesa, +instead of bowing and smiling as is usual on such occasions, gave no +other evidence of having heard their greeting than that which by a +frown and a flash of her dark eyes might be construed into a signal +of displeasure, as she disappeared behind the silken hangings of the +bucentoro. + +The centre of the gondola was supported by gilded pillars, +surmounted by a canopy of silk and gold. Behind this canopy was a +sort of pavilion, bordered by seats cushioned with gold brocade. In +the centre was a table, of costly material and make, on which stood +a golden vase of rare flowers. The pillars also were wreathed with +flowers, which appeared to be carried from column to column by +flying Cupids that were holding up the garlands in their chubby +little hands. In short, the temple was worthy of the divinities, one +of whom was light-hearted and coquettish, the other proud and +serious. Between them was the Marquis de Strozzi, in the rich habit +of a Greek corsair--a character which his handsome, sinister face +was well fitted to represent. His gloomy black eyes were fixed upon +Laura, while his hands toyed with a silken cord that hung from the +pillar against which he was leaning. + +The eyes of the countess were fixed upon the cord, and presently she +raised them with a glance of inquiry to her brother. He nodded, and +his sister smiled. Then throwing herself back among the cushions, +she raised her little foot to a gilded stool that was before her, +and leaning her head against the pillar, looked out upon the waters +with an expression that might have become Danae awaiting her shower +of gold. + +Laura, on the contrary, wore a look of resolve that seemed +inappropriate to the scene and the occasion. But her thoughts were +far away from the frivolities that interested Lucretia. She had +determined that, in presence of all Venice and of the foreigners +that had assembled there to celebrate the carnival, she would burst +asunder the compulsory ties that bound her to Strozzi. Before the +world she would give the lie to that simulated bridal, and fly to +him who was, by all the laws of God, her true and only spouse. + +Thus thought Laura, while far away from the crowds that from gondola +to gondola were greeting one another, the bucentoro pursued its +solitary way over the water. She had managed to draw aside the +curtain and to look around for him who to her filled the world with +his presence. At last she saw him. He was there--there! and he saw +her, for his gondola changed its course, and came nearer. Like an +arrow it sped across the waters, taking heed of no impediments, +dashing into the midst of other gondolas, as reckless as a pirate of +the consternation it created among the bewildered gondoliers, who +were forced to give it passage, or be dashed aside like so much +spray; while Eugene's gaze was fixed upon the golden bark of the +Strozzi--the argosy that bore such precious freight. At last they +neared it, and Eugene could see the little white hand, holding a +bouquet of roses from between the crimson hangings of the pavilion. +His eyes brightened, and his whole being seemed transfigured. +Gallant and comely he looked--a knight worthy of any woman's love. + +The Elector of Bavaria had seen all the movements of Eugene's +gondola. He had seen it suddenly change its course, and had watched +the prince pointing with uplifted hand to some object in the +distance, which, to judge by his bearing, one would have supposed +was a breach to mount. Max Emmanuel had smiled and said to himself: +"In yonder direction lies Eugene's love-secret. We had better +follow, for we may be useful in time of need. He seems to me to be +too bashful to manage an intrigue with skill." + +So the elector gave orders to follow the gondola of the Prince of +Savoy; and now his gondoliers, too, were rowing for their lives, +while many a bright eye was turned admiringly upon his tall, +graceful form. + +Laura was not the only person that was looking out from the +curtained bucentoro. The marquis, too, had seen the two approaching +gondolas; and now, as the foremost one came full in view, he passed +his arm outside, and, while Laura's head was turned away, made a +sign to Antonio, who responded with another. + +The gondolas were now so close that their occupants were easily +recognized. Strozzi saw Eugene's passionate gaze, and guessed that +it had been returned, although the face of his wife had been +averted, so that he had not seen the act. + +At this moment Laura turned, and gave a quick, searching glance +around the pavilion. + +"You are looking for me?" asked Strozzi, with a singular smile. "I +am here, my wife, to protect you from all danger; and as I am weary +of standing, and as there is no seat for me beside you, I will take +the place that my heart covets most." + +And, before Laura could prevent him, he had thrown himself at full +length, had clasped her feet, and raised them over his knee, so that +they had the appearance of having been placed in that familiar +position by her own will. He then pulled the silken cord which he +had held all this while in his hand, and the curtains of the +pavilion were rolled up, exposing its three occupants to the view of +the whole Venetian world. On one side lay Lucretia, in her Danae- +like position, and on the other, gazing with the rapture of an +accepted lover into the face of the marchioness, lay Strozzi. The +picture was unequivocally that of a pair of lovers, and those who +knew her not as his wife were convinced that in Laura they beheld +the mistress of the Marquis de Strozzi. + +"Evviva!" shouted the enraptured multitude, dazzled by the beauty of +the tableau. No one heard Laura's despairing entreaty for release +from a posture so humiliating. Nor had any one heard the exclamation +of delight that burst from the lips of the elector, as in Lucretia +he recognized his houri. + +"There she is!" exclaimed he to the French ambassador. + +"Who?" asked the latter, in astonishment. + +"The most beautiful woman that ever distracted a susceptible man," +was the reply. "Do you not know her?" + +"I regret to say that I do not, but I will make it my duty to +discover her abode, and communicate the discovery to your highness." + +"Thank you," began the elector. But suddenly he stopped, and gazed +intently upon Prince Eugene, who was standing at the stern of his +gondola, only a few feet distant from the bucentoro of the Strozzis. +The elector directed his gondoliers to approach that of the prince, +and, springing from one boat to the other, he laid his hand on +Eugene's shoulder. + +"Friend," said he, "I do not desire to force myself into your +confidence; but lest I become your unconscious rival, answer me one +question. Is that lady there, in the red-velvet dress, the object of +your unhappy attachment?" + +"No, dear Max," replied Eugene, with his eyes fixed steadfastly upon +Laura. + +"Truly?" + +"Truly, I do not know her; but if you ask Antonio, he will tell +you." + +With these few words Eugene turned away, and, in a low voice, +promised a rich reward to his gondoliers if they would but touch the +gondola of the Marquis Strozzi. + +The elector beckoned to Antonio. "Who is that lady in the gilded +gondola close by?" said he. + +"Which one, your highness?" + +"The one in red velvet," + +"That is the Countess Lucretia Canossa, sister of the Marquis de +Strozzi." + +"Is she married?" + +"Yes, your highness, to a man who has squandered her fortune; so +that but for her brother she would be penniless." + +The elector thanked Antonio, and leaped back into his own gondola. +The Marquis de Villars, meanwhile, who knew that gondoliers were the +news-givers of Venice, had ascertained quite as much of the position +of the countess as Max Emmanuel had done during his short absence. + +"I can answer your highness's question now," whispered he. "I have +learned every thing concerning her that it is needful to know from +the gondoliers." + +"And I, too, know all that I care to know." replied the elector; "so +here am I, like Rinaldo before the enchanted gardens of Armida: I +must and will enter!" + +"Of course you will. What woman can withstand the fascinations of +the handsomest cavalier in Europe?" observed the marquis; adding to +himself: "And thank Heaven that I know the Armida of his longings, +for she must draw this Rinaldo, not only into her own toils, but +into those of France." + +Eugene was standing on the edge of his gondola, his passionate gaze +fixed upon the group that had been disclosed by the rising of +Strozzi's silk curtain. What could it mean? Oh! it was horrible! To +see Laura lying back in a position so voluptuous, her feet clasped +in Strozzi's arms, his eyes so lovingly triumphant, was like a +poisoned dagger to the heart of her unhappy lover. Had she called +him thither to make him the sport of his successful rival? The very +thought was madness: and yet Laura feigned not to see him; her eyes +were steadily cast down. + +Eugene was determined to know the worst; he would not retreat until +conviction had chased away this deadly suspense. Slowly his gondola +came near and more near, while in that of his rival its approach was +watched by two of its occupants, both of whom knew equally well for +what purpose it was coming. + +Laura gathered up all her strength for one effort, and freed her +feet from Strozzi's clasp. + +"You are a wretch!" exclaimed she with indignation. "If you pollute +me again with the touch of your hands, I will drown myself here, in +your very sight." + +"Oh no; you will throw yourself overboard, that Prince Eugene may +plunge after you. Listen to me, Marchioness de Strozzi. I am +perfectly acquainted with the nature of the stratagem you proposed +to put into execution to-day. But I tell you that as sure as the +gondola of the prince touches mine, and you make the least movement +of your hand or foot, he dies." + +"Vain threat!" exclaimed she, surveying him with contemptuous +disbelief. + +"You think so? Let me prove to you the contrary. Do you see the mask +behind Prince Eugene? He is the man that will do the deed. Observe +his motions while I speak a word or two, ostensibly to my rowers-- +really to him." + +And the marquis called out, as though to his gondoliers, "Are you +ready?" + +The words were no sooner spoken, than the mask bowed his head, and +drew from his cloak a poniard, which he raised and held suspended +over the back of Eugene's neck. + +Laura uttered a cry and fell back among the cushions, while Strozzi, +hanging over her with the air of an enamoured lover, whispered: "The +gondola almost touches ours. Make but the smallest sign--lift but a +finger, and I swear that I will give the signal for his death!" + +"O God! do not kill him!" was all that the wretched girl had +strength to say. + +The gondolas met. Eugene stood erect on the stern of his boat, his +right arm extended toward her whom he loved. But alas! she came not. +She did not even turn her head; for Antonio was there, his poniard +uplifted, and Eugene's life depended upon her obedience. + +"Traitress!" exclaimed the prince, as Strozzi's bucentoro shot +ahead, and the red-silk curtains, falling heavily down, shut out the +fearful tableau that had been prepared to torture and exasperate +him. + +Laura had swooned, and her fall had been remarked by the gondoliers. + +"Poor thing," said one of them, "she has a paroxysm of insanity." + +"How insanity?" asked Conrad. + +"Everybody in Venice has heard of the lunacy of the Marchioness de +Strozzi," was the reply. "It is for that reason that she never goes +out. The marquis perhaps thought she might be trusted to see the +regatta; but he was mistaken. You must have remarked how closely he +watched her for fear of some catastrophe." + +"Insane, is she?" said Eugene, with quivering lip, to Antonio. + +"Pazza per amore," replied he, with a shrug. Then, coming closer to +the prince, he added, "The marquis gives out that his wife is crazy, +and, as nobody ever sees her, nobody is any the wiser." + +"And you? What think you, Antonio?" + +"I do not believe it, for I know the signora well." + +"You know her?" said Eugene, touching Antonio on the shoulder. + +"Yes. She it is who recommended me to take service with your +highness, and to tell you that you might trust me." + +"Oh, I do trust you, good Antonio. Did I not say that the scar on +your face was your best recommendation?" + +"Yes, excellenza; and I will not forget it." + +"Can you explain to me the mystery of the scene we have just +witnessed?" + +"Yes, excellenza. The marchesa intended to leap into this gondola +and fly with you from Venice; but, as she attempted to rise, the +marquis showed her a dagger, and swore that if she moved hand or +foot he would spring into your highness's boat and kill you." + +"And I cursed her!" thought Eugene, "and she heard my cruel words. +Oh Laura, my Laura! when will I lie at thy feet to implore +forgiveness? Home," cried he aloud, to the gondoliers. Then, in a +whisper, he added to Antonio, "I must speak with you as soon as we +are alone." + +All this time Laura lay insensible in the bucentoro, her husband +gazing intently upon her pallid face. The Countess Lucretia was +wearied to death with the whole performance. + +"Fratillo," said she, "I hope that you have done with me, and that +you intend to return with your sentimental beauty to the palace." + +Without removing his eyes from Laura, Strozzi bent his head, while +the countess went on: + +"My gondola, your handsome present, is just behind us, and I must +say that it is worthy of Aphrodite herself. Pity that no goddess +should grace such a lovely sea-shell. Have I your permission to +occupy it, and leave this stifling atmosphere of love?" + +"Go, go," answered Strozzi, impatiently. + +"Thanks!" was Lucretia's heartfelt reply; and, opening the curtains, +she beckoned to her gondoliers, and stepped gracefully from the +bucentoro to her own dainty bark. + +"It is rather tiresome to be without company," thought she, as she +was rowed away; "but solitude is better than concealment behind +those hateful curtains of Ottario's. I wonder who is the handsome +cavalier that seemed to be struck with me a while ago? One of the +foreign princes, I imagine, for he had a star on his breast. Ah!-- +There he is, staring at me with all the power of his splendid eyes." + +And the beautiful Lucretia, pretending not to see the elector, sank +gracefully back among her white satin cushions. + +"Row toward the piazetta," said she to her gondoliers, "but go in a +direction contrary to that taken by yonder large gondola filled with +cavaliers." + +"That of the Elector of Bavaria? Yes, signora." + +"Ah!" thought she, delighted, "he is the Elector of Bavaria, son-in- +law of the Emperor of Germany. It would be worth my while to entice +so handsome a prince from his loyalty to an emperor's daughter!" + +Scarcely had the gondola of the countess altered its course, before +the elector ordered pursuit. + +"Do you see that gondola there, fashioned like a sea-shell, and +cushioned in white satin, Montgelas?" said he to his chamberlain. + +"Yes, your highness." + +"Say to the gondoliers that we follow in its track. Whether we see +the regatta or not is of no consequence, so we keep in view of that +Venus in the conch-shell." + +The Marquis de Villars had pretended to be in earnest conversation +with his neighbor, but he heard every word of this order. + +"Yes, indeed," thought he. "The countess must be bought, if her +price be a million." + +Lucretia vouchsafed not a glance that could be detected at her +pursuers; but she saw every thing, and exulted at her conquest. "Oh, +emperor's daughter, emperor's daughter!" said she, "your husband is +falling into my toils. They say you are handsome, but your elector's +eyes tell me that I am handsomer than you!" + +And so she beguiled her solitude, while in the bucentoro Laura still +lay in her swoon, and Strozzi gazed enamoured upon her beauty. + +"Beautiful as Aurora!" murmured he, "beautiful as a dew-gemmed rose; +beautiful as the evening star! I love you--I love you to madness, +and you must, you shall be mine!" + +He bent over her and, now that she had no power to resist him, he +covered her face with passionate kisses. But his kisses restored her +to life, and with a shudder she raised her hands, and threw him off. + +"Touch me again, and I will plunge this dagger in your false heart!" +cried she, drawing a poniard from her bosom. + +"I would not care, so I could say that you were mine before I died!" + +"Would that you were dead, that I might fly to him whose wife I am, +in the sight of Heaven!" + +"Put up your dagger," said Strozzi, coldly, while a look of venom +chased away the love that had beamed in his eye. "I will not trouble +you again." + +"You have betrayed me a second time, liar and impostor that you +are!" exclaimed Laura, replacing her dagger. "You have deceived my +lover into the belief that I am false to him, but, believe me, he +shall know the truth. God will protect him from you and your bravi, +and He will avenge my wrongs! Now, order these curtains to be +raised. It is better to be gazed at by the multitude, some of whom +have hearts and souls, than to sit in this pavilion within sight of +you! And bid your gondoliers take me home to my prison, where, God +be thanked! I can sometimes be alone with my own thoughts!" + +Strozzi obeyed like a cowed hound. He lifted the curtains, and +ordered the men to row to the palace. + +Laura's eyes sought the gondola of her lover, but she could not see +it. It had left the regatta, and had already landed at the stairs of +the Palazza Capello. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE NEGOTIATOR. + + +Countess Lucretia Canossa had just risen, and lay reclining on a +faded ottoman, attired in a neglige, which was any thing but +elegant, or appropriate to a beauty. She had rung several times for +her breakfast, but her waiting-maid had not seemed to hear the +summons, for nobody came at the call. + +The countess, however, was so absorbed in her day-dreams, that she +forgot her breakfast. For a time her thoughts dwelt upon the +singular scene that had taken place in the bucentoro. She knew +nothing of the complications relating thereunto; she had but +witnessed the approach of the gondola which she supposed to be that +of her sister-in-law's lover; had seen her brother's extraordinary +excitement, and had guessed that some disappointment connected with +the presence of the insignificant little personage in that gondola +had caused Laura to fall into a swoon. She felt sincerely sorry for +her unhappy sister-in-law, but the countess was not inclined to +sentiment; so she dismissed the mystery of Laura's troubles with a +sigh, and fell to thinking of the Elector of Bavaria. + +He had followed her all day, and well had she perceived that he had +had eyes for no one but herself. And when she had affected to weary +of his pursuit, he had left his own gondola for that of Count +Cornaro, who had approached and asked permission to present his +distinguished guest. The permission having been accorded as a matter +of course, the elector had entered into an animated conversation +with her, which lasted until the close of the regatta. + +She had met him again that evening, at a ball given by Admiral +Mocenigo to the foreign princes. Many a handsome, gay gallant was +there; but the handsomest and most admired of them all was Max +Emmanuel of Bavaria. His dress, too, was magnificent in the extreme. +It was so covered with diamonds that it was like a dazzling sea of +light. But more splendid than his jewels were the flashing eyes +which, during that whole festival, had been fixed in admiration upon +the beautiful Lucretia; and what was still more delightful was the +fact that everybody had observed it, and that many a dame, who had +eclipsed the Countess of Canossa, and slighted her because of her +poverty, had envied her the conquest of the Bavarian prince's heart. +It had all ended as it should have done. Max Emmanuel had asked +permission to call upon her, and he was to make his visit at one +o'clock that day. + +Lucretia had advanced so far in her triumphal course, when she cast +a glance of dismay at her mean, faded furniture. + +"Oh, how forlorn it looks!" said she. "And to think that this is the +only room wherein I can receive a visit! for not another apartment +in the palace contains a chair whereon a man might take a seat. I +ought not to have yielded to my vanity, and consented to receive him +at home, for, when he sees my poverty, he will no longer think my +heart worthy of being won. He will believe that it can be bought, +and I shall sink in his estimation to the level of an ordinary +courtesan. I must be proud and reserved to-day with him; and, as I +have naught else to display, I must show off my wardrobe. But where +can Marietta be? Perhaps Count Canossa has gambled her away, and she +has gone off like the rest of the appointments of this dreary +palace." + +Lucretia rang again; still there was no answer. + +"The poor girl must have gone out to get me some breakfast. I had +forgotten that the cook left us because he had not been paid for a +year; and, as there is nobody else here, I must e'en have patience +until Marietta returns." + +Lucretia sighed, and fell back upon her ottoman. For some time past +she had been aware that there was considerable bustle in the palace, +attended by hammering, and the sound of furniture either placed or +displaced. She had paid very little attention to it, for the rooms +were entirely empty, and she could only conjecture that her needy +spouse might have rented them out for the carnival. But the noise +came nearer and nearer, until she perceived that it had reached the +adjoining chamber, whence she could hear the sound of voices, and +distinguish much that was said. + +She rang again, and this time the door was opened by some invisible +hand, when Marietta, bearing in her hand a large silver waiter, +advanced to a rickety table which stood near the ottoman, and placed +upon it a most delicate breakfast, served in dishes of costly, +chased silver. Not only the service was superb, but Marietta herself +was attired in a costume which shamed the shabbiness of her high- +born mistress. + +Begging the countess's pardon for her unpunctuality, the maid +proceeded to pour out the chocolate, which she handed in a cup of +Sevras porcelain. + +Lucretia rubbed her eyes. "Where, in the name of Aladdin, did you +get that dress?--And where this service?" + +"The dress was brought to me this morning, my lady, and the mantua- +maker told me that it had been ordered by yourself; the jeweller who +brought the services of silver told me the same thing." + +"I!" cried the countess. "I order such costly things?" + +"Why, yes, my lady, for the upholsterers have almost arranged the +beautiful furniture you bought yesterday." + +The countess smiled. "This is a prank of some carnival-mad jester, +child," said she. "There is not a word of truth in it. I wish there +were!" + +"It is as true as that there are at least fifty workmen in the +palace at this very moment," was Marietta's reply. + +Lucretia made no answer. She sprang from her ottoman, and, crossing +the room, threw open the door leading into the next saloon. + +Marietta had spoken the sober truth. There they were all--fifty-- +some hanging satin curtains before the bare windows, others placing +lofty mirrors in the recesses; one detachment uncovering the gilded +furniture, another arranging it, while the last folds of a rich +Turkey carpet were being smoothed in the corners of the room, where +dainty tables held vases of costly workmanship, filled with rare +flowers. + +At first the countess had been struck dumb and motionless. +Recovering herself, however, after a moment or two, she went hastily +up to the person who seemed to direct the proceedings, and accosted +him: + +"Will you oblige me by saying who ordered all this furniture?" + +"Her ladyship, the Countess de Canossa," was the man's reply. + +"Are you acquainted with the countess?" asked Lucretia. + +"No, madame; I have not that honor." + +"Then, how do you know that you are acting by her orders?" + +"I received them yesterday through her steward." + +"Her steward? And have you seen him since?" + +"Yes, madame. He came again this morning very early, to see whether +we were punctual. It was all to be completed by one o'clock, and, as +it is not quite ten, you perceive that we will certainly have done +in time. But I must ask you to see the countess and request +permission for the workmen to be admitted to her boudoir. Will you +be so good as to convey the message?" + +Lucretia cast a glance of shame at her faded gown. "He does not know +me," thought she, "and how should he in such a guise?" Then she +added, aloud, "I will apprise the countess." + +Marietta was now in the dressing-room, whither she requested the +presence of her mistress immediately. + +"What is it?" asked the bewildered Lucretia. + +"The dressmaker is there, signora, to see if your dresses are to +your taste," replied Marietta. + +"Let me see them," cried she, impatiently. + +Marietta drew from a box a dress of pink satin, which, from its +make, was evidently intended for an under-skirt. "There is another, +just like it, of blue satin," exclaimed the enraptured lady's maid, +"and here is a box containing two peignoirs of guipure, with morning +caps to match. How beautiful your ladyship will look in these +negliges!" + +"We will see at once whether I do," answered Lucretia, clapping her +hands with joy. "Here Marietta--quick! Help me off with this hateful +gown, and hand me the pink-satin petticoat." + +In a few moments the mistress and maid were equally happy, while the +former was being decked in her magnificent neglige. The satin +petticoat was loose; and over it was thrown the guipure peignoir +which reached to the throat, and was continued at the waist by a +pink sash. The full sleeves were open, leaving half-covered, half- +exposed, Lucretia's arms, firm and white as Carrara marble. + +"Now this love of a lace cap," cried Marietta, placing it with great +coquetry around the black braids of Lucretia's glossy hair; while +the latter, quite reconciled to the wonders that were being enacted +around her, was profoundly engaged in admiring herself in a looking- +glass. + +"And now," said Marietta, "you are ready, and certainly you are as +lovely as a fairy." + +"Fairy, say you? Yes; that seems to be the appropriate name for one +who is the recipient of such extraordinary riches as these. But now, +Marietta, whence do they come? Are they from my brother?" + +"Signora, I know no more than I have told you. Yesterday a gentleman +(I think he must have been a Frenchman) came hither, announced +himself as an architect, and told me that your ladyship had sent him +to examine the palace, with a view to refurnishing it with great +magnificence." + +"Did you take him over the rooms?" + +"Of course I did, my lady. He took various notes as he went along, +and remained longer in your boudoir than in any room in the palace. +He sat down and made a drawing of it, asking me, now and then, a +question as to your ladyship's tastes and habits." + +"Gracious Heaven!" exclaimed the countess, while a painful blush +overspread her face, "has he been here to see my need and hear of my +privations? Can he have been the secret giver of all this +magnificence?" + +As the possibility that the Elector of Bavaria was her unknown +benefactor, presented itself to Lucretia's mind, her humiliation +grew extreme; for if these gifts were from him, they proved that he +held the daughter of the noble house of Strozzi to be a creature +that was to be bought with gold, without the poor pretence of one +word of love. + +"When came he, and what sort of looking man was he?" asked she, +frowning. + +"He came just after the regatta had begun, signora." + +"Then, God be praised, it was not HE!" said Lucretia to herself, +"for at that hour, he was with me, in Count Cornaro's gondola." + +A faint knock was heard at the door, and the decorateur begged +permission to enter. His coming awakened the countess from her +reverie, and she hastily bade him come in, "for," said she, "it must +be almost one o'clock." + +"The clock on the mantel of the drawing-room has just struck eleven, +your ladyship," replied the man, who, now that she was richly +dressed, recognized the lady of the house. + +"So," thought Lucretia, "I have a clock!" and she bounded off to the +drawing-room to see it. Marietta followed with the chocolate, which, +in the excitement of the moment, had been forgotten. + +"True," said the countess. "bring me my breakfast, and let me take +it here in this beautiful apartment. Who is that at the door?" added +she, as Marietta went forward to open it. + +"Your ladyship's butler," replied she. "He comes to know whether the +dejeuner a la fourchette is to be served in the boudoir or in the +banqueting-hall." + +"Let it be in the banqueting-hall, for I may have several guests." + +"The steward ordered it for one o'clock, my lady. He said that you +expected some guests of distinction." + +"My steward?" repeated Lucretia, smiling. "So it seems that I have +an entire household. Let us go over our altered domains, Marietta." +And the two went from room to room, the femme de chambre as +delighted as her mistress, until they descended as far as the +kitchen. Here every thing gave evidence that the dejeuner was to be +a rare one. Two cooks, in white, presided over the arrangements, and +two scullions were busy carrying out the orders of the chief. They +were so absorbed in their business, that they did not perceive the +countess who stood in the door. + +Presently from the storeroom opposite there emerged a man with +baskets of bottles, which he deposited on the table, saying: + +"Here is Burgundy for the Bayonne ham. The champagne, sherry, and +constantia, are for the table." + +The countess had now seen and heard enough. Not only was her palace +fitted up, but her kitchen was in order, and her wine-cellar filled. +So she returned to the drawing-room, where she was met with the +tidings that her boudoir was ready for occupation, and nothing now +remained to be done, unless her ladyship had any alterations to +suggest, or deficiencies to point out. + +Her ladyship professed herself satisfied, and then came a moment of +embarrassment. "As regards the payment--" + +"Oh, signora, the steward is to meet me at twelve o'clock, to +arrange that matter." And with these words he took his leave. + +"I ought to have followed him," thought Lucretia, "to solve this +agreeable riddle, by making acquaintance with my steward. But pshaw! +I shall soon know all about it. Nobody has made me these presents +without intending to get a word of thanks for the benefaction." + +She had scarcely seated herself in a new and beautiful ottoman, +which had replaced her faded, rickety old couch, before a servant +appeared and announced, + +"Her ladyship's steward!" + +"My ladyship's steward!" echoed Lucretia. "Do let us make his +acquaintance." + +He came in--a small, slender man, apparently young, with a pair of +twinkling black eyes, and a countenance expressive of great energy. +With the air of a finished gentleman he bowed, advanced, and bowed +again. + +"Signor," said Hie countess, "you have been announced by a title +which I have no right to bestow upon any person living--that of my +steward. Pray tell me who you are." + +"Gracious countess," answered he, smiling, "I have the honor to +present myself. I am the Marquis de Villars, ambassador of his +majesty the King of France to the court of Bavaria." + +"And may I ask why, in addition to your other representative titles, +you have assumed that of steward to the Countess of Canossa?" + +"Because, signora, seeing that your habitation was not worthy of +you, I have ventured to perform the duties of a faithful steward, by +fitting it up in a manner which I hope is agreeable to the divinity +at whose shrine the elector is now a worshipper?" + +"Did the elector suggest--" began Lucretia, reddening. + +"Oh no, signora; he knows nothing of the little surprise I have +prepared for you. It does not concern him at all." + +"Then I am to suppose that Count Canossa, having gambled away my +very home, this palace has become your property, and I am here on +sufferance. How long may I remain?" + +"How long may you remain in your own home! Signora, all that you see +has been done for you, in your own name, and I hope you will do me +the honor to accept it." + +"From whom?" + +"You shall learn as soon as we understand each other, signora." + +"Then let us come to an understanding at once, for the Countess +Canossa does not receive princely gifts from strangers." + +"Of course not, nor would a stranger take so unpardonable a liberty +with a lady of her rank and birth. But before going further, let me +assure you, signora, that you are under obligations to nobody for +the little surprise I have prepared for you. Not in the least to me, +for I am but the representative of him who begs your acceptance of +it." + +"You speak in riddles," said Lucretia, with a shrug. "But, at all +events, I understand that this furniture, silver, and these rich +dresses, are mine?" + +"Assuredly yours, signora." + +"Then let me inform you that in a week, at farthest, they will go, +as they came, in the space of a few hours. Count Canossa will have +lost them at the gaming-table, and the palazzo will be in the same +condition as it was yesterday." + +"Count Canossa is powerless to touch the least portion of your +property, signora." + +"Powerless? How! Are you a sorcerer, and have you changed him into +stone? Or have you spirited him away?" + +"I have spirited him away, signora. I have persuaded him by the +eloquence of gold to forsake Venice, forever. As long as he remains +in Paris, he is to receive it yearly pension from the King of +France." + +"Gone to Paris! Pensioned by the King of France!" exclaimed +Lucretia. + +"Gone, signora; and, in leaving, he desired me to say to you that he +hoped you would forgive all the unhappiness he had caused you since +your marriage." + +"Gone! Gone! Am I then free?" cried Lucretia, starting from her +ottoman, and grasping the hand of the marquis. + +"Yes, signora. You are free to bestow your heart on whomsoever you +will. Count Canossa will never molest you more." + +"Oh how I thank you! How I thank you!" replied she, her beautiful +eyes filling with tears of joy. "But tell me," added she, after a +short pause--"tell me, if you please, the meaning of all this +providential interference with my domestic affairs?" + +"I am ready, signora," said the marquis, waiting for the countess to +resume her seat, and then placing himself at her side. "Perhaps in +your leisure hours you may have interested yourself in European +politics." + +"Not I," said Lucretia, emphatically. + +"Then allow me to enlighten you on the subject," replied the +marquis. + +"To what end?" inquired she, impatiently. + +"I will not detain you long, signora. Give me but a few moments of +your attention. Doubtless you have heard that the Emperor of +Austria, for several years past, has been at war with the Porte?" + +Lucretia nodded, and the marquis went on. "Perhaps it will interest +you to know that the Elector of Bavaria is an ally of the emperor, +and has distinguished himself greatly, particularly at the siege of +Buda." + +"Oh, I can believe it," cried she, with animation. "He looks like a +hero. Tell me, pray, something about his exploits." + +"Later, signora, with pleasure; but for the present we must discuss +politics. Now the Emperor of Austria is fast getting the better of +the Sultan; and if the latter should succumb in this war, the former +would not only be left with too much power for the good of Europe +generally, but would become a dangerous rival to the King of France. +Now it is important for my sovereign that the victories of Austria +cease, and that Austria's power wax no greater. Have I expressed +myself clearly? Do you understand?" + +"I begin to understand," was the reply. + +"Now, there are various ways of crippling the resources of Austria; +for example, her allies might be estranged. Have patience, signora; +in a few moments my politics will grow personal and interesting. One +of the emperor's most powerful allies is the Elector of Bavaria." + +"Of course," cried Lucretia, delighted with the turn that politics +were taking. "Of course he is, being the emperor's son-in-law. Tell +me about the elector's wife. Is she handsome? Does he love her?" + +"Signora, as regards your latter question, the elector himself will +have great pleasure in answering it. As regards the former, the +Archduchess Antonia is handsome, but sickly, and her ill-health has +lost her the affection of her husband." + +"Ah!" cried Lucretia, relieved, "he does not love her." + +"He loves her no longer," said the marquis. "But he was greatly +taken by the charms of the Countess Kaunitz; and as the elector's +alliance with Austria was a matter of more importance than his +conjugal relations with the archduchess, the husband of the fair +countess was appointed ambassador to Bavaria, and his wife +ambassadress. It was through the influence of this charming +ambassadress that Max Emmanuel joined the forces of Austria." + +"So he has a mistress, then? One whom he loves?" + +"Whom he loved until he saw the Countess Canossa." + +"Do you think I could supplant her?" exclaimed Lucretia, her large +eyes darting fire at the thought. + +"I do not doubt it," was the flattering reply. "If you choose, you +can trample under foot this arrogant Austrian, who flatters herself +that Max Emmanuel is all her own." + +"I would like to try," cried Lucretia, with the air of an amazon +about to go into battle. + +"Then let me offer my services," said the marquis, bowing. "The +elector is peculiar, and has pretensions to be loved for his own +sake; therefore he would never quite trust the disinterested +affections of a woman whom he had power to raise from poverty to +affluence." + +"Ah!" cried Lucretia, with a significant bend of the head. "NOW I +begin to apprehend your meaning as well as your munificence." + +"Signora," said De Villars, with equal significance, "the King of +France seeks a friend who will alienate the elector from Austria, +and win him for France. Will you accept the trust?" + +"But you said that he loved another woman." + +"So much the greater will be your glory in the conquest, for the +countess is beautiful and fascinating." + +"Is she in Venice?" + +"Wherever the elector goes, thither she is sure to follow." + +"She must leave Venice; she must be forced to leave!" cried the +vindictive Italian, ready to hate the woman whom Max Emmanuel loved. + +"You must do better. Induce the elector to forsake her, and leave +her in Venice like another Didone abbandonata, while you carry him +in triumph back to Munich." + +"I will, indeed I will!" exclaimed Lucretia, exultingly. + +"Ah, signora," said the marquis, coaxingly, "what a magnanimous and +disinterested nature you display! You accede to my request without +naming conditions. Allow me to admire your nobleness, and believe me +when I say that my royal master shall hear of it." + +"Well, tell him that, if it lies in my power, Max Emmanuel shall +learn to dislike Austria and love France." + +"Signora, you are the instrument of a great purpose. I give you a +whole year wherein to work; and if, at the end of that time, you +have prevailed upon the elector to sign a treaty of alliance with +France, you, as one of France's noblest allies, shall receive from +my royal master one million of francs. Meanwhile you shall have ten +thousand francs a month for pin-money." + +"Alas!" said Lucretia, "I am forced to accept; for my husband has so +effectually impoverished me that I live on the bounty of my brother. +And he is so arrogant that I am almost as glad to be independent of +him as to be delivered from my detestable husband. I shall endeavor +to let my acts speak my gratitude for the deliverance." + +"Allow me, signora, to present you with your pocket-money for this +present month, and give me a receipt in the shape of your fair hand +to kiss." + +So saying, he laid a purse of gold at Lucretia's feet, and covered +her hand with kisses. + +"I shall want to consult you frequently, dear marquis," observed +Lucretia. + +"I shall always be at your service." + +"And now, I take it as a matter of course, that what has passed +between us this morning is to remain a profound secret." + +"As a matter of course, signora, it goes no further," returned De +Villars, [Footnote: "Memoirs of the Marquis de Villurs," vol. i., p. +104.] "and to insure perfect secrecy, you must pretend not to know +me when we meet abroad. Not even the elector--or, perhaps I should +say, above all men, the elector is not to know of my visit. I must, +therefore, take my leave. for--hark! your clock strikes one, and +lovers are sure to be punctual." + +"I shall expect you every morning at eleven; and so we can take +counsel together, and I can report daily progress to you." + +"Aurevoir, then, signora. Allow me one word more. If, before the +close of the carnival, you leave Venice in company with the elector, +I shall take the liberty of refunding to you the entire cost of the +refurnishing of your palace to-day, as compensation for its +temporary loss. And now, fairest of the allies of France, adieu!" + +The French ambassador had hardly time to make his escape, before the +doors of the drawing-room were flung open, and the lackey announced, +"His highness the Elector of Bavaria!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE LOVERS REUNITED. + + +Two weeks had elapsed since that unhappy meeting between Eugene and +Laura--two weeks of expectation and hope frustrated. In vain had +Eugene attempted to reach her with a message; in vain had he +remained for hours before her windows; in vain had Antonio tried to +penetrate into her presence. Day after day came the same sorrowful +news: the marchioness was very ill, and no one was allowed to pass +the threshold of the palace. Her husband watched day and night at +her bedside, and, excepting Mademoiselle Victorine, no living +creature was allowed to enter her room. + +When, for the fourteenth time, Antonio returned unsuccessful from +his mission, Eugene became so agitated and grew so pale that the +bravo was touched to the heart, and, taking the prince's hand, +covered it with kisses. + +"Do not be so cast down, excellenza," said he, imploringly; "have +courage, and hope for the best." + +"Oh, Antonio!" murmured the prince, "she is dead!" + +"No, excellenza, no! I swear to you that she lives, nor do I believe +one word of this rumored illness." + +"Why should you not believe it, my friend?" + +"Because I know the marquis well; and this is merely a pretext for +keeping his wife imprisoned." + +"Thank you, Antonio, thank you," replied Eugene, "for this ray of +hope. Then I depend upon you to deliver my message sooner or later. +Remember my words: 'The Prince of Savoy knows why the marchioness +did not speak to him. He lives, loves, and hopes.' And if you will +but return to me with one word from her lips, I will feel grateful +to you for life, Antonio." + +"I will serve you with my life, excellenza," said Antonio, bowing +and leaving the room. + +He had not been long away, before the door was opened, and Conrad +announced the Elector of Bavaria. + +"I have come to entice the hermit of the Capello out of his cell," +cried Max Emmanuel. "My dear Eugene, was ever a man so obstinate a +recluse? Every time I come I am told that you are at the arsenal, +the dock-yards, the armory, a picture-gallery, or some other retreat +of arts and sciences." + +"Well, dear Max, I am a student, and find much to learn in Venice." + +"To whom do you say that?" cried Max, laughing. "As if I, too, were +not a student, only that my tastes lie not in the same direction as +yours, and as if I were not making tremendous progress in my +studies!" + +"No wonder: you are far advanced in every branch of learning, while +I am but a neophyte." + +"No such thing; you are much more deeply learned than I; but you are +the victim of an unfortunate passion which you are striving to +smother under a weight of study, while I--I, my dear fellow, am +distancing you every hour of the day, for my studies are all +concentrated upon the 'art of love.'" + +"God speed you, then, and deliver you from the malady that is +wasting away my life!" + +"You are an incomprehensible being, Eugene. I cannot comprehend your +dogged fidelity to such an abstraction as a woman whom you never +see. You have not trusted me with your secret, and yet I might have +done you some service had you been more frank with me." + +"You mock me," replied Eugene, gloomily. + +"No, Eugene, I do not mock you. I know your secret, despite your +taciturnity. I know that you love the Marchioness Strozzi, and that +the jealousy of her husband is such that you have not been able to +speak a word with her since your arrival in Venice." + +"Who could have told you?" + +"My houri--she whose love has made of Venice a Mussulman's paradise +to me. Oh, Eugene! I am the happiest man alive! I am beloved and +loved for myself. My beautiful mistress is noble and rich; she +refuses all my gifts, and yet she is about to give me unequivocal +proof of her love: she is about to leave her lovely Italian home, +and fly with me to Munich." + +"Are you about to leave Venice so soon?" + +"The archduchess is dangerously ill, and yesterday a courier was +sent to summon me home. And, would you believe it? my Lucretia +consents to accompany me, on condition that I force no gifts upon +her acceptance, but allow her to furnish her house in Munich at her +own expense. Did you ever hear of such disinterestedness? Now I am +about to give you a proof of my confidence, and tell you the name of +my mistress. It is the Countess Canossa. Well!--You are not +overjoyed? You do not understand!--" + +"How should I be overjoyed or understand, when I do not know the +lady, Max?" + +"Great goodness, is it possible that this unconscionable snail has +lived so closely in his shell that he does not know how fortunate +for him it is, that the Countess Canossa loves me! Hear me, Eugene. +My Lucretia is the sister of the Marquis de Strozzi." + +"My enemy!" murmured Eugene, his brow suddenly darkening. + +"Yes; but not his sister's friend; for although he makes a +confidante of her, she hates him. Except Victorine, the countess is +the only person permitted to have access to her sister-in-law's +apartments." + +Eugene's eyes now brightened with expectation, and he looked +gratefully up into the elector's handsome, flushed face. + +"Yes, Eugene, yes," continued Max, "and through her angelic +goodness, you shall visit your Laura. To-day, Lucretia appears as +Mary Stuart, at a masked entertainment given by Admiral Mocenigo. +Before she goes, she is to show off her dress to the poor prisoner +of the Palazzo Strozzi. Her long train is to be borne by a page, who +of course will have to follow whithersoever Mary Stuart goes. This +page is to be yourself, my boy!" + +Eugene threw himself into the elector's arms. He was too happy for +speech. + +At noon, on the same day, the gondola of the Countess Canossa +stopped before the Palazzo Strozzi. The countess, dressed in a +magnificent costume, went slowly up the marble stairs, her long +train of white satin borne by a page in purple velvet. His face, +like that of his mistress, was hidden by a mask; and the broad red +scarf which was tied around his slender waist, confined a small +dagger whose hilt was set in precious stones. His eyes were so large +and bright that the mask could not entirely conceal their beauty; +and it was perhaps because of their splendor that the porter +hesitated to admit him within the palace. + +The countess, who had gone a few steps before, turned carelessly +round, and asked why her page did not follow. + +"Your ladyship," replied Beppo, the porter, "the marquis has +forbidden the admission of strangers." + +"And you call that poor, little fellow of mine a stranger? You might +as well ask me to cut off my train, as expect me to wear it without +my page!--Come, Filippo, come!" + +Filippo passed on, while the old porter grumbled. + +"Never mind, Beppo," said the countess, looking back kindly, "I will +tell my brother of your over-watchfulness, and inform him what a +love of a Cerberus he has for a porter." And on she went, having +reached the top of the staircase, before Filippo and the train had +gone half way. + +Mademoiselle Victorine was awaiting their arrival, and made a +profound courtesy to Lucretia. + +"Signora, the marchioness awaits you in her boudoir." + +"And the marquis knows that I am here?" + +"Yes, signora. He was anxious to accompany you in your visit to my +lady; but she would not consent; and you know that he dares not go +without it. He never has crossed the threshold of her dressing- +room." + +"I know it well. Now go and announce my visit to her. But first, go +to the marquis and tell him that, as soon as I shall have returned +from the apartments of my sister-in-law, I wish to see him in his +cabinet, on important business." + +This was spoken in an elevated tone, so that all the spies, whom +Lucretia knew to be eavesdropping around, might hear her words and +repeat them. + +"I go, signora," replied Victorine, in the same tone; but she added +in a whisper to the page, "For God's sake, be discreet!" + +The lady's maid, in obedience to Lucretia's orders, went directly to +the cabinet of Strozzi, while the countess proceeded in an opposite +direction. At the end of the grand corridor was a lofty door, which, +being shut, the countess remained stationary; while Filippo, who +seemed not to have remarked it, went on with his train, until he +stood immediately behind his mistress. + +She chided him for his familiarity. "Back, Filippo," said she, +impatiently. "When I stop, how do you presume to go on? You are too +unmannerly for a page!" + +Filippo murmured a few unintelligible words, and retreated, while +the countess knocked several times at the door. + +"It is I, Laura, the Countess de Canossa." + +If anybody had been near, the beatings of poor Filippo's heart might +have been heard during the pause that ensued before the door was +opened. At length its heavy panels were seen to move, and a sweet, +soft, voice was heard: + +"Come in, dear Lucretia." + +The countess disappeared within; but scarcely had she entered the +room before she grasped Laura's arm, and hurried her into the room +beyond. + +"Not here, not here," whispered she. "Go into your private +apartment, Laura. In this one you would be unsafe. There will be +listeners at the door." + +Laura made no reply; she flew back and disappeared behind the +portiere that led into her boudoir. The countess looked back at her +page, who leaned trembling against a marble column close by. + +"Shut the door, Filippo," said she, "and await me here. I will see +the marchioness in her boudoir, and Mademoiselle Victorine will be +back presently, to entertain you." + +The door was shut, and Filippo, letting Mary Stuart's train drop +without further ceremony, sprang forward and touched the arm of his +royal mistress. + +"Where is she?" + +"In her boudoir." The page would have gone thither at once; but +Lucretia stopped him. "Mark my words well. Speak low; and when +Victorine summons you away, obey at once, for delay may cost you +your life. And now, impatient youth, begone!" + +They were together. Laura would have sprung forward to meet him, but +emotion paralyzed her limbs, and chained her to the floor. He +clasped her in his loving arms, kissed her again and again, and each +felt the wild throbbing of the other's heart. Forgotten were the +long years of their parting, forgotten all doubt, all anguish. It +seemed but yesterday that they had plighted their troth in that +moonlit pavilion; and nothing lay between, save one long night which +now had passed away, leaving the dawn of a day that was radiant with +sunshine. + +"I have thee once more, my own! Close--close to my heart, and would +to God thou couldst grow there, blending our dual being into one!" + +"Not once more, my Eugene, for thou hast never lost me. I have kept +unstained the faith I pledged, and never have I belonged to any man +but thee!" + +"But alas, my treasure, I may not possess thee! Let me at least +drink my fill of thy beauty, my Laura!" + +She drew him gently to her divan, and there, just as he had done in +the pavilion, he knelt at her feet, and gazed, enraptured, in her +face. With her little white hands she stroked his black locks, and +lifted them from his pale, high brow. + +"My hero," murmured she, tenderly. "Thou hast decked that brow with +laurels since I loved thee, Eugene; and the world has heard of thee +and of thy deeds of valor. I knew it would be so; I knew that the +God of the brave would shield thy dear head in the day of battle, +and lift thee to mountain-heights of glory and renown." + +"And yet I would so gladly have yielded up my life, Laura! What was +life without thee? One long night of anguish, to which death would +have been glorious day! Oh, Laura! that day--that fearful day--on +which I was bereft of thee!" + +She laid her hand upon his lips. "Do not think of it, beloved, or +thou wilt mar the ecstasy of the present. I, too, have suffered-- +more, it must have been more, than thou! And yet in all my anguish I +was happy; for I was faithful, though sorely tried, and never, never +despaired of thy coming." + +"And yet thou art the wife of another." + +"Say not so. When the priest laid my hand in his, I laid it in +thine. To thee were my promises of fidelity, to thee I plighted my +troth. That another--a liar and deceiver, should have inserted his +odious name for thine, laid his dishonored hand in mine, has never +bound ME! I was, I am, I will ever be thine, so help me, God! who +heard the oath I swore, and knew that, swearing, I believed thee +there!" + +"And I could doubt her, my love, my wife! Forgive me, Laura, that in +my madness I should have accused thee." + +"All is forgotten, for I have thee here!" + +It was well for these impassioned lovers that a friend watched for +them without. Lucretia had mounted guard for half an hour, when +Victorine returned to say that the marquis would be glad to see his +sister; her visit had lasted long enough. + +"Take my place, then, Victorine; holt the door, and admit nobody." + +"Oh, signora, if the marquis finds us out, he will assassinate me!" +said Victorine, trembling. + +"He will not find us out; and you can very well endure some little +uneasiness, when for a few nervous twitches you are to receive two +thousand sequins. Think that, by to-night, you will be on your way +to Paris." + +"Would to God I were there, away from this frightful robbers' nest!" + +Lucretia laughed. "You flatter the city of Venice. But I am not +surprised that you are not in love with the Palazzo Strozzi, for +when its master is contradicted, he is a raging tiger, whose thirst +nothing save human blood will quench." + +"O God! O Lord! I am almost dead with fright!" + +"Have patience, mademoiselle. Look at yonder clock on the mantel. +Precisely at the expiration of one hour, come with your message to +my brother's cabinet. That will be the signal for your release. Are +your effects out of the palace?" + +"Yes, signora; they are all at the hotel of the Marquis de Villars." + +"And the gondola of the elector will be here to speak the prince's +adieux. Now remain just where you are; and, instead of opening your +ears to what is passing in yonder boudoir, make use of your leisure +to say your prayers, which you may possibly have forgotten this +morning." + +The countess lifted up her long train, and, passing it over her arm, +went on her way to meet the amiable Strozzi. + +"Really, Ottario," said she, entering the cabinet, "your palace is +singularly like a prison. As I came through the corridor, I felt as +if I were passing over the Ponte de' Sospiri. The atmosphere of the +place is heavy with your jealous sighs." + +"True; there is little happiness under the marble dome of my palace. +But let us speak of other things. What can I do to serve you?" + +"You seem to intimate that I can never desire to speak with you, +except to ask a favor." + +"I find that, generally speaking, the case." + +"For once you are mistaken. I want nothing from you whatever." + +"You seem to have grown rich by some legerdemain or other, Lucretia. +I hear that you have refitted your palace with great magnificence. +Has Canossa come into a fortune? or has he been winning at the card- +table?" + +"Neither; but it was precisely of my newly acquired wealth that I +came to speak with you. I am about to quit Venice, perhaps forever; +and before leaving I wished to have an explanation with you." + +"Gracious Heaven! who will take your place by Laura?" + +"Very flattering that my departure occasions no emotion in my +brother's fond heart, save regret for the loss of his spy! But never +mind, I overlook the slight, and proceed with my confession." + +So Lucretia went over all the humiliations and hardships she had +undergone within the past six months; and, after dwelling +pathetically upon her own sufferings, she related the manner of her +meeting with the Elector of Bavaria, and its consequences. They +loved each other to adoration; he lavished every gift upon her that +his wealth could purchase, and now she was about to give him +substantial proof of her attachment, by going off with him to +Munich. No mention was made, in the recital, of her episode with the +French minister. + +The countess had barely arrived at the end of her confidences, when +a knock was heard, and Mademoiselle Victorine walked in with a +message from the marchioness. + +"What message?" cried Strozzi, rising at once to receive it. + +"Pardon me, excellenza, it is only a message for the signora," said +Victorine, courtesying. "My lady wishes to know if the countess has +the French book that she promised to bring to-day?" + +"Dear me! I had forgotten it," cried the countess. "But stay, +Victorine, it is in the gondola below. Let little Filippo go after +it." + +"Who is Filippo?" asked the marquis, frowning. + +"My page, to be sure. Have you never seen him? Of course I could not +carry Mary Stuart's long train up the staircase without a page to +help me." + +"And he is here, in the palace?" + +"Of course he is: where else should the child be but here with me? +And, as I was not anxious to have him eavesdropping about your +cabinet while we were conversing, I gave him in charge to +Victorine." + +"I shall discharge Beppo," growled the marquis. "How dared he--" + +"Let me intercede for poor Beppo," laughed Lucretia. "He would have +kept out Filippo, but I insisted that your prohibition could not +extend to boys, and I insisted upon having him to carry my train. +Since his presence here annoys you, he shall be made to leave, and +await me in my gondola." + +"But the book, signora," said Victorine, with quivering lip. + +"True--the book for Laura. Will you permit Victorine to go with +Filippo, and get it? But bless me! Without her protection, Beppo +would not allow him to pass. You consent for her to accompany him?" + +"Yes," said Strozzi, roughly. "But if ever you come again, leave +your page at home." + +"The watchword, signor?" asked Victorine. + +"Venetia," returned Strozzi. + +"What!" exclaimed Lucretia, "does Victorine, too, need a password to +leave the palace? My dear brother, I admire your genius! You are +qualified to make a first-rate jailer." + +Mademoiselle Victorine had not tarried to hear the ironical +compliment of the countess. She flew along the corridor to the +apartments of the marchioness, and, first knocking at the door, she +drew back the portiere. + +"Your highness," said she, "the hour has expired." Then dropping the +portiere, that the lovers might part without witnesses, she waited +without. + +Laura's arms were around his neck. Eugene drew her passionately to +his heart. "Must I then go without thee?" murmured he. + +"Yes, my Eugene; this time thou goest alone. But be patient and +hopeful, and thy spouse will find means to escape from her jailer." + +"I cannot go," cried Eugene, despairingly. "Nor can I leave my +enemy's house like a frightened cur, while the woman I love remains +to bear his anger. He must--he shall renounce my wife!" + +"That is, you would see me murdered before your eyes!" exclaimed +Laura, well knowing what argument would move him most to discretion. +"Eugene, he has sworn to assassinate me, if I ever speak to you-- +and, believe me, he will keep his oath." + +"And I must leave my treasure in his bloodthirsty hands?" cried the +prince, pressing her still more closely in his arms. + +"The tiger will do me no harm, Eugene, if thou wilt go before he +sees thee." + +"Your highness," said Victorine, imploringly through the portiere, +"for God's sake, tarry no longer!" + +Laura, freeing herself from his embrace, led him to the door. +"Farewell, my beloved," said she. "God is merciful, and will reunite +us." + +"One more look into those dear eyes, one more kiss from those sweet +lips." + +"Oh, your highness!" whispered Victorine, a second time. + +Laura raised the portiere, and led him forward. She saw Victorine +reach him his mask, and then, darting back into her boudoir, she +fell upon her knees, and prayed for an hour. + +Meanwhile the Countess Lucretia was still discussing her affairs; +but she seemed to have become absent-minded, sometimes stopping +suddenly in her sp'eech to listen, occasionally directing anxious +glances toward the windows. + +The marquis was too keen for these symptoms to escape his +penetration. + +"Are you watching or waiting for any thing?" asked he. + +"Yes," replied she, "I await something, and--oh! there it is!" + +As she spoke these last words, a voice from the water called out +three times: "Addio! addio! addio!" + +"Do you know what that 'addio' signifies?" asked Lucretia. + +"How can I understand the signals that pass between you and your +loves?" + +"I will tell you what it means," said she, looking full into her +brother's face. "I--but no! your eyes glare too fiercely just now; +you are ready for a spring, and I dare not wait to be devoured. +Addio, Ottario, addio. Take this note, and swear that you will not +open it before ten minutes." + +"What childishness!" exclaimed Strozzi, rudely. + +"You will not? Then you shall not see its contents, which, +nevertheless, concern your Laura." + +"Laura!--Then I swear that I will not open it before ten minutes." + +"It is on the table. Be careful how you break your oath. You would +not be safe were you to unfold that paper before ten minutes." + +So saying, she kissed her hand, and tripped merrily away to her +gondola. + +At the expiration of the time required, Strozzi took up the paper, +and broke its seal. It contained the following: + +"MY DEAR BROTHER: You sold me to Count Canossa, and you have +degraded me to the trade of a spy. You have forced me, more than +once, to play the dragon by your poor, unhappy wife; but I have +repaid her for my unkindness, and have avenged myself also. My +little Filippo is Prince Eugene, and he is to remain alone with your +wife, exactly as long as I converse with you in your cabinet. The +three 'addios' which you will have heard ere this from the Canale, +signify that the prince has reached his gondola, and is safe. Also +that Mademoiselle Victorine, my accomplice, has fled. You gave her +ten ducats for each betrayal of her mistress; we offered two +thousand sequins, and of course she betrayed you. Addio!" + +To describe the fury of the marquis would be impossible. But his +paroxysm of rage over, he at once began to revolve in his mind the +means of revenge. + +"There must be an end to this martyrdom," said he. "It must end!" He +looked at the clock. "'Tis time Antonio were here, and he shall do +it." + +He struck three times on his little bell, and the door in the wall +glided back, giving entrance to Antonio. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +ANTONIO'S EXPIATION. + + +The next morning Antonio asked admittance to the cabinet of his new +employer. + +"Your highness," said he, "I have seen the marchioness." + +"What greeting does she send, good Antonio?" + +"My lord, she awaits Filippo at eight o'clock this evening." + +"She awaits me!" echoed Eugene. "And you are to conduct me to her?" + +"Yes, my lord. I am acquainted with the secret passages of the +palace. I will show you the way, and, as God in heaven hears me, I +will bring you safely back." + +"How solemnly you speak, Antonio!" + +"Ah, excellenza, it is easier to enter that palace than to leave it! +But you shall leave it in safety, as I hope to be saved from +perdition!" + +"At what hour did you say?" + +"At eight this evening. And now, my lord, allow me to leave you for +a time. The marquis requires me to remain at the palace, and I must +be punctual, or he will suspect me. You will be obliged to engage +another commissionnaire; but, believe me, I shall better serve you +in the palace than here." + +Antonio was allowed to depart; but instead of going toward the +Strozzi palace, he betook himself to that of the Elector of Bavaria, +where the household were in that state of confusion which precedes a +departure. The elector had chosen to leave Venice by night. + +"I have an important message from my lord, Prince Eugene of Savoy to +his highness of Bavaria," said Antonio, making his way through the +busy throng of servants. "Is he in his cabinet?" + +"Yes, The chamberlain is in the anteroom. He will announce you." + +"His highness will receive the messenger of Prince Eugene," was the +reply; and Antonio, having been admitted, had a conversation of some +length with the elector, which left the latter in a state of great +agitation. + +"I wish it were in my power to render assistance; but I dare not. He +made me promise that I would not interfere in any way; and I must +keep my word. I would but act in the dark, and might ruin him.--And +now to Lucretia, to devise other means of rescue, if these should +fail--" After leaving the elector, Antonio directed his steps toward +the prison near the palace of the doge. The porter that stood near +the grated door looked searchingly at the mask that presumed to +tarry before those dismal gates whereof he was the guardian. + +"Would you earn a thousand sequins?" said Antonio, in a whisper. + +"How?" asked the porter, opening his eyes like two full moons. + +"Do you know in which cell Catherina Giamberta is confined?" + +"Yes, I know." + +"Take this flower to her. It is her birthday, and she loves flowers. +Tell her it comes from Antonio, and ask her to send him the ribbon +she wears around her neck. If you return with it, I will give you +one thousand sequins." + +He handed the porter a large rose, whose stem was carefully wrapped +in paper. Christiano scarcely saw what it was, so dazzled were his +eyes by the approaching glitter of a thousand sequins. But he thrust +it in his bosom, drew the bolts of his prison, and disappeared +within its gloomy depths. + +Antonio leaned his head against the clammy prison-wall and waited. +In half an hour the turnkey returned. + +"Have you your thousand sequins with you?" asked he. + +"Here they are," said Antonio, drawing from his cloak a purse, +through whose dingy silk meshes the gold was visible. + +The turnkey put his hand through the grate, and Antonio saw a faded, +yellow paper, tied with a silken cord. He took the packet, and in +return gave Christiano the purse. As he did so, he said: "Make good +use of it; I have passed through five years of misery to earn it. +Make good use of it, and if you will have a mass said for the repose +of my soul, 'tis all I ask in addition to the service you have just +rendered me." + +He turned away, and, hurriedly taking the direction of St. Mark's, +entered a side-door, and stood within its sacred walls. The church +was empty and dimly lighted. Antonio knelt down behind one of the +pillars, and opened the paper. + +It contained a lock of golden hair--the hair of a child. The bravo +pressed it to his lips, and, murmuring a few fond words, laid it +lovingly upon his heart, and began to pray. When his prayer was +ended, he approached a confessional wherein sat an old Benedictine +monk, and, kneeling down, began his confession. + +The recital was a long, and apparently a terrible one; for more than +once the monk shuddered, and his venerable face was mournfully +upraised as if in prayer for the penitent. When Antonio ceased, he +remained silent, still praying. + +"Reverend father," murmured the bravo, "may I not receive absolution +for my sins!" + +"Yes, my son, you shall receive such absolution as it rests with me +to give. If, as I hope, you are truly repentant, God will do the +rest. You have sinned grievously, but you are ready to expiate." And +the priest performed the ceremony of absolution. + +"Reverend father, give me your blessing--your blessing in articulo +mortis." + +"Come hither and receive it." + +Antonio emerged from the confessional, and knelt on the marble +pavement, while the rays from a stained window above fell upon his +head like a soft, golden halo. The priest, too, stepped out, and, +laying his hand upon that bowed head, made the sign of the cross, +and blessed him in articulo mortis. Then going slowly up the aisle, +and kneeling within the sanctuary, he passed the night in praying +for a soul that was about to depart this world. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE DUNGEON. + + +The clock on the Campanillo of St. Mark's struck eight. The day of +longing expectation had at last worn away, and Eugene was once more +to be admitted to the presence of his beloved. + +Before leaving his cabinet he had sent for Antonio, and, reaching +him a purse of gold, had said: "Here, my brave--here are two hundred +ducats. Take this purse, and, when you make use of its contents, +remember that I gave it as a token of my gratitude for your fidelity +and friendship." + +"No, your highness," replied Antonio, in a tearful voice--"no, your +highness, I need no gold. If you would give me a souvenir, let me +have the glove that has covered the right hand of a hero whose sword +has never been unsheathed save in the cause of right." + +"Singular man," exclaimed Eugene, "take them both, and believe that +I thank you for your attachment. And now, let us away!" + +"Yes, my lord; but I implore you, not this rich cloak of velvet. +Take this black wrapping of cloth; it is more appropriate for an +adventure such as ours." + +The little gondola lay moored at the stairs, without gondolier or +light. Nobody was there except Eugene and Antonio, who rowed without +help. They made for a channel leading to a wing of the Palace +Strozzi, whose dark, frowning walls, unrelieved by one single +opening, were laved by the foul and turbid waters of the narrow +estuary. Antonio's practised eye discovered the low opening that +gave access to the palace; and, after fastening his gondola to a +ring in the wall, he knocked three times at the door. It was opened, +and they entered a small vestibule, dimly lighted, where they were +confronted by a man who asked for the password. + +Antonio whispered something in his ear, and they were permitted to +ascend a steep, narrow staircase leading to a passage so contracted +that Eugene's shoulders touched on either side, as he struggled +along toward a second staircase. When they had reached the last +step, Antonio said: "We have no farther to go. Pass in, signor, and, +whatever ensues, remember that you must patiently await my return." + +A door opened, Eugene passed through, and it closed behind him. He +was in a room of singular shape and construction. It was a rotunda, +whose blank walls were without opening whatsoever; neither door nor +window was to be seen therein. Suspended from the lofty ceiling was +an iron chain, to which was attached a small lamp, whose light fell +directly over a table that stood in the centre of the room. On the +table lay a piece of bread and a glass of water; near it was placed +a wooden chair, and this was all the furniture contained within the +dismal apartment. + +"A dungeon," said Eugene to himself. "One of those dungeons of which +I have heard, but in whose existence I never believed until now." + +He was perfectly collected; but he comprehended his position, and +knew that he had been betrayed. He had been lured into this secret +prison, there to die without a sign! But he must make one desperate +effort to escape. Death he could confront--even the death that +stared him in the face; but to know that Laura would be doomed to a +life of utter wretchedness, was a thought that almost unsettled his +reason. + +He surveyed the place, and then felt every stone, every crevice, +that came within his reach. As he raised his mournful eyes to look +above him, the wall just below the ceiling began to move, a small +window was opened, and within its iron frame appeared a pale, +sinister face--the face of the Marquis de Strozzi. + +Eugene tore the mask from his face, and his large eyes flashed with +scorn. + +"Assassin!" cried he, "cowardly assassin!" + +The marquis laughed; he could afford to laugh. "Yes." said he, "I am +any thing you may please to term me; but you, Prince of Savoy, are +no longer among the living. Your days are numbered: farewell!" + +The window closed, and the wall moved slowly back until no trace of +the opening was to be seen. A dungeon! A grave! Eugene of Savoy +would die of hunger! no human ear would hear his dying plaint; +within a few steps of one that loved him he would disappear from +earth; and, until the great day whereon hell would yield up its +secrets of horror to the Eternal Judge, his fate would remain a +mystery! Alas! alas! And was this to be the end of his aspirations +for glory? + +But hark! What sound is that? The invisible door, for which he had +been groping in vain, was once more opened, and Antonio glided +noiselessly into the room. + +He raised his hand in token of warning. "Not a word, my lord," +whispered he. "I come to save you." + +"To save me, traitor! You, the despicable tool of Strozzi?" + +"Oh, my lord! Have mercy, have mercy! Every moment is precious: +listen to me, listen to me!" + +Antonio sank on his knees, the mask dropped from his face, and his +pale, suffering countenance wore any aspect but that of treachery. + +"In the name of the Marchioness Laura Bonaletta, hear me," said he, +imploringly. + +"Laura Bonaletta!" echoed Eugene, in a voice of piercing anguish. +"What can such as you know of Laura Bonaletta?" + +Antonio gave him a folded paper containing these few lines: "If thou +lovest me, do as Antonio bids thee. If thou wouldst not have me die +of grief, accept thy life from Antonio's hands, and oh, love! +believe me, we shall meet again. Thy Laura." + +Eugene pressed the paper to his lips, and when he looked at Antonio +again, his eye had lost its sternness, and about his lips there +fluttered a sad smile. + +"What does this mean, Antonio?" said he. + +"Excellenza, it means that I was a hardened sinner until you rescued +my soul from perdition. Would that I had time to lay before you the +sins of my whole life, that you might know from what depths of crime +you delivered me! But time is precious. I can only say that I am no +brave soldier that was scarred in battle. This wound upon my face +was from the hand of my father, and, for the crime of his murder, my +right hand was hewed by the arm of the executioner. Nay--do not +start, my dear, dear lord! 'Tis you that brought me to repentance; +'tis you that inspired me to seek reconciliation with Heaven. I came +to you a bravo--the emissary of the Marquis Strozzi; but when you +touched my mutilated arm with your honored hand--when you trusted me +because you believed me to be brave--I swore in my heart that you at +least I would not betray. 'Tis true, I led you hither where Strozzi +would have left you to die of hunger. Ah. my lord! you are not the +first that has looked upon these cruel walls. Giuseppi, the +gondolier whom the countess loved--he, too, poor youth. came hither- +-and six days after I was sent for his corpse, and consigned it to +the sullen waters of the lagoon, that covers the secrets of +Strozzi's atrocious murders." + +"But why, then, did you not warn me?" + +"Because Strozzi would have murdered me, and employed another man to +betray you into his hands. Or, if you had believed me, you might +have remained in Venice, and you must, fly this very night--this +very hour. Until you are safe, Strozzi must believe that you are his +prisoner." + +"Am I, then, forever doomed to turn my back upon this man?" + +"My lord, my lord, no vain scruples! The Marchioness Bonaletta will +die if you do not live to rescue her from his tyranny." + +Eugene grasped his arm. "Ah, yes, indeed! Then come, Antonio--let us +fly." + +"My dear lord, one man only can leave this room. The porter is ready +with his dagger if both should attempt to pass." + +"You would remain here in my place! You would sacrifice your life to +liberate me, Antonio!" + +"The parricide would fain be at rest," replied Antonio, gently. "The +sinner would gladly suffer death, that, expiating his crimes, he may +hope to be forgiven by his Maker." + +"Never will I purchase life at such a price," was the reply of the +prince. + +"My life is accursed," said Antonio; "my death will be triumphant. +My lord, if you knew how I longed for death, you would not refuse me +the blessing I covet. My Catherina ere this awaits me in the other +world; I long to rejoin her--I long to obtain the pardon of my +murdered father." + +Eugene's face was buried in his hands, and he was weeping. "I +cannot, I cannot," gasped he. + +"You would drive your Laura to despair, then? You would go to your +grave without renown?" + +"No; I would live. Come: we can overpower the porter--if nothing +less will save us, we can kill him." + +"Before he dies he will call for help, and help will be near. But +one of us can escape; and, by my eternal salvation, I swear that I +will not be that one! Away with you! Away! In a moment it will he +too late! Do you not hear me? Whether you go or stay, I never will +leave this place again!" + +Eugene staggered against the wall, and sighed heavily. Antonio knelt +at his feet. At last he murmured almost inaudibly, "I will go." + +Antonio sprang from his knees, threw his cloak around the prince, +and, with eager, trembling hands, adjusted his mask. + +"Thank God!" said he, "we are of the same size and build. There is +not the least danger of recognition. The porter will suspect +nothing. The pass word is, 'One of two.' The gondola is moored in +the place where we left it, and your friends are at the landing, +awaiting you now. The marchioness knows that you are to leave Venice +to-night, God in heaven bless you. And now away!" + +"Antonio," replied Eugene, greatly affected, "with my latest breath +I will bless and thank you." + +Then folding the bravo in his arms, he would have spoken his thanks +again, but Antonio hurried him away, closed the door, and then fell +upon his knees to pray. + +The password was spoken, the door was opened, and Eugene was saved! +He sprang into the gondola, and it flew across those sullen waters +like an arrow. As he reached the landing, a well-known voice called +out, "Eugene!" + +"Max Emmanuel, I am here!" was the reply, and the friends were +locked in each other's arms. + +At length the elector spoke:--"I have confronted death," said he, +"but never in my life have I passed an hour of such anguish as this. +Come, Eugene, yonder lies the ship that is to bear us away from this +sin-laden city. Step into my gondola, we have not a moment to lose." + +They rowed to the ship's side; they mounted the ladder, and before +the dawn of day Venice with her palaces and their secret prisons had +disappeared, and the friends were far on their way to Trieste. + + + + +BOOK V + + +CHAPTER I + +A TWOFOLD VICTORY + + +The winter of 1688 had gone by; the snows were melting from the +bosom of reviving earth; and the trees that bordered the avenues of +the Prater were bursting into life. At the court of Austria nobody +welcomed spring; for its approach betokened the cessation of gayety, +and the resumption of hostilities. The year 1687 had been rendered +illustrious in the annals of Austrian history, by Charles of +Lorraine, who, on the 12th of August, had gained a signal victory +over the Turks. The rebellion in Hungary, if not suppressed, was +smothered; for the weary and exhausted Magyars had been totally +crushed by the iron heel of General Caraffa, and they had submitted +to Austria. The conditions of the surrender were hard: they demanded +the relinquishment of some of the dearest rights of the liberty- +loving Hungarians. First, they were to renounce all right of +resistance against the King of Hungary; second, they were no longer +to elect their own sovereigns; the crown of Hungary was made +hereditary in the house of the Emperors of Austria. The Archduke +Joseph, then ten years of age, was crowned king; and the Hungarians +were compelled to take the oath of allegiance to this irresponsible +sovereign. + +This being a decisive victory, the campaign ended early, and the +season of festivity had therefore been a prolonged one. Not only the +aristocracy of Vienna had celebrated the heroism of the victors by +balls, concerts, and assemblies, but the emperor himself sometimes +prevailed upon his retiring and devout empress to participate in the +national gayety, by giving entertainments to her subjects at the +imperial palace. + +It was the festival of the Empress Eleanora, and the day was to be +celebrated by the production of a new opera, entitled "Il Porno +d'Oro." The rehearsals had been superintended by the emperor in +person; he had suggested and directed the scenery and decorations, +and, to the great scandal of his confessor, Father Bischof, Leopold +had more than once curtailed his devotions, to attend these +rehearsals. + +On the day of the performance the emperor retired early to his +dressing-room, and, to honor the festival of his consort, arrayed +himself with imperial magnificence. His doublet was of cloth of +gold, edged with fringe of the same; his cloak of purple velvet, +richly embroidered, was fastened on the shoulder by an agraffe of +superb diamonds. The breeches, reaching to the knee, were of velvet, +like the cloak; and the hose, like the doublet, were of cloth of +gold. The shoes of purple velvet were fastened with buckles of +diamonds to correspond with the agraffe of the cloak. His ruff was +of gold lace, his hat was decorated with a long white plume, and on +his breast he wore the splendid order of the Golden Fleece. + +When Leopold entered his music-room, Kircherus, who was there, +awaiting him, could not repress an exclamation of wonder at the +dazzling apparition. + +"You are amazed at my magnificence," said the emperor, laughing. + +"Your majesty, say rather that I am struck with admiration than with +amazement. You are as glorious as the god of day; and if the Muses +were to trip by, they would surely mistake you for their Phoebus, +and, quitting Parnassus, make themselves at home in Vienna." + +"And be driven away with contumely; for, being heathen maidens, +Father Bischof would speedily exorcise and exile them back to +Greece. And now tell me what you think of the new opera. Do you +expect it to be successful?" + +"Indeed I do, your majesty. It is, to my mind, heavenly." + +"And to mine also. 'Tis the very music with which to lull the dying +soul to rest. I have spared nothing to bring it out handsomely, and +it has certainly been a golden apple to my purse, for it has already +cost me thirty thousand ducats. But I tell you this in confidence, +Kircherus: were my generals to hear of it, they would cry out that +money is to be had for every thing except the army." + +"I wish there were no army to swallow up your majesty's resources, +and that we might be allowed to enjoy our music in peace," growled +Kircherus. + +"Hush, Kircherus; you are an artiste, and know nothing of the +exigencies of political existence. I would I were such a heavenly +idiot as you; but God has decreed otherwise. It is my duty to +declare war or peace, as becomes the ruler of a great people; and so +disinclined am I to strife, and so inclined to peaceful arts, that I +sometimes think I have been purposely thwarted by God, and cast upon +an epoch of perplexity and dissension, that my character might be +invigorated by its exigencies. Even now I go reluctantly from art, +to hold a council of war. I fear it is about to be anything but +amicable; so, do your best to console me on my return, and see that +all goes well as regards the opera." + +The officers of the war department had been for more than half an +hour awaiting the appearance of the emperor. One only was absent, +the Duke of Lorraine, who had excused himself on a plea of +indisposition. + +"He is craftier than I had supposed," said the Margrave of Baden to +his nephew. "He avoids the unpleasant responsibilities of debate, +and shields himself behind the orders of the emperor." + +"Because he awaits a reappointment to the chief command," replied +Louis. "For him is the glory of our victories; for us the danger. +But I have a missile to throw into the camp of the enemy; it is from +Max Emmanuel, who votes with us." + +"Ah, indeed!" said the margrave, with a satisfied air. "Then I think +we may hope to thwart this insolent pretender, who considers me +incapable of directing the war department of Austria." + +"He has offered me a public affront," returned Louis, indignantly. +"I had a right to command the Slavonian cavalry; and he bestowed it +upon Dunewald, who is nothing but his creature. I have therefore +followed the example of Max Emmanuel, and shall resign my commission +to-day." + +"I would give millions if, after your defection, he were defeated by +the Turks. But he has the most unconscionable luck. And then, that +silly Prince of Savoy, who blows such blasts in his praise. Louis, +you ought not to be so intimate with Prince Eugene--he is one of our +enemies." + +"Oh no," replied Louis, smiling. "Eugene is the enemy of no man. Say +nothing against HIM, uncle, if you love me. He is a youth of noble +spirit, incapable of envy; recognizing every soldier's merit except +his own. Our cousin of Savoy is destined to become a great man." + +"He is already a great man," replied the margrave, with a sneer. +"Not twenty-five years of age, and a knight of the Golden Fleece--a +protege of the emperor, the favorite of Charles of Lorraine!" + +At this moment the doors were opened, and Leopold, followed by a +small, slender officer, entered the council-chamber. + +"The Prince of Savoy!" muttered the margrave, impatiently. + +"Eugene!" said Louis to himself, as, bowing his head with the rest, +he wondered what could be the meaning of his cousin's presence. + +"My lords," said the emperor, taking his seat, "I have invited +Prince Eugene of Savoy to assist at this council--not only as a +listener, but as one of us; and I shall call upon him to give his +opinion as such, upon the matters that come under discussion to- +day." + +"Pardon me, your majesty, if, as president of this council, I remind +you that the Prince of Savoy is too young and inexperienced for such +a discussion, and that no man in active service, under the rank of a +field-marshal, ever participates in the debates of the war +department." + +"Your highness is quite right, and I thank you for the reminder. We +have no desire to infringe the etiquette of the council-chamber; and +as we have invited the prince therein, we must repair our oversight +by qualifying him to sit.--Prince of Savoy, we hereby create you +field-marshal, and trust that, as such, you may win so many laurels +that the world will pardon your youth in favor of your genius." + +Eugene crimsoned to his temples, and kissed the hand which Leopold +extended. "My liege," said he, in a voice choked with emotion, "your +majesty heaps coals of fire on my head. May God give me grace to +earn these unparalleled honors!" + +"You have already earned them," replied Leopold, "and Austria is +proud to have won such a hero to her cause.--And now, my lords, to +business. President of the council, what is the condition of our +army at present?" + +"Your majesty, the army is not, as yet, armed and provisioned; but +it will he in a condition to oppose the enemy as soon as the marshes +of Hungary are sufficiently dry to allow of an advance." + +"That means simply that nothing has been done," replied the emperor, +in tones of dissatisfaction, "and that the winter has been spent in +total inaction. It means also that this year as well as last our +soldiers are to feel the want of the necessaries of life; and that +for lack of money, munition, and stores, our most advantageous +marches will have to be relinquished." + +"I see that the Duke of Lorraine has already accused and calumniated +me," said the margrave, sullenly. + +"The Duke of Lorraine has at times complained of the want of +munition, stores, and forage; but he neither calumniates nor accuses +any one. He has remarked that, instead of being sustained by the war +department, he has been hampered and harassed by its opposition to +his plans. Even his officers have manifested a spirit of such +insubordination, that they have seriously interfered with his +successes." + +"That means that he has complained of me," interposed Louis of +Baden. + +"Yes, margrave, it does; and we are both surprised that a hero of +your recognized ability and renown should fail in a soldier's first +duty--obedience to orders." + +"Your majesty," exclaimed Louis, "I am no subordinate officer to +receive or obey orders from another! I am an independent prince of +the German empire, in every respect the equal of the Duke of +Lorraine." + +"Except as an officer in the Austrian army," replied Leopold, "in +which character the Duke of Lorraine is your chief. You have not +sufficiently considered this matter of your rank as an officer in my +service; let me hope that, for the future, you will acknowledge and +respect the authority of your commander-in-chief. I myself have +found him ever ready to acknowledge and respect mine." + +"The will of the emperor, to us, is law," said the Margrave Herman. +"But your imperial majesty has hitherto exacted of your officers +that they should receive your mandates through the medium of the +minister of war. The Duke of Lorraine, who claims such strict +obedience from others, has set at defiance the mandates issued from +this council-chamber. As president of the same, I complain of the +insubordination of your majesty's commander-in-chief. He has not +carried out the orders received from the war department." + +"He would have been more than mortal had he done so; for the war +department has required of him feats that were physically +impossible. We can trace out upon this green cloth before me any +number of strategic movements, which, supposing the enemy to be of +one mind with ourselves, would annihilate him beyond a doubt. But as +he is apt to do the very reverse of what we would prescribe, the man +upon whom rests the responsibility of confronting him, must use his +reason, and modify orders according to circumstances. What is to be, +you cannot include in your paper plans of attack; but the Duke of +Lorraine has met every emergency as it presented itself on the +field, and every true Austrian should be his friend." + +"Your majesty," cried the margrave, greatly irritated, "the +president of this council must nevertheless persist in his +conviction that the highest court of military jurisdiction is here, +and that the commander-in-chief of the army is its subordinate." + +"You mistake the extent of its power," replied the emperor, with +composure. "It is merely expected of the general-in-chief that he +act in concert with the war department." + +"Which the Duke of Lorraine has never done!" cried the margrave, +impetuously. + +"Perhaps the blame lay in the injudicious exactions of the minister +of war," replied Leopold, carelessly; "and if, despite of all the +obstacles that were placed in his way, he has subdued Hungary, you +have no part in his glory, my lord; for in every case your judgment +has been contrary to his." + +"It follows, then, that I have not filled my office to the +satisfaction of your majesty," said the margrave, choking with +anger. + +"I regret to say that I have less confidence in your judgment than +in your ability, my lord; the former is unhappily often obscured by +prejudice," replied Leopold, calmly. + +"Your majesty," cried the margrave, "in this case I shall feel +compelled--" + +"I do not wish you to say or do any thing on compulsion, my lord; I +prefer to assign you a position in which your talents, being +unfettered by your antipathies, will shine with undimmed lustre. You +have complained of late that the duties of the war department have +become irksome to you; if so, I can give you an appointment less +onerous to you, but equally important to the state. I am just now in +need of an intelligent representative before the imperial Diet. This +charge I commit to you, premising that you must start for your post +immediately, that you may infuse some life into the stagnant +councils of the ambassadors of the princes of Germany." + +"Your majesty wishes to banish me from court?" asked the margrave, +pale with anger. + +"Certainly not, your highness," replied the emperor, gently. "I send +you on an honorable embassy, and one whereat I need a capable and +fearless advocate. The question to be decided before the imperial +Diet is one of life or death to Austria, nay--to Germany. France is +evidently preparing for war with the German empire. Her fortresses +on the eastern frontier are all garrisoned; her troops are +approaching; and under some pretext or other, they will cross our +boundary lines. This being the case, the princes of the empire must +cease their everlasting petty dissensions, and band themselves +together for the defence of Germany. Be it your task to strengthen +the bond of unity between them, and to convince them that in close +alliance with Austria safety is to be found for all. I know of no +man who can serve my interests at Regensburg as well as you, my +lord; while, happily, I can find a substitute for your presidential +chair at home, in Count von Starhemberg. And now, farewell; and let +me hear from you as soon as possible." + +The emperor extended his hand to the margrave, who, scarcely able to +control his dissatisfaction, barely raised it to his lips, and +hurried away. + +"My lords," said the emperor, "let us proceed to business. The +spring is nigh, and a new campaign is about to be planned. Count von +Starhemberg, as president of this assembly, will be so good as to +impart his views." + +Count von Starhemberg bowed:--"Your majesty, it appears to me that +our policy is to avoid a general engagement. The end of this +campaign is the reduction of Belgrade, and great precaution must be +used if we are to succeed. I would divide the army, so as to begin +operations at three points simultaneously, and weaken the enemy, by +scattering his forces. By detaching, we can easily defeat them, and +capture their arsenals. This accomplished, we proceed to Belgrade, +and, with the conquest of this Turkish stronghold, we end not only +the campaign, but the war." + +As Von Starhemberg concluded this harangue, the emperor addressed +himself to Prince Louis of Baden. + +"Your majesty," replied he, "I have no opinion to offer, for my +views coincide altogether with those of Count von Starhemberg." + +"And you, Count von Kinsky?" + +"Your majesty, I sustain the president." + +The same replies were forthcoming from Counts Liechtenstein and +Puchta, and the emperor, having heard each one, relapsed into +silence. After a pause, he spoke. "There reigns a remarkable +unanimity of opinion here, among the councils of the war +department," said he, with some emphasis. "Five members having but +one mind as to the prosecution of the war! Not one variation from +the plan of the president--not one suggestion--not even from so +experienced and able a general as Louis of Baden! This is singular +and surprising. We have yet to hear the youngest member of the +council. Field-Marshal Prince of Savoy, speak without restraint, and +fear not to express your own views." + +"Pardon me, your majesty," said Eugene, blushing, "if I venture to +dissent from the opinions expressed by those who are my seniors in +years, and my superiors in experience. But it is the duty of a man, +when called upon to speak, to speak honestly; and I should be untrue +to my most earnest convictions, were I to give in my adherence to +the plan proposed." + +Amazement was depicted upon the faces of the assembled councillors; +not only amazement, but disapprobation of Eugene's boldness. The +emperor, however, looked kindly at the prince, and bade him proceed. + +"With your majesty's permission, I am of the opinion that the entire +army be concentrated in an attack upon Belgrade. To divide our +forces will enfeeble them doubly; their numbers would be +inconsiderable, and their command by one chief, impossible. Division +is weakness--concentration is strength. Belgrade is our goal, and to +Belgrade let us march at once. Let us possess the key of Turkey, and +then we can make conditions with the Sultan." + +"I honor your frankness, prince," replied the emperor. "I should +respect it, were my opinion on the subject adverse to yours. But it +is not. My lords, I regret that we are not all of one mind; but I +must decide in favor of the campaign as proposed by Field-Marshal +Eugene of Savoy. I cannot consent to have the army crippled by +division; we must put forth all our strength, if we are to lay siege +to Belgrade, and to this one end let our warlike preparations be +directed." + +"Your majesty's will is law," replied Count von Starhemberg. "It +only remains for you to name the one to whom the chief command of +the Austrian forces is to be intrusted." + +"It is to be intrusted to him who has commanded it with such signal +ability--to the Duke of Lorraine, my lord.--And now, gentlemen," +added the emperor, rising, "the sitting is ended." + +"Your majesty," interposed Louis of Baden, "I crave a few moments +more." + +The emperor gave consent, and the young prince came forward and +spoke. + +"Your majesty, the chief command of the army being given to the Duke +of Lorraine, it follows that neither the Elector of Bavaria nor I +have any independent position; we are to obey the orders of the Duke +of Lorraine. This being the case, Max Emmanuel has commissioned me +to announce with the utmost respect that it does not become a +reigning prince to be the instrument of any other man's will. His +subjects have already complained of the subordinate rank of their +sovereign, and he cannot allow their sense of honor to be wounded by +a renewal of such affront. He therefore tenders his resignation. He +will withdraw the Bavarian troops, and take no part in your +majesty's projected campaign against the Turks." + +"We shall take time to consider the subject," replied Leopold, in a +tone of unconcern, "and will speak with the elector in person. Have +you anything else to say?" + +"Yes, your majesty." said Louis. "I, also, consider it beneath my +dignity to serve under a foreign prince, and I owe it to my own +self-respect to act with the elector, and to tender my resignation." + +The emperor looked searchingly at the troubled countenance of the +margrave, who blushed beneath his gaze, and cast down his eyes. + +"And you, too, would abandon your colors?" asked Leopold. + +The eyes of the margrave flashed fire. "I false to my colors!" +exclaimed he. + +"You," repeated the emperor. "With your rank, as Margrave of Baden, +I have nothing to do. You are an officer in my army, and have taken +the oath of allegiance to me, as your lord and emperor. I ask you if +you deem it honorable to desert your flag on the eve of a campaign? +Do we not call such conduct by the name of cowardice?" + +"Your majesty," cried Louis, vehemently, "I a--!" + +"I do not speak of you," interrupted Leopold, calmly. "I ask you, +if, at the moment of engaging the enemy, one of your ablest officers +were to come to you with the proposition you have just made to me, +by what word would you characterize the act?" + +"Your majesty--I--I--" stammered the margrave. + +"You cannot answer, my lord, but I will answer for you. You would +say to such a man, 'He who deserts his post in the hour of danger is +a coward.' But you, Margrave of Baden, are a man of honor, and +therefore you will withhold your vaulting ambition. You will not +strive with the destiny which makes Charles of Lorraine an older and +more experienced, but not a braver man than you; but you will return +to your duty, and emulate his greatness. Ambition is inseparable +from valor; but it must be checked by reason, or it degenerates into +envy. What would you think of a crown prince who should feel +humiliated at his subordinate rank when compared with that of his +father? When you entered my service, the Duke of Lorraine was +already general-in-chief of the armies of Austria; and, as he has +always led them to victory, it would be in the highest degree unjust +to supersede him by another. He who would command, must first learn +to obey. Margrave of Baden, I cannot accept your resignation." + +"I will do my duty," replied Louis, bowing low before the emperor's +reproof. "I submit myself to your majesty's decision, and remain." + +"Say, rather," returned Leopold, smiling affectionately upon the +young prince, "say rather that you go, for the campaign must open at +once. Be diligent, Count von Starhemberg; inaugurate your +preparations this very day; and you, Field-Marshal Prince of Savoy, +hasten to Innspruck, to communicate to the Duke of Lorraine the +result of our council of war." + +"I thank your majesty," replied Eugene, "for this gracious command. +May I be permitted to retire, and make my preparations to leave?" + +The emperor bowed his head, and addressed the Margrave of Baden. "As +there is no such urgency attending the movements of your highness, I +will be happy to consider you as my guest, and shall expect the +pleasure of your company at the opera.--You also, gentlemen," added +he to the other members of the war department. "The empress is +already in the theatre, awaiting our coming." + +And with these words, the emperor, followed by his councillors, left +the room. Without, the court was waiting to accompany him; and, when +the lord-chamberlain had announced to the world that his majesty the +emperor was about to visit the opera, the long, brilliant cortege +set itself in motion. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE DUMB MUSIC. + + +The court entered the theatre. The emperor's suite took possession +of the boxes on either side of the one appropriated to the imperial +family, while Leopold, followed by Prince Eugene, whom he delighted +to honor, entered the imperial box. + +"I wish to present our new field-marshal to the empress," said he to +his courtiers. + +The empress was seated in one corner of the box, busily engaged with +a piece of embroidery. She was so absorbed in the mysteries of silk +and golden stitching, that she scarcely remarked the entrance of the +court. For a moment her eyes met those of the emperor, to whom she +bowed and smiled; then, bending her head again, she resumed her +work. + +The emperor took a seat by her, and watched her flying fingers with +affectionate interest. "Your majesty is unusually industrious to- +day," said he, smiling, and touching the embroidery. + +"I was merely beguiling the hour of expectation which has passed +away with your majesty's presence, by completing a flower on this +altar-cloth, intended for the chapel of the blessed Eleanor, my +namesake." + +"The blessed Eleanor must excuse you to-day if I claim your presence +here," replied the emperor. "And let me implore you for a while to +fold those busy hands, and give your attention to the music which +has been gotten up for your especial gratification." + +The empress quietly folded her work, and rose from her tabouret. + +"Allow me to present to your majesty the youngest field-marshal in +the army," said Leopold, signing to Eugene to advance. + +"I congratulate your highness," replied the empress, while Eugene +knelt and kissed her hand. "Are you, indeed, so very young, prince?" + +"No, your majesty," said he, sadly. "I am so old, that I wonder my +hair is not gray." + +"Indeed! How old are you, then?" + +"Your majesty, I am forty-six years of age," replied Eugene. + +"Why, how can you say such a thing," exclaimed Leopold, "when +everybody knows you to be just twenty-three?" + +"Your majesty, are not the years of active service reckoned by the +soldier as double?" + +"Yes, assuredly, my young field-marshal." + +"Then, my liege, I am forty-six years of age, for my life has been +one long war with troubles and trials." + +The empress looked sympathizingly into the deep, sad eyes of the +young prince, and saw that he spoke the truth. + +"Have you then had many sorrows?" asked she, gently. + +"Ay, your majesty; I have struggled and suffered since childhood, +for I have ever been a soldier of misfortune." + +"But you are no longer one," said Leopold, laying his hand upon +Eugene's shoulder; "you have taken the oath of allegiance to +Austria, and misfortune has now no claim upon you." + +Eugene looked up, and the face of the emperor was beaming with +kindness. "Whatever betide, my liege," returned he, "I am yours for +life, and Austria is my land of adoption." + +"I am glad to hear it; and now there is but one thing wanting to +make you a subject after my own heart. You must marry an Austrian +wife that shall make you as happy a husband as myself, and transform +earth into heaven, as her majesty has done for me. It is in +commemoration of my own happiness that I have chosen the opera of +'Il Porno d'Oro' to celebrate the empress's festival. 'Il Porno +d'Oro'--that is, a happy union--the golden apple of paradise." + +And the emperor, enchanted to have turned the conversation to a +subject which was to him of supreme interest, offered his arm to the +empress, and conducted her to the front of the box. + +As soon as their majesties appeared, the spectators rose and cheered +them enthusiastically. The imperial pair took their seats, and +behind them stood Prince Eugene, the only other occupant of the box. + +The emperor now waved his hand as a signal to the marshal of the +household, who, raising his gilded staff, conveyed the imperial +command to the leader of the orchestra. "His majesty is graciously +pleased that the opera shall commence," cried the lord-chamberlain. + +The leader bowed to the emperor, and took his place, which was +conspicuously raised above that of the other musicians. + +"His majesty is graciously pleased to allow all present to be +seated," was the second cry of the emperor's mouth-piece. And now +was heard a rustling of ladies' silks, and of cavaliers' velvets, +and the grateful spectators took their seats, while the emperor, +with a look of extreme satisfaction, opened the score of the Porno +d'Oro, laid it on the ledge of the box, and began to hum the +overture. + +"Have you your text-book?" asked he of the empress. "I ordered one +for your especial use; a synopsis of the opera, with the principal +airs only. I hope that you received it. This one is too heavy for +you." + +The empress pointed to a purple-velvet book at her side, and +slightly bowed her head. + +Leopold nodded, much pleased, and then gave his attention to the +stage. + +The audience breathlessly awaited the opening. The leader flourished +his baton. The violins raised their bows, the haut-boys and horns +were clapped to the mouths of their respective performers, bass- +viols were seized, harps were clutched, and drumsticks were raised +in the air. + +Nevertheless, not a sound was heard from the orchestra! + +The emperor looked up from his score, and there, to be sure, was the +leader, his baton going from left to right--there were the violins +busy with their bows; the wind instruments were blowing for dear +life; the harpists were tugging at their strings; the drumsticks +were going with all their might--and not a sound! The musicians +might just as well have been so many phantoms. + +The emperor, in his bewilderment, turned to the empress, who was so +profoundly engaged with her score, that she murmured the words +thereof half aloud. + +"Do you hear the music?" asked her husband. + +She started a little, and, blushing deeply, looked very much +confused. "Yes, yes," replied she, absently; "it is very fine." + +"I must then have lost my hearing," said Leopold; "for I hear +nothing." And a second time ho glanced at the orchestra, where the +music was proceeding with the utmost energy. + +"I cannot unriddle the mystery," thought the emperor, "for the +empress hears the music and pronounces it fine. Prince Eugene," +added he, aloud, "Do YOU hear any thing?" + +"Not a sound, your majesty." + +The emperor, looking very much relieved, beckoned to the lord- +chamberlain, and sent him to inquire into the matter. + +The audience, meanwhile, were quite as astounded as their sovereign. +However, after a time they began to whisper and smile; and finally, +as the drummer performed an extra flourish with his drumsticks, a +voice was heard to cry out, "Bravo! bravo!" + +This was the signal for a general burst of laughter, which the +marshal of the household, though he shook his baton furiously, was +impotent to quell. While the merriment was at its height the lord- +chamberlain returned, and his countenance was expressive of extreme +indignation. + +Leopold, who for a moment had forgotten his Spanish formality, and +had retired to the back of the box, advanced eagerly to meet him. + +"What says the leader?" asked he, hastily. + +"The leader, your majesty, is in despair, and is as much at a loss +to account for the eccentricity of his orchestra as the audience +themselves. He says that the last rehearsal was perfectly +satisfactory." + +"Go, then, to the musicians. See the first violin, Baron von +Rietmann, and tell him that the overture must commence." + +The lord-chamberlain went off on his mission, while Leopold, in +undisguised impatience, stood at the door of his box waiting. The +empress, apparently not cognizant of any thing around her, kept her +eyes steadfastly riveted on her book. Prince Eugene had risen, and +stood behind the emperor. + +"What think you of this opera comique?" asked Leopold. + +"It is past my comprehension, your majesty. I cannot conceive how +they presume to--" + +The emperor suddenly interrupted him. "I begin to apprehend the +difficulty," said he, laughing. "My musicians are all of high rank, +and, as noblemen and artistes, they have a twofold pride. They know +perfectly well that I cannot do without them, and they occasionally +take advantage of the fact to annoy me. They have some cause of +complaint, I confess, and--Ah! What says Baron Rietmann?" + +"My liege,"--replied the chamberlain, pale and breathless. + +"Do not look so terrified," said Leopold; "what says the baron?" + +"Your majesty, I am ashamed to be the bearer of his message," sighed +the chamberlain. "He says their instruments will be dumb until the +arrears due the orchestra for the last three months are paid!" + +At this the emperor burst into an audible fit of laughter; then, +remembering himself, he glanced anxiously at his impassible empress, +to see if she had overheard him. No; she was perfectly unconscious +of any thing but her book. + +"Rietmann is a bold fellow," said Leopold at length, "but he is a +great artiste, and I forgive his presumption. He is quite correct, +however, as regards the orchestra. The imperial treasury has been +drained for the army, and nothing remains for my musicians." + +"Your majesty must order the army to refill the treasury at the +expense of the enemy," said Eugene, with a smile. "It is said that +the grand-vizier has immense treasures in Belgrade." + +"Capture them all, field-marshal, for we are sorely in need of them. +But let us try first to compromise with these musical rebels here.-- +Go, my lord-chamberlain, to Baron Rietmann, and say that the arrears +due the orchestra shall be paid to-morrow, and thereunto I pledge my +imperial word.--Now, Prince Eugene, let us resume our seats. I +presume that my golden promises will restore the dumb to speech." + +And so they did. Scarcely had the lord-chamberlain whispered the +emperor's dulcet words into the baron's ear, before a signal passed +between the musicians, and the overture began. [Footnote: This scene +is historical.--See "Life and Deeds of Leopold the Great."] + +The scenic effect of the opera was beautiful. The fountains were of +real water, and graceful naiads disported within their marble +basins; and there was lightning and thunder; there were +transformations of men into animals, and finally, there was a golden +apple which fructified into a bewitching fairy. She sang so +delightfully that the emperor, in his enthusiasm, let fall his +score, and applauded with all his might. + +The fairy was encored, and as she was about to repeat her aria, the +emperor turned to the empress and requested leave to be allowed the +use of her text-book for a few minutes. In his eagerness he did not +remark her exceeding confusion; but as, taking the book from her +hands, he gave a glance at its pages, lie uttered an exclamation of +surprise. + +And no wonder! For, instead of an opera-score, he found a prayer- +book! + +"I hope your majesty will excuse me," stammered the empress. "In +absence of mind, I brought my prayer-book instead of the score." + +"And your majesty was praying for us," replied Leopold, half-vexed, +half-amused. "But in our sinful way, we, too, are praying; for +surely music such as this is both prayer and praise; and He who +taught the nightingale her song, must surely rejoice to hear from +human tongues the strains which He has revealed to inspired human +genius!" + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE RETIREMENT OF THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. + + +The imperial army, in five divisions, had marched to the Turkish +frontier. They had traversed Transylvania, taking, on their way, the +fortresses of Grosswardein, Sziget, and Canischa; and, farther on +their victorious march, Peterwardein and Illock. + +The Turks had pursued their usual mode of vengeful retreat, tracing +their march with fire and blood, and, wheresoever they were forced +to surrender, leaving to the victors naught but the smouldering +ruins of the strongholds from which they had been driven. + +The imperialists were eager to invest Belgrade; but their general- +in-chief was ill; and for several days they had watched in vain to +see the hangings of his tent drawn aside, and hear the welcome order +to march. + +Finally a courier arrived from Vienna, and it was rumored that +instructions had been received to advance. The troops were all the +more hopeful that, immediately after the dismissal of the courier, +the Duke of Lorraine had sent a messenger to Field-Marshal the +Prince of Savoy, requesting his presence at headquarters. + +The prince obeyed the summons without delay, and, entering the tent, +found the adjutant and the duke's physician, sitting together, +discoursing mournfully to each other of the illness of the beloved +commander. + +"I fear," said the surgeon, "that his highness is attacked with +nervous fever; his symptoms indicate it. He passed a restless night, +and is suffering from intense headache. He must not be excited; he +can therefore see nobody." + +"But he has sent for me," objected Eugene. + +The surgeon shook his head. "Your highness has heard my opinion, +and, if you approach him, it must be on your own responsibility." + +"I am a soldier," replied Eugene, smiling, "and must obey orders. I +have been sent for by the general, and must at least be announced." + +At this moment the hangings of the inner tent were drawn aside, and +Martin, the duke's old valet, came forward. + +"Am I wanted?" asked the surgeon. + +"No, sir," replied Martin. "His excellency bade me see if the--Ah! +There he is! Your highness, the duke begs your presence at once, and +requests these gentlemen to leave the tent until his conference with +your highness is at an end. He is very nervous, and the least +rustling affects his head." + +"Just as I feared," sighed the surgeon. "Martin, in one hour I shall +return, to change the cold compress." + +Eugene entered the sleeping apartment of the duke, and his pleasure +at being admitted to see his commander, was changed into anxiety, +when he beheld the pale, careworn face of the duke, and saw his head +enveloped in bandages. + +"Martin, have they left the tent?" inquired he, languidly. + +"Yes, your highness; and I shall remain and keep watch that no one +may enter." + +"Do it, good Martin, for indeed I do not wish to be disturbed." + +Martin disappeared, and the duke, removing his bandages, rose from +the couch, and sank into an arm chair. + +"We are alone, and I may as well dispense with all this; it is +needless." + +"Then, your highness, God be thanked, is not sick?" exclaimed +Eugene. + +"Yes, I am sick," replied the duke, sadly, "but not in the sense in +which my physician supposes. A malady of the mind is not to be cured +by compresses." + +"Have you bad news?" asked Eugene, with tender sympathy. + +"Ah, yes," sighed the duke. "Bad news for him who, loving his +fatherland more than self, is withheld from willing sacrifice by the +unworthy strivings of ambition with duty. But of that anon. I have +sent for you to confer of the affairs of the Austrian army; for I +know that I can count upon your sincerity, and trust to your +discretion." + +"Your highness knows how unspeakable is the love I bear you; you +well know that it is the aim of my life to imitate, though I may +never hope to rival, your greatness." + +"I thank you for your honest affection, dear Eugene," replied the +duke, looking fondly into the speaking face of his youthful +worshipper. "I thank God that you are here, to complete what I am +forced to leave unfinished." + +"Your highness would forsake Austria!" cried Eugene, alarmed. + +"Ask rather, my son, whether Austria has not forsaken me," was the +mournful reply. "It is of this that I would speak with you. You are +the only officer in the army that does not bear me ill-will; and to +your sound and impartial judgment I am about to submit the question +of my resignation." + +"Resignation!" + +"Yes; but first let us talk of the campaign which is before us. You +know that its main object is the capture of Belgrade." + +Eugene bowed assent. + +The duke laid his finger on a topographical chart that lay on a +table close by. "Here is the key which opens the door to Turkey. +Unless we obtain this key, our past victories are all without +significance, and for years we have been pouring out Christian blood +in vain." + +"But we shall take Belgrade," cried Eugene. "We have sixty-six +thousand well-armed men, all eager for the fray." + +"And the Turks have one hundred and fifty thousand." + +"But they are not a consolidated army, and we must prevent them from +uniting their forces." + +"True; and for this end I have sent Prince Louis of Baden to Bosnia +with six thousand men, that he may keep them busy at Gradiska. But +the long march has exhausted his troops, and he has written to ask +for re-enforcements. I must grant them; and to-morrow I send him +four thousand men. How many does that leave us?" + +"About fifty thousand, general." + +"Suppose the enemy oppose fifty thousand to our ten, in Bosnia, +there still remain to him twice as many as we can oppose to him." + +"Yes; but they are not commanded by a Duke of Lorraine," exclaimed +Eugene, with enthusiasm. "A great general outweighs the disparity of +numbers." + +A sad smile played about the duke's features. "I am not +indispensable to Austria's success," said he. "My men will fight as +bravely under another commander as they have done under me; but I do +not say that I relinquish them to that other without a pang." + +"Has such a question been raised?" asked Eugene, sadly. + +"You are too close an observer not to have suspected it. Do you +remember my telling you that I would be obliged to succumb to the +hatred of my enemies?" + +"Yes, your highness." + +"I did not overrate their influence. Even those who hate each other +forget their hatred, to persecute me. And yet I have never done them +the least wrong. There is Prince Louis of Baden--I have shown him +every mark of distinction in my power, and yet he hates me." + +"Too true," sighed Eugene. "And I confess that since I have known +it, I love him less." + +"You are wrong. He is merely an echo of his uncle, who has some +right to hate me, for to me he owes the loss of his place as +president of the war department. He was not fit for the office, and +I convinced the emperor of his incapacity. This, I allow, to be a +ground of dislike. But there is another distinguished officer, too, +that hates me. What have I done to Max Emmanuel?" + +"You have not only given him every opportunity to gain renown, but +often have I admired your magnanimity when he has conspicuously +paraded his ill-will." + +"I thank you for that avowal, Eugene; for well I know how +unwillingly you blame the elector. And he deserves your friendship, +for he loves you sincerely. He has a noble heart, although I have +not been able to win it; he is a fearless hero, and a great military +chieftain. It is a pity that we were contemporaries. Were I to die +to-day, no man would be louder in my praise than he; but I live, and +he cannot brook a rival." + +"Nay, your highness, he is not so presuming as to suppose that he is +worthy to supplant you." + +"He is about to supplant me, Eugene. I forgive him; for he is young, +ambitious, and conscious of his own genius, which, while I enjoy the +chief command, is hampered by a subordinate position. He is just as +capable as myself; but I do not feel that he is my superior, and +therefore it pains me to be obliged to resign my command to him." + +"You do not think of such a thing! What would be the effect of your +retirement upon the troops?" + +"They would cry out, as the Frenchmen do, 'Le roi est mort, vive le +roi!' I am not self-deceived as to the ephemeral nature of military +popularity. It is always directed toward an object present and +tangible, and speedily consoles itself for the loss of one idol by +replacing it with another. But now, listen to me. A courier has just +arrived from Vienna. The president of the war department declares +himself unable to put any more troops in the field; he has neither +money nor munition more. The emperor writes under his own hand that +he has several times called upon the Elector of Bavaria to join his +command, and place himself at the head of his Bavarians." + +"And he has refused!" cried Eugene. + +"No. He has accepted, but conditionally only. Can you guess his +conditions?" + +Eugene turned pale and stammered: "Your highness, I cannot--I hope +that I do not--" + +"Well, I see that you have guessed. He demands the chief command of +the entire army." + +"But if the emperor, as a matter of course, refuses this +unreasonable and presumptuous demand?" + +"Then he withdraws his troops. Peace--peace! I know that you love +the elector: let us not discuss his acts, but consider their +bearings upon the welfare of Austria. For months the emperor has +been trying to arrange matters, but all in vain. Count Strattmann, +the last envoy, who had a long personal interview with Max, says +that he will not retreat from his exactions. He assumes the chief +command, or his troops are this day ordered to Bavaria." + +"The emperor will never yield. He ought not to yield." + +"The decision of this difficulty has been left with me. Max is close +at hand, in Essek, awaiting my determination. And now, Eugene, what +answer shall I send him?" + +"There is but one. The Austrian army cannot spare the Duke of +Lorraine." + +"But still less can it spare the Bavarian troops. How many men did +you say that we counted in all?" + +"Fifty thousand, your highness." + +"And of these, how many are from Bavaria?" + +"Eight thousand infantry," said Eugene, with a sigh. + +"And four thousand cavalry. In all, twelve thousand; and let us do +him justice: the troops of the elector are an admirably disciplined +and efficient body of men. Now, if we lose this number, our forces +are reduced to thirty-eight thousand. Can we confront a hundred +thousand Turks with such a handful?" + +Eugene spoke not a word. His face was bent over the chart, but it +was easy to see that he was powerfully agitated. After a long +silence, the duke pointed with his finger to the spot on the map +which the prince had apparently been examining. + +"This tear is my answer," said he. "We cannot spare the Bavarians." + +"Too true," murmured Eugene, "too true." + +"Then the general must sacrifice his ambition to the national +welfare; he must retire from his command." + +"Oh, no! Not yet. Let ME go to the elector. We are intimate friends, +and I will persuade him to retract his unrighteous exactions." + +"You will not succeed. Moreover, I would not accept the sacrifice. +Could we have done without his troops, I would joyfully have +retained my command; but we have no right to ask of Max Emmanuel, +who cannot be spared, to yield to me, who can be spared. I repeat +it, then: I accept no sacrifice from the elector, nor will I be +outdone by any man in magnanimity. The wound smarts, I am not +ashamed to confess it; but my duty is too clear before me for +hesitation; and in its fulfilment I have great consolation. To you, +dear Eugene, this hour will afford a valuable lesson." + +"Ay, indeed," replied Eugene. "It will teach me high resolve and +holy resignation. If I ever should be tempted to envy the greatness +of a rival, I will remember the day on which my friend's mad +ambition deprived an army of its great and renowned commander." + +"You are not apt to have rivals, Eugene, for you will surpass all +your contemporaries in military genius. As for me, I retire, but I +shall probably find other opportunities of using my sword for +Austria. If--as God grant!--we should be victorious again this year, +the King of France will show his teeth, and perhaps the laurels I +have lost on the Save I may recover on the Rhine. And now, son of my +heart, farewell! God be with you, now and evermore!" + +He embraced Eugene with affection, and, returning to the table, rang +for Martin. The old man answered the summons, whereupon the duke +began at once to give orders for his departure. + +"Say to the surgeon that my head is worse, and that I crave his +attendance. Then see the imperial couriers, and send them hither." + +"The surgeon is here," said that individual, coming forward. "But +what do I see? Your highness has risen?" + +"Yes, doctor, for I am too ill to remain in camp any longer, and we +must start to-day for Innspruck, where you will find me an altered +man, and the most submissive of patients." + +"Thank Heaven!" replied the surgeon, "for your highness needs rest." + +"I will take as much as is needful," said the duke. "And now," added +he to Eugene, "will you do me a last favor?" + +"What can I do for your highness?" + +"Seat yourself at my escritoire, and write what I shall dictate." + +Eugene took up his pen and wrote: + +"INSTRUCTIONS FOR MY OFFICERS:" + +"My health being too weak to allow of my remaining any longer in +active service, I am compelled to resign the command of the imperial +armies to another. My successor, his highness the Elector of +Bavaria, is at Essek, and will he with the army in a few hours. +Until his arrival, I appoint Field-Marshal Count Caprara my +representative. God protect the emperor and his brave army!" + +"Thank you, prince," added the duke. "Now be so good as to reach me +your pen, that I may sign my name." + +When his signature had been appended to this short proclamation, the +duke, sighing heavily, said, "Eugene, do you know what I have just +signed? My death-warrant!" + +"Oh, my general!" + +"Hush! Here come the couriers." + +The duke bade them welcome, adding, "Did his imperial majesty charge +you with any letter subject to my order?" + +"Yes, your highness. We have one to the Elector of Bavaria, which, +according as your highness commanded, was to be delivered to the +elector, or returned to his majesty." + +"Hasten to Essek, and deliver it to the elector.--And you, baron," +said he, addressing the other courier, "return to Vienna, and say to +the emperor that, as you were leaving the camp, I was departing for +Innspruck; and, that you may be able to speak the truth literally, +you shall see me go. If I mistake not, Martin is coming to say that +my travelling-carriage awaits me." + +"Yes, your highness, we wait for nothing but your commands." + +"Then let us depart. Doctor, you will bear me company as far as +Innspruck, will you not? Give me your arm, Prince Eugene." + +With these words, he put his arm around the prince's neck, and, +supporting himself on that slender frame, the duke, who was a man of +tall stature, left his tent, and walked slowly to the carriage. + +Behind him, in solemn silence, came the physician and the two +couriers. At the door of the chariot he let his arm glide away from +Eugene's neck, gave him one last fond look, one last friendly +pressure, and then was gone! + +The prince followed him with his eyes, until the chariot had +disappeared from view. Then, sad and solitary, he returned to his +own tent. + +"And thus I am doomed to lose all that I love!" was his bitter +reflection. "The Duke of Lorraine--Laura!--Oh, my Laura, how light +to me were other losses, wert thou but here to smile me to +forgetfulness!" + +And, with his head bowed down between his hands, Eugene forgot all +time, to dream of his love. For several hours he sat thus--his +spirit all unconscious of the day, the hour, the place--when +suddenly he was aroused from his reverie by a familiar voice. + +"Eugene," cried Max Emmanuel, "where are you? The whole army is +shouting me a welcome, and my friend has no greeting for me! He +waits until I force myself into his tent to claim his +congratulations!" + +"I was not aware that your highness had arrived. I--I--" + +"And is this my welcome!" cried the elector, disappointed. "Are you +displeased with me for superseding your master and hero?" + +"Yes, proud, ambitious Max, I am grieved; for you are right, he was +my master and my hero." + +"Proud, ambitious, am I? Yes, I acknowledge it, and acknowledge it +without shame. The day for hero-worship has passed away, and that of +heroic action has dawned for both of us. Forgive me if I have +usurped the place of your demi-god; and, in his stead, accept your +friend and companion-in-arms. Think of the pledge we made before +Buda, and refuse me not the advantage of your support. Without you. +I cannot capture Belgrade; with you, I feel that I am invincible. +Will you not sustain me?" + +"I will, dear Max, and, sorely though you have grieved me, I bid you +welcome." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE FALL OF BELGRADE. + + +Two months had passed away since Max Emmanuel assumed command of the +imperial army. During this time the besiegers had dug trenches and +thrown up embankments; had demolished fortifications, and thrown +bridges across the Save, with a view to attacking the Turks both in +front and rear. The latter had been obliged to look on while all +this had been progressing, impotent, in spite of their valor, to +stop proceedings. Of course they had thrown bombs and sprung mines +under the feet of their enemies, but nothing dismayed the Austrians, +and finally they were prepared to assault the city. + +The duke had twice called upon Achmed Pacha to surrender. The first +summons, sent by a Turkish prisoner, was laconically answered by the +gibbeting of the unfortunate messenger within sight of the Austrian +camp. To the second, Achmed Pasha replied by a thousand greetings to +the brave Duke of Lorraine; adding that the siege would terminate as +it pleased God. + +"And we are here to carry out His will," observed the duke, +laughing. "The miners must cease their work neither day nor night; +they may be relieved, but must not stop. Tell them that if they work +me a passage to the fortress by the 16th of September, I will give +to each one of them from this day forward a gratuity of two ducats a +day." + +On the 15th of September the Turkish commander was a third time +summoned to surrender. This last summons was treated with +contemptuous silence. It had been delivered to Achmed Pacha, while, +accompanied by his Janizaries, he was on his way to the mosque. When +he had finished its perusal he addressed two of his officers that +were walking on either side of him. + +"What answer would you advise me to make to the Christian commander- +in-chief?" asked he of the first. "In the name of Allah and the +Prophet, I call upon you to speak according to your convictions." + +The two Janizaries exchanged glances of uneasiness; but Achmed +Pacha's stern, handsome face was inscrutable in its composure. + +"We are sorely pressed," replied the officer, mustering courage to +speak. "Unless Allah work a miracle in our favor, we must succumb; +it seems to me, therefore, that a useless defence will but +exasperate the enemy." + +Achmed Pacha turned to the other. "And you?" said he, mildly. + +"Most illustrious leader of the armies of the faithful," said the +second officer, quite reassured as to consequences, "if you insist +upon hearing the candid opinion of the least of your servants, I +must venture to say that our garrison is exhausted and spiritless. +Allah has forsaken us, and it were better to stop further effusion +of blood by an honorable surrender." + +Achmed's eyes now darted fire, and the angry blood rushed to his +pale brow. He signed to a third officer to advance. + +"You have heard these traitors," said he in a loud, distinct voice. +"Off with their cowardly heads, and bear them through the city on +pikes, while a herald shall come after you, crying out to all who +choose to profit by the warning, 'Such is the fate of the traitors +that counsel submission to the Christian!'" + +The officers were thrown to the ground, and, in a few moments, their +headless trunks lay stretched on the earth, while their heads were +borne aloft through the streets of Belgrade. + +"Justice is satisfied," said Achmed Pacha, solemnly; "now let us +betake ourselves to prayer. Let us thank Allah, who has turned away +the perils by which we were threatened, and is preparing for the +faithful a great triumph over their unbelieving foe. The grand- +vizier is at hand with re-enforcements, and ere long the Christians +will be put to ignominious flight." + +This declaration of the general soon made its way to every house in +the city, and caused universal joy. The soldiers crowded around +their chief and swore to defend Belgrade until the grand-vizier +arrived. + +"And the Sultan will reward you all," said Achmed. "The booty will +be left to the soldiery, and the commander of the faithful will pour +out the treasures of his generosity from the horn of his +beneficence. The defenders of Belgrade will be the nearest to his +throne and his heart, and to your children shall descend the honors +he will confer! Now come and let us praise Allah for the glory you +are about to win!" + +And with this flourish of promises, Achmed Pacha entered the mosque. +Once there, he fell upon his knees, and prayed after the following +fashion--: + +"Allah, forgive me the lies which I have just uttered before the +gates of Thy holy temple. Allah, make true my words: send hither, I +implore Thee, the help I have ventured to promise to my unhappy +garrison; for the two unfortunates whom I have just executed were +the speakers of truth; if a miracle is not vouchsafed to us, we are +lost." + +In the Christian camp Max Emmanuel was making ready to storm the +city; and his troops, with beating hearts, were eagerly awaiting the +signal to begin the assault. + +"You are really going to commence your attack?" asked the Duke of +Mantua of the elector. + +"Not only to commence, but to finish it," was the reply. "Before the +sun sets, Belgrade must be ours." + +"Very flue and sententious," replied the duke, with a shrug, "but, +unfortunately, impracticable." + +"Well--nobody can deny that your highness is a FAR-SEEING warrior," +said Max, laughing, and remembering Mohacz. [Footnote: The Duke of +Mantua had promised to come to the assistance of the emperor. In +1637 he visited the imperial camp, where he was received with every +mark of consideration. On the morning of the battle of Mohacz, as +the troops were about to make the attack, he came up to General +Caprara, and in the coolest manner asked from what point he could +best observe the fight. The general replied, "Your highness must +join the staff of the commander-in-chief if you wish to look on +without being mixed up in the general engagement."--"But the staff +are in constant danger, as well as the rest," was his answer, "and I +might be struck by a ball or a bomb-shell."--"Oh!" cried Caprara, +"you wish to look on without endangering your life! Then go upto the +top of yonder mountain." The duke went, and remained there until the +battle was ended.] "You have an eagle-glance for a field of battle, +and I propose to renew for you to-day the spectacle which last year +you enjoyed looking on, while the rest of us were fighting." + +"Think you that Belgrade is a bee-hive, and that the Turks are to be +smoked therefrom, like a swarm of bees?" + +"I think that Belgrade is peopled by Turks, not bees; and yet I +shall smoke them out of it this very day. Will you bet me five +thousand ducats that I do not?" + +"Yes, I take the bet; and although five thousand ducats is a +considerable sum, I sincerely hope I may lose it. I shall make, +haste to return to my villa, whence I can look on the assault, while +I pray for the success of your arms." + +"We shall have unspeakable comfort in the thought," cried the +elector, galloping off to join his staff. + +"A pious Moses that," said he to Prince Eugene. "I am really glad +that he has again taken his leave. I lose all my pride of manhood +when I look upon such a poltroon, and think that we are of the same +species." + +"He is a natural curiosity," said Eugene, "a mere exception to his +race. I rather enjoy the contemplation of such a sporadic case of +cowardice." + +The attack was to begin at five points simultaneously. When the +fifth courier had reported his division to be in readiness, the +elector, giving orders to his staff which dispersed them for a +while, turned to Eugene and began in a low voice: + +"Eugene, I feel like a lover who has just become a husband. My heart +beats with anticipation of bliss, and is all aflame with desire." + +"I should think you had clasped Bellona to your heart so often, that +you would have learned to accept her favors without excitement or +anxiety," returned Eugene, playfully. + +Max glanced at the calm and self-possessed prince, and replied: "You +shall teach me self-control, dear Eugene, for you have wonderful +mastery over your emotions. Did I not know what a warm heart is +throbbing under that composed demeanor, I should imagine Prince +Eugene to be a mere compound of wisdom and self-possession; and yet +I know that, at this very moment, that heart is burning with love +for one who, in the hour of battle, is dearer to him than ever. +Eugene, this is a moment of solemnity enough for me to ask you +whether Laura lives?" + +"I do not know," murmured he, nervously grasping his reins, and +becoming very pale. "I have no news, and yet, if she were dead, my +heart would tell me so; I believe, then, that she is alive, and, +should I fall to-day, there hangs a medal lion around my neck (her +dear portrait), which must be sent to her. Say that I died loving +her beyond all power of speech to convey; that for her love, I bless +and thank her, trusting that she will forgive me for having been the +cause of all her misfortunes. I am grateful to you, Max, for having +spoken of her to me. If I die, this is my last will." + +"Enviable saint, that has but one legacy and one love! I shall take +very good care not to entertain you with the history, in many +volumes, of all my various loves. But the last of them you can greet +for me, should I fall to-day; and you will do it cordially, for she +is Laura's sister-in-law. Tell my beautiful Lucretia that I have +been happy in her love; and, although I would not have her mourn for +me, I hope she will sometimes waft me a thought or a gentle sigh. +And now--to arms, and to victory! You promise to fight at my side, +do you not?" + +"Yes, Max--nothing but death shall part us, until Belgrade is ours." + +"Give me your left hand, while, with the right, I give the signal +for the attack." + +So saying, the elector held aloft a silken flag, which fluttered for +a moment, and then boldly caught the breeze.--There was a short +silence; then every Christian gun proclaimed defiance to the Turk. + +Early in the action, General Scarffenberg was mortally wounded; but +he had carried his point of attack, and with his dying eyes he saw +the Austrians mount the breach, and drive away the enemy at the +point of the bayonet. The bastion once reached, the men, almost +reeling with fatigue, paused for a moment to regain breath. The +enemy taking advantage of the halt, returned and poured out such +numbers of fresh assailants that the Christians from sheer +exhaustion began to falter, and were about to be driven back, when +Prince Eugene, seeing their danger, sprang forward to General +Sereni, and called for re-enforcements. + +Placing himself at their head, the bastion was recaptured, and the +Austrians rushed eagerly forward to follow up their success. + +But just beyond the breach lay a deep, wide trench, behind which the +enemy had fortified themselves, and were now pouring out a murderous +fire. + +"The line of these breastworks must be broken," said the elector. + +But the question was--how were they to be broken? Not a path was to +be seen conducting thither: and the imperialists, hurried forward by +the eager troops behind, who were unaware of the impediment in +front, seemed to have no alternative but that of inevitable death or +retreat. + +Retreat! odious word, which the officers could not bring their lips +to pronounce. And yet there was no possibility of advancing; and to +remain stationary was to offer themselves for massacre. The soldiers +were so closely packed together that they could make no use of their +weapons, while the Turks were shooting them down like so many birds +in a battue. The elector stood by the side of the breach, and called +a hasty council of his officers. + +"We have done enough for to-day," said General Sereni. "We can +intrench ourselves behind the breach, and renew the attack to- +morrow." + +"The men are exhausted," urged another. "We will surely capture the +fortress to-morrow." + +The elector had listened in perfect silence to the various changes +rung on the same idea; but he was not altogether convinced. He now +turned to Eugene, who spoke not a word, but gazed sharply from the +trench to the serried ranks of Turks on the opposite side. He raised +his eyes with a mournful, questioning look, to the face of the +perplexed commander. Their glances met, and a smile of perfect +understanding passed between them. + +The elector hurried forward to the brink of the trench; behind him +came Eugene. Both drew their swords, and, brandishing them above +their heads, Max Emmanuel called out in clear, distinct, and ringing +tones: + +"Comrades, look, and follow me!" + +Then the two heroes sprang into the trench, and the troops rushed +forward to follow them. Many dislocated their limbs, as they leaped +down; but such as escaped without broken bones went onward, fighting +like tigers. + +Suddenly an arrow pierced the cheek of the elector, and his face was +covered with blood. + +"You are wounded, dear Max!" cried Eugene, affrighted. + +The elector laughed, and, drawing out the arrow, replied, "Not at +all; this is Bellona's first kiss." + +And, like a furious lion, he dashed ahead, and avenged the kiss by +many a stout blow of his sword. + +The Janizaries were driven from their breastworks, but, ere they +went, one of them, astonished at the prowess of Eugene, whom he took +to be a lad, was determined to make short work of the insolent boy +that was slaying right and left like another David. + +He raised his brawny arm, and smiled contemptuously upon so puny an +adversary. But when he would have dealt his blow, it was parried by +a thrust of such power that he reeled and almost lost his balance. +In his fury he raised his cimeter and cleft the helmet of the prince +in twain. + +For a moment Eugene was dizzy, though uninjured; but, quickly +recovering his senses, he made a lunge at the Janizary and ran him +through the body. Without waiting to see him die, the prince drew +out his sabre and darted onward. The imperialists shouted and +cheered him as he went, but the Turks, too, had witnessed the deed, +and more than one musket was vengefully aimed at the slayer of the +Paynim Goliath. One--one, alas! has reached the mark. It has pierced +his foot, and he is no longer in a condition to make another step. +Heaven be praised that the Turks have taken flight, and that the +Christians have possessed themselves of the trench! Eugene has the +comfort of knowing that he will not he a captive, and this assurance +gives him strength to drag himself within speaking distance of a +group of soldiers. + +"Bear me away, if you please," said he; "I cannot walk." + +Two of them hastened to his relief, and bore him tenderly away to +the spot where a field-surgeon was attending to the wounded. + +The town and citadel have fallen; nothing now remains to the Turks +but the castle, from the windows of which a white flag is +proclaiming their defeat and surrender. But the Christians do not +see it; and the elector, followed by his victorious troops, rushes, +sword in hand, to the prison wherein the Christian prisoners are +confined. The dungeons were crowded with fugitive Turks, who had +betaken themselves thither as the safest place to be found. They +cried for mercy, and it was granted them. Their lives were spared, +but they were prisoners. Achmed Pacha was among them. He came +forward and bent the knee before his conqueror. + +"Allah has willed it," said he, "and may his name be praised! +General, thou hast prevailed, and I am thy prisoner. I ask but one +favor of thee. Give me no Greek or Rascian for my master; let me +serve a German." + +The elector smilingly raised him, and explained that Christians did +not enslave their prisoners of war. "You have defended yourself +heroically," added he, "and we honor a brave enemy. The Emperor of +Germany alone is the arbiter of your fate." + +"Allah will decide what that fate is to be," was the pious response +of the Mussulman. + +The Elector of Bavaria has won his wager; but what cares a +victorious hero for ducats or dastards like the Duke of Mantua? + +"Where is Eugene?" was his first inquiry. And, not seeing him among +his followers, he darted out of the castle in search of his friend. + +The question passed from man to man, until one was found at last to +answer it. The prince was in the hands of the imperial surgeons, who +were vainly endeavoring to extract the ball. + +The elector dragged one of them aside. "Is he dangerously wounded?" +asked he, anxiously. + +"He may not die of the wound," was the surgeon's reply; "but it will +be tedious and very painful." + +"He will live!" cried Max, wiping away a tear, and hastening to the +litter whereon Eugene was lying. + +He bent over him, and gently touched his forehead. + +Eugene raised his large, melancholy eyes, and looking upon the +beaming face that encountered his, he pointed to the wound, around +which the blood had already coagulated, and said: + +"Happy Max, whom Bellona has kissed! Me she has trodden under foot." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE MARCHIONESS. + + +"Strozzi, take my advice, and give up this miserable life. Of all +earthly bores, solitude is the greatest." + +"No, Barbesieur, in solitude I find my only comfort," returned +Strozzi, with a weary sigh. "Here, at least, Laura is indubitably +mine; here she is Marchioness de Strozzi." + +"She is Marchioness de Strozzi throughout the entire world. as I am +ready to prove, who saw your hands joined together, and heard your +reciprocated vows in Paris." + +"Yes, yes; but you know that she denies the marriage, and persists +that she is the wife of Eugene of Savoy." + +"She is a sentimental fool," cried Barbesieur, with a coarse laugh. +"And devil take me but I would cure her of her folly were she my +wife! If she will not love you, man, why do you not force her to +fear you?" + +"Fear me! Her soul knows not fear. Have I not tried to intimidate +her over and over again? and every threat I hurl, she thrusts back +into my teeth, as though her spirit were defended from harm by some +invisible, enchanted armor." + +"And you love her! You, the master and jailer, creep about, with +sallow cheek and sunken eye, while your prisoner is the very +impersonation of hopeful happiness. At every unexpected step she +listens with a smile; if a cloud stray across the window, she +mistakes it for the shadow of deliverance! Verily, my excellent +father, who sent me hither to find out whether you were slowly +killing his daughter by your cruelty, will scarcely believe me when +I tell him what a beneficial effect has been produced upon her by +your wholesome restraint. You must know that, although not +remarkable for his social virtues, Monsieur Louvois has intervals of +puling sensibility, at which times he reproaches himself with the +part he took in the comedy of your marriage, and, since Prince +Eugene has grown famous, almost repents that he did not accept that +fascinating individual for his son-in-law. He is beginning to be +absolutely afraid of the little ex-abbe." + +"And I too fear him," said Strozzi, gnashing his teeth. "He bears a +charmed life, or he would not see the light of heaven to-day. I +thought I had him beyond all power of rescue, once in Venice. So +sure was I that he must die, that I hastened to Laura and announced +his demise. That night I took her away, hoping by change of scene to +induce forgetfulness, where hope, of course, was extinct. One day, +in Milan, a group of men were talking of some recent victory of the +imperialists, and to my amazement I heard the name of the Prince of +Savoy among those who had most distinguished themselves." + +"Was Laura with you?" asked Barbesieur. + +"Alas, she was! And her beautiful face was transfigured with joy. I +felt as if I could have swooned with jealousy. I hurried her home, +and in half an hour she was on the road to this castle. Here I knew +that no news could ever reach her of the world or its heroes; here I +could leave her, and fear not to absent myself, for this is a lonely +forest, no strangers ever wander hither, and I have good, watchful +dragons to guard my treasure. I posted then, with all speed, to +Venice, entered the palace at night, and made my way to the secret +prison of which you have heard, to see for myself if it could +possibly be true that Eugene of Savoy was living." + +"Did you find any one?" + +"Of course, some man was bound to be there: else he could not have +escaped. Conceive my fury when I recognized my own hired bravo, +Antonio, who must have betrayed me, and remained instead of the +prince. I opened a niche in the wall, kicked his rotten carcass into +the lagoon, and, more wretched than ever, returned to this hell +wherein I languish, while paradise is within sight." + +"How long do you intend to make a voluntary Tantalus of yourself." + +"I shall stay until she forgets Prince Eugene, and loves me." + +"I wish you joy; meanwhile I shall await your bulletins at my +delightful residence--your generous gift. I must remain until the +arrival of my father's couriers; and, having seen them off with the +glad tidings of my fair sister's flourishing condition, I will be +off for Bonaletta. I wonder which of us two she hates the more? +Come--we may as well go at once to her rooms, that my visit may be +over." + +So saying, Barbesieur put his arm within that of the marquis, but +the latter, drawing back, pointed to the clock on the mantel. + +"It is too early: she never permits me to come before eleven." + +"And you--her husband, suffer such impertinent dictation from your +vassal--your wife!" + +"I dare not thwart her by any intrusion of myself except at her +will. If I were to lay my hand on her, she would kill herself, like +another Lucretia, to save her honor. And if I contradict her by +coming before my time, she will start and grow pale, perhaps faint, +and be sick; and oh, Barbesieur! the idea of losing her, makes me +frantic." + +"As you please," returned Barbesieur, with a shrug and a loud laugh. +"But as I am not pining for a sight of her beauty, I shall go +rabbit-hunting, while you stay at home and look wistfully at what +you dare not take." + +So saying, Barbesieur shouldered his gun, whistled to his dogs, and +went off to the chase; while Strozzi, his eyes on the dial of the +clock, awaited the hour for visiting his inapproachable wife. + +The marchioness was in an apartment situated in the centre of the +wing which her affectionate husband had fitted up for her +incarceration. No one that entered this magnificent suite would ever +have imagined that it was a prison. The walls were covered with +hangings of satin and gold; the floors were hidden by Turkey carpets +as soft as turf; the windows were festooned with curtains of velvet +and lace; and their recesses filled with tall Venetian mirrors. +Paintings of value adorned the walls, and frescoes ornamented the +ceilings; while every object of vertu that was known to the age, lay +in elegant profusion about this luxurious abode. + +And yet it was veritably a prison, wherein the Marchioness de +Strozzi was confined "because of her hopeless lunacy," and the +windows thereof were guarded by a strong trellis-work of iron, which +might clearly be seen through their panes, while without, in an +anteroom, two she-dragons kept watch over the doors which led from +the prison to the world without. + +The parlor of Laura's habitation opened into a boudoir which led to +the bedroom. This apartment was as sumptuously fitted up as the +others, but its windows were similarly guarded. Opposite, and beyond +the parlor, was a small room occupied by the duennas, so that the +prisoner could not leave her apartments without encountering one or +both of them. + +Tonietta, the second lady's maid, was busy with her needle when the +marquis entered, and began his usual routine of inquiries. + +"How is the marchioness to-day? Is she quiet and well-disposed? Has +she breakfasted? Does her health seem good?" and so on. + +The woman's lip curled, but she controlled herself and made reply. +"Her ladyship is as usual. She has played on the harp, sung, and +taken her chocolate. But she was unusually cheerful while we were +occupied with her toilet, and I do not like this humor." + +"Why, why?" asked Strozzi. + +"Because it is a very sudden change--too sudden to portend good. She +has always been reserved, and showed no disposition to be friendly. +All of a sudden, she becomes talkative and gay." + +"So much the better. That proves that she is becoming accustomed to +her lot." + +"It might prove just the contrary," returned the duenna, with a +crafty glance at her master. "It might be intended to blind us, or +it might prove that she has hopes of escaping." + +"Great God!" shrieked Strozzi, "you terrify me. What hope can she +possibly indulge of escape?" + +"I do not know, but I like not her cheerfulness, nevertheless. +However, be under no apprehension, my lord; we keep strict watch, +and there is no mode of egress save through one of these two doors. +I am not afraid during the day--but at night! Who knows? Your +lordship was wrong to allow her to sleep in a room without us, and +to permit her to fasten her door against us." + +"She would have it so," sighed Strozzi; "but what does it signify? +Had she wings, she could not fly out of her prison." + +And, with these words, he passed into the parlor. + +Laura sat by a window before her easel, and was so absorbed with her +work that she was, or affected to be, unconscious of her husband's +entrance. Not daring to advance, he stood in the doorway, devouring +her with his eyes, almost mad with desire to clasp her to his heart. +She, on her side, sat painting, and humming a song, her blue-satin +dress defining the graceful contour of her bust and slender waist, +then swelling out beneath into rich folds that shimmered like silver +under the sunbeams that fell upon them from the window above. The +long lace sleeves drooped in gossamer waves over the dress, leaving +bare her round, fair arms, firm and white as those of the Venus of +Milo. Her hair was gathered into a Grecian knot behind, and her +delicate profile, illumined by the morning sun, was so marvellous in +its beauty, that Strozzi's eyes filled with tears as he gazed, and +his sallow, sunken cheeks glowed with mingled love and hate. + +He made a few steps forward, and encountered the cold glance of her +splendid eyes, and saw the slight bend of her haughty head, as she +became aware of his presence. + +"What brings you hither, sir?" said she. "But I need not ask. You +have come to satisfy yourself by ocular demonstration that your +prisoner has not flown up the chimney. You need not trouble yourself +to remain--I am here." + +"Prisoner, say you, cruel Laura! Tis I that am a prisoner; prisoned +by your coldness, and yet I love you--I love you to madness!" + +"You are quite right thus to define your love; and perchance it may +lead you to that lunacy which is your lying pretext for +incarcerating me alive in this lonely castle." + +"Oh, I fear it, I fear it!" cried he, despairingly, "for day by day +my reason fails me. Have mercy, have mercy!" + +"Mercy! You who would have taken the life of the man I love. You are +an assassin, whose just portion would be the scaffold. But enough +why renew each day the mournful duo of your love and my contempt? +Let me be silent and wait." + +"Wait! Oh, then, there is hope for me, and you bid me not despair!" + +"You!--I spoke of myself; for, as there is a just God above us, I +believe that He will open the doors of my prison, and send His angel +to deliver me." + +"Then you arc entirely without sympathy." + +"Entirely--for the man that obtained possession of my person by a +fraud, and who, for five long, bitter years, has laden me with the +chains of this lie which he calls our marriage." + +"I know that you have suffered, and I have wept for your sufferings, +while I have been impotent to lessen them. Speak but the word--say +that you are that which, by the laws of God and man, you have been +for these five long years, and I open your doors and restore you to +freedom. I ask you not to love me; but I implore you to accept my +love, and acknowledge yourself to be my wife; for well I know that, +the acknowledgment once made, you are too honorable, too virtuous, +to sully the name you are willing to bear. Oh, Laura, my peerless +Laura! I will make amends for all that I have inflicted upon you +through the madness of my love. I have wealth unbounded--a noble +name, high station: all shall be yours. See--I am at your feet. Call +me your husband, and henceforth I live to be your willing slave!" + +"Never!" exclaimed she, starting from her seat, and receding in +horror from his touch. "My body you hold in bondage, but my spirit +is free; and it is away from this gloomy prison, far away, mingling +with that of my spouse before Heaven, my Eugene, my lord and +husband." + +"Silence!" shrieked Strozzi, starting to his feet. "Silence! or you +will drive me mad! And be assured that as long as you defy me, just +so long will I hold you in bondage." + +"You may not live forever, marquis, for the Strozzis, like other +men, are mortal; and death, perchance, may liberate me, without your +permission. But live or die, as you choose; I shall find means to +rejoin Eugene, and this conviction gives me strength to endure your +persecutions." + +"The Marchioness Bonaletta is too proud and chaste to be the +mistress of any man," returned Strozzi, with some return of +courtesy. + +"What do you know of me?--I counsel you not to build your hopes upon +any estimate you may have formed of my notions of honor, for they +will sorely deceive you, if you do." + +Before the marquis had time to reply to these defiant words, the +door opened, and Barbesieur, holding a letter in his hand, entered +the room. + +Laura frowned, and asked Strozzi by what right her room was thus +invaded by a stranger. "I do not desire his presence," she said. "Be +so good as to conduct him to your own apartments." + +"I am not so easily conducted, most amiable sister," returned +Barbesieur. "I have come to deliver a message from your father, +after which I shall take my leave without the least regret. We are +about to go to war with Germany, and _I_ am about to receive a +general's commission in the French army, so that I have no time to +lose in forcing my company upon you." + +"You a general's commission! You that were once publicly disgraced +by--" + +"Your marriage has long ago consoled me for that trifling mishap," +interrupted Barbesieur, "and in Paris nobody has ever presumed to +think less of me on account of it. I think that, in every way, the +sufferer there from was the valiant Eugene. And, by-the-by, that +leads directly to the business that brought me hither. That Emperor +of Austria has been entirely too lucky in war to please the King of +France; and Max Emmanuel, whom we had expected to win over to our +side, is the commander-in-chief of the imperial armies. Max--your +quasi brother-in-law, Strozzi; for doubtless you are aware that +Lucretia, the left-handed electress, is the first person in +importance at the Bavarian court." + +"May she be damned for it!" muttered Strozzi, between his teeth. + +"Not on her head as much as on yours rests the shame of Lucretia's +act," said Laura, reproachfully. + +"Ah!" cried Strozzi, a gleam of joy darting athwart his meagre face, +"you acknowledge, then, that a woman is disgraced who loves a man +whom she cannot marry!" + +"A truce to this nonsense, my turtle-doves," interposed Barbesieur. +"I bring you tidings which henceforth render such discussions +superfluous. Listen to me, both of you. My father has sent me a bit +of news which, coming direct from the Marquis do Villars--that is, +from Munich--is positive and authentic. Here it is." + +Laura turned away her head that they might not see her emotion, +while Strozzi besought Barbesieur not to be so long-winded. + +"Well, I will gratify you both. Belgrade is taken; Prince Eugene, as +usual, was foremost in the fight; but unhappily for some people, and +happily for others--" + +Here Barbesieur paused to enjoy the agony of his sister's suspense. +Her face he could not see, but her trembling figure gave evidence of +the poignancy of her anguish. + +"Well--" said Strozzi, "what befell him?" + +"Something not at all uncommon--he was killed." + +Laura turned quickly around and caught the diabolical glance of +Barbesieur's eyes. "I--I do not believe it," murmured she. + +"Did you say that you had the original letter from the Marquis?" +asked Strozzi, eagerly. + +"Yes, here it is; the marchioness can see for herself." + +Laura took the paper and glanced hurriedly over its contents. She +raised her eyes to heaven in thanksgiving. "He is not dead," said +she, almost inaudibly. + +"Then you have read very carelessly," returned Barbesieur. "The +letter says, 'so dangerously wounded that he was transported in a +dying condition to Vienna,'" + +"Had he been dying, he would not have been transported to Vienna," +exclaimed Laura, with a smile of returning hope. "No, no! Had Eugene +been dead, the air I breathe, the clouds that I watch as they pass +by yonder grated windows--my heart, whose beatings are responsive to +his--every thing in nature would have revealed the terrible truth. +Eugene lives--and lives to fulfil his great and glorious destiny. +Pardon me, O Lord, that, for a moment, my faith was weak!" + +She looked so transcendently lovely as she spoke, that Strozzi's +heart sank within him. He turned his face away, and groaned. + +"My charming sister is easily consoled, you perceive," said +Barbesieur to Strozzi. "And now that, according to her own +interpretation of the marriage ceremony, she is widowed, I hope to +hear before long that you have effectually dried up her tears. Come- +-let us leave this hopeful widow to herself." + +"I come," replied Strozzi, "for you must take some refreshment +before you go. Until the hour of dinner I take my leave, +marchioness." + +"Marquis," said Laura, following him to the door. + +Strozzi dropped Barbesieur's arm, and returned to her at once. + +"You have something to command?" said he, humbly. + +"I do not wish to dine to-day," said she. "It will be useless, then, +for you to return." + +"I cannot deny myself that pleasure," was the reply. + +Laura constrained herself to soften her tone, and to implore. "Only +this one day," said she, in trembling tones. "I need repose--quiet-- +" + +"To weep out the first pangs of widowhood," interrupted Barbesieur, +with one of his coarse laughs. "Come, Strozzi--let her cry it out +to-day, she will be all the more smiling for it to-morrow." + +"Then as you please," said Strozzi, bowing respectfully. "I will not +return until to-morrow before noon." + +"Tell my turnkeys that they need not disturb me," said Laura. "Let +me be veritably and entirely alone." + +"You cannot dispense with their help," objected the marquis. + +"I can and will dispense with their presence," returned Laura. "And +may I ask of you, as a guaranty that I shall not be disturbed, to +leave the keys inside? The bolts without are secure, and the women +can watch by the doors to see that I do not attempt to escape." + +"Your will shall be my law, to-day," said Strozzi, "for I am but its +slave. When will you reward my love--when, Laura?" + +"Leave me, I implore you," was the faltering reply of his stricken, +wife; "leave me for this one day!" + +"I will," cried Strozzi, casting passionate glances at her, "but to- +morrow?" + +"To-morrow," replied Laura, solemnly, "to-morrow is in the hands of +God!" + +"There, now," exclaimed Barbesieur, "she is making promises already. +Come along--I am really hungry." + +The voice of Strozzi was heard in the anteroom, and in a few moments +Carlotta removed the key to the inside. With one bound Laura reached +the door, and fastened it within. Then crossing the parlor, she +locked herself within her boudoir, and, falling on her knees, +besought the blessing of God upon her flight--for she was resolved +to fly that very night. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE FLIGHT. + + +For one year--from the day of her meeting with Eugene--Laura had +been revolving in her mind the possibility of escape, and again and +again had she been compelled to acknowledge that escape was +impossible. At night, lest sleep should overpower their senses, her +untiring spies had barred the doors that led from the anteroom with +their beds. Sometimes Laura had proposed to bribe them; but in the +event of success with the women, a watchman kept guard at the head +of the staircase; and at the entrance of the castle was stationed a +porter, whom no one could pass without the watchword. If all these +obstacles had been overcome, and the prisoner had found egress to +the park, she was met by four watchmen, whom neither promises nor +bribery had power to conciliate. These were four bloodhounds who +were loosed at night by the marquis's own hands, and on whose +fidelity he knew that he might count. + +Flight through the doors was out of the question; flight from the +windows, had they been free, was equally so; for whoever had dared +their dangerous descent, would have been devoured the very moment he +touched the ground below. + +Plan after plan was made and rejected, and yet she must--she would +escape. + +In her parlor was one of those large chimneys found in old castles, +chimneys that were intended to consume an entire load of wood at +once. On one occasion, Strozzi being present at the time, a chimney- +sweep went up its grimy walls, to cleanse them from the accumulated +soot of the winter. Strozzi, forgetting that the sweep had to +return, began to make declarations to Laura, and finally became so +lovelorn as to throw himself at her feet. He was on his knees, +whining for forgiveness, when the little sweep, like a deus ex +machina, alighted suddenly in the middle of the hearth, and +surprised him in his abject and ridiculous posture. + +Laura laughed outright; but the marquis, of course, did not share +her mirth. He turned furiously upon the sweep, threatening to take +his life for his impertinent intrusion. The poor fellow pleaded the +impossibility of getting out by any other means, when the marquis, +stamping his foot with rage, bade him begone up the chimney, and +ordered him to find his way over the castle-roof to another chimney +at the farthest extremity of the building, which led into an ancient +buttery, and thence to the park. + +From that day, Laura had revolved in her mind the feasibility of +escape through the chimney. If a boy like that had so often gone up +and down in safety, why not she, when urged by the double incentive +of liberating herself from Strozzi, and making her way to Eugene? +The more she pondered the scheme, the easier it seemed of execution, +and she began seriously to resolve means for carrying it out. + +Accident soon befriended her. One day, in stepping back from a +window, whence she had been watching the flight of a flock of birds, +her foot became entangled in the carpet, and she fell. This carpet +did not cover the entire room. Within a foot of the walls it was +fastened by little brass rings, to nails of the same metal, which +caught and confined it to the floor. + +Laura naturally looked to see the cause of her fall, and, while +examining the loosened nails, she perceived that the carpet--a +magnificent product of the looms of Turkey--was lined underneath +with a species of black cotton cloth, very similar to that of which +the sweep's garments were made. When she saw this, her heart beat so +wildly that she felt as if it were about to burst. Here was the +material of which her dress should be made! Providence had sent it +to her, and the enthusiastic girl knelt down and thanked God for His +goodness. + +She now began to loosen it, and night after night, when her door was +locked inside, she worked as prisoners alone are gifted to work, +until she had stripped off enough cloth for her purpose. She gave +out that, to beguile her solitude, she was desirous of embroidering +an altar-cloth of black velvet, and Carlotta was dispatched to the +nearest town, to procure materials for the work. + +Carlotta was absent three days, whence Laura concluded that the +"nearest town" was at some considerable distance from the castle, of +whose situation the marquis had taken good care that she should +remain ignorant. But another accident revealed to her the name of +the town. She found it in a small paper which enveloped some thread, +and contained the name of the merchant from whom it had been +purchased, with the place of his residence in a street which Laura +knew to be the great thoroughfare of Turin. She was then not two +days' journey from Turin, and no longer on Venetian soil. + +Once in Turin, she was safe from pursuit, for her estates lay in +Savoy, and the duke was obliged to give her protection. She was his +subject, and he could not refuse it. + +And now began that change of manner and of life which had awakened +the suspicions of the two duennas. For several hours of the day she +worked at her altar-cloth; but when night set in, and her doors were +locked, the needles, thread, and scissors, disappeared from the +frame in the parlor, and the black cloth was gradually converted +into a jacket and pantaloons like that of the sweep. This +accomplished, Laura set about devising a cord and weight, by which +she might descend into the buttery. She had so closely observed the +little lad she was resolved to emulate, that she had succeeded in +fashioning out of the heavy bindings of some old hangings, that lay +in a sort of rubbish closet, a stout rope, of strength sufficient to +bear her weight. + +It was at this juncture of her preparations, that Barbesieur broke +in upon her happy solitude, with his terrible tidings of Eugene's +misfortune. She was ready to risk her life to meet him, and +perchance he was mortally wounded, and she might never see him more! +A woman less resolute might have faltered in her purpose; but to +Laura the news of her lover's danger had imparted new strength, and +she would liberate herself that very night, or perish in the +attempt. + +She had no money; the marquis had considered it prudent to relieve +her of the custody of her wealth, and to put it out of her power to +bribe his spies. But she had jewels, and such of these as could be +concealed about her person she took. + +During the day she had played upon her harp, and improvised melodies +so ravishing, that Strozzi had been on his knees outside, listening +and weeping by turns. Finally, when she had ceased singing, he +knocked, and besought her to let him look for one moment upon her +face, to let him imprint one kiss upon her hand. + +Laura thought it prudent to comply, so she opened the door and +allowed him, for the first time in his life, to hold her hand and +press it to his lips, and to thank her for the heavenly music. Not +to overdo the matter, she allowed him to remain but a few moments; +and the marquis retired, perfectly convinced that all was right, and +that he had a hope of winning that obdurate heart at last. + +Night was at hand! The skies were overclouded, with here and there a +star struggling through the darkness. Gradually the castle grew +silent, the closing of doors and drawing of bolts ceased at last, +and all was still. + +All, except those two duennas; and Laura saw that if she ever was to +lull them to bed, she must call them in to undress her. So opening +the door, she beckoned to Carlotta, who, to her great joy, appeared +in a dressing-gown. Finally, the comedy being over, and the duennas +completely hoodwinked, Laura locked her doors a second time, and, +retreating to her bedroom, raised the carpet and drew forth her +black disguise. She tore off her white night-gown, clasped a pearl +necklace around her neck, and several diamond bracelets on her arms, +and then arrayed herself in the costume of the chimney-sweeper. She +took up her rope, and, fastening a small iron casket to the end, +slung it over her shoulder, and began her dark, perilous ascent. +Away! away! Over the castle-roof to liberty and love!-- + +With her delicate little hands she seized a hook that projected from +the chimney. She reached a second and supported her foot on the +first; a third, a fourth; and now the opening grew narrow and more +narrow, and she struggled along through the black, suffocating hole, +until her breath had almost failed her, and she had nigh been choked +to death! Poor girl! She could not reach her eyes to clear them of +the soot that was blinding and maddening her with pain, and she +began to tremble lest she should lose her senses. But she prayed to +God to deliver her, and made one supreme effort to free herself. She +felt the air from above; the hole began to widen, and she could lay +her head backward and breathe. She raised her smarting eyes and saw +a light--a star! A greeting from heaven! + +But she felt that at such a moment she must not indulge in +sensibility. The extremity in which she found herself required +resolution, daring, and coolness. She called up all her courage, and +struggled on. At last--at last, her hands rested on the top of the +chimney: she drew herself upward, and with one bound sprang upon the +roof. + +For a moment or two she leaned her weary arms upon the edge of the +chimney; then, placing her ear at the opening, she listened to hear +if there was any stir below. No--all was silent: not a sound broke +the profound stillness of the night, She must be going then--over +the castle-roof to liberty and love! + +She groped, with hands outstretched, for some support, but found +nothing. Nevertheless she must tread the dark and mysterious way +that was to lead her to freedom, and she made a few steps forward. +Suddenly she grew faint and dizzy, and a shudder ran through her +limbs; she tried to rally her strength and put out her foot. It +encountered some obstacle which sent her reeling backward; and, +murmuring a prayer to Heaven, she swooned and fell. When she +recovered her senses, she was lying, she knew not where, perhaps she +had fallen from the battlements to the ground, there to be devoured +by the savage bloodhounds, or to become again and forever the +prisoner of the abhorred marquis. But she felt no pain and, +stretching out her hand to make an effort to rise, she perceived +that she was on a smooth, hard surface, and lay against the +battlements, or rather against a heavy stone balustrade that +surrounded the castle-roof. With this balustrade to grasp, she could +arrive at the chimney she was seeking; all she had to do, was to use +it as a guide to the remote wing she was trying to reach. If there +had been but a few friendly stars to smile upon her perilous +pilgrimage! But the night was fearfully dark; so dark that she had +no reliance beyond her sense of touch. This alone admonished her of +her approach to the angle where she was to turn into the wing. Now +and then she paused and looked back to see if there was light or +sign of life along that broad castle-front. But all was safe, and +she went slowly on. She felt hopeful now, and strengthened, for the +wing was quite remote from the inhabited parts of the castle; its +windows opened low; and a pathway, now overgrown with weeds, led +from one of these windows to a gate which, as the marquis had never +dreamed of danger in that quarter, was always left unlocked for the +accommodation of the foresters and wood-cutters. Oh, that she were +but there! On! on! she must hasten, or she might be discovered! She +was about to press forward, when, to her unspeakable horror, she +perceived that her hand rested no longer on the balustrade. She had +passed the chimney and stood upon the unprotected battlements! +Shuddering, she drew back--her feet almost giving way under her +trembling limbs; but in the might and vigor of her strong, firm +will, she drew herself up and retreated. The roof was not steep--it +had merely descent enough to carry off the rain; but the tiles were +so smooth that more than once she slipped back, and she was becoming +timorous and weak. While she was resting for a moment from her +fatigue, however, she saw something looming up above the roof the +sight whereof restored her courage and her strength. It was the +long-sought chimney. + +She darted toward it, and in a few moments had made fast her rope, +and dropped it within. She caught it in her hands, and then, +carefully sliding into the chimney, began her frightful descent. In +vain she tried to resist; the rope slipped through her fingers with +such fearful rapidity that, by the time she had reached the hearth, +her delicate hands were all streaming with blood. She scarcely felt +the pain, she had but one absorbing thought--she was free! + +Folding those poor, quivering hands, she whispered a thanksgiving to +God, and rose, full of hope and joy. Not a sound was to be heard; +and now, blessing the obscurity that shielded her from view, she +opened the window, and darted down the pathway. The gate yielded to +her touch, and, like a frightened doe, she fled through the woods, +until the castle was out of sight, and she could venture to breathe. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE FORESTER'S HUT. + + +Morning had not yet dawned; nevertheless there was light and life in +a little hut that nestled in the woods near Strozzi Castle. The +forester, in hunting costume, stood in the middle of the hearth; +while his young wife, by the light of a flaming pine torch, prepared +his breakfast. + +The whole room was illumined by the torch, whose red rays flickered +even over the face of the infant that lay sleeping in its cradle, +and shone far down the forest glade, a kindly beacon to guide the +footsteps of the fugitive of Strozzi Castle. + +The forester rose from his breakfast, and slung his gun across his +shoulder. "Now I must go, Marcella," said he, "or the stag will have +left the brook before I get there. By sunrise it will be off." + +"Go, then, Luigi, and may the holy Bernard protect you! I do hope +you will bring down the stag, and please the marquis by your skill +as a huntsman." + +"Please him? He looks as if nothing on earth would ever please him +again. He is the crossest-looking man you ever saw; so unlike his +wife. They say the marchioness is crazy; but I do not believe it." + +"Why, Luigi? Did you ever see her?" + +"Once, when I went to the castle to tell the marquis that his hounds +were ready for the hunt. He was out walking in the park, and I had +to wait for him to come back. Presently he came with two lackeys +before him, and two behind, and at his side the most beautiful woman +you ever laid your eyes upon. I could have fallen on my knees before +her, she looked so lovely; while he--bless me, Marcella, with his +fierce eyes and his thick brows frowning over his long, sallow face, +he looked like Love's headsman--such a face.--But I must go; I will +tell you the rest another time." + +"Oh no; do tell it to me now, I love so to hear you talk, dear +Luigi. But I will not keep you from your work. Let me go a bit with +you into the forest, as far as the blasted oak. It is too late for +me to sleep, and the baby will not wake for half an hour." + +"Very well," said Luigi, kissing her; "come, for morning will soon +dawn." + +So, with their arms entwined about each other, the young couple went +out into the woods, and the sound of their loving voices was sweet +to the ear of the wanderer that stood upon their threshold. Laura +pushed open the door, and entered the little room, looking around to +see if any one was nigh. + +Her dress was torn, and her hands and feet were bleeding; but her +countenance beamed with hope, as, approaching the fireplace, she +rested her stiffened limbs. + +After enjoying for a few moments the reviving glow of the fire, she +rose and looked around to assure herself that no one was near. "She +is to be absent for half an hour," said Laura to herself. "By that +time I will have destroyed this garment, and God will forgive me the +substitution of my bracelet for one of the peasant's gowns." + +Opening a chest that stood by the side of the bed, the marchioness +took out a petticoat and kirtle of coarse, dark stuff; stripped off +her sweep's dress, and, in a trice, was transformed into a country- +maid, very beautiful, but sooty still. Then throwing her disguise +into the fire, she rejoiced to think that no human being would ever +find out the manner of her escape. + +Half an hour after, Marcella returned, and rekindling the fire, +prepared to warm her baby's milk. As she rose from her knees, she +looked instinctively around at the child's cradle, and there, to her +extreme astonishment, she saw the figure of a woman with hands +outstretched, and eyes that seemed to plead for mercy. Marcella +darted toward the cradle, her fears being entirely for her child. +But it lay peacefully slumbering with a smile on its face, and the +mother began to be apprehensive for her wares. + +"Who are you?" said she, sharply, to Laura. + +"Marcella," replied the marchioness, coming forward and taking her +hand, "I am an unhappy woman, that implores you, by all your hopes +of heaven, to rescue her from persecution." + +But Marcella heard not a word of this petition. She had recognized +her petticoat and kirtle, and screamed with all her might: + +"Those are my clothes, you thief! You have been robbing me! Thief! +thief!" cried she. "Oh, why is Luigi not here? Give me my kirtle! +Off with my clothes, this instant, you rogue!" + +Laura was somewhat alarmed, and not a little hurt; for the grasp of +the peasant was rough, and her voice, as she called for help, was +loud and piercing. + +"Marcella," said she, when she had opportunity to speak, and her +tones were so pleading, that the woman listened in spite of herself- +-"Marcella, as I stood beside your threshold to-night, I heard your +husband telling you of the misfortunes of the Marchioness Strozzi. +He broke off to go into the forest; you followed him, and now I can +tell you what he related after you left the cottage. Your husband +came respectfully up to the marquis, who repulsed him rudely, and +asked what business he had in the court of the castle. Luigi replied +that Battista had admitted him, whereupon the marquis discharged +Battista on the spot, and drove him from the castle. Then he dragged +the marchioness forward and hurried her up the steps of the +portico." + +"Just so," murmured Marcella. "But what else? Do you know what else +occurred? What the signora did?" + +"Of course I do. Slipping from her finger a diamond-ring, she +presented it to Battista, saying, 'Forgive me; it is I who am the +cause of your dismissal.'" + +"So she did!" cried Marcella. "But how came you to know?" + +"Alas! I am that unhappy marchioness." + +"The Marchioness Strozzi!" + +"Yes; but believe me, Marcella, I am not crazy. For five years I +have been a prisoner, and now that God has willed my liberation by +means so marvellous as almost to partake of the character of a +miracle, He has sent me to you that you might aid in the blessed +work of my deliverance. See my hands bleeding and cut--see my feet +torn by thorns, and bruised by stones;--and oh, as you hope for +mercy, help me on my way to liberty!" + +"I do not believe you," was the reply of the cautious Marcella. "The +Marchioness Strozzi would not come out of her grand castle by night +to steal a poor peasant-woman's clothes. Where are your fine +garments, if you are the marchioness? Let me see them." + +"I came disguised, and burnt up the dress in which I made my escape. +I needed another disguise, and have taken your clothes; but I will +reward you richly for the forced loan. Take this bracelet; your +husband can sell it, and, with the money, buy you a pretty farm." + +"Ah!" screamed Marcella again, "now I know you to be a thief, +perhaps worse than a thief! You have been stealing the jewels of the +signora; for aught I know, murdering her with those bloody hands, +and now you want to bribe me to help you away! No. no. you shall not +escape--that I promise you." + +"Oh, Marcella, how shall I convince you that I am no impostor? I +swear, by God who made, by Christ who redeemed me, and by His holy +mother, the Blessed Virgin, that I am the Marchioness of Strozzi, +the unhappy prisoner of yonder gloomy castle. It is impossible that +you can be so cruel as to deliver me into the hands of its wicked +lord! A woman that loves--that loves her husband and child, must +surely have a compassionate heart! See--I am at your feet!--In +mercy, help me to escape!" + +Marcella slowly shook her head. "I cannot, I cannot, I dare not." + +"Yes, yes, you can, you dare do a good action. Think of the joy you +experienced when the pangs of your travail were past, and you had +given birth to a child whom you loved even before it had seen the +light of life. Think, if your child should be in distress like mine, +and kneel in vain at the feet of another woman who might deliver it +from peril, and would not!--Oh, if you were in your grave, as my +dear mother is, would you not curse the heartless being that +repulsed your orphan!--Oh, mother! my dead mother! soften this +woman's heart, that she may help me!" + +Just then the voice of the baby, cooing in its cradle, reached +Marcella's ear, and strangely moved her heart. + +"Ah, the child--the dear child will plead for me," cried Laura. And, +stooping to the cradle, she raised the baby in her arms, and brought +the little rosy, smiling thing to its mother's feet. + +"Let this baby, whom you love, be my advocate. I lay my hand upon +its head and swear before Heaven that I am an innocent fugitive from +persecution. Do unto me as you would have others do unto your own +child." + +And Marcella, no longer able to resist the pleadings of that +melodious voice, burst into tears, and, encircling both Laura and +the baby in her arms, clasped them close to her heart. + +"My child, my child!" cried she, tenderly. "As I do to this unhappy +lady, so may others do unto you." + +"Then you will not betray me!" cried Laura, joyfully. "Oh, good, +good Marcella, may God bless you for those pitying words!" + +Marcella wiped her eyes, kissed her baby, and, replacing it in its +cradle, said, "Now, signora, that I consent to assist you, tell me +at once what is to be done, for it must be done quickly." + +"Give me these clothes and a little money; guide me out of the +forest to a post-station whence I may travel to Turin; and for these +services take the bracelet: it is honestly mine, and therefore +yours." + +"It is now four o'clock," observed Marcella, looking toward the +east. + +"And precisely at eight the marquis will visit my rooms and discover +my flight. Come--come--we have indeed no time to lose." + +"We can reach the station in an hour," replied Marcella, "and the +postilions will start early this morning for--to what point did you +say you wished to travel, signora?" + +"To Turin." + +"That is a pity," murmured Marcella. + +"Why?" asked Laura, anxiously. + +"Because, if you were going northward, we might find you an escort. +Luigi and I met a courier who was going to the next station to order +post-horses for a traveller who is to leave for Vienna this morning. +The man stopped to ask us the way." + +"For Vienna!" cried Laura. "Who is going to Vienna?" + +"The physician of the Duke of Savoy, whom his highness is sending to +see a kinsman of his who is very ill in Vienna." + +Laura uttered a cry of joy. "O God! my God, I thank thee!--Come, +Marcella: I know the duke's physician, and he, of all other men, is +the one I prefer for an escort." + +"But your poor, bleeding feet, signora," cried Marcella, piteously. + +"Never mind them. May they bleed anew, so I but reach the station in +time to meet the physician I God has sent him to my deliverance. +Come--let us away!" + + + + +BOOK VI. + + +CHAPTER I. + +SISTER ANGELICA. + + +Two months had passed away since the fall of Belgrade, and Prince +Eugene of Savoy was still suffering from his wound. Nothing had been +spared that could contribute to his recovery; ho was attended by the +surgeon-in-chief of Max Emmanuel, visited daily by the physicians of +the emperor, and nursed by his untiring secretary, Conrad. More than +once the report of his death had been spread throughout Vienna, and +then contradicted. + +But, until the arrival of the physician of Victor Amadeus, all +medical skill had proved unavailing. Whether through the agency of +Doctor Franzi or of the nurse whom he had brought with him. Prince +Eugene began, at last, to improve. + +Sister Angelica, the nurse, had watched her patient with preterhuman +vigilance. Day and night she sat by his bedside, dressing his wound, +administering his medicine, and resting his fevered head on her +shoulder; laying her soft, cool hand upon his brow, until to wild +delirium succeeded tranquil sleep, or a calm, placid wakefulness. At +such times the nun was accustomed to sing; and at the sound of her +voice, Eugene smiled, and resigned himself to rest. + +At last, the glance of his eye grew intelligent, and he returned to +a consciousness of his position. Doctor Franzi remarked with regret, +however, that he was apathetic, listless, and quite indifferent to +his recovery. He made no complaint, seldom spoke, and seemed to be +sinking gradually into a state of nervous prostration. + +"Your highness," said the surgeon, one day, "you are now +convalescent, and it is time you made some effort to receive your +friends." + +Eugene turned wearily away, and sighed. "No, no," murmured he, "I am +averse to the sight of any man, friend or foe." + +"Nevertheless, I prescribe it," urged the doctor. "You are now less +sick in body than in mind, and you must have change of scene to +cheer you." + +"Change will not cheer me," replied Eugene, languidly. "I feel +nothing but absolute weariness of life." + +"A morbid state of mind resulting from your long confinement to this +room, and it must be overcome by yourself. A pretty thing it would +be, to be sure, if, after saving your life, we should allow you to +fling it away because you are as melancholy as a lovesick maiden!" + +"Doctor," cried Eugene, flushing. "choose your words more +carefully!" + +"Good, good," returned the doctor, with an approving nod. "You have +some spirit left, I perceive, and if you would but see one or two of +your most intimate friends--" + +"I will not see them," interrupted Eugene, peevishly. He would have +said something more, but his speech was checked by a paroxysm of +coughing. In a moment, the door opened noiselessly, and the nun +gliding in hastened to support his trembling frame; and. while he +suffered his head to fall upon her shoulder, wiped the dews from his +clammy forehead. Then, gently placing him on his pillow, she warmed +his drink over a lamp, and held it to his lips while he partook of +it. + +"Thank you, dear sister," said the invalid, faintly. + +The next morning a consultation was held by the physicians of the +prince, and it was decided that he must have change of air without +delay. Eugene, reclining in an arm-chair, looked wearily on, until +the conference was at an end; then, shaking his head and frowning, +he turned away and gazed fixedly at his nurse, who, with arms +crossed over her breast, stood close at hand, ready to anticipate +his wants ere he could give them utterance. + +"Your highness must not resist," said the imperial court physician. +"Change of air and of scene is indispensable to your recovery." + +"Let me die here," was Eugene's languid reply. + +"Your highness is not going to die," observed Doctor Franzi; "but I +am afraid that you are about to cause the death of another person." + +"Whom can you mean?" asked Eugene, interested. + +"I mean Sister Angelica, your nurse." + +"Surely she is not sick," said the prince, turning anxiously around. +"No!" said he, smiling, "no--she is here." + +"And yet she is sick," persisted Doctor Franzi. "For a month past, +she has lived without sleep, scarcely snatching a moment to change +her clothing, and never once breathing any but the air of this sick- +room." The nun made a deprecating gesture. "You need not deny it," +continued the doctor. "Prince, when Sister Angelica was allowed by +the prioress of her convent to accompany me to Vienna, she made a +vow never to leave my patient until he recovered from his illness or +died. Now you are neither dead nor about to die; but if you do all +you can to frustrate our endeavors to cure you, your nurse will +succumb long before you are well enough to dispense with her +valuable services." + +"In that case, I cease to oppose you," said Eugene. "Do with me what +you will. God forbid that I should harm my ministering angel!" + +"In view of your highness's submission to our orders," observed the +court physician, "his majesty the emperor has offered the use of his +palace at Schonbrunn, and we have taken the liberty of preparing +every thing for your immediate departure." + +"His majesty is too kind," was the reply, "and my first care shall +be to thank my gracious sovereign for so signal a proof of his +beneficence. Let us then depart for Schonbrunn. You are satisfied, +dear sister, are you not?" + +The sister bowed her head, and passed her hand over Eugene's glossy, +black hair, while Doctor Franzi came in and out, making preparations +for the accommodation of his patient. + +A litter was brought, and when the prince had been carefully placed +upon it the doctor inquired whether he felt comfortable enough +therein to bear the journey. Eugene, on his part, asked how his +physician and the nun were to travel. + +"We expect to occupy your highness's carriage, and to precede you, +by a half hour, to Schonbrunn." + +"Would it be inconvenient or uncomfortable for Sister Angelica to +occupy the litter with me?" + +"By no means; but if she accompanies your highness, things will not +be quite so comfortable for your reception." + +"Then let me have less comfort, and more content. She supports my +head so delightfully when I cough, and moves my wounded foot so +gently--" + +The nun no sooner heard these words than she put aside the doctor +who was standing before her, and hastened to the litter, altered the +inclination of Eugene's pillow, and very gently changed the position +of his wounded foot, + +"Oh, how I thank you, dear sister!" murmured the prince, with a sigh +of relief. "When you are by, pain seems to vanish, and night breaks +into joyful day." + +The bearers raised the litter, and the little cortege set out for +Schonbrunn. Two runners went before, to make way, crying as they +went along: + +"Room for the litter of his highness the Prince of Savoy!" + +The hurrying wayfarers retreated at the sound; a passage was opened +through the crowded thoroughfares; and, while the hero of Belgrade +was borne along the streets of Vienna, the people stood respectfully +aside to let him pass. + +The air of Schonbrunn was pure and delightful. Every morning the +prince was conveyed to its lovely gardens, where he spent at least +an hour in inhaling the sweet breath of coming spring. He drank +goat's milk for his cough, and partook submissively of the food +prescribed for his nourishment; but his fever was not subdued, and +his cheeks grew paler and thinner each day. + +"We must use other means," said Doctor Franzi to the nun, who had +been anxiously questioning him as to the result of a consultation +held that day over the sinking patient. "My colleagues are of +opinion that his fever is hectic, and therefore incurable; but I +differ with them. I really believe that if he could be roused from +his apathy, we could save him yet. Corporeal remedies have done +their hest; we must try a moral reaction." + +"What do you mean?" murmured the nun. + +"I mean that Sister Angelica must raise her veil, and break her long +silence," replied the doctor, raising her delicate white hand to his +lips. + +The nun trembled, and caught her breath, the doctor viewing her with +amazement. "What!" said he, "you who have displayed such fortitude +and endurance, are you about to become faint-hearted?" + +"Doctor," whispered she, "joy has its agitation as well as grief. +And if the shock should be too great for him!" + +"If too great now, he will never be able to bear it, my dear child. +It is possible that it may deprive him for a time of consciousness, +but he will awake to life another man. At least, such is my +impression. I consider that his fate now lies in your hands, and you +must decide it to-day--nay, this very hour." + +"Oh, doctor, I am so unprepared! I have no self-command; let us wait +until to-morrow. If we should fail--" + +"We shall have done him no injury. I am ready to answer before God +that--" + +The door was partially opened, and the valet of the prince +apologized for interrupting them. "His highness feels very much +exhausted, and calls for Sister Angelica." + +"She will be there in one moment," replied the doctor.--"You see," +whispered he, "that his heart has divined your presence. As soon as +you leave the room, he begins to suffer." + +So saying, he gave her his hand, and she submitted to be led as far +as the door of the prince's sitting-room. There she paused, and +laying her hands upon her heart-- + +"Oh, it will burst," murmured she. "Doctor, you will remain with me- +-will you not?" + +"I will remain as long as my presence is beneficial, and depart as +soon as it becomes oppressive. Come!" + +He opened the door, and, with gentle constraint, compelled her to +advance. The prince, extended on his couch, looked very ill. "Have +you given me up? Have you, too, forgotten me?" + +"'You too,'" echoed the doctor, while the nun was engaged in +preparing the patient's drink. "Why, has anybody else ever forgotten +your highness?" + +"No," sighed Eugene; "I was unjust. But I have lost her, and that +loss is killing me." + +"You hear him," whispered the doctor, while the nun, scarcely able +to hold the glass, presented it to the lips of her patient. + +"Drink, Prince Eugene," said she, in low, trembling tones. At the +sound of her voice he started, and raised his head to listen. + +"Great Heaven! Who spoke?" + +The doctor smiled, and, slightly raising his shoulders, replied: +"Nobody but Sister Angelica, I presume, for nobody else is here." + +"Sister Angelica!" repeated Eugene, slowly. "I thought she had made +a vow of silence, to last until her return to the convent?" + +"You are quite right; but it appears that she has forgotten herself +for a moment, in her anxiety to serve you. Drink, then, to oblige +her." + +Eugene clutched the glass and emptied it of its contents. + +"Good," said the doctor. "Now that you are somewhat refreshed, I +must entertain you with a little outside gossip. I have letters from +Turin to-day. Victor Amadeus has disenthralled himself from his +filial bondage. His mother, having been regent during his minority, +has been struggling since his majority to retain her supremacy over +him and the duchy. She insisted upon taking precedence of her +daughter-in-law, the reigning duchess, and was equally bent upon +dismissing one of the ministers. There was considerable strife, and +no little intrigue in Turin, until the defection of one of the +dowager's adherents, which so strengthened the opposite party, that +she was obliged to succumb, and retired in high dudgeon to her +estates. The duke, on his side, out of gratitude to his new friend, +has created him prime minister--an appointment which is very popular +in Savoy--for there is not a worthier man in the dukedom than the +Marquis de Bonaletta." + +At sound of this name, Eugene started up, and leaning his head upon +his hand, prepared to listen. + +The doctor continued: "By-the-by, he is the uncle of the unfortunate +young marchioness of that name who was forced into a marriage with a +depraved Venetian nobleman called Strozzi. Your highness has heard +her history?" + +Eugene murmured something in reply, and sank back upon his pillow. + +"A very melancholy affair," pursued the doctor, signing to the nun +to approach, "and it has ended most singularly." + +"Ended! How?" cried Eugene. "Speak, doctor, I implore you: is she +dead?" + +"She? The marchioness? Quite the contrary, she is alive and well. +Her husband suddenly disappeared with her from Venice, last spring; +and it was discovered that he had confined her within a solitary +castle, somewhere in a forest; having previously given out to the +world that she was a raving lunatic." + +"The accursed liar!" muttered Eugene. "May God grant me life to +avenge her wrongs!" + +"Your highness is much moved at the recital," continued the doctor, +"and no wonder, for it is a fact much stranger than fiction. But I +will defer the conclusion of my story to some other day. You are too +much excited to hear it now." + +"Oh no, indeed! I am strong--well. Look at me, doctor; and believe +me when I say that your conversation is more healing than all the +medicines you have ever administered." + +"In truth, your highness seems quite invigorated within the last +half hour. Do you not perceive the change, Sister Angelica?" + +She bowed her head, and approached the couch. + +"Then, in mercy, let me hear the rest," cried Eugene, his eyes +flashing with eagerness. + +"Be it so, then. In spite of bolts, bars, and her miserable +husband's spies, the marchioness has managed to escape." + +"Escape!" exclaimed Eugene, starting from his couch, and standing +upright upon the floor. In a moment the nun was behind him, ready to +support him in case of need; but he walked hurriedly to the window, +threw it wide open, and inhaled the fresh morning air. For a while, +not a word was spoken. The prince looked upward at the blue and +silver clouds that were floating silently by; his large, dark eyes +wandered lovingly over the beautiful landscape that lay below, and +then, bowing his head, he lifted his heart to heaven, and thanked +God. + +"Doctor," said he, at last, "whither fled the marchioness?" + +"No one knows, your highness. But you must excuse me if I take my +leave. I must attend a consultation of--" + +"Doctor," cried the prince, grasping him by the arm, "you cannot go: +I must know all that you have to tell." + +The doctor smiled. "Upon my word, your highness speaks as if you +were ordering a charge against the Turks. But I cannot obey: Sister +Angelica has heard the story from beginning to end, and she will +relate the rest of it. Adieu." + +So saying, Doctor Franzi left the room. + +"Oh, dear sister," cried Eugene, "can you tell me whether she fell +into his hands again?" + +"She did not," replied the nun, in a low, tremulous voice; "but the +shock of her disappearance was so terrible in its effects upon the +marquis, that he is now a maniac in the very apartments wherein he +had confined his wretched wife." + +Eugene had listened in breathless amazement to these low, fluttering +words; and when they ceased he seemed still to listen. His face had +become excessively pale; his lips were slightly parted, and his eyes +riveted upon some imaginary object at a distance, which seemed to +obliterate from his mind the presence of his companion. She +meanwhile became so terrified that she clasped her hands, and knelt +at his feet. + +He saw--he understood it all, and, raising her in his arms, he +pressed her rapturously to his heart. The veil had fallen, and she +was there! His Laura! his long-lost Laura! + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +LOUIS THE FOURTEENTH. + + +The morning service was at an end, and King Louis XIV., attended by +his courtiers, left the royal chapel. His countenance was troubled, +and it followed, as a matter of course, that everybody else wore a +woe-begone expression. The fact is, that things were very dull and +solemn at the French court. Feasts and festivals were forbidden, and +nobody was allowed to look cheerful. La Valliere, in a Carmelite +convent, was doing penance for the sin of her love for Louis; while +De Montespan, in the world, was expiating hers within sight of the +king's indifference. He had tired of her long ago, but had permitted +her to remain at court, where her saloons were as stupid, as silent, +and as empty, as they had once been bright and crowded. + +The reigning favorite was De Maintenon, who might have had followers +innumerable, had she desired them. But she appeared to be perfectly +unconscious of her own power; going about, now as ever, with modest +mien and simple dress, with folded hands and downcast eyes, +apparently unaware of the existence of any mortal whatsoever, save +that of her well-beloved Louis. And her course, of action had been +triumphantly successful, for by many she was believed to be the +legitimate spouse of the King of France. + +From the chapel, Louis betook himself to the boudoir of the +marquise, and greeted her with a slight inclination of his royal +head. + +"Why were you not at mass to-day, madame?" inquired he, curtly, as, +hastily crossing the room, he flung open the window, and admitted +the sharp air of a raw autumn morning. + +De Maintenon stifled a sigh, and compelled herself to smile. "You +know, sire," replied she, gently, "that I am indisposed. My +physician has forbidden me to breathe the air, and for this reason I +dared not follow the impulse of my heart, and join my prayers to +those of your majesty this morning. The autumn winds are too keen +for me." + +The king paid no attention to De Maintenon's allusion to the "autumn +winds." The window remained open, and she was obliged to stand +directly in front of it as long as Louis was pleased to enjoy the +breeze. + +"You are becoming sickly, madame," observed he, coldly. + +"True, sire, I suffer of late," sighed she. + +"You are getting old," replied he, tartly. "Old age is a sorry +companion; it makes people peevish and disagreeable." + +The marquise grew as pale as ashes, and the sharp glance of her +black eyes was turned quickly upon the countenance of the king, who, +instead of looking at her, was staring out of the window at the +marble Naiads, over whose white limbs the waters of a fountain were +foaming and plashing, in myriads of pearly drops. He appeared to be +quite unconscious of having wounded the feelings of his sensitive +companion. + +She, on her part, felt that a crisis was at hand, and that, to waken +the king from his apathy, desperate measures must be adopted. She +plunged into her remedy at once. + +"I see," sighed she, "that my presence is irksome to your majesty. +It is better, therefore, that I gather up my strength, and sacrifice +my happiness to yours. I will retire to St. Cyr." + +Louis raised his shoulders. "I think not. People often say such +things, but never mean what they say." + +"Sire, Madame de la Valliere is a proof of the contrary, and I-- +although (as you remarked just now)--I am old, possess a heart over +whose emotions time and age have no power. I love as I have ever +loved, passionately, profoundly; but my love is disinterested, and +soars high above all self-gratification. Now that it has become +obtrusive, its current shall be turned to heaven, and in the sacred +walls of a cloister I will spend the remainder of my days in prayer +for him whose image I shall cherish unto death. Sire, I respectfully +request permission to enter the convent of St. Cyr." + +Louis began to be uneasy. He knew very well that De Maintenon had a +vigorous and resolute soul, quite capable of carrying out any +purpose dictated by her head; and, if once she appealed from her +affections to her pride, he felt that no ulterior persuasions of his +would avail to deter her from the step she meditated. + +"Are you serious, madame?" said he, reproachfully. "Would you, +indeed, forsake me?" + +"Sire, I am so earnest in my intention to free you from the presence +of an infirm old woman, that I repeat my request to be allowed to +depart now--this very hour." + +The king hated nothing on earth like surprises; he disliked to have +the sluggish waters of his every-day life stirred by unaccustomed +occurrences. He turned around at once to remonstrate, and, instead +of the pallid face he had encountered just a few minutes ago, he saw +a pair of glowing cheeks and flashing eyes, from whose lustrous +depths there darted a light that warmed up his tepid old heart, and +set it to beating as it had been wont to do, when La Valliere smiled +and De Montespan coquetted. + +"Surely," said he, "you would not set a bad example to the wives of +my courtiers, Francoise! You would not teach them that when they +tire of their husbands they may desert them, and bury their ennui in +a convent!" + +"Sire, I cannot accept the responsibility of other women's +derelictions. My duty points out to me a convent as the proper +refuge for a woman who has outlived her husband's love." + +"I will not release you from your marriage-tie, madame; and, should +you brave my displeasure, and attempt to leave me, I would follow +you to St. Cyr, and drag you from the altar, were you in the very +act of making your vows!" + +The marquise dropped on her knees. "Oh, sire, do I hear aright! I am +not odious to you!--You will not drive me away from my earthly +heaven! I may yet be happy, yet be loved!" + +The king bent over her, and raised her tenderly in his arms. "Rise, +madame," said he, "it does not become the wife of the King of France +to bend the knee to any man. You know full well, Francoise," +continued he, affectionately, "that without you my life would be an +aimless, burdensome one. Who could replace you, my wife, my +counsellor, my prime minister?" + +"Ah, sire, what words! They thrill me to the depths of my heart, and +restore me to bliss unspeakable!" + +"Then the cloud of your discontent has passed away, has it not?" + +"Oh, sire, it is day, bright day, and my soul is flooded with +sunshine!" + +"Then let us sit down on yonder divan, and talk of the affairs of +France. Do you know that I have bad news from Germany?" + +"I feared as much, sire, when you entered the room with such a +troubled aspect." + +"These German princes will not come to a decision as to my claims. +For four years my envoys have been before the imperial Diet, vainly +urging them to define our boundaries." + +"They are procrastinating in the hope of receiving succor from the +emperor, who, as soon as he has sufficiently humbled the Porte, will +make an attempt to humble France. With Leopold to sustain them, the +Diet will claim Strasburg and Alsatia, and exact of your majesty the +withdrawal of the French troops from all the Rhenish provinces." + +"They shall not be withdrawn," returned Louis. "When France has her +grasp upon a province, she never relaxes her hold. And so far am I +from any intention to temporize, that, if the Diet decides against +me, I will not scruple to break the twenty years' truce, and appeal +to arms. This I have long ago decided to do, so we need not discuss +the question any longer. I have other matters to confide to you, +which harass me." + +"Has the emperor refused to recognize the new Elector of Cologne?" +asked the marquise, indignantly. + +"Yes, he has had the assurance to reject the lawful election of Egon +of Furstenberg; and to appoint, in his stead, Joseph Clemens, the +brother of the Elector of Bavaria, Out of four-and-twenty +prebendaries of the archbishopric of Cologne, fourteen votes were +given to Egon, while Joseph received but ten. And what, do you +suppose, is the ground of the emperor's insolent rejection of my +nominee? He pretends that the fourteen voters were bribed by France, +and that the candidate himself is disaffected, and under French +influence. This is tantamount to a declaration of war; and, what is +worse than all, Pope Innocent sustains the emperor." + +The marquise folded her hands in pious resignation. "That is a sad +proof of the unfriendliness of his holiness toward France," murmured +she. "But that is the fault of the Minister Louvois. He has deserved +the displeasure of his holiness by the forcible occupation of +Avignon (so long the residence of the successors of St. Peter), and +by the arrest of the papal nuncio." + +"He could not help it." cried Louis, impatiently; "it was an act of +reprisal. Our ambassador at Rome had been affronted; the spies of +the pope had forced themselves into the hotel of the embassy and had +arrested two men that had sought protection from the French flag." + +"Sire," said the marquise with determination, "they were papal +subjects and criminals, who had no right to the protection of the +French flag. It should never be said that Louis of France shields +from justice the thieves and murderers whom the Vicar of Christ +would punish. You know, sire, that these men had committed +sacrilege. They had plundered the altar of St. Peter's of its golden +pyx and candlesticks, and had poniarded the sacristan that had them +in charge." + +"It was a crime--that I cannot deny," said Louis with a deprecating +sigh, "but the right of asylum is sacred, and we were forced to +defend it." + +"Sire, do you, an earthly monarch, pretend to believe that you can +shield a criminal from the all-seeing vengeance of the Lord? Had the +sinner the wings of the morning, wherewith he might fly to the +uttermost limits of the earth, the arm of God would overtake and +arrest him in his flight! How, then, do you pretend to cover his +crimes with the folds of the French flag?" + +The king was cowed by the bold and uncompromising voice of truth. He +folded his hands and bowed his head. + +"Alas, alas! you are right and we were wrong! We should not have +given refuge to these murderers and plunderers. I am truly +repentant, Franchise, and will do my best to expiate the sin." + +"Sire, you are right to bewail the sin, but it lies not on your +conscience; it is the fault of your arrogant minister, who, without +consulting you, demanded satisfaction of his holiness; and, when it +was righteously refused, took possession of Avignon, and imprisoned +the papal nuncio. Then, when the deed was done, and not until then, +he dispatched a courier to Paris, to inform you of what had taken +place." + +"That is true, dear Francoise," said Louis, mildly; "but, after all, +Louvois had no alternative. Had he consulted me, I might have felt +myself bound to temporize; whereas, by his assumption of the act, he +renders apology on my part possible. The thing is done; the honor of +France is satisfied, and I can now release the nuncio, and make all +necessary excuses to his holiness." + +The marquise gazed searchingly at the countenance of the royal +casuist, who bore her scrutiny without flinching, and, with a slight +clearing of his throat, went on: + +"I am not yet at the end of my chapter of vexations. A courier has +arrived to-day from the Marquis de Villars. In spite of all his +petty intrigues, and the millions with which he bribed the mistress +of the elector, Max Emmanuel has never been estranged from Austria. +So far from it, he has assumed the chief command of the imperial +armies, and is about to lay siege to Belgrade." + +"He will come to grief, sire," cried the marquise. "The Turks and +Hungarians greatly outnumber the imperialists, and--" + +The king raised his hand and shook his head. "I would you were +right; but, Francoise, you are a false prophet--my last and worst +tale is told--Belgrade has fallen!" + +"The will of God be done!" cried the marquise. "Christianity has +triumphed, and the unbelieving Moslem has bitten the dust!" + +"Pray," interrupted Louis, fretfully, "put aside your piety for a +while and look at the thing through the medium of good sense and +earthly foresight. The Emperor of Germany is victorious; he is +gradually weakening the Sultan, so that it is within the range of +possibilities that he overturn the Ottoman power, and consolidate +the Germanic confederations into one great empire. This done, he +will turn his attention to France--of that you may be sure." + +"My beloved sovereign speaks of events that will never come to +pass," replied the marquise, with one of her most enticing smiles. +"Long before the Emperor Leopold will have exterminated the Turks, +we will force him to defend his own territories from the invading +armies of France." + +"You approve me, then, and think that it is time I began to be +aggressive in my warfare," exclaimed Louis, eagerly. + +"I am always of the opinion of my lord and sovereign," was the +courteous reply of the marquise, who had already forgotten the +discussion relating to Avignon. "It remains to be seen if Louvois +acquiesces." + +"Louvois will do as he is bid," said Louis, frowning. + +"Remember, sire, that he said publicly, yesterday, that the French +army was not in a condition to open a campaign, and that it could +not be equipped before spring." + +"Before spring!" echoed the king. "While the generals of Leopold +carry every thing before them!--for he has distinguished generals in +his service, madame; one of whom is that same Eugene of Savoy whom +you pronounced unworthy of a bishopric. Whatever he might have done +as a churchman, I would he were an archbishop rather than what he is +to-day!" + +"Oh, sire!" said the marquise, reproachfully. "True--I never thought +Prince Eugene had any vocation for the priesthood; and, knowing his +disinclination to the church, I myself advised him to ask for a +commission in the army. He did ask it--a mere captaincy--and your +majesty well remembers who it was that influenced you to refuse him +so small a boon. To Louvois France owes the loss of this great +military genius." + +"Right, right, you are always right, and I have unwittingly given +you another pretext for blaming him." + +"Although he is my bitter foe, I would not blame him, sire, were he +not culpable." + +"Your bitter foe, Francoise? How?" + +"Ah, sire, was it not he that opposed our marriage?" + +"Forgive him, dear Francoise, he acted according to his own notions +of duty. But you see that my love was mightier than his objections, +and you are, before God, my own beloved spouse." + +"Before God, sire, I am; but the world doubts my right to the name. +In the eyes of the court, I am but the mistress of the king; a +humiliation which I owe to Louvois, who bound your majesty by an +oath never to recognize me as Queen of France." + +"I rejoice to think that he did so," was the king's reply, "for the +tie that binds us is sacred in the sight of Heaven, while in the +eyes of the world I am spared the ridicule of placing Scarron's +widow upon the throne of Charlemagne the Great. In your own +reception-room you act as queen, and I am perfectly willing that you +should do so, for it proves that you are the wife of the king, and +not his mistress. Be magnanimous, then, and forgive Louvois if, +above the ambition of Madame de Mainterion, he valued the dignity +and honor of the French throne. But the hour of my interview with +you is at an end: I hold a levee this morning, and must leave you." + +Kissing the hand of the marquise, Louis bowed and left the room. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE KING AND THE PETITIONERS. + + +When the king entered the audience-chamber, the courtiers, dispersed +in groups about the room, were all in eager conversation. So +absorbed were they in the subject under discussion, that those who +stood at the opposite end of the room were not aware of the royal +presence until the grande tournee forced it upon their attention. + +The king joined one of these groups. "Gentlemen," said he, "what +interests you so deeply to-day? Have you received any important +news?" + +"Yes, sire," replied the Prince de Conti. "We are speaking of my +cousin Eugene. He has been severely wounded, but not until he had +materially assisted the Elector of Bavaria to capture Belgrade." + +"Ah! you have heard of the fall of Belgrade!" said the king, +frowning, as he perceived that Louvois was approaching. "Is it you," +asked he, curtly, "that has been in such hot haste to spread the +news of the successes of the imperial army?" + +"Pardon me, sire," replied Louvois, "I am no gossip; nor do the +successes of the Emperor of Austria interest me sufficiently for me +to deem them worthy of announcement here." + +"Nevertheless, they are for you a cause of no little humiliation; +for they remind the world that you were once guilty of a blunder in +your statesmanship. If I am not mistaken, it was you who caused me +to refuse Prince Eugene a commission in my army--that same Prince +Eugene who has turned out to be one of the greatest military +geniuses of the age." + +"Sire," returned Louvois, reddening with auger, "you yourself were +of the opinion that Prince Eugene of Savoy--" "Sir," interrupted the +king, haughtily, "I am of opinion that when you scorned Prince +Eugene, you were lamentably deficient in judgment; and that, if he +is now shedding lustre upon the arms of Austria, it is because you +repulsed him when he would have entered the service of France." + +And the king, whose wounded vanity was greatly comforted by a thrust +at that of his prime minister, turned on his heel, and addressed +himself again to the Prince de Conti: + +"Whence came your news of the taking of Belgrade?" + +"From the Duke de Luynes, your majesty, who, you may remember, has +joined the imperial armies. But Eugene is not the only Frenchman who +has distinguished himself at the siege; the Prince de Commercy +behaved in a manner worthy of all admiration." + +"Yes, indeed," added the young Duke of Maine (the royal son of De +Montespan). "It is such deeds as his that have earned for Frenchmen +the title of the 'Knightly Nation.'" + +And the little hobbling duke, who had never drawn a sword from its +scabbard, struck himself on the breast, as if he had represented in +his own person the united chivalry of all France. + +"I am curious to hear of the valiant deeds of the Prince de +Commercy," said the king, carelessly. "Pray relate them to us, +prince." The prince bowed: "Sire, as the Prince de Commercy was +charging a body of Janizaries stationed at one of the gates of +Belgrade, a Turk made a sudden dash at his standard-bearer, and +captured the regimental flag. The men were disheartened at their +loss, when the prince, crying out, 'Wait a moment, boys, and you +shall have another,' galloped right into the enemy's midst, and +raised his pistol to bring down the standard-bearer of the Turks. +The latter, taking immediate advantage of the position of the +prince, thrust a lance into his right side. Without giving the least +attention to his wound, Commercy grasped the spear with his left +hand and held it fast, while with his right he drew out his sabre, +killed the standard-bearer and bore away his flag. Then, withdrawing +the lance from his side, he gave the blood-besprinkled banner into +the hands of the German ensign, saying, as he did so, 'Pray be more +careful of this one than you were of the other.'" + +The king slightly bowed his head. "Indeed, the Prince de Commercy +does honor to the country that gave him birth. I will take care that +he is suitably rewarded." + +"Sire," replied the Prince de Conti, "the Emperor of Germany has +already done so. He has been promoted; and the flag which was +stained with his blood now hangs within the cathedral walls of St. +Stephen's; while, with her own hands, the empress is embroidering a +new one for the regiment, which, in honor of the prince, is called +the Commercy regiment." + +"The Emperor of Germany knows how to reward valor," exclaimed the +Duke de la Roche Guyon, "for Eugene of Savoy is only five-and-twenty +years of age, and yet he has been created a field-marshal." + +The king affected not to have heard this remark, and passed on. His +courtiers saw, with consternation, that he was annoyed at something, +and every face in the audience-chamber gave back a reflection of the +royal discontent. Louis sauntered along, occasionally addressing a +word or two to such as he "delighted to honor," until the grande +tournee had been made. + +When the two Princes de Conti saw that he was disengaged, they +advanced with a mien so respectful, that Louis knew perfectly well +the nature of their errand, although he little guessed its purport. + +"Well, gentlemen," said he, "for what new escapade have you come to +crave our royal indulgence? I see, by your demeanor, that you are +about to ask a favor of your sovereign." + +"Yes, my liege," replied the elder of the two; "we have come to ask +a favor, but not such a one as your majesty supposes. We have grown +melancholy, and your royal hand can heal us." + +"Grown melancholy! You, the boldest, gayest cavalier in Paris!" + +"Yes, sire," sighed De Conti. "We cannot sleep for thinking of the +laurels of our kinsman of Savoy, and we humbly crave your royal +permission to join the imperial crusade against the Turks." + +Louis frowned, but quickly recovered himself. "Of course--of +course," replied he, condescendingly; "if the laurels of the little +prince disturb your slumbers, you have my full consent to go after +him. 'Twere a pity to deny you so small a boon." + +And, without giving opportunity to the two princes to thank him, the +king turned around and addressed Marshal Crequi: + +"Who knows," said he, raising his voice, "whether these two silly +boys have not chosen the wiser part? Though they may never earn any +laurels, they may fight away some of their folly--which loss would +be to them great gain." + +"Sire, it is perfectly natural for youth to desire glory," returned +the old marshal. "I think that thirst for fame is honorable to a +young nobleman, and for this reason I have consented that my son, +the Marquis do Blanchefort, should join the imperial crusade, +provided he obtains your majesty's consent. I venture to hope that +your majesty will not refuse to him what you have conceded to the +Princes de Conti." + +Louis looked with amazement at the smiling countenance of the old +marshal, but he answered as before: + +"I certainly will not do less for your soil than for the De Contis. +He has my consent to accompany them on their journey after glory." + +The young Marquis de Blanchefort, who was near at hand, would have +expressed his gratitude for the royal permission to leave France, +but the king turned coldly away, and darted a peremptory glance at +Louvois. + +The minister understood, and came forward at once. + +De Blanchefort, meanwhile, hurried off to join the De Contis, who, +surrounded by a group of young noblemen, were engaged in a low, but +earnest conversation. + +"I have my discharge," whispered he. + +"Then you are the third one upon whom fortune has smiled to-day," +sighed the young Duke de Brienne. "I wish I were as far advanced as +you." + +"Allow me to give the three lucky knights a bit of advice," +whispered the Duke de la Roche Guyon, Louvois's son-in-law. "Make +use of the king's permission without delay. Who knows, but when the +rest of us prefer our petitions, he may not withdraw his consent +from you?" + +"My dear friend," said the younger De Conti, "our trunks are packed, +and our travelling-carriage awaits us at the corner of the Rue St. +Honore. Nobody knows what may happen; so that we are about to depart +without parade, bidding adieu to our friends by notes of farewell." + +"You have acted with foresight," replied the duke. "And you, De +Blanchefort, when do you start?" + +"My father is a soldier, and admires punctuality," answered the +marquis. "Yesterday afternoon he presented me with a new travelling- +chariot, and this morning he ordered it to be ready for my +departure, at the corner of the Garde Meubles. That is even nearer +than the Rue St. Honore, and if you will allow me, I fly to see if +it is still there." + +"Do so," returned the duke, "and our dear princes would do well to +follow your example." + +"We were about to take our leave, and now--" began young De Conti. + +"Away with you!" was the reply; and the three young men, murmuring, +"Au revoir," disappeared behind the portiere which led to the +antechamber, and sped away from the Louvre to their carriages. + +"Messieurs," said the Duke de la Roche Guyon, taking out his watch, +"we must give them a quarter of an hour, before we irritate his +majesty by preferring our own petitions." + +When the quarter of an hour had elapsed, the duke replaced his +watch, and resumed: "Now let us go and try our luck." + +"Shall we go together, or one by one?" inquired the Duke de +Liancourt. + +"We are four, and the king's good-nature is soon exhausted. The last +two petitioners would indubitably be rebuffed, so I think we had +better go in a body." + +"With yourself as spokesman," said De Brienne. + +"Right!" echoed the others, and they are all approached the king. He +was engaged in conversation with Louvois, and interrupted himself to +stare at the four young men, as if he had been greatly astonished to +see them. + +"Here is your son-in-law," observed he to Louvois. "What can he +want?" + +"Indeed, sire, nobody knows his wants less than I. He is my +daughter's husband, but no friend of mine." + +"Here are De Turenne, De Brienne. and De Liancourt at his heels," +replied the king, trying to stare them out of countenance, while the +poor young men waited in vain for the royal permission to speak. + +At last the Duke de la Roche Guyon gathered courage to begin. + +"Your majesty, we come with all respect--" + +"We!" echoed the king. "Then you represent four petitioners." + +"Yes, your majesty, the three here present and myself. May I be +permitted to state the nature of our petition?" + +The king bowed, and De la Roche Guyon resumed: "Sire, we, are all, +like the Princes de Conti and the Marquis de Blanchefort, envious of +the laurels of Eugene of Savoy. We are athirst for glory." + +"And you come to ask if I will not make war to gratify your greed +for fame?" asked the king, eagerly. + +"Sire!" exclaimed the duke, "can you imagine such assurance on the +part of your subjects? No--we merely ask permission to join the +imperial army." + +"The army of the Emperor of Germany!" cried Louis, in a voice so +loud and angry that his courtiers grew pale, and almost forgot to +breathe. But the Duke de la Roche Guyon had steeled himself against +the bolts of this Jupiter Tonans. + +"Yes, sire," replied he, courteously, "the army of the emperor who +represents Christendom doing battle with Mohammedanism. It is a holy +cause, and we hope that it has your majesty's sympathy and +approbation." + +"It would appear that the youth of my court are drifting into +imbecility," replied the king, with a contemptuous shrug. "They need +a physician; and it will be time enough to listen to any request +they may have to make, when they shall have returned to their +senses." + +"Your majesty refuses us!" said the duke, bitterly. + +"When the king has spoken, sir," replied Louis, haughtily, "it +becomes his subjects to obey and be silent. The court is dismissed! +Monsieur de Louvois, you will go with me to Trianon, to inspect the +new palace. The court are at liberty to accompany us." + +This "at liberty" being a command which nobody dared resist, the +king had no sooner left the room than the courtiers hastened to +their carriages and gave orders to their various coachmen to join +the royal cortege. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE WINDOW THAT WAS TOO LARGE. + + +Meanwhile the king had made his way to the boudoir of his marquise, +who advanced joyfully to meet him. + +"Madame," said he, "I am about to drive to Trianon; will you +accompany me? Decide according to your own judgment; do not +inconvenience yourself on my account." + +"Your majesty knows that I live in your presence," sighed the +marquise, "but--" + +"But you dare not leave your room. Well--I am sorry; you would have +enjoyed the drive." + +"The drive to Trianon," replied the marquise, "where, as an +architect, Louvois will he the theme of your majesty's encomiums." + +The king's lip curled. "Scarcely"--said he. "I do not think that +Louvois will enjoy his visit to-day. I am not at all pleased with +his plans, nor will I be at pains to conceal my displeasure." + +The marquise looked inquiringly into the face of the king. It was +smiling and significant. + +"Sire," said the marquise, "are you in earnest? May I indeed be +permitted to accompany you to Trianon?" + +"Indeed, you cannot conceive how much I regret your inability to +go," returned Louis. + +"Oh, sire, my love is mightier than my infirmities; it shall lend me +strength, and I shall have the unspeakable bliss of accompanying +you." + +"I counted upon you," returned Louis. "So let us go at once; the +court waits, and punctuality is the politeness of kings." + +Without paying the least attention to Louvois, who, as +superintendent of the royal edifices, stood close at hand, the king +entered his coach, and assisted Madame de Maintenon, as she took her +place at his side. Louvois had expected to be invited to ride with +the king, and this oversight, he knew, betokened something sinister +for him. + +And what could it be? "The old bigot has been sowing her tares +again," said he to himself. "There is some mortification in store +for me, or she would not have exposed herself to this sharp autumn +blast to-day." And he ran over all the late occurrences of the +court, that he might disentangle the knotted thread of the king's +ill-humor. "It must be that accursed business of the Prince of +Savoy, and the king is no better than these silly lads; the laurels +of the little abbe keep him awake at night, and he vents his spleen +upon me. What an oversight it was of mine, to let that Eugene +escape! Had I caused him to disappear from this wicked world and +given him an asylum in the Bastile, he never would have troubled us +with his doings in Germany. THERE was my blunder--my unpardonable +blunder. But it cannot be recalled, and the king's vanity is so +insatiable, that there is no knowing how it is ever to be appeased. +I must succumb for the present, and--Ah!" cried he, interrupting the +current of his despondency, "I think I can repair my error. We must +allow his envious majesty to gather a handful of these laurels for +which he has such a longing. We must put the Emperor of Germany in +check, and--" + +Just then the iron gates of Trianon opened to admit the carriage, +and the superintendent of the royal edifices made haste to alight +and wait the arrival of the king. + +For the first time, his majesty condescended to seem aware of +Louvois' presence. "Monsieur," said he, to the tottering favorite, +"I have come to inspect this chateau. Madame la marquise, it being +intended as a pleasure-house for yourself, you will oblige me by +speaking frankly on the subject." + +So saying, he gave his arm to madame, and the court, with heads +uncovered, came submissively behind. + +"Follow us," said the king. + +This "us" delighted the marquise, for it was an informal +acknowledgment of her right to be considered as the king's consort. +With her large eyes beaming with joy, and her face radiant with +triumph, she went, hanging on Louis' arm, over the chateau which his +munificence had prepared for her occupation in summer. Immediately +behind them walked Louvois; and after him a long procession of +nobles, not one of whom dared to utter a word. The central building +was pronounced satisfactory; its front and marble colonnade received +their due meed of praise, and the king ended by these words: "I am +perfectly satisfied with Mansard; he is really a distinguished +architect." + +"Sire," returned Louvois, to whom this eulogium had been addressed, +"Mansard will be overjoyed to hear of his sovereign's approbation. +But your majesty will pardon me if I appropriate some portion of +your praise; the ground-plan of the building is mine. I furnished it +to Mansard." + +The king made no reply to this attempt to extort a word of approval; +he merely nodded, and went on his way. They had now reached a point +whence the right facade of the building was brought to view. + +"Monsieur," said Louis, pointing to the central window, "this window +is out of proportion." + +"Pardon me, sire," returned Louvois, submissively, "it is exactly of +the size of the central window in front, and only appears larger +because of the absence of a colonnade." + +"Sir," said the king, indignantly, "I tell you that this window is +much too large, and unless it be reduced the entire palace is a +failure." + +"I must, nevertheless, abide by my judgment, sire," replied Louvois, +respectfully. "The two windows are exactly alike; this one being +more conspicuous than the other, but not one inch higher." + +"Then you have been guilty of some great oversight by allowing it to +appear higher than the other," returned the king, rudely. "Your plan +is ridiculous, and the sooner you set about mending it the better." + +"Sire," said Louvois, bitterly, "when praise was to be awarded, the +credit of the plan was Mansard's--" + +"But as you did not choose to concede it, you must accept the blame +of your blunder. Your vision is not acute, sir, a defect that is as +unbecoming in an architect as in a war minister. You have been +equally blind to the monstrous size of yonder window, and to the +great genius of my kinsman, Eugene of Savoy. Unhappily, your want of +judgment, as regards the man, is irreparable; the defect in your +window you will be so good as to correct." + +"Sire," said Louvois, trembling with anger, "I beg to be discharged +from my duties as architect to your majesty. Under the +circumstances. I feel myself inadequate to perform its duties." + +"You are quite right," replied the king. "You will then have more +leisure to devote to the war department, and to devise some means +for gratifying the national love of glory, without driving my French +nobles to foreign courts for distinction.--Come, madame," added the +king, to the marquise, who, all this time, had been standing with +eyes cast down; the very personification of humility.--"Let us +proceed to Versailles; for this ungainly window has taken away my +breath. I must have change of scene for the remainder of the day." + +As they took their seat in the coach, the marquise whispered: "Oh, +sire! how overwhelming, yet how noble, is your anger! I should die +under it, were it directed toward me; and, in spite of all Louvois' +ill-will toward me, I pitied him so sincerely that I could scarcely +restrain my impulse to intercede for him." + +"You are an angel," was the stereotyped reply. + +Meanwhile, the court were preparing to follow the royal equipage. +Louvois stood by, but not one of the nobles seemed aware of his +presence; he was out of favor, and thereby invisible to courtly +eyes. + +On the afternoon of the same day the minister of war, with brow +serene and countenance unruffled, entered the council-chamber of the +king. He had found a remedy for his annoyances at Trianon, and he +pretended not to see the marquise, who, as usual, sat embroidering +in the deep embrasure of a window, almost concealed from view by its +velvet curtains. + +"Sire," said Louvois, "I come before your majesty with proposals of +great moment, and I await with much anxiety your decision." + +"Let us hear your proposals," said the king, languidly. "Have more +couriers arrived with news of Austrian successes?" + +"No, sire, we have had enough of Austrian victories, and I am of +opinion that the emperor must receive his check from the powerful +hand of France. It is time that your majesty interposed to change +his fortunes." + +The king was startled out of his indifference. He raised his head to +listen, while the marquise dropped her work, and applied her ear to +the opening in the curtains. + +"Your majesty has acted toward this arrogant Austrian with a +forbearance that is more than human. Well I know that your humane +aversion to bloodshed has been in part the cause of your +unparalleled magnanimity; but you have been thwarted in your choice +of an Elector of Cologne; your claims to Alsatia and Lorraine have +been set aside; the dower of her royal highness the Duchess of +Orleans has been refused you; and patience under so many affronts +has ceased to be a virtue. The honor of France must be sustained, +and we must evoke, as a last resort, the demon of war." + +"Gracious Heaven!" said the marquise, behind her curtain, "if he +rouses the king's ambition, I shall occupy but a secondary position +at the court of France, and he will be more influential than ever! +Louis has already forgotten me, else he would call me to his side +before he decides so weighty a matter." + +The marquise was shrewd, and did not err in her speculations: Louis +had indeed forgotten her presence. His heart was full of +covetousness and resentment at the opposition of that presuming +Leopold, who penetrated his designs upon the Rhenish provinces of +the empire, and he thirsted for vengeance. + +"Yes," replied he, "I have given an example of forbearance which +must have astonished all Europe. I would have been glad to settle +our differences in a Christian-like manner; but Leopold is deaf to +all reason and justice--" + +At this moment the king's voice was rendered inaudible by a loud +cough which proceeded from the window wherein the marquise had +retired from observation. + +"My dear Francoise," exclaimed Louis, "come and take your part in +this important council of war." + +The hangings were parted, and out she stepped; slightly +acknowledging the salute of the minister, she passed him by, and +took an arm-chair at the side of the king. + +"You have heard us discussing, have you not?" asked Louis. + +"Yes, sire," sighed she, "I have heard every thing." + +"Then you understand that it concerns my honor to make war upon +Germany?" + +The marquise turned her flashing eyes upon the one that held this +royal honor in his keeping. "Sire," said she, "I am slow of +comprehension; for it has just occurred to me that your majesty's +criticism upon a window at Trianon is to be productive of results +most disastrous to the French nation." + +"This criticism concerns nobody but Mansard," observed Louvois, +carelessly. "I am no longer superintendent of the royal edifices." + +"I do not understand you, madame," interposed the king. "What has a +window at Trianon to do with the affairs of the nation? Pray let us +be serious, and come to a determination." + +"Sire," asked the marquise, "is not this matter already determined?" + +The king kissed her hand. "It is--and your inquiry is a new proof of +your penetration. How truly you sympathize with my emotions! How +clearly you read the pages of my heart! Yes, dear marquise, war is +inevitable." + +"Then our days of happiness are at an end," returned she, sadly; +"and your majesty's heart will descend from the contemplation of +heavenly things, to thoughts of strife and cruel bloodshed." + +"The war is a holy one," interrupted Louvois, "and God Himself holds +a monarch responsible for the honor of his people." + +"Well spoken, Louvois," replied the king, approvingly. "The cause is +just, and the Lord of hosts will battle for us. You, marquise, will +be our intercessor with Heaven." + +"But your majesty will not be nigh to pray with me," said the +marquise, in regretful tones. + +The king made no reply to this affectionate challenge; he continued +to speak with Louvois, enjoining upon him to hasten his +preparations. + +"Sire, my plans are laid," replied Louvois. + +"Already!" cried Louis, joyfully. + +"Already!" echoed De Maintenon, affrighted. + +"Sire," continued Louvois, "as soon as your majesty has approved my +plan, the couriers, who are waiting without, will transfer your +royal commands to the army. It is my design to march at once upon +the Rhenish provinces, and to take possession of the Palatinate." + +"Good! but will our army be strong enough to fight the emperor and +the Germanic confederation at once?" + +"Sire, the emperor shall have occupation elsewhere, and the princes +of the empire must be terrified into submission." + +"But how, now?" + +"Both ends may be reached by one stroke. The Rhenish provinces, +Alsatia, and the Palatinate, must be transformed into a waste. We +must wage against Germany a war of destruction, whose fearful +consequences will be felt there for a century to come." + +"Oh, sire," exclaimed De Maintenon, "such a war is contrary to the +laws of God and man! Shall France, the most refined country on the +globe, set to civilized Europe an example of barbarity only to be +equalled by the atrocities of the Huns and Vandals?" + +"My dear marquise," cried Louis, fretfully, "do be silent.--Go on, +Louvois, and let me hear your plans." + +"Sire, they are very simple. We have only to march on the German +towns, sack and burn them, and put to the sword all those that +presume to defy the power of France. We must spread consternation +throughout all Germany, that your majesty's name may cause every +cheek to pale, and every heart to sink with fear. The enemy shall +provision our army, and forage our horses. We will take possession +of their magazines, stores, and shambles; and to every house that +refuses us gold, we will apply the devouring torch. Thus we will +make it impossible for the emperor to advance to Lorraine; and the +wide desert that intervenes between us will become French +territory." + +"I approve your mode of warfare, Louvois; it is good. If the emperor +had ratified my choice of an Elector of Cologne, and had sustained +my claims to Lorraine and Alsatia, I would have conceded him as many +triumphs as he chose in Transylvania. As he opposes me, let him take +the consequence--war with all its horrors!" + +"Your majesty empowers me, then, to dispatch my couriers?" said +Louvois. + +"I do, my dear marquis," was the gracious reply, while the royal +hand was held out to be kissed. + +Louvois pressed it to his lips, as a lover does the rosy fingers of +his mistress, and, hastening away with the agility of a young man, +sprang into his carriage, and drove off. "'My dear marquis,'" +murmured he, with a smile of complacency. "He called me his dear +marquis, and the storm of his displeasure has passed away. I came +very near being struck by its lightning, nevertheless. That De +Maintenon is a shrewd woman, and found me out at once. Yes!--yes, +your majesty! Had you admired my window at Trianon, I should not +have been obliged to involve you in a war with Germany." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE IMPERIAL DIET AT REGENSBURG. + + +In 1687 the imperial Diet assembled at Regensburg, to examine the +claims of the King of France to Alsatia, Lorraine, the Palatinate, +and other possessions, which his majesty longed to appropriate out +of the domains of his neighbors. + +On the 2d of October, 1689, a travelling-carriage might have been +seen standing in front of the large, antiquated building occupied by +Count Spaur, the envoy of the Emperor Leopold. + +The postilion sounded his horn, and cracked his whip with such +vehemence, that here and there an inquiring and angry face might be +seen at the neighboring windows, peering out upon the untimely +intruders, who were making dawn hideous by their clattering arrival. +The footman sprang from his board, and thundered with all his might +at the door, while, between each interval of knocking, the postilion +accompanied him by a fanfare that stirred up the sleeping echoes of +that dull old town in a manner that was astonishing to hear. + +Finally, their zeal was rewarded by the appearance of a man's head +at the window on the ground floor, and the sound of his voice +inquiring who it was that was making all this uproar. + +"Who we are?" echoed the footman. "We are individuals entitled to +make an uproar, and shall continue to make it until we obtain +admission to the presence of Count Spaur for his excellency Count +von Crenneville, who comes on important business from his imperial +majesty the emperor." + +This pompous announcement had the desired effect; it awed the porter +into civility, and he hastened to inform the footman of his +excellency, that Count Spaur being in bed, he would inform the +valet, and have the Austrian ambassador apprised of the visit of +Count von Crenneville. + +"Open your door before you go, and admit his excellency into the +house," cried the footman, imperiously. + +"I dare not," replied the porter, shaking his head. "I am not at +liberty to admit anybody, until I have orders to do so from the +valet of Count Spaur." + +"Not admit the emperor's envoy?" exclaimed the indignant lackey. +"That is an affront to his excellency." + +"I do not know the person of his excellency," persisted the porter, +"and how do I know but some petty ducal envoy may not be playing a +trick on me, and so obtain fraudulent entrance to the house of the +Austrian ambassador?" + +"You presume to apply such language to Count von Crenneville!" cried +the footman, "I shall--" + +"Peace, Caspar!" said a voice from the carriage; "the honest fellow +is quite right, and deserves no blame for his prudence. +Nevertheless, as we are no impostors, hasten, my good friend, to the +valet, and let me have entrance, for I am very tired." + +At this moment the porter was put aside, and a man in rich livery +came forward. + +"Count Spaur has risen, and will be happy to receive his excellency +Count von Crenneville," said he. At these magical words the heavy +doors were opened, and the envoy sprang lightly from his carriage, +and entered the house. At the head of the staircase he was met by +Count Spaur, who apologized for being compelled to receive his guest +in a dressing-gown. + +"It would not be the first time that I have seen you in a +deshabille, my dear comrade," replied Von Crenneville, "for you +cannot have forgotten the old days when we were quartered together +in Hungary. As I presume you have not breakfasted, I will take the +liberty of inviting myself to breakfast, for I am hungry and +exhausted by travelling all night." + +Count Spaur offered his arm, and conducted his guest to the dining- +room, where breakfast was about to be served. + +Count von Crenneville threw aside his military cloak, unfastened a +few buttons of his uniform, and took his seat at the table. + +"I am delighted to see you," said Count Spaur, handing a cup of +chocolate. "Your arrival is a delicious interruption to the stupid +life I had in Regensburg." + +When they had breakfasted, Count Spaur led the way to his cabinet, +and the conference began by Count von Crenneville handing a packet +to his friend from the emperor. + +The latter received it with a profound inclination, and carefully +cutting it, so as to avoid breaking the seal, he opened it, and +prepared to make himself master of its contents. + +He shook his head dolefully. "His majesty asks impossibilities of +me," sighed he. "Do you know what this letter contains?" + +"Be so kind as to read it to me." + +So Count Spaur began: "My dear Count,--It is time this imperial Diet +end their petty quarrels, and go seriously to work; for these are no +days wherein important interests may be neglected for the sake of +etiquette. Announce to the Diet that I require of them to be +serious, and to come to the assistance of their fatherland. Count +von Crenneville, who will deliver this to you, is empowered to +declare the same to the assembled representatives of the Germanic +Confederation." + +(Signed) "LEOPOLD, Emperor." + +"It seems to me that the demand is a reasonable one," remarked Count +von Crenneville. + +"But impossible of compliance. Do you know how long the Diet has +been sitting at Regensburg?" + +"Two years, I believe." + +"Well: do you know what they have been doing for these two years?" + +"No, count; it is precisely to learn this that his majesty has sent +me here," said Von Crenneville. + +"I will tell you then. They have been profoundly engaged in settling +questions of diplomatic etiquette. You may laugh, if you like; but +for one that has been obliged to hear it all, it is wearisome beyond +expression. The first trouble arose from the etiquette of visiting. +As imperial envoy, I received the first visit from them all, I +returned my calls, and so far all was well. But when the other +envoys were to visit among themselves, the dissensions began. Each +man wrote to his sovereign, and each sovereign upheld his man; +couriers came and went, and for a time Regensburg was alive with +arrivals and departures." + +"And meanwhile the King of France was allowed to build his bridges +across the Rhine," observed Count von Crenneville. + +"My dear friend, the King of France might have dethroned the +emperor, meanwhile, without a protest. Nothing under heaven could be +attended to, while this visiting question was on the tapis." + +"Is it decided?" + +"After three months of daily conferences, during which I exhausted +more statesmanship than would overturn an empire, it was decided +that the envoys of the princes would call on the envoys of the +electors, provided the latter would come half way down the staircase +to meet the former." + +"God be thanked! They could then proceed to business!" + +Count Spaur replied by a melancholy shake of the head. + +"You are not aware that, before the Diet assemble, a banquet is +given, at which all are expected to be present. You are furthermore +not cognizant of the fact that every concomitant of this banquet has +been made a subject of strife, from the day on which the visiting +question was arranged, until the present time." + +"My dear count, I pity you." + +"You may well do so. The electoral envoys claimed the right of using +gold knives and forks, while they exacted that the ducal +representatives should be content with silver. These latter resented +the indignity, and of course the banquet had to be postponed." + +"This is pitiful indeed; but go on." + +"Then came the question of the color of the arm-chairs around the +table. The electoral envoys claimed the right of having their seats +covered in red; and contended that the others were obliged by +etiquette to cover theirs with green. The others would not accept +the green, and so arose the third point of discussion. The fourth +disagreement was about the carpets. The electorals would have the +four legs of their chairs on the carpet (which is narrow), and the +others should have but the FORE-legs of theirs. The fifth regarded +the May-boughs. On May-day, the electorate exacted that the +superintendent of public festivities should put six boughs over +their front doors, while the others must content themselves with +five. Now, my dear count, you are made acquainted with the subjects +of discussion which for two years have detained the imperial Diet in +Regensburg; which have imbittered my days, and made sleepless my +nights; which have nigh lost the cause of German nationality, and +have made us the laughing-stock of all Europe." + +"My friend, I sympathize with you.--But are these five questions not +decided?" + +"No, they are not. The ducal envoys indignantly refused to yield to +the pretensions of their colleagues, and no banquet could be given. +After much exertion on my part to bring about an understanding, the +banquet was set aside, and a compromise was effected. ALL the arm- +chairs were covered with green--this was a concession to the ducal +envoys; while they, on their part, consented that the hind-legs of +their chairs should rest on the bare floor!" [Footnote: Putter, +"Historical Notes on the Constitution of the German Empire."] + +"What a victory! I congratulate you from my heart; for I would much +rather have charged a regiment of Janizaries." + +"And at least have earned some glory thereby," returned Spaur, +grimly. "But the only reward I shall ever reap will be the +unpleasant notoriety I shall have acquired as a member of this +stultified assembly." + +"My dear friend, be under no uneasiness as to that. The King of +France has crossed our frontiers, and you are about to throw aside +diplomacy and take up the sword. This is the message with which the +emperor has charged me, both to yourself and to the imperial Diet." + +"I am happy to tell you that to-day the Diet opens its sitting. +Hark! the bells are ringing! This announces to Regensburg that the +envoys are about to proceed to the hall of conference. Excuse me +while I retire to change my dress." + +"I will betake myself to the nearest hotel to follow your example," +replied Von Crenneville. + +"By no means. Your room is prepared, and I will conduct you thither +at once, if you wish." + +Fifteen or twenty minutes elapsed, when the two imperial envoys met +again, and drove, in the state-carriage of Count Spaur, to the hall +of conference. The other envoys were all assembled, and, scattered +in groups, seemed to be earnestly engaged in discussing some weighty +matter. + +Count Spaur remarked this, and whispered to his colleague: "I am +afraid there is trouble brewing; the electoral envoys are all on one +side of the hall--the ducal on the other." + +"The electorals are those with the red cloaks--are they not?" + +"Yes, they are; and I fear that these red cloaks signify war." + +"What do you mean?" + +"I mean war with--but, pardon me, I see that they are waiting for me +to open the council." + +With an inclination of the head, Count Spaur passed down the hall, +and took his seat under the red canopy appropriated to the imperial +ambassador. A deep silence reigned throughout the assembly, broken +by the sweet chime of the bells that still continued to convey far +and wide the intelligence of the opening of the conference. + +Count Spaur took off his Spanish hat, and, bowing right and left, +addressed the envoys: + +"My lords ambassadors of the electors, princes, and imperial cities +of the German empire, in the name of his majesty Leopold I greet +you, and announce that the imperial Diet is opened. Long live the +emperor!" + +"Long live the emperor!" echoed the ambassadors. + +"The Diet is opened," resumed he, "and I have the honor to introduce +an envoy of his imperial majesty, who has this day arrived from +Vienna." + +At this, Count von Crenneville advanced, and the master of +ceremonies placed an arm-chair for him under the canopy, at the side +of Count Spaur. + +At a signal from the latter, the other envoys took their seats, and +Count von Crenneville addressed the assembly: + +"My lords ambassadors of the electors, princes, and imperial cities +of the German empire, his majesty greets you all. But he is deeply +wounded at the indifference manifested by the Diet to the dearest +interests of Germany, and he implores you, as you value your +nationality and liberty, to lay aside your petty dissensions, and to +unite with him in defence of your fatherland. The King of France has +marched his armies into Germany--and disunion to Germans is defeat +and ruin." + +This prelude appeared to cause considerable emotion. There was +visible agitation throughout the assembly. + +Count von Crenneville felt encouraged, and was about to continue his +appeal, when one of the electorals started from his seat and spoke: + +"I beg pardon of the imperial envoy; but I must ask permission of +the imperial representative-resident to make a personal remark." + +"The permission is granted," replied Count Spaur, solemnly. + +The envoy then continued, in loud and agitated tones: "I must, then, +call the attention of this august assembly to a flagrant violation +of the compact agreed between the first and second class of these +ambassadors, by the latter. They have advanced their arm-chairs +until the four legs of the same are now resting upon the carpet." + +"We merely advanced our seats, to hear what his excellency had to +say," remarked the envoy from Bremen. + +"Nevertheless," replied Count Spaur, "I must request these gentlemen +to recede. The understanding was, that their chairs were to rest +partly on the carpet, partly on the floor." + +Back went all the chairs, but their occupants looked daggers at the +envoy from Mentz. + +Count von Crenneville then resumed the broken thread of his +discourse: "I earnestly request the assembly to come to a decision +this very day. The country is in imminent danger, and can only be +saved by unanimity and promptitude of action." + +Here he was interrupted by the envoy from Bremen, who rose and +begged to be allowed to make his personal remark. + +Count Spaur gave the required permission, and Bremen began to +protest against Mentz & Co. + +"I beg to remark, that the electoral envoys have spread out their +red cloaks over the backs of the chairs, in such a way as to conceal +the green covering entirely from view." + +"It is exceedingly warm in the hall," replied electoral Cologne; "we +were compelled to throw off our cloaks." + +"Why, then, did the electoral envoys wear their cloaks?" was the +inquiry of the other side. + +"Because we had a right to wear them hither, and violate no compact +by throwing them over our chairs." + +"But the electoral envoys had no right to use them as upholstery," +objected Bremen, in tragic tones. "They have now the appearance of +being seated on red arm-chairs." + +"So much the better," replied Cologne. "If accident has re- +established our rights of precedence, nobody has any business to +complain." [Footnote: Historical. See Putter.] + +This declaration was received with a burst of indignation, and the +princely envoys rose simultaneously from their seats. A noisy and +angry debate ensued, at the conclusion of which the offended party +declared that they would rest every leg of their chairs upon the +carpet; and, as if at the word of command, every man dragged his +arm-chair most unequivocally forward, and surveyed the enemy with +dogged defiance. + +There was now a commotion on the side of the electorals, in the +midst of which Count Spaur, in perfect despair, cried out at the top +of his voice: + +"In the name of the emperor, I demand, on both sides, the literal +fulfilment of your conditions. The electoral ambassadors must +withdraw their red cloaks from the backs of their chairs, and throw +them over the arms, and the other envoys must draw back their chairs +until the hind-legs thereof are on the floor." + +"My lords," added Count von Crenneville, "I demand also, in the name +of the emperor, that all personalities be cast aside, and that we +give our hearts to our country's cause. France is upon us. She knows +how disunited are the princes of Germany, and their discord is her +sheet-anchor. She knows that you are unprepared to meet her, and the +emperor, being at present too far to come to your rescue, she will +attack you before you have time to defend yourselves. Is it possible +that you have sunk all patriotism in contemptible jealousies of one +another? I cannot believe it! Away with petty rivalry and family +dissensions: clasp hands and make ready to defend our fatherland!" + +At this moment there was a knock at the main entrance of the hall, +and two masters of ceremonies appeared. + +"I announce to the imperial commissaries, and the envoys of the +German empire here assembled, that a messenger, with important +tidings, requests admission to this illustrious company." + +"Whence comes he?" asked Count Spaur. + +"He announces himself as Count de Crecy. ambassador extraordinary of +the King of France to the imperial Diet." + +This communication was received in profound silence. Dismay was +pictured on many a face, and every eye was turned upon the presiding +envoy, the representative of the emperor. + +"I lay it before the imperial Diet," said he, at last, "whether the +French ambassador shall be allowed entrance into the hall during the +sitting of its members." + +"Ay, ay, let him enter," was the reply--the first instance of +unanimity among the envoys since the day they had arrived at +Regensburg two years before! + +The masters of ceremonies retired, and Count Spaur, putting on his +hat, said: "I declare this sitting suspended. My lords, cover your +heads!" + +The French ambassador, followed by a numerous retinue, now entered +the hall. He advanced to the canopy where the imperial envoys were +seated, and inclined his head. Not a word was spoken in return for +his salutation; and, after a short pause, he raised his voice, and +delivered his message: + +"In the name of his most Christian majesty, Louis XIV., King of +France, I announce to the Diet of the German empire that he has +taken possession of Bonn, Kaiserswerth, and other strongholds of the +archbishopric of Cologne; that Mentz has opened her doors to his +victorious armies, and that war is declared between France and +Germany. The sword is drawn, nor shall it return to its scabbard +until the inheritance of the Duchess of Orleans is given up to +France, and the King of France is recognized as lord and sovereign +of Lorraine, Alsatia, and the Netherlands! War is declared!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE JUDITH OF ESSLINGEN. + + +It was a clear, bright morning in March. The snow had long since +melted from the mountain-tops, flowers had begun to peep out of the +earth's bosom, and the trees that, grew upon the heights around +Esslingen were decked with buds of tender green. + +But the inhabitants of Esslingen had no pleasure in contemplating +those verdant hills; for the castle that crowned their summit was in +possession of the French. Within its walls the enemy were feasting +and drinking, while the owners of the soil, plundered of all they +possessed, had naught left to them on earth save the cold, bare +boards of their homes, wherein, a few weeks before, peace and plenty +had reigned. + +On the 2d of March, 1689, the French reduced the castle of +Heidelberg to a heap of ashes, and for more than a century its bleak +ruins kept alive the hatred of Germany toward their relentless +enemies. + +God had permitted them to spread desolation over the land. He had +withdrawn His help from the innocent, and had suffered the wicked to +triumph. After plundering their houses of every necessary of life, +General Melac now required of them tribute in the shape of twenty +thousand florins. To raise one-fourth of the sum was an +impossibility in Esslingen; and the burghers of the town had gone in +a body to the castle to beg for mercy. + +Two hours had elapsed since they had departed on their dangerous +mission, and the people, with throbbing hearts, awaited their +return. Up to this day, they had mourned and wept in the solitude of +their plundered homes; but in this hour of mortal suspense, they had +instinctively sought companionship; and now the market-place, in +whose centre was the ancient town-hall, was thronged with men, +women, and children, of every degree. Misfortune had levelled all +distinctions of rank, and the common danger had cemented thousands +of human beings into one stricken and terrified family. + +They stood, their anxious looks fixed upon the winding path which +led to the castle, while all around at the open windows pale-faced +women hoped and feared by turns, as they saw light or shadow upon +the faces of the multitude below. + +Just opposite the council-hall was a house of dark-gray stone, with +a bow-window and a richly-fretted gable. At the window stood two +persons; one a woman whose head was enveloped in a black veil which +set off the extreme paleness of her face, and fell in long folds +around her person. Near her stood a young girl similarly attired; +but, instead of the hair just tinged with gray, which lay in smooth +bands across the forehead of her companion, her golden curls, +stirred by the breeze, encircled her young head like a halo, and the +veil that fluttered lightly around her graceful person lay like a +misty cloud about a face as beautiful in color as it was in feature. +Spite of suffering and privation, the brow was smooth and fair, the +cheeks were tinged with rose, and the lips were scarlet as autumn +berries. She, like the rest, had endured hunger and cold; but youth +is warmed and nourished by Hope, and the tears that dim a maiden's +eyes are but dew-drops glittering upon a beautiful rose. + +Her face was serious and anxious, but her large black eyes flashed +with expectation, and the parted lips showed that hope was stronger +than fear in her young heart. Marie was the only child of the chief +burgomaster of Esslingen, and the lady at her side was his honored +wife. + +"Do you see nothing, my child?" said the mother. "Great God! this +suspense is worse than death! Your father expected to be back within +an hour, and more than two hours have gone by!" + +The young girl strained her eyes, and looked up the castle-road, +which was just opposite the house. "Mother," said she, "I see +something dark issuing from the gates." + +"Oh, look again! Is it they?" + +"Yes; I think so, dear mother. I see them advancing: it must be +father and the deputies. Now I begin to distinguish one from the +other. There are one--two--three. Great God, mother! were there not +seven? I see but six!" + +"Yes--seven. Your father, two burgomasters, and four senators. Are +you sure? Look--count once more." + +"I see them distinctly now: there are six. They will be hidden +presently by the winding of the road; but I see them each one as he +turns aside." + +"And there are but six! One of them is missing! Oh, merciful Father, +which of them can it be?" + +"I see them no longer. Alas! they are too far for recognition, and +we must wait. Oh, mother, how my heart pains me!" + +"Let us pray, my darling," returned the mother, clasping her +daughter's trembling hands. + +"Dear mother, I cannot! I am too miserable to pray. If Caspar were +but here, I should feel less wretched." + +"And yet, as a soldier of the imperial army, he is in less danger +than he would be, as a civilian of Esslingen. I thank Heaven, dear +Marie, that your betrothed is not here. At least he fights face to +face, with arms in hand; while we--oh, what weapon can avail against +midnight murder and incendiarism?" + +"And yet," sighed Marie. "I would he were here to protect me!" + +"He would not be allowed to protect you, for, had he seen the +familiarity of that despot yesterday, he would in all probability +have lost his life in your defence." + +"I had not thought of that, I had only yearned for his protecting +arm. Yes, mother, he would have done some desperate deed had he seen +the blood-stained hand of that accursed Frenchman when it touched my +cheek, and heard his insolent tones as he asked whether its roses +were colored by nature or art. Oh, mother, what a misfortune for us +that we were on the street when he arrived!" + +Mother and daughter now relapsed into silence, for the deputies, +their heads despondingly held down, were to be seen making their way +through the crowd. Frau Wengelin could not articulate the words she +longed to speak; hut Marie, clasping her hands in agony, cried out: + +"He is not there! My father is missing!" + +With one faint shriek, her mother fell senseless to the floor, while +Marie, darting out of the house, made her way through the throng to +the market-place, and overtook the deputies as they were ascending +the steps that led to the hall of council. Grasping the arm of the +first she encountered, she looked wildly into his eyes, while her +quivering lips vainly tried to murmur, "Where is my father?" + +The old man understood those pleading looks, and answered them with +tears. + +"Where is my father?" cried Marie, with the strength of her growing +agony; and, as the deputy was still silent, the multitude around +took up the young girl's words and shouted: "Where is her father? +Tell us where is the Burgomaster Wengelin?" + +"Is he dead?" murmured Marie, her teeth chattering with fear. + +"No, Marie," replied the senator, "he is not dead, hut if no help is +vouchsafed from above, he will die to-day, and we must all die with +him." + +The people broke into a long wail, and Marie fell upon her knees to +pray. She could frame no words wherewith to cry for mercy, but her +soul was with God; and for a few moments she was rapt in an ecstasy +that bore her far, far away from the weeping multitude around. She +was recalled from her pious transport by the voice of her uncle, one +of the deputies, who was addressing the people. + +General Melac had mocked at their petition. They had humbled +themselves on their knees for the sake of their suffering fellow- +citizens, but the heartless Frenchman had laughed, and, laughing, +reiterated his command. + +If before sunset the five hundred thousand francs were not +forthcoming, the French soldiery would be there with fire and sword. +The inhabitants should be exterminated, and Esslingen laid in ashes. + +This horrible disclosure was received with another burst of woe, +except from the unfortunate Marie, who stood like a pale and rigid +Niobe--her grief too deep for tears or sighs. + +When the tumult had somewhat subsided, the senator resumed his sad +recital. At sound of the Frenchman's cruel mandate, the Burgomaster +Wengelin had risen from his knees, and raising his head proudly, had +cried out: "Give us back that of which you have robbed us, and we +can pay you ten times the sum you ask. We were a peaceful and +prosperous community until your plundering hordes reduced us to +beggary. Be content with the booty you have already; and be not +twice a barbarian, first stealing our property, and then, like a +fiend, requiring us to reproduce and lay it at your feet." + +The noble indignation of the burgomaster excited nothing but mirth +on the part of the Frenchman. He laughed. + +"Well, it makes no great difference, after all. Your lives will do +quite as well as the ransom you cannot afford to pay for them. My +soldiery like fire and blood and pretty women almost as well as they +do gold, and I shall enjoy the spectacle from the castle-walls. As +for you, burgomaster, you have something that I covet for my own +use--your beautiful daughter." + +"My daughter!" shrieked Wengelin, defiantly, "before she should be +delivered to you, monster! I would take her life as Virginius took +that of his well-beloved child!" + +The general said not a word. For a time the two men eyed each other +like two enraged tigers; but General Melac wasted no time in vain +indignation. He signed to his guards, and ordered them to take away +the prisoner, and retain him as a hostage until sunset. + +"When our well-beloved citizens of Esslingen shall hear the report +of the musketry that ends HIS life,--they will know that the signal +for pillage has been given. The execution will take place at +sunset." + +Then, addressing himself to the six remaining deputies: "Go," said +he, "and relate what you have seen and heard to your fellow- +citizens; and tell them that my Frenchmen are skilful both with +sabre and torch; they have been practising for several weeks past in +Heidelberg, Mannheim, and other German cities. Do not forget to +communicate all this to the fair daughter of the burgomaster." + +This time there was no outburst of grief from the people; they felt +that all hope was vain, and they were nerving themselves for +martyrdom. Presently there was a sound of voices, and the fugitives +from Wurtemberg and the Palatinate were heard relating their +frightful experience of the warfare of a monarch who styled himself +"Most Christian King." + +One of them mounted the steps of the council-hall, and described the +entrance of the French into his native town. The people were driven +with bayonets from their beds into the snow, children were tossed +into the flames; old men were butchered like cattle; maidens were +torn from the arms of their parents, and given over to the soldiery; +and the narrator, who had escaped, had been for days without food-- +for weeks without covering or shelter! + +As the man concluded this frightful picture of carnage, a voice from +among the crowd was heard in clear, loud, ringing tones: + +"There is rescue at hand--we must make use of it!" + +At the same moment, Marie felt a grasp upon her arm, and turning +beheld herself in the custody of a tall, pale man, who continued to +cry out: + +"She can rescue us! I saw the French general stroke her cheeks +yesterday, and look at her with eyes of love. Did he not demand her +of her father? And were his last words not a message to her? I hint +that she might ransom us if she would!" + +"Ay, ay," responded one of the crowd. "Ay!" echoed another and +another; and now the chorus gathered strength, and swelled into a +shout that penetrated the walls of Esslingen Castle, and reached the +ears of Marie's unconscious father. + +Marie covered her face with her hands, and sank upon her knees. "Oh, +Caspar!" was the unspoken thought of her affectionate soul. + +"Friends!" exclaimed her uncle, "you are drunk with cowardly fright. +Know ye that ye ask of this maiden her own ruin for your lives--?" + +"But if Melac's soldiery are set upon us," replied a young woman in +the throng; "we shall all he ruined--mothers, wives, and maidens. +And is it not better," continued she, raising her voice, and +addressing the mob, "is it not better that one woman should suffer +dishonor than a thousand?" + +"Marie Wengelin will have her father's life to answer for, as well +as the lives of her fellow-citizens," cried another voice. "It is +her duty to sacrifice herself." + +At this moment the loud, shrill tones of an affrighted voice were +heard calling out, "Marie! Marie! my child!" and the figure of Frau +Wengelin, with outstretched arms, was now seen at the window, whence +the mother and daughter had watched the return of the deputies. + +Marie would have responded to that pathetic appeal, but as she rose +from her knees, and attempted to move, she was forced and held back +by the crowd. They were lost to all sense of humanity for the one +segregated being by whose immolation the safety of the aggregate +might be effected. + +"Have pity! have pity!" cried the poor girl. "Do you not hear my +mother calling me? Think of your own children, and hinder me not, I +implore ye!" + +"We think of our children, and therefore you shall not go! You shall +sacrifice yourself for the suffering many!" + +And they lifted her back to the peristyle, where she stood alone, +confronting the pitiless crowd that demanded her honor wherewith to +buy their lives. What was the fate of the daughter of Jephthah, +compared to that which threatened poor Marie of Esslingen? + +Suddenly a cloud seemed to pass over the sky, and the faces of her +enemies were no longer distinct. Marie raise her arms wildly over +her head, and screamed, for too well she understood the shadow that +rested upon the market-place. The sun had sunk behind the heights of +Esslingen, and one half hour remained ere her father lost his life. + +The crowd renewed their cries, entreaties, and threats. Some +appealed to her patriotism, some to her filial love, some called her +a murderess,--the meanest among the multitude attempted to terrify +her--as if any doom could equal the horror of the one they were +forcing upon an innocent, pure-hearted, and loving girl! + +She raised her hand to obtain a hearing. + +"You shall not perish if my prayers can save you! I will go to our +oppressor, and try to move his heart to pity." + +She heard neither their shouts of joy nor their thanks. She was +hardly conscious of the blessings that were being poured on her +head, the kisses that were imprinted on her rigid, clammy hands. She +stood for a while, her teeth clinched, her eyes distended, her +figure dilated to its utmost; then suddenly she shivered, thrust +away the women that were clustering about her, and began her via +crucis. + +At the gate of the city she encountered the pastor that had baptized +and received her into the church. He had placed himself there that +he might pour what consolation he could into that bruised and +bleeding heart. The old man laid his hand upon her golden curls, and +she fell at his feet. The multitude that had followed their victim +simultaneously bent the knee and bowed their heads; for, although +they were too far to overhear his words, they knew that the pastor +was blessing her. + +"As Abraham blessed Isaac, and as the Israelites blessed Judith, so +do I bless thee, thou deliverer of thy people! May God inspire thy +tongue, and so soften the heart of the tyrant, that he may hearken +to thy prayers, and, looking upon thy pure and virgin brow, he may +respect that honor which is dearer to woman than life. God bless +thee, Marie! God bless thee!" He bowed his head close to her ear. +"Marie you are a Christian. Swear to me that you will not stain your +hands with blood." + +Marie's eyes flashed fire. "Did not the Israelite kill Holofernes?" + +"Yes, my child; but Israel's heroine was called Judith, and ours +bears the blessed name of Mary! 'Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord; +I will repay.'" + +Marie's eye was still unsubdued, and she looked more like Judith +than like Mary. The old pastor was agitated and alarmed. + +"Marie, Marie, you are in the hands of God. Come weal, come wo, can +you not trust yourself to Him? See, the sun goes lower and lower; +but before I release your hand you must swear that it shall shed no +blood." + +Alas! Yes--the sun was rapidly sinking, and she must hasten, or her +father's life would be lost. "I promise," said she, "and now, +father, pray--pray for--" + +She could say no more; hut rising she went alone up the steps that +led to Esslingen Castle. The people, still on their knees, followed +her lithe figure till it was hidden for a time by the fir-trees that +grew along the heights; then, as she emerged again and appeared at +the hill-top, the multitude gave vent to their feelings in prayer. + +Higher and higher she mounted, until they saw that she had reached +the gates, and disappeared. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +HER RETURN. + + +Hours went by and darkness set in. It was a cold night in March; the +wind howled in fitful gusts along the streets, but the people could +not disperse. They sat shivering together in the market-place; for +how was it possible for sleep to visit their eyes, when every moment +might hurl destruction upon their heads. The old priest went from +one to another, encouraging the desponding, and comforting the +afflicted; praying with the mothers, and covering their shivering +children, who, stretched at the feet of their parents, or resting +within their arms, were the only ones there to whom sleep brought +oblivion of sorrow. + +At last that fearful night of suspense went by. A rosy flush tinged +the eastern sky, it deepened to gold, and the sun rose. The people +raised a hymn of thanksgiving, and, as they were rising from their +devotions, the roll of a drum was heard, and a file of soldiers were +seen issuing from the castle-gates. They came nearer and nearer, +until they reached the city; but by the time they had neared the +market-place, not a human being was there to confront them: the +people had all fled to their houses. + +They stopped before the residence of the burgomaster, and from an +opening made in the ranks there issued two persons; the one a man, +the other a woman. The latter was veiled, and her head rested +languidly upon the shoulders of her companion. + +A group of French officers escorted them to the door, where they +took off their hats, and, bowing low, retired. The father and +daughter were lost to view, the drum beat anew, and the men, without +exchanging a word with the inhabitants, returned to their quarters +at Esslingen Castle. + +The people were no sooner reassured as to the intentions of the +soldiers, than they poured in streams from their homes, and took +their way to the burgomaster's house. Congratulations were exchanged +between friends, parents embraced their children, husbands pressed +their wives to their bosoms; every heart overflowed with gratitude +to Marie, every voice was lifted in her praise. + +But she! Scarcely enduring her mother's caresses, she had torn +herself from that mother's embrace, and, hastening away to the +solitude of her own room, had bolted herself within. + +Two hours went by, and the house of the burgomaster could scarcely +contain the friends that flocked thither to welcome his daughter. +Without, a band of music was playing martial airs, while within, +halls, parlors, and staircases, were crowded with magistrates in +their robes of office, churchmen in their clerical gowns, and women +and maidens in gay and festive apparel. + +A deputation of citizens now requested to be permitted to pay homage +to the heroine that had rescued her townsmen from death; and Frau +Wengelin ventured to knock at the door of her daughter's chamber. +She was so earnest in her pleadings, that at last the bolt was +withdrawn, and Marie, with bloodshot eyes, and mouth convulsed, +appeared upon the threshold. + +"Come, my child," said the poor mother, "the citizens will not leave +the house until they have seen you." And compelling her forward, +Frau Wengelin, with some difficulty, brought her as far as the foot +of the staircase. + +She was greeted with loud and repeated cheerings, which scarcely +appeared to reach her ear, while her eyes, fixed upon the throng +before her, seemed to ask what meant this turmoil. + +Suddenly she heard her name whispered, and, with a fearful shriek, +she recoiled from the outstretched hand of a young man, who had just +rushed forward to clasp her in his arms. + +"What ails my Marie on this festive day, where all is joy around?" +said he. "I have just this moment arrived, to say that help is nigh, +my countrymen," added he, addressing the crowd. "Our army is at +hand, and the French shall suffer for their deeds of violence in +Germany. But what means this large and gay assemblage? And who are +these?" asked he, as a group of young maidens came forward with a +crown of laurel, and some of the principal burgomasters, leading the +bewildered Marie to a throne decked with flowers, seated her on a +chair under its green and fragrant canopy. + +No answer was made to his inquiry, for one of the deputies began an +address, in which Marie was hailed as the heroine that had rescued +her fellow-citizens from death, and her native place from +destruction. Her portrait was to grace the council-hall of +Esslingen, and such honors as it lay in the power of its magistrates +to confer, were to be hers forever. + +At this moment Marie rose suddenly from her seat, gasped for breath, +and fell as suddenly back, for the first time lifting her face, +which, as she lay against the wall of flowers that concealed her +chair, was marble-white, and strangely convulsed. + +Her mother started forward, and Caspar, catching her in his arms, +covered her face with kisses. + +"What ails thee, my beloved? Oh, do not look so wildly at thy +Caspar! Marie, my own one, what is it?" + +"It is over," murmured she, almost inaudibly. + +"What is over?" cried the frightened mother, bending over her +child's writhing form. + +"Life!" sighed the girl, and her eyes closed wearily. + +The frightful stillness was unbroken by a sound. Frau Wengelin +suppressed her sobs, that she might gaze upon her dying child; while +her father stood by, the picture of dumb despair. Caspar held her to +his heart, dimly apprehending the fearful tragedy of the hour, and +the guests pressed noiselessly around, vainly striving to catch a +glimpse of their victim's face. + +The crowd opened to allow passage to the priest, who, approaching +the throne, came and knelt beside Caspar. + +"Marie," said he, in a loud, distinct voice, that reached the +portals of her soul, and aroused her departing senses. + +Marie slowly opened her eyes, and gazed upon the speaker. "I have +kept my oath," said she, hoarsely. "No blood was shed, but I have +returned to die." + +"Wherefore to die?" cried several voices at once. + +"Ask my Caspar," murmured she, looking fondly into the face of her +betrothed, and, with her eyes fixed upon his, Marie's soul took its +flight to heaven. + + + + +BOOK VII. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE ISLAND OF BLISS. + + +They were together in the little pavilion of the garden at +Schonbrunn. With clasped hands, and eyes that sparkled with +happiness, they sat in that sweet silence which to lovers is more +eloquent than words. The door that led to the park was open, and the +balmy breath of May wafted toward them the perfume of the flowers +and trees without. + +The park, too, was undisturbed by a sound. The laborers had gone to +their mid-day meal, and the birds had hidden themselves away from +the sunbeams. The great heart of Nature was pulsating with a joy +like that of the lovers, too great for utterance. There was +something in the appearance of this youthful pair which would have +convinced a looker-on that there was a mystery of some sort +surrounding the romance of their love. For the one was in the garb +of a nun, her head concealed by a coif, and her person enveloped in +a long white veil; while the other was attired in a splendid Spanish +dress. Over it hung a heavy gold chain, to which was attached the +order of the Golden Fleece. His soft black hair lay on a forehead +white as snow, and made a pleasant contrast with a face which was +pale, not with sickness or suffering, but with that suppressed +sensibility which leaves the cheek colorless because its fires are +concentrated within the heart. No! It was not for sorrow that Eugene +of Savoy was pale; it was from excess of joy; for SHE was at his +side, and the world had nothing more to bestow! + +So thought he, as, with caressing hand, he lifted her long veil from +her shoulders and threw it behind, in imitation of the drapery that +hangs around Raphael's Madonnas. + +"Oh, how I love you, Sister Angelica!" murmured he; "and, in my +feverish visions, how often I have mistaken that white veil for the +snowy sail of a ship of which I used to dream in my delirium--a ship +that was bearing me onward to an island of bliss, where my Laura +stood with outstretched arms, and welcomed me home! But what were +imagination's brightest picturings to the reality of the deep joy +that flooded my being, when the veil was flung back, and my love +stood revealed! Oh, Laura--my life will be all too short to reward +you for your fidelity." + +"You love me, Eugene, and therein is my unspeakable reward." + +"And will you never leave me, dearest?" + +She laid her small hand upon his head, smoothed his hair fondly, and +gazed passionately into his eyes. "You ask, as if you required an +answer," said she, in tones that were tremulous with love. + +"I do require an answer, for I am continually fearing that this is a +blissful dream; and that some morn I shall awake to find thee flown, +and Angelica the nun all that is left of thee! When thou art absent +from my sight, I shiver with dread lest I should see thee never +more." + +She laughed, and oh, how musical was her laugh! "Is this the hero of +Belgrade, that talks of shivering with dread?" + +"Yes; and when he thinks that he might lose you, he is no hero, but +a poor coward. And in truth, my Laura, I am tired of a soldier's +life--it is too exciting for my health; and I am tired of the world +and its frivolities, too. If you love me as I do you, you will be +happy in our mutual love, without other companionship than mine." + +"Over castle-roof, and through the dangerous descent of that castle- +chimney, came I to meet you, Eugene; how then should I pine for +other companionship?" + +"When I think how mysterious was your escape, I dread lest you +should disappear from me as mysteriously. The very thought presses +on my brain like the first horrid symptoms of madness; then my body +begins to suffer, my wounds seem to open, and bleed anew. Laura, +prove to me your love by going with me into solitude. I am tired of +being a courtier, and have asked the emperor for my discharge." + +"Did he grant it, Eugene?" asked she, fixing her large, penetrating +eyes upon his, with an earnestness that forbade him to avoid her +glance. + +"He will grant it to-morrow. To-morrow for the last time, I go to +the imperial palace as a field-marshal; I shall return thence nobody +but Eugene of Savoy, your lover, who lives but to serve you, and +repay if he can all that he owes to your courageous and heroic +affection." + +"The emperor has refused," replied Laura. "He gave you time for +reflection," added she, looking intently again into her lover's +eyes. + +"Perhaps he may have wished me to reflect," replied he, smiling, and +trying to endure her scrutiny, "But my resolve is not to be shaken. +I shall retire to the estate presented me by the emperor in Hungary, +there to live with my darling on an island of bliss, upheaved so far +above the tempestuous ocean of the world's vicissitudes, that no +lashing of its waves will ever reach our home. Will you go with me +into this island, where you shall not fear the world's censorious +comments on our reunion--where you may throw aside that false vestal +garb, and be my own untrammelled bride?" + +Laura said nothing; a deep glow suffused her cheeks, and her eyes +filled with tears. Gliding from her seat to her knees, she took her +lover's hand and covered it with kisses. + +"Laura!" exclaimed he, "what can this signify?" + +Laura wept on for a time in silence; then, when she had recovered +herself sufficiently to speak, she replied: + +"It signifies that I bow down before the magnanimity of him who, to +shield me from the world's contumely, would relinquish that which he +holds most dear on earth, his hopes of glory." + +"Laura, give me an answer to my prayer. Will you go with me to my +estates in Hungary?" + +Laura smiled, but said nothing. + +"Answer me, Laura, answer me, my own love." + +"The emperor gave you a day to reflect upon your sudden desire for +retirement. Give me but one hour for my decision." + +"You hesitate!" + +"Only ONE hour, Eugene; but during that hour I must be alone with my +Maker. Await me here." + +Drawing the veil over her face, Laura bounded lightly down the +pavilion stops, and walked hurriedly toward the palace. Eugene +looked after her with eyes that beamed with love ineffable, sighing +as he did so: "She is worthy of the sacrifice; I owe it to her." + +The hour seemed interminable. At first, he fixed his eyes upon the +walk by which she must return; then he turned away, that he might +wait until he heard her dear voice. + +At last a light step approached the pavilion; he heard it coming up +the steps, and a beloved voice spoke: + +"The Marchioness de Bonaletta." + +Eugene turned, and there, instead of Sister Angelica, stood his +beautiful Laura in rich attire-so beautiful that he thought he had +never sufficiently admired her before. + +He started forward, and, dropping on one knee, took her little hand, +and covered it with kisses. Then, rising, he flung his arm around +her waist, and drew her to a seat. + +"Now read me the riddle," said he. + +"My beloved, do you think me so blind as not to have comprehended +the immeasurable sacrifice you would have made to my womanly pride? +Oh, how I thank you, my own, peerless Eugene! But I will not accept +it. I may not bear your name, but God knows that I am your wife, as +Eve was the spouse of Adam; and it is for me to show that our bond +is holy, by enduring courageously the stigma of being considered as +your mistress. Enough for me to feel that to you I shall be an +honored and beloved wife, incapable of sharing your fame, but oh, +how proud of my hero! Gird on your sword, my Eugene, and fulfil your +glorious destiny. Go once more into the world, and let me share your +fate." + +"Let her share my fate! She asks me to let her share my fate." cried +Eugene, pressing her to his heart. And God and Stature blessed the +union that man refused to acknowledge. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE FRENCH IN SPEIER. + + +General Melac and his murderous hordes were in the old city of +Speier, squandering the goods and money of which they had robbed the +unfortunate inhabitants. Scarcely two months had elapsed since the +departure of the French from Esslingen, and in that short interval +they had laid more than one hundred towns in ashes. + +But Melac was insatiable; his eyes feasted on the scarlet hue of +German blood, his ears were ravished with the sounds of German +groans and sighs; and oftentimes, when the poor hunted fugitives +were flying from his presence, he made a pastime of their misery for +himself, by aiming at them with his own musket, to see how many he +could bring down before they passed out of sight. + +He was holding a council of war with his generals; but, while he +made merry over his cruelties of the day before, and projected +others for the morrow, his officers frowned and averted their eyes. + +His thick, sensual lips expanded with a hideous smile. "It would +seem that my orders are not agreeable," said he. "Pray, gentlemen, +am I so unlucky as to have earned your disapproval?" + +There was no answer to this inquiry, but neither was there any +change in the aspect of the officers. + +"General Feuquiere," cried Melac, "you are not usually reticent; +pray, let us hear your opinion of my mode of warfare." + +"I cannot approve of cruelty," replied Feuquiere, bluntly. "Our men +act much less like the brave soldiers of a Christian king, than like +demons that have been let loose from hell." + +"You do not flatter us," replied Melac. "And I am curious to know +whether anybody else here present shares your opinion." + +"We are all of one mind," was the unanimous reply. + +"We are assassins and incendiaries, but we have never yet fought a +battle like men," resumed De Feuquiere. + +"No," added Montclas. "We have longed in vain for honorable warfare; +for a fair combat before the light of heaven, face to face with men +armed like ourselves; and we are sick at heart of midnight torches +and midnight murders." + +"No doubt; you are a sentimental personage, I hear: one who shed +tears when the order was given to sack Mannheim." + +"I am not ashamed of those tears," returned Montclas. "For three +months these much enduring people have exerted themselves to do our +bidding, treating us like guests who had come to them as foes. And +when, in return for their kindness, our soldiery were ordered to +sack their beautiful city, I wept while I was forced to obey the +inhuman command of my superior officer. May Almighty God not hold me +responsible as a creature for what I have been forced to do as a +soldier!" + +"You can justify yourself by referring the Almighty to me, as I +shall certainly justify myself by referring Him to Monsieur Louvois. +It is true that I do not weep when I carry out his orders; but you +may judge for yourselves whether I transcend them,--General +Montclas, be so good as to read aloud this dispatch." + +General Montclas took the paper, and read in an audible voice: + +"'It is now two weeks since I have seen a courier from the army. +What are you about that I receive no more accounts of the +destruction of German cities wherewith to entertain the idle hours +of his majesty? You have been ordered to devastate the entire German +frontier. You began bravely, but you are not keeping the promise of +your opening. The Germans are full of sentiment, and you must wound +them through their affections and associations. Burn their houses, +sack their fine churches, deface and destroy their monuments and +public buildings. When next you write, let me hear that Speier with +its magnificent cathedral is a thing of the past; and be +expeditious, that Worms and Trier may share the same fate.'" + +"'LOUVOIS.'" + +"You see, then," observed Melac, "that I do but obey orders." + +"That may be," sighed De Feuquiere, "but all Europe will rise in one +indignant protest against our inhumanity." + +"Let them protest; we will have raised such a barrier of desolation +between themselves and France, that we can afford to laugh at their +indignation. I for my part approve of the method of warfare traced +out for us by the minister of war, and I shall carry it out from +Basle to Coblentz. The time we allowed to the people of Speier for +reflection, expires to-day. To horse, then! The burgomasters are +waiting for us in the market-place by the cathedral." + +Yes! The burghers, the clergy, the women, and the children, were on +their knees in the market-place, crying for mercy. Melac, laughing +at their wretchedness, spurred his horse onward, and plunged into +their midst, scattering them right and left like a flock of +frightened sheep; and the clang of his horse's hoofs on the stone +pavement sounded to his unhappy victims like the riveting of nails +in the great coffin wherein their beautiful city was shortly to be +buried. + +But they were not noisy in their grief. Here and there might be +heard a slight sob, and, with this exception, there was silence in +that thronged market-place. + +Suddenly the great bell of the cathedral began to toll, and after it +all the bells in Speier. General Melac slackened his pace, and rode +deliberately along the market-place, as if to give that weeping +multitude the opportunity of looking upon his cruel face, and +reading there that from him no mercy was to be expected. + +The bells ceased, and their tones were yet trembling on the air, +when the women and children lifted up their voices and began to +chant: "In my trouble I called on the Lord!" + +The strain was taken up by the musicians who stood at the open +windows of the council-hall, and now the burghers, the magistrates, +and the clergy, joined in the holy song. The French uncovered their +heads and listened reverentially, while many an eye was dimmed with +tears, and many a heart bled for the fate of those whom they could +not rescue. + +Every man there felt the influence of the blessed words except one. +General Melac was neither awed nor touched; his pale eye was as +cold, his sardonic mouth as cruel as ever. + +"He is perfectly hardened," murmured a monk, who was leaning against +one of the columns of the cathedral. This monk was a young man, of +tall, muscular build. His wide shoulders and fine, erect figure, +seemed much more suitable to a soldier than to a brother of the +order of mercy. Even his sun-burnt face had a proud, martial look; +and as his dark, glowing eyes rested on Melac, they kindled with a +glance that was not very expressive of brotherly love. + +"He is without pity," thought he, "and perhaps 'tis well; for I +might have been touched to grant him a death more merciful." + +He moved away that he might distinguish the words that were now +being poured forth from the quivering lips of the white-haired +prebendary of the cathedral; but the poor old priest's voice was +tremulous with tears, and the monk could not hear. He then made a +passage for himself through the crowd and approached General Melac. +The prebendary had ceased to speak, and there was a solemn stillness +in the market-place, for every sigh was hushed to catch the words +that were to follow. + +Melac looked around that he might sec how many thousand human beings +were acknowledging his power, then he drew in his rein and smiled-- +that deadly smile! + +"My orders must be carried out," said he, in a loud and distinct +voice. "Speier must be razed to the ground, and I am sorry that its +inhabitants were unwilling to profit by the permission I gave them +to emigrate to France. They would have been kindly received there." + +"We hope for mercy," was the reply of the prebendary. "Oh, general, +let us not hope in vain!" + +"No mercy shall be given you," said Melac, who, turning to General +Montelas, remarked, "What an advantage I have over you! I know their +language, and can understand all their expressions of grief! It is a +comic litany!" + +"Demon, I will repay thee!" muttered the monk. And, coming close to +the general's horse, he laid his hand upon the rein. + +"What do you mean, sirrah?" cried Melac. "Withdraw your hand." + +"Your excellency," replied the man in pure French, "allow me to +station myself at your horse's head, for you may need my help to- +day." + +"Your help? Wherefore?" + +"The work in which you are engaged is apt to provoke personal +hostility. I dreamed last night that I saw you weltering in your +blood, enveloped in flames. I am superstitiouns--very; particularly +as regards dreams, and I left the hospital where I was engaged in +nursing the sick, on purpose to protect your excellency from secret +foes." + +"Protect me! Who do you suppose would he so bold as to attack me? +Not this whining multitude around us." + +"Nobody knows to what acts despair may drive the meekest of men," +was the monk's reply. + +"Very well; I believe you are right," said Melac, a little +disturbed. "Station yourself at my rein, then." + +At that moment there was a general wail, and many a voice was lifted +up in one last effort to soften the heart of their persecutor. + +"Speier must be destroyed," was his answer, "but to show you the +extent of my clemency, I will now announce to you that without the +gates are four hundred forage-wagons, which I have provided for the +removal of your valuables (if you have any) to any point you may +select within the boundaries of France. Those who prefer to remain, +are allowed to deposit their effects in the cathedral, and to guard +them in person. The temple of Almighty God is sacred, and the hand +of man shall not profane its sanctity by deeds of violence. Take +your choice of the cathedral or the army-wagons: I give you four +hours' grace. If, after that time, I find a German on the streets, +man, woman, or child, the offender shall be scourged or put to the +sword." + +In a few moments the market-place was empty, and the people, +exhausted and cowed though they were, by two months of oppression, +had flown to take advantage of this last act of grace. + +"Now, my excellent brother," said Melac to the monk, "you see that I +am quite safe, and can dispense with your protection." + +"The day is not yet at an end," said the monk, solemnly. + +"You are right." cried the butcher, "it has scarcely begun; but by +and-by we shall see a comedy that will raise your spirits for a +month to come. The actors thereof are to be the people of Speier, +and the entertainment will close with an exhibition of fireworks on +a magnificent scale. Send me two ordnance officers!" cried he to his +staff. + +Two lancers approached and saluted their commander. + +"Let two companies of infantry occupy the market-place," said Melac. +"Let four cannon be stationed at the entrances of the four streets +leading to the cathedral. For four hours the people shall be allowed +to enter with their chattels. At the end of this truce, two more +companies of infantry shall be ordered hither, one of which shall +surround the cathedral, the other march inside. A detachment of +miners must encompass the columns and cornice of the roof with +combustibles; but use no powder, for that might endanger ourselves. +There are straw, hemp, pitch, tar, and sulphur enough in the town to +make the grandest show since Rome was burned. The infantry that +enter the church, will massacre the people, and if they are +dexterous the booty is theirs; but they must do their work swiftly, +or there will be no time to save anything, for I intend that the +entire building shall be fired at once." + +The monk started, grasped the mane of the horse with a movement that +caused him to shy, and his rider to cry out in great irritation: + +"What are you doing, fool?" + +"Pardon, your excellency, my foot was under your horse's hoof, and I +could not help catching at his mane." + +"Keep farther away, then; I do not believe in dreams.--Away!" cried +he, to the lancers, who, horror-stricken hut powerless to refuse, +went on their diabolical mission, + +"And now," continued Melac, "we will ride to the gates to see what +sort of entertainment our hospitable hosts of Speier are preparing +for us there." + +He galloped off with such swiftness that his guardian-angel was left +behind. But he followed as fast as he could; when-ever he met a man +hastening with his goods to the cathedral, bidding him "Beware!" and +passing on. Some heeded the warning, others did not. They were so +paralyzed by despair that the monk's words conveyed no meaning to +their minds, and they went humbly on to their destruction. + +He meanwhile hurried to the gates through which the weeping crowds +were bearing, each one, what he valued most on earth. There were +women, scarcely able to totter, whose dearest burdens were their own +helpless children; there were men carrying sickly wives or decrepit +mothers; there were others so loaded down with the few worldly goods +that the odious Frenchman had left them, that their backs were +almost bent in two, and they were scarcely able to drag themselves +along! The nearer the gates, the denser the throng, many of whom +were fainting with misery and exhaustion; but many also to whom +despair lent strength. + +Melac was there, enjoying the scene; sometimes glancing toward the +gates, sometimes toward the wagons which, for miles around, covered +the extensive plain outside of the city. The poor fainting wretches +that reached them let their burdens drop, and would have made an +effort to follow them, but they were told that no one would be +allowed to enter the wagons until all had been filled with their +wares. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE TREASURE. + + +For three hours the monk strove in vain to reach the gate; but the +time of grace was fast approaching its close, and now, the press +becoming less, he sped along as if he had been flying for life, +until he came panting, almost breathless, to the spot where the +French general, surrounded by his staff, was sitting on his horse, +enjoying himself immensely. + +"Ah!" said he, "our pious brother here! Well--you see that I am +alive." + +"Yes, and I am glad to know it," replied the monk, resuming his +place at the bridle. + +Melac turned to one of his adjutants: "Give orders to the drivers to +go on, and let the soldiers cut down every man that attempts to +mount the wagons or withdraw his effects. To get the honey, we must +kill the bees. When they are all dead, the men can divide the +spoils." [Footnote: Historical.--see Zimmermann, "History of +Wurtemberg," vol. ii.] + +"As soon as the sport is over," continued he, to another adjutant, +"I will repair, with my staff, to the council-hall, there to see the +illumination. Ride on, and tell the superintendent that, when he +sees my handkerchief waving from the great window in the second +story, he must apply his matches." + +So saying, Melac put spurs to his horse, and, followed by his staff, +approached the wagons, and gave a signal with his sword. + +The whole train was set in motion, and the horses were urged to the +top of their speed. + +The unhappy victims of this demoniac stratagem gave one simultaneous +shout of indignation. Those nearest the wagons strove to clutch at +them with their hands. Some held on even to the wheels, some mounted +the horses, some snatched the reins. But sharp swords were near; +and, at the word of command, every outstretched arm was hacked off, +and fell, severed, to the ground. + +A struggle now began between the soldiery and the companions of +those who had been so cruelly mutilated. They were unarmed, but they +had the strength of brutes at bay; and by-and-by many a sword had +been snatched from their assassins, and many a Frenchman had bitten +the dust. General Melac was so interested in a fight between two +soldiers and two women whose children had been driven off in the +wagons, that, before he was aware of his danger, a sword was +uplifted over his head, and a frenzied face was almost thrust into +his own. At this moment his reins were seized, his horse was forced +back, and the stout arm of the monk had wrested the sabre from the +enraged German, who fell, pierced by a bullet from the holster of an +officer close by. + +"Was it you, pious brother, that so opportunely backed my steed?" +inquired Melac. + +The monk bowed, and the general saw that his forehead was bloody. + +"Are you wounded?" + +"Yes, general; I received the stroke that was intended for you, but +parried it, and the blow was slight." + +"I am a thousand times indebted to you for the service you have +rendered me, and hope that you will not leave me a second time +without your sheltering presence.--Ho! a horse there for the +Bernardine monk!" + +No sooner were Melac's commands uttered than they were obeyed, for +he that tarried when the tyrant spoke was sure to come to grief. The +monk swung himself into the saddle with the agility of a trooper, +and, although the horse reared and plunged, he never swerved from +his seat. + +"Verily you are a curious specimen of a monk," laughed Melac. "I +never saw a brother so much to my taste before. Come, follow me to +the market-place, and you shall see my skill in pyrotechnics. If I +had but Nero's field of operations, I could rival his burning of +Rome. Happy Nero, that could destroy a Rome!" + +"Do you, also, envy Nero his sudden death?" asked the monk. + +"Why, yes; though I would like to put off the evil day as far as may +be, I hope to die a sudden and painless death." + +"Sudden and painless death," muttered the monk, between his teeth. +"You allude to death on the field of battle?" + +"Ay, that do I; it is the only end befitting a soldier. See--we are +at the gates. The way is obstructed by corpses," continued he, +urging his horse over a heap of dead that lay in the streets. +"Luckily, they will not have to be buried; they shall have a funeral +pile, like that of the ancients." + +"Is the entire city to be destroyed?" asked the monk. + +"Yes, the whole city, from one end to the other; and these tottering +old buildings will make a brave blaze." + +"A brave blaze," echoed the monk, raising his mournful eyes to the +long rows of houses that so lately were the abodes of many a happy +family, were as empty as open graves. They continued their way along +the silent streets--silent even around the cathedral, where, early +in the morning, so many thousand supplicants had knelt before God +and man for mercy, but knelt in vain. + +Some few were within the cathedral walls, some were lying, their +ghastly faces upturned to heaven, and those who had survived were +wandering across their blasted fields, bereft of kindred and home, +houseless, hungry, and almost naked. + +General Melac glanced at the cathedral porch. That, too, was empty +and still. + +"I wonder whether our men have done their work over there?" said he. +"I must go and see." + +Then dismounting, and flinging his bridle to his equerry, he called +upon the monk to follow him. The staff also dismounted, and an +officer advanced to receive orders. + +"Gentlemen, betake yourselves to the hall of council, and await my +return at the great window there, opposite." + +The staff obeyed, and the general, followed by his preserver, +ascended the steps that led to the cathedral. + +"Your excellency," whispered the monk, corning very close, "before +we enter, will you allow me to say a word to you?" + +"I should think you had had opportunity enough to-day to say what +you wish." + +"Not in private, general. Until now we have had listeners." + +"Well, is it anything of moment you desire to communicate?" + +"Something of great importance." + +"Speak on, and be quick, for time presses." + +"Your excellency is resolved to burn down the cathedral?" + +"Have I not told you that I would?" replied Melac, with a frown. +"Nothing in heaven or on earth shall save it." + +"Then," said the monk with a deep sigh, "for the sake of our +brotherhood, I must violate the sanctity of the confessional. But +you must swear to preserve my secret, otherwise you shall not hear +it." + +"A secret of the confessional! How can it concern me?" + +"You shall hear. It relates to the concealment of two millions' +worth of gold and precious stones." + +The covetous eyes of Melac glittered, and the blood mounted to his +brow. "Two millions!" gasped he. + +"One for you and one for our brotherhood. Do you swear to keep the +secret?" + +"Most unquestionably." + +"And also swear that no one but ourselves shall know the place of +its concealment?" + +"I swear, most willingly, for I do not intend to divide my share of +the booty with anybody living. How soon do you expect to come in +possession of it?" + +"Now--at this very hour." + +Melac drew back, and eyed the monk suspiciously. "How! These lying +wretches had two millions of treasure, and not one of them would +yield it up?" + +"General, the people of Speier have nothing--nothing. Nobody knew of +it save the bishop, who died day before yesterday, and the +sacristan, who died to-day. You remember that I was absent from your +side during two hours to-day?" + +Melac nodded, and the monk went on: "Those two hours I spent by the +dying-bed of this sacristan, the only depositary of the secret. He +was wounded among the rest, was conveyed to a neighboring house, and +there I received his last confessions. All the treasures of the +cathedral--its gold, silver, and jewels--were, at the approach of +the French army, conveyed to a place in the tower, which place the +sacristan designated so plainly, that I can find it without +difficulty." + +"But what has induced you to share it with me?" asked Melac, with a +glance of mistrust. + +"Imperative necessity, general. I cannot obtain it without your +protection. You have given orders that no man shall be suffered to +escape from the cathedral to-day, and, unless you go with me, the +treasure must be given up to the flames. Certainly, if I could have +gotten it without assistance, it would have been my duty to give it +over entire into the hands of the brotherhood. But if you help me, I +will divide it with you. It lies in the tower of the cathedral, +close by the belfry." + +"Come, then, come; show me the way." + +They entered the massive doors. The sentry saluted the general, and +they passed on. + +"Let nothing more be done until I return," said Melac to the sentry. +"I wish to go over the old building before we consign it to the +flames." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CASPAR'S VENGEANCE. + + +Deep silence reigned within the walls of the holy temple, broken +occasionally by an expiring sigh, or the faint sound of the death- +rattle. For the French soldiery had done their work. The poor +wretches that had been ensnared into seeking refuge there, had all +been murdered, and their possessions removed to a place of safety. +One hour earlier, the vaults of the house of God had rung with +shrieks and groans, but the victims were now dying or dead. + +General Melac went among the prostrate bodies, looking here and +there behind the pillars, to see whether any thing of value had been +overlooked by his subordinates. The monk mean while bent over the +prostrate forms that lay in hundreds upon the marble pavement, and +so absorbed was he in soothing their last moments, that he almost +started as the rough voice of General Melac reached him from the +opposite end of the nave. + +"Come, come," cried he, in thundering tones. "Enough of useless +sentimentality!" + +Without a word the monk rose, and, pointing to the grand altar, the +general entered the chancel, and followed his conductor to a small +door cut in the wall. This the monk opened, and, stepping back, +signed to Melac to advance. + +"Does this winding-stair lead to the tower?" asked the latter. + +"Yes, general, and as there is but one way to reach it, I resume my +proper place, and follow you, as in duty bound." + +Melac began to ascend the stairs, the monk coming behind him, with +an aspect the very opposite of that he had endeavored to maintain +all day. His stooping shoulders were flung back, his head was erect, +and in his eyes there sat a threatening devil, which, if Melac could +have seen it, would have made his heart grow chill with +apprehension. But Melac, too, was no longer the same. Up to this +moment he had assumed an appearance of friendliness toward his +companion. But now his eye flashed, and his hand clutched his sword, +while deep in his heart flowed a current of treachery, which, +translated into words ran thus: + +"I do not see why he should have any part in this treasure. As soon +as he has pointed out the spot, I will catch him in my arms and hurl +him down into the body of the church. By Heaven! the life of one +miserable monk never was worth a million of treasure!" + +Did the monk suspect what was passing within the mind of the +general? Perhaps he did; for well he knew that he was capable of any +amount of atrocity. + +On they went, sometimes stumbling in the dark, sometimes emerging +into the light, until at last they reached the topmost step where +Melac halted to breathe. + +"Are we almost there?" asked he. + +"Almost there." echoed the monk, while with a swift movement of his +hand he drew from under his cassock two long, stout thongs of hide. + +"What are you doing there?" asked Melac. + +"I am making ready my lasso." replied he, throwing one of the thongs +over the head of the general; and, before the latter had time to +recover from his surprise, it was passed around his body, and his +hands were pinioned fast behind. + +Melac comprehended that he was betrayed, and making desperate +efforts to free himself, he lost his footing, and fell at full +length on the granite pavement of the tower. The monk now sprang +upon his body, and drawing from his bosom a long handkerchief, he +tied it fast over his victim's mouth. + +"Your cries might be heard, and some fool might come to the rescue," +said he. "You shall die without being allowed to give utterance to +your despair." + +Melac's eyeballs almost started from their sockets, but the monk +looked on without pity. He dragged him to that part of the tower +whence the gilded weathercock could be seen toying with the free air +of heaven. The sky shone blue and bright; never had it seemed so +fair to the wretch that was looking his last upon its azure dome. He +felt himself raised in the arms of the monk, firmly fastened with a +second thong, and then tossed outside the tower, where he hung, a +small, dark speck in the eyes of the officers that were awaiting his +return to the hall of council. + +And now the monk cast himself down upon his knees. "O God, I thank +Thee that Thou hast granted my prayer, and delivered this monster to +my hands! 'Tis Thy will that I should be his executioner, and may +Thy holy will be done forever and forever!" + +He rose and approached Melac, whose face was ghastly pale, and whose +eyes were overflowing with tears. "Now," said he, "know why I have +delivered you unto a cruel and agonizing death. For months I have +tracked your path, with power to have stricken you every hour of the +day. But sudden death was too merciful for such a brute as you! The +Hyena of Esslingen shall have the horror and apprehension of a slow, +torturing, and solitary death. Without sympathy and without +witnesses shall he die, and in his last moments, when his flesh +quivers with agony, and the devouring flames shall consume his +odious body, let him think on Marie Wengelin, and on me. her lover +and betrothed husband--Caspar!" + +Without another word, he drew from Melac's finger his signet-ring, +and began to descend the winding-stair. The eye of his victim +followed his tall, manly figure until it disappeared forever from +his sight; and then he listened to his retreating footsteps until +they grew faint and more faint, and all hope was lost! An hour of +mortal agony went by; the sun sank slowly to rest, and a few stars +brightened the sapphire vault above him. Suddenly a red glow +brightened the heavens, and gilded the dark waters of the Rhine-- +that Rhine which he had so incarnadined with blood! Avenging God! It +was the fire himself had kindled! It leaped up from every point of +Speier--and now--now the cathedral was in flames, and death--slow, +lingering, and agonizing--had overtaken the Hyena of Esslingen! + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE DUCHESS OF ORLEANS. + + +"I can never consent to such a disgraceful marriage for my son," +cried Elizabeth-Charlotte to her husband. + +"Madame, I look upon it as a great honor that my son should espouse +the daughter of the king." + +"The daughter of shame and infamy--the daughter of a man who, +violating his marriage-vow--" + +"Madame," interrupted the duke, "you forget that you are speaking of +his majesty the King of France!" + +"King of France? There is no question of a king, but of my brother- +in-law, of whose faults--nay, sins, I may surely speak, within the +walls of my own cabinet, I suppose." + +"Madame," replied the duke, trying to draw up his small person until +he fairly stood on tiptoe, "madame, I forbid you to express yourself +in such terms of your sovereign and mine." + +"Forbid me to speak the truth, you mean. And to be sure, at a court +like this, where everybody feeds on flattery, truth is strangely out +of place." + +"Like yourself, for instance," observed the duke. + +"Yes, like myself," replied the duchess, with a sweet smile that +illumined her plain features, and lent them a passing beauty. "I +believe that I am most unwelcome among the fine and fashionable +folks of Paris; but it is not my fault that I am here, a poor, +homely sparrow in a flock of peacocks and parrots." + +"Madame," replied the duke, pompously, "if you choose to consider +yourself as a sparrow, you have my full consent to do so, although I +must say that it is somewhat presuming for any one so to designate +the woman whom I honored with my hand. But I must always regret that +you have never displayed enough tact to lay aside your plebeian +German manners, and resume those of the courtly and elegant +entourage of the refined King of France." + +The eyes of the duchess shot fire, and the hue on her cheeks +deepened to scarlet. + +"Your manners may be refined, monseigneur; but God shield me from +your morals! The war you are waging against my native land is one of +assassination and rapine; and oh! how I wish that I were free to +leave France forever, that I might suffer and die with my dear, +slaughtered countrymen! But dearly as I love my native land, I love +my children still more. Maternal love is stronger in my heart than +patriotism, and my Elizabeth and my Philip are more to me than +Germany!" + +"You say nothing of me," observed the duke, sentimentally. "Am I, +then, nothing to you?" + +"Yes, monseigneur, you are the father of my children. I plighted my +faith to you, and I have kept my marriage-vows. But you know, as +well as I, that we were both nothing but royal merchandise, bartered +for reasons of state, and that we have never been congenial. +Nevertheless, I love you as the father of my Philip! for he has your +handsome face and your refined and courtly bearing." + +"Madame," returned the duke, blushing with gratification, "I thought +you disdained to flatter." + +"I do not flatter you, monseigneur," cried the duchess, cordially +grasping his hand, and leading him to the mantel, over which hung a +full-length portrait of the youthful Duke de Chartres. "See," +exclaimed she with affectionate pride, "see what a beautiful picture +Mignet has made of him. It was done in secret in Mignet's studio, +and was brought to me yesterday as a birthday present from my boy." + +"It was very thoughtless of Philip to visit Mignet," objected the +duke. "He too often forgets his rank and relationship to the king." + +"Forgive him, monseigneur. He forgot his station, to remember his +filial affection," and for several moments the mother's eyes were +fondly fixed upon the portrait. "Look!" resumed she; "these are your +eyes, your well-developed forehead, your aquiline nose, your +pleasant and expressive mouth. In your youth, you were as handsome +as he--I have often heard it said that you were the handsomest +cavalier in Paris." + +"Except the king, madame--except the king! I am too loyal a subject +to excel his majesty in anything. I am glad, however, that you think +my son resembles me; to me there is a blended likeness of both his +parents in his countenance." + +"Never, never!" exclaimed Elizabeth-Charlotte, with animation. +"There is no trace of my coarse features in that aristocratic face; +and yet, like the owl that hatched the eagle's egg, I am proud of +calling him my son. And now, monseigneur, let me implore of you not +to cross the escutcheon of our eaglet with the bar-sinister that +disgraces the arms of Mademoiselle de Blois." + +"Madame," exclaimed the duke, much irritated, "speak more +respectfully of the daughter of Louis XIV.! She has been recognized +by his majesty, and there is no stain upon her arms." + +"Pardon me--it is not in the power of any sovereign to erase the +foul blot of her birth; and I shudder when I think of an alliance +between the son of the Duke of Orleans and grandson of the Elector +Palatine, and the daughter of a king's leman. If his majesty +mentions the subject to me, I shall tell him as much." + +"Impossible!" cried the duke, aghast. "I have already promised that +you would solicit the honor of an alliance with Mademoiselle de +Blois." + +"You promised what I will not perform. Do you suppose that I, by +birth and marriage a royal princess, would debase myself so far as +to ask for my son's wife the daughter of a harlot who drove the +hapless queen to her grave? and to take her by the hand, and present +her to the court as my daughter? I would rather absent myself +forever from court, and I will certainly not attend the king's ball +to-night." "You cannot do that, for you accepted the invitation +yesterday." + +"Yesterday I knew not the humiliation implied in my acceptance. To- +day I know it, and I will excuse myself, and be sick." + +"Madame, I command you to appear at the ball," cried out the enraged +duke, "and we shall see whether you presume to rebel against my +conjugal authority." + +"I shall not rebel," replied the duchess. "Since you command my +presence, you shall have it; but I warn you that I shall mortally +offend the king, for--" + +The duke was about to protest anew against his wife's blasphemy, +when the old German lady of honor, who presided over the toilet of +her highness, rushed into the room in a slate of great agitation. + +"What is the matter, Katharina?" asked the duchess. + +"Your royal highness," replied Katharina, panting, "a courier has +just arrived from the Countess Louise. He has ridden day and night +to deliver his message, and, although he is covered with mud and +dust, he insisted that I should announce him to your royal +highness." + +"A courier from Louise!" murmured the duchess. "Something must have +happened! Go, Kathi, bid him come into my little parlor.--Will +monseigneur excuse me? I am deeply concerned lest some misfortune +should have befallen my sister." + +"Sister! Is the Countess Louise the daughter of a princess +Palatine?" + +"No, monseigneur; you know that she is the daughter of the Countess +Dagenfeld, my father's wedded wife--although never acknowledged as +such--because she was not of royal birth. There is no bar-sinister +on Louise's shield; she is truly and honorably my half-sister." + +The duchess bowed and hastened to her parlor, where the courier was +awaiting her arrival. + +"Has anything happened to the countess? Is she ill? Have I lost my +dear relative?" + +"No, your royal highness. Your princely relatives are well, and +here--here is--" + +He made an attempt to place a letter in her hand, but reeled and +fell, exhausted, at her feet. + +"Pardon me, madame," said he, "I have been for three days and nights +in the saddle. My strength has given way--I cannot rise. But read +your letter, I implore you." + +The duchess stooped, and took it from his nerveless hand; then, +commending him to the care of Katharina, she broke the seal and +began to read. + +Its contents affected her so terribly, that her teeth chattered, her +knees trembled, and, throwing herself upon the sofa, she covered her +face with her hands and wept. + +But she wept for a moment only. + +"Katharina," cried she, to her old confidante, who was chafing the +temples of the courier, "leave that poor youth for a moment, and +fetch me a mantilla and hood. I must go to the king at once!" + +"Your royal highness is in a neglige," remonstrated Katharina; "I +will have to dress you." + +"I cannot wait to be dressed," cried Elizabeth-Charlotte; "speed +away, and bring me my wrappings. God be praised, the king will be at +home! Thousands of lives depend upon my intercession!" + +Katharina returned with the mantilla, which, without the least +regard to grace, her royal highness flung over her stout figure, +while she jerked the hood over her head with an impetuosity that +made the old lady wring her hands. + +"Oh, her hair is down, and the hood all twisted to one side," +murmured the mistress of the toilet, as the duchess, indifferent to +all forms of civilization, dashed down the staircase and leaped into +her carriage. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE DELIVERANCE OF TRIER. + + +The equipage thundered along the streets of Paris, and drew up +before the hooded door, at the side entrance of the Louvre, which +was especially reserved for the use of the royal family. + +The duchess sprang from her carriage, hurried up the staircase, +almost stumbling over the sentry as he made an attempt to present +arms, and flew into the antechamber that led to the cabinet of the +king. + +She came in like a frigate under full sail, but was encountered by a +gentleman of the privy chamber, who barred the entrance. + +"Make way for me--do!" said she, clasping her hands. "I must see his +majesty this very moment." + +"His majesty is in secret conference with the Marquis de Louvois and +Madame de Maintenon," was the reply. "Not even your royal highness +can obtain admittance." + +"So much the better if Louvois is there. Let me pass--I command you, +let me pass!" + +"Indeed, madame, you know not what you ask. I have received +stringent orders to admit nobody." + +"The royal family are never included in these prohibitions," cried +the duchess. + +"But to-day, your royal highness, I was placed here to prevent their +coming! You well know that none but the princes and princesses of +the blood would presume to make use of this entrance." + +"It concerns the lives of thousands!" urged the duchess. + +"Did it concern that of my own son, I would know better than to seek +to save it by disobeying his majesty's orders." + +"You will not--positively will not let me pass?" + +"I dare not, madame." + +"Then you must excuse me, but I shall force my way," returned +Elizabeth-Charlotte, grasping the slender form of the king's +gentleman, and, with her powerful hands, flinging him into the +corner of the room, while she strode rapidly to the opposite door, +and opened and had closed it again before her opponent had recovered +his breath. Before touching the bolt of the door which opened +directly into the king's cabinet, she paused to recover her breath, +and to gather courage for the coming interview. She trembled from +head to foot, and leaned against the wall for support. But +Elizabeth-Charlotte was not a woman to be deterred, by fear of +kings, from what she deemed her duty. "With the resolution that +characterized her, she uttered one short ejaculation for help from +above, and opened the door." + +Louvois was in the act of speaking. "Sire, our arms are as +successful in Italy as they have been in Germany, where town after +town has been taken without the drawing of a sword--where the people +have offered the keys of all the fortresses to your generals, and +have welcomed the advent of our troops with joy." + +"Your majesty," cried the duchess, coming forward, "do not believe +him! He tells a falsehood--O God! what a falsehood!" + +The astonishment of that cabinet-council is not to be described. The +king rose from his seat and confronted her with eyes that named with +anger. + +"Madame," exclaimed the grand monarque, in a rage, "were you not +told that I would see nobody this morning?" + +"Yes, your majesty; so emphatically told, that, before I could make +my way to your presence, I was obliged to hurl your gentleman to the +other side of the room. It is not his fault that I am here!" + +Madame de Maintenon rolled up her eyes, Louvois sneered and Louis, +looking as if he wished that he could consume his sister-in-law with +a glance, turned around to his minister. + +"Monsieur Louvois, be so good as to forget the imprudent words that +madame has just spoken. It is impossible that a princess of the +blood should so far forget her own dignity as to lay hands on an +attendant of the king. Take care that the indiscretion of her royal +highness go no farther than these walls; and, if you hear it spoken +of, contradict it flatly." + +"Your majesty," exclaimed the duchess, "that is the very way to make +everybody believe it, for surely nobody will believe Monsieur +Louvois." + +"Sire," said Louvois, shrewdly, "I was about to communicate tidings +of the greatest importance to your majesty. I would be glad of your +permission to resume our conference. It is late, and--" + +"Madame," cried Louis, "once for all, leave this room, and interrupt +us no longer." + +"Does your majesty suppose that, after forcing my way to your +presence, I intend to retreat without accomplishing the object for +which I came? I entreat of you, hear me, and judge for yourself +whether my pertinacity is not justified by the occasion of my +intrusion." + +"Very well, madame," replied Louis. "I will remember that you are my +brother's wife, and forget an excess of presumption which, were you +not my sister-in-law, would merit the Bastile. Speak, and let us +hear your petition. It needs to be one of moment to earn your +pardon." + +With these words, Louis threw himself into his arm-chair, and, +pointing to a tabouret at hand, requested her royal highness to be +seated. The duchess looked around the room, and, seeing a vacant +arm-chair a little farther off, she rolled it forward, and seated +herself with great grandeur. This chair belonged to Madame de +Maintenon, who, a moment previous, had risen and walked to the +window. + +She became very red in the face, and, coming directly in front of +the duchess, said: "Madame, this is my own arm-chair; be so good as +to excuse me if I ask you to rise." + +"Impossible, my dear marquise, impossible!" was the rejoinder. "His +majesty requests me to be seated, and this is the only seat in the +room that accords with my rank. If his majesty allows you to seat +yourself in his presence, and that of a princess of the blood, there +is a tabouret which doubtless was placed for your accommodation on +such occasions." + +Madame de Maintenon looked imploringly at the king, hoping that he +would interfere; but he did not. His eyes were cast down, and it was +plain that no help was to be expected from him. His unacknowledged +spouse was therefore obliged to yield the point, and put up with the +tabouret. + +"Now, madame," said Louis, as though rousing himself from profound +meditation, "I await your pleasure." + +"Sire," cried the duchess, "I have come hither to accuse yonder +traitor, who, in your majesty's name, is perpetrating deeds of +horror that are enough to brand any sovereign with infamy. Did I not +hear him say, as I entered this room, that the French army was +received with open arms by the Germans?" + +"You did, madame. As a proof of the truth of this assertion, here +are the very keys of all the towns and fortresses we have besieged." + +The king pointed to a basket wreathed with flowers, wherein lay a +heap of gigantic keys. + +"Oh, sire," exclaimed the duchess, "these keys were purchased with +blood and pillage. Your soldiers have not marched into Germany like +the invading armies of a civilized nation; they have come as +incendiaries and assassins. Witness my father's castle, which they +reduced to a heap of ashes." + +"My dear madame," said Louis, deprecatingly, "war is not a pastime. +I regret that it was necessary to burn your father's castle; but you +perceive that it was not burned in vain, for your countrymen, since +then, have shown themselves amenable to reason." + +"Sire, you are shamefully deceived; and I have come to lay at the +foot of your throne the plaint of an unhappy people. Ah, you little +know what crimes are being committed in your name! General Montclas +himself shed tears when Mannheim was sacked and destroyed; and, when +the people of Durlach were driven by your soldiery into the very +midst of the flames that were consuming their homes, the Duke de la +Roche remonstrated with the Marquis de Crequi on the atrocity of the +crime. What do you suppose was the answer of the marquis? 'Le roi le +veut!'" + +"Is this so?" asked the king, turning to Louvois, who was hiding his +troubled countenance in the embrasure of a window. + +"Sire, I have never heard of it before," replied the minister. + +"Well may he say that he never heard of it, if he means that your +majesty never gave such an order to him!" cried Elizabeth-Charlotte. +"But if he means that he did not order these massacres, he tells an +untruth. He is avenging on the people of Germany the laurels which +Prince Eugene has earned in the service of the emperor, and which, +but for him, would have redounded to the glory of France. Oh, sire! +this war is one of personal vengeance on the part of your wicked +subject; it is not waged for your honor or advantage. I ask in his +presence, did the King of France order the destruction of Worms and +Speier? Was it by the order of our gracious sovereign that the very +house of God was committed to the flames?" + +"Can such a crime have been perpetrated in my name?" cried Louis, +with indignation. + +"Sire," replied Louvois, "your majesty has said it--'War is no +pastime.'" + +"He does not deny it," cried the duchess, wiping away her tears, and +struggling for composure to go on. "But what is done, is done--Worms +and Speier are in ashes, and their murdered inhabitants at rest. +But, oh, my liege, my gracious lord, the city of Trier is threatened +with the same fate! For three days the people have been crying in +vain for mercy.--At your feet, sire, I implore you, have pity, and +save them from butchery!" + +And the duchess, with hands upraised, and eyes that were streaming +with tears, sank on her knees before the king. + +Louis rose hastily from his seat. + +"Rise, madame," said he, "and let us retire to yonder embrasure. I +wish to speak with you in private." + +So saying, he gave her his hand, and conducted her to a deep recess +at the farther end of the room, which was, in fact, a small +apartment furnished with seats--A cabinet within a cabinet. He +loosened the gold cord that confined the curtain to the side, and it +fell to the floor--a thick, heavy portiere that shut all sound from +the apartment without. Not satisfied with this, the king opened the +casement, that the hum from the street below might effectually drown +their voices. + +"Now, madame," said he, "we will converse openly and without +reserve, as it befits near relatives to do. Has your husband +confided to you my wishes?" + +"What wishes?" asked the duchess, who, in her anxiety for the fate +of Trier, had forgotten the occurrences of the day. + +Louis was piqued. "I allude to my matrimonial plans for your son and +my daughter; and I beg you to observe that where I have a right to +command, I am gracious enough to request their fulfilment. It is +understood that the Duke de Chartres is to be betrothed to +Mademoiselle de Blois this evening?" + +"Sire," murmured Elizabeth-Charlotte, who began to understand how +much she was risking by her mediation in favor of Trier, "sire, I +implore you to save the lives of thousands of human beings, and you +answer me by questions as to the marriage of my son!" + +"My dear sister," returned the king, with a smile, "surely you take +more interest in the fate of your child, than in that of a remote +town in Germany. My brother has already consented that our children +should be united; and, as you are here, I wish to hear from your own +lips that the union gives you as much satisfaction as it will afford +to me." + +"Sire, the Duke de Chartres is but a lad--wild and untamed. He is +not fit to be the husband of any woman." + +The king frowned. "What do you mean?" + +"Sire, he is but sixteen years of age--a boy; and it is not +customary for princes of the blood to marry before the age of +eighteen." + +"I know that as well as yourself. It is no question of marriage, +only one of betrothal. Mademoiselle de Blois is but twelve, and no +fitter to be married than your son. But it is well for young people +to know that they are bound by honor to restrain their passions and +curb their irregularities. If the Duke de Chartres is untamed, you +have the means of keeping him within bounds, and of forcing him to +lead a chaste and virtuous life." + +"Oh, sire, you know full well that the promises of their parents do +not bind youthful hearts. My Philip is inclined to dissipation, and +it would be an unfortunate match for Mademoiselle de Blois." + +"Give me a direct answer to my inquiry. Do you consent to the +betrothal of your son with my daughter?" + +Elizabeth-Charlotte burst into tears. "Sire, I--I--cannot," murmured +she. + +The king flushed with anger. "I thought so," said he, "You are +nothing but a mass of prejudices, which you would rather die than +relinquish. Very well, madame; I bow to your prejudices, and will +make no vain efforts to overcome them. Excuse me if, as regards your +petition, I echo your words, 'I cannot.'" + +"Oh, sire," cried the duchess, "the cases are not parallel. I plead +for the lives of so many unfortunates!" + +"And I for my own gratification; and assuredly a wish of the King of +France is of a little more importance than the fate of a miserable +German town." + +"Your majesty, it would cost you but a word to earn the blessings of +so many grateful hearts." + +"And it would cost you but a word to give rank and an unequivocal +position to my favorite daughter. For if a woman like yourself, +recognized as a model of propriety, acknowledge her as your son's +bride, you insure an honorable future to all my children not born to +the throne. It is in your power to raise Mademoiselle de Blois to +the rank of a legitimate princess of the blood, and thereby to +confer a favor upon her father." + +"Oh, sire, indeed I cannot! Ask any thing of me but that! It would +give the lie to all the teachings of my life! It would be an +acknowledgment of the worthlessness of chastity--of honor! Oh, +forgive me! My brain reels; I know not what I say!" + +"BUT I DO; and I have heard enough. I shall countermand the soiree, +and seek another bridegroom for Mademoiselle de Blois. But Trier +shall fall, and on your head be the fate of its inhabitants!" + +He rose and would have put aside the portiere, but his hand was +convulsively clutched, and the duchess, in a voice that was hoarse +with agony, gasped: + +"Have I understood? You would barter the fate of Trier for my +consent to this unnatural marriage!" + +"Yes, by God, I do!" was the profane and passionate reply of the +king. + +"Stay--stay," murmured she, trembling in every limb. "Would you +rescue the city if I consented?" + +"I will do so, with pleasure." + +The duchess shivered, clasped her hands together, and, closing her +eyes as though to hide her humiliation from Heaven, she retracted +her refusal, and then fell almost insensible into an arm-chair. + +The king approached her and kissing her, said, "Madame, from my +heart, I thank you." + +The poor duchess scarcely heeded these gracious words. She had +received a blow that well-nigh blunted her heart to the sufferings +of her countrymen. But she had made the sacrifice of her principles, +and she must reap the reward of that terrible sacrifice. + +"Sire," said she, as soon as she had recovered strength enough to +articulate, "sire, fulfil your promise immediately, or it will be +too late." + +"Give me your hand, dear sister," replied Louis. "Once more I thank +you for the happiness you have conferred upon me, and the first gift +of Mademoiselle de Blois to her mother-in-law shall be the safety of +Trier. I implore you, try to love the poor child, for my sake." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE FIRE-TONGS. + + +Raising the curtain, Louis XIV. offered his hand, and the royal +brother and sister-in-law re-entered the cabinet, where their return +was eagerly awaited by Madame de Maintenon, and uneasily expected by +the minister of war. + +"Monsieur de Louvois," said the king, "I am in possession of all the +details that relate to the shameful abuse that has been made of my +name in Germany. The cruel practices which you have authorized +toward an innocent population must cease at once, and our troops be +commanded to prosecute the war as becomes the army of a Christian +nation." + +The king, while he spoke these words, was gradually advancing to his +writing-desk, which stood close to the mantel. Seating himself in +his arm-chair, he turned his countenance away from the penetrating +glances of De Maintenon, and began to play with the bronze shovel +and tongs that lay crossed upon the fender. + +After a pause, during which he waited in vain for a reply from +Louvois, he resumed: "Why do you not answer me, Louvois?" + +"Sire, your wishes shall be fulfilled. The next courier that leaves +for Germany, shall bear your royal commands to the army, and they +shall be ordered to remain altogether on the defensive." + +"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, SIR?" cried the king. + +"If your majesty intends to treat your enemies with clemency, you +must expect no more victories, but remain content with the territory +you have already acquired. What are we to do, if we are crippled by +injudicious and false humanity? Must we relinquish our claims? Shall +we content ourselves with having made threats which we are too +pusillanimous to execute?" + +"Monsieur," said Louis, haughtily, "you are becoming impertinent. +Cease your questions, and obey my commands. Send off your couriers +at once. Trier shall not be destroyed; nor shall its inhabitants be +driven from their dwellings. Private property shall be respected, +and the temples of the Most High held sacred." + +"Sire," said Louvois, "I will obey; but, unhappily, as regards +Trier, your clemency comes too late. I cannot save it." + +"Cannot!" shouted Louis, who to please his sister-in-law had worked +himself into a veritable fury. "Who dares say he cannot, when I +command?" + +"Your majesty, what is done cannot be undone." + +At these words the king sprang from his chair, still holding the +tongs in his hand. + +"Do you mean to say that you have ordered new atrocities to be +commited in Germany?" exclaimed he. + +"Sire," replied Louvois defiantly, "if it pleases you to term the +necessities of war atrocities, so be it. The people of Trier having +imitated the stubbornness of those of Speier, I ordered them to be +subjected to the same treatment." + +"Sir," cried Louis, raising the tongs, as if he intended to assail +his minister with them, "you shall countermand this order at once, +or I will smite you as the lightning blasts the oak!" All this time +he was advancing, until the tongs were in dangerous proximity with +Louvois' head. [Footnote: Historical.--See "Memoirs of the Court of +France," by the Marquis de Dangeau.] + +The minister was thoroughly frightened. "Sire," exclaimed he, +receding in terror, "would you murder me?" + +"It would be too honorable an end for you to die by my hands," +replied the king, letting fall his tongs. "But this I say to you: if +Trier is destroyed I will make an example of you that shall deter +any other traitor from using my name to gratify his wicked revenge. +Send off your couriers; nor return to this palace until you come to +inform me that Trier is safe." So saying, the King turned his back, +and began to converse with Madame de Maintenon on the subject of an +afternoon ride; after which he offered his arm to his sister-in-law +and conducted her himself to the head of the private staircase. + +He had no sooner left the room than Louvois darted to the side of +Madame de Maintenon, who was just about to raise a portiere leading +to her own apartments. + +Catching her dress in his agitation, Louvois implored her to remain. + +"Wherefore, monsieur?" asked she, coldly. + +"Oh, madame, I fear that I shall never be able to rescue this +accursed city, and, I implore you, be my mediatrix with his +majesty." + +"On what grounds, monsieur?" + +"Oh, madame, you have enemies as well as I: let us make a compact +together, and crush them all. Uphold me for this once, and you will +not find me ungrateful." + +"I fear no man's enmity," was the reply of the marquise. "My trust +is in God, who ruleth all things." + +"You refuse me then?" said Louvois. + +"I am not in a position to defy the king, and uphold his rebellious +subjects. Were I Queen of France, my influence would, perhaps, +avail; as it is, I would advise you to make all speed to dispatch +your couriers, and thereby rescue Trier and yourself." + +With these consolatory words, the marquise disappeared; and Louvois, +taking her advice, unpalatable though it was, rushed in undignified +haste through the corridors, and plunging into his carriage, was +driven at full gallop to his hotel. + +Twenty minutes later his couriers were on their way. To him who +arrived at Trier first, Louvois promised a purse of one thousand +louis d'ors, and, if he reached the city in time to save it, the sum +was to be doubled. + +Thanks to this reward, as well as to the dilatory movements of the +courier that had borne the order for destruction. Trier was saved on +the very morning of the day which should have been its last. + +Louvois was ordered to bring the news to the duchess in person. + +She was in her cabinet with the Duke de Chartres, who had been +complaining of the ugliness and stupidity of his affianced bride. +Louvois was announced, and the duchess, in her impetuous way, +hurried to the door and met him--not by way of welcoming him, +however. + +"I never expected to see you here under my roof," said she, "nor +would I receive you had you not come from his majesty." + +"Madame, I will withdraw as soon as my message is delivered," +replied Louvois, haughtily. "His majesty has sent me to announce to +your royal highness that Trier is safe." + +"Now, God be thanked!" exclaimed Elizabeth-Charlotte solemnly. + +"With your leave, madame, I withdraw," observed Louvois. + +"Not yet. You have brought me tidings of one deliverance--I will +impart to you another. Have you any news from my poor Laura?" + +A cloud overspread the minister's brow. "I have not heard from her +for more than a year, at which time she fled from her husband's +castle, how or whither he has never been able to discover." + +"And you--have you no idea of her whereabouts?" + +"She must either have died, or have retired to a convent." + +"She has done neither," replied the duchess. + +"She lives!" cried Louvois, with more terror in his voice than joy. + +"Yes: dear, ill-used Laura! She lives, and lives happily with him +whose arm will protect her against future persecution." + +"Your royal highness does not mean to say that my daughter has +sought the protection of Prince Eugene?" cried Louvois. + +"I do, indeed: they are united at last, whom you sought to put +asunder." + +"Great God!" was the minister's exclamation. "She has given herself +up to shame! She lives publicly as the mistress of a man who was not +worthy to become her husband! Your royal highness must have been +misinformed." + +"I have it from herself, nevertheless." + +"And your royal highness, that bears the name of the most virtuous +woman in Paris, is not shocked at her unchastity?" + +"Unchastity! You talk of unchastity, who, while she was plighting +her troth to this same Eugene, were not ashamed to prostitute her to +Strozzi! Cease your disgusting cant, and learn that I acknowledge +and respect the tie that binds your daughter to her real spouse: and +woe to you, if you dare trouble the current of her peaceful life! +Farewell. Say to his majesty that I shall be forever grateful for +the deliverance of Trier." + +"Philip," added she, when Louvois had left the room, "forgive me, +beloved son, if I sacrificed you to the well-being of my oppressed +countrymen! You say that your affianced is stupid; but every weary +hour you spend in her society shall be repaid to you by the +blessings of those whom you have saved from assassination. Moreover, +Mademoiselle de Blois is not yet your bride, and many a thing may +intervene to prevent you from being forced to espouse her. If your +mother can do any thing to frustrate it, be sure that she will come +to your assistance. Her consent was wrung from her, 'tis true--but +not her willingness." + +"Laura the mistress of Eugene of Savoy!" muttered Louvois, as he +descended the marble staircase of the ducal palace. "And to +propitiate that royal virago, I dare not revenge myself! But no!" +said he suddenly, "no--I need not lift a finger. I will leave it to +Barbesieur; HE will attend to it. He will put an end to her infamous +life!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +BRAVE HEARTS. + + +The embassy of Prince Eugene to Turin had been attended with the +happiest results. His arguments in favor of the emperor had proved +irresistible, for he had worked upon the pride as well as the +ambition of his kinsman. He had addressed him as a "royal highness;" +had promised him accession of territory; and finally had imparted to +him a diplomatic secret which decided him at once to join the +imperialists. In the event of any manifestation on the part of +Victor Amadeus that was friendly toward the emperor, Louvois had +ordered Marshal Catinat to take him prisoner, confine him in the +fortress of Pignerolles, and appoint the duchess-dowager Regent of +Savoy. + +The astounding insolence of the French minister gained a zealous +partisan for Leopold. "I am yours and the emperor's forever," cried +the indignant duke. "And from my heart I hope that we may both have +speedy opportunity to avenge the wrongs we have sustained at the +hands of Louis XIV. and that atrocious villain--Louvois." + +"As for my wrongs," replied Eugene, with a beaming smile, "they are +all forgotten in my excess of happiness." + +"So, then, you are happy at last?" asked Victor Amadeus, kindly. + +"Supremely blest," was Eugene's emphatic reply. + +"Supremely blest?" repeated the duke, shaking his head, "Pardon me +if I think otherwise. Do you not think that you could be made +happier by obtaining the sanction of the church to your liaison with +the Marchioness de Strozzi?" + +"I would be the proudest and happiest of created beings if I could +call her my wife," sighed Eugene. "And since the subject has been +broached between us, I will confide in you. I have written to the +pope an account of Laura's fraudulent marriage with Strozzi, and I +hope that his holiness will recognize the unlawfulness of that +wicked transaction. It seems to me impossible that Religion should +look upon it otherwise than as an act of falsehood." + +"You have no answer as yet from Rome?" + +"I expect an answer to-day; and now, that the crisis of my Laura's +destiny is at hand, I begin to be timorous as to the success of my +petition. The pope is not my friend; I have upheld the Waldenses +against the church, and have sought their alliance for Austria. +These, I know, are serious offences; and not less displeasing to his +holiness will be the news of your defection from France to Austria +through my intervention." + +"True--true," said Victor Amadeus, thoughtfully. "Your embassy to +Turin will prove prejudicial to your own interests at Rome. I am +afraid they will suffer. And if his holiness will not grant a +divorce, what is to become of the marchioness? You will not continue +to live with her out of wedlock?" + +"Pardon me," replied Eugene. "She is mine in the sight of God, and +man shall not part us. Our union is holy in our own eyes, and we +shall maintain its sanctity against the whole world. It will very +soon forget us, and consign us to the oblivion we covet." + +"You are not so easily consigned to oblivion, my dear cousin; you +occupy a prominent position before the world, and the brighter your +fame as a hero, the darker will be the shadow that falls upon your +mistress. My wife and I have talked this matter over, and we have +determined to make a joint effort either to have you formally united +at the altar, or to use our honest endeavors to induce you to +separate. The duchess has sent three invitations to the marchioness, +every one of which has been refused." + +"The marchioness desires no intercourse with the world. She is +independent of its sanction or its blame." + +"Because, for the present, her world is concentrated in you. But it +will not always be so; and the duchess has gone this very morning to +pay her a visit, hoping to prove to her that a woman should not only +avoid wrong, but the appearance of wrong. At the same time, we both +render ample justice to the purity of intention of the marchioness." + +"Not only of intention, but of conduct," replied Eugene. "But let us +discuss other matters. The elector, Max Emmanuel, has arrived at +Montcaliers, the imperialists have joined him, and the Spanish +troops are on their way." + +"My army also shall march to Montcaliers to-morrow. It is time that +the atrocities of Louis XIV. should cease. His soldiers have been +worse than an irruption of the Goths both in Germany and in Italy." + +"With the help of God, we will emulate their deeds in France." + +While the two Princes of Savoy were in their cabinet together, the +duchess was on her way to visit the marchioness. She was determined +not to give Laura the opportunity of denying herself. To this end +she followed the lackey that announced her, and as he opened the +door, and was about to pronounce her name, she passed him by, and, +going directly up to Laura, introduced herself. + +She was calmly and courteously received, and, after some desultory +conversation, entered upon her delicate mission. + +"I have but one rule of action," said Laura, in return, "and I +cannot wound my own convictions by shaping my conduct according to +the standard of others." + +"But surely you do not apply this rule to your unlawful liaison with +Prince Eugene!" exclaimed the duchess. + +"It is no unlawful liaison," replied Laura, simply. "I am Eugene's +wife in his eyes and in mine: we have plighted our troth, and will +be faithful to our vows until death!" + +"And to this fidelity you sacrifice your honor and your peace of +mind. Prince Eugene is but a mortal man. He is, for the time, +desperately in love, and scorns all possibility of change. But by- +and-by he will begin to be annoyed by the world's censure: he will +be ashamed to be seen with you--" + +"Madame," interrupted Laura, proudly, "by what right do you thus +prejudge the conduct of Prince Eugene?" + +"By the right of experience, my poor child, and of a knowledge of +the human heart, whose inconsistencies are all unknown to you. Let +me relate to you a history that concerns me nearly, and has caused +me many a burning tear. My husband was once beloved by a beautiful +woman, who, for his wake, left her husband, the court, and the grand +monde, to be the solitary inhabitant of a castle, which, to be sure, +was fit to be the abode of a goddess. She became the mistress of the +Duke of Savoy, who loved her to distraction. I, his unhappy wife, +had no right to remonstrate, for our union was like that of princes +generally, an affair of state; and Victor Amadeus never knew that my +poor heart was racked by jealousy, and that many a time I prayed for +death as the only remedy for my anguish. For a time the duke was +contented to see the Countess de la Verrue in her castle, but by- +and-by he exacted of this poor devoted creature another sacrifice-- +that of returning with a brow of shame to the world. He fitted up a +residence for her in Turin; passed all his time at her side; drove +out with her, and finally held his levees at her palace. Now, there +were certain festivals de rigueur that were obliged to be given at +the ducal palace; and from these festivals the countess would be +excluded unless she was invited by myself. I had nothing to lose, +and hoping to win an approving smile from Victor, I invited his +mistress, and, when she entered the hall of reception, placed her +above all possibility of slight by advancing to meet her." + +"That was magnanimous indeed!" exclaimed Laura. + +The duchess smiled. "Do not overestimate the act, my dear child. +There was quite as much policy in it as magnanimity. I know men +well: they are greater slaves to opinion than women; they have not +half our moral courage, and not one of them can long confront the +disapprobation of the world. From this day, a change came over the +spirit of my husband. Seeing that the world held me in high esteem +for my sacrifice, and held his mistress very cheaply, he began to +feel uncomfortable when he brought her before its scrutiny. From +discomfort he proceeded to shame, and finally the day came--the +inevitable day that dawns for every woman who lays her honor at the +feet of her lover. The poor countess was reproached for the +sacrifices she had made, and blamed for her weakness in yielding to +the importunities of her seducer! She fled, broken-hearted from his +presence, and, like poor La Valliere, took refuge in a convent. Oh, +my dear young lady!" continued the duchess, taking Laura's hand in +her own, "be warned, and do not court the fate of these unfortunate +victims of man's inconstancy!" + +"Madame," returned Laura, "their fate in no way can affect ME, for I +am not the mistress of Prince Eugene. He can never reproach me with +weakness, for he, like myself, believes in the holiness of our +union. We have been sinned against, but are not sinning. No woman +can say of Eugene that he has broken his vows to her; no man can say +of me that I have been unfaithful to him!" + +"You forget the Marquis de Strozzi." + +"Forget him! Great God! Forget the villain who, under cover of +night, stole the vows I pledged to Eugene, and kept me his prisoner +for five long years! No, madame, I have not forgotten the Marquis de +Strozzi; but he is no husband of mine. My spouse before Heaven is +Prince Eugene--and, so help me God, I will be true to him in life as +in death!" + +"You are a noble woman; and your love, I admit, is as pure as that +of Eve for Adam. But, for your exalted ideas of duty, you will +receive naught from the world save scorn and contumely." + +"So be it. In my Eugene's love will be my exceeding great reward. +The arrows of the world's contempt will fall harmless at my feet, +for his dear arm will shield me from their sharpness. My world is +Eugene; he alone is my husband, and my judge." + +The duchess looked compassionately at the beautiful enthusiast, and +heaved a sigh. "I cannot save you, my child: your resolution is +mightier than my arguments, and I can only pity and love you. +Farewell! May your heroism meet with the reward it deserves." + +Laura accompanied the duchess to the door, and returned, calm and +serene, to her embroidery-frame. She was working a standard for her +beloved Eugene, and appeared quite to have forgotten the visit of +the duchess, when, suddenly her cheeks flushed, and she raised her +head to listen. She sprang from her seat, crossed the room and +opened the door. Eugene came in, clasped her in his arms, and +imprinted a kiss on her fair brow. + +"My own love, my white swan," whispered he. + +She lifted her magnificent eyes to his, there and he read the +history of her deep, deep love. They sat down together, his arm +still around her waist. + +"Has the Duchess of Savoy been here?" asked he. + +"Yes. She was here to persuade me, for the world's sake, to leave +you." + +"The duke has been doing the same by me," said Eugene. + +And then they smiled. Neither one made protestations to the other; +neither one had any thing to relate. The heaven of their mutual +trust was without a cloud. + +Their silent, solemn happiness was interrupted by a knock. Conrad +came in with two dispatches--one from Germany, and one from Rome. +Eugene took them from the golden salver on which they lay, and said: + +"With the permission of the marchioness, I will read them." + +She bowed and smiled; then, passing her arm through his, led him to +a divan, and would have had him take a seat by her side. + +"No, darling," said he, gently putting her down upon its satin +cushions. "Lie there, while I sit at your feet and read the fiat of +Rome." + +He unfolded the letter, and read, Laura watching him the while; +smoothing his hair with her loving hands, and gazing in his face +with tenderness unspeakable. As she gazed she saw a cloud pass over +his features; he looked up at her, and his eyes wore an expression +of strange compassion and sorrow. + +Laura bent forward and kissed him. "What ails my love?" said she. + +"This letter has destroyed a blessed dream, beloved. I had hoped +that we had propitiated Fate, and that misfortune had ceased to +follow us." + +"Why, what have your political papers to do with our fortunes?" + +"This is not a political dispatch," replied Eugene. "It is the +answer to a letter I addressed to Pope Innocent. Will you read it, +dearest?" + +She took the paper from his hands, and then began to laugh. + +"I do not read Latin," said she. "Translate it for me." + +Eugene then rose, put his arm around her and read: + +"The sacrament of marriage is holy and inviolable, and it cannot be +set aside. Woe be unto those who deny its sanctity and its +irrevocable pledges! The marchioness Strozzi was married by a +priest, and her witnesses were a father and a brother. We are under +the necessity of refusing the petition of the Prince of Savoy; for, +no representation of intentions misdirected, can stand against the +deliberate consent of the parties to wedlock, witnessed by honorable +relatives. We, therefore, call upon the Prince of Savoy to humble +himself as beseems a man that has sinned against God and the Church, +lest he incur her malediction, at the hands of the vicar of Christ +on earth." + +The paper fell from his hands and fluttered to her feet. + +"You appealed to the pope to annul my marriage with Strozzi?" asked +she. + +"Yes, my beloved. I would have aspired to the bliss of seeing the +beautiful Laura Bonaletta my own wife--my wife before the world." + +"How good, how noble of you!" murmured she. "You would have elevated +poor Laura Bonaletta to the height of your own greatness, and would +have had her bear your glorious name! It would have been too much +bliss for me to bear that honored name, Eugene: and yet! oh, how I +wish I might have called myself Princess of Savoy! This happiness is +denied me, and I must submit; but I will not sin against my +conscience, by allowing any judgment of mortal man to drive me from +your side. Once more I lay my hand in yours, and what God has joined +together, no power of man shall ever put asunder." + +Eugene clasped her trembling hand in his, and, raising his eyes to +heaven, recorded their vows. + +After a pause, Laura resumed: "You have another letter to read, dear +Eugene. Perhaps it may console you for our own disappointment. It is +from Germany, and will, doubtless, bring pleasant tidings." + +Eugene unfolded the dispatch, with a smile; but scarcely had he +glanced at its first words, when his face grew pale, and his hands +trembled so that he could scarcely hold the paper. + +"Ah!" cried Laura, "another disappointment!" + +"Oh, Laura," sighed he, "Charles of Lorraine is no more." + +"Your dearest friend?" + +"Ay--my dearest friend! Charles of Lorraine dead!--And dead of a +broken heart. Not on the battle-field, as became the greatest hero +of his age, but on a bed of sickness. No officer by to do him honor- +-no soldiers there to weep for their adored commander! Oh, I would +he a happy man, could I but win the love of my men as he did, and +earn but one of the many laurels that were wreathed around his +honored head!" [Footnote: Prince Eugene's own words.--See +Zimmermann.] + +"Your laurels will surpass his, my Eugene," exclaimed Laura, with +prophetic love. "You are destined to achieve immortality." + +Eugene shook his head, and, almost unconsciously, murmured these +lines of Homer: + + "Like leaves on trees, the race of man is found, + Now green in youth, now withering on the ground; + Another race the following spring supplies, + They fall successive, and successive rise. + So generations, in their course, decay, + So flourish these, when those have passed away!" + +"Any admission within these enchanted walls?" said a gay voice, +behind them; and, starting up in amazement, they beheld the tall +figure of the Elector of Bavaria, and behind him, Conrad, with a +perplexed and most distressed countenance. + +"Before I say another word, let me exonerate Conrad from any +complicity in my indiscretion," said the elector; "for, I must say, +that he told a series of falsehoods on your account, that will keep +him out of heaven for many a month. But I surprised him glancing +uneasily toward this door, so I took your Peter by the shoulders, +put him aside, and walked into paradise without his permission." + +"Very well, Conrad," said Eugene; "you are excused." And, taking the +hand of the elector, he led him to the marchioness, and presented +him as his dearest living friend. + +The elector kissed her hand and bent the knee before her as he would +have done before an empress. + +"Madonna," said he, "I bow before your beauty and your worth. I am a +poor, sinful mortal, but I have, at least, an appreciation of +heavenly goodness, and I come to do homage to the innocence, the +purity, and the courage of my friend's guardian angel." + +"You are most welcome, prince; but, I pray you, rise. It becomes not +a hero like you to kneel before poor Laura Bonaletta." + +"I would have died but for her care," said Eugene, when the elector +had accepted a seat at Laura's side. "She came to me through perils +that shame our every-day deeds on the field of battle." + +"I have heard of her miraculous night from one who loves her dearly. +We rejoiced together over the news of her escape." + +"You allude to Lucretia," said Laura--"how is she?" + +"Like other mortals," laughed the elector; "loving to-day and hating +to-morrow, and, finally, discovering that lovers' hate is love. +Neither you nor Eugene can understand these vicissitudes of +sublunary attachments; for you have nothing in common with the +stormy and changeful sea of ordinary loves. Heaven created you one +for the other, and your lives are a development of that divine +charity which 'believeth all things, hopeth all things, and endureth +all things.'" + + + + +BOOK VIII. + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE ADVANCE INTO FRANCE. + + +The war in Italy had lasted for three years without any decisive +result on either side. Here and there some unimportant advantages +had been gained by the imperialists, which had then been balanced by +some equally trifling defeats. The campaign had opened +unfortunately. Against the advice of his generals, Victor Amadeus +had given battle to General Catinat, near the abbey of Staffarda, +and in spite of all that his kinsman Eugene could do by personal +bravery to repair the blunder, the imperialists sustained a most +humiliating defeat. Eugene, however, had the melancholy satisfaction +of knowing that he had predicted the result, although his +remonstrances had been unavailing to avert it. + +This disaster had the effect of cooling the zeal of Victor Amadeus +to such an extent, that he actually began to repent of having taken +sides against the French. He was too wary to betray his state of +mind; so he pretended great ardor, and called urgently for re- +enforcements. Backed by the importunities of Prince Eugene, he +succeeded in obtaining them, and at their head the Elector Max +Emmanuel, commander-in-chief of all the imperial forces. + +In spite of all this, the war was not vigorously prosecuted. Max +Emmanuel, although brave and true, seemed to have lost the qualities +that had made him a wise and energetic commander: he lacked coolness +when plans were to be conceived, and decision when they were to be +carried out. He left all supervision to the care of his +subordinates, and spent his days in the pursuit of pleasure. + +All this Prince Eugene perceived with unavailing regret. He was +powerless to prevent it, for, as the youngest of the field-marshals, +his duty was restricted to the mere execution of the orders of his +superiors. The war dwindled down to an insignificant though bloody +contest with the mountaineers of Savoy and the Italian peasantry, +and things continued in this state until the allies of the emperor +manifested their discontent, and called for the removal of Max +Emmanuel. Field-Marshal Carassa was recalled, and, at the beginning +of the campaign of 1692, the command of the allied forces was given +to Victor Amadeus, while Field-Marshal Caprara was appointed second +in command. + +Circumstances now seemed favorable to an earnest prosecution of the +war. The imperialists were assembled at one point; they were +superior in numbers to the enemy, and at their head stood a man who +lost no opportunity to publish to the world his devotion to Austria, +and his detestation of France. + +Eugene was not as hopeful as the rest. He had had enough of valiant +words, and was longing for valiant deeds. + +"We must advance into France," said he, when the generals next +assembled in council. "We must retaliate upon the people the +persecutions of their army in Germany and Italy. We must enter by +the pass of Barcelonetta, which for the present is unguarded. Before +troops can arrive to succor the garrison, we shall have taken +several more posts of importance." + +"But should we take, will we be able to hold them?" asked Victor +Amadeus, affecting wisdom. + +Eugene's large eyes looked searchingly into the sealed book of his +cousin's shrewd countenance. + +"Your highness," replied he, "above all things let us have +confidence in ourselves, and let us place some trust in the fortunes +of war." + +"Catinat is very sagacious," observed General Laganny, the leader of +the Spanish forces. "As soon as we move in the direction of +Barcelonetta, he will re-enforce the garrison." + +"Then so much the more necessity for speed on our part," cried +Eugene. "We must mislead the enemy, and make a feint on Pignerol. To +this end, let us send a corps of observation into Piedmont, while we +order a detachment of dragoons and infantry to possess themselves in +all haste of the pass." + +The Duke of Savoy looked thoughtful, and there was profound silence +among the members of the war council. After a pause of some +duration, Victor Amadeus raised his head, and gave a long searching +look at the excited countenance of his cousin. + +"The Prince of Savoy is right," said he, at length. "We must avenge +our wrongs, and carry the war into France. Our way lies through the +vale of Barcelonetta, and we must move without delay." + +The face of Eugene was so lit up by joy that his cousin smiled, and +gave him a significant look. + +"I have an account of my own to settle with France," added he, "and +personal affronts to resent. So has my cousin, who longs to avenge +the injuries he has received from Louvois." + +"I assure your royal highness," answered Eugene, eagerly, "that +personal feeling has naught to do with my opinions as to the +prosecution of this war. I would despise myself if, in what I have +spoken regarding the interests of the emperor, I had been actuated +by any secret motive of aversion toward his enemies." + +There was something in this protest that annoyed Victor Amadeus, for +his eyes flashed, and his brows were momentarily corrugated. But no +one knew better than he how to suppress any symptoms of vexation. It +was not convenient to evince displeasure, and he composed his +features back to serenity. + +"Members of this council of war, and officers of the imperial army," +said he, with an appearance of solemn earnestness, "we must act +promptly and energetically. Let us prove to our allies, and to all +Europe, that we know how to avenge the wrongs of our countrymen. We +pass the boundary-lines of France!" + +And every preparation was made to carry out this determination. The +army was to advance in three divisions, and Prince Eugene was to +lead the vanguard. + +His way lay through the mountainous districts of Savoy; but, with +experienced guides to lead them, the dragoons were able to defile +through secret passes unknown to any but the natives, and to arrive +unsuspected upon the frontiers of France. + +The peasant that preceded Prince Eugene stopped for a while, and, +raising his arm, pointed onward. + +"This is France," said he. "Yonder is Barcelonetta, and the towers +you see beyond are those of the fortress of Guillestre." + +Eugene thanked him, and put spurs to his horse. On the frontier he +drew in his rein, surveyed the lovely green plain before him, and +addressed the Prince de Commercy. + +"I have kept the promise I made in Hungary," said he. + +"I remember it," replied De Commercy. "I had been telling you that, +after hearing of your heroic deeds in the emperor's service, Louvois +had said: 'Let Prince Eugene beware how he attempts to return to +France!' And your reply was this: 'I shall return, but it shall be +sword in hand.'" [Footnote: Historical.--See Armath, "Prince Eugene +of Savoy," vol. i.] + +"And we are here--my good sword and I. Nine years ago, I left my +native country, a miserable and despairing youth." + +"And you return a great general, and one of the happiest men alive," +cried De Commercy. + +"Ay," murmured Eugene, "one of the happiest men alive!--so happy, +that methinks the contrarieties of life are so many vaporous clouds, +that throw but a passing shadow over the face of heaven, and then +melt into the azure of resplendent day. From my heart I thank +indulgent Destiny for her blessings!" + +"Destiny that was mightier than the puny enmity of a Louvois! Well-- +we have had our fill of glory in Hungary and Italy. I hope we shall +find a few laurels here in France." + +"I hope so," said Eugene, moodily, "though oftentimes I--" + +"Why do you hesitate? What do you fear?" asked De Commercy. + +"I fear," replied Eugene, lowering his voice, "that we will not be +allowed to pluck laurels that grow on French soil." + +"Do you think the French will outnumber us?" + +"No," sighed Eugene, "the enemy's numbers give me no uneasiness: I +am afraid of our own weakness. We lack the morale--the will to +conquer." + +"Why surely, Eugene, you lack neither," replied De Commercy. + +"As if _I_ had any voice in these councils! Were it left with me to +manoeuvre this army, I would lead it to Paris in two weeks. But, +unhappily, you and I are but the instruments of the will of our +superiors. I will not conceal from you, my friend, the impatience +with which I submit to carry out orders against which my judgment +continually rebels; and how weary I am of serving, where I feel that +I ought to command. You know me too well to suspect me of the +meanness of a mere lust for distinction. Had we a true or competent +leader, I would be content to remain where I am, as youngest field- +marshal in the army--in the fifth rank; but--" + +"But you consider Victor Amadeus as incapable as Max Emmanuel?" + +"Max was not incapable," said Eugene, as though speaking to himself. +"True, he exhibited none of those great qualities which +distinguished him in Hungary; or perhaps he was shrewd enough to +perceive that no amount of generalship could prevail against the +dulness of his German officers, the ill-will of the Spaniards, and +the irresolution of the Duke of Savoy. I believe he concluded to let +things take their course, and cause his own removal. But he, at +least, was honest. He was not casting his eyes about, to see on +which side lay his own interest. His countenance is a true reflex of +his soul--and what he says, he means." + +"And by this you wish me to infer that such is not the case with our +present commander-in-chief?" asked De Commercy. + +Eugene bent his head in token of assent, and gazed for a moment at +the country which lay before them. "We will capture Barcelonetta," +said he, "Gillestre, and perhaps Embrun, provided we are too rapid +in our movements for the duke to circumvent us by countermanding +orders. We must strive to make retreat impossible, but we must not +lose sight of Victor Amadeus. We must watch him closely, and be on +our guard against--" + +"Against what?" asked De Commercy. + +"Against treason," whispered Eugene. + +"How! You think it possible that--" + +"That while the road to Paris is open before us, we never get +farther than Embrun. Unless we are wary, De Commercy, we shall be +betrayed and sold to the enemy.--But look! Here come our vanguard. +You can indulge your fancy for rural scenery, while I go to receive +them." And Eugene galloped back to his men, who received him with +shouts of enthusiasm. + +"My braves," said he, unsheathing his sword, and pointing to the +smiling plains beyond, "my braves, this is France: the enemy's +country, which we are here to conquer!" + +The troops responded with a yell that betokened their readiness for +the bloody work. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE RAVENS. + + +The men were allowed an hour's rest to feed their horses and prepare +their dinners. Fires were lighted, vivandieres went hither and +thither, wishing that they could multiply themselves to answer the +demands of the hungry soldiers. Here and there were picturesque +groups of men reclining under the trees, some chatting, some +smoking, others singing songs of home. + +This bivouac was a pleasant scene to look upon; but its peace was +like the stillness that precedes a storm. A few hours might change +these light-hearted human beings into mangled corpses, and dye this +velvet sward with human blood. + +Eugene had dismounted, and, accompanied by one of his staff- +officers, mingled with the merry crowd. Everywhere he was greeted +with demonstrations of affection and contemplated with unmistakable +admiration. Sometimes he paused awhile to chat with the soldiers, of +their families at home; often accepting the bread they offered, and +tasting of the soup that was being distributed by the vivandieres. + +Now and then a gruff voice was heard calling out to the "little +Capuchin," as the soldiers were accustomed to designate Eugene, +through fondness. At such times, he smiled, nodded, and, when his +officers would have chided the men for their familiarity, besought +them not to reprove them for a jest so harmless. + +"Why do you look so melancholy, lieutenant?" asked he of a young +officer, who, apart from his comrades, was leaning against a tree, +gazing intently in the distance. + +The officer appeared to waken from a fit of abstraction, for he gave +a slight start, and removed his cap. + +"Are you not pleased at our invasion of France?" asked Eugene. + +"Ay, that am I," replied he, with a bitter smile. "I have long hoped +for this invasion, and I thank God that it is at hand." + +"You are ambitious to wear the epaulets of a captain, I presume?" + +"No, general, no. I care nothing for military finery." + +"Why, then, have you longed to march to France?" + +"Because I hunger and thirst for French blood. General, I implore +you, give me a body of men, and let me initiate our invasion of +France by giving the French a taste of guerrilla warfare." + +"Are you so sanguinary, young man?" asked Eugene, in amazement. "Do +you not know that war itself should be conducted with humanity, and +that we should never forget our common brotherhood with our +enemies!" + +"No, general, I know it not, nor do I wish to know it. I know that +the French have left me without kindred, without home, without ties; +and that they have transformed me--a man whose heart once beat with +sympathy and love for all living creatures--into a tiger, that +craves blood, and mocks at suffering." + +"Unhappy man!" exclaimed Eugene, sadly. "Then you have suffered +wrong at the hands of the French?" + +The young man heaved a convulsive sigh. + +"I come from the Palatinate," said he. "My parents' house was fired, +my father murdered, and my mother driven out into the woods, where +she perished. But this is not all. I loved a maiden--a beautiful and +virtuous maiden, to whom I was betrothed. O God! that I should have +lived to see it! General, the name of my betrothed was Marie +Wengelin." + +"Marie Wengelin!" echoed Eugene, with a shudder. "I have heard of +her tragic end. It was she that delivered Esslingen, but was--" + +"Marie! Marie!" cried Caspar, hiding his face with his hands. + +Eugene kindly touched him on the shoulder. "Unfortunate young man," +said he, "from my soul I pity you, and well I understand your hatred +of the Frenchman." + +"Dear general, give me the command of a body of marauders that shall +clear the way for our army. There is many a man in our regiment as +eager for revenge as I; let us be consolidated into one corps, and +where bloody work is to be done, confide it to us." + +Eugene thought for a moment, and then replied: "So be it; you shall +have your wish. Select one hundred men, of whom you shall be +captain, and come to me, individually for your orders, reporting +also to myself, and not to my officers. I will give you opportunity +to distinguish yourself, young man; but remember that it is one +thing to be a hero, and another to be a cutthroat. Retaliate upon +the men, but spare the women. If, in every Frenchman, you see a +Melac, look upon every woman as your Marie. Will you promise me +this?" + +"I will, general. At last I shall have vengeance, I shall serve my +country, and when my work is done, may God release me from this +fearful earthly bondage!" + +"Utter no such sinful wishes. Believe me, there is balm for every +wound; and I, who tell you this, have suffered unspeakably." + +"General, my Marie is dead, and died by her own hand." + +"She died the death of a heroine. But for you, it is heroism to +live, and so to live that the world may esteem you worthy of having +been loved by Marie Wengelin. Ah! you are no cutthroat. I see it in +the glance of your eye, in the tremor of your lip. You shall have +command of the guerrillas; for you will not be barbarous in your +warfare. What is your name?" + +"Caspar Werner." + +"Give me your hand, Caspar Werner, and promise me that you will go +through life with the fortitude that becomes a brave man." + +Caspar grasped Eugene's extended hand. "Yes, general, I promise. I +will be worthy of my Marie--worthy of your kindness to-day; and from +this hour forth I am yours for life or death." + +Eugene gazed admiringly into the handsome face of the trooper. "I +will do all that lies in my power to lessen your troubles, Caspar, +and you shall be under my own special protection. How soon will you +be able to organize your corps?" + +"In ten minutes, general." + +Eugene shook his head incredulously. + +"You will see, general," said Caspar. "We are all prepared, and +awaited nothing but your consent. Now look! The men have just risen +from dinner. Will you allow me to present them now?" + +"Certainly. I will wait for them here." + +Caspar leaped on his horse, which was close at hand, grazing, and +galloped to the spot where the soldiers had bivouacked. Eugene, who +was now joined by several of his staff, followed his movements with +great interest. + +The trooper came so suddenly upon his comrades, that not one of them +had been aware of his approach. They went on chatting and smoking +until, all of a sudden, were heard these few words: "Ravens, to +horse!" + +In the twinkling of an eye, every man stood erect. For the second +time, Caspar called out, "Ravens, to horse!" when their hands were +on the bridle, and in less than five minutes they were all mounted. + +Before ten minutes had expired, the Ravens had defiled before Prince +Eugene, who contemplated, with a sort of grim satisfaction, their +stalwart forms, their resolute, bronzed faces, and their fiery, +flashing eyes. + +He signed to Caspar to approach. + +"Gentlemen," said he to his officers, "let me present to you Captain +Werner of the --th. He is in command of an independent corps who +call themselves 'The Ravens,' but in their aspirings emulate the +eagle." + +"General," said Caspar, "give the word, and let your Ravens fly." + +"You have it," replied Eugene, smiling. "Yonder are the towers of +Barcelonetta. On our march thither are two forts; they would +inconvenience our advance, and must be taken." + +"They shall be taken," was the reply, and in a few moments the +Ravens had flown, and were no longer to be seen. + +One hour later the vanguard of the imperial army resumed its march. +Nothing checked their advance, for the Ravens had carried every +thing before them. Barcelonetta, terrified at the fate of the two +other forts, held out the white flag; and, by the time Prince Eugene +had arrived, a procession was on its way to deliver into his hands +the keys of the fortress. The clergy, in full canonicals, were at +their head, and after them a troop of young girls dressed in white, +the first of whom presented the keys on a silk cushion, and +petitioned "the great hero" for mercy. + +"Oh, my mother!" thought he, as he took the keys, "you the avenged. +The despised abbe has proved to the King of France that he is not a +weakling unworthy of wearing a sword!" + +They tarried but a night at Barcelonetta. On the morrow they +captured Guillestre, and set out for Embrun, where they expected to +be joined by the main army. + +Embrun resisted for twenty-four hours, but at the end of that time +it fell, and Victor Amadeus took up his headquarters there, while +Eugene marched on to Gab. He had been preceded by the Ravens, who, +in imitation of their enemies, had driven the people from their +houses, and had set fire to whole villages, cutting down all who +offered resistance. + +And, while they transformed the beautiful plains of Dauphine into a +waste, and marked their path forward by smoking ruins, they shouted +in the ears of the unhappy fugitives: "Revenge! Revenge for the woes +of Germany!" + +"Revenge for the woes of Germany!" cried the Ravens, as they leaped +from their horses to storm the walls of Gab. + +But no answer was made to their challenge, for not a soul was there +to give back a defiant word. The gates stood open, the walls were +unguarded, and, when the dragoons entered the town, they found not +one living being whereon to wreak their vengeance. So hasty had been +the flight of the inhabitants that they had left their worldly goods +behind, and their houses looked as though the owners had but just +absented themselves for an hour or so to attend church, or celebrate +some public festival. + +The Ravens took possession, and, when Prince Eugene arrived, he +found the Austrian flag waving from the towers, and that of Savoy +streaming above the gates. + +"You have done your work quickly," observed he to Caspar. + +"There was nothing to do. general," was the reply. "There is not a +living soul of them within the walls. And now, your highness--a +boon!" + +"What is it?" + +"General, recall to your mind Speier and Worms, and grant us leave +to find our retaliation for their destruction in Gab." + +"You say there is not a living soul in Gab? Are there, then, no +women, no children, no superannuated or infirm?" + +"General, every house is empty. I found but one living creature in +Gab--a young girl who lay sick in bed--too sick to move." + +"Alone? forsaken?" + +"Forsaken, general, save by one little dog that had just expired at +the side of her bed, for its body was warm and supple." + +"And the poor girl?" + +"She was dying." + +Eugene's large, questioning eyes were upon Caspar's face, and their +expression was anxious and painful. "Caspar, did you remember your +promise?" + +"Yes, general, I did. The maiden asked for water, and I held the cup +to her lips. I seated myself at her bedside, and, while my comrades +sacked the town, I soothed her last moments. When all was over, I +covered her face, and left the house." + +Eugene extended his hand. "You acted nobly, Caspar." + +"Nay, general," replied Caspar, his eyes filling with tears, "her +name was--Marie!--But now, that I can assure you on my honor that +there is no creature to molest in the town, I once more present the +petition of my men. They ask for permission to destroy Gab." + +Eugene pondered for a moment, and then gave his consent. "Let them +do what they choose with the town." + +Then, turning to the Prince de Commercy, "I begin to think," said +he, "that I have done injustice to Victor Amadeus. It was he who, +contrary to the opinions of his officers, ordered the advance to +Gab. He will be delighted and surprised to hear that we have +possession of the fortress already, for he was anxious to be with us +at the siege." + +"I can believe it: he may well desire the honor of capturing one +stronghold in France, when his cousin has already reduced two.--But +look, Eugene, at yonder courier coming toward us--he seems to be in +haste." + +The courier came on, his horse flecked with foam, himself covered +with dust; and, no sooner had he approached within hearing, than he +called in a loud voice for "Field-Marshal, the Prince of Savoy." + +An orderly conducted him at once to the prince, to whom he delivered +a package from his highness the Duke of Savoy. + +Eugene broke the seals, and began to read. His brows met, and, as he +looked up from the perusal of his dispatches, his face was +expressive of extreme annoyance. + +"It is well," said he to the courier. "Say to his highness that we +will obey. Monsieur de Commercy, let us ride together up the +heights, whence we may have a full view of Gab and our troops." + +They set their horses in motion, and in a few moments had reached +the summit of the hill. Here Eugene reined in his horse, and +reopened his dispatch. + +"Here we are alone, Commercy. Let me read you the letter of my well- +beloved cousin and commander-in-chief:" + +"My dear kinsman and distinguished field-marshal: To my unspeakable +regret, I am deprived, by a serious illness, of taking part in the +attack upon Gab. My physicians have ordered me back to Embrun, there +to await the result. These presents will convey to the advance guard +my command to retreat to Embrun until further orders. It is my +intention (unless I succumb before your arrival) to hold a council +of war; and, to this intent, I require the presence of all the +general officers. Hasten, therefore, my dear Eugene, lest you should +find me no longer alive; and believe that, living or dying, I am, as +ever, your devoted kinsman and friend." + +(Signed) "'VICTOR AMADEUS, Duke of Savoy.'" + +"Do you believe all this?" asked De Commercy. + +"Stay till you hear the postscript from his own hand:" + +"'My dear cousin: You must pardon my egotistic ambition, if I do not +allow the siege of Gab to be prosecuted without me. I am very +desirous of glory, and perchance your laurels have contributed to my +indisposition. At any rate, before you take a third fortress, I must +have my opportunity of capturing two. So, instead of attacking Gab, +come to Embrun to the relief of" + +"'Yours, besieged by illness, V. A.'" + +"I repeat my question--do you believe in his illness?" + +"And you--do you believe in his ambition?" + +"Why not? He avows it openly." + +"For which very reason, it has no existence. Victor Amadeus is too +crafty to make such an avowal in good faith. He never says what he +thinks, nor does he ever think what he says. No, no--my poor little +leaflets of laurel would have given him no uneasiness, had they not +been plucked on French soil!--But we must wait and see. The main +point is to retreat to Embrun." + +"And Gab? Will you retract your gift of its empty houses to the +Ravens?" + +"No. My instructions were not to besiege Gab. It surrendered before +they reached me, and I shall leave it to the soldiery. As for you +and me, we must hasten to Embrun to try to break the seal of my +cousin's impassible countenance, and read a few of his thoughts. Did +I not tell you that we would march no farther than Embrun?" + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +SICK AND WELL. + + +The Duke of Savoy had taken up his residence at the castle of +Embrun, where, as soon as the officers had arrived, his highness +called a council of war. They were assembled in the council-chamber, +awaiting the appearance of the invalid. + +The doors leading to a room beyond were opened to give passage to a +huge arm-chair on rollers, which was wheeled by four lackeys, to the +centre of the hall. The duke's head reclined on a cushion which had +been fastened for the occasion to the back of the chair: the +remainder of his person was buried under a purple velvet coverlet, +except his neck and arms, which were clothed in a black doublet, the +whole costume being eminently calculated to heighten the pallor of +the duke's cheeks, and increase the whiteness of his hands as they +lay limp and helpless on the velvet covering. His eyes were half- +closed, and as he made a feeble attempt to survey the assemblage +before him, they appeared to open with difficulty. With a faint +motion of the hand, he signed to the lackeys to retire, and then +made a painful effort to raise his head. + +Deep silence reigned throughout the council-chamber, but the gaze of +every man there was fixed upon the pallid face of him in whose +trembling hands lay the destinies of four different armies. His dim +eyes wandered slowly about the room until they rested on the person +of Prince Eugene, who, hot and dusty, presented an appearance that +contrasted strongly with that of his brother-officers. + +"Our dear kinsman Eugene has arrived, I see," said the duke, in a +faint voice. "We were afraid that we would be obliged to hold this +important council without your presence." + +"I hastened with all speed to obey your highness's summons," replied +Eugene, "and I must avail myself of this opportunity to apologize +for my dress. I have just dismounted, and hurried to the council- +chamber that I might myself announce to your highness the good news +of which I am the bearer." + +"Let us hear it," murmured the duke, closing his eyes, and letting +his head droop upon the pillow. + +"Your highness, we were not obliged to storm Gab: it surrendered +without a shot." + +The duke's eyelids moved, and a flush overspread his face. No one +remarked this save Eugene, for all other eyes in the hall were +riveted upon himself. + +"This is very good news," said the duke, feebly. + +"Your highness sees, then, what a panic is produced by the mere +mention of your name. It is a talisman that will lead us to Paris +without opposition or loss of life. Like Caesar, you come, see, and +conquer--and that--not by your presence, but by your reputation." + +"Your highness is too modest," said Victor Amadeus, somewhat +recovering his voice. "I cannot accept the laurels you have so +honorably won. Alas!" continued he, "I fear that I shall never lead +an army into battle again!" + +And, as if exhausted by the thought, he fell back and was silent. In +a few moments, he raised his head and spoke: this time with open +eyes, and with some distinctness. + +"Gentlemen take your seats. The council is opened." + +The great question of the next movement of the army was now to be +agitated. The council were divided in their sentiments. Some were +for rapid advance, others were of opinion that great discretion was +to be exercised, now that they stood on the enemy's territory, and +that not one step should be made without great deliberation as to +its expediency. + +At the head of the latter party stood General Caprara. "We have no +right to trust to luck in war," said he. "We must take into +consideration all the mischances that may befall us in the enemy's +country, and act accordingly. Prince Eugene's advance-guard, for +example, had the good luck to find Gab abandoned by its inhabitants. +Had they remained to defend their city, we would have lost our men +to no purpose whatever." + +"My advance-guard is composed of young and brave men, who, to avenge +the injuries of Germany, have devoted themselves to death; but they +are so fearless, and therefore so terrible, that I believe they will +live to perform many a gallant deed." + +"If they are not hanged as marauders," retorted Caprara; "for my +edicts against plunderers and incendiaries remain in force here as +well as at home." + +"Your excellency has, then, changed your mode of warfare since your +soldiery devastated the towns of Hungary," said Eugene. + +"Field-Marshal!" cried Caprara, reddening. + +"What, your excellency?" asked Eugene, with a provoking smile. + +"Gentlemen," interposed the Duke of Savoy, "distract not our +councils with your personal differences. Field-Marshal Caprara, you +are, then, of opinion that it would be perilous for us to advance +farther into the enemy's territory?" + +"Yes, your highness," growled Caprara, looking daggers at Eugene. "A +rapid march might give opportunity for the display of personal +prowess, which, while it redounded to the credit of the few, would +imperil the safety of the many." + +"I heartily second the views of General Caprara," said General +Legnaney, the leader of the Spanish division. "If we march on, we +leave our base of operations far behind, and render unforeseen +calamities irremediable." + +"That is my opinion;" "And mine," cried several voices together, but +among the younger officers there was dissenting silence. + +Victor Amadeus gave a long sigh, and, turning his head slowly, +addressed Eugene: + +"Field-Marshal, Prince of Savoy, it is your turn to speak." + +"I, your highness, am of opinion that we push our conquest with +vigor. All the talent and strength of the French army has been sent +to the Netherlands, and France is, so to speak, at our mercy. We +have no obstacles before us in the shape of men in the field or +garrisoned strongholds. As we captured Barcelonetta, Guillestre, and +Gab, so will we capture every place that lies on our march. There is +absolutely nothing of the proportions of a mole-hill to prevent us +from going as far as Grenoble--nay, as far as Lyons." + +"The Prince of Savoy has spoken like a sagacious general," said the +Prince de Commercy. "Nothing prevents us from marching to Lyons." + +"I sustain his views," added the Duke of Schomberg. "We must +advance. Let us promise protection to the Waldenses, and so foment +civil discord among the enemy. To create disaffection in the enemy's +country is good policy--and it is a policy that will bear us on to +Paris." + +"We are of the same mind," said the other officers, who had kept +silence. + +And now ensued another pause. The casting vote on this momentous +question was to be given by Victor Amadeus. He had recovered his +strength in a wonderful manner, for his face had lost its pallor, +his eyes their dimness, and his whole countenance beamed with +resolution. + +"Gentlemen," cried he, as, in his excitement, he rose from his +chair, "to youth belong fame and conquest; to youth belongs the +strength that casts away impediments, and overleaps all hindrances +to success. Forgive us, who, being young, thirst for glory, and long +to quench that thirst in the sparkling waters of military success. +Forgive me, you who are satiated with ambition gratified, if, rather +than be discreet with you, I would be rash with my young kinsman. I +am of Prince Eugene's opinion. Nothing hinders our march to +Grenoble. I am impatient--" + +Suddenly he paused, and grasped the arms of the chair. A shudder +pervaded his whole body, and, with a convulsive gasp, he fell hack, +apparently insensible. + +The assembly broke up in confusion. Physicians were summoned, and, +at their bidding, the duke was slowly borne back into his chamber. +His head was enveloped in damp cloths, his temples were rubbed with +stimulants, and, after various restoratives had been applied, he +slowly opened his eyes, and looked bewildered about him. Nobody was +near except Doctor Mirazzi. The other physicians had retired to the +embrasure of a bay-window, and the lackeys had gathered about the +door, where they were awaiting further orders from their superiors. +All this the duke had seen at a glance. He closed his eyes again, +but, as he did so, he made a sign to Doctor Mirazzi. + +The latter bent his head to listen, but in such a manner as to +convey the idea that he was watching his patient's fluttering +breath. + +"Dismiss them all," whispered the sick man. + +The doctor gave no ostensible sign of having heard. He still kept +his ear to the patient's mouth; then, after a while, he placed it +close to his heart. The examination at an end, he went on tiptoes +toward the window where his colleagues were standing. + +"He sleeps," whispered he. "When he awakes, his malady will probably +declare itself. I will remain here to watch him; it is unnecessary +for you to confine yourselves with me in this close sick-room. Will +you oblige me by returning this evening for a consultation?" + +"Certainly," was the reply of the others, who were grateful to be +relieved from duty. "Shall we appoint seven o'clock?" + +"Yes," answered Mirazzi; "and we will hold our consultation in the +duke's sitting-room. Our presence, here might be prejudicial." + +And, with injunctions for silence, the doctor accompanied his +colleagues to the door, which was noiselessly opened by the lackeys; +but, before they had time to close it again, Mirazzi shut it with +his own hands, loosening simultaneously a thick velvet portiere, +through whose heavy folds no sound could penetrate without. + +Victor Amadeus, meanwhile, lay motionless in his arm-chair. + +"Your highness." said Mirazzi, "we are now safe and alone." + +The duke arose, kicked off his coverlet, and stood erect. "My dear +doctor," said he, "you must prove to me that I may trust you." + +"For thirty years I have served your royal highness's family, and I +am ready to do so, be it with my life," replied Mirazzi. + +"I believe you, Mirazzi; and therefore I, who am insincere toward +everybody else, am honest in my intercourse with you. Now listen to +me. In the science of medicine there are many remedies for diseases. +Are there any potions, known to physicians, that have power to +PRODUCE maladies?" + +"That is a dangerous inquiry, your highness; for it regards the most +tragic secrets of the craft. There are many, many things known to us +that will produce sickness, followed by death, immediate or remote; +but unfortunately there are not as many as you suppose, that will +restore the vital energies where they are impaired by disease." + +"But, doctor, surely you have some way of simulating disease without +injuring the patient. Cutaneous maladies, for instance, must be very +easily induced." + +"They can more easily be induced than simulated. I can raise a +scarlet eruption on a man's skin; but when it appears, it will bring +with it fever and thirst." + +"So much the better, so much the better!" exclaimed Victor Amadeus, +eagerly. "How long will the symptoms last?" + +"If proper remedies are administered, they will disappear in five or +six days, your highness." + +"Good, good," murmured the duke to himself; and then he began to +pace forth and back the length of the apartment. After a while he +came and stood directly in front of the doctor, who with his sharp +eyes had been watching him as he walked, and perfectly apprehended +the nature of the service he was expected to render to his +distinguished patient. + +"Doctor," said the sick man, "I feel the premonition of some serious +illness. My head swims, my limbs ache, and cold chills are darting +through my body. My fever will be high, and perchance I may grow +delirious. Let me then use the rational interval left me, to make +such dispositions as might be necessary in case of my demise." + +"Then let me advise your highness to get to bed as speedily as +possible," replied the doctor, solemnly. "This done, I will call in +our consulting physicians--" + +"By no means: I hate consultations. Nobody shall come into my room +but yourself, and, when you need the advice of your coadjutors, you +must assemble them in some other part of the castle." + +"I thank your highness for so signal a proof of confidence," said +Mirazzi, "but I am not at liberty to assume the undivided +responsibility of your nursing; for you may become really sick, and +you must have all needful attention. Were we in Turin, her highness +your noble spouse would suffer no one to attend you except herself; +but here--" + +"Here she shall not come; and to make sure of this fact, I will +write her a letter in my own hand that will allay any anxiety she +might feel on my account. Write yourself to the duchess, and ask her +to send my old nurse--her that has always tended me in sickness. But +I feel very ill, doctor. Call my valet to undress me. When I am +comfortably arranged in bed, I will send for my secretary, and +afterward for my staff-officers. They must receive their orders from +me, before I lose my senses." + +"To bed, to bed, your highness--that is the main thing!" + +"Yes, that is the main thing," echoed the duke, falling into his +arm-chair, and drawing up his velvet coverlet. "Now, doctor," added +he, in a very faint voice, "call my valets, or I shall swoon before +they get me to bed." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE DUKE'S DANGEROUS ILLNESS. + + +The news of the duke's terrible illness spread through the castle, +over the town, and reached the barracks of the soldiers, who, like +their officers, received the intelligence with blank looks of +disappointment. + +The staff-officers hastened to the castle, and some of them made +attempts to penetrate the sick-chamber. But all in vain. Doctor +Mirazzi's orders were stringent, and the nerves of his patient were +not to be tried by the presence of any man, were that man his own +brother. + +"We can determine nothing, nor can we administer any remedies," said +he, "until the malady declares itself. We must wait." + +"We must wait," said the duke's physician, and the whole army was +doomed to inaction, while urgent and more urgent grew the necessity +for active operations. + +Throughout the castle reigned profound stillness: not the least +sound was permitted to reach the duke's ears. The officers that +called were kept at a distance from his apartments, and to all their +inquiries there was but one and the same reply--the duke was +delirious, and incapable of giving orders. + +Finally, after three days of mortal suspense, it was announced that +his highness of Savoy had malignant scarlet fever. + +During the four days that followed this announcement, nobody was +allowed to enter the room except Doctor Mirazzi, and the old nurse +that sat up with the duke at night. But, on the fifth day, two +persons were admitted. Of these, one was the marshal of the duke's +household, the other was his cousin Eugene. + +They were received with mysterious whisperings, and were warned not +to excite the patient. He had, in the incipiency of his illness, +insisted upon making his will, and these two confidential friends +had been summoned to witness it. + +The old nurse now joined them to say that his highness was awake, +and would see Prince Eugene. + +"My dear cousin," said the duke, languidly, "come and receive my +last greeting." + +Eugene entered the alcove, and stood at the bedside. The bed was +curtained in purple velvet, and the hangings were so arranged as to +leave the duke's face in obscurity. Eugene perceived, nevertheless, +that there was no emaciation of features, nor any alteration in the +expression of the sharp, restless eye. + +"My dear kinsman," continued the invalid, "it is all over with me. I +die without fame; I have fought my last battle and am vanquished by +invincible death." + +"No, your highness, you have not the aspect of a dying man; and I +have strong hope that you will live to perform great deeds yet. +Young, wise, and brave as you are, your strong will may vanquish not +only death, but our common enemy--the King of France." + +"May your words prove prophetic!" sighed the duke, "but something +tells me that I must prepare for the worst. I have made my will, +and--" + +He paused, gasped for breath, and closed his eyes. Then motioning to +Eugene to come nearer, he whispered: "I have appointed you my +executor until the majority of my heir. Promise me to do all in your +power to make my subjects happy." + +"Your royal highness amazes me, and I know not--" + +He was interrupted by a loud groan which brought Doctor Mirazzi to +the bed in a trice. The duke was trembling; his teeth were clinched, +and his hands were pressed upon his temples. + +Restoratives were used, and at the proper time the patient unclosed +his eyes. With a great effort he raised himself in bed, beckoned to +the marshal of the household to approach, and, supported by Mirazzi, +he put his name to the will. + +"I request my minister and the marshal of my household to approach +and witness the signing of my will." + +They came in, and, taking up a document which lay on a table close +by, the duke raised himself in bed, and, supported by the doctor, +gave his signature. + +"Take it," said he, "to Turin. Place it in the archives, and when I +am dead let it be opened in the presence of the duchess and of my +well-beloved kinsman here present, the Prince of Savoy. And now," +said he, "farewell. My strength is exhausted! The end is nigh!" + +And with these faintly-articulated words, Victor Amadeus fell back +upon his pillow and swooned. + +Eugene returned to his quarters in a state of extreme perplexity. + +"How is the duke?" cried De Commercy, who shared his lodgings. + +"I do not know," said Eugene, moodily. "But this I know. we march, +not to Grenoble, but back to Turin." + +"Indeed!" + +"Yes; such are the duke's latest orders, and, as he has appointed no +one to represent him, the army is still under his sole control. I +told you, we should get no farther than Embrun!" + +"But the duke? It is not possible that he is acting the sick man all +this while?" + +"Not possible! Nothing is impossible to such a crafty, vulpine +nature as his!" + +"The bulletins say that he is attacked with scarlet fever, and you +must have seen whether he bears its marks on his skin or not." + +"He has them, but--this shrewd kinsman of mine has many a secret +unknown to such as you and myself, Commercy. Perhaps I do him +injustice; for, in good sooth, I am provoked, and in a humor to +suspect everybody. His voice is very weak, and indeed, Commercy, I +would feel very uncomfortable should he prove to me, by dying, that +I have suspected him unjustly. I must go again; I MUST satisfy my +doubts." + +The duke's condition was declared to be so precarious that sentries +were stationed at every entrance of the castle, to prevent so much +as the lightest footstep from being heard by the noble patient. He +was passing a crisis, and, during the transition, not a soul must be +admitted within the castle gates. + +Prince Eugene, nevertheless, at dusk, betook himself thitherward. +The sentry saluted him, but barred the entrance. + +"You do not know me," said the prince. "I am the duke's nearest +kinsman, and, unless you have orders to exclude me personally, I +have the entrance to his chamber." + +"We have no orders with reference to your highness," was the reply. + +"Then I must pass, and I shoulder the responsibility." + +The officer signed to the sentry to stand aside, and Eugene entered +the castle, crossed the tessellated vestibule, and ascended the wide +marble staircase. Here he was stopped a second time, but he referred +the guards to the officer below, and was again allowed to pass. "I +must try to solve this riddle," thought he. "The emperor's interests +hang upon the solution. Luckily, I have a pretext for my unexpected +visit in these dispatches." + +He had now traversed the long, lofty hall; had entered a smaller one +that led to the duke's antechamber, and had reached the opposite end +of the room, where stood two more sentries, one before each door +that opened into the duke's chamber. They had seen him in the +morning, and taking it for granted that, having penetrated thus far, +he had authority to go farther, they saluted him, and stepped aside. + +Eugene whispered, "Is this the door by which I entered this +morning?" + +The sentry bowed. + +"Whither does it lead?" + +"To his royal highness's alcove, my lord." + +"Right," said Eugene, laying his hand on the lock. It turned, and he +was in a small recess which opened into the alcove. The portiere was +down, and Eugene stood irresolute before it. He felt a nervous dread +of he knew not what, and almost resolved to retrace his steps. He +thought he could not bear the shock of the duke's treachery, should +the illness prove--as he feared it would--a sham. He wondered what +he would do; and began to think it better not to penetrate into the +secrets of his kinsman's acts, but-- + +No, no! He had gone too far to lose his opportunity, and, ashamed of +his irresolution, he raised the portiere. The alcove was darkened by +draperies, but as soon as Eugene's eyes had accustomed themselves to +the obscurity of the place, he drew near the bed, opened the +curtains, and beheld--nobody! nothing! + +"I was right," muttered he, grinding his teeth; "it was a comedy!" +As he retreated, he stumbled against the little table, and the chink +of the phials that stood upon it was audible. + +"Is that you, my good Annetta?" said the voice of the duke. + +Eugene emerged from the alcove, and entered the sitting-room. There, +in an arm-chair, before a table laden with viands, fruits, and rare +wines, sat the expiring patient that had made his will in the +morning. + +The duke was in the act of raising a glass of wine to his lips. He +laid it hastily down, and his keen eyes darted fire at the intruder. + +"What means this?" asked he, in a voice that was somewhat uncertain. + +"If I may be permitted to interpret what I see before me," replied +Eugene, "I should say that your highness is merely carrying out +military customs. We were at a funeral this morning, to the tune of +a dead march--we return, this afternoon, to that of a quick-step." + +"I hope you are agreeably surprised to find that instead of being +left behind, I have come back with the music," said the duke, +recovering his self-possession. "Come and join me in a glass of good +wine. I am as yet too weak to do the honors of my house, but I shall +enjoy my repast twofold, now that I have a guest. Sit down. My +physician, having ascertained that what I mistook for approaching +dissolution was a favorable crisis, has prescribed a generous diet +for me, and I do assure you that, with every mouthful, I feel my +health return. Ah, Eugene! life is a great boon, and I thank God, +who has generously prolonged mine. I hope that you, too, are glad to +see me revive; the army, I know, will rejoice to hear of my +recovery." + +"I do not doubt their joy," replied Eugene, "for your highness's +quick convalescence will spare them the mortification of a retreat +to Piedmont. I presume you will now march to Paris." + +"My fiery, impetuous Eugene," replied Victor Amadeus, with an air of +superiority, "you forget that convalescence is not health. I am here +for three weeks at least, and by that time the season will be too +much advanced to make a second invasion of France. So, God willing, +we shall return to Piedmont, there to prosecute the war against +Catinat and his incendiaries, whom I hope to drive ignominiously +from Italy." + +"That is--we are to hold ourselves on the defensive," replied +Eugene, bitterly. "Your highness is truly magnanimous! All France +lies within your grasp, and, instead of taking advantage of your +good fortune, you lay it humbly at the feet of Louis. We have it in +our power to dictate terms, while this retreat exposes us to have +them dictated to ourselves." + +"Field-marshal," said the duke, haughtily, "you forget that you +speak to your commander-in-chief." + +"Yes--to remember that I speak to the Duke of Savoy--" + +"With the head of your house," interrupted the duke, "to whom you +owe respect." + +"I accord it with all my heart. Precisely because the Duke of Savoy +is the chief of our house, do I implore him not to turn his back +upon the road which lies open to fame and renown, but to advance +bravely to the front, as becomes the friend and ally of the +emperor." + +Victor Amadeus put his hand up to his head. "Excuse me--I am not +equal to the holding of a council of war, nor do I intend to have my +commands discussed. We go back to Piedmont." + +"Then I must submit," said Eugene, mournfully. "But I crave +permission to ask one question of my kinsman." + +"Say on," answered the duke, wearily. + +"Does your highness propose to desert the cause of the emperor, and +renew your alliance with France? Ah, you smile! You smile to think +that I should be so unpractised in the art of diplomacy, as to +expect a direct answer to such an inquiry. But I entreat you to +remember, that your defection concerns not only your honor but mine +also." + +"My dear Eugene," said the duke, mildly, "you are anxious without +any grounds for anxiety. At your solicitation, and from my own +convictions of duty, I became the ally of the emperor; I have never +reaped any advantage from the alliance, and yet I have remained +perfectly loyal. France has made me many offers, every one of which +I have rejected. So, make yourself easy on the score of my good +faith, and let us change the subject. To what chance do I owe the +pleasant surprise of this visit from you?" + +"I have the honor to bring letters to your royal highness from the +emperor," answered Eugene, presenting his dispatches. "I owe it to +my relationship with your highness, that I was allowed by your +sentries to effect my entrance here." + +"Of course, of course. Everybody knows in what high esteem I hold +Prince Eugene. Verily I believe you to be the most popular man in +the army, and your brown cassock to inspire more respect than my +field-marshal's uniform. And now to study the emperor's letter. I +say study, for his majesty will write to me in Latin, and I am no +great scholar." + +"While your highness is occupied," said Eugene, rising, "I will +retire to the window." He crossed the room, and, entering the +embrasure, was completely lost to view behind its hangings. + +There was a silence of some duration. The duke studied his Latin, +while Eugene looked out of the window. Suddenly, without any +previous formality of knocking, the door leading to the antechamber +flew open, and the voice of the old nurse was heard. + +"Your highness," said she, as though communicating a most agreeable +piece of news, "your highness, here is the French ambassador. I--" + +"Peace, Annetta, peace!" cried Victor Amadeus. But Annetta was too +much interested to hear, and she went on with great volubility: + +"Here he is; I passed him through. Everybody mistook him for Prince +Eugene--" + +"Annetta, hold your tongue!" cried the duke, in a thundering voice. + +"Ay, your highness, ay," was the reply of the old woman, who, +stepping back, opened the door and called out: + +"Count Tesse, his highness expects you; come in." + +And, to be sure, there walked in a gentleman wearing the identical +brown cassock, with its brass buttons, which was known as the +costume of Prince Eugene of Savoy! + +Victor Amadeus, in despair, sprang from his chair, and made a +deprecatory movement by which he hoped to prevail upon the count to +retreat. But he only looked bewildered; and his bewilderment +increased to positive consternation, when the curtains opened, and +the veritable Eugene stepped out and surveyed him with undisguised +contempt. + +"My dear Eugene," said the duke, in a conciliatory voice, "you see +how pertinaciously I am besieged by these Frenchmen. Here, for +instance, is Count Tesse. This is his third attempt to force an +interview with me, and he has gained his end by bribing my silly old +nurse to admit him under the garb of one to whom no one here would +dare deny entrance. Count Tesse is an envoy of the King of France, +and in your presence I intend to show him that no offer, however +brilliant, can induce me to forsake my imperial ally of Austria." + +"I am perfectly convinced of your loyalty," said Eugene, with an +ironical smile, "and, to prove my trust, I beg permission to +withdraw. I have the honor to bid you good-evening." + +So saying, Eugene inclined his head to the duke, and, paying no +attention whatever to his double, passed on. + +With a saddened heart he returned to his barracks. He was met by the +Prince de Commercy, holding aloft a huge placard. "The bulletin! The +bulletin!" cried he. "The crisis is past, and the duke is safe." + +"We, however, my friend, are in great danger. We are not driven from +French territory by our enemies, but by our pretended friends. Ah! +Victor Amadeus has this day inflicted upon me a wound more painful +than that of the Janizary's arrow at Belgrade. He has withered my +laurels at the very moment when my hand was extended to pluck them." + +"Then he abandons us, and declares himself for France?" asked De +Commerey. + +"If that were all, we could bear his defection, for we would have +one enemy more--that is all. Instead of which, we have a double- +faced friend who will have far more power to injure us by his +treachery in our own camp, than by his hostility in that of the +enemy. I will warn the emperor, as it is my duty to do; but he will +be dazzled by the fine promises of the duke, and disregard my +warning. [Footnote: Every thing happened exactly as Eugene +predicted. The Duke of Savoy retained command of the imperial army +for three years, during which he played into the hands of Louis +XIV., condemning the allied forces to total inaction, until France +had complied with all his exactions, when he declared himself for +Louis, and accepted the rank of a general in the French army. The +Prince de Commercy was so exasperated that he challenged the duke, +but the challenge was refused.] Meanwhile, as long as Victor Amadeus +wears his mask, should we even wrest a victory in spite of his +intrigues, he will manage to deprive us of all its advantages. He +will sell us to France, of that you may be sure." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE MARQUIS STROZZI. + + +"Then you think that Strozzi will not recognize me?" asked +Barbesieur de Louvois. + +"I know it," replied Carlotta. "His memory is a blank from which +every image, except that of his wife, has been effaced." + +"Does he love her still?" + +"Unhappily he does," sighed Carlotta. + +"My good girl," said Barbesieur, trying to look amiable, "pray don't +be so concise. Tell me the condition of the marquis, at once: I did +not come to this old owl's roost for pastime. I came to see what +could be done to restore its unhappy lord to reason. That you are +observing, I remember; you proved it by the good care you took of my +sister Laura." + +"My lord, you jest; but the flight of the marchioness has disgraced +me. She outwitted me, and I shall hate her to the end of my days." + +"Verily I believe you," laughed Barbesieur, as he saw the glitter of +her pale-green eyes. "I see in your face that you know how to hate. +But you must excuse me if I am amused when I think I see you +watching the doors like a she-Cerberus, while that sly creature was +flying out of the chimney. But never mind her: I want to talk with +you of her husband. I know that he was confined in a mad-house; but, +having occasion to see if he was sane enough to do me a service, I +found out that he had been discharged as cured, and had retired +within himself. Now, good Carlotta, tell me his veritable +condition." + +"He never has been sane since the flight of the marchioness. The +morning after, when, in spite of our knocking and calling, we +received no answer, I set Julia to watch the doors (for I thought +she was merely trying to frighten us, and would make her escape +while we were away), and went to consult the marquis as to what we +must do. When we returned, Julia assured us that she had not heard a +breath since I had been away." + +"And I suppose that the marquis forced the doors?" + +"Oh, no, my lord," replied Carlotta, bitterly. "He was so fearful of +displeasing her that he resisted all my importunities to break them +open. He knocked and begged so humbly for admission, that I fairly +cried with rage. This lasted for hours. Finally he fell on his knees +and cried like a child, promising, if she would open the door, to +give her her freedom, and never imprison her again. Then he swore by +the memory of his father that he would go to Rome and get a divorce +for her. It was shameful; and at last I cried out for passion, and +told him to get up and behave like a man. But all in vain. Suddenly +Julia came running to say that, while the marquis had been lying +before the parlor door, she had forced the one that led to the +sitting-room, and that the marchioness had escaped." + +"What did Strozzi do when he heard this? Whine louder?" + +"Oh, no! He sprang up, rushed into the rooms, and began to search +for her." + +"I suppose you helped, like good dogs after their game?" + +"Of course, for it seemed impossible that she should have gotten out +by any but supernatural means. But at last we were obliged to accept +the fact of her flight, wonderful as it was, and we sat down. Not so +the marquis. He appeared to think that she had been transformed into +a mouse, for he ran about, opening boxes, looking under tables, +occasionally stopping to roar like a wild beast, or falling on his +knees and weeping. Then he would begin his hunt again, and this +lasted the whole day. We asked him to take some rest, and let his +servants be sent out to search the woods, but he gave us no answer, +still going round and round until dusk, when he called for lights. +He kept up his search the whole night; and when the sun rose, and we +awoke, we found him running to and fro, from one room to the other. +In vain we pressed him to eat or to rest, he spoke not a word to any +of us. Finally, one of the men laid hands on him to force him to sit +down, when he drew back and struck him with such force that the +blood spirted from his face, as he fell full length on the floor. +The marquis went on in this manner for a week, each day growing +paler and feebler, until at last he staggered like a drunken man." + +"Unhappy lover!" exclaimed Barbesieur, with a shrug. + +"Finally, the physician we had sent for came from Turin. By this +time the marquis had fallen from exhaustion, and lay asleep. He was +lifted to bed, and four men were set to watch him; for the doctor +expected him to be violent when he waked. And so he was. He tried to +leap out of bed, and was finally bound hand and foot. After a while, +came his cousin from Venice, who took charge of him and of his +property." + +"Yes, to my cost," growled Barbesieur. "for he swindled me out of my +pension." + +"The Marquis Balbi-Strozzi inherits the estate, if the Marquis +Ottario dies without heirs," said Carlotta. + +"The Marquis Ottario will not be such an ass as to die without +heirs," cried Barbesieur, impatiently. "He shall be reconciled to +his wife, or he shall marry some other woman, and beget children. +The devil! He is a young man, and nobody dies of love, nowadays." + +"He looks like a man of eighty," said Carlotta. + +"He is much changed, then?" + +"You would not know him, my lord." + +"Perhaps not, but he will recover his youth with his health. What +does he do all day, Carlotta? What does he say?" + +"My lord, he says nothing, except an occasional word to his valet. +As for what he does, he is forever shut up in his laboratory." + +"Laboratory? What sort of a laboratory?" + +"A room which, immediately after his return, he had fitted up like a +great kitchen. When the alterations had been made, he went to Turin, +and came home with the entire contents of an apothecary shop, with +which the shelves of his laboratory are filled. I helped him to +place his jars and phials, but much against my will, for he calls me +ugly names." + +Barbesieur laughed. "Do tell me what he calls you?" + +"My lord, you may laugh, but you would not like to answer to the +name of 'Basilisk.'" + +"To be sure, 'Floweret' would be much more appropriate to your style +of beauty, Carlotta; but let that pass, and go on with your +narrative. What is Strozzi about, in this laboratory?" + +"How do I know, my lord? He cooks and evaporates his messes; then +runs to his table and reads in some mouldy old parchments; then +hurries back to the chimney and stirs his pipkins--then back to the +table--and so on, all day long." + +"But, my angelic Carlotta, if nobody is allowed to enter the +laboratory, how came you to be so admirably posted as to Strozzi's +movements?" + +Carlotta looked perplexed. "My lord, there is a little hole in the +door that leads out to the corridor, and sometimes I have thought it +but right to watch our dear lord, that he might do himself no harm." + +"Which means that you bored a hole in the door by way of +observatory. Nay--do not deny it; I respect your thirst for +knowledge. Does he never leave his laboratory?" + +"Oh, yes, my lord. He writes a great deal in his cabinet. All his +orders are transmitted in that way. Last week the steward made a +mistake in his accounts--" + +"To his own prejudice?" + +"My lord," said Carlotta, with a hoarse laugh, "no, to that of the +marquis. When he discovered it, he wrote underneath, 'Two thousand +florins unaccounted for. If this occurs a second time, you are +discharged.'" + +"Good, good!" cried Barbesieur. "Then he is returning to his senses. +He receives no company?" added he. + +"How should he? He knows nobody, and has forgotten every thing +connected with his past life." + +"But you told me that he still remembered the marchioness?" + +"As for her, my lord, he loves her as madly as ever. He stands +before her portrait, weeping by the hour, and the table is always +set for two persons. Every morning he goes into the garden and makes +a bouquet, which, he lays upon her plate before he takes his seat." + +"Poor Strozzi! Sane or mad, he will always be a dreamer!" said +Barbesieur. "Where is he now?" + +"In the garden, my lord; for it is almost the hour for dinner, and +he is in the conservatory gathering flowers for the empty plate." + +"Show me the way. I am curious to know whether he has forgotten his +brother-in-law and benefactor." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +INSANITY AND REVENGE. + + +Barbesieur followed Carlotta to the garden. They were walking +silently down the great avenue that led to the conservatory, when, +at some distance, they beheld advancing toward them the figure of a +man. His step was feeble and slow; his black garments hung loosely +about his shrunken limbs; his face was bloodless, like that of a +corpse, his cheeks hollow, his large eyes so sunken that their light +seemed to come from the depths of a cavern. His sparse hair, lightly +blown about by the wind, was white as snow; his long, thin beard was +of the same hue. + +"Who is that strange-looking old man?" asked Barbesieur. + +"That, my lord, is the Marquis Strozzi!" + +"Impossible!" cried Barbesieur, with a start. + +"I told you. my lord, that he looked like a decrepit old man," said +Carlotta. + +"And truly he is not a very seductive-looking personage," answered +Barbesieur. "But we must try if, in this extinguished crater, there +be not a spark by which its fire may be rekindled. Leave me, +Carlotta. I must have no third person here to divert Strozzi's +attention from myself." + +"Shall I not announce you, my lord?" asked Carlotta, who was dying +of curiosity to see the meeting. + +"Not at all, my angel. Go back to the castle--not by that winding +path, if you please, but by this wide avenue. And--be alert in your +movements, for I shall watch you until yonder door closes upon your +youthful charms, and hides them from my sight." + +Carlotta looked venomous, but dared not tarry, and Barbesieur +followed her with his eyes until he heard the clang of the ponderous +castle-door behind her. He then confronted the living spectre that, +by this time, was within a few feet of him. + +"God's greeting to you, brother-in-law," cried he, in a loud, +emphatic voice, while he grasped Strozzi's poor, wan hands, and held +them within his own. + +The marquis raised his dark, blank eyes, then let them fall again +upon the bouquet which Barbesieur had so unceremoniously crushed. + +"Sir," said he, gently, "do release my hand, for see--you are +bruising my flowers." + +"Sure enough, he does not recognize me," said Barbesieur, relaxing +his hold; while Strozzi, unmindful of his presence, caressed his +flowers, and smoothed their crumpled leaves. + +"She loves flowers," murmured the poor maniac. + +Barbesieur took up the words. "Yes," said he, "yes; my sister Laura +loves flowers. Pity she is not here to see them." + +The marquis shivered. "Who speaks of my Laura?" said he. + +"I,--I, her brother," bawled Barbesieur, looking straight into +Strozzi's eyes. "I spoke of her, and, by G-d, I have a right to call +her, for I am her brother Barbesieur!" + +Strozzi extended his hand, and an imbecile smile flitted over his +ghastly face. "Ah! then, you love her?" asked he, mournfully. + +"Of course I love her," was the lying response. "You remember--do +you not--that you were indebted to me for your marriage with Laura +Bonaletta?" + +"Bonaletta!" screamed Strozzi. "There is no Laura Bonaletta; her +name is Laura Strozzi, the Marchioness Strozzi, my wife! Remember +that, sir--remember it." + +"To be sure, to be sure," murmured Barbesieur; "he has forgotten +everybody but that tiresome Laura. Let us see if we cannot stir up +his memory to another tune." + +Strozzi meanwhile had passed on, and, with his eyes fixed on his +flowers, was slowly making his way to the castle. Barbesieur +followed, though the poor lunatic seemed to have no consciousness of +his presence. They walked on together in silence, until they had +reached the castle, and entered the dining-room, where dinner was +served. + +Strozzi went up to the table, laid his offering on the plate, and +bowed: + +"Will you allow me to take my seat?" said he, humbly, while he took +a chair opposite, which old Martino had drawn back for his +accommodation. + +"Do you see, my lord?" said Martino to Barbesieur; "he imagines the +marchioness present at all his meals." + +"He must be undeceived," said Barbesieur, roughly. + +"I beseech you, signor," said the old man, "leave him in error; for, +if you undeceive him, you will rob him of the only glimpse of +happiness that remains to him." + +"I shall make the attempt, nevertheless," replied Barbesieur, in a +tone that admitted of no further remonstrance, while he advanced to +the table, and seated himself in the empty chair. + +The marquis started, and his brow darkened. "Sir," said he, "that is +the head of the table--the place of the Marchioness Strozzi." + +"I know it," was the reply, "and, as soon as she makes her +appearance, I will give it up.--Martino, serve the soup; I am +hungry." So saying, he tossed the bouquet to the valet, and poured +out some wine. + +At this, Strozzi sprang up, and, staring at Barbesieur, with eyes +that glowed like the orbs of a wild animal--"Sir," exclaimed he, +"you are an insolent intruder!" + +"I know it," cried Barbesieur--"and what next?" + +The marquis gazed in bewilderment at the threatening face of his +self-invited guest, and then, slowly turning around, prepared to +leave the room. Barbesieur rose and followed him. + +At the door of his cabinet he stopped and cried out: + +"Let the marshal of the household see to it that no one intrudes +upon my privacy!" + +And, with a gesture of offended dignity, he entered the room. +Barbesieur, however, was immediately behind him, and they had no +sooner crossed the threshold than he locked the door, and put the +key in his pocket. + +"Now, I have him," thought he, "and I shall begin my experiments." + +"Sir," said Strozzi, alarmed, "why do you persecute me?" + +"I want you to say if you know me," answered Barbesieur, dominating +the madman with the calm, powerful glance of reason. + +Strozzi shook his head, murmuring, "No, sir, no. I do not know you." + +"But I know YOU, Strozzi, my good fellow. You are my beloved +brother-in-law, the husband of my sister Laura, who forsook you so +shamefully, because she did not love you." + +The shaft had pierced. A gleam of returning reason shot athwart +Strozzi's face, and a faint color rose to his cheek. + +"Not love me!" echoed he, tearfully; "whom, then, does she love?" + +Barbesieur laid the weight of his great hands upon Strozzi's +shoulders, and looked steadfastly in his eyes. Raising his voice to +the utmost, he shouted: "I will tell you whom she loves, and mark me +well, Strozzi. She loves Prince Eugene of Savoy!" + +"Eugene of Savoy!" shrieked the wretched creature. "Eugene of Savoy! +Ah, yes, I remember. I hate him, and he must die!" + +"Ay, that's it!" cried Barbesieur, cheerily, "that's it. He must +die; and when he is dead, Laura will love the Marquis de Strozzi." + +"You think so?" asked Strozzi, laying his tremulous hand upon +Barbesieur's, great firm arm. + +"I know it. The very moment Prince Eugene dies, Laura's heart is +yours." + +"He must die! He must die!" murmured Strozzi, clasping his +attenuated fingers, and looking imploringly into Barbesieur's face. + +"Ay, that must he, and you are the man that shall take his life. +Your honor demands it of you." + +"Yes, my honor," repeated Strozzi, "my honor. I thank you, sir, for +your goodness to me. You are the first person that ever advised me +to avenge myself on Eugene of Savoy. You are the only person that +ever advised me to take his life, and I believe you, and trust you. +Yes, sir, take my word for it, Eugene of Savoy shall die!" + +"How will you go about it?" asked Barbesieur. + +An expression of cunning was seen to steal over the face of the +madman, as he replied, "That is my secret, sir." + +"I will tell you how to make an end of him," cried Barbesieur, +patting him on the shoulder. "Poison him!" + +Strozzi gazed with astonishment at his brother-in-law, and forthwith +conceived a profound respect for his cleverness. "Did you know +that?" said he, with a silly smile. "Did you know that I meant to +poison him?" + +"To be sure I did, and I came here to work with you in your +laboratory, until we concoct the right dose for him." + +"Did you know that I had a laboratory?" asked Strozzi, in a whisper. +"And did you know that I was trying to find a brave, beautiful +poison that would kill him like a pistol-shot, or a good stab under +the ribs?" + +"I knew it all, and I came to help you." + +"I thank you, sir, I thank you! Give me your hand. I take you for my +friend, and trust you. Come with me to my laboratory." + +So saying, he passed his arm within that of his brother-in-law, and +led him to the opposite end of the room. Barbesieur laid his hand on +the bolt, but the door was locked. + +"You see," said Strozzi, waxing confidential, "I keep this door +always locked, for let me tell you, my dear friend, that Eugene of +Savoy has surrounded my castle with a regiment of dragoons, who are +his spies. That is the reason why I never talk to anybody--I am so +afraid that my people will betray me to Prince Eugene's dragoons. +Luckily, they have never found out the secret of my laboratory, for +I always carry the key in my pocket. Here it is." He took out his +key and unlocked the door, but before opening it he addressed +Barbesieur in a solemn whisper: + +"My dear friend, before you enter my sanctuary, swear to me, by the +memory of my dear departed wife, that you will not betray its +secrets to Prince Eugene's dragoons." + +"I swear, my dear Strozzi, by sun, moon, and stars--" + +Strozzi shook his head, and folded his hands reverently. "No, no; +swear by the memory of my sainted Laura." + +Barbesieur swore, and the door was opened. + +"Come in," said Strozzi. + +"And may all the gods of vengeance bless my entrance hither!" +muttered Barbesieur, between his teeth. + +The room was as Carlotta had described it. Its long shelves were +filled with jars and phials, and over the chimney was a wide mantel, +with porcelain pipkins, retorts, glass tubes, and flasks. + +"Ah," cried Barbesieur, taking a phial from its shelf, "this is a +precious beverage, that lulls one to sleep or to death, as one's +friends may prescribe." + +"Yes--it is laudanum," replied Strozzi. "A painless dagger, an +invisible sword of justice in the hands of the elect. It was the +basis of all the wonderful preparations of Katherina de Medicis. +There was a woman! Why did I not know her, and learn of her the +precious secrets of her laboratorium? From my youth, I have studied +chemistry, and I had a beautiful room in Venice, where I used to +work with the famous Chiari. But we never discovered Katherina's +secret." + +"What secret, dear Strozzi?" inquired Barbesieur. + +"The secret of killing people by fumes, which left no trace whatever +of their action on the body," answered Strozzi, with an awakening +gleam of wickedness in his eyes. + +"And you believe that there are such delicate, ethereal little +ministers of vengeance?" + +"Do I believe it?--Why, to their agency Katherina owed her elevation +to the throne of France. Nobody knows this better than I, for my +ancestor Filippo Strozzi was her friend and relative, and their +correspondence now is in the archives of the family, at Venice. I am +indebted to the letters of Katherina for much of my knowledge of +chemistry." + +"And so you found out from her correspondence how she managed to +become Queen of France?" asked Barbesieur, anxious to indulge +Strozzi's sudden fit of garrulity. + +"I did," was his complacent reply, while he nodded his head +repeatedly, and stroked his long, white beard. "When Katherina came +to France, she came as the bride of the Duke of Orleans, the second +son of Francis I. There seemed no chance for HER to be a queen, for +the dauphin was a lusty young fellow who was already betrothed to +the beautiful Infanta of Spain. But Katherina had no mind to let the +infanta reign in France, so she invited the dauphin to her castle of +Gien, and took him to her conservatory. There was a beautiful rare +flower there, which had a strong perfume. Katherina directed his +attention to it, but advised him not to hang over it too long, as it +never failed to give HER the headache, if she approached it too +closely. The dauphin laughed, and was not to be frightened away from +a flower, because of the headache. Moreover, the odor was +delightful, and he would not be warned. That day he had a headache; +the next, he was pale and feeble, and in less than a week, he died, +and nobody the wiser, except Katherina." + +"And he died, really from the odor of a flower?" + +"Yes. from a flower which Katherina had perfumed for his use, my +dear friend. And do you know how she made away with Joanna of +Navarre, who had guessed the secret of the dauphin's death, and had +already hinted her suspicions to her brother Francis?" + +"No, I never heard of it. Upon my word, Strozzi, you interest me +exceedingly." + +"Do I? Well, I will tell you more, then. Katherina made a present to +Joanna of a pair of embroidered gloves. The day after she wore them +she was dead. What do you think of that?--And did you ever hear how +the Prince of Porcia died--he who advised the dauphin to divorce his +wife because she had been married for eight years and had borne him +no children?" continued Strozzi, with increasing volubility. + +"I confess my ignorance, Strozzi; do enlighten me." + +"I will, sir. The prince received a present from Katherina (she was +a great hand to make presents). This time it was a flask of fine +Italian oil for his night-lamp, which oil, in burning, emitted a +delicate perfume. By the time the flask was emptied, the prince had +gone the way of all flesh." + +"And all this because of Queen Katherina's science?" + +"And all this because of Queen Katherina's science!" echoed Strozzi. + +"But you have not yet hit upon her secret yourself?" + +"Not yet; but I think I am on the track, and hope to discover it in +time to try it on Prince Eugene." + +Barbesieur rose from his seat, and, coming toward Strozzi, struck +him on the shoulder. "Now, Strozzi, look at me attentively, and try +to understand what I am about to say to you. I will help you to seek +this poison. Do you hear?" + +"Yes," said Strozzi, with a cunning leer. "Yes, I hear. You will +help me to seek the poison for Prince Eugene." + +"Good," replied Barbesieur. "Now, look at me full in the eyes. Look, +I tell you!" repeated he, as Strozzi's face began to relapse into +imbecility. "I have found the poison." + +Strozzi uttered a triumphant yell, but Barbesieur silenced him. "Pay +attention while I tell you how I became possessed of it. I was by, +when La Voisin was put to the torture in La Chambre ardente, and I +heard her confession. I was deputed to search for her papers; and +before I delivered them up you may be sure that I examined them, to +see what I could make out of them for my own profit. I found various +receipts for love-potions, as well as for the renowned poudre de +succession of the Countess Soissons; but of that anon. Do you mark +me, Strozzi?" + +"Oh, sir," cried Strozzi, trembling in every limb, "speak--speak +quickly, or I shall die of suspense!" + +Barbesieur then, emphasizing each word, replied: "I found a +parchment on which were inscribed these words: 'Receipt for +procuring death by inhalation. Queen Katherina de Medicis.'" + +"That is it, that is it," howled Strozzi, and in his ecstasy he +flung his arms around Barbesieur's great body. But suddenly his +countenance became expressive of distrust, and his eye had a deadly +glitter, like that of a snake. + +"But will you give it to me? Where is it? I warn you, do not trifle +with me, for you never shall leave this laboratory until I have it!" +Meanwhile he made a furtive movement toward his breast. + +But Barbesieur had seen the gesture, and with his powerful grasp he +clutched Strozzi's hand, and withdrew it armed with a poniard of +fine, glistening steel. Flinging it with such force against the wall +that it buried itself in the masonry, Barbesieur gazed for a moment +at the poor fool whose teeth were chattering with fear; then leading +him to a seat-- + +"Come," said he, "let us talk like men. We are neither enemies nor +rivals; we are brothers, having one and the same interest at stake." + +"Yes, sir," murmured Strozzi, obsequiously. + +"Well, then, look at me. Did you ever see me before?" + +Strozzi raised his obedient eyes and looked--for a while, in blank +amazement. But gradually his black orbs dilated, and a sudden flash +of intelligence crossed his face. He breathed hard. + +"I think, sir, I think you are--are--ah, yes! I know. You are Count +Barbesieur de Louvois." + +"Right, right," cried Barbesieur. "Laura Strozzi's brother." + +"Are you the brother of my darling Laura?" cried Strozzi. "If you +are, you are welcome, sir. Oh, if she were but alive to see you!" + +"Alive? What do you mean? Where do you suppose her to be?" + +"She is dead," replied Strozzi, his eyes overflowing with tears. +"Dead--my own, my precious angel!" + +"Of what did she die?" asked Barbesieur, highly amused at poor +Strozzi's grief. + +Strozzi shook his head. "No one on earth knows, sir. She must have +dissolved in a sunbeam, and gone back to heaven, for her corpse was +never found here below." + +"Strozzi, you are mistaken," exclaimed Barbesieur, with an +authoritative gesture. "Mark my words, and believe them, or I shall +be very angry. The Marchioness Laura is not dead. She lives here on +earth, not far away from you." + +"She lives!" repeated Strozzi, starting from his seat and falling at +Barbesieur's feet. "Tell me where she is. Let me go, let me go, and +bring her home. Come--come with me!" + +"Wait a minute. She is living with Eugene of Savoy, disgracing you +and me both. Before you bring her home, you must take the life of +her paramour, and just as soon as you have done that, she will be +freed from the spell that binds her, and will love nobody but you." + +"Ah, he shall die," muttered Strozzi. + +"Yes, he must die, and you must kill him. But _I_ shall furnish the +means. And now to work, to prepare the ambrosia that shall give him +immortality!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE AMBROSIA. + + +Thanks to the illness of the Duke of Savoy, the summer campaign of +1692 was of short duration. The allies had dispersed and retired to +winter-quarters; the imperial army had retreated to Piedmont; and +the officers in command of the several divisions had betaken +themselves to Turin to enjoy the festivities that followed the +recovery of Victor Amadeus. + +Eugene had been invited with the rest; but he gave his health as an +excuse for avoiding the changeable winds of Turin, and seeking the +balmy atmosphere of Nice, where, having found comfortable quarters +for his troops, he proposed to pass the coming winter. + +Victor Amadeus made great pretence of regret at Eugene's absence; +but, truth to tell, he was not sorry to escape the scrutiny of his +clear-sighted cousin, who, for his part, was happy beyond expression +in the devotion of his men, and the companionship of his Laura. + +Here in the peaceful seclusion of the obscure little village of +Nice, Eugene and Laura enjoyed unalloyed happiness. The fishermen +and sailors, that formed the principal part of its population, knew +nothing of the history of the grand Austrian officer that had come +to live among them. In their eyes, the beautiful signora was his +wife, as a matter of course; and they sunned themselves in the +radiance of her beauty, without ever giving a thought to the nature +of the ties that bound her to the field-marshal. + +They were without an obstacle to their happiness. Eugene, sitting at +a table covered with paper and charts, wrote dispatches, and planned +his next campaign; while, on an ottoman at his side, Laura read or +embroidered, often interrupting her occupation to gaze at his +beloved countenance. + +As for him, his mind was clearer, his hand was firmer, his spirit +seemed to dominate every subject of its contemplation, when she was +by. Oftentimes he paused in his labors to watch the delicate outline +of her sweet face, and, when their eyes met and they exchanged a +loving smile, he felt that there was a communion of hearts that +beggared language, and would have no interpreter but a glance. + +They were sitting together on the perron of their villa, which +looked out upon the shores of the Mediterranean. The door leading to +the drawing-room was open, exposing to view a harp from which Laura +had just risen. Before them lay the boundless expanse of the ocean, +blue with reflected azure from heaven; and, like some soft, weird +melody to their ears, was the murmuring of the waves, that kissed +the smooth, white beach before them. Elsewhere all was silent, for +Nature seemed to listen--unwilling, by a sound of stirring leaf, to +break the delicious stillness. + +On a sudden, a wild scream was heard in the air above, and a +vulture, cleaving the clouds, flew over their heads. Laura's smiling +face was upturned to reply to some loving expression of Eugene's; +but when the vulture's scream was heard, she rose to her feet, and +with a slight shudder followed its flight until it lessened to a dim +speck on the horizon. + +"What has disturbed you, dearest?" asked Eugene. + +"Nothing," whispered she. "And yet I am a miserable coward. Even +this vulture's scream has startled me. It seems like an ill omen." + +"Why, my darling, why should a vulture's scream be ominous?" + +"Do not laugh at me, Eugene; but my old nurse used always to cross +herself when a vulture was in sight, and if it screamed, she wept, +for she said it betokened the approach of misfortune." + +"Why should you share the superstition of your nurse, dearest?" + +"Because I myself once heard the scream," said Laura, growing very +pale. "I was standing with my nurse on a balcony of Bonaletta +Castle, and she was making wreaths of pomegranate and orange from +the blossoms I plucked. Meanwhile she was telling me a tale about +some enchanted princess, to which I was listening with my whole +heart. Suddenly I heard the cry of a vulture, the old woman dropped +her flowers, clasped her hands, and cried out: 'Oh, my God! there is +woe at hand! Come, child, come to the chapel, and pray the Lord to +avert it,'" + +"And it was averted by your dear prayers, was it not?" asked Eugene, +kissing her. + +"Alas, no! Not many hours afterward, I was called to my mother's +room. She lay on her bed, dying,--in her hand, a crumpled letter. +The letter was from Barbesieur, and its contents were her death- +blow! Eugene, she never opened her eyes again!--And oh, how she +loved me--that dear mother!" + +"Who that knows you can help loving you?" said Eugene, tenderly. +"Look at me, my treasure--look at me, and smile. What--tears?" + +"I am thinking of my mother, dear, and of her wretched life. It +humiliates me to remember that she, who was a saint, suffered so +many sorrows, while I, her child, who have done nothing to merit it, +am too, too happy." + +"Nothing to merit happiness? You, whose constancy and heroism I +could not dare to imitate? Ah, Laura, remember that before I knew +you, I was without hope, without trust, without love. You crossed my +path, and then my soul began to soar to God; for God is love, and he +that knows not love knows not what it is to adore his Creator. You +are not only the architect of my happiness, beloved, but that of my +religion." + +Laura flung her arms around his neck, and rested her cheek against +his. "And you--you are my sun--the luminary of my life! Without you, +all is dark and void. Oh, Eugene! be prudent, love, and beware of +your enemies; they encompass you with snares. Do not go unarmed to +the barracks, for not long ago the soldiers saw a man following you +after dusk. They searched him, and found on his person a poniard, +and in his possession a purse of gold." + +"We cannot deny that the dagger and bowl seem to be the order of the +day, in this land of bravi," returned Eugene, "and I am continually +warned that, dead or alive, the French are resolved to possess +themselves of my body. But between intention and execution there +lies a wide path, and in spite of prison and steel, I hope to tread +it safely. [Footnote: Eugene's own words.--See Armath, "Life of +Prince Eugene," vol. i, p. 51. ] So do not be unhappy on my account, +sweet one. Let me look in those dear eyes, and there read the poem +of our love--a love that death itself shall not overcome." + +"No, not death itself," said Laura, repeating his words, and +nestling close to his heart. He laid his hands upon her head, and +blessed and kissed her. + +"So would I love to die--so--resting on thy heart, and gazing into +thy face," murmured she, her eyes filling with tears of joyful +emotion. + +"Die!" exclaimed he, shuddering. "Love cannot die. Through all +eternity, its choral hymn--" + +He unclasped his arms, for steps were heard along the corridor, and +presently, within the frame of the open door, was seen an orderly +attached to the household. Laura retreated to the parlor, while +Eugene demanded the reason of an intrusion so untimely upon his +privacy. + +"Your highness, a courier has arrived, with dispatches from the Duke +of Savoy. They are so important as to require immediate attention, +and he will deliver them to no hands but your own." + +"Admit him," said Eugene, entering the drawing-room, and joining +Laura, who had taken a seat before her easel, and was preparing to +paint. "Shall I see the courier in my cabinet, or receive him here?" +said he. + +"Remain here, my dearest, and let me hear the sound of your voice." +So saying, she drew the hangings together, and, in the deep +embrasure of the bay-window, was entirely concealed from view. +Gliding back into her seat, she raised her loring eyes to the canvas +whereon she was painting a portrait of her Eugene. + +"I shall never, never catch the expression of those wonderful eyes," +said she to herself. "This is their color, but where is their +heavenly light? How shall I ever transmit--" + +She started, let fall her palette, and gazed, horror-stricken, at +the hangings. She had heard a voice, the tones of which, she knew +not why, made the blood freeze within her veins. These were the +words she heard: "Here, your highness, are my dispatches." Words +without significance, but Laura shivered from head to foot. With +trembling hand, she parted the hangings and looked out. + +There, in the centre of the room, stood Eugene, in the act of +opening a sealed paper. For one moment, her eye rested tenderly upon +the beloved image; then she glanced quickly at the person who stood +by the door. He wore the Sardinian uniform, and stood in a +respectful posture, his eyes cast down. + +But Laura? She stared at his swarthy face and bloodless lips, the +sunken cheeks, and beetle brow, with a strange repugnance that +almost shaped itself into some old, forgotten dislike. + +"I must have seen him somewhere," thought she, "and the dim +remembrance of the countenance pains me terribly. If he would but +speak again! I surely would recognize that voice--that voice which +sounds to my ear like some retrospective agony of which I may have +dreamed long years ago." + +Eugene still held the paper. He had opened it, and was turning it in +and out, with an expression of great surprise. "What am I to +understand by this mystification?" said he. + +"Your highness," returned the courier, "the dispatches are secret, +and written with sympathetic ink. If you will hold them over a light +until a vapor begins to rise from them, the writing will appear." + +Eugene rang and ordered a light. He stood smilingly, scrutinizing +the blank pages of his letter; the courier kept his eyes on the +floor, and Laura behind the hangings stood contemplating the scene, +her heart throbbing as though it would burst. She saw the orderly +place the wax-light upon the table, and Eugene advance and hold the +dispatch above it. She turned unconsciously toward the courier. His +eyes, no longer riveted on the floor, glared horribly at Eugene; and +in their glance were written manifest hatred and exultation. + +For one moment Laura felt as though she were stiffening to stone: +then, dashing aside the curtains, she bounded to the table, crying +out with all the strength of her love: + +"Eugene, 'tis Strozzi!" And, tearing the poisoned paper from his +hands, she flung it at the feet of the courier. + +He sprang forward, and seized her in his arms. Eugene darted to her +rescue, and strove with all his might to free her from Strozzi's +grasp. But despair and insanity had lent him strength, and vain was +all striving to unlock his hands as they clutched her slender +throat, and threatened her with speedy death. + +Eugene made one bound to the table, and snatched up his pistols. At +the same moment, a dagger gleamed in the air. Laura fell back with a +piercing cry. and Strozzi, kneeling over her prostrate body, covered +her face with kisses. + +The sharp report of the pistol was heard--the murderer leaped up +into the air, and then dropped dead upon the floor. And close beside +him lay Laura with a poniard in her breast, whose hilt of diamonds +rose and fell with her quick breathing, and glistened brightly in +the rays of the setting sun that gilded the terrible picture. + +Instinctively Eugene would have withdrawn the murderous weapon from +his darling's heart, but he felt his arm withheld, and turning +beheld Doctor Franzi. + +The doctor shook his head, sadly. "Do not touch it," whispered he, +"or her life-blood will gush out, and she will die at once." + +With a look of despair, the wretched man arose, and beckoned to the +doctor to follow him to the balcony. + +"The truth," gasped he, while his eyes glared as if they would have +started from their sockets. "Must she die?" + +"She will die instantaneously if the dagger is withdrawn. I am +familiar with the thrusts of these Venetian bravi--when they aim at +the heart, death follows the stroke immediately; but when they +strike the breast, it ensues with a gush of blood, at the withdrawal +of the weapon." + +"Is there any--hope?" + +The doctor knew not how to shape an answer to this heart-rending +appeal. He turned away his face, and Eugene understood the mute +reply. + +"How long?" asked he, almost inaudibly. + +"If it were any other woman, I should expect internal hemorrhage to +ensue within half an hour; but the strong will of the marchioness +will ward off death for the space of an hour." + +Eugene stifled a groan. "O God! is there no, no help?" + +"None. Science cannot prevail against the well-directed blow of a +Venetian dagger. But the marchioness will not suffer." + +"No," sobbed Eugene, "for she dies; but I--I--" + +"Go to her, my dear friend--go before she calls, for every exertion +she makes will hasten the end." + +Eugene wrung his hands. "Not yet--I cannot. I must have a moment to +conquer this overwhelming anguish. Go to her yourself, doctor--tell +her--I--" + +But the doctor was already in the parlor, and Eugene was alone. He +leaned over the balcony and stared out at the sea; the breeze had +freshened, and the sound of the waves as they dashed against the +shore seemed to mock at his agony. He looked above: the skies were +serene and indifferent to his misery. The sun was setting in a flood +of red and gold. Alas! alas! For Laura, it would rise no more! + +But Eugene remembered that she had but an hour to live, and, +shuddering, he overcame his weakness and approached the dying girl. +She held out her hands, and smiled. + +"Eugene," said she, "I long for air and light. May I be lifted out +upon the balcony?" + +Eugene looked at Doctor Franzi, who beckoned to the servants. They +rolled a divan to the spot where the marchioness lay, and she was +placed upon it, and gently removed to the balcony. She thanked them +all for their kindness, and each member of her household kissed her +hand, and went away weeping. No one now remained with her save +Eugene and the doctor. + +"Step aside for a moment, beloved," said she. "I would speak a few +words with our dear friend." + +He obeyed, and retired out of hearing, but not out of sight. He +could not do that. They had but half an hour! + +"Doctor," said Laura, "I must die, must I not?" + +"All things are possible with God, but--" + +Her eyes filled with tears. "Does Eugene know it?" + +"Alas, he does!" + +"Doctor, promise me that if in his grief he should forget to care +for his own welfare, you will watch over it as I would have done, +had Heaven permitted. As long as sorrow predominates over reason, +you will enter his room every morning, and speak these, my dying +words: 'Laura sends you her greeting, and bids you do all that you +can to preserve your health, and to overcome your sorrow.' Promise +me this." + +"I promise," replied the doctor. + +"And now, tell me. Is my enemy--is Strozzi dead?" + +"The bullet went through his brain." + +"May God forgive him, as I do!" murmured she. "And now, dear friend, +farewell! I thank you for all my happiness on earth, and bless you +with my latest breath for your kindness to Eugene and to me." +[Footnote: This attempt to poison Prince Eugene is historical.] + +She gave him her hand, which he kissed, and, no longer able to +restrain his tears, he went back to the parlor. There on the floor +lay Strozzi stark and dead, his glazed eyes staring, as if in +defiance, to heaven. Doctor Franzi had the corpse removed, and threw +himself wearily upon a sofa. Presently he saw Laura's Italian +greyhound, with a piece of paper between its teeth, with which it +seemed to be playing. He was watching its motions, as people whose +minds are preoccupied with a great sorrow, are apt to watch some +particular object within view, when suddenly it howled, made a leap +into the air, and fell panting on the floor. The doctor stooped to +examine it. It was dying. + +"Why, the poor little brute has been poisoned!" said he to Conrad. + +Conrad shook his head. "Impossible!" replied he. "It has been with +me this whole day, and came with me hither not half an hour since." + +"Stay," replied the doctor, picking up the bits of paper that lay +scattered over the carpet. He took them to the light, and held them +above it. In a few moments a white vapor mingled with green was seen +to rise in the air, and an odor of garlic pervaded the apartment. + +"Come, Conrad," exclaimed the doctor; "leave the room quickly! Happy +it is for us that all these doors and windows are open, or my +curiosity would have cost me my life." + +"And the marchioness?" asked Conrad, sadly. + +The little French clock on the mantel struck the hour. "You hear," +said the doctor. "She has not a half an hour to live." + +Not half an hour to live! And Eugene knew it! For above the breaking +waves, above the tumultuous beating of his bleeding heart, even +above the tones of her dear voice, he heard the striking of that +clock. + +But one half hour!--He was on his knees, her little hand locked in +his, and her eyes fixed upon his face, with a look of love such as +no human tongue had power to speak. But he could not bear to see her +so motionless; he feared that she was about to expire. + +"Speak to me, my angel; say thou lovest me," sobbed he. + +"I love thee!" said she, with a joyful smile. "Ah, Eugene, I have +spoken these words so often that earth and air, sky and sea, will +echo them forever." + +"But thou--thou goest from me!" + +"God has willed it thus. But, beloved, how beautiful to me is the +death that giveth life to thee! Ah, my sovereign! lord of my heart! +weep not for her who dies as woman loves to die!" + +"Weep not for thee! Alas! shall I have courage to bear the burden of +the life thou hast purchased with thine own?" + +"Yes, God will give thee strength to fulfil thy heroic destiny, my +Eugene. We have been very happy on earth, and in heaven He will +perfect our imperfect union. Farewell, beloved, farewell!" + +"Oh, look at me once more!" cried Eugene. "Laura, Laura, speak to +me! O God! it cannot be that thou must die!" + +She made no answer, but her fast-closing eyes were fixed upon his. +He bent closer and closer, and opened his arms, with a vain longing +to fold her to his heart. But he durst not! His embrace might +extinguish the feeble spark of life that glimmered yet for his +momentary consolation. + +But his tears fell upon her face, and awakened her failing senses. +She spoke again, and the melody of her voice was like the faint +notes of an AEolian harp. + +"Do not weep," murmured she. "I was happy. I will be near to thee in +spirit. I--" + +A last sigh fluttered from her lips, and the AEolian harp was +silenced forever! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE BETROTHAL. + + +The Duchess of Orleans sat weeping in her cabinet, and yet she had +been several times reminded by her tire-women that monsieur awaited +her in the drawing-room. She held in her hand a letter--the apparent +cause of her unwillingness to move. + +"It has terminated as I feared," thought she; "her short-lived +happiness has been purchased with her life. To think that her +relentless foe should have had no mercy upon her youth and beauty! +And so it is--to the good are apportioned tribulation and trials--to +the wicked, prosperity and long life! God is merciful, and allows to +those who are destined to burn in hell their short season of triumph +on earth. But I, who am no saint, will avenge my dear child's +murder, by exposing its instigators to public scorn. My poor, +darling Laura! God only knows how I am to bring it about, but He +will surely prompt the right words at the right moment. And now to +discharge the tiresome duties of the sacrifice I made to the +shameless exaction of Louis XIV.! Now for the act that befouls the +escutcheon of France with the blood of De Montespan's bastard!" + +She folded her letter, and, putting it in her bosom, called with her +stentorian lungs, for Katharina. + +The tire-woman, who had been anxiously awaiting the summons, +appeared immediately, and approached her mistress, in great haste to +commence. + +"Katharina," began the duchess, "do not be provoked if I reject the +magnificent attire you have prepared for me to-night. I cannot wear +it." + +Katharina drew back in terror. "So your royal highness does not +intend to appear at court to-night?" + +"I intend to appear there, because I am compelled to do so," +returned the duchess; "but I do not know that it is incumbent upon +me to be as gay as a peacock, on the occasion of my poor Philip's +betrothal to that girl of De Montespan's. To me it is more like a +funeral than a festival, so you may get out my suit of court +mourning. The skirt of black velvet, the train and head-dress of +purple." + +"Is the Empress of Austria dead, that your royal highness should +wear purple?" asked Katharina. [Footnote: At the court of Louis +XIV., purple velvet was worn in the deepest mourning only.] + +"A personage of more consequence to me than the Empress of Austria +is dead--an angel has taken her flight to heaven, and no royal +princess can replace her here below. Hush, Kathi--you need not open +your mouth to remonstrate, for my purple mourning I will wear, and +nobody in France shall hinder me." + +Katharina knew this so well, that she inclined her head, and went +off in search of the costume, which, as Elizabeth-Charlotte never +lingered before her looking-glass, was donned in less than a quarter +of an hour. She returned to her cabinet, and gave a quick glance at +her image, as she passed before a large Venetian mirror, that +reached from floor to ceiling. She smiled, and began an apostrophe +to herself, after the following manner: + +"You are unquestionably a homely woman; and, in the finery that +decks royalty, you look somewhat like the scarecrows I have seen in +gardens at home. But, soberly clad as you are at this moment, you +are not an unsightly or undignified woman, nor would my poor +murdered darling despise me, were she to see me now. Ah, Laura! +would that the battle of life were over for me, as it is for thee! +For the world has apportioned to me much vexation, but little +happiness." + +She turned away from the mirror, with a sigh. "Well, I may not mourn +any longer. I must put on my court-face, and sing with old Luther:" + + "It must be so, + That pain and woe + Will ever follow sin; + Then go your ways--" + + +The duchess was singing out this doggerel in a rough, loud +contralto, when her chamberlain appeared at the door, and announced +that his royal highness was waiting for her to descend. + +"Tell monsieur not to let me detain him," replied she. "I will be +escorted to the Louvre by the Duke de Chartres. Hey, Kathi! come +with my wrappings!" + +Kathi had just enveloped her highness's stout, robust form in a +cloak of purple velvet, when the little duke came skipping into the +room. + +"Here I am, chere maman," cried he; "here is Cupid, ready to attend +on Venus." + +The duchess replied with a glance of displeasure, and took his arm. +As they were crossing the corridor, she said: "Cupid was a fractious +and rebellious boy, and I remember that Venus had many a time to box +his ears for his misbehavior. You are quite right to liken yourself +to Cupid, for you are just as contrary as he--" + +"And just as handsome?" asked the duke, coaxingly. + +The duchess tried to suppress a smile. "You are a little puppy," +said she; "and if I resemble Venus in no other way, I shall imitate +her maternal corrections, and let you feel the weight of my hand, if +you provoke me, sir." And so saying, she tumbled herself into the +coach. + +"I have already felt its weight," sighed the young duke, "and a +right heavy hand it is, when it is lifted to chastise." + +"Then take care not to deserve its chastisements. But now, Philip, +listen to me, and be serious. It is understood between us, that you +refuse to sign the contract--that you avow loudly your aversion to +marriage in general, and to Mademoiselle de Blois in particular; and +that you throw yourself at the feet of the king, and ask for two +years' delay." + +"Oh, yes, maman, yes, of course," replied Philip, hurriedly. "I +understand it all perfectly. Ah, here we are at the Louvre! Allow me +to assist you to alight." + +And the duke, vastly pleased that the maternal lecture was at an +end, leaped from the coach, and escorted his mother to the palace. + +The royal family, with the nobles and dignitaries that were to +witness the signing of the contract, were in the king's cabinet. The +court awaited them in one of the magnificent rooms of state. + +On a marble slab, supported by three gilded dolphins, lay a long +roll of parchment, and close by was an inkstand of gold, set with +sapphires and diamonds. The king was in an adjoining apartment, +anxiously waiting the arrival of the Duchess of Orleans and the +bridegroom-elect. + +"Methinks," said Louis to monsieur, "that madame makes me wait." + +As these words were uttered with great severity, the duke was +abashed, and scarcely knew what he way saying. "Your majesty," +stammered he, "you know how--may I entreat of you--" + +"Her royal highness the Duchess of Orleans, and the Duke de +Chartres," cried the gentleman usher. + +Louis rose from his arm-chair, and advanced to greet his eccentric +sister-in-law. Suddenly he drew back, and looked like a Jupiter +Tonans. + +"Madame," said he, eying the duchess from head to foot--from her +purple feathers to the very edge of her long purple-velvet train-- +"madame, what means this extraordinary attire? Have you forgotten, +in one of your fits of absence, that you were invited, not to a +funeral, but to a betrothal?" + +"Sire," replied the undismayed duchess, "I am not subject to fits of +absence; but I beg to apologize for my dress. It is appropriate to +my feelings, for I have just experienced a most painful loss." + +"What member of your family is dead?" asked his majesty. + +"Not a member of my family, but a beloved friend, has been foully +murdered." + +"Murdered!" echoed Louis. "Who has been murdered!" + +"Sire, I will tell you, but Monsieur Louvois must be by to hear the +recital." + +Monsieur Louvois was summoned, and while awaiting his arrival, Louis +expressed a wish that the duchess would make her story as short as +possible; he was anxious to have this ceremony over. + +"Sire, I shall do my best," was the reply.--"Ah," continued +Elizabeth-Charlotte, "here is Monsieur Louvois--Perhaps he can tell +your majesty why I am in mourning." + +"I--I" said Louvois, with a defiant stare at his enemy. "I have not +the honor of being in the secrets of madame." + +"But she has the misfortune to be in yours," cried the duchess. + +"Sire, a few years ago, there appeared at your majesty's court a +young girl of extraordinary beauty and worth. She was one of my +maids of honor, and was as dear to me as my own child. Lovely, +innocent, and virtuous, as she was, she was an object of aversion to +her own kindred. She became ardently attached to a youth of rank +equal--I mean to say, superior to hers, against whom her relatives +entertained a prejudice that manifested itself by every species of +persecution. There could be no reasonable objection to the alliance, +but the lovers knowing that, for very hatred of them both, the +maiden's father would oppose their union, agreed to be married in +secret. They were betrayed, and you will scarcely believe me, your +majesty, when I tell you that the poor girl's own father and brother +deceived her by forged letters, and so arranged matters that they +came by night, and, substituting a man whom she detested, for her +lover, they obtained her signature to a fraudulent marriage." + +"Her father did his duty," interrupted Louvois. "He had a right to +select her husband, and exercised his right. I hope that his majesty +is of the same opinion." + +"Madame," said the king, taking no notice of Louvois' remark, "pray +continue your narrative." + +"Your majesty, the miserable girl refused ever to acknowledge the +marriage. The man they had forced upon her imprisoned her for years, +giving out to the world that she was insane, but holding out to her +a promise of release, whenever she would recognize him as her +husband. She never would--she never did." + +"But her lover--what was he about all this time?" asked Louis. + +"He believed himself forgotten, nor could he discover whither his +betrothed had been conveyed by her tyrant. Finally by means that +seem almost miraculous, she effected her escape, and joined him; +and, believing herself to be his spouse before God, they lived +together as husband and wife." + +"I should have regarded them as such," was the remark of the king. +"I hope that her unprincipled relatives did not seek to repeat their +sacrilege by any attempt to part her from him to whom she had +veritably plighted her faith." + +Louvois could not contain himself. "Your majesty," cried he, "the +sacrilege was hers and not her father's. She was legally married, +and the tie that bound her to her lover was a crime!" + +Louis contemplated his own illegitimate children, there present, and +Louvois' words roused his ire. "Sir," said he, "you mistake human +prejudices for principles. How can you presume to contend for the +sanctity of an infamous falsehood like that of a marriage ceremony +fraudulently performed?" + +"Thanks, your majesty, thanks for those generous words," exclaimed +the duchess, joyfully. "They rehabilitate the memory of my darling, +who was as pure and chaste as she was constant and loving. In her +case, endurance of the world's contumely was heroism. She felt it to +be unjust, but bore it for the sake of her lover, and was happy. Her +relatives, however, urged, by their hatred of the poor child, made +use of her demented husband to avenge what they pleased to term +their outraged honor. They armed him with dagger and poison, and her +own brother brought him to the town where she was living, and led +him to her villa." + +"What an unnatural and wicked brother," exclaimed the young Duke of +Maine, who had edged himself in to listen. + +The duchess gave him a grateful smile, and continued her story: + +"The murderer made an attempt to poison his rival. He was recognized +under his disguise by his wife, who darted forward to save her +lover's life. As she did so, the assassin drew from his bosom a +poniard and stabbed her to the heart," + +"Horrible!" was the exclamation of all the bystanders. + +"Sire." resumed the duchess, "the woman so foully murdered by the +tool of her father and her brother,--she, whom I loved so dearly, +and whom your majesty's self honored by your attention, was Laura +Bonaletta--the daughter of Monsieur Louvois, and the sister of his +depraved son--Barbesieur." + +"The Marchioness Strozzi!" cried the king, turning his indignant +eyes upon Louvois, who was vainly trying to effect a retreat. + +"Sir," said Louis, "I hope you will be able to disprove this +dreadful charge, and convince her royal highness that she has been +misinformed." + +"Sire, I am not aware that any guilt attaches to my actions as a +father. I married my daughter to the man whom I chose should be her +husband, and I hastened the marriage that I might save her from the +artful snare which Prince Eugene was laying for her large fortune." + +"Sire," cried the duchess, "the whole world knows Prince Eugene to +be above mercenary considerations, and it also knows that had +Monsieur Louvois not driven him away from France, he would not now +be the most distinguished officer in the army of a foreign prince." + +"Very true," returned the king.--"Louvois never showed himself to +have less penetration than when he undervalued the genius of Prince +Eugene. But this blunder we can pardon, so he but clear himself of +participation in the assassination of his daughter." + +"That I can easily do, your majesty," replied Louvois. "I knew +nothing whatever of the attempt on Prince Eugene's life." + +"Then how comes it that this intercepted letter from your own hand +speaks so knowingly of it to your son?--Sire," continued the +duchess, "this letter was sent to me by Victor Amadeus. The courier +to whom it had been confided was arrested by a vidette of the +duke's, and the letter forwarded to his highness. From my step- +daughter, the Duchess of Savoy, I hold my information; and it was +imparted to me at her husband's desire, that I might transmit it to +your majesty, and Louis XIV. might hear how Louvois vanquishes the +heroes that are opposed to him in war. Sire, not only your friends, +but your enemies, know that you hold such warfare in abhorrence." + +"I do, indeed," cried Louis, "and I thank not only Victor Amadeus, +madame, but yourself, who have not shrunk from the ungrateful duty +of accusing a man whom many another would have feared, because he +was high in my estimation. I thank you that you have given me +occasion to vindicate my honor from the foul blot which this man +would have cast upon it. I say nothing of his cruelty to his unhappy +daughter, for that I leave to his Maker. But, as regards the attempt +on the life of Prince Eugene, it shall be investigated;--and woe to +him, should he be inculpated by the examination of these papers!-- +Go, sir, and until your fame is cleared, consider yourself a +prisoner in your own house." + +Pale and trembling, Louvois retreated from the royal presence. +Around the door of the cabinet were groups of high-born dames and +titled lords, who all drew back to let him pass. No one wished to +breathe the atmosphere that was tainted by the presence of a +suspected murderer; and the rumor of his disgrace spread so rapidly +through the palace, that it reached the room where the court was +assembled, and every man there turned his back upon the favorite +who, an hour before, had been greeted with courtesy and respect by +the proudest nobles in the land. + +The king's eyes followed the bowed figure of his fallen minister +until it passed out of sight; then, as if nothing had happened, he +smilingly addressed the Duchess of Orleans: + +"Madame, will you take the bride by the hand? I, myself, will escort +the bridegroom." + +Elizabeth-Charlotte, who, in her sorrow for the tragical death of +Laura, had forgotten the occasion of her coming, gave a sudden +start, and her heart died within her. She turned her sharp eyes with +a searching look upon the Duke de Chartres, hoping for some +significant glance that would reassure her as to his intentions. But +the young duke's eyes were turned another way: he was following the +master of ceremonies, and making a profound inclination before the +king. + +Madame dared no longer hesitate: she gave her hand to Mademoiselle +de Blois, and led her forward to the table where lay the dreaded +document. + +At a signal from the king, the keeper of the seal advanced, and, +taking up the parchment, read the marriage contract of his royal +highness the Duke de Chartres with Mademoiselle de Blois. The duke's +marriage with the king's daughter entitled him to the grandes +entries du cabinet, and the entrees de derriere,--privileges highly +prized by the members of the royal family. The contract also +recognized Mademoiselle de Blois as a daughter of France, and gave +her a dowry of two millions of livres, several large estates, and a +complete parure of costly diamonds. + +With the exception of madame, everybody was enraptured with the +royal munificence. Again she tried to meet her son's eyes, but they +were steadfastly fixed upon the hand of the king who had signed the +contract, and was in the act of placing it before his daughter. + +Mademoiselle de Blois scribbled her name under that of her father, +and passed the pen over to the bridegroom. The decisive moment was +at hand. With fast-throbbing heart, the duchess bent forward to hear +her son's rejection of this insulting mesalliance, when lo! that +son, with a placid smile, accepted the pen, and signed! + +A cry had well-nigh burst from his mother's lips, as, with every +show of respect, he presented her the pen. Speechless with anger, +she advanced her hand, but it was not to take the instrument of her +humiliation: it was to administer to her rebellious son a box on the +ear which resounded like a pistol-shot through the apartment, and +created considerable astonishment among the aristocratic guests +therein assembled. [Footnote: Historical.--See "Letters of the +Duchess of Orleans to the Princess of Wales."] + +The young duke uttered a howl, and, rubbing his cheek, jumped behind +the hooped dress of his bride-elect. + +"Madame!" exclaimed the king, "what means this violence?" + +"Your majesty, I was killing a fly that had lit upon Philip's +cheek." + +"It must be a robust fly, if it is not crushed to atoms," replied +the king, much amused. + +The court, unable to withstand their merriment, burst into out-- +simultaneous shout of laughter, under cover--of which Elizabeth- +Charlotte, with tearful eyes, signed the fatal document which +mingled the noble blood of Orleans with the muddy stream of +illegitimacy. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +VENGEANCE. + + +So great had been the haste of the courtiers to spread the news of +Louvois' disgrace, that the very usher who opened the door that led +into the vestibule, performed his office with a superciliousness +which proved him to have heard it as well as his betters. + +Louvois felt as if his grave were yawning before him. He had +forgotten that his carriage could not possibly have returned so +soon; and now he stood alone on the perron of the palace, staring up +and down the street in the vain hope of concealing himself in a +fiacre from the gaze of the curious. No sentinel saluted him, no +soldier presented arms, as, ashamed of his rich dress and sparkling +orders, which rendered him conspicuous, he walked on and on, an +object of curiosity to every passer-by. At length, on the Pont Neuf, +he met a dilapidated old hackney-coach, amid whose threadbare +cushions he was glad to retreat from observation. + +On his arrival home, nobody came out to assist him to alight; for +how could the lackeys who were idling around the porte-cochere +surmise that the occupant of that shabby vehicle was their haughty +master? + +He entered the hotel, and, without vouchsafing a word to the +astounded valets, ascended the staircase that led to his own private +apartments. But they came after him to ask whether he was +indisposed, and whether they could be of service. + +Their offers were rejected with scorn; but Louvois thought it +politic to inform his own valet that, having been attacked with +sudden indisposition, he had been forced to leave the court-ball, +and return in a fiacre. While he was being divested of his rich +dress and long curled wig, the valet went on to announce that Count +Barbesieur had arrived from Italy, and was desirous of seeing his +father as soon as possible. A lady also had called to see his +excellency; and, having been told that he was at the great court- +festival, she had replied that he would be apt to return home early, +and she would await his arrival, for she had important business to +transact with him. + +"Where is the lady?" asked Louvois. + +"She is in her carriage at the side door of the hotel. Shall I ask +her in the drawing-room, your excellency?" + +"Later," said Louvois. "I must first speak with my son." + +"I am here," cried Barbesieur, who had silently entered the room. + +"Leave us," said Louvois to the valet, "and when Count Barbesieur +has retired, admit the lady. I--" + +He paused, and caught at the arm-chair for support. He had become +suddenly dizzy, his face grew scarlet, his eyes blood-shot, and his +breathing oppressed. + +The valet hastened to his assistance, and offered him a glass of +water. He emptied it at a draught, but his hands shook so, that he +could scarcely hold the goblet, Barbesieur had thrown himself full +length on a sofa, whence he contemplated his father with the most +consummate indifference. + +"You ought to be bled," said he, carelessly. + +"I will do so. It may relieve me," replied he, panting. "Go," added +he to the valet, "go for Fagot." + +The valet hurried off, and the father and son were left alone +together. The former lay gasping with his head flung back on a +cushion; the latter watched him closely, but without the merest +appearance of sympathy or interest. + +After a pause, he spoke: "Father, have you forgotten my presence?" + +Louvois opened his eyes wearily. "No; I have not forgotten it." + +"You do not ask me about the result of my expedition," said +Barbesieur. + +"Nor do you seem to think it incumbent upon you to ask wherefore I +suffer, or why I am here instead of being where I ought to be, at +the fiancailles of Mademoiselle de Blois," replied Louvois, whom his +son's indifference had stung to returning energy. + +"What care I for the fiancailles of Mademoiselle de Blois?" answered +Barbesieur. "And as regards your indisposition, it is not the first +time that I have seen you similarly affected. These congestions +invariably leave you stronger than they find you; so let us pass on +to affairs more momentous. I have to inform you that my expedition +to Italy has resulted in a disastrous failure. Have you seen my +courier?" + +"No, I have not seen him, but I know that you were guilty of sending +me written dispatches on a subject which pen should never have +recorded." + +"Oh!" sneered the dutiful son, "you are better, I see, for you grow +abusive. Then I suppose my courier has been arrested?" + +"Ay, and your letters are in the hands of Louis XIV." + +"Can it be possible?" cried Barbesieur, anxiously. "How came he in +possession of them?" + +"They were given him by the Duchess of Orleans." + +"But she--" + +"She received them from her step-daughter, the Duchess of Savoy. Not +only them, but your imbecile-written promise to Strozzi that his +wife would return to him as soon as Prince Eugene was dead." + +"It was a blunder, I admit," returned Barbesieur. "But the idiot had +so set his heart upon it that I was forced to yield to his whims; +there was no other way of controlling him. I had no sooner given him +this paper, than he became as plastic as clay." + +"Nevertheless, Laura is dead, and Eugene of Savoy lives." + +"Oh, yes--the thing miscarried, but how, I cannot conceive. I was +close at hand, waiting with horses for Strozzi, who was to seize +Laura, and make all speed for Italy. I waited so long, that at last +I ventured to creep up to the house, and there I learned how Strozzi +had stabbed Laura, and Eugene had shot Strozzi. As soon as I found +out that all had gone awry, I galloped off to Bonaletta, to get my +share of Strozzi's and Laura's property. But the covetous relations +would not let me lay a finger on Laura's estates, without your +written authorization. That brought me hurriedly to Paris. I want it +at once, that I may return to Bonaletta to-day." + +"You must remain for a while longer," said Louvois. + +"And why, pray?" + +"Because you must at least wait until my funeral is over," replied +the unhappy father. + +Barbesieur began to laugh. "Oh, papa! pray don't get sentimental. +People are not apt to die of these little vexations. I suppose the +king was rude, as he has been many a day before this--was he?" + +"He was more than rude; in presence of all his nobles he accused me +of participation in Laura's murder, and banished me from court until +I returned with proofs of my innocence." + +"H'm--" muttered Barbesieur. "The affair looks ugly." + +"Insulted before the whole court," murmured Louvois. + +"Pshaw! Don't take it so much to heart. It is not your first +affront. You know full well that if old women get the better of you +to-day, you will outwit them to-morrow. Witness your feud of years +with De Maintenon." + +"I shall not outwit them this time, Barbesieur. The duchess has +played her cards too dexterously for me to escape. Nor would the +king befriend me; he is under too many obligations to me not to +desire my humiliation and my ruin. Moreover, he is anxious to +propitiate the Duke of Savoy, and will give him full satisfaction +for the attempt on the life of his kinsman. I am lost--irretrievably +lost!" + +"Then so much the more imperative is it for us to lay the foundation +of some new structure of fortune elsewhere.--Luckily, Laura's large +estates in Italy are all-sufficient to make you a very rich man yet. +So give me authority to act for you; I will go at once and take +possession, while you arrange your affairs at home, and then follow +me to Italy." + +"He thinks of nothing but wealth," murmured Louvois; "he has no +shame for loss of reputation or good name." + +"Nonsense!" said Barbesieur, with a coarse laugh; "no man that has +money loses reputation. Poverty is the only crime that the world +cannot pardon, and you, thanks to the Marchioness Bonaletta, have +just inherited a fortune." + +Louvois shuddered. "A fortune through the murder of my child!" + +"For which we are not accountable," said Barbesieur, carelessly. "We +owe that obligation to Strozzi. and I must say it Was the only +sensible thing I ever knew him to do." + +"Silence!" cried Louvois, incensed. "If you have no respect for the +living, have some reverence for the dead!" + +Barbesieur rose with a yawn. "I see that my honored father is not in +a mood for reasonable conversation. Here comes the surgeon with his +lancet. Perhaps, when you have lost a few quarts of your bad blood, +you may see things in a better light." So saying, he sauntered out +of the room. With scorn and hatred in his eye, Louvois watched him +until he disappeared from sight; then turning to the surgeon, who +had entered by another door-- + +"Be quick, and take some blood from my veins, or I shall suffocate!" + +A half an hour later, the operation was over, and Louvois felt much +relieved. His face was pale, his eyes no longer bloodshot, and the +surgeon having prescribed rest, the disgraced favorite was left +alone. + +He sat propped up in his arm-chair, staring at vacancy--his solitude +embittered by the recollection of what he was, and what he had been. +The stately edifice of greatness, which he had spent a lifetime in +erecting, had fallen like a chateau de cartes, leaving nothing +behind but the stinging recollection of a glorious past. He could +not outlive it--he could not retire to obscurity--he-- + +Suddenly he shivered, and gazed with eyes distended at the figure of +a woman that now stood against the portiere opposite. Great God! had +delirium seized upon his senses? Were the memories of his youth +about to take shape and form, and mingle their shadowy images with +the tangible realities of life! He knew her--tall, beautiful, pale +as she was--and the recognition filled him with terror indefinable. + +He knew her well! In her youth he had loved her, but she had scorned +his love, because she was cherishing the hope of becoming Queen of +France! This triumph had been denied her, and she had hidden her +disappointment by a marriage with another. And fearfully had Louvois +avenged her rejection of his love! He had cited her as a criminal, +before the highest tribunal in France, and had driven her into +exile. Destiny had also given him power to crush her son--to blast +his life as a lover, and his good name as a man. But ah! that +daughter whom Eugene had loved! He had blasted her life also, and +had given her over to a monster that had murdered her! So young, so +lovely, so attractive! She had died to gratify the malice of her own +father! + +Like a lightning-flash these thoughts glanced athwart his brain, +while, breathless and terror-stricken, he gazed upon the spectre +that stood against the portiere! + +Was it a spectre, or some delusion of his disordered mind? She stood +motionless as a marble statue of Nemesis; but those eyes--those +glowing eyes--there was life and hate in their fiery depths! + +Louvois had not the power to look away; he was as spellbound as a +bird under the glance of the basilisk. + +"Olympia!" cried he, at last, with a supreme effort to dissolve the +spell. + +She threw back her proud head, and came directly in front of his +chair. "You recognise me," said she, in tones of icy hauteur. "I was +waiting before I spoke, to see whether you had forgotten me." + +"What brings you hither?" stammered he, confusedly. + +"Destiny," replied she, sternly. "Louvois, God is just, for He has +chosen me to be the instrument of your destruction. I was travelling +through Turin to nurse my son, who was not expected to live. I +learned that his illness was of the heart--not of the body. His +Laura had been murdered before his eyes, and, for love of her, he +was in danger of dying. Ah, Louvois! it was the second time you had +almost robbed me of my child! But God is just! To my hands were +confided the proofs of your participation in the crime of your +daughter's assassination, and it was I that delivered them to the +Duchess of Orleans. She had her Laura's death to avenge, I--great +God! what had I not? The humiliation of my flight from France--my +persecution by strangers in a foreign land--my son's lifelong +sorrow!--But ah! you, that drove him from his native country, have +fallen, to rise no more, while Eugene's name is but another word +throughout the world for genius and valor." + +Louvois' teeth chattered with fear. He raised his hand, as if to +implore forbearance. She gave him, in return, a look of scorn. + +"All Paris rings with your disgrace. The populace are before your +windows, ready, at a signal, to assault your palace, as, at your +son's instigation, they once assailed mine. Your servants are +stealing away, and you are forsaken! Poor, fallen, powerless +Louvois!" + +"Not so," screamed Louvois, "not so! If I am powerless it is because +I am dying!" And, with a passionate gesture, he tore the bandages +from his arm. + +The blood gushed out like water from a fountain, and Olympia looked +on for a while in cruel enjoyment of her enemy's mortal agony. But +her hatred was unclouded by passion. + +"It were a kindness to suffer you to die now," said she; and her +words fell like sharp icicles upon his poor, lacerated heart. "But +you shall live to endure the contumely you forced upon me and mine! +Farewell! I go to call for help." + +She crossed the room, and, as she entered the antechamber, Louvois +swooned, and fell upon the floor. + +"Go to your lord," said Olympia to the valets who were waiting. "The +bandage has become loosened, and he will bleed to death if you are +not prompt." + +Crossing the antechamber, she opened the door that led to a corridor +where her own valet was awaiting her return. + +"Can you tell me where I may find Count Barbesieur?" asked she. + +"Yes, my lady. He is in his own room, to which I was directed by his +valet." + +"Show me the way," said the countess, following the man to the +farther end of the long corridor. + +"Here, my lady," said he, pausing, "is his anteroom." + +"Go in and announce me." + +The valet opened the door and crossed the antechamber. It was empty; +for Barbesieur's valet was, with the other servants, in the +vestibule, discussing the mysteries of the evening. Seeing that no +one was there to announce the countess, the lackey knocked until he +heard a voice from within. He then threw the door wide open, and +cried out-- + +"The Countess de Soissons!" + +Barbesieur, who was seated before a table, deep in the examination +of the title-deeds of the Bonaletta estates, started up in amazement +at the unceremonious interruption. As he turned around to chastise +the insolence of the servant, he encountered the stately figure of +the Countess de Soissons, + +"It is long since we met," said she. "Do you remember the occasion +of our meeting?" + +"No, countess," replied he, awed by her queenly bearing into +momentary courtesy. + +"I will refresh your memory. When last I saw you, you were at the +head of the rabble that mobbed the Palace de Soissons, and had just +received a wound in your arm from the pistol of my son, Prince +Eugene. I had not the satisfaction of being present at the +horsewhipping he administered to you at Long Champs, for I was +obliged to fly from your persecutions, and I have never set foot in +France until now." + +Barbesieur laughed. "I have had my revenge. I owe him nothing. The +very grief that is sapping his life at this moment is the work of my +hand." + +"I know it, and I, in my turn, have avenged his woes." + +"You must have done it secretly, then, for I have never felt any +inconvenience from your vengeance." + +"You will experience it before long. Did one of your servants bring +you a fine peach on a salver, about half an hour ago?" + +Barbesieur turned very pale, and stammered, "Yes." + +"Did you eat it?" + +"Yes," murmured he, "I did." + +"Then, Barbesieur, that peach avenged Eugene and Laura both. I sent +it to you." + +"You!" cried Barbesieur, with a shudder. + +"Yes," replied Olympia, her black eyes darting fire as she spoke. "I +sent you the peach, and if you have eaten it (it will be very slow +in its effects), you have just four years longer to live!" + +As he heard these terrible words, Barbesieur dropped, like a felled +ox, to the floor. + +"Count Barbesieur," cried a voice in the antechamber, "your father +is dying of apoplexy." + +Barbesieur started up with an oath, and darted from the room. The +Countess de Soissons followed him to the corridor. No one was there, +for the servants had all congregated, as near as possible, to the +chamber of the dying statesman. Olympia passed on, unchallenged, +reached her carriage, and set off at full gallop for Nice. + +She found Eugene improved, and sitting up. He was in his arm-chair, +gazing with tearful eyes at a portrait opposite--a portrait of +Laura, as Sister Angelica. His thoughts were so far, far away from +the weary present, that the door had opened, and his mother had put +her arms around his neck, before he became aware of her entrance. + +"Eugene, my beloved son," said she, "I have avenged you." + +"Avenged? Dear mother, what can you mean?" + +"I mean that Louvois is dead--dead of humiliation. And that +Barbesieur lives; but lives in the knowledge that, in four years, he +must die. His life, then, unto the bitter end, will be one long +agony. Eugene, you avenged my wrongs. I have now paid the debt." + +Eugene sighed heavily. "You have erred, mother. You should have left +further vengeance to God. What does it profit me that Barbesieur +suffers--his sufferings cannot recall my Laura." + +"Ah," said Olympia, disappointed, "if you were in health, you would +not be so pusillanimous, my child. 'Tis easy to see that you are +sick." + +"No, mother, I am no longer sick. At Laura's command, I have +wrestled with bodily weakness, and have overcome it." + +"I do not understand you, my son." + +Eugene pointed to the figure of Doctor Franzi, who just then entered +the room. "Listen, mother, and you will understand." + +The doctor advanced, and, taking Eugene's extended hand, repeated +Laura's dying words. Eugene looked at his mother, and smiled. + +"This message has been the medicine that has restored me to health. +My Laura speaks from beyond the grave, and I must obey." + +"Who but a hero could have obeyed a mandate at once so loving and so +cruel!" exclaimed Doctor Franzi. "Countess, I am rejoiced to see +you, but more especially rejoice that you should have arrived to- +day." + +"I travelled night and day to return in time," said Olympia, looking +fondly at her son. + +"Is it a festival?" asked he. + +"Yes, dear child," replied his mother, kissing him, "It is your +thirtieth birth-day." + +"My thirtieth birth-day!" murmured Eugene. "My youth is no more; I +enter upon the stern epoch of mature manhood." + +"Youth, with its sweet visions of love, has passed away; but manhood +will indemnify you, prince, for the sorrows of the past. Before you +lies a future of usefulness and heroism.--Congratulate your son, +countess, for he yesterday received from the Emperor Leopold the +chief command of his armies in Italy. The troops are on their way +now, to greet their general. Hark I Do you not hear the drums? Every +brave heart in the army is beating with joy at the prospect of +seeing him again." + +"And I, too, am joyful at the anticipation," replied Eugene, rising +from his chair. "You are right, Franzi. I have been sorely grieved, +'tis true; but I bear about my heart the knowledge of my Laura's +love--as veritable now as when I saw and felt her mortal presence. +This blessing shall make me a hero. So help me God! I will strive +hereafter to do my duty as a man, a soldier, and a Christian." + +The drums rolled, the trumpets sounded, and thousands of voices +responded without: + +"Long live our general! Long live Prince Eugene!" + + + +THE END. + + + +End Project Gutenberg Etext of Prince Eugene and His Times, by L. Muhlbach + diff --git a/4016.zip b/4016.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..69c9c35 --- /dev/null +++ b/4016.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2edcaf3 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #4016 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4016) |