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diff --git a/42690-8.txt b/42690-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 15089f6..0000000 --- a/42690-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12801 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mesmerist's Victim, by Alexandre Dumas - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Mesmerist's Victim - -Author: Alexandre Dumas - -Translator: Henry Llewellyn Williams - -Release Date: May 11, 2013 [EBook #42690] -[Last updated: September 17,2014] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MESMERIST'S VICTIM *** - - - - -Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Chuck Greif and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -Many spelling and punctuation errors have been corrected. A list of the -etext transcriber's spelling corrections follows the text. Consistent -archaic spellings have not been changed. (courtseyed, hight, gallopped, -befel, spirted, drily, abysm, etc.) - - -PRICE, 25 CENTS. No. 77. - -THE SUNSET SERIES. - -By Subscription, per Year, Nine Dollars. January 25, 1894. - -Entered at the New York Post Office as second-class matter. - -Copyright 1892, by J. S. OGILVIE. - - - - -THE -MESMERIST'S VICTIM. - -BY - -ALEX. DUMAS. - -NEW YORK: -J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY, -57 ROSE STREET. - -A WONDERFUL OFFER! - -70 House Plans for $1.00. - -[Illustration] - -If you are thinking about building a house don't fail to get the new -book - -PALLISER'S AMERICAN ARCHITECTURE, - -containing 104 pages, 11×14 inches in size, consisting of large 9×12 -plate pages giving plans, elevations, perspective views, descriptions, -owner's names, actual cost of construction (=_no guess work_=), and -instructions =_How to Build_= 70 Cottages, Villas, Double Houses, Brick -Block Houses, suitable for city suburbs, town and country, houses for -the farm, and workingmen's homes for all sections of the country, and -costing from $300 to $6,500, together with specifications, form of -contract, and a large amount of information on the erection of buildings -and employment of architects, prepared by Palliser, Palliser & Co., the -well-known architects. - -This book will save you hundreds of dollars. - -There is not a Builder, nor anyone intending to build or otherwise -interested, that can afford to be without it. It is a practical work, -and the best, cheapest and most popular book ever issued on Building. -Nearly four hundred drawings. - -It is worth $5.00 to anyone, but we will send it bound in paper cover, -by mail, post-paid for only $1.00; bound in handsome cloth, $2.00. -Address all orders to - -_J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING CO.,_ -_Lock Box 2767. 57 Rose Street, New York._ - - - - -THE MESMERIST'S VICTIM; - -OR, - -ANDREA DE TAVERNEY. - -A HISTORICAL ROMANCE - -BY ALEX. DUMAS. - -Author of "Monte Cristo," "The Three Musketeers _Series_," "Chicot -the Jester _Series_," etc. - -TRANSLATED FROM THE LATEST PARIS EDITION. - -BY - -HENRY LLEWELLYN WILLIAMS. - -NEW YORK: - -J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING COMPANY, - -57 ROSE STREET. - -_Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1892, by A. E. Smith & -Co, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington._ - - - - -THE MESMERIST'S VICTIM; - -OR, - -ANDREA DE TAVERNEY. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE DESPERATE RESCUE. - - -On the thirteenth of May, 1770, Paris celebrated the wedding of the -Dauphin or Prince Royal Louis Aguste, grandson of Louis XV. still -reigning, with Marie-Antoinette, Archduchess of Austria. - -The entire population flocked towards Louis XV. Place, where fireworks -were to be let off. A pyrotechnical display was the finish to all grand -public ceremonies, and the Parisians were fond of them although they -might make fun. - -The ground was happily chosen, as it would hold six thousand spectators. -Around the equestrian statue of the King, stands were built circularly -to give a view of the fireworks, to be set off at ten or twelve feet -elevation. - -The townsfolk began to assemble long before seven o'clock when the City -Guard arrived to keep order. This duty rather belonged to the French -Guards, but the Municipal government had refused the extra pay their -Commander, Colonel, the Marshal Duke Biron, demanded, and these warriors -in a huff were scattered in the mob, vexed and quarrelsome. They sneered -loudly at the tumult, which they boasted they would have quelled with -the pike-stock or the musket-butt if they had the ruling of the -gathering. - -The shrieks of the women, squeezed in the press, the wailing of the -children, the swearing of the troopers, the grumbling of the fat -citizens, the protests of the cake and candy merchants whose goods were -stolen, all prepared a petty uproar preceding the deafening one which -six hundred thousand souls were sure to create when collected. At eight -at evening, they produced a vast picture, like one after Teniers, but -with French faces. - -About half past eight nearly all eyes were fastened on the scaffold -where the famous Ruggieri and his assistants were putting the final -touches to the matches and fuses of the old pieces. Many large -compositions were on the frames. The grand bouquet, or shower of stars, -girandoles and squibs, with which such shows always conclude, was to go -off from a rampart, near the Seine River, on a raised bank. - -As the men carried their lanterns to the places where the pieces would -be fired, a lively sensation was raised in the throng, and some of the -timid drew back, which made the whole waver in line. - -Carriages with the better class still arrived but they could not reach -the stand to deposit their passengers. The mob hemmed them in and some -persons objected to having the horses lay their heads on their shoulder. - -Behind the horses and vehicles the crowd continued to increase, so that -the conveyances could not move one way or another. Then were seen with -the audacity of the city-bred, the boys and the rougher men climb upon -the wheels and finally swarm upon the footman's board and the coachman's -box. - -The illumination of the main streets threw a red glare on the sea of -faces, and flashed from the bayonets of the city guardsmen, as -conspicuous as a blade of wheat in a reaped field. - -About nine o'clock one of these coaches came up, but three rows of -carriages were before the stand, all wedged in and covered with the -sightseers. Hanging onto the springs was a young man, who kicked away -those who tried to share with him the use of this locomotive to cleave a -path in the concourse. When it stopped, however, he dropped down but -without letting go of the friendly spring with one hand. Thus he was -able to hear the excited talk of the passengers. - -Out of the window was thrust the head of a young and beautiful girl, -wearing white and having lace on her sunny head. - -"Come, come, Andrea," said a testy voice of an elderly man within to -her, "do not lean out so, or you will have some rough fellow snatch a -kiss. Do you not see that our coach is stuck in this mass like a boat in -a mudflat? we are in the water, and dirty water at that; do not let us -be fouled." - -"We can't see anything, father," said the girl, drawing in her head: "if -the horse turned half round we could have a look through the window, and -would see as well as in the places reserved for us at the governor's." - -"Turn a bit, coachman," said the man. - -"Can't be did, my lord baron," said the driver; "it would crush a dozen -people." - -"Go on and crush them, then!" - -"Oh, sir," said Andrea. - -"No, no, father," said a young gentleman beside the old baron inside. - -"Hello, what baron is this who wants to crush the poor?" cried several -threatening voices. - -"The Baron of Taverney Redcastle--I," replied the old noble, leaning out -and showing that he wore a red sash crosswise. - -Such emblems of the royal and knightly orders were still respected, and -though there was grumbling it was on a lessening tone. - -"Wait, father," said the young gentleman, "I will step out and see if -there is some way of getting on." - -"Look out, Philip," said the girl, "you will get hurt. Only hear the -horses neighing as they lash out." - -Philip Taverney, Knight of Redcastle, was a charming cavalier and, -though he did not resemble his sister, he was as handsome for a man as -she for her sex. - -"Bid those fellows get out of our way," said the baron, "so we can -pass." - -Philip was a man of the time and like many of the young nobility had -learnt ideas which his father of the old school was incapable of -appreciating. - -"Oh, you do not know the present Paris, father," he returned. "These -high-handed acts of the masters were all very well formerly; but they -will hardly go down now, and you would not like to waste your dignity, -of course." - -"But since these rascals know who I am---- " - -"Were you a royal prince," replied the young man smiling, "they would -not budge for you, I am afraid; at this moment, too, when the fireworks -are going off." - -"And we shall not see them," pouted Andrea. - -"Your fault, by Jove--you spent more than two hours over your attire," -snarled the baron. - -"Could you not take me through the mob to a good spot on your arm, -brother?" asked she. - -"Yes, yes, come out, little lady," cried several voices; for the men -were struck by Mdlle. Taverney's beauty: "you are not stout, and we will -make room for you." - -Andrea sprang lightly out of the vehicle without touching the steps. - -"I think little of the crackers and rockets, and I will stay here," -growled the baron. - -"We are not going far, father," responded Philip. - -Always respectful to the queen called Beauty, the mob opened before the -Taverneys, and a good citizen made his wife and daughter give way on a -bench where they stood, for the young lady. Philip stood by his sister, -who rested a hand on his shoulder. The young man who had "cut behind" -the carriage, had followed them and he looked with fond eyes on the -girl. - -"Are you comfortable, Andrea?" said the chevalier; "see what a help good -looks are!" - -"Good looks," sighed the strange young man; "why, she is lovely, very -lovely. She is lovelier here, in Parisian costume, than when I used to -see her on their country place, where I was but Gilbert the humble -retainer on my lord Baron's lands.'" - -Andrea heard the compliment; but she thought it came not from an -acquaintance so far as a dependent could be the acquaintance of a young -lady of title, and she believed it was a common person who spoke. - -Infinitely proud, she heeded it no more than an East Indian idol -troubles itself about the adorer who places his tribute at its feet. - -Hardly were the two young Taverneys established on and by the bench than -the first rockets serpentined towards the clouds, and a loud "Oh!" was -roared by the multitude henceforth absorbed in the sight. - -Andrea did not try to conceal her impressions in her astonishment at the -unequalled sight of a population cheering with delight before a palace -of fire. Only a yard from her, the youth who had named himself as -Gilbert, gazed on her rather than at the show, except because it charmed -her. Every time a gush of flame shone on her beautiful countenance, he -thrilled; he could fancy that the general admiration sprang from the -adoration which this divine creature inspired in him who idolized her. - -Suddenly, a vivid glare burst and spread, slanting from the river: it -was a bomshell exploding fiercely, but Andrea merely admired the -gorgeous play of light. - -"How splendid," she murmured. - -"Goodness," said her brother, disquieted, "that shot was badly aimed for -it shoots almost on the level instead of taking an upward curve. Oh, -God, it is an accident! Come away--it is a mishap which I dreaded. A -stray cracker has set fire to the powder on the bastion. The people are -trampling on each other over there to get away. Do you not hear those -screams--not cheers but shrieks of distress. Quick, quick, to the coach! -Gentlemen, gentlemen, please let us through." - -He put his arms around his sister's slender waist, to drag her in the -direction of her father. Also made uneasy by the clamor, the danger -being evident though not distinguished yet by him, he put his head out -of the window to look for his dear ones. - -It was too late! - -The final display of fifteen thousand rockets-burst, darting off in all -directions, and chasing the spectators like those squibs exploded in the -bull-fighting ring to stir up the bull. - -At first surprised but soon frightened, the people drew back without -reflection. Before this invincible retreat of a hundred thousand, -another mass as numerous gave the same movement when squeezed to the -rear. The wooden work at the bastion took fire; children cried, women -tossed their arms; the city guardsmen struck out to quiet the brawlers -and re-establish order by violence. - -All these causes combined to drive the crowd like a waterspout to the -corner where Philip of Taverney stood. Instead of reaching the baron's -carriage as he reckoned, he was swept on by the resistless tide, of -which no description can give an idea. Individual force, already doubled -by fear and pain, was increased a hundredfold by the junction of the -general power. - -As Philip dragged Andrea away, Gilbert was also carried off by the human -current: but at the corner of Madeline Street, a band of fugitives -lifted him up and tore him away from Andrea, in spite of his struggles -and yelling. - -Upon the Taverneys charged a team of runaway horses. Philip saw the -crowd part; the smoking heads of the animals appeared and they rose on -their haunches for a leap. He leaped, too, and being a cavalry officer, -captain in the Dauphiness's Dragoons, knew how to deal with them. He -caught the bit of one and was lifted with it. - -Andrea saw him flung and fall; she screamed, threw up her arms, was -buffeted, reeled, and in an instant was tossed hence alone, like a -feather, without the strength to offer resistance. - -Deafening calmor, more dreadful than shouts of battle, the horses -neighing, the clatter of the vehicles on the pavement cumbered with the -crippled, and livid glare of the burning stands, the sinister flashing -of swords which some of the soldiers had drawn, in their fury and above -the bloody chaos, the bronze statue gleaming with the light as it -presided over the carnage--here was enough to drive the girl mad. - -She uttered a despairing cry; for a soldier in cutting a way for himself -in the crowd had waved the dripping blade over her head. She clasped her -hands like a shipwrecked sailor as the last breaker swamps him, and -gasping "God have mercy" fell. - -Yet to fall here was to die. - -One had heard this final, supreme appeal. It was Gilbert who had been -snaking his way up to her. Though the same rush bent him down, he rose, -seized the soldier by the throat and upset him. - -Where he felled him, lay the white-robed form: he lifted it up with a -giant's strength. - -When he felt this beautiful body on his heart, though it might be a -corpse, a ray of pride illuminated his face. - -The sublime situation made him the sublimation of strength and courage -extreme; he dashed with his burden into the torrent of men. This would -have broken a hole through a wall. It sustained him and carried them -both. He just touched the ground with his feet, but her weight began to -tell on him. Her heart beat against his. - -"She is saved," he said, "and I have saved her," he added, as the mass -brought up against the Royal Wardrobe Building, and he was sheltered in -the angle of masonry. - -But looking towards the bridge over the Seine, he did not see the twenty -thousand wretches on his right, mutilated, welded together, having -broken through the barrier of the carriages and mixed up with them as -the drivers and horses were seized with the same vertigo. - -Instinctively they tried to get to the wall against which the closest -were mashed. - -This new deluge threatened to grind those who had taken refuge here by -the Wardrobe building, with the belief they had escaped. Maimed bodies -and dead ones piled up by Gilbert. He had to back into the recess of the -gateway, where the weight made the walls crack. - -The stifled youth felt like yielding; but collecting all his powers by a -mighty effort, he enclasped Andrea with his arms, applying his face to -her dress as if he meant to strangle her whom he wished to protect. - -"Farewell," he gasped as he bit her robe in kissing it. - -His eyes glancing about in an ultimate call to heaven, were offered a -singular vision. - -A man was standing on a horseblock, clinging by his right hand to an -iron ring sealed in the wall: while with his left he seemed to beckon an -army in flight to rally. - -He was a tall dark man of thirty, with a figure muscular but elegant. -His features had the mobility of Southerners', strangely blending power -and subtlety. His eyes were piercing and commanding. - -As the mad ocean of human beings poured beneath him he cast out a word -or a cabalistic token. On these, some individual in the throng was seen -to stop, fight clear and make his way towards the beckoner to fall in at -his rear. Others, called likewise, seemed to recognize brothers in each -other, and all lent their hands to catch still more of the swimmers in -this tide of life. Soon this knot of men were formed into the head of a -breakwater, which divided the fugitives and served to stay and stem the -rush. - -At every instant new recruits seemed to spring out of the earth at these -odd words and weird gestures, to form the backers of this wondrous man. - -Gilbert nerved himself. He felt that here alone was safety, for here was -calm and power. - -A last flicker of the burning staging, irradiated this man's visage and -Gilbert uttered an outcry of surprise. - -"I know who that is," he said, "he visited my master down at Taverney. -It is Baron Balsamo. Oh, I care not if I die provided she lives. This -man has the power to save her." - -In perfect self-sacrifice, he raised the girl up in both hands and -shouted: - -"Baron Balsamo, save Andrea de Taverney!" - -Balsamo heard this voice from the depths; he saw the white figure lifted -above the matted beings; he used the phalanx he had collected to cover -his charge to the spot. Seizing the girl, still sustained by Gilbert -though his arms were weakening, he snatched her away, and let the crowd -carry them both afar. - -He had not time to turn his head. - -Gilbert had not the breath to utter a word. Perhaps, after having Andrea -aided, he would have supplicated assistance for himself; but all he -could do was clutch with a hand which tore a scrap of the dress of the -girl. After this grasp, a last farewell, the young man tried no longer -to struggle, as though he were willing to die. He closed his eyes and -fell on a heap of the dead. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -THE FIELD OF THE DEAD. - - -To great tempests succeeds calm, dreadful but reparative. - -At two o'clock in the morning a wan moon was playing through the -swift-driving white clouds upon the fatal scene where the merry-makers -had trampled and buried one another in the ditches. - -The corpses stuck out arms lifted in prayers and legs broken and -entangled, while the clothes were ripped and the faces livid. - -Yellow and sickening smoke, rising from the burning platforms on Louis -XV. Place, helped to give it the aspect of a battlefield. - -Over the bloody and desolate spot wandered shadows which were the -robbers of the dead, attracted like ravens. Unable to find living prey, -they stripped the corpses and swore with surprise when they found they -had been forestalled by rivals. They fled, frightened and disappointed -as soldier's bayonets at last appeared, but among the long rows of the -dead, robbers and soldiers were not the solely moving objects. - -Supplied with lanterns prowlers were busy. They were not only curious, -but relatives and parents and lovers who had not had their dear ones -come home from the sightseeing. They came from the remotest parts for -the horrible news had spread over Paris, mourning as if a hurricane had -passed over it, and anxiety was acted out in these searches. - -It was muttered that the Provost of Paris had many corpses thrown into -the river from his fears at the immense number lost through his want of -foresight. Hence those who had ferreted about uselessly, went to the -river and stood in it knee-deep to stare at the flow; or they stole with -their lanterns into the by-streets where it was rumored some of the -crippled wretches had crept to beg help and at least flee the scene of -their misfortune. - -At the end of the square, near the Royal Gardens, popular charity had -already set up a field hospital. A young man who might be identified as -a surgeon by the instruments by his side, was attending to the wounded -brought to him. While bandaging them he said words rather expressing -hatred for the cause of their injuries than pity for the effect. He had -two helpers, robust reporters, to whom he kept on shouting: - -"Let me have the poor first. You can easily pick them out for they will -be badly dressed and most injured." - -At these words, continually croaked, a young gentleman with pale brow, -who was searching among the bodies with a lantern in his hand, raised -his head. - -A deep gash on his forehead still dropped red blood. One of his hands -was thrust between two buttons of his coat to support his injured arm; -his perspiring face betrayed deep and ceaseless emotion. - -Looking sadly at the amputated limbs which the operator appeared to -regard with professional pleasure, he said: - -"Oh, doctor, why do you make a selection among the victims?" - -"Because," replied the surgeon, raising his head at this reproach, "no -one would care for the poor if I did not, and the rich will always find -plenty to look after them. Lower your light and look along the pavement -and you will find a hundred poor to one rich or noble. In this -catastrophe, with their luck which will in the end tire heaven itself, -the aristocrats have paid their tax as usual, one per thousand." - -The gentleman held up his lantern to his own face. - -"Am I only one of my class?" he queried, without irritation, "a nobleman -who was lost in the throng, where a horse kicked me in the face and my -arm was broken by my falling into a ditch. You say the rich and noble -are looked after--have I had my wounds dressed?" - -"You have your mansion and your family doctor; go home, for you are able -to walk." - -"I am not asking your help, sir; I am seeking my sister, a fair girl of -sixteen, no doubt killed, alas! albeit she is not of the lower classes. -She wore a white dress and a necklace with a cross. Though she has a -residence and a doctor, for pity's sake! answer me if you have seen -her?" - -"Humanity guides me, my lord," said the young surgeon with feverish -vehemence proving that such ideas had long been seething within his -bosom; "I devote myself to mankind, and I obey the law of her who is my -goddess when I leave the aristocrat on his deathbed to run and relieve -the suffering people. All the woes happened here are derived from the -upper class; they come from your abuses, and usurpation; bear therefore -the consequences. No lord, I have not seen your sister." - -With this blasting retort, the surgeon resumed his task. A poor woman -was brought to him over whose both legs a carriage had rolled. - -"Behold," he pursued Philip with a shout, "is it the poor who drive -their coaches about on holidays so as to smash the limbs of the rich?" - -Philip, belonging to the new race who sided with Làfayette, had more -than once professed the opinions which stung him from this youth: their -application fell on him like chastisement. With breaking heart, he -turned aloof on his mournful exploration, but soon they could hear his -tearful voice calling: - -"Andrea, Andrea!" - -Near him hurried an elderly man, in grey coat, cloth stockings, and -leaning on a cane, while with his left hand he held a cheap lantern made -of a candle surrounded by oiled paper. - -"Poor young man," he sighed on hearing the gentleman's wail and -comprehending his anguish, "Forgive me," he said, returning after -letting him pass as though he could not let such great sorrow go by -without endeavoring to give some alleviation, "forgive my mingling grief -with yours, but those whom the same stroke strikes ought to support one -another. Besides, you may be useful to me. As your candle is nearly -burnt out you must have been seeking for some time, and so know a good -many places. Where do they lie thickest?" - -"In the great ditch more than fifty are heaped up." - -"So many victims during a festival?" - -"So many?--I have looked upon a thousand dead--and have not yet come -upon my sister." - -"Your sister?" - -"She was lost in that direction. I have found the bench where we were -parted. But of her not a trace. I began to search at the bastion. The -mob moved towards the new buildings in Madeleine Street. There I hunted, -but there were great fluctuations. The stream rushed thither, but a poor -girl would wander anywhere, with her crazed head, seeking flight in any -direction." - -"I can hardly think that she would have stemmed the current. We two may -find her together at the corner of the streets." - -"But who are you after--your son?" questioned Philip. - -"No, an adopted youth, only eighteen, who was master of his actions and -would come to the festival. Besides, one was so far from imagining this -horrid catastrophe. Your candle is going out--come with me and I will -light you." - -"Thanks, you are very kind, but I shall obstruct you." - -"Fear nothing, for I must be seeking, too. Usually the lad comes home -punctually," continued the old man, "but I had a forerunner last -evening. I was sitting up for him at eleven when my wife had the rumor -from the neighbors of the miseries of this rejoicing. I waited a couple -of hours in hopes that he would return, but then I felt it would be -cowardly to go to sleep without news." - -"So we will hunt over by the houses," said the nobleman. - -"Yes, as you say the crowd went there and would certainly have carried -him along. He is from the country and knows no more the way than the -streets. This may be the first time he came to this place." - -"My sister is country-bred also." - -"Shocking sight," said the old man, before a mound of the suffocated. - -"Still we must search," said the chevalier, resolutely holding out the -lantern to the corpses. "Oh, here we are by the Wardrobe Stores--ha! -white rags--my sister wore a white dress. Lend me your light, I entreat -you, sir." - -"It is a piece of a white dress," he continued, "but held in a young -man's hand. It is like that she wore. Oh, Andrea!" he sobbed as if it -tore up his heart. - -The old man came nearer. - -"It is he," he exclaimed, "Gilbert!" - -"Gilbert? do you know our farmer's son, Gilbert, and were you seeking -him?" - -The old man took the youth's hand, it was icy cold. Philip opened his -waistcoat and found that his heart was quiet. But the next instant he -cried: "No, he breathes--he lives, I tell you." - -"Help! this way, to the surgeon," said the old man. - -"Nay, let us do what we can for him for I was refused help when I spoke -to him just now." - -"He must take care of my dear boy," said the old man. - -And taking Gilbert between him and Taverney, they carried him towards -the surgeon, who was still croaking: - -"The poor first--bring in the poor, first." - -This maxim was sure to be hailed with admiration from a group of -lookers-on. - -"I bring a man of the people," retorted the old man hotly, feeling a -little piqued at this exclusiveness. - -"And the women next, as men can bear their hurt better," proceeded the -character. - -"The boy only wants bleeding," said Gilbert's friend. - -"Ho, ho, so it is you, my lord, again?" sneered the surgeon, perceiving -Taverney. - -The old gentleman thought that the speech was addressed to him and he -took it up warmly. - -"I am not a lord--I am a man of the multitude--I am Jean Jacques -Rousseau." - -The surgeon uttered an exclamation of surprise and said as he waved the -crowd back imperiously: - -"Way for the Man of Nature--the Emancipator of Humanity--the Citizen of -Geneva! Has any harm befallen you?" - -"No, but to this poor lad." - -"Ah, like me, you represent the cause of mankind," said the surgeon. - -Startled by this unexpected eulogy, the author of the "Social contract" -could only stammer some unintelligible words, while Philip Taverney, -seized with stupefaction at being in face of the famous philosopher, -stepped aside. - -Rousseau was helped in placing Gilbert on the table. - -Then Rousseau gave a glance to the surgeon whose succor he invoked. He -was a youth of the patient's own age, but no feature spoke of youth. His -yellow skin was wrinkled like an old man's, his flaccid eyelid covered a -serpent's glance, and his mouth was drawn one side like one in a fit. -With his sleeves tucked up to the elbow and his arms smeared with blood, -surrounded by the results of the operation he seemed rather an -enthusiastic executioner than a physician fulfilling his sad and holy -mission. - -But the name of Rousseau seemed to influence him into laying aside his -ordinary brutality. He softly opened Gilbert's sleeve, compressed the -arm with a linen ligature and pricked the vein. - -"We shall pull him through," he said, "but great care must be taken with -him for his chest was crushed in." - -"I have to thank you," said Rousseau, "and praise you--not for the -exclusion you make on behalf of the poor, but for your devotion to the -afflicted. All men are brothers." - -"Even the rich, the noble, the lofty?" queried the surgeon, with a -kindling look in his sharp eye under the drooping lid. - -"Even they, when they are in suffering." - -"Excuse me, but I am like you a Switzer, having been born at Neuchatel; -and so I am rather democratic." - -"My fellow-countryman? I should like to know your name." - -"An obscure one, a modest man who devotes his life to study until like -yourself he can employ it for the common-weal. I am Jean Paul Marat." - -"I thank you, Marat," said Rousseau, "but in enlightening the masses on -their rights, do not excite their revengeful feelings. If ever they move -in that direction, you might be amazed at the reprisals." - -"Ah," said Marat with a ghastly smile, "if it should come in my -time--should I see that day---- " - -Frightened at the accent, as a traveler by the mutterings of a coming -storm, Rousseau took Gilbert in his arms and tried to carry him away. - -"Two willing friends to help Citizen Rousseau," shouted Marat; "two men -of the lower order." - -Rousseau had plenty to choose among; he took two lusty fellows who -carried the youth in their arms. - -"Take my lantern," said the author to Taverney as he passed him: "I need -it no longer." - -Philip thanked him and went on with his search. - -"Poor young gentleman," sighed Rousseau, as he saw him disappear in the -thronged streets. - -He shuddered, for still rang over the bloody field he surgeon's shrill -voice shouting: - -"Bring in the poor--none but the poor! Woe to the rich, the noble and -the high-born!" - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE RESTORATION. - - -While the thousand casualties were precipitated upon each other, Baron -Taverney escaped all the dangers by some miracle. - -An old rake, and hardened in cynicism, he seemed the least likely to be -so favored, but he maintained himself in the thick of a cluster by his -skill and coolness, while incapable of exerting force against the -devouring panic. His group, bruised against the Royal Storehouse, and -brushed along the square railings, left a long trail of dead and dying -on both flanks but, though decimated, its centre was kept out of peril. - -As soon as these lucky men and women scattered upon the boulevard, they -yelled with glee. Like them, Taverney found himself out of harm's reach. -During all the journey, the baron had thought of nobody but his noble -self. Though not emotional, he was a man of action, and in great crises -such characters put Caesar's adage into practice--Act for yourself. We -will not say he was selfish but that his attention was limited. - -But soon as he was free on the main street, escaped from death and -re-entering life, the old baron uttered a cry of delight, followed by -another of pain. - -"My daughter," he said, in sorrow, though it was not so loud as the -other. - -"Poor dear old man," said some old women, flocking round ready to -condole with him, but still more to question. - -He had no popular inclinations. Ill at ease among the gossips he made an -effort to break the ring, and to his credit got off a few steps towards -the square. But they were but the impulse of parental love, never wholly -dead in a man; reason came to his aid, and stopped him short. - -He cheered himself with the reasoning that if he, a feeble old man had -struggled through, Andrea, on the strong arm of her brave and powerful -brother, must have likewise succeeded. He concluded that the two had -gone home, and he proceeded to their Paris lodging, in Coq-Heron street. - -But he was scarcely within twenty paces of the house, on the street -leading to a summerhouse in the gardens, where Philip had induced a -friend to let them dwell, when he was hailed by a girl on the threshold. -This was a pretty servant maid, who was jabbering with some women. - -"Have you not brought Master Philip and Mistress Andrea?" was her -greeting. - -"Good heavens, Nicole, have they not come home?" cried the baron, a -little startled, while the others were quivering with the thrill which -permeated all the city from the exaggerated story of the first fugitives -spreading. - -"Why, no, my lord, no one has seen them." - -"They could not come home by the shortest road," faltered the baron, -trembling with spite at his pitiful line of reasoning falling to pieces. - -There he stood, in the street, with Nicole whimpering, and an old valet, -who had accompanied the Taverneys to town, lifting his hands to the sky. - -"Oh, here comes Master Philip," ejaculated Nicole, with inexpressible -terror, for the young man was alone. - -He ran up through the shades of evening, desperate, calling out as soon -as he saw the gathering at the house door: - -"Is my sister here?" - -"We have not seen her--she is not here," said Nicole. "Oh, heavens, my -poor young mistress!" she sobbed. - -"The idea of your coming back without her!" said the baron with anger -the more unfair as we have shown how he quitted the scene of the -disaster. - -By way of answer he showed his bleeding face and his arm broken and -hanging like a dead limb by his side. - -"Alas, my poor Andrea," sighed the baron, falling, seated on a stone -bench by the door. - -"But I shall find her, dead or alive," replied the young man gloomily. - -And he returned to the place with feverish agitation. He would have -lopped off his useless arm, if he had an axe, but as it was, he tucked -the hand into his waistcoat for an improvised sling. - -It was thus we saw him on the square, where he wandered part of the -night. As the first streaks of dawn whitened the sky, he turned -homeward, though ready to drop. From a distance he saw the same familiar -group which had met his eyes on the eve. He understood that Andrea had -not returned, and he halted. - -"Well?" called out the baron, spying him. - -"Has she not returned? no news--no clew?" and he fell, exhausted, on the -stone bench, while the older noble swore. - -At this juncture, a hack appeared at the end of the street, lumbered up, -and stopped in front of the house. As a female head appeared at the -window, thrown back as if in a faint, Philip, recognizing it, leaped -that way. The door opened, and a man stepped out who carried Andrea de -Taverney in his arms. - -"Dead--they bring her home dead," gasped Philip, falling on his knees. - -"I do not think so, gentlemen," said the man who bore Andrea, "I trust -that Mdlle. de Taverney is only fainted." - -"Oh, the magician," said the baron, while Philip uttered the name of -"the Baron of Balsamo." - -"I, my lord, who was happy enough to spy Mdlle. de Taverney in the riot, -near the Royal wardrobe storehouse." - -But Philip passed at once from joy to doubt and said: - -"You are bringing her home very late, my lord." - -"You will understand my plight," replied Balsamo without astonishment. -"I was unaware of the address of your sister, though your father calls -me a magician, kindly remembering some little incidents occurring at -your country-seat. So I had her carried by my servants to the residence -of the Marchioness of Savigny, a friend who lives near the Royal -Stables. Then this honest fellow--Comtois," he said, waving a footman in -the royal livery to come forward, "being in the King's household and -recognizing the young lady from her being attendant of the Dauphiness, -gave me this address. Her wonderful beauty had made him remark her one -night when the royal coach left her at this door. I bade him get upon -the box, and I have the honor to bring to you, with all the respect she -merits--the young lady, less ill than she may appear." - -He finished by placing the lady with the utmost respect in the hands of -Nicole and her father. For the first time the latter felt a tear on his -eyelid, and he was astonished as he let it openly run down his wrinkled -cheek. - -"My lord," said Philip, presenting the only hand he could use to -Balsamo, "You know me and my address. Give me a chance to repay the -services you have done me." - -"I have merely accomplished duty," was the reply. "I owed you for the -hospitality you once favored me at Taverney." He took a few paces to -depart, but retracing them, he added: "I ask pardon; but I was -forgetting to leave the precise address of Marchioness Savigny; she -lives in Saint Honore Street, near the Feuillant's Monastery. This is -said in case Mdlle. de Taverney should like to pay her a visit." - -In this explanation, exactness of details and accumulation of proofs, -the delicacy touched the young lord and even the old one. - -"My daughter owes her life to your lordship," said the latter. - -"I am proud and happy in that belief," responded Balsamo. - -Followed by Comtois, who refused the purse Philip offered, he went to -the carriage and was gone. - -Simultaneously, as if the departure made the swooning of Andrea cease, -she opened her eyes. For a while she was dumb, and stunned, and her look -was frightened. - -"Heavens, have we but had her half restored--with her reason gone?" said -Philip. - -Seeming to comprehend the words, Andrea shook her head. But she remained -mute, as if in ecstasy. Standing, one of her arms was levelled in the -direction in which Balsamo had disappeared. - -"Come, come, it is high time our worry was over," said the baron. "Help -your sister indoors my son." - -Between the young gentleman and Nicole, Andrea reached the rear house, -but walked like a somnambulist. - -"Philip--father!" she uttered as speech returned to her at last. - -"She knows us," exclaimed the young knight. - -"To be sure I know you; but what has taken place?" - -Her eyes closed in a blessed sleep this time, and Nicole carried her -into her bedroom. - -On going to his own room, Captain Philip found a doctor whom the valet -Labrie had sent for. He examined the injured arm, not broken but -dislocated, and set the bone. Still uneasy about his sister, he took the -medical man to her bedside. He felt her pulse, listened to her breathing -and smiled. - -"Her slumber is calm and peaceful as a child's," he said. "Let her sleep -on, young sir, there is nothing more to do." - -The baron was sound asleep already assured about his children on whom -were built the ambitious schemes which had lured him to the capital. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -AN AERIAL JOURNEY. - - -More fortunate than Andrea, Gilbert had in lieu of an ordinary -practitioner, a light of medical science to attend to his ails. The -eminent Dr Jussieu, a friend of Rousseau's, though allied to the Court, -happened to call in the nick to be of service. He promised that the -young man would be on his legs in a week. - -Moreover, being a botanist like Rousseau, he proposed that on the coming -Sunday they should give the youth a walk with them in the country, out -Marly way. Gilbert might rest while they gathered the curious plants. - -With this prospect to entice him, the invalid returned rapidly to -health. - -But while Rousseau believed that his ward was well, and his wife Therese -told the gossips that it was due to the skill of the celebrated Dr. -Jussieu, Gilbert was running the worst danger ever befalling his -obstinacy and perpetual dreaming. - -Gilbert was the son of a farmer on the land of Baron Taverney. The -master had dissipated his revenue and sold his principal to play the -rake in Paris. When he returned to bring up his son and daughter in -poverty in the dilapidated manor house, Gilbert was a hanger-on, who -fell in love with Nicole as a stepping-stone to becoming infatuated with -her mistress. As at the fireworks, the youth never thought of anything -but this mad love. - -From the attic of Rousseau's house he could look down on the garden -where the summerhouse stood in which Andrea was also in convalescence. - -He did not see her, only Nicole carrying broth as for the invalid. The -back of the little house came to the yard of Rousseau's in another -street. - -In this little garden old Taverney trotted about, taking snuff greedily -as if to rouse his wits--that was all Gilbert saw. - -But it was enough to judge that a patient was indoors, not a dead woman. - -"Behind that screen in the room," he mused, "is the woman whom I love to -idolatry. She has but to appear to thrill my every limb for she holds my -existence in her hand and I breathe but for us two." - -Merged in his contemplation he did not perceive that in another window -of an adjoining house in his street, Plastriere Street, a young woman in -the widow's weeds, was also watching the dwelling of the Taverneys. This -second spy knew Gilbert, too, but she took care not to show herself when -he leaned out of the casement as to throw himself on the ground. He -would have recognized her as Chon, the sister of Jeanne, Countess -Dubarry, the favorite of the King. - -"Oh, how happy they are who can walk about in that garden," raved the -mad lover, with furious envy, "for there they could hear Andrea and -perhaps see her in her rooms. At night, one would not be seen while -peeping." - -It is far from desire to execution. But fervid imaginations bring -extremes together; they have the means. They find reality amid fancies, -they bridge streams and put a ladder up against a mountain. - -To go around by the street would be no use, even if Rousseau had not -locked in his pet, for the Taverneys lived in the rear house. - -"With these natural tools, hands and feet," reasoned Gilbert, "I can -scramble over the shingles and by following the gutter which is rather -narrow, but straight, consequently the shortest path from one point to -another, I will reach the skylight next my own. That lights the stairs, -so that I can get out. Should I fall, they will pick me up, smashed at -her feet, and they will recognize me, so that my death will be fine, -noble, romantic--superb! - -"But if I get in on the stairs I can go down to the window over the yard -and jump down a dozen feet where the trellis will help me to get into -her garden. But if that worm-eaten wood should break and tumble me on -the ground that would not be poetic, but shameful to think of! The baron -will say I came to steal the fruit and he will have his man Labrie lug -me out by the ear. - -"No, I will twist these clotheslines into a rope to let me down straight -and I will make the attempt to-night." - -From his window, at dark, Gilbert was scanning the enemy's grounds, as -he qualified Taverney's house-lot, when he spied a stone coming over the -garden-wall and slapping up against the house-wall. But though he leaned -far out he could not discry the flinger of the pebble. - -What he did see was a blind on the ground floor open warily and the -wide-awake head of the maid Nicole show itself. After having scrutinized -all the windows round, Nicole came out of doors and ran to the espalier -on which some pieces of lace were drying. - -The stone had rolled on this place and Gilbert had not lost sight of -it. Nicole kicked it when she came to it and kept on playing football -with it till she drove it under the trellis where she picked it up under -cover of taking off the lace. Gilbert noticed that she shucked the stone -of a piece of paper, and he concluded that the message was of -importance. - -It was a letter, which the sly wench opened, eagerly perused and put in -her pocket without paying any more heed to the lace. - -Nicole went back into the house, with her hand in her pocket. She -returned with a key which she slipped under the garden gate, which would -be out in the street beside the carriage-doorway. - -"Good, I understand," thought the young man: "it is a love letter. -Nicole is not losing her time in town--she has a lover." - -He frowned with the vexation of a man who supposed that his loss had -left an irreparable void in the heart of the girl he jilted, and -discovered that she had filled it up. - -"This bids fair to run counter to my plans," thought he, trying to give -another turn to his ill-humor. "I shall not be sorry to learn what happy -mortal has succeeded me in the good graces of Nicole Legay." - -But Gilbert had a level mind in some things; he saw that the knowledge -of this secret gave him an advantage over the girl, as she could not -deny it, while she scarcely suspected his passion for the baron's -daughter, and had no clew to give body to her doubts. - -The night was dark and sultry, stifling with heat as often in early -spring. From the clouds it was a black gulf before Gilbert, through -which he descended by the rope. He had no fear from his strength of -will. So he reached the ground without a flutter. He climbed the garden -wall but as he was about to descend, heard a step beneath him. - -He clung fast and glanced at the intruder. - -It was a man in the uniform of a corporal of the French Guards. - -Almost at the same time, he saw Nicole open the house backdoor, spring -across the garden, leaving it open, and light and rapid as a -shepherdess, dart to the greenhouse, which was also the soldier's -destination. As neither showed any hesitation about proceeding to this -point, it was likely that this was not the first appointment the pair -had kept there. - -"No, I can continue my road," reasoned Gilbert; "Nicole would not be -receiving her sweetheart unless she were sure of some time before her, -and I may rely on finding Mdlle. Andrea alone. Andrea alone!" - -No sound in the house was audible and only a faint light was to be seen. - -Gilbert skirted the wall and reached the door left open by the maid. -Screened by an immense creeper festooning the doorway, he could peer -into an anteroom, with two doors; the open one he believed to be -Nicole's. He groped his way into it, for it had no light. - -At the end of a lobby, a glazed door, with muslin curtains on the other -side, showed a glimmer. On going up this passage, he heard a feeble -voice. - -It was Andrea's. - -All Gilbert's blood flowed back to the heart. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -SUSPICIONS. - - -The voice which made answer to the girl's was her brother Philip's. He -was anxiously asking after her health. - -Gilbert took a few steps guardedly and stood behind one of those -half-columns carrying a bust which were the ornaments in pairs to -doorways of the period. Thus in security, he looked and listened, so -happy that his heart melted with delight; yet so frightened that it -seemed to shrink up to a pin's head. - -He saw Andrea lounging on an invalid-chair, with her face turned towards -the glazed door, a little on the jar. A small lamp with a large -reflecting shade placed on a table heaped with books, showed the only -recreation allowed the fair patient, and illumined only the lower part -of her countenance. - -Seated on the foot of the chair, Philip's back was turned to the -watcher; his arm was still in a sling. - -This was the first time the lady sat up and that her brother was allowed -out. They had not seen each other since the dreadful night; but both had -been informed of the respective convalescence. They were chatting freely -as they believed themselves alone and that Nicole would warn them if any -one came. - -"Then you are breathing freely," said Philip. - -"Yes, but with some pain." - -"Strength come back, my poor sister?" - -"Far from it, but I have been able to get to the window two or three -times. How nice the open air is--how sweet the flowers--with them it -seems that one cannot die. But I am so weak from the shock having been -so horrid. I can only walk by hanging on to the furniture; I should fall -without support." - -"Cheer up, dear; the air and flowers will restore you. In a week you -will be able to pay a visit to the Dauphiness who has kindly asked after -you, I hear." - -"I hope so, for her Highness has been good to me; to you in promoting -you to be captain in her guards, and to father, who was induced by her -benevolence to leave our miserable country house. - -"Speaking of your miraculous escape," said Philip, "I should like to -know more about the rescue." - -Andrea blushed and seemed ill at ease. Either he did not remark it or -would not do so. - -"I thought you knew all about it," said she; "father was perfectly -satisfied. - -"Of course, dear Andrea, and it seemed to me that the gentleman behaved -most delicately in the matter. But some points in the account seemed -obscure--I do not mean suspicious." - -"Pray explain," said the girl with a virgin's candor. - -"One point is very out of the way--how you were saved. Kindly relate -it." - -"Oh, Philip," she said with an effort, "I have almost forgotten--I was -so frightened." - -"Never mind--tell me what you do remember." - -"You know, brother, that we were separated within twenty paces of the -Royal Wardrobe Storehouse? I saw you dragged away towards the Tuileries -Gardens, while I was hurled into Royale Street. Only for an instant did -I see you, making desperate efforts to return to me. I held out my arms -to you and was screaming, 'Philip!' when I was suddenly wrapped in a -whirlwind, and whisked up towards the railings. I feared that the -current would dash me up against the wall and shatter me. I heard the -yells of those crushed against the iron palings; I foresaw my turn -coming to be ground to rags. I could reckon how few instants I had to -live, when--half dead, half crazed, as I lifted eyes and arms in a last -prayer to heaven, I saw the eyes sparkle of a man who towered over the -multitude and it seemed to obey him." - -"You mean Baron Balsamo, I suppose?" - -"Yes, the same I had seen at Taverney. There he struck me with uncommon -terror. The man seems supernatural. He fascinates my sight and my -hearing; with but the touch of his finger he would make me quiver all -over." - -"Continue, Andrea," said the chevalier, with darkening brow and moody -voice. - -"This man soared over the catastrophe like one whom human ills could not -attain. I read in his eyes that he wanted to save me and something -extraordinary went on within me: shaken, bruised, powerless and nearly -dead though I was, to that man I was attracted by an invincible, unknown -and mysterious force, which bore me thither. I felt arms enclasp me and -urge me out of this mass of welded flesh in which I was kneaded--where -others choked and gasped I was lifted up into air. Oh, Philip," said she -with exaltation, "I am sure it was the gaze of that man. I grasped at -his hand and I was saved." - -"Alas," thought Gilbert, "I was not seen by her though dying at her -feet." - -"When I felt out of danger, my whole life having been centred in this -gigantic effort or else the terror surpassed my ability to contend--I -fainted away." - -"When do you think this faint came on?" - -"Ten minutes after we were rent asunder, brother." - -"That would be close on Midnight," remarked the Knight of Red Castle. -"How then was it you did not return home until three? You must forgive -me questions which may appear to you ridiculous but they have a reason -to me, dear Andrea." - -"Three days ago I could not have replied to you," she said, pressing his -hand, "but, strange as it may be, I can see more clearly now. I remember -as though a superior will made me do so." - -"I am waiting with impatience. You were saying that the man took you up -in his arms?" - -"I do not recall that clearly," answered Andrea, blushing. "I only know -that he plucked me up out of the crowd. But the touch of his hand caused -me the same shock as at Taverney, and again I swooned or rather I slept, -for it was a sleep that was good." - -Gilbert devoured all the words, for he knew that so far all was true. - -"On recovering my senses, I was in a richly furnished parlor. A lady and -her maid were by my side, but they did not seem uneasy. Their faces were -benevolently smiling. It was striking half-past twelve." - -"Good," said the knight, breathing freely. "Continue, Andrea, continue." - -"I thanked the lady for the attentions she was giving, but, knowing in -what anxiety you must all be, I begged to be taken home at once. They -told me that the Count--for they knew our Baron Balsamo as Count Fenix, -had gone back to the scene of the accident, but would return with his -carriage and take me to our house. Indeed, about two o'clock, I heard -carriage wheels and felt the same warning shiver of his approach. I -reeled and fell on a sofa as the door opened; I barely could recognize -my deliverer as the giddiness seized me. During this unconsciousness I -was put in the coach and brought here. It is all I recall, brother." - -"Thank you, dear," said Philip, in a joyful voice; "your calculations of -the time agree with mine. I will call on Marchioness Savigny and -personally thank her. A last word of secondary import. Did you notice -any familiar face in the excitement? Such as little Gilbert's, for -instance?" - -"Yes, I fancy I did see him a few paces off, as you and I were driven -apart," said Andrea, recollecting. - -"She saw me," muttered Gilbert. - -"Because, when I was seeking you, I came across the boy." - -"Among the dead?" asked the lady with the shade of assumed interest -which the great take in their inferiors. - -"No, only wounded, and I hope he will come round. His chest was crushed -in." - -"Ay, against hers," thought Gilbert. - -"But the odd part of it was that I found in his clenched hand a rag from -your dress, Andrea," pursued Philip. - -"Odd, indeed; but I saw in this Dance of Death such a series of faces, -that I can hardly say whether his figured truly there or not, poor -little fellow!" - -"But how do you account for the scrap in his grip?" pressed the captain. - -"Good gracious! nothing more easy," rejoined the girl with tranquillity -greatly contrasting with the eavesdropper's frightful throbbing of the -heart. "If he were near me and he saw me lifted up, as I stated, by the -spell of that man, he might have clutched at my skirts to be saved as -the drowning snatch at a straw." - -"Ugh," grumbled Gilbert, with gloomy contempt for this haughty -explanation, "what ignoble interpretation of my devotion! How wrongly -these aristocrats judge us people. Rousseau is right in saying that we -are worth more than they--our heart is purer and our arms stronger." - -At that he heard a sound behind him. - -"What, is not that madcap Nicole here?" asked Baron Taverney, for it was -he who passed by Gilbert hiding and entered his daughter's room. - -"I dare say she is in the garden," replied his daughter, the latter with -a quiet proving that she had no suspicion of the listener; "good -evening, papa." - -The old noble took an armchair. - -"Ha, my children, it is a good step to Versailles when one travels in a -hackney coach instead of one of the royal carriages. I have seen the -Dauphiness, though, who sent for me to learn about your progress." - -"Andrea is much better, sir." - -"I knew that and told her Royal Highness so. She is good enough to -promise to call her to her side when she sets up her establishment in -the Little Trianon Palace which is being fitted up to her liking." - -"I at court?" said Andrea timidly. - -"Not much of a court; the Dauphiness has quiet tastes and the Prince -Royal hates noise and bustle. They will live domestically at Trianon. -But judging what the Austrian princess's humor is, I wager that as much -will be done in the family circle as at official assemblies. The -princess has a temper and the Dauphin is deep, I hear." - -"Make no mistake, sister, it will still be a court," said Captain -Philip, sadly. - -"The court," thought Gilbert with intense rage and despair, "a hight I -cannot scale--an abyss into which I cannot hurl myself! Andrea will be -lost to me!" - -"We have neither the wealth to allow us to inhabit that palace, nor the -training to fit us for it," replied the girl to her father. "What would -a poor girl like me do among those most brilliant ladies of whom I have -had a glimpse? Their splendor dazzled me, while their wit seemed futile -though sparkling. Alas, brother, we are obscure to go amid so much -light!" - -"What nonsense!" said the baron, frowning. "I cannot make out why my -family always try to bemean what affects me! obscure--you must be mad, -miss! A Taverney Redcastle, obscure! who should shine if not you, I want -to know? Wealth? we know what wealth at court is--the crown is a sun -which creates the gold--it does the gilding, and it is the tide of -nature. I was ruined--I become rich, and there you have it. Has not the -King money to offer his servitors? Am I to blush if he provides my son -with a regiment and gives my daughter a dowry? or an appanage for me, or -a nice warrant on the Treasury--when I am dining with the King and I -find it under my plate?" - -"No, no, only fools are squeamish--I have no prejudices. It is my due -and I shall take it. Don't you have any scruples, either. The only -matter to debate is your training. You have the solid education of the -middle class with the more showy one of your own; you paint just such -landscapes as the Dauphiness doats upon. As for your beauty, the King -will not fail to notice it. As for conversation, which Count Artois and -Count Provence like--you will charm them. So you will not only be -welcome but adored. That is the word," concluded the cynic, rubbing his -hands and laughing so unnaturally that Philip stared to see if it were a -human being. - -But, taking Andrea's hand as she lowered her eyes, the young gentleman -said: - -"Father is right; you are all he says, and nobody has more right to go -to Versailles Palace." - -"But I would be parted from you," remonstrated Andrea. - -"Not at all," interrupted the baron; "Versailles is large enough to hold -all the Taverneys." - -"True, but the Trianon is small," retorted Andrea, who could be proud -and willful. - -"Trianon is large enough to find a room for Baron Taverney," returned -the old nobleman, "a man like me always finds a place"--meaning "can -find a place. Any way, it is the Dauphiness's order." - -"I will go," said Andrea. - -"That is good. Have you any money, Philip?" asked the old noble. - -"Yes, if you want some; but if you want to offer me it, I should say -that I have enough as it is." - -"Of course, I forgot you were a philosopher," sneered the baron. "Are -you a philosopher, too, my girl, or do you need something?" - -"I should not like to distress you, father." - -"Oh, luck has changed since we left Taverney. The King has given me five -hundred louis--on account, his Majesty said. Think of your wardrobe, -child." - -"Oh, thank you, papa," said Andrea, joyously. - -"Oho, going to the other extreme now! A while ago, you wanted for -nothing--now you would ruin the Emperor of China. Never mind, for fine -dresses become you, darling." - -With a tender kiss, he opened the door leading into his own room, and -disappeared, saying: - -"Confound that Nicole for not being in to show me a light!" - -"Shall I ring for her, father?" - -"No, I shall knock against Labrie, dozing on a chair. Good night, my -dears." - -"Good night, brother," said Andrea as Philip also stood up: "I am -overcome with fatigue. This is the first time, I have been up since my -accident." - -The gentleman kissed her hand with respect mixed with his affection -always entertained for his sister and he went through the corridor, -almost brushing against Gilbert. - -"Never mind Nicole--I shall retire alone. Good bye, Philip." - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -WHAT GILBERT EXPECTED. - - -A shiver ran through the watcher as the girl rose from her chair. With -her alabaster hands she pulled out her hairpins one by one while the -wrapper, slipping down upon her shoulders, disclosed her pure and -graceful neck, and her arms, carelessly arched over her head, threw out -the lower curve of the body to the advantage of the exquisite throat, -quivering under the linen. - -Gilbert felt a touch of madness and was on the verge of rushing forward, -yelling: - -"You are lovely, but you must not be too proud of your beauty since you -owe it to me--it was I saved your life!" - -Suddenly a knot in the corset string irritated Andrea who stamped her -foot and rang the bell. - -This knell recalled the lover to reason. Nicole had left the door open -so as to run back. She would come. - -He wanted to dart out of the house, but the baron had closed the other -doors as he came along. He was forced to take refuge in Nicole's room. - -From there he saw her hurry in to her mistress, assist her to bed and -retire, after a short chat, in which she displayed all the fawning of a -maid who wishes to win her forgiveness for delinquency. - -Singing to make her peace of mind be believed, she was going through on -the way to the garden when Gilbert showed himself in a moonbeam. - -She was going to scream but taking him for another, she said, conquering -her fright: - -"Oh, it is you--what rashness!" - -"Yes, it is I--but do not scream any louder for me than the other," said -Gilbert. - -"Why, whatever are you doing here?" she challenged, knowing her -fellow-dependent at Taverney. "But I guess--you are still after my -mistress. But though you love her, she does not care for you." - -"Really?" - -"Mind that I do not expose you and have you thrown out," she said in a -threatening tone. - -"One may be thrown out, but it will be Nicole to whom stones are tossed -over the wall." - -"That is nothing to the piece of our mistress's dress found in your hand -on Louis XV Square, as Master Philip told his father. He does not see -far into the matter yet, but I may help him." - -"Take care, Nicole, or they may learn that the stones thrown over the -wall are wrapped in love-letters." - -"It is not true!" Then recovering her coolness, she added: "It is no -crime to receive a love-letter--not like sneaking in to peep at poor -young mistress in her private room." - -"But it is a crime for a waiting-maid to slip keys under garden doors -and keep tryst with soldiers in the greenhouse!" - -"Gilbert, Gilbert!" - -"Such is the Nicole Virtue! Now, assert that I am in love with Mdlle. -Andrea and I will say I am in love with my playfellow Nicole and they -will believe that the sooner. Then you will be packed off. Instead of -going to the Trianon Palace with your mistress, and coqueting with the -fine fops around the Dauphiness, you will have to hang around the -barracks to see your lover the corporal of the Guards. A low fall, and -Nicole's ambition ought to have carried her higher. Nicole, a dangler on -a guardsman!" - -And he began to hum a popular song: - -"In the French Guards my sweetheart marches!" - -"For pity's sake, Gilbert, do not eye me thus--it alarms me." - -"Open the door and get that swashbuckler out of the way in ten minutes -when I may take my leave." - -Subjugated by his imperious air, Nicole obeyed. When she returned after -dismissing the corporal, her first lover was gone. - -Alone in his attic, Gilbert cherished of his recollections solely the -picture of Andrea letting down her fine tresses. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE TRAP TO CATCH PHILOSOPHERS. - - -Indifferent to everything since he had learnt of Andrea's going soon to -the court, Gilbert had forgotten the excursion of Rousseau and his -brother botanist on Sunday. He would have preferred to pass the day at -his garret window, watching his idol. - -Rousseau had not only taken special pains over his attire, but arrayed -Gilbert in the best, though Therese had thought overalls and a -smockfrock quite good enough to wander in the woods, picking up weeds. - -He was not wrong for Dr. Jussieu came in his carriage, powdered, -pommaded and freshened up like springtime: Indian satin coat, lilac -taffety vest, extremely fine white silk stockings and polished gold -buckled shoes composed his botanist's outfit. - -"How gay you are!" exclaimed Rousseau. - -"Not at all, I have dressed lightly to get over the ground better." - -"Your silk hose will never stand the wet." - -"We will pick our steps. Can one be too fine to court Mother Nature?" - -The Genevan Philosopher said no more--an invocation to Nature usually -shutting him up. Gilbert looked at Jussieu with envy. If he were arrayed -like him, perhaps Andrea would look at him. - -An hour after the start, the party reached Bougival, where they alighted -and took the Chestnut Walk. On coming in sight of the summerhouse of -Luciennes, where Gilbert had been conducted by Mdlle. Chon when he was -picked up by her, a poor boy on the highway, he trembled. For he had -repaid her succor by fleeing when she had wished to make a buffoon of -him as a peer to Countess Dubarry's black boy, Zamore. - -"It is nine o'clock," observed Dr. Jussieu, "suppose we have breakfast?" - -"Where? did you bring eatables in your carriage?" - -"No, but I see a kiosk over there where a modest meal may be had. We can -herborize as we walk there." - -"Very well, Gilbert may be hungry. What is the name of your inn?" - -"The Trap." - -"How queer!" - -"The country folks have droll ideas. But it is not an inn; only a -shooting-box where the gamekeepers offer hospitality to gentlemen." - -"Of course you know the owner's name?" said Rousseau, suspicious. - -"Not at all: Lady Mirepoix or Lady Egmont--or--it does not matter if the -butter and the bread are fresh." - -The good-humored way in which he spoke disarmed the philosopher who -besides had his appetite whetted by the early stroll. Jussieu led the -march, Rousseau followed, gleaning, and Gilbert guarded the rear, -thinking of Andrea and how to see her at Trianon Palace. - -At the top of the hill, rather painfully climbed by the three botanists, -rose one of those imitation rustic cottages invented by the gardeners of -England and giving a stamp of originality to the scene. The walls were -of brick and the shelly stone found naturally in mosaic patterns on the -riverside. - -The single room was large enough to hold a table and half-a-dozen -chairs. The windows were glazed in different colors so that you could by -selection view the landscape in the red of sunset, the blue of a cloudy -day or the still colder slate hue of a December day. - -This diverted Gilbert but a more attractive sight was the spread on the -board. It drew an outcry of admiration from Rousseau, a simple lover of -good cheer, though a philosopher, from his appetite being as hearty as -his taste was modest. - -"My dear master," said Jussieu, "if you blame me for this feast you are -wrong, for it is quite a mild set-out---- " - -"Do not depreciate your table, you gormand!" - -"Do not call it mine!" - -"Not yours? then whose--the brownies, the fairies?" demanded Rousseau, -with a smile testifying to his constraint and good nature at the same -time. - -"You have hit it," answered the doctor, glancing wistfully to the door. - -Gilbert hesitated. - -"Bless the fays for their hospitality," said Rousseau, "fall on! they -will be offended at your holding back and think you rate their bounty -incomplete." - -"Or unworthy you gentlemen," interrupted a silvery voice at the -summerhouse door, where two pretty women presented themselves arm in -arm. - -With smiles on their lips, they waved their plump hands for Jussieu to -moderate his salutations. - -"Allow me to present the Author Rousseau to your ladyship, countess," -said the latter. "Do you not know the lady?" - -Gilbert did, if his teacher did not, for he stared and, pale as death, -looked for an exit. - -"It is the first time we meet," faltered the Citizen of Geneva. - -"Countess Dubarry!" explained the other botanist. - -His colleague started as though on a redhot plate of iron. - -Jeanne Dubarry, favorite of King Louis X. was a lovely woman, just of -the right plumpness to be a material Venus; fair, with light hair but -dark eyes she was witching and delightful to all men who prefer truth to -fancy in feminine beauty. - -"I am very happy," she said "to see and welcome under my roof one of the -most illustrious thinkers of the era." - -"Lady Dubarry," stammered Rousseau, without seeing that his astonishment -was an offense. "So it is she who gives the breakfast?" - -"You guess right, my dear philosopher," replied Jussieu, "she and her -sister, Mdlle. Chon, who at least is no stranger to Friend Gilbert." - -"Her sister knows Gilbert?" - -"Intimately," rejoined the impudent girl with the audacity which -respected neither royal ill-humor nor philosopher's quips. "We are old -boon companions--are you already forgetful of the candy and cakes of -Luciennes and Versailles?" - -This shot went home; Rousseau dropped his arms. Habituated in his -conceit to think the aristocratic party were always trying to seduce him -from the popular side, he saw traitors and spies in everybody. - -"Is this so, unhappy boy?" he asked of Gilbert, confounded. "Begone, for -I do not like those who blow hot and cold with the same breath." - -"But I ran away from Luciennes where I was locked up, and I must have -preferred your house, my guide, my friend, my philosopher!" - -"Hypocrisy!" - -"But, M. Rousseau, if I wanted the society of these ladies, I should go -with them now?" - -"Go where you like! I may be deceived once but not twice. Go to this -lady, good and amiable--and with this gentleman," he added pointing to -Jussieu, amazed at the philosopher's rebuke to the royal pet, "he is a -lover of nature and your accomplice--he has promised you fortune and -assistance and he has power at court." - -He bowed to the women in a tragic manner, unable to contain himself, and -left the pavillion statelily, without glancing again at Gilbert. - -"What an ugly creature a philosopher is," tranquilly said Chon, watching -the Genevan stumble down the hill. - -"You can have anything you like," prompted Jussieu to Gilbert who kept -his face buried in his hands. - -"Yes, anything, Gilly," added the countess, smiling on the returned -prodigal. - -Raising his pale face, and tossing back the hair matted on his forehead, -he said in a steady voice: - -"I should be glad to be a gardener at Trianon Palace." - -Chon and the countess glanced at each other, and the former touched her -sister's foot while she winked broadly. Jeanne nodded. - -"If feasible, do it," she said to Jussieu. - -Gilbert bowed with his hand on his heart, overflowing with joy after -having been drowned with grief. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -THE LITTLE TRIANON. - - -When Louis XIV. built Versailles and perceived the discomfort of -grandeur, he granted it was the sojourneying-place for a demi-god but no -home for a man. So he had the Trianon constructed to be able to draw a -free breath at leisure moments. - -But the sword of Achilles, if it tired him, was bound to be of -insupportable weight to a myrmidon. Trianon was so much too pompous for -the Fifteenth Louis that he had the _Little_ Trianon built. - -It was a house looking with its large eyes of windows over a park and -woods, with the wing of the servant's lodgings and stables on the left, -where the windows were barred and the kitchens hidden by trellises of -vines and creepers. - -A path over a wooden bridge led to the Grand Trianon through a kitchen -garden. - -The King brought Prime Minister Choiseul into this garden to show him -the improvements introduced to make the place fit for his grandson the -Dauphin, and the Dauphiness. - -Duke Choiseul admired everything and passed his comments with a -courtier's sagacity. He let the monarch say the place would become more -pleasant daily and he added that it would be a family retreat for the -sovereign. - -"The Dauphiness is still a little uncouth, like all young German girls," -said Louis; "She speaks French nicely, but with an Austrian accent -jarring on our ears. Here she will speak among friends and it will not -matter." - -"She will perfect herself," said the duke. "I have remarked that the -lady is highly accomplished and accomplishes anything she undertakes." - -On the lawn they found the Dauphin taking the sun with a sextant. Louis -Aguste, duke of Berry, was a meek-eyed, rosy complexioned man of -seventeen, with a clumsy walk. He had a more prominent Bourbon nose than -any before him, without its being a caricature. In his nimble fingers -and able arms alone he showed the spirit of his race, so to express it. - -"Louis," said the King, loudly to be overheard by his grandson, "is a -learned man, and he is wrong to rack his brain with science, for his -wife will lose by it." - -"Oh, no," corrected a feminine voice as the Dauphiness stepped out from -the shrubbery, where she was chatting with a man loaded with plans, -compass, pencil and notebook. - -"Sire, this is my architect, Mique," she said. - -"Have you caught the family complaint of building?" - -"I am going to turn this sprawling garden into a natural one!" - -"Really? why, I thought that trees and grass and running water are -natural enough." - -"Sire, you have to walk along straight paths between shaped boxwood -trees, hewn at an angle of forty-five, to quote the Dauphin, and ponds -agreeing with the paths, and star centres, and terraces! I am going to -have arbors, rockeries, grottoes, cottages, hills, gorges, meadows---- " - -"For Dutch dolls to stand up in?" queried the King. - -"Alas, Sire, for kings and princes like ourselves," she replied, not -seeing him color up, and that she had spoken a cutting truth. - -"I hope you will not lodge your servants in your woods and on your -rivers like Red Indians, in the natural life which Rousseau praises. If -you do, only the Encyclopædists will eulogise you." - -"Sire, they would be too cold in huts, so I shall keep the out-buildings -for them as they are." She pointed to the windows of a corridor, over -which were the servant' sleeping rooms and under which were the -kitchens. - -"What do I see there?" asked the King, shielding his eyes with his hand, -for he had short-sight. - -"A woman, your Majesty," said Choiseul. - -"A young lady who is my reading-woman," said the princess. - -"It is Mdlle. de Taverney," went on Choiseul. - -"What, are you attaching the Taverneys to your house?" - -"Only the girl." - -"Very good," said the King, without taking his eyes off the barred -window out of which innocently gazed Andrea, with no idea she was -watched. - -"How pale she is!" remarked the Prime Minister. - -"She was nearly killed in the dreadful accident of the 30th of May, my -lord." - -"For which we would have punished somebody severely," said Louis, "but -Chancellor Seguier proved it was the work of Fate. Only that fellow -Bignon, Provost of the Merchants, was dismissed--and--poor girl! he -deserved it." - -"Has she recovered?" asked Choiseul quickly. - -"Yes, thank heaven!" - -"She goes away," said the King. - -"She recognized your Majesty, and fled. She is timid." - -"A cheerless dwelling for a girl!" - -"Oh, no, not so bad." - -"Let us have a look round inside, Choiseul?" - -"Your Majesty, Council of Parliament at Versailles at half-past two." - -"Well, go and give those lawyers a shaking!" - -And the sovereign, delighted to look at buildings, followed the -Dauphiness who was delighted, also, to show her house. They passed -Mdlle. de Taverney under the eaves of the little kitchen yard. - -"This is my reader's room," remarked the Dauphiness. "I will show you it -as a sample of how my ladies will fare." - -It was a suite of anteroom and two parlors. The furniture was placed; -books, a harpsichord, and particularly a bunch of flowers in a Japanese -Vase, attracted the King's attention. - -"What nice flowers! how can you talk of changing your garden? who the -mischief supplies your ladies with such beauties? do they save any for -the mistress?" - -"It is very choice." - -"Who is the gardener here so sweet upon Mdlle. de Taverney?" - -"I do not know--Dr. Jussieu found me somebody." - -The King looked round with a curious eye, and elsewhere, before -departing. The Dauphin was still taking the sun. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - -THE HUNT. - - -A long rank of carriages filled the Forest at Marly where the King was -carrying on what was called an afternoon hunt. The Master of the -Buckhounds had deer so selected that he could let the one out which -would run before the hounds just as long as suited the sovereign. - -On this occasion, his Majesty had stated that he would hunt till four P. -M. - -Countess Dubarry, who had her own game in view, promised herself that -she would hunt the King as steadfastly as he would the deer. - -But huntsmen propose and chance disposes. Chance upset the favorite's -project, and was almost as fickle as she was herself. - -While talking politics with the Duke of Richelieu, who wanted by her -help or otherwise to be First Minister instead of Choiseul, the -countess--while chasing the King, who was chasing the roebuck--perceived -all of a sudden, fifty paces off the road, in a shady grove, a broken -down carriage. With its shattered wheels pointing to the sky, its horses -were browsing on the moss and beech bark. - -Countess Dubarry's magnificent team, a royal gift, had out-stripped all -the others and were first to reach the scene of the breakdown. - -"Dear me, an accident," said the lady, tranquilly. - -"Just so, and pretty bad smash-up," replied Richelieu, with the same -coolness, for sensitiveness is unknown at court. - -"Is that somebody killed on the grass?" she went on. - -"It makes a bow, so I guess _it_ lives." - -And at a venture Richelieu raised his own three-cocked hat. - -"Hold! it strikes me it is the Cardinal Prince Louis de Rohan. What the -deuce is he doing there?" - -"Better go and see. Champagne, drive up to the upset carriage." - -The countess's coachman quitted the road and drove to the grove. The -cardinal was a handsome gentleman of thirty years of age, of gracious -manners and elegant. He was waiting for help to come, with the utmost -unconcern. - -"A thousand respects to your ladyship," he said. "My brute of a coachman -whom I hired from England, for my punishment, has spilled me in taking a -short cut through the woods to join the hunt, and smashed my best -carriage." - -"Think yourself lucky--a French Jehu would have smashed the passenger! -be comforted." - -"Oh, I am philosophic, countess; but it is death to have to wait." - -"Who ever heard of a Rohan waiting?" - -"The present representative of the family is compelled to do it; but -Prince Soubise will happen along soon to give me a lift." - -"Suppose he goes another way? - -"You must step into my carriage; if you were to refuse, I should give it -up to you, and with a footman to carry my train, walk in the woods like -a tree nymph." - -The cardinal smiled, and seeing that longer resistance might be badly -interpreted by the lady, he took the place at the back which the old -duke gave up to him. The prince wanted to dispute for the lesser place -but the marshal was inflexible. - -The countess's team soon regained the lost time. - -"May I ask your Eminence if you are fond of the chase again," began the -lady, "for this is the first time I have seen you out with the hounds." - -"I have been out before; but this time I come to Versailles to see the -King on pressing business; and I went after him as he was in the woods, -but thanks to my confounded driver, I shall lose the royal audience as -well as an apartment in Paris." - -"The cardinal is pretty blunt--he means a love appointment," remarked -Richelieu. - -"Oh, no, it is with a man--but he is not an ordinary man--he is a -magician and works miracles." - -"The very one we are seeking, the duke and I," said Jeanne Dubarry. "I -am glad we have a churchman here to ask him if he believes in miracles?" - -"Madam, I have seen things done by this wizard which may not be -miraculous though they are almost incredible." - -"The prince has the reputation of dealing with spirits." - -"What has your Eminence seen?" - -"I have pledged myself to secresy." - -"This is growing dark. At least you can name the wizard?" - -"Yes, the Count of Fenix---- " - -"That won't do--all good magicians have names ending in the round O." - -"The cap fits--his other name is Joseph Balsamo." - -The countess clasped her hands while looking at Richelieu, who wore a -puzzled look. - -"And was the devil very black? did he come up in green fire and stir a -saucepan with a horrid stench?" - -"Why, no! my magician has excellent manners; he is quite a gentleman and -entertains one capitally." - -"Would you not like him to tell your fortune, countess?" inquired the -duke, well knowing that Lady Dubarry had asserted that when she was a -poor girl on the Paris streets, a man had prophesied she would be a -queen. This man she maintained was Balsamo. "Where does he dwell?" - -"Saint Claude Street, I remember, in the Swamp." - -The countess repeated the clew so emphatically that the marshal, always -afraid his secrets would leak out, especially when he was conspiring to -obtain the government, interrupted the lady by these words: - -"Hist, there is the King!" - -"In the walnut copse, yes. Let us stay here while the prince goes to -him. You will have him all to yourself." - -"Your kindness overwhelms me," said the prelate who gallantly kissed the -lady's hand. - -"But the King will be worried at not seeing you." - -"I want to tease him!" - -The duke alighted with the countess, as light as a schoolgirl, and the -carriage rolled swiftly away to set down the cardinal on the knoll where -the King was looking all about him to see his darling. - -But she, drawing the duke into the covert, said: - -"Heaven sent the cardinal to put us on the track of that magician who -told my fortune so true." - -"I met one--at Vienna, where I was run through the body by a jealous -husband. I was all but dead when my magician came up and cured my wound -with three drops of an elixir, and brought me to life with three more -imbibed." - -"Mine was a young man---- " - -"Mine old as Mathusaleh, and adorned with a sounding Greek name, -Althotas." - -The carriage was coming back. - -"I should like to go, if only to vex the King who will not dismiss -Choiseul in your favor; but I shall be laughed at." - -"In good company, then, for I will go with you." - -At full speed the horses drew the carriage to Paris, containing the -young and the old plotter. - - - - -CHAPTER X. - -A SEANCE OF MESMERISM. - - -It was six P. M. - -Saint Claude Street was in the outskirts on the main road to the Bastile -Prison. The house of the Count Felix, alias Baron Balsamo, was a strong -building, like a castle; and besides a room used for a chemical -laboratory, another study, where the sage Althotas, to whom the duke -alluded, concocted his elixir of long life, and the reception rooms, an -inner house, to which secret passages led, was secluded from ordinary -visitors. - -In a richly furnished parlor of this secret annex, the mysterious man -who, with masonic signs and words, had collected his followers on Louis -XV. Place, and saved Andrea upon Gilbert's appeal--he was seated by a -lovely Italian woman who seemed rebellious to his entreaties. She had no -voice but to reproach and her hand was raised to repulse though it was -plain that he adored her and perhaps for that reason. - -Lorenza Feliciani was his wife, but she railed at him for keeping her a -prisoner, and a slave, and envied the fate of wild birds. - -It was clear that this frail and irritable creature took a large place -in his bosom if not in his life. - -"Lorenza," he softly pleaded, "why do you, my darling, show this -hostility and resistance? Why will you not live with one who loves you -beyond expression as a sweet and devoted wife? Then would you have -nothing farther to long for, free to bloom in the sunshine like the -flowers and spread your wings like the birds you envy. We might go about -in company where the fictitious sun, artificial light, glows on the -assemblies of society. You would be happy according to your tastes and -make me happy in my own way. Why will you not partake of this pleasure, -Lorenza, when you have beauty to make all women jealous?" - -"Because you horrify me--you are not religious, and you work your will -by the black art!" replied the woman haughtily. - -"Then live as you condemn yourself," he replied with a look of anger and -pity; "and do not complain at what your pride earns you." - -"I should not complain if you would only leave me alone and not force me -to speak to you. Let me die in my cage, for I will not sing to you." - -"You are mad," said Balsamo with an effort and trying to smile; "for you -know that you shall not die while I am at hand to guard and heal you." - -"You will not heal me on the day when you find me hanging at my window -bars," she screamed. - -He shuddered. - -"Or stabbed to the heart by this dagger." - -Pale and perspiring icily, Balsamo looked at the exasperated female, and -replied in a threatening voice: - -"You are right; I should not cure you, but I would revive you!" - -The Italian woman uttered a shriek of terror for knowing there was no -bounds to the magician's powers--she believed this--and he was saved. - -A bell rang three times and at equal intervals. - -"My man Fritz," said Balsamo, "notifying me that a messenger is here--in -haste---- " - -"Good, at last you are going to leave me," said Lorenza spitefully. - -"Once again," he responded, taking her cold hand, "but for the last -time. Let us dwell in pleasant union; for as fate has joined us, let us -make fate our friend, not an executioner." - -She answered not a word; her dead and fixed eyes seemed to seek in -vacancy some thought which constantly escaped her because she had too -long sought it, as the sun blinds those who wish to see the very origin -of the light. He kissed her hand without her giving any token of life. -As then he walked over to the fireplace, she awoke from her torper and -let her gaze fall greedily upon him. - -"Ha, ha," he said, "you want to know how I leave these issueless rooms -so that you may escape some day and do me harm, and my brothers of the -Masonic Order by revelations. That is why you are so wide awake." - -But extending his hands, with painful constraint on himself, he made a -pass while darting the magnetic fluid from palm and eye upon her eyes -and breast, saying imperatively: - -"Sleep!" - -Scarcely was the word pronounced before Lorenza bent like a lily on its -stalk; her swinging head inclined and leaned on the sofa cushions; her -dead white hands slid down by her sides, rustling her silky dress. - -Seeing how beautiful she was, Balsamo went up to her and placed a kiss -on her brow. - -Thereupon her whole countenance brightened up, as if the breath from -Love's own lips had dispelled the cloud; her mouth tremulously parted, -her eyes swam in voluptuous tears, and she sighed like those angels may -have sighed for the sons of man, when the world was young. - -For an instant the mesmerist contemplated her as one unable to break off -his ecstasy but as the bell rang again, he sprang to the fireplace, -touched a spring to make the black plate swing aside like a door and so -entered the house in Saint Claude Street. - -In a parlor was a German servant confronting a man in courier's attire -and in horseman's boots armed with large spurs. The vulgar visage -announced one lowly born and yet his eyes were kindled with a spark of -the holy fire which one superior's mind may light. - -His left hand leaned on a clubhandled whip while with his right he made -signs which Balsamo understood, for he tapped his forehead with his -forefinger to imply the same. The postilion's hand then flew to his -breast where he made a new sign which the uninitiated would have taken -for undoing a button. To this the count responded by showing a ring on -his finger. - -"The Grand Master," muttered the envoy, bending the knee to this -redoubtable token. - -"Whence come you?" asked Balsamo. - -"From Rouen last. I am courier to the Duchess of Grammont, in whose -service the Great Copt placed me with the order to have no secrets from -the Master." - -"Whither go you?" - -"To Versailles with a letter for the First Minister." - -"Hand it to me." - -The messenger gave Balsamo a letter from a leather bag strapped to his -back. - -"Wait, Fritz!" The German who had withdrawn, came to take "Sebastian" to -the servant' hall, and he went away, amazed that the Chief knew his -name. - -"He knows all," remarked the servant. - -Remaining alone Balsamo looked at the clear impression of the seal on -the wax which the courier's glance had seemed to beg him to respect. -Slowly and thoughtfully, he went upstairs to the room where he had left -Lorenza in the mesmeric slumber. She had not stirred, but she was -fatigued and unnerved by the inaction. She grasped his hand convulsively -when offered. He took her by the hand which squeezed his convulsively -and on her heart laid the letter. - -"Do you see--what do I hold in my hand--can you read this letter?" - -With her eyes closed, her bosom heaving, Lorenza recited the following -words which the mesmerist wrote down by this wonderful dictation. - - "DEAR BROTHER: As I foresaw, my exile has brought me some good. I - saw the President of the Parliament at Rouen who is on our side but - timid. I pressed him in your name and, deciding, he will send the - remonstrances of his friends before the week is out, to Versailles. - I am off at once to Rennes, to stir up Karadeuc and Lachalotais who - have gone to sleep. Our Caudebec agent was at Rouen, and I saw him. - England will not pause on the road, but is preparing a smart advice - for the Versailles Cabinet. X asked me if it should go and I - authorized it. You will receive the very latest lampoons against - Dubarry's squibs, but they will raise a town. An evil rumor has - reached me that you were in disgrace but I laugh at it since you - have not written me to that effect. Still do not leave me in doubt, - but write me by return of courier. Your next will find me at Caen, - where I have some of our adherents to warm up. Farewell, with - kisses, Your loving - -"DUCHESS DE GRAMMONT." - -Balsamo's forehead had cleared as the clairvoyante proceeded. "A curious -document," he commented, "which would be paid for dearly. How can they -write such damning things? It is always women who ruin superior men. -This Choiseul could not be overthrown by an army of enemies or a -multitude of intrigues, and lo! the breath of a woman crushes him while -caressing. If we have a heart, and a sensitive cord in that heart, we -are lost." - -So saying he looked tenderly towards Lorenza who palpitated under his -regard. - -"Is what I think true?" he asked her. - -"No," she answered, ardently; "You see that I love you too well to -destroy you as a senseless and heartless woman would do." - -Alas! in her mesmeric trance she spoke and felt just the contrary to -what swayed her in her waking mood. - -He let the arms of his enchantress interlace him till the warning bell -of Fritz sounded twice. - -"Two visits," he interpreted. - -A violent peal finished the telegraphed phrase. - -Disengaging himself from Lorenza's clasp, Balsamo left the room, the -woman being still in the magnetic sleep. On the way he met the courier. - -"Here is the letter. Bear it to the address. That is all." - -The adept of the Order looked at the envelope and the seal, and seeing -that both were intact, he manifested his joy, and disappeared in the -shadows. - -"What a pity I could not keep such an autograph," sighed the magician -"and what a pity it cannot be placed by sure hands before the King." - -"Who is there?" he asked of Fritz who appeared. - -"A young and pretty lady with an old gentleman whom I do not know as -they have never called before." - -"Where are they?" - -"In the parlor." - -Balsamo walked into the room where the countess had concealed her face -completely in her cloak hood; she looked like a woman of the lower -middle class. The marshal, more shrinking than she, was garbed in grey -like an upper servant in a good house. - -"My lord count," began Dubarry, "do you know me?" - -"Perfectly, my lady the countess. Will you please take a seat, and also -your companion." - -"My steward," said the lady. - -"You are in error," said the host bowing; "this is the Duke of -Richelieu, whom I readily recognize and who would be very ungrateful if -he did not recall one who saved his life--I might say drew him back from -among the dead." - -"Oh, do you hear that, duke?" exclaimed the lady laughing. - -"You, saved my life, count?" questioned Richelieu, in consternation. - -"Yes, in Vienna, in 1725, when your grace was Ambassador there." - -"You were not born at that date!" - -"I must have been, my lord," replied Balsamo smiling, "for I met you -dying, say dead, on a handbarrow with a fine swordthrust right through -your midriff. By the same token, I dropped a little of my elixir on the -gash--there, at the very place where you wear lace rather too rich for a -steward!" - -"But you are scarce over thirty, count," expostulated the duke. - -"But you must see that you are facing a wizard," said the countess -bursting into laughter. - -"I am stupefied. In that case you would be---- " - -"Oh, we wizards change our names for every generation, my lord. In 1725, -the fashion for us was to end in _us_, _os_ or _as_, and there is no -ground for astonishment that I should have worn a name either in Greek -or Latin. But, Althotas or Balsamo, or Fenix, I am at your orders, -countess--and at yours, duke." - -"Count, the marshal and I have come to consult you." - -"It is doing me much honor, but it is natural that you should apply to -me." - -"Most naturally, for your prediction that I should become a queen is -always trotting in my brain: still I doubt its coming true." - -"Never doubt what science says, lady." - -"But the kingdom is in a sore way--it would want more than three drops -of the elixir which sets a duellist on his legs." - -"Ay, but three words may knock a minister off his!" retorted the -magician. "There, have I hit it? Speak!" - -"Perfectly," replied the fair visitress trembling. "Truly, my lord duke, -what do you say to all this?" - -"Oh, do not be wonderstricken for so little," observed Balsamo, who -could divine what troubled so the favorite and the court conspirator -without any witchcraft. - -"The fact is I shall think highly of you if you suggest the remedy we -want," went on the marshal. - -"You wish to be cured of the attacks of Choiseul?" - -"Yes, great soothsayer, yes." - -"Do not leave us in the plight, my lord; your honor is at stake," added -the lovely woman. - -"I am ready to serve you to my utmost; but I should like to hear if the -duke had not some settled plan in calling." - -"I grant it, my lord count--Faith! it is nice to have a man of title for -wizard, it does not take us out of our class." - -"Come, be frank," said the host smiling. "You want to consult me?" - -"But I can only whisper it in the strictest privacy to the count because -you would beat me if you overheard, countess." - -"The duke is not accustomed to being beaten," remarked Balsamo, which -delighted the old warrior. - -"The long and the short of it is that the King is dying of tedium." - -"He is no longer _amusable_, as Lady Maintenon used to say." - -"Nothing in that hurts my feelings, duke," said Lady Dubarry. - -"So much the better, which puts me at my ease. Well, we want an elixir -to make the King merry." - -"Pooh, any quack at the corner will provide such a philter." - -"But we want the virtue to be attributed to this lady," resumed the -duke. - -"My lord, you are making the lady blush," said Balsamo. "But as we were -saying just now, no philter will deliver you of Choiseul. Were the King -to love this lady ten times more than at present--which is -impossible--the minister would still preserve over his mind the hold -which the lady has over his heart?" - -"That is true," said the duke. "But it was our sole resource." - -"I could easily find another." - -"Easily? do you hear that, countess? These magicians doubt nothing." - -"Why should I doubt when the simple matter is to prove to the King that -the Duke of Choiseul betrays him--from the King's point of view, for of -course the duke does not think he is betraying him, in what he does." - -"And what is he doing?" - -"You know as well as I, countess, that he is upholding Parliamentary -opposition against the royal authority." - -"Certainly, but by what means?" - -"By agents who foster the movement while he warrants their impunity." - -"But we want to know these agents." - -"The King sees in the journey of Lady Grammont merely an exile but you -cannot believe that she went for any other errand than to fan the ardent -and fire the cool." - -"Certainly, but how to prove the hidden aim?" - -"By accusing the lady." - -"But the difficulty is in proving the accusation," said the countess. - -"Were it clearly proved, would the duke remain Prime Minister?" - -"Surely not!" exclaimed the countess. - -"This necromancer is delightful," said old Richelieu, laughing heartily -as he leaned back in his chair: "catch Choiseul redhanded in treason? -that is all, and quite enough, too, ha, ha, ha!" - -"Would not a confidential letter do it?" said Balsamo impassibly. "Say -from Lady Grammont?" - -"My good wizard, if you could conjure up one!" said the countess. "I -have been trying to get one for five years and spent a hundred thousand -francs a year and have never succeeded." - -"Because, madam, you did not apply to me. I should have lifted you out -of the quandary." - -"Oh, I hope it is not too late!" - -"It is never too late," said Count Fenix, smiling. - -"Then you have such a letter?" said the lady, clasping her hands. "Which -would compromise Choiseul?" - -"It would prove he sustains the Parliament in its bout with the King; -eggs on England to war with France; so as to keep him indispensable: and -is the enemy of your ladyship." - -"I would give one of my eyes to have it." - -"That would be too dear; particularly as I shall give you the letter for -nothing." And he drew a piece of paper folded twice from his pocket. - -"The letter you want!" And in the deepest silence the letter was read by -him which he had transcribed from Lorenza's thought reading. - -The countess stared as he proceeded and lost countenance. - -"This is a slanderous forgery--deuce take it, have a care!" said -Richelieu. - -"It is the plain, literal copy of a letter from Lady Grammont on the -way, by a courier from Rouen this morning, to the Duke de Choiseul at -Versailles." - -"The duchess wrote such an imprudent letter?" - -"It is incredible, but she has done it." - -The old courtier looked over to the countess who had no strength to say -anything. - -"Excuse me, count," she said, "but I am like the duke, hard to accept -this as written by the witty lady, and damaging herself and her brother; -besides to have knowledge of it one must have read it." - -"And the count would have kept the precious original as a treasure," -suggested the marshal. - -"Oh," returned Balsamo, shaking his head gently; "that is the way with -those who break open seals to read letters but not for those who can -read through the envelopes. Fie, for shame! Besides, what interest have -I in destroying Lady Grammont and the Choiseuls? You come in a friendly -way to consult me and I answer in that manner. You want service done, -and I do it. I hardly suppose you came fee in hand, as to a juggler in -the street?" - -"Oh, my lord!" exclaimed Dubarry. - -"But who advised you, count?" asked Richelieu. - -"You want to know in a minute as much as I, the sage, the adept, who has -lived three thousand and seven hundred years." - -"Ah, you are spoiling the good opinion we had of you," said the old -nobleman. - -"I am not pressing you to believe me, and it was not I who asked you to -come away from the royal hunt." - -"He is right, duke," said the lady visitor. "Do not be impatient with -us, my lord." - -"The man is never impatient who has time on his hands." - -"Be so good--add this favor to the others you have done me, to tell me -how you obtain such secrets?" - -"I shall not hesitate, madam," said Balsamo slowly as if he were -matching words with her speech, "the revelation is made to me by a -bodiless Voice. It tells me all that I desire." - -"Miraculous!" - -"But you do not believe!" - -"Honestly not, count," said the duke; "how can you expect any one to -believe such things?" - -"Would you believe if I told you what the courier is doing who bears -this letter to the Duke of Choiseul?" - -"Of course," responded the countess. - -"I shall when I hear the voice," subjoined the duke. - -"But you magicians and necromanciers have the privilege of seeing and -hearing the supernatural." - -Balsamo shot at the speaker so singular a glance that the countess -thrilled in every vein and the sceptical egotist felt a chill down his -neck and back. - -"True," said he, after a long silence, "I alone see and hear things and -beings beyond your ken: but when I meet those of your grace's rank and -hight of intellect and of your beauty, fair lady, I open my treasures -and share. You shall hear the mystic voice." - -The countess trembled, and the duke clenched his fist not to do the -same. - -"What language shall it use?" - -"French," faltered the countess. "I know no other and a strange one -would give me too much fright." - -"The French for me," said the duke. "I long to repeat what the devil -says, and mark if he can discourse as correctly as my friend Voltaire." - -With his head lowered, Balsamo walked over to the little parlor door -which opened on the secret stairs. - -"Let me shut us in so that you will be less exposed to evil influences," -he explained. - -Turning pale, the countess took the duke's arm. - -Almost touching the staircase door, Balsamo stepped into the corner -where the inner dwelling was located, and where Lorenza was, and in a -loud voice uttered in Arabic the words, which we translate: - -"My dear, do you hear? if so, ring the bell twice." - -He watched for the effect on his auditor' faces, for they were the more -touched from not understanding the speech. The bell rang twice. The -countess bounded up on the sofa and the duke wiped his forehead with his -handkerchief. - -"Since you hear me," went on the magician in the same tongue, "push the -marble knob which represents the lion's right eye in the mantelpiece of -sculpture, and a panel will open. Walk through the opening, cross my -room, come down the stairs, and enter the room next where I am -speaking." - -Next instant, a light rustle, like a phantom's flight, warned Balsamo -that his orders had been understood and carried out. - -"What gibberish is that? the cabalistic?" queried Richelieu to appear -cool. - -"Yes, my lord, used in invocations of the demons. You will understand -the Voice but not what I conjure it with." - -"Demons? is it the devil?" - -"A superior being may invoke a superior spirit. This spirit is now in -direct communication with us," he said as he pointed to the wall which -seemed to end the house and had not a perceptible break in it. - -"I am afraid, duke--and are not you?" - -"To tell the truth I would rather be back in the battles of Mahon or -before Philipsburg." - -"Lady and lord, listen for you would hear," said Balsamo sternly. In the -midst of solemn silence, he proceeded in French: - -"Are you there?" - -"I am here," replied a pure and silvery voice which penetrated the wall -and tapestry so muffled as to seem a sweet-toned bell sounded at an -incalculable distance, rather than a human voice. - -"Plague on it! this is growing exciting," said the duke; "and yet -without red fire, the trombone, and the gong." - -"It is dreadful," stammered the countess. - -"Take heed of my questioning," said Balsamo. "First tell me how many -persons I have with me?" - -"Two, a man and a woman: the man is the Duke of Richelieu, the woman, -the Countess Dubarry." - -"Reading in his mind," uttered the duke; "this is pretty clever." - -"I never saw the like," said the countess, trembling. - -"It is well," said Balsamo; "now, read the first line of the letter -which I hold." - -The Voice obeyed. - -Duke and countess looked at each other with astonishment rising to -admiration. - -"What has happened to this letter, which I wrote under your dictation?" - -"It is travelling to the west and is afar." - -"How is it travelling?" - -"A horseman rides with it, clad in green vest, a hareskin cap and high -boots. His horse is a piebald." - -"Where do you see him?" asked Balsamo sternly. - -"On a broad road plated with trees." - -"The King's highway--but which one?" - -"I know not--roads are alike." - -"What other objects are on it?" - -"A large vehicle is coming to meet the rider; on it are soldiers and -priests---- " - -"An omnibus," suggested Richelieu. - -"On the side at the top is the word 'VERSAILLES.'" - -"Leave this conveyance, and follow the courier." - -"I see him not--he has turned the road." - -"Take the turn, and after!" - -"He gallops his horse--he looks at his watch---- " - -"What see you in front of him?" - -"A long avenue--splendid buildings--a large town." - -"Go on." - -"He lashes his steed; it is streaming with sweat--poor horse! the people -turn to hear the ringing shoes on the stones. Ah, he goes down a long -hilly street, he turns to the right, he slackens his pace, he stops at -the door of a grand building." - -"You must now follow with attention. But you are weary. Be your -weariness dispelled! Now, do you still see the courier?" - -"Yes, he is going up a broad stone staircase, ushered by a servant in -blue and gold livery. He goes through rooms decorated with gold. He -reaches a lighted study. The footman opens the door for him and -departs." - -"Enter, you! What see you?" - -"The courier bows to a man sitting at a desk, whose back is to the door. -He turns--he is in full dress with a broad blue ribbon crossing his -breast. His eye is sharp, his features irregular, his teeth good; his -age fifty or more." - -"Choiseul," whispered the countess to the duke who nodded. - -"The courier hands the man a letter---- " - -"Say the duke--it is a duke." - -"A letter," resumed the obedient Voice, "taken from a leather satchel -worn on his back. Unsealing it, the duke reads it with attention. He -takes up a pen and writes on a sheet of paper." - -"It would be fine if we could learn what he wrote," said Richelieu. - -"Tell me what he writes," said Balsamo. - -"It is fine, scrawling, bad writing." - -"Read, I will it!" said the magician's imperative voice. - -The auditors held their breath. - -And they heard the voice say: - - "DEAR SISTER: be of good heart. The crisis has passed. I await the - morrow with impatience for I am going to take the offensive with - all presaging decisive success. All well about the Rouen - Parliament, Lord X., and the squibs. To-morrow, after business with - the King, I will append a postscript to this letter and despatch by - this courier." - -While with his left hand Balsamo seemed to wrest out each word with -difficulty, with his right he wrote the lines which Duke Choiseul was -writing in Versailles. - -"What is the duke doing?" - -"He folds up the paper and puts it in a small pocketbook taken from the -left side of his coat. He dismisses the courier, saying: 'Be at one -o'clock at the Trianon gateway.' The courier bows and comes forth." - -"That is so," said Richelieu: "he is making an appointment for the man -to get the answer." - -Balsamo silenced him with a gesture. - -"What is the duke doing?" - -"He rises, holding the letter he received. He goes to his couch, passes -between its edge and the wall, pushes a spring which opens an iron safe -in the wall, throws in the letter and shuts the safe." - -"Oh, pure magic!" ejaculated the countess and the marshal, both pallid. - -"Do you know all you wished?" Balsamo asked La Dubarry. - -"My lord," said she, going to him, but in terror, "you have done me a -service for which I would pay with five years of my life, or indeed I -can never repay. Ask me anything you like." - -"Oh, you know we are already in account. The time is not come to -settle." - -"You shall have it, were it a million---- " - -"Pshaw, countess!" exclaimed the old nobleman, "you had better look to -the count for a million. One who knows--who can see what he sees, might -discover gold and diamonds in the bowels of the earth as he does -thoughts in the mind of man." - -"Nay, countess, I will give you the chance some day of acquitting -yourself as regards me." - -"Count," said the duke, "I am subjugated, vanquished, crushed--I -believe!" - -"You know you saw but that is not belief." - -"Call it what you please; I know what I shall say if magicians are -spoken of before me." - -"My Spirit is fatigued," said Balsamo smiling: "let me release it by a -magical spell. Lorenza," he pursued, but in Arabic, "I thank you, and I -love you. Return to your room as you came and wait for me. Go, my -darling!" - -"I am most tired--make haste, Acharat!" replied the Voice, in Italian, -sweeter than during the invocation. And the faint sound as of a winged -creature flying was heard diminishing. - -Convinced of his medium's departure in a few minutes, the mesmerist -bowed profoundly but with majestic dignity to his two frightened -visitors, absorbed in the flood of thoughts tumultuously overwhelming -them. They got back to their carriage more like intoxicated persons than -reasonable ones. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - -THE DOWNFALL AND THE ELEVATION. - - -The great clock of Versailles Palace was striking eleven when King Louis -XV., coming out of his private apartments, crossed the gallery nearest -and called out for the Master of Ceremonies, Duke Vrilliere. He was pale -and seemed agitated, though he tried to conceal his emotion. An icy -silence spread among the courtiers, among whom were included Duke -Richelieu and Chevalier Jean Dubarry, a burly coarse bully, but -tolerated as brother of the favorite. They were calm, affecting -indifference and ignorance of what was going on. - -The duke approaching was given a sealed letter for Duke Choiseul which -would find him in the palace. The courtiers hung their heads while -muttering, like ears of wheat when the squall whistles over them. They -surrounded Richelieu while Vrilliere went on his errand, but the old -marshal pretended to know no more than they, while smiling to show he -was not a dupe. - -When the royal messenger returned he was besieged by the inquisitive. - -"Well, it was an order of exile," said he, "for I have read it. Thus it -ran," and he repeated what he had retained by the implacable memory of -old courtiers: - - COUSIN: My discontent with your services obliges me to exile your - grace to Chanteloup, where you should be in twenty-four hours. I - should send you farther but for consideration of the duchess's - state of health. Have a care that your conduct does not drive me to - a severer measure. - -The group murmured for some time. - -"What did he say," queried Richelieu. - -"That he was sure I found pleasure in bearing such a message." - -"Rather rough," remarked Dubarry. - -"But a man cannot get such a chimney-brick on his head Without crying -out something," added the marshal-duke. "I wonder if he will obey?" - -"Bless us, here he comes, with his official portfolio under his arm!" -exclaimed the Master of Ceremonies aghast, while Jean Dubarry had the -cold shivers. - -Lord Choiseul indeed was crossing the courtyard, with a calm, assured -look blasting with his clear glance his enemies and those who had -declared against him after his disgrace. Such a step was not foreseen -and his entrance into the royal privy chambers was not opposed. - -"Hang it! will he coax the King over, again?" muttered Richelieu. - -Choiseul presented himself to the King with the letter of exile in his -hand. - -"Sire, as it was understood that I was to hold no communication from -your Majesty as valid without verbal confirmation, I come for that." - -"This time it holds good," rejoined the King. - -"Such an offensive letter holds good against a devoted servitor?" - -"Against the servitor--you who received a letter in your house here, -from Lady Grammont, by courier---- " - -"Surely brother and sister may correspond?" - -"Not with such letters--" And the monarch held out a copy of the letter -dictated by Balsamo's Voice--this time made by the King's own hand. -"Deny not--you have the original locked up in the iron safe in your -bedroom." - -Pale as a spectre the duke listened to the sovereign continuing -pitilessly. - -"This is not all. You have an answer for Lady Grammont in your -pocketbook only waiting for its postscript to be added when you leave my -presence. You see I am well informed." - -The duke bowed without saying a word and staggered out of the room as -though he were struck by apoplexy. But for the open air coming on his -face he would have dropped backwards; but he was a man of powerful will -and recovering composure, he passed through the courtiers to enter his -rooms where he burnt certain papers. A quarter of an hour following he -left the palace in his coach. - -The disgrace of Choiseul was a thunderbolt which set fire to France. - -The Parliament which his tolerance had upheld, proclaimed that the State -had lost its strongest prop. The nobility sustained him as one of their -order. The clergy felt fostered by a man whose severe style made his -post almost sacerdotal. The philosophical party, very numerous by this -time and potent, because the most active, intelligent and learned formed -it, shouted aloud when "their" Government escaped from the hands of the -protector of Voltaire, the pensioner of the Encyclopedist writers and -the preserver of the traditions of Lady Pompadour playing the -Maccenas-in-petticoats for the newspaper writers and pamphleteers. - -The masses also complained and with more reason than the others. Without -deep insight they knew where the shoe pinched. - -From the general point of view Choiseul was a bad minister and a bad -citizen, but he was a paragon of patriotism and morality compared with -the sycophants, mistresses and their parasites--particularly Lady -Dubarry whom a lampoonist qualified as less to be respected than a -charcoal-man's wife. To see the reins pass into the hands of the pet of -a favorite made the future blacker than before. - -Hence nearly everybody flocked on the road to cheer the Minister as he -went away in exile. - -There was a block to the traffic at the Enfer Tollbar, on the Touraine -Road. A hundred carriages escorted the duke after he had got through -here. - -Cheers and sighs followed him, but he was too sharp not to know that -there was less regret over his going than fear about those who would -replace him. - -On the crowded highway a postchaise came tearing and would have run down -the minister but for a violent swerving of the postboy. - -A head was stuck out of the chaise window at the same time as the Duke -of Choiseul looked out of his. - -It was the Duke of Aiguillon, nephew of Richelieu, who would probably -have a place in the cabinet which the marshal duke, as the new minister, -would form. No doubt he had received the cue and was hurrying to take -the berth. He saluted the fallen one very lowly. The latter drew back in -the coach, for in this second the sight had withered all the laurels. - -At the same time, as compensation up came a carriage with the royal -colors, drawn by eight horses on the Sevres branch-road, and crossing -with Choiseul's equipage by chance or the block. - -On the back seat was the Dauphiness with her mistress of the Household, -Lady Noailles; on the front one was Andrea de Taverney. - -Red with glory and delight, Choiseul leaned out and bowed lowly. - -"Farewell, princess," he said in a choking voice. - -"Farewell, my lord, till soon we meet again!" was the reply. The -Archduchess gave an imperial smile and showed majestic disdain for court -etiquet, by replying. - -"Choiseul forever!" shouted an enthusiastic voice close upon these -words. - -Andrea turned rapidly towards the speaker, for she knew the voice. - -"Room, make room there," roared the royal squires, forcing Gilbert, pale -and hot with getting to the front to see into the line along the -roadside ditch. - -It was indeed our hero, who had in a fit of philosophical fervor, -shouted for Choiseul. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - -ANDREA IN FAVOR. - - -At three in the afternoon Mdlle. de Taverney came out of her rooms -dressed to perform her duty as reader to the princess. - -On reaching the Trianon Summerhouse she was told that her mistress was -in the grounds with her architect and head-gardener. In the upper story -could be heard the whizz of the turning-lathe with which the Dauphin was -busy making a safety lock for a chest which he thought a great deal of. - -To join the Dauphiness, Andrea crossed the garden where, although the -season had come on the pale flowers were lifting their heads to catch -the fleeting rays of a still paler sun. Dark came at six, and the -gardeners were covering the plants from the frost with glass bells. - -On the lawn at the end of a walk hedged with trimmed trees and Bengal -roses, Andrea suddenly perceived one of these men who, on seeing her, -rose from stooping over his spade and saluted her with more grace and -politeness than a common man could do. Looking she recognized Gilbert, -whom she had seen from a child on her father's estate. She blushed in -spite of herself, for the presence of this ex-retainer seemed a very -curious kindness of destiny. - -He repeated the salute and she had to return it as she passed on. But -she was too courageous and straight-forward a creature to resist a -movement of the spirit and leave a question unanswered of her disturbed -soul. - -She retraced her steps, and Gilbert, who had lost color and was eyeing -her ominously, returned to life and made a spring to arrive before her. - -"How do you happen to be here, Gilbert?" she began. - -"A man must live, and honestly." - -"Well, you ought to be happy in such a position!" - -"I am very happy indeed to be here." - -"Who helped you to the place?" - -"Dr. Jussieu, a patron of mine. He is a friend of another patron, the -great Rousseau." - -"Good luck, Gilbert," said Andrea, preparing to go. - -"I hope you are better--after your accident?" ventured the young man in -so quivering a voice that one could see that it came from a vibrating -heart. - -"Yes, thanks," she coldly answered. "It did not amount to anything." - -"Why, you came near dying--the danger was dreadful," said Gilbert, at -the hight of emotion. - -Andrea perceived by this that it was high time that she cut short this -chat in the open with a royal gardener. - -"Will you not have a rose?" questioned he, shivering. - -"Why, how can you offer what is not yours?" she demanded. - -He looked at her surprised and overcome, but as she smiled with -superciliousness, he broke off a branch of the finest rose-tree and -began to pluck the flowers and cast them down with a noble coolness -which impressed even this haughty Patrician girl. - -She was too good and fair-dealing not to see that she had wantonly -wounded the feelings of an inferior who had only been polite to her. -Like all proud ones feeling guilty of a fault, she resumed her stroll -without a word, although the excuse was on her lips. - -"Gilbert did not speak either; he tossed aside the rose-twig and took up -the spade again, bending to work but also to see Andrea go away. At the -turning of the walk she could not help looking back--for she was a -woman. - -"Hurrah!" he said to himself; "she is not so strong as me and I shall -master her yet. Overbearing with her beauty, title and fortune now -rising, insolent to me because she divines that I love her, she only -becomes the more desirable to the poor workingman who still trembles as -he looks upon her. Confound this trembling, unworthy of a man! but she -shall pay some day for the cowardice she makes me feel. I have done -enough this day in making her give in," he added. "I should have been -the weaker as I love her, but I was ten times the stronger." - -He repeated these words with savage delight, struck his spade deep into -the ground and started to cut across the lawn to intercept the young -lady at another path when he caught sight of a gentleman in the alley up -which Andrea was proceeding in hopes to meet her royal mistress. - -This gentleman wore a velvet suit under a cloak trimmed deeply with -sable; he carried his head high; his hat was under his arm, and his left -hand was on his sword. He stuck out his leg, which was well made, and -threw up his ankle which was high, like a man of the finest training. On -seeing him, Gilbert uttered involuntarily a low exclamation and fled -through the sumach bushes like a frightened blackbird. - -The nobleman spied Andrea and without quickening his measured gait he -manoevred so as to meet her at the end of a cross-path. - -Hearing the steps, she turned a little aside to let the promenader pass -her and she glanced at him when he had done so. - -He looked at her, and with all his eyes; he stopped to get a better view -and turning round, said: - -"May I ask why you are running so fast, young lady?" - -At this, Andrea saw, thirty paces behind, two royal lifeguards officers, -she spied the blue ribbon under the speaker's mantle, and she faltered, -pale and alarmed by this encounter and accosting: - -"The King!" - -"I have such poor sight that I am obliged to inquire your name?" -returned the monarch, approaching as she courtseyed lowly. - -"I am Mdlle. de Taverney," she murmured, so confused and trembling that -she hardly made herself understood. - -"Oh, yes; are you making a voyage of discovery in the place?" - -"I am going to join her Royal Highness, the Dauphiness, whom I am in -attendance," replied Andrea more and more agitated. - -"I will see you to her," said the King, "for I am going to my -grand-daughter-in-law to pay her a call like a country neighbor. So, -kindly accept my arm." - -Andrea felt her sight dimmed and her blood boiling up in her heart. Like -a dream appeared this honor to the impoverished nobleman's daughter, to -be on the arm of the lord overall--a glory despaired of, an incredible -favor which the whole court would covet. She made a profound courtesy so -religiously shrinking that the King was obliged to return it with a bow. -When Louis XV. remembered his sire, he did so in ceremonious matters: it -is true that French royal attentions to the fair sex dated back to King -Harry Fourth of gallant memory. - -Though the King was not fond of walking, he took the longest way round -to the Trianon: the two guards officers in attendance saw this as they -were not any too warmly clad. - -They arrived late as the Dauphiness had started, not to keep her lord -and master waiting. They, too, were at the table, with Lady Noailles, -nicknamed, "Lady Stickler," so rigid about etiquet was she, and the Duke -of Richelieu in attendance, when the servant' voices echoed through the -house: - -"The King!" - -At this magic word, Lady Noailles jumped up as if worked by a spring; -Richelieu rose leisurely as usual; the Dauphin wiped his mouth with his -napkin and stood up in his place, with his face turned to the door. - -The Dauphiness moved towards the door to meet the visitor the sooner and -do him the honors of the house. - -Louis was still holding Andrea by the hand and only at the landing did -he release her, saluting her with so long and courteous a bow that -Richelieu had time to notice the grace of it, and wonder to what happy -mortal it was addressed. - -The Dauphiness had seen and recognized Andrea. - -"Daughter," said Louis taking the Austrian's arm, "I come without -ceremony to ask supper. I crossed the park and meeting Mdlle. de -Taverney on the road I entreated her to keep me company." - -"The Taverney girl?" muttered Richelieu, almost stunned. "By my faith, -this is very lucky, for she is daughter of an old friend of mine." - -"The consequence is that, instead of scolding the young lady for being -late, I shall thank her for having brought your Majesty," said the -Dauphiness pleasantly. - -Red as the cherries garnishing a dish on the table, Andrea bowed without -replying. - -"Deuce take me but she is very lovely," thought Richelieu, "and that old -rogue Taverney never sang her up highly enough." - -After receiving the bow of the Dauphin, Louis sat at table, where a -place was always reserved for him. Endowed with a good appetite like his -ancestors, he did honor to the spread which the steward had ready as if -by magic. But while eating, the King, whose back was to the door, -fidgetted as though he was looking for somebody or something. - -The fact was Mdlle. de Taverney, having no fixed position in the -household, had not entered the dining-room but after bowing to the -Dauphin and his lady, went into the sitting-room where she was wont to -read to her mistress. - -The Dauphiness guessed whom her royal relative was looking for. - -"Lieut. Coigny," she said to a young officer behind the King: "Will you -please request Mdlle. de Taverney to come here. With the leave of Lady -Noailles we will derogate from the regulations to-night." - -In another instant, Andrea came in, trembling as she could not -understand this accumulation of favors. - -"Find a place there, by the Dauphiness," said the Dauphin. - -She went upon the raised platform for the Royalties, and had what seemed -the audacity to sit within one step of Lady Noailles. She received such -a withering glance from the latter that the poor girl recoiled at least -four feet as though she had been shocked by an electrical discharge. - -Louis the King smiled as he saw this. - -"Why, here are things running along so smoothly," thought old Richelieu, -"that there will hardly be any need of my helping them." - -The King turned on the marshal who was prepared to meet his look. - -"How do you do, duke?" he said; "are you still chiming in with Lady -Noailles?" - -"Sire, the duchess is good enough still to treat me like a -whipping-post." - -"I suppose you have been on the road to Chanteloup?" - -"I, Sire? I have all the _cheering_ news I desire from your Majesty to -my house." - -"What have I done for you?" asked the King, who had not expected this -retort and did not like to be jested with when he had wanted to have his -fun. - -"Sire, your Majesty has given my nephew Aiguillon the command of the -Royal Light-horse. To do that for a nobleman who has many foes, all your -Majesty's energy and statecraft were required--it is almost a movement -of Royalty itself against all comers." - -This was at the end of the repast; the King just waited an instant -before he rose. Conversation might have embarrassed him: but Richelieu -did not want to release his prey. While the King was chatting with the -others he worked round so dextrously as to have an opening to say: - -"Sire, it is well-known that success emboldens a man." - -"Are you bold, then, duke?" - -"I make so bold as to ask for another boon after the many I am thanking -your Majesty for: it is for an old comrade of mine, a good old friend, -and one of your Majesty's best servitors. He has a son in the army. He -is a young man of merit but wants the purse. An august princess has -gratified him with the brevet rank of captain but he has no company to -command." - -"Is the princess my daughter?" asked the King. - -"Yes, Sire, and the young gentleman is the son and heir of Baron -Taverney." - -"My father!" Andrea could not help exclaiming, "Philip? do you beg a -company for my brother, Philip?" - -Ashamed of her breach of etiquet in speaking without the Royals putting -a question, she fell back a step, blushing and wringing her hands. The -King turned to admire her blushes and emotion; then he gave the wily -courtier a glance teaching him how agreeable the request was by reason -of its timeliness. - -"Really, the young chevalier is charming and I promised to make his -fortune," struck in the Dauphiness; "How unhappy we princes are! When we -have the willingness to oblige, heaven bereaves us of memory or reason. -Ought I not have thought that the young gentleman might lack lucre and -that the rank was a snare without the soldiers to back it?" - -"Why, lady, how could your Highness have known?" - -"But I did know," interrupted the Austrian, recalling the glimpse she -had at the poverty-stricken abode of the Taverneys on her passing -through Touraine; "and I ought to have thought of that when I gave the -rank." - -The King looked at the speaker's noble and open countenances: then his -eyes fell on Richelieu's, also illumined by a ray of their generosity -reflected. - -"Duke," he whispered, "I shall be embroiled with La Dubarry. But," he -proceeded aloud, turning to Andrea, "do you tell me that this will -afford you pleasure?" - -"I entreat it," she said, clasping her hands. - -"It is granted then," said Louis. "Duke, select a good company for the -young hero. I will provide the expenses if it is not fully raised and -all paid for." - -This good action rejoiced all the attendants. It earned the donor a -heavenly smile from Andrea, and a grateful one from the same to -Richelieu. - -Some visitors dropped in, among them the Cardinal Prince Rohan who paid -assiduous court to the Dauphiness. But the King had attention and sugary -words solely for Richelieu that evening. He took the joyous old marshal -with him when he left to go home. Andrea was relieved by the Dauphiness -who said: - -"You will want to send this good piece of news to your parent in town. -You can retire." - -Preceded by a lackey carrying a lantern, the young lady crossed the -grounds to her part of the palace. Before her, from bush to bush, -bounded what seemed a shadow in the foliage; it was Gilbert whose -sparkling eyes watched her every movement. When Andrea was left at the -doorway, the footman returned. Thereupon Gilbert went up to his room in -the stable lofts, where his window overlooked the girl's at the corner. - -He saw her call a strange waiting-woman who let the curtains fall like -an impenetrable veil betwixt the beloved object and the young lover's -burning gaze. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - -NICOLE IS VALUED PROPERLY. - - -The only guest left in the palace was Cardinal Rohan redoubting his -gallantry towards the princess, who received him but cooly. As the -Dauphin retired he feared it would look bad to remain, so he took leave -with all the tokens of the most profound but affectionate respect. - -As he was stepping into his coach, a waiting woman slipped up and all -but entering the vehicle, she whispered: - -"I have got it." - -She put a small packet in the prince's hand, wrapped in tissue paper, -and it made him start. - -"Here's for you, an honorable salary," he replied, giving her a heavy -purse. - -Without losing time, the cardinal ordered his coachman to go on to Paris -where, at the toll-bar he gave him fresh orders to drive to St. Claude -Street. On the way, he had in the darkness felt the paper, and kissed it -as a lover would a keepsake. - -Soon after he was treading the parlor carpet of the mysterious house -where La Dubarry and Duke Richelieu had been appalled by Balsamo's -power. It was he who appeared to welcome the cardinal but after some -delay, for which he excused himself as he had not expected visitors so -late. It was nearly eleven. - -"It is so, and I ask pardon, baron," said the other; "but you may -remember that you told me that you could reveal certain secrets if you -had a tress of the hair of the person---- " - -"Of whom we spoke," interrupted the magician guardedly, as he had -already caught sight of the little parcel in the simple prelate's hand. -"It is very good if you have brought it." - -"Shall I be able to have it again after the experiment?" - -"Unless we have to test it with fire---- " - -"Never mind, then, for I can get some more. Can I have the answer -to-night--I am so impatient." - -"I will try, my lord. At all events, midnight is the spirit' hour." - -He took the packet which was a lock of hair and ran up to Lorenza's -room. - -"I am going to learn the secret about this dynasty," he said on the way. -"The hidden design of the Supreme Architect." - -Before he opened the secret door he put the medium into the magnetic -sleep. Hence she who hated him when in her senses greeted him with a -tender embrace. With difficulty he tore himself from her arms but it was -imperative--only a child or a virgin can be used to the utmost extent -for clairvoyance. It was hard to tell which was more painful to the poor -mesmeriser, the abuse of the Italian wife when awake or her caresses -when asleep. - -Putting the paper in her hand, he asked: - -"Can you tell me whose hair this is?" - -She laid it on her breast and on her forehead, for it was there she saw -though her eyes were open. - -"It comes from an illustrious head." - -"Is she going to be happy?" - -"So far, no cloud hovers over her." - -"Though she is married?" - -"Yes, she is married, but, like me, she is still a virgin--purer than I, -for I love my husband." - -"Fatality!" muttered the wizard. "Thank you, Lorenza, I know all I -wanted." - -He kissed her, put the hair carefully in his pocket, and cutting a small -tress from the Italian's head, he burnt it in a candle. The ashes, -wrapped in the paper, he gave to the cardinal when with him once more. -On the way down stairs he awakened Lorenza. - -"The oracle says that you may hope, prince," said Balsamo. - -"It said that?" cried the ravished prince. - -"Your highness may conclude so, as it said that she does not love her -husband." - -"Joy!" said Rohan. - -"I had to burn the lock to obtain the verdict by the essence," explained -the necromancer, "but here are the ashes which I scrupulously preserved -for each grain is worth a thousand." - -"Thank you, my lord; I shall never be able to repay you." - -"Do not let us speak of that. One piece of advice, though: Do not wash -the ashes down with wine as some lovers do; it is a mistaken course for -it might make your love incurable and turn the object cold." - -"I shall take care not to do that," said the prelate; "Farewell, -count!" - -Twenty minutes after, his carriage crossed that of Duke Richelieu, which -it almost upset into one of the pits where they were excavating for a -house, much building going on. - -"Why, prince!" cried the older peer, with a smile. - -"Hush, duke!" replied Rohan, laying a finger on his lips. - -And away they were carried in opposite directions. - -Richelieu was going to Baron Taverney's residence in Coq-Heron Street. - -The baron was seated before a dying fire, lecturing Nicole, or rather, -chucking her under her pretty chin. - -"But I am dying of weariness here, master," she protested with wanton -swinging of her hips in protest, "it was promised me that I should go to -the palace with my mistress." - -It was at this point that the old rake fondled her, no doubt to cheer -her up. - -"Here I am between four ugly walls," she went on wailing her fate: "no -society--not enough air to breathe. But at Trianon, I should have people -around me, and see luxury--stare and be stared at." - -"Fie, little Nicole!" - -"Oh, I am only a woman like the rest of us." - -"No, you are more tempting than the rest," said the old reprobate. "I -only wish I were younger and rich again for your sake." - -At this juncture the door-bell rang and startled the master and maid. - -"Run and see who can come at half-past eleven, girl." - -Nicole went out and through the passage by the house on the other -street, and through the door which she left open. Richelieu saw a shadow -of military aspect flit. This shadow and the face of Nicole, lighted up -by her candle, enabled the old noble to read her character at a glance. - -"Our old scamp of a Taverney spoke about his daughter, but he never -breathed a word about the pretty maid," he muttered. - -"The Duke of Richelieu!" Nicole announced, not without a flutter of the -heart, for the lady-killer was notorious. - -It produced such a sensation on the baron that he got up and went to the -door without believing his ears. - -"Do you know what has brought me," said the duke, giving hat and cane to -Nicole to be more at ease in a chair. "Or rather what I have brought my -old brother-officer? why, the company you asked the other day for your -son. The King has just given it. I refused to act then for I was likely -to be the Prime Minister but now that I have declined the post I can ask -a favor. Here it is." - -"Such bounty on your part---- " - -"Pooh! it is the natural outcome of my duty as a friend. But mark that -the King does this more to spite Lady Dubarry than to oblige me. He -knows that your son offended the Lady by quarreling with her bully of a -brother on the highway. That is why she takes me in off-dudgeon at -present." - -"You want me to believe that you serve me to spite the Dubarry woman?" - -"Have it so. By the way, you have a daughter as well as a son." - -"Yes." - -"She is sixteen, fair as Venus, and---- " - -"You have seen her?" - -"At Trianon, where I passed the evening with her---- and the King and I -talked about her by the hour together. Are you vexed at this?" - -"Certainly not; but the King is accused of having---- " - -"Bad morals? is that what you were about to say?" - -"Lord forbid! I would not speak ill of his Majesty, who has the right to -have any kind of morality he likes." - -"What is the meaning of your astonishment, then? do you intend to assert -that Mdlle. de Taverney is not an accomplished beauty and that -consequently the King has not the right to look at her with an admiring -eye?" - -Taverney simply shrugged his shoulders and fell into a brown study, -watched by Richelieu's pitilessly prying eye. - -"All right! I guess what you would say if you spoke aloud," continued -the marshal, "to wit that the King is habituated to bad company. That he -likes the mud, as they say; but would be all the better if he turned -from salacious talk, libertine glances, and the common woman's jests to -remark this treasure of grace and charm of every kind--the nobly-born -young lady with chaste affections and modest bearing---- " - -"You are truly a great man, duke, for you have guessed aright," answered -Taverney. - -"It is tantamount to saying that it is high time for our master no -longer to force us, nobles, peers and companions of the King of France, -to kiss the base and harpy hand of a courtesan of the Dubarry type. Time -that he danced to our piping, and that after falling from the -Marchioness of Chateauroux, who was fit to be a duchess, to the -Pompadour, who was the daughter and wife of a cook, then from her to -Dubarry, and from her again to some kitchen wench or dairymaid. It is -humiliating to us, baron, who wear coronets round our helmets, to bend -our heads to such jades." - -"Ah, here be truths well spoken," said Taverney, "and it is clear that a -void is made at court by these low fashions." - -"With no queen, no ladies; with no ladies, no courtiers; and the -commoners are on the throne in Jeanne Vaubernier, now Dubarry, a -seamstress at Paris." - -"Granting things stand so, yet---- " - -"There is a fine position at present. I tell you, my lord, for a woman -of wit to rule France---- " - -"Not a doubt of it, but the post is held," said Taverney with a -throbbing heart. - -"A woman," pursued the marshal, "who, without vice, would have the -far-reaching views, calculation and boldness of these vixens; one who -would so adorn her fortune that she would be spoken of after the -monarchy ceased to exist. Has your daughter brightness and sense?" - -"Yes." - -"And she is lovely, of the charming and voluptuous turn so pleasing men; -with that virginal flower of candor which imposes respect on women -themselves. You must take care of your treasure, my old friend." - -"You speak of her with an animation which---- " - -"Why, I am madly in love with her and would marry her to-morrow if I -could get rid of my seventy-four years. But is she well off? has she the -luxury round her which so fair a blossom deserves? Nay, my dear baron, -this evening she went to her lodgings, without a maid, or footman, and -one of the Dauphin's henchmen carried a lantern before her--it looked -like some girls of middleclass life." - -"How can one help it when not rich?" - -"Rich or not, Taverney, you must have a waiting-maid for her." - -"I know she ought to have one," sighed the old noble. - -"Why, what is this sprightly Abigail who opened the door to me," said -Richelieu, "cunning and pretty, on my word!" - -"She is her maid but I dared not send her to the palace." - -"I wonder why, when she seems cut out for the part?" - -"Have you looked on her face and not noticed the resemblance to--come -here, Nicole!" - -Nicole came quickly for she was listening at the door. The duke took her -by both hands and held her between his knees; but she was not daunted by -the great lord's impertinent gaze and was not put out for an instant. - -"By Jove, you are right, there is a resemblance," he said. - -"You know to whom, and how impossible it is to risk the rise of my house -on some ugly trick of chance. Is it the thing that this little -down-at-the-heel hussy Nicole should look like the highest head in -France?" - -"Pish!" exclaimed Nicole, tartly, as she disengaged herself to reply -more easily to her master, "is it a fact that the hussy does so closely -resemble the illustrious lady? Has she the low shoulder, quick eye, -round leg and dimpled arm of the hussy? In any case, my lord, if you run -me down, it is not because you can have any hope to catch me!" She -finished in anger which made her red and consequently splendid in -beauty. - -The duke caught her again and said as he gave her a look full of -caresses and promises: - -"Baron, to my idea, Nicole has not her like at court. As for the touch -of likeness, we will manage about that. Pretty Nicole has admirable -light hair and nose and eyebrows quite imperial--but in a quarter of an -hour before a toilet glass these blemishes will disappear, as the baron -reckons them such. Nicole, my dear, do you want to go to the palace?" - -"Oh, don't I though!" cried the girl with all her greedy soul in the -words. - -"You shall go, my pet: and make a fortune there, without doing any harm -to the advancement of others. Trot away, little one; the rest does not -concern you. A word with you, my lord." - -"I venture to urge you to send some one to wait upon your daughter," -said the duke when alone with his friend, "because she must make a brave -show and the King is not afraid of beauty-guards with knowing phizzes. -Besides, I know how the wind blows." - -"Let Nicole go to the Trianon, since you think it will please the King," -replied Taverney with his pimp's smile. - -"Write to your daughter that a maid named Nicole is coming. Another than -Nicole would not fill the place so well. On my honor, I believe so." - -The baron wrote a note which he handed to Richelieu. - -"I will give the instructions to Nicole, who is intelligent." - -The baron smiled. - -"So you will trust her with me?" - -"Do what you can." - -"You are to come with me, miss, and quick," said the duke. - -Without waiting for the baron's consent, Nicole got her clothes together -in five minutes and as light as if she flew, she darted upon the box -beside the ducal driver. The tempter took leave of his friend, who -reiterated his thanks for the service rendered Philip of Redcastle. -Neither said a word about Andrea; there was no need between them. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - -ONE MAN'S MEAT IS ANOTHER'S POISON. - - -At ten in the morning, Andrea was writing to her father to inform him of -the happy news which Richelieu had already communicated to him. - -Her room, in the corridor of the chapel, was not grand for a rival -princess's lady of attendance but it was a delightful abode for one who -liked repose and solitude. - -Andrea had obtained permission to breakfast in her rooms whenever she -liked; this was a precious boon as it gave her the mornings to herself. -She could read or go out for a saunter in the park, and come home -without being annoyed by lord or lackey. - -Suddenly a tapping at the door, discreetly given, aroused her attention. -She raised her head as the door opened, and uttered a slight cry of -astonishment as the radiant face of Nicole appeared from the little -antechamber. - -"Good morning, mistress! yes, it is I," said the girl, with a merry -courtsey which was not free from apprehension, knowing her lady's -character. - -"You--what wind brings you?" replied Andrea, laying down her pen to -talk. - -"I was forgotten, but I have come. The baron said I was to do so," said -Nicole, bending the black eyebrows which Richelieu's hair-dye had made; -"you would not turn me back, when I only wanted to please my mistress. -This is what one gets for loving her betters!" sighed the girl, with an -attempt to squeeze a tear out of her fine eyes. - -The reproach had enough feeling in it to touch Andrea. - -"My child, I am waited on here, and I cannot think of charging the -Dauphiness with an additional mouth." - -"Not when it is not so large a one?" questioned the maid, pouting the -rosebud mouth in argument, with a winsome smile. - -"No matter, your presence here is impossible on account of your -likeness---- " - -"Why, have you not looked on my face? it has been altered by a fine old -nobleman who came to see master and tell him of Master Philip's getting -a company of soldiers from the King. As he saw master was sorrowing -about you being alone, he heard the reason and said that nothing was -easier than to change light to dark. He took me to his house where his -valet turned me out as you behold me." - -"You must love me," said Andrea smiling, "to come and be a prisoner shut -up with me in this palace." - -"The rooms are not lively," said Mdlle. Legay, after a swift glance -round them, "but you will not be always mewed up here." - -"I may not, but you will not go out for the promenade with the princess, -the parties, cardplay, and social gatherings; your place would be here -to die of weariness." - -"Oh, there must be a peep at something through the windows. If one can -see out, others can see me. That is good enough for Nicole--do not fret -about me." - -"Nicole, I cannot do it without express order." - -The maid drew a letter from the baron from her tucker which settled the -dispute. It was thus conceived: - - "MY DEAR ANDREA: I know, and it has been remarked, that you do not - hold the station at the Trianon which your birth entitles you to - do: you lack a maid and a pair of lackeys as I do twenty thousand a - year; but in the same way as I content myself with a thousand, you - must shift with one maid--so take Nicole who will do you all the - service requisite. She is active, intelligent and devoted; she will - quickly pick up the tone and manners of the palace; take care not - to stimulate but enchain her good-will to yourself. Keep her and do - not fear that you are depriving me. A good friend gives me the - advice that his Majesty, who has the kindness to think of us and to - remark you on sight, will not let you want for the proper outfit - for your appearance at court. Bear this in mind as of the highest - importance. YOUR AFFECTIONATE FATHER." - -This threw the reader into painful perplexity. Poverty was pursuing her -into her new prosperity, and making that a blemish which she considered -merely an annoyance. She was on the point of angrily breaking her pen, -and tearing the commenced letter in order to reproach her father with -such an outburst of disinterested philosophical denial as Philip would -have freely signed. But she seemed to see her father's ironical smile -when he should read this masterpiece and away fled her intention. So she -answered with the following record of what was passing: - - "FATHER: Nicole has just arrived and I receive her as you desire - it; but what you write on the subject, drives me to despair. Am I - less ridiculous with this little rustic girl as waiting-woman than - alone among these rich ladies waited on hand and foot? Nicole will - be miserable at my humiliation for servants smile or frown as their - masters are looked upon. She will dislike me. As for the notice of - his Majesty, allow me to tell you, father, that the King has too - much intelligence to try to make a great lady of one so unfitted, - and too much good nature to notice or comment on my poverty--far - from it to want to change it into ease which your title and - services would legitimatise in everybody's eyes." - -It must be confessed that this candid innocence and noble pride mated -the astuteness and corruption of her tempters. - -Andrea spoke no more against Nicole but kept her. She confined herself -to her corner so as to remind one of the Persian's roseleaf floated on -the goblet of rosewater brimfull, to prove that a superfluous joy may be -added to perfect content. - -When Nicole was left to herself she made a survey of the neighborhood. -This did not promise much fun. But at an upper window over the stables -she caught a glimpse of a man's face which made her have recourse to a -scheme to draw it out. She hid behind the curtains of the window left -wide open. - -She had to wait some time, but at length appeared a young man's head; -timid hands rested on the window-sill, and a face rose with caution. - -Nicole nearly fell back flat on her two shoulders for it was Gilbert, -her former companion on the manor of Taverney. - -Unfortunately he had seen her, and he disappeared. He would rather have -seen old Nick himself. - -"What use now is my foolish discovery of which I was so proud? In Paris -my knowledge that Nicole had a sweetheart whom she let into her master's -house gave me a hold on her. But out here, she has hold on me." - -Serving as lash to his hate, all his self-conceit boiled his blood with -extreme vehemence. He felt sure that war was declared between him and -the maid; but as he was a prudent youth who could be politic, he wanted -to open hostilities in his own way and at his own time. - -Watching night and day for a week, without showing himself again, -Gilbert at last caught sight of the plume of the guards corporal which -was familiar to him. It was indeed that of Corporal Beausire, the -trooper who had followed the court from Paris to the Trianon. - -Nicole played the coldly cruel for a while but in the end accorded -Corporal Beausire an appointment. Gilbert followed the loving pair on -the shady avenue leading to Versailles. He felt the ferocious delight of -a tiger on a trail. He counted their steps, and sighs; he learnt by -heart what they whispered to each other; and the result must have made -him happy for he went up to his garret singing. Not only had he ceased -to be afraid of Nicole but he impudently showed himself at the window. - -She was taking up "a ladder" in a lace mitten of her mistress at her -window, but she looked up on hearing him singing a song of their old -times in the country when he was courting her. - -She made a sour face which proclaimed her enmity. But Gilbert met it -with so meaning a smile and his song and mien were so taunting that she -lowered her head and colored up. - -"She has understood me," said Gilbert; "this is quite enough." - -Indeed she had the audacity to creep to his room door, but he had the -prudence to deny her entrance, dangerous as was the temptation. - -It was only after many a mine and counter-mine that at last chance made -them meet at the chapel door. - -"Good evening, Gilbert: are you here?" - -"Oh, Nicole, good evening--so you've come to Trianon?" - -"As you see, our young lady's maid still." - -"And I our Master's gardener's-man." - -Whereupon she dropped an elaborate courtsey which won his bow like a -courtier's; and they went their ways. But each was but pretending for, -Gilbert, following the girl, saw her once more go to meet a man in one -of the shady walks. - -It was dark but Gilbert noticed that this was not the trooper; rather an -elderly man, with a lofty air and dainty tread spite of age. Going -nearer and passing under his nose with audacity he recognized him as the -Duke of Richelieu. - -"Plague take her! after the corporal a Marshal of France--Nicole is -aiming high in the army!" he said. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - -THE ROAD TO PREMIERSHIP IS NOT STREWN WITH ROSES. - - -While all these petty plots were going on at Trianon amid the trees and -flowers, making things lively for the people of that trifling world, the -vast plots of the capital, threatening tempests, were unfolding their -black wings over the Temple of Themis, as they said in those high-flown -days. - -The Parliaments, degenerate remnant of old French opposition to royalty, -had recovered the art of hating under the capricious reign of Louis XV., -and since they felt danger impending when their shield, Choiseul, was -removed, they prepared to conjure it away. - -The appointment of the Duke of Aiguillon, ex-Governor of Brittany, to -the command of the Light Cavalry, thanks to Lady Dubarry's influence -over the King, was, to quote Jean Dubarry, "a smack in the face" for the -Third Estate, from Feudality. - -How would they take it? - -Lawyers and politicians were keen-sighted gentlemen and where most folks -are perplexed, they see clearly. - -They resolved: "The Parliamentary Court will deliberate on the conduct -of the ex-Governor of Brittany and give its opinion." - -The King parried this thrust by intimating to the peers and princes that -they must not go to the Parliament session to take part in the -discussion, as far as Duke Aiguillon was concerned. - -Already unpopular, the Duke of Aiguillon was discouraged and sat in a -state of torpor at the impending overthrow when his uncle, the Duke of -Richelieu, was announced. He ran to welcome him with all the more -eagerness as he had been trying to meet him lately without the old fox -being discoverable. - -"Uncle," he began when he had cornered the other in an armchair so he -could not retreat, "is it true that you, the wittiest man in France -could not see that I should be as selfish for us two as for myself -alone? you have been shunning me when I most have need of you." - -"Upon honor, I do not understand you." - -"I will in that case make all clear. The King was not inclined to make -you Prime Minister _vice_ Choiseul banished, and he did make me -commander of the Light Cavalry, so that you suppose I sold you to get my -reward." - -"If I failed, you have won, and that is enough for the house of -Richelieu. You have nothing to grumble about for you are high in favor -and in six months will be ruler. Suppose I am the dog who snapped at the -shadow of the meat--and letting the meat drop, sees another run away -with it. I have learnt a lesson--but the meat is ours all the same. But -what do I hear?" - -"Nothing uncle; pray go on." - -"But it is a carriage--I am in the way." - -"No, no, go on for I love fables---- " - -"Nay, it may be the appointment as minister--the meat! the little -countess---- " - -"She heartily loves you, uncle---- " - -"Well she has been working for you _in camera_---- " - -The servant entered. - -"A deputation from Parliament," he said with some trepidation. - -"What did I tell you?" sneered the old noble. - -"A Parliamentary deputation here?" queried the younger duke, far from -encouraged by the other's smile. "What can they want with me?" - -"In the King's name!" thundered a sonorous voice at the end of the -anteroom. - -"Whew!" muttered Richelieu. - -Aiguillon rose, quite pale, and went to show in two members of -Parliament, behind whom appeared two impassive ushers while at a -distance a legion of frightened servants appeared. - -Bowing to the duke, whom they officially recognized, the spokesman of -the gentlemen of the Commission read a paper in a loud voice. It was the -complete, particularised, circumstantial declaration that the Duke of -Aiguillon was gravely inculpated and tainted with suspicions, moreover, -guilty of deeds befouling his honor and that he was suspended in his -functions as peer of France. The duke heard the reading like a man -struck with lightning might listen to the thunder. He moved no more than -a statue on its pedestal, and did not even put out his hand to take the -document from the official of the Parliament. It was the marshal, -standing up, alert and clear-headed, who took it, and returned the bow -to the bearer. The Commission members were far while the duke remained -in stupor. - -"This is a heavy blow!" remarked Richelieu; "no longer a peer of the -realm--it is humiliating." - -The victim turned round as if only now restored to life. - -"Did you not expect it?" asked the elder. - -"Did you, uncle?" was the retort. - -"How could anybody suspect that Parliament would so smartly rap the -favorite of the King and of the King's favorite? these fellows will get -themselves ground to powder." - -The duke sank into a seat, with his hand on his burning cheek. - -"If they do such a thing because you are made commander of the Light -Cavalry," continued the old marshal, turning the dagger in the wound, -"they will condemn you to be burnt at the stake when you are appointed -Premier. These fellows hate you, Aiguillon; better distrust them." - -The duke bore this untimely joking with heroic constancy; his misfortune -magnified him and purified his spirit. But the other took it for -insensibility or even want of intelligence, perhaps, and thought that he -had not stung deeply enough. - -"However, being no longer a peer, you will be exposed to the long bills -of these blackbirds," he proceeded; "take refuge in obscurity for a few -years. Besides, this safeguard, obscurity, will help you without your -imagining it. Unpropped by your title, you will more grandly become the -minister, because with more effort. Lady Dubarry will do more for you -thus disarmed, for she wears you in her heart--and is a solid -supporter." - -Aiguillon rose without shooting at the jester one angry look for all the -suffering he inflicted. - -"You are right, uncle," he said, tranquilly, "and your wisdom shows in -the last piece of advice. Lady Dubarry will defend me--she, to whom you -introduced me and to whom you recommended me so warmly. Thank God! she -likes me. She is brave and has full power over the King's mind. I thank -you, uncle, for your hint, and I shall hie to her residence at Luciennes -as to a haven of safety. What, ho there! my horses to be put to the -carriage." - -The marshal was sorely puzzled but he had some consolation when at -evening he saw the delight of the Parisians on reading the posters -proclaiming the disgrace of Aiguillon. - -"Do you think, Rafté, that the duke will get out of this scrape?" asked -the old intriguer of his valet and confidential man, who rather deserved -the name of _Crafty_. - -He had been forty years in his service. - -"The King will." - -"Oh, the King will always have a loophole. But the King has nothing to -do with this case." - -"Why, my lord, if the King can get through, Lady Dubarry will follow, -and lead my lord of Aiguillon with her." - -"You do not understand politics, Rafté." - -Rafté was as keen as his master. - -"Well, my lord, our lawyer, Flageot, who is member of Parliament, he -thinks the King will not get out of it." - -"Who will net the lion?" - -"The rat, instead of helping him out." - -"Oh, is Flageot the rat?" - -"He says so. I always believe a lawyer when he promises anything -unkind." - -"We must look into the Flageot method, then, Rafté. But let me have -something to eat before I go to sleep. It has upset me to see my poor -nephew unmade peer of France and his chances of the Prime-Minister-ship -knocked on the head. An uncle naturally feels for his nephew, eh?" - -From sighing he set to laughing. - -"You would have made as good a minister yourself," said Rafté. - -On the morrow of the day when the terrible Parliamentary decree filled -Paris and Versailles with noise, and all were in expectation of the next -step, Richelieu returned to Versailles and carrying on his ordinary -court life, saw his man Rafté enter with a letter which seemed to fill -him with disquietude participated in by his master. - -"The King is good," said the duke after opening the letter and smiling -though he had frowned at the start. "He appoints Aiguillon Prime -Minister." - -Thus ran the letter: - - "MY DEAR UNCLE: Your kind advice has borne fruit. I confided my - chagrin to that excellent friend of our house, Lady Dubarry, who - was good enough to repeat the confidence to his Majesty. The King - is indignant at the rudeness done me by the Parliamentary gentry, - after my having so faithfully employed myself in his service. In - his State Council this day, he has cancelled the decree and bids me - continue in my place as peer and duke. I know the pleasure this - news will give you, my dear uncle. You have the news before anybody - else in the world. Believe in my tender respect, my dear uncle, and - continue your good graces and good advice to your affectionate - -AIGUILLON." - -"He pokes fun at me into the bargain," said the reader. "The idea of the -King jumping into this hornet' nest!" - -"You would not believe me yesterday saying so." - -"I said that he would get out of it. You see he does." - -"In fact, Parliament is beaten." - -"So am I. And forever. I must pay the forfeit. You do not understand how -grating on me will be the laughs at Luciennes. The duke is there now, -laughing at me in chorus with La Dubarry, Jean and Chon, while the black -boy snaps his fingers at me over the candy I gave him. 'Odsboddikins!' -I have a soft heart, but this makes me furious." - -"Then you should not have acted as you did, my lord." - -"You goaded me on." - -"I? what do I care whether the Duke of Aiguillon is or is not a peer of -France? Man of brains though you are, your grace makes blunders that I -would not forgive in a low-bred fellow like me." - -"Explain, my old Rafté, and I will own if I am wrong." - -"You wanted to be revenged yesterday, did you not? you aimed to humble -your nephew because he was likely to be the Premier instead of your -grace--well, such revenge costs dear. But you are rich and can afford to -pay." - -"What would you have done in my place, you knowing dog?" - -"Nothing; you could not but show your spite because the Dubarry woman -thought your nephew was younger than yourself." - -A growl from the old marshal was all the comment. - -"Parliament was egged on by you to do what it has done; knowing the -decree would be issued, you offered your services to your unsuspecting -nephew." - -"I admit I was wrong. You ought to have given me a warning." - -"I, prevent you doing ill? you are always saying that I am of your -making and I should be little after your model if I was not joyful at -your making a mistake, or bringing about evil." - -"Oh, you think evil will come of it?" - -"Certainly; you are obstinate and will keep open the breach--Aiguillon -will be the bridge between Dubarry and Parliament on which all the -fighting will take place. After he shall have been very well trampled -upon, he will suffer the fate of used-up wood--they will cast him away -into the lumber-room--that is, into the Bastile. He will be minister -first, but you will be exiled all the same." - -"Bastile?" repeated Richelieu, shrugging his shoulders so sharply that -he spilt half his snuff on the carpet. "Is our Louis the Fourteenth -one?" - -"No; but Lady Dubarry, with Aiguillon to back her, is up to the mark of -Lady Maintenon. Beware! at present I do not know any princesses who -will take you green goslings and sweetmeats when you lie in prison." - -"Pretty prognostics, these!" said the duke after a long silence. "You -read the future, do you? what about the present?" - -"Your grace is too wise for me to offer advice." - -"You knave, are you still poking fun at me?" - -"Mind, my lord, a man is not a knave after forty, and I am sixty-seven." - -"If not a knave you are your own counsel--be mine." - -"If the King's act is not known yet, why not let the President of -Parliament have the duke's letter and the royal decree in Council? Wait -till the Parliament has debated on them, and then go and see your -lawyer, Flageot. As he is your grace's lawyer he must have some case of -ours in hand. Ask him about it and learn how things stand." - -"But seeing the family lawyer is your province, Master Rafté." - -"Nay, that was all very well when Flageot was a simple 'paper-stainer,' -but henceforth Flageot is an Attila, a scourge of kings, and only a duke -and peer of France can talk to the likes of him." - -"Are you serious or having a jest?" - -"To-morrow it will be serious, my lord." - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - -THE ENDLESS LAW SUIT. - - -It is not hard to guess what the dainty duke suffered in passing through -the dirty and nauseating Paris of his era to reach the foul hole among -ill-kempt houses which was called a street. - -Before Flageot's door the way for the ducal coach was stopped by another -vehicle. He perceived a female's headdress coming out of it, and as his -seventy-five years had not rebuffed him in his reputation as a lover of -the ladies, he hastened to wade through the mud to offer his arm to the -lady who was stepping out unassisted. - -He was not in luck: for the foot was the bony one of an old dame. -Wrinkled face, the tan showing under a thick layer of rouge, proved that -she was not merely old but decrepit. - -But the marshal could not draw back: besides he was no chicken himself. -The client--she must have been a client to be at this door--did not -hesitate like he did: she put her paw with a horrible grin in the duke's -hand. - -"I have seen this Gorgon's head somewhere before," he thought. - -"Going to call on Flageot?" he inquired. - -"Yes, your grace." - -"Oh, have I the honor of being known to you?" he exclaimed, disagreeably -surprised as he stopped at the opening of the park passage. - -"There is no woman who does not know the Duke of Richelieu," was the -reply. - -"This baboon flatters herself that she is a woman," muttered the Victor -at Mahon: but he saluted with the utmost grace, saying aloud: "May I -venture to ask to whom I have the honor of speaking?" - -"I am your servant, the Countess of Bearn," replied the old lady, making -a court reverence on the miry planks of the alley, three paces from a -sort of open trapdoor in which the marshal expected to see her tumble -when she got to the third courtsey. - -"Enchanted to hear it, my lady," he responded. "So your ladyship has -some law business on hand?" - -"Law business, indeed! it is only one suit, but you must have heard -about it as it is so long in the courts--my defense against the claim of -the Saluce Brothers." - -"Of course! there is a popular song about it--it is sung to the tune of -'the Bourbon Lass;' and runs some way thus---- - - "'My lady countess, how I want - Your help, which I should ever vaunt, - For I am in a stew' - -"You understand that is Lady Dubarry who sings. It is saucy to her, but -these ballad-mongers respect nobody. Lord, how greasy this rope for a -handrail is! Then you reply as follows: - - "'A lady old and obstinate, - Unsettled lawsuits are my fate, - To win I must rely on you.'" - -"How shocking, my lord," said the countess, who was a descendant of the -house of Bearn and Navarre which gave Henry IV as King to France: "how -dare they thus insult a woman of quality?" - -"Excuse my singing out of tune, but this staircase puts me in a heat. -Ah, we have reached his door. Let me pull the bell." - -The old dame let the duke pass her, but grumbled. He rang and Madame -Flageot, the lawyer's daughter as well as lawyer's wife, did not think -it beneath her to open the door. Introduced into the office a furious -man was seen with a pen in his hand which he flourished, dictating to -his principal clerk. - -"Good heavens, what are you doing, Master Flageot?" asked the old -countess whose voice made the proctor turn round. - -"Oh, your ladyship's most faithful! A chair for the Countess of Bearn. -And the Duke of Richelieu, if my eyes do not deceive me. Another seat, -Bernardet, for my Lord of Richelieu." - -"How is my suit going on," inquired the lady. - -"Fine, my lady, I was just busy on your behalf, and it will make a noise -now, I can tell you." - -"If you have my action in motion, then you can attend to my lord duke." - -"If you please." - -"Well, you must know what brought me---- " - -"The papers M. Rafté brought from your lordship? It is put off -indefinitely, at least it may be a year before the case comes up in the -courts." - -"Eh, I should like to know the reasons?" - -"Circumstances, my lord. The King having cancelled the Parliamentary -decree about Duke Aiguillon, we reply by 'burning our ships.'" - -"I did not know you Parliament gentlemen had any ships." - -"Both Houses have refused to proceed with any cases before the courts -until the King withdraws Lord Aiguillon." - -"You don't say so?" exclaimed Richelieu. - -"What, they won't try my case?" said Lady Bearn with a terror she did -not try to dissimulate. "This is iniquitous--rebellion to our Lord the -King!" - -"My lady, the King forgets himself--and we forget our duty too," -rejoined the lawyer loftily. - -"You will be lugged into the Bastile." - -"I shall go, singing, and my colleagues will escort me, bearing palms." - -"The man is mad," said the lady to the nobleman. - -"We are all of a feather," continued the proctor. - -"This is curious," observed the marshal. - -"But you said you were attending to my suit," protested the lady. - -"And so I was. Yours is the first example I cite among the cases which -will be suspended by our action--or, rather, inaction--he he! Here is -the very paragraph concerning your ladyship." - -Snatching from his clerk the sheet of paper on which he was writing, he -read with emphasis: - -"---- 'Their estate lost, fortune compromised, and their duties trodden -under foot. His Majesty may imagine what such will suffer. For instance, -the dependent must hold inert in his hands an important affair on which -depends the fortune of one of the first families of the kingdom: by his -care, industry and I make so bold as to say his talent, he was bringing -this matter at length--great length--to a brilliant close, and the -rights of the most high and powerful lady Angelique Charlotte Veronique -de Bearn, were just going to be acknowledged and proclaimed when the -breath of Discord--' I stopped at the breath, my lady; the figure of -speech was so fine---- " said the proctor. - -"Master Flageot," said the old litigant, "forty years ago I selected -your father to be my lawyer, a worthy gentleman: I continued you in the -matter; in which you have made some ten or twelve thousand a-year and -might be making more--" - -"Write that down," interrupted the legal gentleman: "it is a proof, an -item of testimony--it shall be inserted in the appendix of supporting -documents." - -"Stay," went on the countess: "I withdraw my papers; henceforth you lose -my trust." - -This disgrace struck the lawyer like a thunderbolt: recovering from the -stupefaction, he raised his eyes like a martyr ready for the golden -chariot to mount to heaven, and said: - -"Be it so. Bernardet, give the lady her documents and register this -fact, that the petitioner preferred his conscience to his fees." - -"I beg your ladyship's pardon," interposed Richelieu, "but it is useless -to withdraw your papers, for this worthy practitioner's legal brethren, -I take it, will not accept the case. He is not so dull as to be the only -one to protest and lose his business. As for me, I declare Master -Flageot a very honest lawyer, in whose box my papers are as safe as in -my own. So here I leave them, paying the fees just the same as though -the case was up for trial." - -"How right they are who say that your lordship is generous and liberal!" -burst forth the proctor; "I shall propagate your lordship's fame." - -Richelieu bowed as though overwhelmed. - -"Bernardet," cried the enthusiastic lawyer, "in the peroration, insert -the eulogium of the Duke of Richelieu." - -"No, never! I like to do good deeds by stealth, sir. Do not disoblige -me, my master, or I should deny it--I would give you the lie, sir--my -modesty is so touchy. Come, countess, what say you?" - -"That my case ought to be tried and it shall have a hearing." - -"It will not be tried unless the King sends his army and all the great -guns into the courtroom," replied the proctor. - -"Do you not think that the King will wriggle out of this bag," asked -Richelieu of the proctor in a whisper. - -"Impossible. A country without courts going on is a land without daily -bread." - -"But this will anger the King." - -"We have screwed up our minds to anything--prison, death. A man may wear -a black gown, but a heart can be under it." And he thumped his chest. - -"This is a black lookout for the cabinet," said the duke to his -fellow-client. "It seems to me that you might apply to your presentee at -court, Lady Dubarry, who is perhaps powerful enough to open this -deadlock." - -"Thanks, you give me the idea of going to her country house, and she -shall tell the King that this stoppage of legal business will not suit -me, whom she has reasons to oblige. His Majesty will speak to the Lord -High Chancellor and he has a long arm. Master Flageot, please to refresh -your mind with my case, for it will soon be coming up, I warrant you." - -Flageot turned his head with incredulity not remarked by the willful old -dame. - -"Since you will go to Luciennes," suggested Richelieu, "you might convey -my compliments. We are companions in affliction since my law case will -not be tried. Besides you can testify to the displeasure these -pettifoggers are causing me; and you might kindly add that it was at my -hint that your ladyship thought of taking this clever step. Do me the -honor to accept my hand as far as your carriage. Adieu, Master Flageot, -I leave you to your petition." - -"Rafté was right," mused the duke when by himself. "These Flageots are -going to make a revolution. However, God be thanked. I am carrying water -on both shoulders! I am for the court and of the Parliamentarians. Lady -Dubarry will plunge into politics and get drowned. Decidedly, this Rafté -is a good scholar of mine and I will make him my Chief Secretary when I -am Premier." - -Lady Bearn profited literally by the duke's advice so that, in two hours -and a half, she was dancing attendance at Luciennes, in company with -Lady Dubarry's pet page, the black boy Zamore. - -Her name raised some curiosity in the Countess's boudoir, as it was -well-known from her having been sponsor at the presentation of the -favorite to the court. No other lady of title would do this office and -she only accepted the shameful mission of go-between on her own -conditions. Duke Aiguillon was plotting with the favorite when Chon -asked a hearing for Countess Bearn. - -"I should like you to stay by," said she to the duke, "in case the old -beggar tries for a loan. You will be useful as she will ask for less." - -Lady Bearn, with her face drawn down to suit the disaster, took the -armchair in front of her hostess and began: - -"A great misfortune brings me, news which will much afflict his -Majesty--these Parliamentarians---- " - -"This is the Duke of Aiguillon," Lady Dubarry hastened to say as he -groaned, for fear of something awkward being said. - -But the old dame was not one to make blunders; she hastened to proceed: - -"I know the turpitude of these crows, and their lack of respect for -merit and birth." - -This blunt compliment to the duke earned his handsome bow for the -litigant, who rose and returned it before she went on: - -"But it is no longer his grace to whom they do harm, but to all the -people. They will let no cases be tried." - -"Tush, no more law-dealing in France," said Jeanne Dubarry; "What -difference will that make?" - -The duke smiled, but the old hag, instead of taking things pleasantly, -looked as morose as possible. - -"It is a great woe, but it is plain that your ladyship has no trials on -the board." - -"I see, and I remember that you have an important suit." - -"To which delay is dangerous." - -"Poor lady!" - -"The King will have to do something." - -"Oh, he will exile the judges." - -"That will adjourn the trials indefinitely." - -"If you know of any remedy, my lady, I wish you would kindly state it." - -"There is one way," remarked Aiguillon, "but the King may not like to -use it. It is the ordinary resource of royalty when the other branches -of the ruling powers are burdensome. The King says, 'I will have it -so!' whether the opponents say they will not or the other thing." - -"Excellent plan," exclaimed Lady Bearn with enthusiasm. "Oh, my lady, if -you who can influence the King, would get him to say: 'I will have Lady -Bearn's case tried!' it would be realizing what you promised long ago." - -Aiguillon bit his lip, bowed and quitted the boudoir, for he heard a -coach and he thought it was the royal one. - -"Here comes the King," said the hostess, rising to dismiss the pleader. - -"Oh, won't your ladyship let me throw myself at the royal feet to---- " - -"Ask for a special court to try the case? I am most willing," replied -the countess quickly. "Stay here and have your wish." - -Lady Bearn had hardly adjusted her headdress before the sovereign -entered. - -"Ha, you have visitors?" he exclaimed. - -"It is my Lady Bearn," said the other lady. - -"Sire, I crave for justice," squeaked the old dame, making a low -courtsey. "Against the Parliament, which will do no acts of justice. -Your Majesty, I beg for a special tribunal." - -"A royal special court?" said the monarch. "Why, this is almost a -revolution, my lady." - -"It is the means to curb these rebels of whom you are the master. Your -Majesty knows that they have no right to reply if you say 'I will do -this.'" - -"The idea is grand," said Lady Dubarry. - -"Grand, yes; but not good," responded the King. - -"It would be a splendid ceremony--the King going in state to open the -special court royal, with all the peers and ladies in the train, and he -so glorious in the ermine-lined mantle, the royal diamonds in the crown, -and the gold sceptre carried before him--all the lustre beseeming your -Majesty's handsome and august countenance." - -"Do you think so?" asked the King, wavering. "It is a fact that such a -sight has not been seen for a long time," he added with affected -unconcern. "I will see about it next time the Parliaments do anything -vexatious." - -"They have done it, Sire," interposed La Dubarry. "The pests have -determined to hold no more law courts until your Majesty lets them have -their own way." - -"Mere rumors." - -"Please your Majesty, my proctor returned me the brief and papers in my -case because there would be no trial for ever so long." - -"Mere scarecrows, I tell you." - -Zamore scratched at the door, that being the way to knock when royalty -is in a room, and brought a letter. - -Lord High Chancellor Maupeou, hearing where the King was, solicited an -interview through the countess's good graces. - -"You may stay," said the King to Lady Bearn. "Good morning, my -lord--what is the news?" - -"Sire, the Parliament which annoyed your Majesty is no more. The members -wish to resign and have handed in their applications to be relieved all -together." - -"I told you this was a serious dilemma," whispered the young countess to -her royal lover. - -"Very serious," said Louis, with impatience. "Exile the pack, Maupeou!" - -"But they will hold no law courts in exile, Sire." - -"Chancellor," observed the ruler, gravely; "Law must be dealt out and I -see no means but the efficacious if solemn one: I will hold a royal and -special tribunal. Those gentry shall tremble for once." - -"Sire, you are the greatest King in the whole world!" - -"Yes, indeed," cried the chancellor, Chon and her fortunate sister like -an echo. - -"That is more than the whole world says, though," muttered the King. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - -THE SECRET SOCIETY LODGE. - - -The famous royal special court, the "Bed of Justice," (which is the -French equivalent for the "Star Chamber,") was held with all the -ceremonial which royal pride required on one hand and the intriguers who -urged their master to this exercise of royal claims, on the other. - -The King pretended to be serene, but he was not at ease: yet his -magnificent costume was admired and nothing cloaks a man's defects like -majesty. The Dauphiness wore a plaintive look through all the affair. -Lady Dubarry was brave, with the confidence given by youth and beauty. -She seemed a ray of lustre from the King whose left-hand queen she was. - -Aiguillon walked among the peers firmly, so that none could have guessed -that it was across him the King and Parliament were exchanging blows. He -was pointed at by the crowd and the Parliamentarists scowled at him; but -that was all. - -Besides, the multitude, kept at a distance by the soldiers, betrayed its -presence only by a humming, not yet a hooting. - -The King's speech began in honey but ended in a dash of vitriol so sharp -that the nobles smiled. But Parliament, with the admirable unanimity of -constitutional bodies, kept a tranquil and indifferent aspect which -highly displeased the King and the aristocratic spectators on the -stands. - -The Dauphiness turned pale with wrath, from thus for the first time -measuring popular resistance, and calculating the weight of its power. - -After the King's speech was read by the Chancellor, the King, to the -amazement of everybody made a sign that he was going to speak. - -Attention became stupor. - -How many ages were in that second! - -"You hear what my chancellor informs you of my will," he said in a firm -voice: "Think only to carry it out, for I shall never change." - -The whole assembly was literally thunderstricken. The Dauphiness thanked -the speaker with a glance of her fine eyes. Lady Dubarry, electrified, -could not refrain from rising, and she would have clapped her hands but -for the fear that the mob would stone her to death on going out, or to -receive next day satirical songs each worse than the other. - -"Do you hear?" she said to the Duke of Richelieu, who had bowed lowly -to his triumphing nephew. "The King will never change, he says." - -"They are terrible words, indeed," he replied, "but those poor -Parliamentists did not notice that in saying he would never change, the -King had his eyes on you." - -She was a woman and no politician. She only saw a compliment where -Aiguillon perceived the epigram and the threat. - -The effect of the royal ultimatum was immediately favorable to the royal -cause. But often a heavy blow only stuns and the blood circulates the -more purely and richly for the shock. - -This was the reflection made by three men in the crowd, as they looked -on from the corner. Chance had united them here, and they appeared to -watch the impression of the throng. - -"This ripens the passions," observed one of them, an old man with -brilliant eyes in a soft and honest face. "A Bed of Justice is a great -work." - -"Aye, but you may make a bed and not get Justice to go to sleep on it," -sneered a young man. - -"I seem to know you--we have met before?" queried the old man. - -"The night of the accident through the fireworks; you are not wrong, M. -Rousseau." - -"Oh, you are my fellow-countryman, the young surgeon, Marat?" - -"Yes, at your service." - -The third man did not speak. He was young and had a noble face; during -the ceremony he had done nothing but study the crowd. The surgeon was -the first to depart, plunging onto the thick of the mob, which had -forgotten him, being less grateful than Rousseau, but he intended to -remind them some day. - -Waiting till he had gone, the other young man addressed the philosopher, -saying: - -"Are you not going?" - -"I am too old to risk myself in that crush." - -"In that case," said the young man, lowering his voice, "we shall meet -to-night in Plastriere Street--Do not fail, _Brother_ Rousseau!" - -The author started as though a phantom had risen in face of him. His -usually pale tint became livid. He meant to reply to the other but he -had vanished. - -After these singular words from the stranger, trembling and unhappy, -Rousseau meandered among the groups without remembering that he was old -and feared the press. Soon he got out upon Notre Dame Bridge, and he -crossed in musing and self-questioning, the Grêve Ward next his own. - -"So, the secret which every one initiated is sworn to guard at the peril -of his life, is in the grip of the first comer. This is the result of -the secret societies being made too popular. A man knows me, that I am -his associate--perhaps his accomplice! Such a state of things is absurd -and intolerable. I wanted to learn the bottom of the plan for human -regeneration framed by those chosen spirits called the Illuminati: I was -mad enough to believe that good ideas could come from Germany, that land -of mental mist and beer. I have entangled myself with some idiots or -knaves who used it as cloak to conceal their folly. But no, this shall -not be. A lightning flash has shown me the abyss, and I am not going to -throw myself into it with lightness of heart." - -Leaning on his cane, he stopped in the street for an instant. - -"Yet it was a lovely dream," he meditated. "Liberty in bondage, the -future conquered without noise and shocks, and the net mysteriously spun -and laid over the tyrants while they slumbered. It was altogether too -lovely and I was a dupe to believe it. I do not want any of these fears, -doubts and shadows which are unworthy of a free mind and independent -body." - -At this, he caught sight of some police officers, and they so frightened -the free mind and impelled the independent body, that he hastened to -seek the darkest shade under the pillars where he was strolling. - -It was not far to his house, where he took refuge from his thoughts and -his wife, the spitfire of this modern Socrates. - -He now began to think that there might be danger in not keeping the -appointment at the secret lodge of which the stranger in the mob had -spoken. - -"If they have penalties against turncoats, they must have them for the -lukewarm and the negligent," he reasoned. "I have always noticed that -black threats and great danger amount to little; one must be on guard -against petty stings, paltry revenge; hoaxes and annoyances of small -calibre. The application of wild justice by capital sentences is -extremely rare. Some day my brother Freemasons will even up matters with -me by stretching a rope across my staircase so that I shall break a limb -or knock out the half-dozen teeth still my own. Or a brick may stave in -my skull as I go under a scaffolding. Better than that, they may have -some pamphleteer, living near me, in the league, who will watch what I -do. That can be done as the meetings are held in my own street. This -quill-driver will publish details of how my wife scolds, which will make -me the laughing-stock of all the town. Have I not enemies all around -me?" - -Then his thoughts changed. - -"Pah, where is courage, and where honor?" he said. "Am I afraid of -myself? Shall I see a rogue or a poltroon when I look in the glass? No, -this shall not be. I will keep the tryst though the entire universe -coalesces to work my misery--though the cellars in the street broke down -to swallow me up. Pretty reasonings fear lead a man into. Since that man -spoke to me, I have been swinging round in a circle of nonsense. I am -doubting everything--myself included. This is not logical. I know that I -am not an enthusiast and I would not believe this association could work -wonders unless it would do so. What says that I am not going to be the -regenerator of humanity,--I, who have searched, and whom the mysterious -agents of this limitless power sought out on the strength of my -writings? Am I to recede from following up my theory and putting it into -action?" - -He became animated. - -"What is finer? Ages on the march--the people issuing from the state of -brutes; step following step in the gloom and a hand beckoning out of the -darkness. The immense pyramid arising on the tip of which future ages -will set the crown--the bust of Rousseau, citizen of Geneva, who risked -his life and his liberty to be true to his motto: 'Truth is more than -life.'" - -Night came and he passed out of his house. - -He peeped around to make sure. - -No vehicles were about. The street was full of loungers, who stared at -one another, as usual, or halted at the store-windows to ogle the girls. -A man the more would not be perceived in the scuffle. Rousseau dived -into it, and he had no long road to travel. - -Before the door where Rousseau was to meet the brothers, a street singer -with a shrill fiddle was stationed. Nothing was more favorable to a jam -in the thoroughfare than the crowd caused by the amateurs of this rude -music. Everybody had to go one side or another of the group. Rousseau -remarked that many of those who chose to take the inside and go along by -the houses, became lost on the road as though they fell down some -trapdoor. He concluded that they came on the same errand as himself and -meant to follow their example. - -Passing behind the group round the musician, he watched the first person -passing this who went up the alley of the house. He was more timid than -him, and his friends, for he waited till ten had disappeared. Then, too, -when a cab came along and called all eyes toward the street, he dived -into the passage. - -It was black, but he soon spied a light ahead, under which was seated a -man, placidly reading as a tradesman is in the custom to do after -business hours. At Rousseau's steps, he lifted his head, and plainly -laid his finger on his breast, lit up by the lamp. The philosopher -replied to the sign by laying a finger on his lips. - -Thereupon the guard rose and opening a door so artistically cut in the -panelling so as to be unseen, he showed Rousseau a flight of stairs. It -went steeply down into the ground. - -On the visitor entering, the door closed noiselessly but rapidly. - -Groping with his cane, Rousseau went down the steps, thinking it a poor -joke for his colleagues to try to break his neck and limbs so soon on -the threshold. - -But the stairs were not so long as steep. He had counted seventeen steps -when a puff of the warm air from a collection of men smote his face. - -It was a cellar, hung with canvas painted with workmen's tools, more -symbolical than accurate. A solitary lamp swung from the ceiling and -cast a sinister glimmer on faces honest enough in themselves. The men -were whispering to each other on benches. Instead of carpet or even -planks, reeds had been strewn to deaden sound. - -Nobody appeared to pay any heed to Rousseau. Five minutes before, he had -wished for nothing so much as this entrance; now he was sorry that he -had slipped in so smoothly. - -He saw one place empty on one of the rear benches and he went and sat -there modestly. He counted thirty-three heads in the gathering. A desk -on a raised stage waited for the chairman of the club. - -He remarked that the conversation was very brief and guarded. Many did -not move their lips; only three or four couples really chatted. - -Those who were silent strove to hide their faces, an easy matter from -the lamp throwing masses of shadow. The refuge of these timid folk -seemed to be behind the chairman's stage. - -But two or three, to make up for this shrinking, bustled about to -identify their colleagues. They went to and fro, spoke together, and -often disappeared through a doorway masked by a curtain painted with red -flames on a black ground. - -Presently a bell rang. - -Plainly and simply a man left the bench where he had been mixed up with -the others and took his place at the desk. After having made some signs -with fingers and hands which the assemblaged repeated, and sealed all -with a more explicit gesture, he declared the lodge open. - -He was a complete stranger to Rousseau; under the appearance of a -superior craftsman, he hid much presence of mind and he spoke with -eloquence as fluent as a trained orator. His speech was clear and short, -signifying that the lodge was held for the reception of a new member. - -"You must not be surprised at the meeting taking place where the usual -initiation ceremonies cannot be performed. Such tests are considered -useless by the chiefs. The brother to be received is one of the torches -of contemporaneous philosophy, a deep spirit devoted to us by -conviction, not fear. He who has plumbed all the mysteries of nature and -the human heart would not feel the same impression as the ordinary -mortal who seeks our assistance in will, strength and means. To win his -co-operation it will be ample to be content with the pledge and -acquiescence of this distinguished mind and honest and energetic -character." - -The orator looked round to see the effect of his plea. It was magical on -Rousseau. He knew what were the preliminary proceedings of secret -societies; he viewed them with the repugnance natural in superior minds. -The absurd concessions but useful ones, required to simulate fear in the -novices when there was nothing to fear appeared to him the culmination -of puerility and idle superstition. - -Moreover, the timid philosopher, the enemy of personal display, reckoned -himself unfortunate if compelled to be a sight even though the attacks -upon him would be in earnest. To be thus dispensed from the trial was -more than satisfaction. He knew the rigor of Equality in the masonic -rites; this exception in his favor was therefore a triumph. - -"Still," said the chairman, "as the new brother loves Equality like -myself, I will ask him to explain himself on the question which I put -solely for form's sake: 'What do you seek in our society?'" - -Rousseau took two steps forward, and answered, as his dreamy and -melancholy eye wandered over the meeting: - -"I seek here what I have not found elsewhere. Truths, not sophisms. If I -have agreed to come here, after having been entreated--(he emphasized -the word)--it is from my belief that I might be useful. It is I who am -conferring the obligation. Alas! we all may have passed away before you -can supply me with the means of defense, or help me to freedom with your -hands if I should be imprisoned, or give me bread and comfort if -afflicted--for the light cometh slowly, progress has a halting step, and -where the light is quenched, none of us may be able to revive it---- " - -"Illustrious brother, you are wrong," said the soft and penetrative -voice of one who charmed the philosopher, "more than you imagine lies in -the scope of this society: it is the future of the world. The future is -hope--science--heaven, the Chief Architect who hath promised to -illuminate His great building, the earth. The Architect does not lie." - -Startled by this lofty language, Rousseau looked and recognized the -young man who had reminded him of the meeting at the street corner. It -was Baron Balsamo. Clad in black with marked richness and great style, -he was leaning on the side rail of the platform, and his face, softly -lighted up, shone with all its beauty, grace and natural expressiveness. - -"Science?" repeated the author, "a bottomless pit. Do you prate to me of -science--comfort, future and promise where another tells of material -things, rigor and violence--which am I to believe?" And he glanced at -Marat whose hideous face did not harmonize with Balsamo's. "Are there in -the lodge meeting wolves just as in the world above--wolf and lamb! Let -me tell you what my faith is, if you have not read it in my books." - -"Books," interrupted Marat, "granted that they are sublime; but they are -utopias; you are useful in the sense of the old prosers being useful. -You point out the boon, but you make it a bubble, beautiful with the -sunshine playing in a rainbow on it, but it bursts and leaves a nasty -taste on the lips." - -"Have you seen the great acts of nature accomplished without -preparation?" retorted Rousseau. "You want to regenerate the world by -deeds? this is not regeneration but revolution." - -"Then," sharply replied the surgeon, "you do not care for independence, -or liberty?" - -"Yes, I do," returned the other, "for independence is my idol--liberty -my goddess. But I want the mild and radiant liberty which warms and -vivifies. The equality which brings men together by friendship, not -fear. I wish the education and instruction of each element of the social -body, as the joiner wishes neat joints and the mechanician harmony. I -retract what I have written--progress, concord and devotion!" - -Marat smiled with disdain. - -"Rivers of milk and honey--the dreams of the poets which philosophers -want to realise." - -Rousseau replied no more, it was so odd for him to be accused of -moderation when all Europe called him an extreme innovator. He sat down -in silence after having sought for the approval of the person who had -defended him. - -"You have heard?" asked the chairman, rising. "Is the brother worthy to -enter the society? does he comprehend his duties?" - -"Yes," replied the gathering, but the one of reservation showed no -unanimity. - -"Take the oath," said the presiding officer. - -"It will be disagreeable to me to displease some of the members," said -the philosopher with pride, "but I think that I shall do more for the -world and for you, brothers, apart from you, in my own isolation. Leave -me then to my labors. I am not shaped to march with others whom I shun; -yet I serve them, because I am one of you, and I try to believe you are -better than you are. Now, you have my entire mind." - -"He won't take the oath!" exclaimed Marat. - -"I refuse positively. I do not wish to belong to the society. Too many -proofs come up that I shall be useless to it." - -"Brother," said the member with the conciliating speech, "allow me thus -to call you, for we are all brothers apart from all combinations of -human minds--do not yield to a movement of spite--sacrifice a little of -your proper pride. Do for us what may be repugnant to you. Your counsel, -ideas and presence are the Light. Do not plunge us into the double -darkness of your refusal and your absence." - -"Nay, I take away nothing," said the author; "if you wish the name and -the spiritual essence of Jean Jacques Rousseau, put my books on your -chairman's table, and when my turn to speak comes round, open one and -read as far as you like. That will be my advice--my opinion." - -"Stop a moment," said Surgeon Marat as the last speaker took a step to -go out. "Free will is all very well and the illustrious philosopher's -should be respected like the rest; but it strikes me as far from regular -to let an outsider into the sanctuary who--being bound by no clause, -even tacit--may, without being a dishonest man, reveal our proceedings." - -Rousseau returned him his pitying smile. - -"I am ready for the oath, if one of discretion," he said. - -But the unnamed member who had watched the debate with authority which -nobody questioned, though he stood in the crowd, approached the chairman -and whispered in his ear. - -"Quite so," replied the Venerable, and he added: "You are a man, not a -brother, but one whose honor places you on our level. We here lay aside -our position to ask your simple promise to forget what has passed -between us." - -"Like a dream in the morning: I swear on my honor," replied Rousseau -with feeling. - -He went out upon these words, and many members at his heels. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - -THE INNERMOST CIRCLE. - - -Those who went out were brothers of the second and third circles, and -left seven who were masters in their lodge. They recognized each other -by signs proving they were admitted to the high degrees. - -Their first care was to close the doors. The presiding officer, who was -now Balsamo, showed his ring. On it were graved the letters L. P. D. -They stood for Latin words meaning "Destroy the Lilies!" The Lily is the -emblem of the House of Bourbon. - -This chief was charged with the universal correspondence of the order. -The six other highest leaders dwelt in America, Russia, Sweden, Spain -and Italy. - -He had brought some of the more important messages received to impart -them to his associates placed under him but above the files. - -The most important was from Swedenborg the spiritualist, who wrote from -Sweden: - -"Look out in the South, brothers, where the burning sun hatched a -traitor. He will be your ruin, brothers. Watch at Paris, for there the -false one dwells: the secrets of the Order are in his hands and a -hateful sentiment moves him. I hear the denunciation, made in a low -voice. I see a terrible doom, but it may fall too late. In the interim, -brothers, keep watchful. One treacherous tongue, however ill-instructed, -would be enough to upset all our skillfully contrived plans." - -The conspirators looked at one another in mute surprise. The language of -the ferocious Rosicrucian and his foresight, to which many examples gave -imposing authority, all contributed no little to cloud the committee -presided over by the mesmerist. - -"Brothers," he said, "this inspired prophet is seldom wrong. Watch -therefore, as he bids us. Like me, now, you know that the war has begun. -Do not let us be baffled by these ridiculous foes whose position we -undermine. Do not forget, though, that they have an army of fierce -hirelings at their disposal--a powerful argument in the eyes of those -who do not see far beyond earthly limits. Brothers, be on your guard -against the traitors who are bribed." - -"Such alarm seems puerile to me," said a voice: "we are gaining in -strength daily, and are led by brilliant genius and mighty hands." - -Balsamo bowed at this flattery. - -"True, but treachery sneaks in everywhere," remarked Marat, who had been -promoted to a superior rank, spite of his youth, and for the first time -sat in the superior council. "Think, brothers, that a great capture may -be made by increasing the size of the bait. While Chief of Police -Sartines, with a bag of silver, may catch a subordinate, the Prime -Minister, with one of gold, may buy one of the superiors. - -"In our company the obscure brother knows nothing. He may at the most -know the names of a few of those above him, but these names afford no -information. Our constitution is admirable, but it is eminently -aristocratic. The lower members can know nothing and do nothing. They -are only gathered to tell them some nonsense, and yet they contribute to -the solidity of the building. They bring the mortar and the bricks as -others bring the tools and the plan. But, without bricks and mortar, how -can you have a Temple? The workman gets but a poor wage, although I for -one regard him as equal to the Architect's clerk, whose plan creates and -gives existence to the work. I regard him as an equal, I say, as he is a -man and all men are equal, as the philosophers teach, for he bears his -portion of misery and fatality like another, more than others, as he is -exposed to the fall of a stone or the breaking down of a scaffold." - -"I interrupt you, brother," said Balsamo. "You are talking wide of the -question bringing us together. Your fault, brother, is in generalizing -subjects, and exaggerating zeal. We are not discussing whether the -constitution of our society is good or bad, but to maintain its firmness -and integrity. If I were wrangling with you I should say, 'No, the organ -which receives the movement is not the equal of the genius of the -creator; the workman is not on a level with the architect; arms are not -equal to the brains.'" - -"If Sartine arrests one of our lowliest brothers he will send him to -jail just as sure as you or me," protested the surgeon. - -"Granted; but the person will suffer, not the society. It can endure -such things. But if the head is imprisoned, the plot stops--the army -loses the victory if the general is slain. Brothers, watch for the -safety of the Supreme Chief!" - -"Yes, but let them look out for us." - -"It is their duty." - -"And have their faults more severely punished." - -"Again, brother, you overstep the regulations of the Order. Are you -ignorant that all the members are alike and under the same penalties?" - -"In such cases the great ones elude the chastisement." - -"That is not what the Grand Masters think, brother; but hearken to the -end of the letter from the great prophet Swedenborg, one of the greatest -among us; here is what he adds: - -"The harm will come from one of the great ones--very great--of the -Order; or, if not from him directly, the fault will be imputable to him. -Remember that Fire and Water may be accomplices: one gives light and -the other gives revelations." - -This enigmatical allusion would seem to be to the process of showing the -future in the glass of water, which was one of the conjuring experiments -of Joseph Balsamo. - -"Watch, brothers, (Concluded the seer) over all things and all men!" - -"Let us, then, repeat the oath," said Marat, grasping at his hold in the -letter and the chief's speech, "the oath which binds us and pledges us -to carry it out in full rigor in case one of us betrays or is the cause -of a treacherous act." - -Balsamo rose and uttered these awful words in a low voice, solemn and -terrifying: - -"In the name of the Architect of the Universe, I swear to break all -carnal bonds attaching me to father and mother, sister and brother, -wife, friends, mistress, kings, captains, benefactors, all unto -whomsoever I have promised faith, obedience, gratitude or service. - -"I vow to reveal to the chief whom I acknowledge according to the rules -of the Order, what I have seen, heard, learnt or divined, and moreover -to ascertain what happens beyond my knowledge. - -"I honor all means to purify the globe of the enemies of truth and -freedom. - -"I subscribe to the vow of silence; I consent to die as if by the -thunderbolt on the day when I deserve punishment and I will wait without -remonstrance for the deadly stab to accomplish its work wherever I shall -be." - -The seven men repeated the oath, standing up with uncovered heads, a -sombre gathering. - -"We are pledged to one another," said Balsamo when the last word was -spoken; "let us waste no time in idle arguments. I have a report to make -to the Committee on the principal work of the year. France is situated -in the center of Europe like its heart, and it makes the other parts of -the body live. In its agitations may be sought the cause of the ills of -the general organism. Hence I have come out of the East to sound this -heart like a physician; I have listened to it, sounded it and -experimented with it. A year ago when I began, monarchy was weakening. -To-day, vices are destroying it. I have quickened the debauchery and -favored what will be deadly. - -"One obstacle stood in the way--a man, not merely the First Minister but -the foremost man in the realm. It was Choiseul whom I have removed. This -important work was undertaken by many intriguers and much hatred during -ten years, but I accomplished it in a few months, by means which it is -useless to describe. By a secret, which is one of my strong means, the -greater as it must remain hidden from all eyes and never be manifested -save by its effect, I have overturned and driven away Choiseul. Look at -the fruit of the toil: all France is crying for Choiseul and rising to -bring him back as orphans appeal to heaven to restore their father. -Parliament uses its only right, inertia. But if it does not go on, there -will be no work and the wage-earners will earn no money. No money for -the workers--no rent, no tax paying--gold, the blood of a realm, will be -wanting. - -"They will try to make the poor pay--and there will be a struggle. But -who will struggle against the masses? not the army, which is recruited -from the people, eating the black bread of the farm hand, and drinking -the sour wine of the vineyard laborer. The King has his household -troops, the foreign regiments, five or six thousand men at the -most--what will this squad of pigmies do against an army of giants?" - -"Bid them rise!" exclaimed the chiefs. - -"Yes, yes, let us set to work," said Marat. - -"Young man, your advice is not asked," coldly said Balsamo. "Yet you may -speak." - -"I will be brief," said Marat; "mild attempts rock the people to sleep -when they do not discourage them. Mere chipping at the stone is the -theory of the Rousseaus, who are always bidding us to wait. We have been -waiting seven centuries! This poor and feeble opposition has not -advanced humanity by a single step. Have we seen one abuse redressed in -three hundred years? Enough of these poets and theorists! let us have -work and deeds. For three hundred years we have been physicking France -and it is high time that the surgeons were called in, with scalpel and -lancet. Society is gangrened and we must cut away and apply the redhot -iron. A revolt, though it be put down, enlightens slaves more on their -power than a thousand years of precepts and examples. It may not be -enough, but it is much!" - -A flattering murmur rose from several hearers. - -"Where are our enemies," continued the young man; "on the steps of the -throne, guarding it as their palladium. We cannot reach royalty but over -the bodies of those insolent, gold-coated guards. Well, let us fell -them, as we read has been done to the body-guards of tyrants before now. -Thus will we get near enough to the gilded idol to hurl it down. Count -these privileged heads. Scarce two hundred thousand. Let us walk through -the lovely garden, which is France, as Tarquin did in his, and cut off -the heads of these flaunting poppies, and all will be done. When dwarfs -aim to slay a colossus they attack its feet; when men want to fell the -oak they chop at the root. Woodmen, take the ax, let us hack at the base -of the tree and it will fall in the dust." - -"And crush you, pigmies," commented the Supreme Chief in a voice of -thunder. "You declaim against poets and you spout fustian. Brother, you -have picked up these phrases in some novel you concoct in your garret." - -Marat blushed. - -"Do you know what a revolution is?" said the Grand Copt. "I have seen -two hundred, and they have tended to nothing because the revolutionists -were in too great a haste. You talk of chopping down giant trees. This -tree is not an oak but one of those immense redwoods of the far western -American forests which I have seen. If they were felled, a horseman -starting from the base to avoid the high-up branches would be overtaken -and smashed. You cannot wish this. You cannot obtain the warrant from -me." - -"I have lived some forty generations of man." - -"Being long-lived, I can be patient. I carry your fate--ay, that of the -world in the hollow of my hand. I will not open it to let out the -lightnings till I see fit. Let us come down from these sublime hights -and walk on the earth. - -"Gentlemen, I say with simplicity and full belief, it is not yet time. -The King now reigning is the last reflection of the glory of the Great -Louis who dazzles still enough to pale your ineffectual fires. A King, -he will die royally: of an insolent race but pure-bred. Slay him and -that will happen which befel Charles First of England: his executioners -will bow to him and courtiers will kiss the ax which lops off his head. -You know that England was in too much of a hurry. It is true that -Charles Stuart died on the scaffold but the block was a stepping-stone -for his son to reach the throne and he died on it." - -"Wait, wait, brothers, for the times are becoming propitious. - -"We are sworn to destroy the lilies but we must root them up--not a -stalk must be left. But the breath of fate is going to shrivel royalty -up to nothing. Draw nearer and hear this--the Dauphiness, though a year -wedded---- " - -"Well?" asked the chiefs with anxiety. - -"She is still as when she came from her mother's land." - -An ominous murmur, so full of hatred and revengeful triumph as to make -all Kings flee, escaped like a blast of hell from the lips of this -narrow circle of six heads almost touching, but towered over by -Balsamo's bending down from the stage. - -"In this state of things," he pursued, "two suppositions are presented. -The race will die out and our friends will have no difficulties, combats -or troubles. As happens every time three Kings succeed, the Dauphin, -Provence and Artois will reign but die without posterity--it is the law -of destiny. - -"The other hypothesis is that the Dauphiness will yet bear children. -That is the trap into which our enemies will rush in the belief that we -will fall into it. We will rejoice when she is a mother, just like them; -for we possess a dread secret, comprising crimes which no power, -prestige or efforts can counteract. We can easily make out that the heir -which she gives the throne is illegitimate and the more fecund she may -be, the worse will appear her conduct. - -"This is why, my brothers, that I wait; judging it useless as yet to -unchain popular passions to be employed efficaciously when the right -time comes. - -"Now, brothers, you know how I have employed this year. You see the -extent of my mines. Be persuaded that we shall succeed, but with the -genius and courage of some, who are the eyes and the brain; with the -labor and perseverance of others, who represent the arms; and with the -faith and devotedness of others still, who are the heart. - -"Be penetrated with the necessity of blind obedience which makes the -Grand Copt himself stand ready to be immolated to the will of the -Order's statutes when the day comes. - -"There is a good act yet to do, and an evil to point out. - -"The great author who came to us this evening and would have joined us -but for the stormy behavior of one of our brothers who alarmed the -sensitive spirit--he was right as against us and I am sorry one of the -profane was in the right before a majority of our society, who know the -ritual badly and our aims not at all. Triumphing with the sophisms of -his works over our Order's truths, he represents a vice which I shall -extirpate with fire and sword, unless it can be done with persuasion, as -I hope. The self-conceit of one of our brothers showed itself vilely. He -placed us secondary in the argument. I trust that no such fault will -again be committed or else I shall have recourse to discipline. - -"Now, brothers, propagate the faith with mildness and persuasion. -Insinuate rather than impose, and do not try to make truths enter with -hammer and ax blows like the torturers who use wedge and sledge. -Remember that we shall be acknowledged great only after having proved -that we have done good, and that will only happen when we shall appear -better than those round us. Remember, too, that the good are nothing -without science, art and faith; nothing beside those whom the Divine -Architect has stamped with a peculiar seal to command men and rule an -empire. - -"Brothers, the meeting adjourns." - -He put on his hat and wrapped himself in his mantle. Each freemason went -out in his turn, alone and silent so as not to awaken suspicion. The -last with the Supreme Master was the Surgeon Marat. - -Very pale, he humbly approached him for he knew the terrible speaker's -power was unlimited. - -"Master, did I commit a fault?" he inquired. - -"A great one, and all the worse as you are not conscious that you did -so," replied the man of mystery. - -"I confess it; not only ignorant, but I thought I spoke becomingly." - -"Pride--destructive demon! men hunt for fever in the veins and search -for the cancer in the vitals, but they let pride shoot up such roots -deeply in their heart as never to be able to wrench them out." - -"You have a very poor opinion of me, master," returned Marat. "Am I so -paltry a fellow that I am not to be counted among my equals? Have I -culled the fruit of the tree of knowledge so clumsily that I am -incapable of saying a word without being taxed with ignorance? Am I so -lukewarm a member that my conviction is suspected? Were this all so, -still I exist by reason of my devotion to the masses." - -"Brother, it is because the spirit of evil contends in you with that of -good and seems to me to promise to overpower it one day, that I -undertake to correct you. If I succeed it will be in one hour, unless -pride has the upperhand of all your other passions." - -"Master, make an appointment which I will keep." - -"I will call on you." - -"Mind what you promise. I am living in a garret in Cordelier' Street. A -garret, mark you, while you--" he emphasized the word with an -affectation of proud simplicity. - -"While I---- " - -"While, so they say, you live in a palace." - -The master shrugged his shoulders as a giant might do when jeered at by -a dwarf. - -"I will call upon you in your garret in the morning." - -"I go to the dissection hall at daybreak and then to the hospital." - -"That will suit me very well; I should have suggested it if you had not -said it." - -"You understand--early--I do not sleep much." - -"And I never sleep at peep of day," said Balsamo. - -Upon this they separated, as they had reached the street door, dark and -lonely on their going forth as it had been noisy and lively when they -went in. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - -BODY AND SOUL. - - -Balsamo was punctual and found, at six o'clock, Marat and his servant, a -woman of all work, decking up the room with flowers in a vase in honor -of the visitor. At sight of the master, the surgeon blushed more plainly -than was becoming in a stoic. - -"Where are we first going?" asked Balsamo when they got down to the -street door. - -"To Surgeon' Hall," was the reply. "I have selected a corpse there, a -subject which died of acute meningitis; I have to make some observations -on the brain and do not wish my colleagues to cut it up before I do." - -"Let us to the hall, then." - -"It is only a couple of steps; besides, you need not go in; you might -wait for me at the door." - -"On the contrary, I want to go in with you and have your opinion on the -subject, since it is a dead body." - -"Take care," said Marat; "For I am an expert anatomist and have the -advantage of you there." - -"Pride, more pride," muttered the Italian. - -"What is that?" - -"I say that we shall see about that. Let us enter." - -Balsamo followed him without shrinking into the amphitheatre, on -Hautefeuille Street. On a marble slab in the long, narrow hall were two -corpses, a man's and a woman's. She had died young: he was old and bald; -a wornout sheet veiled their bodies but half exposed their faces. - -Side by side on the chilly bed, they might never have met in life and if -their souls could see them now, they would have been mutually surprised -at the neighborhood. - -Marat pulled off the shroud of coarse linen from the two unfortunates -equalised by death under the surgeon's knife. They were nude. - -"Is not the sight repugnant to you?" asked Marat with his usual -braggadocia. - -"It makes me sad," replied the other. - -"From not being habituated to it," said the dissector. "I see the thing -daily and I feel neither sadness nor dislike. We surgical practitioners -have to live with the lifeless and we do not on their account interrupt -any of the functions of our life." - -"It is a sad privilege of your profession." - -"And why should I feel in the matter? Against sadness, I have -reflection; against the other thing, habit. What is to frighten me in a -corpse, a statue of flesh instead of stone?" - -"As you say, in a corpse there is nothing, while in the living body -there is---- " - -"Motion," replied Marat loftily. - -"You have not spoken of the soul." - -"I have never come across it when I searched with my scalpel." - -"Because you searched the dead only." - -"Oh, I have probed living bodies." - -"But have met nothing more than in dead ones?" - -"Yes, pain; you don't call that the soul, do you?" - -"Do you not believe in the soul?" - -"I believe in it but I may call it the Moving Power, if I like." - -"Very well; all I ask is if you believe in the soul; it makes me happy -to think so." - -"Stop an instant, master," interrupted Marat with his viper-like smile: -"let us come to an understanding and not exaggerate; we surgical -operators are rather materialists." - -"These bodies are quite cold," mused Balsamo aloud, "and this woman was -good-looking. A fine soul must have dwelt in that fine temple." - -"There was the mistake--it was a vile blade of metal in that showy -scabbard. This body, master, is that of a drab who was taken from the -Magdalen Prison of St. Lazare where she died of brain fever, to the Main -Hospital. Her story is very scandalous and long. If you call her moving -impulse a soul, you do ours wrong." - -"The soul might have been healed and it was lost, because no physician -for the soul came along." - -"Alas, master, this is another of your theories. Only for bodies are -there medicines," sneered Marat with a bitter laugh. "You use words -which are a reflection of a part of 'Macbeth,' and it makes you smile. -Who can minister to a mind diseased? Shakespeare calls your 'sou' the -mind." - -"No, you are wrong, and you do not know why I smile. For the moment we -are to conclude that these earthly vessels are empty?" - -"And senseless," went on Marat, raising the head of the woman and -letting it fall down on the slab with a bang, without the remains -shuddering or moving. - -"Very well: let us go to the hospital now," said Balsamo. - -"Not until I have cut off the head and put it by, as this coveted head -is the seat of a curious malady." - -He opened his instrument-case, took out a bistory, and picked up in a -corner a mallet spotted with blood. With a skilled hand he traced a -circular incision separating all the flesh and neck muscles. Cleaving to -the spine, he thrust his steel between two joints and gave with the maul -a sharp, forcible rap. The head rolled on the table, and bounced to the -ground. Marat was obliged to pick it up with his moistened hands. -Balsamo turned his head not to fill the operator with too much delight. - -"One of these days," said the latter, thinking he had caught his -superior in a weak moment, "some philanthropist who ponders over death -as I do over life will invent a machine to chop off the head to bring -about instantaneous extinction of the vital spark, which is not done by -any means of execution now in practice. The rack, the garrote the rope, -these are all methods of torture appertaining to barbarous peoples and -not to the civilized. An enlightened nation like France ought to punish -and not revenge: for the society which racks, strangles and decapitates -by the sword inflicts punishment by the pain besides that of death -alone, the culprit's portion. This is overdoing the penalty by half, I -think." - -"It is my opinion, too. What idea do you have of such an instrument?" - -"A machine, cold and emotionless as the Law itself; the man charged with -the inflection is affected by the sight of the criminal in his own -likeness; and he misses his stroke, as at the beheading of Chalais and -of the Duke of Monmouth. A machine would not do that, say, a wooden arm -which brought down an ax on the neck." - -"I have seen something of the kind in operation, the Maiden, it is -called in Scotland, and the Mannaja, in Italy. But I have also seen the -decapitated criminals rise without their heads, from the seat on which -they were placed, and stagger off a dozen paces. I have picked up such -heads, by the hair, as you just did that one which tumbled off the -table, and when I uttered in the ear the name with which it was -baptized, I saw the eyes open to see who called and showed that still on -the earth it had quitted one could cry after what was passing from time -to eternity." - -"Merely a nervous movement." - -"Are not the nerves the organs of sense? I conclude that it would be -better for man, instead of seeking a machine to kill without pain for -punishment, he had better seek the way to punish without killing. The -society that discovers that will be the best and most enlightened." - -"Another Utopia!" exclaimed Marat. - -"Perhaps you are right, this once," responded Balsamo. "It is time that -will enlighten us." - -Marat wrapped up the female head in his handkerchief which he tied by -the four corners in a knot. - -"In this way, I am sure that my colleagues will not rob me of my head," -he said. - -Walking side by side the dreamer and the practitioner went to the great -Hospital. - -"You cut that head off coldly and skillfully," said the former. "Have -you less emotion when dealing with the quick? Does suffering affect you -less than insensibility? Are you more pitiless with living bodies than -the dead?" - -"No, for it would be a fault, as in an executioner to let himself feel -anything. A man would die from being miscut in the limb as surely as -though his head were struck off. A good surgeon ought to operate with -his hand and not his heart, though he knows in his heart that he is -going to give years of life and happiness for the second's suffering. -That is the golden lining to our profession." - -"Yes; but in the living, I hope you meet with the soul?" - -"Yes, if you hold that the soul is the moving impulse--the -sensitiveness; that I do meet, and it is very troublesome sometimes for -it kills more patients than my scalpel." - -Guided by Marat, who would not put aside his ghastly burden, Balsamo was -introduced into the operation ward, crowded with the chief surgeon and -the students. - -The aids brought in a young man, knocked down the previous week by a -heavy wagon which had crushed his foot. A hasty operation at that time -had not sufficed; mortification had spread and amputation of the leg was -necessary. Stretched on the bed of anguish, the poor fellow looked with -a terror which would have melted tigers, on the band of eager men who -waited for the time of his martyrdom, his death perchance, to study the -science of life--the marvellous phenomenon which conceals the gloomy one -of death. He seemed to sue from the surgeon and assistants some smile of -comfort, but he met indifference on all sides, steel in every eye. - -A remnant of courage and manly pride kept him mute, reserving all to try -to check the screams which agony would tear from him. - -Still, when he felt the kindly heavy hand of the porter on his shoulder, -and the aid's arms interlace him like serpents, and heard the operator's -voice saying "Keep up your pluck my brave man!" he ventured to break the -stillness by asking in a plaintive tone: - -"You are not going to hurt me much?" - -"Not at all; be quiet," replied Marat, with a false smile which might -seem sweet to the sufferer, but was ironical to Balsamo, and noting that -the latter had seen through him, the young surgeon whispered to him: - -"It is a dreadful operation. The bone is splintered and sensitive so as -to make any one pity him. He will die of the pain, not the injury; that -will make his soul want to fly away." - -"Why operate on him--why not let him die tranquilly?" - -"Because it is a surgeon's duty to attempt a cure when it is -impossible." - -"But you say that he will suffer dreadfully on account of his having a -soul too tender for his frame? then, why not operate on the soul so that -the tranquillity of the one will be the salvation of the other?" - -"Just what I have done," replied Marat, while the patient was tied down. -"By my words, I spoke to the soul--to his sensitiveness, what made the -Greek philosopher say, 'Pain, thou art no ill.' I told him he would not -feel much pain, and it is the business of his soul not to feel any. That -is the only remedy known up to the present. As for the questions of the -soul--lies! why is this deuce of a soul clamped to the body? When I -knocked this head off a spell ago, the body said nothing. Yet that was a -grave operation enough. But the movement had ceased, sensitiveness was -no more and the soul had fled, as you spiritualists say. That is why the -head and the body which I severed, made no remonstrance to me. But the -body of this unhappy fellow with the soul still in, will be yelling -awfully in a little while. Stop up your ears closely, master. For you -are sensitive, and your theory will be killed by the shock, until the -day when your theory can separate the soul from the body." - -"You believe such separation will never come?" said Balsamo. - -"Try, for this is a capital opening." - -"I will; this young man interests me and I do not want him to feel the -pain." - -"You are a leader of men," said Marat, "but you are not a heavenly -being, and you cannot prevent the lad from suffering." - -"If he should not suffer, would his recovery be sure?" - -"It would be likely, but not sure." - -Balsamo cast an inexpressible look of triumph on the speaker and placing -himself before the patient, whose frightened and terror-filled eyes he -caught, he said: "Sleep!" not with the mouth solely but with look, will, -all the heat of his blood and the fluid electricity in his system. - -At this instant the chief surgeon was beginning to feel the injured -thigh and point out to the pupils the extent of the ail. - -But at this command from the mesmerist, the young man, who had been -raised by an assistant, swung a little and let his head sink, while his -eyes closed. - -"He feels bad," said Marat; "he loses consciousness." - -"Nay, he sleeps." - -Everybody looked at this stranger whom they took for a lunatic. - -Over Marat's lips flitted a smile of incredulity. - -"Does a man usually speak in a swoon?" asked Balsamo. "Question him and -he will answer you." - -"I say, young man," shouted Marat. - -"No, there is no need for you to halloo at him," said Balsamo, "he will -hear you in your ordinary voice." - -"Give us an idea what you are doing?" - -"I was told to sleep, and I am sleeping," replied the patient, in a -perfectly unruffled voice strongly contrasting with that heard from him -shortly before. - -All the bystanders stared at one another. - -"Now, untie him," said Balsamo. - -"No, you must not do that," remonstrated the head surgeon, "the -operation would be spoilt by the slightest movement." - -"I assure you that he will not stir, and he will do the same: ask him." - -"Can you be left free, my friend?" - -"I can." - -"And you promise not to budge?" - -"I promise, if I am ordered so." - -"I order you." - -"Upon my word, sir," said the chief surgeon, "you speak with so much -certainty that I am inclined to try the experiment." - -"Do so, and have no fear." - -"Unbind him," said the surgeon. - -As the men obeyed Balsamo went to the head of the couch. - -"From this time forward do not stir till I bid you." - -A statue on a tombstone could not be more motionless than the patient -after this command. - -"Now, sir, proceed with the operation; the patient is properly -prepared." - -The surgeon had his steel ready, but he hesitated at the beginning. - -"Proceed," repeated Balsamo with the manner of an inspired prophet. - -Mastered as Marat and the patient had been and as all the rest were, the -surgeon put the knife edge to the flesh: it "squeaked" literally at the -cut, but the patient did not flinch or utter a sigh. - -"What countryman are you, friend?" asked the mesmerist. - -"From Brittany, my lord." - -"Do you love your country?" - -"Ay, it is such a fine one," and he smiled. - -Meanwhile the operator was making the circular incisions which are the -preliminary steps in amputations to lay the bone bare. - -"Did you leave it when early in life?" continued Balsamo. - -"I was only ten years old, my lord." - -The cuts being made, the surgeon applied the saw to the gash. - -"My friend," said Balsamo, "sing me that song the saltmakers of Batz -sing on knocking off work of an evening. I only remember the first line -which goes: - - 'Hail to the shining salt!'" - -The saw bit into the bone: but at the request of the magnetiser, the -patient smilingly commenced to sing, slowly and melodiously like a lover -or a poet: - - "Hail to the shining salt, - Drawn from the sky-blue lake: - Hail to the smoking kiln, - And my rye-and-honey cake! - Here comes wife and dad, - And all my chicks I love: - All but the one who sleeps, - Yon, in the heather grove. - Hail! for there ends the day, - And to my rest I come: - After the toil the pay; - After the pay, I'm home." - -The severed limb fell on the board, but the man was still singing. He -was regarded with astonishment and the mesmeriser with admiration. They -thought both were insane. Marat repeated this impression in Balsamo's -ear. - -"Terror drove the poor lad out of his wits so that he felt no pain," he -said. - -"I am not of your opinion," replied the Italian sage: "far from having -lost his wits, I warrant that he will tell us if I question him, the day -of his death if he is to die; or how long his recovery will take if he -is to get through." - -Marat was now inclined to share the general opinion that his friend was -mad, like the patient. - -In the meantime the surgeon was taking up the arteries from which -spirted jets of blood. - -Balsamo took a phial from his pocket, let a few drops fall on a wad of -lint, and asked the chief surgeon to apply this to the cut. He obeyed -with marked curiosity. - -He was one of the most celebrated operators of the period, truly in love -with his science, repudiating none of its mysteries, and taking hazard -as the outlet to doubt. He clapped the plug to the wound, and the -arteries seared up, hissing, and the blood came through only drop by -drop. He could then tie the grand artery with the utmost facility. - -Here Balsamo obtained a true triumph, and everybody wanted to know where -he had studied and of what school he was. - -"I am a physician of the University of Gottingen," he replied, "and I -made the discovery which you have witnessed. But, gentlemen and brothers -of the lancet and ligature, I should like it kept secret, as I have -great fear of being burnt at the stake, and the Parliament of Paris -might once again like the spectacle of a wizard being so treated." - -The head surgeon was brooding; Marat was dreaming and reflecting. But he -was the first to speak. - -"You asserted," he said, "that if this man were interrogated about the -result of his operation he would certainly tell it though it is in the -womb of the future?" - -"I said so: what is the man's name?" - -"Havard." - -Balsamo turned to the patient, who was still humming the lay. - -"Well, friend, what do you augur about our poor Havard's fate?" he -asked. - -"Wait till I come back from Brittany, where I am, and get to the -Hospital where Havard is." - -"Of course. Come hither, enter, and tell me the truth about him." - -"He is in a very bad way; they have cut off his leg. That was neatly -done, but he has a dreadful strait to go through; he will have fever -to-night at seven o'clock---- " - -The bystanders looked at each other. - -"This fever will pull him down; but I am sure he will get through the -first fit." - -"And will be saved?" - -"No: for the fever returns and--poor Havard! he has a wife and little -ones!" - -His eyes filled with tears. - -"His wife will be left a widow and the little ones orphans?" - -"Wait, wait--no, no!" he cried, clasping his hands. "They prayed so hard -for him that their prayers have been granted." - -"He will get well?" - -"Yes, he will go forth from here, where he came five days ago, a hale -man, two months and fifteen days after." - -"But," said Marat, "incapable of working and consequently to feed his -family." - -"God is good and he will provide." - -"How?" continued Marat: "while I am gathering information, I may as well -learn this?" - -"God hath sent to his bedside a charitable lord who took pity on him, -and he is saying to himself: 'I am not going to let poor Havard want for -anything.'" - -All looked at Balsamo, who smiled. - -"Verily, we witness a singular incident," remarked the head surgeon, as -he took the patient's hand and felt his pulse and his forehead. "This -man is dreaming aloud." - -"Do you think so?" retorted the mesmerist. "Havard, awake," he added -with a look full of authority and energy. - -The young man opened his eyes with an effort and gazed with profound -surprise on the bystanders, become for him as inoffensive as they were -menacing at the first. - -"Ah, well," he said, "have you not begun your work? Are you going to -give me pain?" - -Balsamo hastened to speak as he feared a shock to the sufferer. There -was no need for him to hasten as far as the others were concerned as -none of them could get out a word, their surprise was so great. - -"Keep quiet, friend," he said; "the chief surgeon has performed on your -leg an operation which suits the requirement of your case. My poor lad, -you must be rather weak of mind, for you swooned away at the outset." - -"I am glad I did for I felt nothing of it," replied the Breton merrily: -"my sleep was a sweet one and did me good. What a good thing that I am -not to lose my leg." - -At this very moment he looked over himself, and saw the couch flooded -with blood and the severed limb. He uttered a scream and swooned away, -this time really. - -"Question him, now, and see whether he will reply," said Balsamo sternly -to Marat. - -Taking the chief surgeon aside while the aids carried the patient to his -bed, he said: - -"You heard what the poor fellow said---- " - -"About his getting well?" - -"About heaven having pity on him and inspiring a nobleman to help his -family. He spoke the truth on that head as on the other. Will you please -be the intermediary between heaven and your patient. Here is a diamond -worth about twenty thousand livres; when the man is nearly able to go -out, sell it and give him the money. Meanwhile, since the soul has great -influence on the body, as your pupil Marat says justly, tell Havard that -his future is assured." - -"But if he should not recover," said the doctor hesitating. - -"He will." - -"Still I must give you a receipt; I could not think of taking an object -of this value otherwise." - -"Just as you please; my name is Count Fenix." - -Five minutes afterwards Balsamo put the receipt in his pocket, and went -out accompanied by Marat. - -"Do not forget your head!" said Balsamo, to whom the absence of mind in -this cool student was a compliment. - -Marat parted from the chief of the Order with doubt in his heart but -meditation in his eyes, and he said to himself: "Does the soul really -exist?" - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - -THE DIAMOND COLLAR. - - -Rousseau had been cheated into going to take breakfast with the royal -favorite: he was formally invited by the Dauphiness to come to Trianon -to conduct in person one of his operas in which she and her ladies and -titled amateurs generally were to take the parts even to the -supernumeraries. - -He had not attired himself specially and he had stuffed his head with a -lot of disagreeable plain truths to speak to the King, if he had a -chance. - -To the courtiers, however, it was the same to see him as any other -author or composer, curiosities all, whom the grandees hire to perform -in their parlors or on their lawns. - -The King received him coldly on account of his costume, dusty with the -journey in the omnibus, but he addressed him with the limpid clearness -of the monarch which drove from Rousseau's head all the platitudes he -had rehearsed. - -But as soon as the rehearsal was begun, the attention was drawn to the -piece and the composer was forgotten. - -But he was remarking everything; the noblemen in the dress of peasants -sang as far out of tune as the King himself; the ladies in the attire of -court shepherdesses flirted. The Dauphiness sang correctly, but she was -a poor actress; besides, she had so little voice that she could hardly -be heard. The Dauphin spoke his lines. In short, the opera scarcely got -on in the least. - -Only one consolation came to Rousseau. He caught sight of one -delightful face among the chorus-ladies and it was her voice which -sounded the best of all. - -"Eh," said the Dauphiness, following his look, "has Mdlle. de Taverney -made a fault?" - -Andrea blushed as she saw all eyes turn upon her. - -"No, no!" the author hastened to say, "that young lady sings like an -angel." - -Lady Dubarry darted a glance on him sharper than a javelin. - -On the other hand Baron Taverney felt his heart melt with joy and he -smiled his warmest on the composer. - -"Do you think that child sings well?" questioned Lady Dubarry of the -King, whom Rousseau's words had visibly struck. - -"I could not tell," he said: "while they are all singing together. One -would have to be a regular musician to discover that." - -Rousseau still kept his eyes on Andrea who looked handsomer than ever -with a high color. - -The rehearsal went on and Lady Dubarry became atrociously out of temper: -twice she caught Louis XV. absent-minded when she was saying cutting -things about the play. - -Though the incident had also made the Dauphiness jealous, she -complimented everybody and showed charming gaiety. The Duke of Richelieu -hovered round her with the agility of a youth, and gathered a band of -merrymakers at the back of the stage with the Dauphiness as the centre: -this furiously disquieted the Dubarry clique. - -"It appears that Mdlle. de Taverney is blessed with a pretty voice," he -said in a loud voice. - -"Delightful," said the princess; "if I were not so selfish, I would have -her play Colette. But I took the part to have some amusement and I am -not going to let another play it." - -"Nay, Mdlle. de Taverney would not sing it better than your Royal -Highness," protested Richelieu, "and---- " - -"She is an excellent musician," said Rousseau, who was penetrated with -Andrea's value in his line. - -"Excellent," said the Dauphiness; "I am going to tell the truth, that -she taught me my part; and then she dances ravishingly, and I do not -dance a bit." - -You may judge of the effect of all this on the King, his favorite, and -all this gathering of the envious, curious, intriguers, and -news-mongers. Each received a gain or a sting, with pain or shame. There -were none indifferent except Andrea herself. - -Spurred on by Richelieu, the Dauphiness induced Andrea to sing the -ballad: - - "I have lost my only joy-- - Colin leaves me all alone." - -The King was seen to mark time with a nodding of the head, in such keen -pleasure that the rouge scaled off Lady Dubarry's face in flakes like a -painting in the damp. - -More spiteful than any woman, Richelieu enjoyed the revenge he was -having on Dubarry. Sidling round to old Taverney, the pair resembled a -group of Hypocrisy and Corruption signing a treaty of union. - -Their joy brightened all the more as the cloud darkened on Dubarry's -brow. She finished by springing up in a pet, which was contrary to all -etiquet, for the King was still in his seat. - -Foreseeing the storm like ants, the courtiers looked for shelter. So the -Dauphiness and La Dubarry were both clustered round by their friends. - -The interest in the rehearsal gradually deviated from its natural line -and entered into a fresh order of things. Colin and Colette, the lovers -in the piece, were no longer thought of, but whether Madame Dubarry -might not have to sing: - - "I have lost my only joy-- - Colin leaves me all alone." - -"Do you see the stunning success of that girl of yours?" asked Richelieu -of Taverney. - -He dashed open a glazed door to lead him into the lobby, when the act -made a knave who was standing on the knob to peer into the hall, drop to -the ground. - -"Plague on the rogue," said the duke; brushing his sleeve, for the shock -of the drop had dusted him. He saw that the spy was clad like one of -the working people about the Palace. - -It was a gardener's help, in fact, for he had a basket of flowers on his -arm. He had saved himself from falling but spilt the flowers. - -"Why, I know the rogue," said Taverney, "he was born on my estate. What -are you doing here, rascal?" - -"You see, I am looking on," replied Gilbert proudly. - -"Better finish your work." - -"My work is done," replied the young man humbly to the duke, without -deigning to reply to the baron. - -"I run up against this idle vagabond everywhere," grumbled the latter. - -"Here, here, my lord," gently interrupted a voice; "my little Gilbert is -a good workman and a most earnest botanist." - -Taverney turned and saw Dr. Jussieu stroking the cheek of his -ex-dependent. He turned red with rage and went off. - -"The lackeys poking their noses in here!" he growled. - -"And the maids, too--look at your Nicole, at the corner of the door -there. The sly puss, she does not let a wink escape her." - -Among twenty other servants, Nicole was holding her pretty head over -theirs from behind and her eyes, dilated by surprise and admiration, -seemed to see double. Perceiving her, Gilbert turned aloof. - -"Come," said the duke to Taverney, "it is my belief that the King wants -to speak to you. He is looking round for somebody." - -The two friends made their way to the royal box. - -Lady Dubarry and Aiguillon, both on their feet, were chatting. - -Rousseau was alone in the admiration of Andrea; he was busy falling into -love with her. - -The illustrious actors were changing their dresses in their retiring -rooms, where Gilbert had renewed the floral decorations. - -Taverney, left by himself in the corridor while Richelieu went to the -King, felt his heart alternately frozen and seared by the expectation. - -Finally his envoy returned and laid a finger on his lips. His friend -turned pale with joy, and was drawn under the royal box, where they -heard what had few auditors. - -Lady Dubarry was saying: "Am I to expect your Majesty to supper this -evening?" and the reply was "I am afraid I am too tired and should like -to be excused." - -At this juncture the Dauphin dropped into the box and said, almost -stepping on the countess's toes without appearing to see her: - -"Sire, is your Majesty going to do us the honor of taking supper at the -Trianon?" - -"No, my son; I was just saying to the countess that I am too tired for -anything. All your youthful liveliness bewilders me; I shall take supper -alone." - -The prince bowed and retired. Lady Dubarry courtseyed very low and went -her way, quivering with ire. The King then beckoned to Richelieu. - -"Duke, I have some business to talk to you upon; I have not been pleased -with the way matters go on. I want an explanation, and you may as well -make it while we have supper. I think I know this gentleman, duke?" he -continued, eyeing Taverney. - -"Certainly--it is Taverney." - -"Oh, the father of this delightful songstress?" - -"Yes, Sire." - -The King whispered in the duke's ear while the baron dug his nails into -his flesh to hide his emotion. - -A moment after, Richelieu said to his friend: "Follow me, without -seeming to do so." - -"Where?" - -"Never mind--come, all the same." - -The duke set off and Taverney followed within twenty paces to a room -where the following gentleman stopped in the anteroom. - -He had not long to wait there. Richelieu, having asked the royal valet -for what his master had left on the toilet table, came forth immediately -with an article which the baron could not distinguish in its silken -wrapper. But the marshal soon drew him out of his disquiet when he led -him to the side of the gallery. - -"Baron, you have sometimes doubted my friendship for you," observed the -duke when they were alone, "and then you doubted the good fortune of -yourself and children. You were wrong, for it has come about for you all -with dazzling rapidity." - -"You don't say that?" said the old cynic, catching a glimpse of part of -the truth; he was not yet sundered from good and hence not entirely -enlisted by the devil. "How is this?" - -"Well, we have Master Philip made a captain with a company of soldiers -furnished by the King. And Mdlle. de Taverney is nigh to being a -marchioness." - -"Go to! my daughter a---- " - -"Listen to me, Taverney: the King is full of good taste. When talent -accompanies grace, beauty and virtue, it enchants him. Now, your girl -unites all these gifts in an eminent degree so that he is delighted by -her." - -"I wish you would make the word 'delighted' clearer, duke," said the -other, putting on an air of dignity more grotesque than the speaker's, -which the latter thought grotesque as he did not like pretences. - -"Baron," he drily replied, "I am not strong on language and not even -good at spelling. For me, delighted signifies pleased beyond measure. If -you would not be delighted beyond measure to see your sovereign content -with the grace, beauty and virtue of your offspring, say so. I will go -back to his Majesty," and he spun round on his red heels with quite -youthful sprightliness. - -"Duke, you don't understand me--hang it! how sudden you are," grumbled -Taverney, stopping him. - -"Why do you say you are not pleased?" - -"I never said so." - -"You ask comments on the King's good pleasure--plague on the dunce who -questions it!" - -"Again, I tell you, I never opened my mouth on that subject. It is -certain that I am pleased." - -"Yes, you--for any man of sense would be: but your girl?" - -"Humph!" - -"My dear fellow, you have brought up the child like the savage that you -are." - -"My dear fellow, she has brought herself up all alone; you might guess -that I did not bother myself about her. It was hard enough to keep alive -in that hole at Taverney. Virtue sprang up in her of its own impulsion." - -"Yet I thought that the rural swains rooted out ill weeds. In short, -your girl is a nun." - -"You are wrong--she is a dove." - -Richelieu made a sour face. - -"The dove had better get another turtle to mate, for the chances to make -a fortune with that blessing are pretty scarce nowadays." - -Taverney looked at him uneasily. - -"Luckily," went on the other, "the King is so infatuated with Dubarry -that he will never seriously lean towards others." - -Taverney's disquiet became anxiety. - -"You and your daughter need not worry," continued Richelieu. "I will -raise the proper objections to the King and he will think no more about -it." - -"About what?" gasped the old noble, pale, as he shook his friend's arm. - -"About making a little present to Mdlle. Andrea." - -"A little present--what is it?" cried the baron full of hope and -greediness. - -"A mere trifle," said Richelieu, negligently, as he opened the parcel -and showed a diamond collar. "A miserable little trinket costing only a -few thousand livres, which his Majesty, flattered by having heard his -favorite song sung well, wanted the singer to be sued to accept. It is -the custom. But let us say no more since your daughter is so easily -frightened." - -"But you do not seem to see that a refusal would offend the King." - -"Of course; but does not virtue always tread on the corn of somebody or -other?" - -"To tell the truth, duke, the girl is not so very lost to reason. I know -what she will say or do." - -"The Chinese are a very happy people," observed Richelieu. - -"How so?" asked Taverney, stupefied. - -"Because they are allowed to drown girls who are a trouble to their -parents and nobody says a word." - -"Come, duke, you ought to be fair," said Taverney; "suppose you had a -daughter." - -"'Sdeath! have I not a daughter, and it would be mighty unkind of -anybody to slander her by saying she was ice. But I never interfere with -my children after they get out of the nursery." - -"But if you had a daughter and the King were to offer her a collar?" - -"My friend, pray, no comparisons. I have always lived in the court and -you have lived latterly like a Red Indian; there is no likeness. What -you call virtue I rate as stupidity. Learn for your guidance that -nothing is more impolite than to put it to people what they would do in -such a case. Besides, your comparison will not suit. I am not the bearer -of a diamond collar to Mdlle. de Taverney, as Lebel the valet of the -King is a carrier; when I have such a mission, which is honorable as the -present is rich, I am moral as the next man. I do not go near the young -lady, who is admirable for her virtue--I go to her father--I speak to -you, Taverney, and I hand you the collar, saying: Take it or leave it." - -"If the present is only a matter of custom," observed the baron: "if -legitimate and paternal---- " - -"Why, you are never daring to suspect his Majesty of evil intentions," -said Richelieu, gravely. - -"God forbid, but what will the world say--I mean, my daughter---- " - -"Yes or no, do you take it," demanded the intermediary, shrugging his -shoulders. - -Out darted Taverney's fingers, as he said with a smile twin-like to the -envoy's: - -"Thus you are moral." - -"Is it not pure morality," returned the marshal, "to place the father, -who purifies all, between the enchanted state of the monarch and the -charm of your daughter? Let Jean Jacques Rousseau, who was in these -precincts a while ago, be the judge: he will declare that the famous -Joseph of Biblical name was impure alongside of me." - -He uttered these words with a phlegm, dry nobility, and perkiness -imposing silence on Taverney's observations, and helping him to believe -that he ought to dwell convinced. So he grasped his illustrious friend's -hand and as he squeezed it, he said: - -"Thanks to your delicacy, my daughter may accept this present." - -"The source and origin of the fortune of which I was speaking to you at -the commencement of our annoying discussion on virtue." - -"I thank you with all my heart, duke." - -"One word: most carefully keep the news of this boon from the Dubarry's -friends. She is capable of quitting the King and running away." - -"Would the King be sorry for that?" - -"I do not know, but the countess would bear you ill-will. I would be -lost, in that case; so be wary." - -"Fear nothing: but bear my most humble thanks to his Majesty." - -"And your daughter's--I shall not fail. But you are not at the end of -the favor. You can thank him personally, dear friend, for you are -invited to sup with him. We are a family party. We--his Majesty, you, -and I, will talk about your daughter's virtue. Good bye, Taverney! I see -Dubarry with Aiguillon and they must not spy us in conversation." - -Light as a page, he skipped out of the gallery, leaving the old baron -with the jewels, like a child waking up and finding what Santa Claus -left in his sock while he slept. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI. - -THE KING'S PRIVATE SUPPER-PARTY. - - -The marshal found his royal master in the little parlor, whither a few -courtiers had followed him, preferring to lose their meal than have his -glances fall on somebody else. - -But Louis had other matters to do than look at these lords. The -paltriness of these parasites would have made him smile at another time: -but they awakened no emotion on this occasion in the railing monarch, -who would spare no infirmity in his best friend--granting that he had -any friends. - -He went to the window and saw the coach of Dubarry driven away at great -speed. - -"The countess must be in a rage to go off without saying good-bye to -me," he said aloud. - -Richelieu, who had been waiting for his cue to enter, glided in at this -speech. - -"Furious, Sire?" he repeated; "because your Majesty had a little sport -this evening? that would be bad on her ladyship's part." - -"Duke, deuce a bit did I find sport," said the King: "on the other hand, -I am fagged, and want repose. Music enervates me: I should have done -better to go over to Luciennes for supper and wine: yes, plenty of -drink, for though the wine there is wretched, it sends one to sleep. -Still I can have a doze here." - -"Your Majesty is a hundred times right." - -"Besides, the countess will find more fun without me. Am I so very -lively a companion? though she asserts I am, I don't believe a word of -it." - -"Your Majesty is a hundred times wrong, now." - -"No, no, duke; really! I count my days now and I fall into brown -studies." - -"Sire, the lady feels that she will never meet a jollier companion and -that is what makes her mad." - -"Dash me if I know how you manage it, duke; you lure all the fair sex -after you, as if you were still twenty. At that age, man may pick and -choose: but at mine--women lead us by the nose." - -The marshal laughed. - -"My lord, if the countess is finding diversion elsewhere, the more -reason for us to find ours where we can." - -"I do not say that she is finding but that she will seek it." - -"I beg to say that such a thing was never known." - -"Duke," said the King, rising from the seat he had taken, "I should like -to know by a sure hand whether the countess has gone home." - -"I have my man Rafté, but it seems to me that the countess has gone -sure enough. Where but straight home do you imagine she would go?" - -"Who can tell--jealousy has driven her mad." - -"Sire, would it not rather be your Majesty who has given her cause for -it--any other assumption would be humiliating to all of us." - -"I, make her jealous," said the King with a forced laugh; "in fact, -duke, are you speaking in earnest?" - -Richelieu did not believe what he said: he was close to the truth in -thinking that the King wanted to know whether Lady Dubarry had gone home -in order to be sure that she would not drop in at the Trianon. - -"I will send Rafté to learn," he said: "what is your Majesty going to do -before supper?" - -"We shall sup at once. Is the guest without?" - -"Overflowing with gratitude." - -"And the daughter?" - -"He has not mentioned her yet." - -"If Lady Dubarry were jealous and was to come back---- " - -"Oh, Sire, that would show such bad taste, and I do not believe the lady -is capable of such enormity." - -"My lord, she is fit for anything at such times, particularly when hate -supplements her spite. She execrates Taverney, as well as your grace." - -"Your Majesty might include a third person still more execrated--Mdlle. -Andrea." - -"That is natural enough," granted the King; "so it ought to be prepared -that no uproar could be made to-night. Here is the steward--hush! give -your orders to Rafté, and bring the person into the supper room." - -In five minutes, Richelieu rejoined the King, accompanied by Taverney, -to whom the host wished good evening most pleasantly. - -The baron was sharp and he knew how to reply to crowned and coroneted -heads so that they would see he was one of themselves and be on easy -terms with them. - -They sat at table and began to feast. - -Louis XV. was not a good King, but he was a first-rate boon companion; -when he liked, he was fine company for those who like jolly eaters, -hearty drinkers and merry talkers. He ate well and drew the conversation -round to Music. Richelieu caught the ball on the fly. - -"Sire," said he, "if Music brings men into harmony, as our ballet-master -says and your Majesty seems to think, I wonder if it works the same with -the softer sex?" - -"Oh, duke, do not drag them into the chat," said the King. "From the -siege of Troy to our days, women have always exerted the contrary effect -to music. You above all have good reasons not to bring them on the -board. With one, and not the least dangerous, you are at daggers-drawn." - -"The countess, Sire? is it any fault of mine?" - -"It is." - -"I hope your Majesty will kindly explain---- " - -"I can briefly; and will with pleasure," returned the host jestingly: -"public rumor says that she offered you the portfolio of some -ministerial office and you refused it, which won you the people's -favor." - -Richelieu of course only too clearly saw that he was impaled in the -dilemma. The King knew better than anybody that he had not been offered -any place in any cabinet. But it was necessary to keep Taverney in the -idea that it had been done. Hence the duke had to answer the joke so -skillfully as to avoid the reproach the baron was getting ready for him. - -"Sire," said he, "let us not argue about the effects so much as the -cause. My refusal of a portfolio is a secret of state which your Majesty -is the last to divulge at a merry board; but the cause of my rejecting, -it is another matter." - -"Ho, ho, so the cause is not a state secret, eh?" said the King -chuckling. - -"No, Sire, particularly none for your Majesty: who is at present, for my -lord baron and myself, the most amiable host man mortal ever had; I have -no secrets from my master. I yield up my whole mind to him for I do not -wish it to be said that the King of France has a servant who does not -tell him the truth." - -"Pray, let us have the whole truth," said the monarch, while Taverney -smoothed his face in imitation of the King's for fear the duke would go -too far. - -"Sire, in the kingdom are two powers that should be obeyed; your will, -to begin with, and next that of the friends whom you deign to choose as -intimates. The first power is irresistible and none try to elude it. The -second is more sacred as it imposes duties of the heart on whomsoever -serves you. This is called your trust: a minister ought to love while he -obeys the favorite of your Majesty." - -"Duke," said the King, laughing: "That is a fine maxim which I like to -hear coming from your mouth. But I defy you to shout it out on the -market-place." - -"Oh, I am well aware that it would make the philosophers fly to arms," -replied the old politician; "but I do not believe their cries or their -arms much daunt your Majesty or me. The main point is that the two -preponderating wills of the realm should be satisfied. Well, I shall -speak out courageously to your Majesty, though I incur my disgrace or -even my death--I cannot subscribe to the will of Lady Dubarry." - -Louis was silent. - -"But then," went on the duke, "is that ever to be the only other will? -the contrary idea struck me the other day, when I looked around the -court and saw the beavy of radiantly beauteous noble girls; were I the -ruler of France, the choice would not be difficult to make." - -Louis turned to the second guest, who, feeling that he was being brought -into the arena, was palpitating with hope and fear while trying to -inspire the marshal, like a boy blows on the sail of his toy-boat in a -tub of water. - -"Is this your way of thinking, baron?" he asked. - -"Sire," responded the baron with a swelling heart, "it seems to me that -the duke is saying capital things." - -"You agree with him about the handsome girls?" - -"Why, my lord, it is plain that the court is adorned with the fairest -blossoms of the country." - -"Do you exhort me then to make a choice among the court beauties?" - -"I should say I am altogether of the marshal's advice if I knew it was -your Majesty's opinion." - -During a pause the monarch looked complaisantly on the last speaker. - -"Gentlemen," he said, "I should snap at your advice were I thirty; but I -am a little too old now to be credulous about my inspiring a flame." - -"Oh, Sire," said Richelieu, "I did think up to the time being that your -Majesty was the most polite gentleman in the realm; but I see with -profound grief that I was wrong; for I am old as Mathusaleh, for I was -born in '94. Just think of it, I am sixteen years older than your -Majesty." - -This was adroit flattery. Louis always admired the lusty old age of this -man who had outlived so many promising youngsters in his service; for -with such an example he might hope to reach the same age. - -"Granted: but I suppose you do not still fancy you can be loved for your -own sake?" - -"If I thought that aloud, I should be in disgrace with two ladies who -told me the contrary this very morning." - -"Ha, ha! but we shall see, my lords! Nothing like youthful society to -rejuvenate a man." - -"Yea, my lord, and noble blood is a salutary infusion, to say nothing of -the gain to the mind." - -"Still, I can remember that my grandfather, when he was getting on in -years, never courted with the same dash as earlier." - -"Pish, Sire," said Richelieu. "You know my respect for the King who -twice put me in the Bastile; but that ought not to stay me from saying -that there is no room for a comparison between the old age of Louis XIV. -and Louis XV. at his prime." - -The King was in the meet state this evening to receive this praise, -which fell on him like the spray from the Fountain of Youth, or Althota's -magic elixir. - -Thinking the opening had come, Richelieu gave Taverney the hint by -knocking his knee against his. - -"Sire," said the baron, "will your Majesty allow me to present my thanks -for the magnificent present made my daughter?" - -"Nothing to thank me for, my lord. Mdlle. de Taverney pleased me with -her decent and honorable bearing. I only wish my daughters had come from -the convent as creditably. Certainly, Mdlle. Andrea--I think I have the -name---- " - -"Yes, Sire," cried the noble, delighted at the King having his -daughter's name so pat. - -"A pretty name! Certainly, she would have been the first on my list, and -not solely from the alphabetical order: but it is not to be thought -of--all my time is monopolized. But, baron, take this as settled: the -young lady shall have all my protection. I fear she is not richly -dowered?" - -"Alas, no, Sire!" - -"Then, I shall arrange about her marriage." - -Taverney saluted very lowly. - -"Rest on that score: but nothing presses, for she is quite young." - -"Yes, and shrinks from marriage." - -"Look at that, now!" exclaimed Louis, rubbing his hands and glancing at -Richelieu. "In any case, apply to me if you are bothered in any way. -Marshal," called the King, rising. "Did the little creature like the -jewel?" he asked him. - -"Pardon my speaking in an undertone," said the duke, "but I do not want -the father to hear. I want to say that though the creature shrinks from -marriage, it does not follow that she shrinks from Majesty." - -This was uttered with a freedom which pleased the King by its excess. -The marshal trotted away to join Taverney, who had drawn aside to be -respectful, and the pair quitted the gallery and went through the -gardens. - -It was here that Gilbert, in ambush, heard the old diplomatist say to -his friend: - -"All things taken into account and pondered over, it must be stated, -though it may come hard, that you ought to send your daughter back into -the convent, for I wager the King is enamored of her." - -These words turned Gilbert more white than the snowflakes falling on his -shoulder and brow. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII. - -PRESENTIMENTS. - - -As the hour of noon was sounding from the Trianon clock, Nicole ran in -to tell Andrea that Captain Philip was at the door. - -Surprised but glad, Andrea ran to meet the chevalier, who dismounted -from his horse and was asking if his sister could be seen. - -She opened the door herself to him, embraced him, and the pair went up -into her rooms. It was only there that she perceived that he was sadder -than usual, with sorrow in his smile. He was dressed in his stylish -uniform with the utmost exactness and he had his horseman's cloak rolled -up under his left arm. - -"What is the matter, Philip?" she asked, with the instinct of -affectionate souls for which a glance is sufficient revelation. - -"Sister, I am under orders to go and join my regiment at Rheims." - -"Oh, dear!" and Andrea exhaled in the exclamation part of her courage -and her strength. - -Natural as it was to hear of his departure, she felt so upset that she -had to cling to his arm. - -"Gracious, why are you afflicted to this decree?" he asked, as to shed. -"It is a common thing in a soldier's life. And the journey is nothing to -speak of. They do say the regiment is to be sent back to Strasburg in -all probability." - -"So you have come to bid me farewell?" - -"That is it. Have you something particular to say?" he questioned, made -uneasy by her grief, too exaggerated not to be founded. - -Nicole was looking on at the scene with surprise for the leave-taking of -an officer going to his garrison was not a catastrophe to be received by -tears. Andrea understood this emotion, and she put on her lace mantilla -to accompany her brother through the grounds to the outer gate. - -"My only dear one," said she, deadly pale and sobbing, "you are going to -leave me all alone and you ask why I weep? You will say the Dauphiness -is kind to me? so she is, perfect in my eyes, and I regard her as a -divinity? but it is because she dwells in a superior sphere that I feel -for her respect, not affection. Affection is so needful to my heart that -the want of it makes it collapse. Father? Oh, heaven, I am telling you -nothing new when I say that our father is not a friend or guardian to -me. Sometimes he looks at me so that I am frightened. I am more afraid -than ever of him since you go away. I cannot tell, but the birds know -that a storm is coming when they take to flight while still it is calm?" - -"What storm are you to be on your guard against? I admit that misfortune -may await us. Have you some forewarning of it? Do you know whether you -ought to run to meet it or flee to avoid it?" - -"I do not, Philip, only that my life hangs on a thread. It seems to me -that in my sleep I am rolled to the brink of a chasm, where I am -awakened, too late for me to withstand the attraction which will drag me -over. With you absent, and none to help me, I shall be crushed at the -bottom of the chasm." - -"Dear sister, my good Andrea," said the captain, moved despite himself -by this genuine fright, "you make too much of affection for which I -thank you. You lose a defender, it is true, but only for the time. I -shall not be so far that I am not within call. Besides, apart from -fancies, nothing threatens you." - -"Then, Philip, how is it that you, a man, feel as mournful as I do at -this parting? explain this, brother?" - -"It is easy, dear," returned Philip. "We are not only brother and -sister, but had a lonely life which kept us together. It is our habit to -dwell in close communion and it is sad to break the chain. I am sad, but -only temporarily. I do not believe in any misfortune, save our not -seeing each other for some months, or it may be a year. I resign myself -and say Good-bye till we meet again." - -"You are right," she said, staying her tears, "and I am mad. See, I am -smiling again. We shall meet soon again." - -She tenderly embraced him, while he regarded her with an affection which -had some parental tenderness in it. - -"Besides," he said, "you will have a comfort, in our father coming here -to live with you. He loves you, believe me, but it is in his own -peculiar way." - -"You seem embarrassed, Philip--what is wrong?" - -"Nothing, except that my horse is chafing at the gates because I ought -to have been gone an hour ago." - -Andrea assumed a calm face and said in a tone too firm not to be -affectation: - -"God save you, brother!" - -She watched him mount his horse and ride off, waving his hand to the -last. She remained motionless as long as he was in sight. - -Then she turned and ran at hazard in the wood like a wounded fawn, until -she dropped on a bench under the trees where she let a sob burst from -her bosom. - -"Oh, Father of the motherless," she exclaimed, "why am I left all alone -upon earth?" - -A slight sound in the thicket--a sigh, she took it to be, made her turn. -She was startled to see a sad face rise before her. It was Gilbert's, as -pale and cast-down as her own. - -At sight of a man, though he was not a stranger, Andrea hastened to dry -her eyes, too proud to show her grief to another. She composed her -features and smoothed her cheeks which had been quivering with despair. - -Gilbert was longer than she in regaining his calm, and his countenance -was still mournful when she looked on it. - -"Ah, Master Gilbert again," she said, with the light tone she always -assumed when chance brought her and the young man together. "But what -ails you that you should gaze on me with that dolorous air? Something -must have saddened you--pray, what has saddened you?" - -"If you really want to know," he answered with the more sorrow as he -perceived the irony in her words, "it is the sadness of seeing you in -misery." - -"What tells you so? I am not in any grief," replied Andrea, brushing her -eyes for the second time with her handkerchief. - -Feeling that the gale was rising, the lover thought to lull it with his -humility. - -"I beg pardon, but I heard you sobbing---- " - -"What, listening? you had better---- " - -"It was chance," stammered the young man, who found it hard to tell her -a lie. - -"Chance? I am sorry that chance should help you to overhear my sobs, but -I prithee tell me how does my distress concern you?" - -"I cannot bear to hear a woman weep," rejoined Gilbert in a tone -sovereignly displeasing the patrician. - -"Am I but a woman to you, Master Gilbert?" replied the haughty girl. "I -do not crave the sympathy of any one, and least of all of Master -Gilbert." - -"You are wrong to treat me to rudely," persisted the ex-dependent of the -Taverneys, "I saw you sad in affliction. I heard you say that you would -be all alone in the world by the departure of Master Philip. But no, my -young lady, for I am by you, and never did a heart beat more devoted to -you. I repeat that never will you be alone while my brain can think, my -heart throb, or my arm be stretched out." - -He was handsome with vigor, nobility and devotion while he uttered these -words, although he put into them all the simplicity which the truest -respect commands. - -But it was decreed that everything he should say and do was to -displease, offend and drive Andrea to make insulting retorts, as though -each of his offers were an outrage and his supplications provocation. - -She meant to rise to suit an action most harsh to words most stern; but -a nervous shiver kept her in her seat. She thought, besides, that she -would be more likely to be seen if erect, and she did not wish to be -remarked talking with a Gilbert! She kept her seat, but she determined -once for all to crush this tormenting little insect under foot. - -"I thought I had already told you that you dreadfully displease me; your -voice irritates me, and your Philosophical nonsense is repugnant to me. -Why then, as I told you this much, are you obstinate in speaking to me?" - -"Lady, no woman should be irritated by sympathy being expressed for -her." He was pale but constrained. "An honest man is the peer of any -human creature, and perchance I, whom you so persistently ill-treat, -deserve the sympathy which I regret you do not show for me." - -"Sympathy," repeated Andrea at this reiteration of the word, fastening -her eyes widely open with impertinence on him, "sympathy from me towards -you? In truth, I have made a mistake about you. I took you for a pert -fellow and you are a mad one." - -"I am neither pert nor mad," returned the low-born lover, with an -apparent calm which was costly to the pride we know he felt. "No, for -nature made me your equal and chance made you my debtor." - -"Chance again, eh?" sneered the baron's daughter. - -"I ought to say, Providence. I should never have mentioned it but your -insults bring it up in my mind." - -"Your debtor, I think you say--why do you say that?" - -"I should be ashamed if you had ingratitude in your composition, for God -only knows what other defects have been implanted in you to -counterbalance your beauty." - -Andrea leaped to her feet at this. - -"Forgive me," said he, "but you gall me too much at times and I forget -the interest you inspire." - -Andrea burst out into such hearty laughter that the lover ought to have -been lifted to the height of wrath; but to her great astonishment, -Gilbert did not kindle. He folded his arms on his breast, retaining his -hostile expression and fiery look, and patiently waited for the end of -her outraging merriment. - -"Deign, young lady," said he coldly, "to reply to one question. Do you -respect your father?" - -"It looks, sirrah, as if you took the liberty of putting questions to -me," she replied with the greatest haughtiness. - -"Yes, you respect your father," he went on, "not on account of any parts -of his or virtues: but simply because he gave you life. For this same -boon, you are bound to love the benefactor. This laid down as a -principle," said the loving philosopher, "why do you insult me--why -repulse me and hate me--who have not given you life, but I prevented -you losing it." - -"You--you saved my life?" cried Andrea. - -"You have not thought of it--rather, you have forgotten it; it is quite -natural, for it was a year ago. Therefore I must remind or inform you. -Yes, I saved your life at the risk of losing my own." - -"I should like to learn where and when?" said Andrea. - -"On that day when a hundred thousand people, crushing one another as -they fled from masterless horses and flashing swords, strewed Louis XV. -Place with dying and the dead." - -"The last day of May?" - -Andrea lost and regained her ironical smile. - -"Oh, you are Baron Balsamo, are you? I cry you pardon for I did not know -this either, before!" - -"No, I am not the baron," replied Gilbert, with flaming eyes and -tremulous lip; "I am the poor boy, offspring of the dregs of the -Kingdom, whose folly, stupidity, and misfortune it is to be in love with -you. It was because of this I followed you into that multitude. I am -Gilbert who, separated from you by the crush, recognized you by the -dreadful scream you raised. Gilbert, who fell near you but encompassed -you with his arms so that twenty thousand hands tearing at them could -not have relaxed the clasp. Gilbert, who placed himself between the -stone post on which you would be smashed, to make a buffer of his -breast. Gilbert, who seeing in the throng the strange man who seemed to -command the other men, called out your name to the Baron Balsamo, so -that he and his allied friends should come to your rescue. He yielded -you up to a happier saver, did Gilbert, retaining of his prize only the -flag--the scrap of your dress torn in the struggle with the thousands; I -pressed that to my lips, in time to stop the blood which flew up from my -shattered bosom. The rolling sea of the terrified and brutal overwhelmed -me but you ascended, like the Angel of the Resurrection, to the abode of -the blessed." - -Gilbert exhibited himself wholly in this outburst, wild, simple and -sublime, the same in his determination as in his love. In spits of her -contempt, Andrea could not view him without astonishment. He believed -for an instant that his story had the irresistibility of love and truth. -But the poor lad reckoned without unbelief, the want of faith which hate -has. Hating Gilbert, Andrea let none of the arguments capture in this -disdained lover. - -"I see," she said, "that the author Rousseau has taught you how to weave -romances." - -"My love a romance?" he exclaimed, indignant. - -"And one which you forced me to listen to." - -"Is this all your answer?" faltered he, with dulled eyes and his heart -aching as in a vice. - -"I do not honor with any answer at all," responded Andrea, pushing him -aside as she went by to meet Nicole who was seeking her. - -On recognizing her former sweetheart, Nicole regretted that she had not -gone round so as to approach unseen and listen. She came also to -announce that the baron and the Duke of Richelieu were wishful to see -her young lady. - -Andrea departed, with Nicole following, who glanced behind ironically at -Gilbert, who, rather livid than merely pale, mad than agitated, and -frenzied than angered, shook his fists after the enemies, muttering -between his grinding teeth: - -"Oh, thou creature without a heart and body with no soul, I saved thy -life and concentrated my love upon thee and silenced all sentiment which -might offend what I deemed thy candor; for in my delirium I believed -thee a virgin holy as the Madonna. Now that I closely see you, I behold -but a woman, and I am a man who will be revenged some day on you, Andrea -Taverney! Twice have you been under my hand and I spared you. Beware of -the third time, Andrea--and we shall meet again!" - -He bounded into the underwood like a wounded wolf-cub, turning round as -it flies to show its tusks and bloodshot eyes. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII. - -FATHER AND DAUGHTER. - - -At the end of the walk, Andrea perceived her father and the marshal, -strolling before the vestibule as they awaited her. They seemed the -happiest brace of friends in the world: they were arm in arm like a new -Orestes and Pylades. - -They seemed to brighten up still more at the sight of the girl, and made -one another notice her beauty, enhanced by her vexation and the -swiftness of her steps. - -The marshal saluted the girl as he might have done were she the -officially proclaimed royal mistress. This did not escape Taverney: it -delighted him; but this mixture of gallantry and respect surprised the -receiver. For the skilled courtier could put as much in one bow as the -rogue in the comedy can put into one pretended Turkish word. - -Andrea replied with a courtsey as ceremonious, and with charming grace -invited them into her suite. - -The duke admired the elegant daintiness which made the prim rooms not a -palace but a fane. He and the baron took armchairs and the young hostess -sat on a folding-chair, with one elbow on her harpsichord. - -"Young lady," began the marshal, "I bring you from his Majesty all the -compliments which your enchanting voice and consummate musicianly skill -won from the auditors yesterday. His Majesty feared to make jealous folk -cry out if he praised you too publicly. So he charged me to express the -pleasure you caused him." - -All blushes, the girl was so lovely that the marshal continued as though -he were speaking for himself. - -"The King affirmed that he had never seen any person in the court who so -bountifully united gifts of the mind with those of the physique." - -"You forget the qualities of the heart, my lord; Andrea is the best of -daughters," added the baron, gushingly. - -For a space the marshal feared that the old rogue was about to weep. -Full of admiration for this effort of paternal sensitiveness, he -exclaimed: - -"The heart--Alas! you are the sole judge of what tenderness may be -enclosed in that heart. Were I in my twenty-fifth year, I would lay my -life and fortune at her feet." - -As Andrea did not yet know how to meet the courtier' fulsome -compliments, all the duke earned was a murmur. - -"The King wishes to be allowed a testimonial of his satisfaction, and he -charges your father, the baron, to transmit it to you. What am I to -answer his Majesty on your behalf?" - -"Your grace is to assure his Majesty of my entire gratitude," replied -Andrea who saw in the exaggeration only the respect of a subject to the -sovereign. "Tell the King that I am overwhelmed with kindness at being -thought of, and that I am unworthy the attention of so mighty a -monarch." - -Richelieu appeared enthusiastic after this reply, uttered in a steady -voice without any hesitation. He took her hand and kissed it -respectfully, saying, as he gloated over her: - -"A queenly hand, a fairy foot: wit, will and candor. Ah, my lord, what a -treasure! It is not a lady you have there, but a queen." - -He took leave, while Taverney swelled with pride and hope. He was a -trifle perplexed at being alone with his daughter, for her looks pierced -him like a diver penetrating the sea with his electric lamp-ray. - -"The Duke of Richelieu was saying, father, that the King had entrusted -some token of his gratification to you--what is it, please?" - -"Ha, she is interested," uttered the old noble: "I would not have -believed it. So much the better, Satan!" - -Slowly he drew from his pocket the jewel-case given him by the marshal -overnight, in the same way as fond papas produce the box of candies for -the pet child. - -"Jewels!" ejaculated Andrea. - -"Do you like them?" - -It was a string of pearls of great price; diamonds interlinked them: a -diamond clasp, ear-rings, and a tiara for the headdress gave to the -whole set the value of some thirty thousand crowns at the least. - -"Heavens, father, the King must make some mistake," cried Andrea, "it is -too handsome. I should be ashamed to wear them. What dresses have I to -go with such gems?" - -"I like your finding fault with them for being too rich," sneered the -baron. - -"You do not understand me, sir, I only say they are above my station." - -"The donor of these gems is able to give you a wardrobe in keeping." - -"But such bounty!" - -"Do not my services warrant them?" - -"Oh, I beg your pardon, I forgot them," said Andrea, bending her head -but unconvinced. She closed the case after a pause. - -"I cannot wear such ornaments," said she, "while you and my brother -stand in need of the necessities of life; this superfluity would hurt my -eyes in thinking of your wants." - -Taverney pressed her hand and smiled. - -"Do not trouble yourself about that, my child," he said. "The King does -this more for me than you. We are in favor, darling. It would not be -like a respectful subject or a grateful woman not to appear before our -sovereign in the ornaments he kindly presented." - -"I shall obey, my lord." - -"And do it with pleasure. The set does not seem to be to your taste?" - -"I am not a judge of such things." - -"Know then that those pearls are worth alone some fifty thousand -livres." - -"It is strange," said the girl, clasping her hands, "that his Majesty -should make me such a present: only think!" - -"I do not understand you, miss!" said Taverney in a dry tone. - -"Everybody will be astounded if I wear such jewelry." - -"Jewels are made to astound the world. Why in your case?" said he in the -same tone, with a cold and overbearing air which made her wince. - -"A scruple." - -"This is strange, to hear you raise scruples where I do not see any. It -takes these candid girls to recognize evil and see the snake in the -grass though so well hidden that no one else perceives it. Long live the -maiden of sixteen who makes old grenadiers like me blush!" - -Hiding her confusion in her pearly hands, Andrea moaned: - -"Oh, brother, why are you so far?" - -Did Taverney hear this or only guess it by the marvellous perspicacity -which was his? He changed his tone, at all events, and taking both her -hands, he asked: - -"Am I not by you to counsel and love you? do you not feel proud to -contribute to the welfare of your brother and myself?" - -"Yes," she answered. - -He concentrated a look full of caresses upon her. - -"You will be the queen of Taverney," he said, "to take up Richelieu's -words. The King has distinguished you: the Dauphiness also," he added -quickly, "and in the family of these illustrious personages you are to -build up your future, while making their lives the happier. Friend of -the princess and the King, what bliss! Remember Agnes Sorel. She -restored honor to the French crown. All good Frenchmen will venerate -your name. You may be the staff in his old age to the ruler of France. -Our glorious monarch will cherish you like a daughter, and you will -reign over France by the right of beauty, courage and fidelity." - -"Why, how can I be all this?" demanded she, opening her astonished eyes. - -"My dear, I have often told you that people in society must be taught to -like virtue by its being made agreeable. Virtue, prudish, lugubrious, -whining psalms, makes those flee who were ardently going up to it. Give -yours all the lures of coquetry, and even of vice. Be so lovely that the -court will speak of none but you: so loveable that the King cannot do -without you; be so secret and reserved, save for our master, that they -will attribute the power to you before you grasp it." - -"I do not follow you in this last point," observed Andrea. - -"Let me guide you: execute without understanding, which is the best -course in a wise and generous creature like you. By the way, to begin -with the first point, here is a hundred louis to line your purse. -Provide a wardrobe worthy of the rank to which you are summoned since -the King has kindly distinguished us." - -He gave the gold to his daughter, kissed her hand and went out. He -walked so briskly up the alley by which he came that he did not notice -Nicole there, chatting with a nobleman who whispered in her ear. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV. - -THE RICHELIEU ELIXIR. - - -Always bearer of good news, the Duke of Richelieu called on the -Taverneys to announce that the King found a regiment for Captain Philip, -not a company. - -The conversation was the same as usual among the three at dinner; the -duke spoke of his King, the baron of his daughter and Andrea of her -brother. Richelieu preached on the same text as the baron, and -enunciated his doctrine, so pagan, Parisian and courtier-like, that the -girl had to confess that her kind of virtue could not be the true one if -the nobles were to be the left-handed queens of the French monarchs whom -the two tempters did not hesitate to cite. - -At seven, the duke rose from the table as he had an appointment at -Versailles, he said. - -In going into the anteroom for his hat, he met Nicole who always had -something to do there when the duke called. - -"I wish you would come along with me, little lass," he said; "I should -like you to take a bouquet the Duchess of Noailles is getting ready for -my daughter the Countess of Egmont." - -Nicole courtseyed as the shepherdesses did in Rousseau's comic operas. -Leaning on Nicole's shoulder, he went down stairs, and when out on the -lawn with her, said: - -"Little maid, can you tell me the name of the sweetheart Nicole Legay -has found--a well-turned gallant whom she used to welcome in Coq Heron -Street, and receives here in Versailles. He is a French Guards corporal -called--what do you say the name is?" - -The girl was in hopes that the marshal did not know the name if he knew -everything else. - -"Faith, tell me, my lord, since you know so much," she said saucily. - -"Beausire," said the marshal: "and he is a beau already; whether he will -ever be a sire, I cannot say." - -Nicole clasped her hands in prudery which did not baffle the marshal. - -"Pest take us!" he said: "making love appointments under the eaves of -Trianon: if Lady Noailles catches a whiff of this she will have Nicole -Legay sent to the Salpetriere House of Correction and Corporal Beausire -will have a row in the royal galleys." - -"Not if I have your grace's protection." - -"Oh, that is granted. You will not be imprisoned and driven from the -place, but left free and enriched." - -"Oh, what must I do, my lord, tell me quick." - -"Mere child's play." - -"Whom am I to do it for--my own good or your grace's?" - -"Zounds," said the duke, eyeing her sharply, "what a sly puss you are!" - -"Pray have done." - -"It is for your good," he said plumply. "When Corporal Beausire comes to -keep his tryst---- " - -"At seven o'clock---- " - -"Exactly. Say to him: We are discovered; but I have a patron who will -save us both: you from the galleys, me from the jail. Let us be off." - -"Be off?" - -"Since you love him, you will marry and be off," said the duke. - -"Love him, yes: but marry him? ha, ha, ha!" and the duke was stupefied -by the laugh. - -Even at court he had not met many hussies as shameless as this. -Understanding the sly glance, he replied: - -"In any case I will pay the expenses of this double journey." - -Nicole asked no more: as long as the excursion was paid for the rest -mattered not a jot. - -"Do you know what you are thinking of," said he quickly, for he was -beaten and he did not like to dwell at that point. - -"Faith, I do not." - -"Why, the thought strikes you that your young mistress may wake up in -the night and call you. This would raise the alarm before you got well -away." - -"I never thought of that, but I do now, and that I had better stay." - -"Then Beausire will be caught and will expose you." - -"Never mind: Mdlle. Andrea is kind and will speak to the King, in whose -good graces she is, and he will pardon me my offense." - -The marshal bit his lip. - -"I tell you that Nicole is a fool. Mdlle. Andrea is not in the King's -good graces as deeply as you may suppose and I will have you locked up -where good graces have no effect in softening the straw bed or -shortening the whiplash." - -"Stay--How can my mistress be prevented from rising and ringing in the -night for Nicole? She might be up a dozen times." - -"Oh, troubled with my complaint, insomnia. She ought to take the remedy -I do: and if she would not, you could make her do it." - -"How could I make my mistress do anything, my lord?" inquired Nicole. - -"It is the fashion to have an evening's drink--orangeade or licorice -water---- " - -"My young lady has a glass of water by her bedside, sometimes with a -lump of sugar in it, or perfumed with orangewater, if her nerves are out -of order." - -"Wonderful, just like me," said Richelieu, taking out a handful of -Exchequer notes. "If you were to put a couple of drops from my own -bottle which I hand you, the young lady would sleep all the night." - -"Good: and I will lock her in so that nobody can disturb her till the -morning." - -"No," said Richelieu, quickly. "That is just what you must not do. Leave -the door ajar." - -He understood that the girl saw all the plot. - -"Money for the flight--the phial for the sleep--but they lock the gates -and I have no key." - -"But I am a First Gentleman in Attendance on the King and have my -master-key." - -"How timely all falls in," said Nicole; "it seems a whole calendar of -miracles. Adieu, my lord." - -Laughing in her sleeve, the traitress glided away in the dark. - -"Again I succeed," thought Richelieu: "but I must be getting old to be -rebuffed by this little imp. Never mind, if I come out the winner." - - - - -CHAPTER XXV. - -SECOND SIGHT. - - -From his garret, Gilbert was watching, or rather devouring Andrea's -room. It would be hard to tell whether his eyes now gazed with love or -hatred. But the curtains were drawn and he could see nothing in that -quarter; he turned to another. - -Here he espied the plume of Corporal Beausire, as the soldier to beguile -his waiting, whistled a tune. It was not till ten minutes had elapsed -that Nicole appeared. She made her lover a sign which he understood, for -he nodded and went towards a walk in a cutting leading to the Little -Trianon. - -Nicole ran back as lightly as a bird. - -"Ha, ha," thought Gilbert, "Nicole and her trooper have something to say -to each other which will not bear witnesses. Good!" - -He was no longer curious about Nicole's flirtations, but he regarded her -as a natural enemy and it was wise to know all her doings. In her -immorality he wanted to find the weapon with which he might victoriously -meet her in case she should attack him. He did not doubt that the -campaign would open and he meant to have a good supply of weapons, like -a true warrior. - -So he nimbly came down from his loft, and reached the gardens by the -chapel side-door. He had nothing to fear now as he knew all the coverts -of the place like a fox at home. Thus he was able to reach the clump -where he heard a strange sound for the woods--the chink of coin on a -stone. Gliding like a serpent up to the terrace wall, hedged with -lilacs, he saw Nicole at the grating, emptying a purse on a stone out of -Beausire's reach by being on her side of the railing. It was the purse -given by Richelieu, or strictly speaking the cash for the Treasury notes -which she had converted. The fat gold pieces clinked down, glittering, -while the corporal, with kindled eye and trembling hand, attentively -looked at Nicole and them without comprehending how they came into -company. - -"My dear Beausire, more than once you have wanted me to elope," began -Nicole. - -"And to marry you," added the soldier, quite enthusiastically. - -"We will argue that point hereafter," replied the girl; "at present, the -main thing is to get away. Can we be off in a couple of hours?" - -"In ten minutes, if you like." - -"No; I have some work to do first and a couple of hours will suit me. -Take these fifty louis," and she passed the amount between the bars; he -pocketed them without counting, "and in an hour and a half be here with -a coach." - -"I do not shrink: but I am fearful about you--when the money is spent -you will regret the palace and---- " - -"Oh, how thoughtful you are! do not be alarmed: I am not one of the sort -to become unfortunate. Have no scruples. We shall see what comes next -after the fifty louis." - -She counted another fifty louis into her own purse: Beausire's eyes -became phosphorescent. - -"I would jump into a blazing furnace for you," he said. - -"You are not asked to do so much," she returned: "get the coach and in -two hours we are off." - -"Agreed," and he drew her to the rails to kiss her. "Oh, how are you -going to get through the railings?" - -"Stupid, I have the pass-key." - -Beausire uttered an Ah! full of admiration, and fled. - -With brisk feet and thoughtful head, Nicole returned to her mistress, -leaving Gilbert alone, to cogitate the questions which this interview -excited. All he could guess of the puzzles was how the girl had obtained -the money. This negation of his perspicacity was so goading to his -natural curiosity or his acquired mistrust--have it either way--that he -decided to pass the night in the open air, cold though it was, under the -damp trees, to await the sequel to this scene. - -A huge black cloud, coming out of the south, covered all the sky, so -that beyond Versailles the sombre pall gradually lapped up all the stars -which had been gleaming a while before in their azure canopy. - -Nicole feared that some whim of her mistress would contravene her plan, -and with that air of interest which the artful cat knew so well how to -take, she said: - -"I am afraid that you are not very well to-night; your eyes are red and -swollen; I should think repose would do you good." - -"Do you think so? perhaps it would," answered Andrea, without paying -much heed, but extending her feet on a rug as she sat. - -The girl accepted this reclining pose as a signal for her to take down -her mistress's headdress for the night; the unbuilding of a structure of -ribbons, flowers and wire, which the most skillful "house-breaker" could -not have demolished in an hour. Nicole was not a quarter of that time -doing it. - -The toilet for the night being completed, Andrea gave her orders for the -coming day. The tuner was to come for her harpsichord and some books -which Philip had sent to Versailles were to be fetched. Nicole -tranquilly answered that if she were not roused in the night she would -be up early, and would do everything before her mistress rose. - -As Andrea, in her long night wrapper, was dreaming in her chair, Nicole -put two drops of the draught Richelieu had given her, into the glass of -drink on the night-table. Turbid for a moment, the water took an opal -tint which faded away gradually. - -"Your night-drink is set out," said the maid: "your dresses folded up -and the night-light lit. As I must be up early, can I go to bed now?" - -"Yes," replied Andrea, absently. - -Nicole went out and glided into the garden. - -Gilbert was looking out for her as he promised himself he would do, and -saw her go up to the gates where she passed the master key to Beausire, -who was ready. The gate was opened and the girl slipped through. The -gate was locked again and the key thrown over, where Gilbert noticed its -place of falling on the sward. - -He drew a long breath in relief for he was quit of Nicole, an enemy. -Andrea was left alone, and he might penetrate to her room. - -This idea set his blood boiling with all the fury of fear and disquiet, -curiosity and desire. - -But, as he placed his foot on the lowest stairs of the flight leading to -Andrea's corridor, he beheld her, garbed in white, at the top step, -coming down. - -So white and solemn was she that he recoiled, and buried himself in a -copse. - -Once before, at Taverney, he had seen her thus walking in her sleep, -when she was, without his suspecting it, under the mesmeric influence of -Balsamo, the Magician. - -Andrea passed Gilbert, almost touched him but did not see him. - -Bewildered and overwhelmed, he felt his knees crook beneath him: he was -frightened. - -Not knowing to what errand to ascribe this night roaming, he watched -her: but his reason was confounded, and his blood beat with impetuosity -in his temples, being nearer folly than the coolness which a good -observer ought to possess. He viewed her as he had always done since -this fatal passion had entered his heart. - -All of a sudden he thought the mystery was revealed: Andrea was not -wandering out of her mind, but going to keep an appointment, albeit her -step was slow and sepulchral. - -A lightning flash illumined the sky. By its bluish glare Gilbert caught -sight of a man, hiding in the linden walk, with pale visage and clothes -in disorder. He stretched out one hand towards the girl as though to -beckon her to him. - -Something like pincers nipped Gilbert's heart and he half rose to see -the better. - -Another lightning stroke streaked the sky. - -He recognized Baron Balsamo, covered with dust, who had by the aid of -mysterious intelligence, entered the locked-up Trianon, and was as -invincibly and fatally drawing Andrea to him as a snake may a bird. Not -till within two steps of him did she stop, when he took her hand and she -quivered all over her body. - -"Do you see?" he asked. - -"Yes," was her reply, "but you have nearly been the death of me in -bringing me out like this." - -"It cannot be helped," returned Balsamo: "I am in a whirl, and am ready -to die with the craze upon me." - -"You do indeed suffer," said she, informed of his state by the contact -of his hand alone. - -"Yes, and I come to you for consolation. You alone can save me. Can you -follow me---- " - -"Yes, if you conduct me with your mind." - -"Come!" - -"Ah," said Andrea, "we are in Paris--a street lit by a single lamp--we -enter a house--we go up to the wall which opens to let us pass through. -We are in so strange a chamber, with no doors and the windows are -barred. How greatly in disorder is everything!" - -"But it is empty? where is the person who was there last?" - -"Give me some object of hers that I may be in touch." - -"This is a lock of her hair." - -Andrea laid the hair on her bosom. - -"Oh, I know this woman, whom I have seen before--she is fleeing into the -city." - -"Yes; but what was she doing these two hours before? Trace back." - -"Wait: she is lying on a sofa with a cut in the breast. She wakes from a -sleep, and seeks round her. Taking a handkerchief she ties it to the -window bars. Come down, poor woman! She weeps, she is in distress, she -wrings her arms--ah! she is looking for a corner of the wall on which to -dash out her brains. She springs towards the chimney-place where two -lion heads in marble are embossed. On one of them she would beat out her -brains when she sees a spot of blood on the lion's eye. Blood, and yet -she had not struck it?" - -"It is mine," said the mesmerist. - -"Yes, yours. You cut your fingers with a dagger, the dagger with which -she stabbed herself and you tried to get it away from her. Your bleeding -fingers pressed the lion's head." - -"It is true: how did she get out?" - -"I see her examine the blood, reflect, and then lay her finger where -yours was pressed. Oh, the lion's head gives way--it is a spring which -works: the chimney-plate opens." - -"Cursed imprudence of mine," groaned the conspirator: "unhappy madman! I -have betrayed myself through love. But she has gone out and flees?" - -"The poor thing must be pardoned, she is so distressed." - -"Whither goes she, Andrea? follow, follow, I will it!" - -"She stops in a room where are armor and furs: a safe is open but a -casket usually kept in it is now on a table: she knows it again. She -takes it." - -"What is in it?" - -"Your papers. It is covered with blue velvet and studded with silver, -the lock and bands are of the same metal." - -"Ha! was it she took the casket?" cried Balsamo, stamping his foot. - -"Yes, she. Going down the stairs to the anteroom, she opens the door, -draws the chain undoing the street door and is out in the street." - -"It is late?" - -"It is nighttime. Once out, she runs like a mad thing up on the main -street towards the Bastile. She knocks up against passengers and -questions." - -"Lose not a word--what does she say?" - -"She asks a man clad in black where she can find the Chief of Police." - -"So it was not a vain threat of hers. What does she do?" - -"Having the address, she retraces her steps to cross a large square---- -" - -"Royale Place--it is the right road. Read her intention." - -"Run, run quick! she is going to denounce you--if she arrives at -Criminal Lieutenant Sartine' before you, you are lost!" - -Balsamo uttered a terrible yell, sprang into the hedges, burst a small -door, and got upon the open ground. There an Arab horse was waiting, on -which he leaped at a bound. It started off like an arrow towards Paris. - -Andrea stood mute, pale, and cold. But as though the magnetiser carried -life away with him, she collapsed and fell. In his eagerness to overtake -Lorenza, Balsamo had forgotten to arouse Andrea from the mesmeric sleep. - -She had barely touched the ground before Gilbert leaped out with the -vigor and agility of the tiger. He seized her in his arms and without -feeling what a burden he had undertaken, he carried her back to the room -which she had left on the call of Balsamo. - -All the doors had been left open by the girl, and the candle was still -burning. - -As he stumbled against the sofa when he blundered in, he naturally -placed her upon it. All became enfevered in him, though the lifeless -body was cold. His nerves shivered and his blood burned. - -Yet his first idea was pure and chaste: it was to restore consciousness -to this beautiful statue. He sprinkled her face with water from the -decanter. - -But at this period, as his trembling hand was encircling the narrow neck -of the crystal bottle, he heard a firm but light step make the stairs of -wood and brick squeak on the way to the chamber. - -It could not be Nicole who was on the way with Beausire or Balsamo who -was galloping to Paris. - -Whoever it was, Gilbert would be caught and expelled from the palace. - -He fully comprehended that he was out of his place here. He blew out -the candle and dashed into Nicole's room, timing his movement as the -thunder boomed in the heavens. - -Through its glazed door he could see into the room he quitted and the -anteroom. - -In this latter burnt a night-light on a small table. Gilbert would have -put that out also if he had time, but the steps creaked now on the -landing. A man appeared on the sill, timidly glided through the -antechamber, and shut the door which he bolted. - -Gilbert held his breath, glued his face to the glass and listened with -all his might. - -The storm growled solemnly in the skies, large raindrops spattered on -the windows, and in the corridor, an unfastened shutter banged -sinisterly against the wall from time to time. - -But the tumult of nature, these exterior sounds, however alarming, were -nothing to Gilbert: all his thought, mind and being were concentrated in -his gaze, fastened on this man. - -Passing within two paces, this intruder walked into the other room. -Gilbert saw him grope his way up to the bed, and make a gesture of -surprise at finding it untenanted. He almost knocked the candle off the -table with his elbow; but it fell on the table where the glass save-all -jingled on the marble top. - -"Nicole," the stranger called twice, in a guarded voice. - -"Why, Nicole?" muttered Gilbert. "Why does this man call on Nicole when -he ought to address her mistress?" - -No voice replying, the man picked up the candle and went on tiptoe to -light it at the night-lamp. - -Then it was that Gilbert's attention was so concentrated on this strange -night visitor that his eyes would have pierced a wall. - -Suddenly he started and drew back a step although he was in concealment. - -By the light of the two flames he had recognized in the man holding the -candle--the King! All was clear to him: the flight of Nicole, the money -counted down between her and Beausire, and all the dark plot of -Richelieu and Taverney of which Andrea was the object. - -He understood why the King should call upon Nicole, the complaisant -female Judas who had sold her mistress. - -At the thought of what the royal villain had come to commit in this -room, the blood rushing to the young man's head blinded him. - -He meant to call out; but the reflection that this was the Lord's -anointed, the being still full of awe as the King of France--that froze -the tongue of Gilbert to his mouth-roof. - -Meanwhile, Louis XV. entered the room once more, bearing the light. He -perceived Andrea, in the white muslin wrapper, with her head thrown back -on the sofa pillow, with one foot on another cushion and the other, cold -and stiff, out of the slipper, on the carpet. - -At this sight the King smiled. The candle lit up this evil smile; but -almost instantly a smile as sinister lighted up Andrea's face. - -Louis uttered some words, probably of love; and placing the light on the -table, he cast a glance out at the enflamed sky, before kneeling to the -girl, whose hand he kissed. - -This was so chilly that he took it between both his to warm it, and with -his other arm enclasping the soft and so beautiful body, he bent over to -murmur some of the loving nonsense fitted for sleeping maids. His face -was so close to hers that it touched it. - -Gilbert felt in his pocket for a knife with a long blade which he used -in pruning trees. - -The face was as cold as the hand, which made the royal lover rise; his -eyes wandered to the Cinderella foot, which he took hold of--it was as -cold as the hand and the cheek. He shuddered for all seemed a marble -statue. - -Gilbert gritted his teeth and opened the knife, as he beheld so much -beauty and regarded the royal threat as a robbery intended on him. - -But the King dropped the foot as he had the hand. Surprised at the sleep -which he had thought to be feigned in prudery by a coquet, he prepared -to learn the nature of this insensibility. - -Gilbert crept half way out of the doorway, with set teeth, glittering -eye and the knife bared in his grip to stab the King. - -Suddenly a frightful flash of lightning lit up Andrea's face with a -vivid glare of violet and sulphur light while the thunder made every -article of furniture dance in the room. Frightened by her pallor, -immobility and silence, Louis XV. recoiled, muttering: - -"Truly the girl is dead!" - -The idea of having wooed a corpse sent a shudder through his veins. He -took up the candle and looked at Andrea by its flickering flame. Seeing -the brown-circled eyes, the violet lips, the disheveled tresses, the -throat which no breath raised, he uttered a shriek, let the candlestick -fall, and staggered out through the antechamber like a drunken man, -knocking against the wainscotting in his alarm. - -Knife still in hand, Gilbert came out of his covert. He advanced to the -room door and for a space contemplated the lovely young maid still in -the profound sleep. - -The candle smouldering on the floor lit up the delicate foot and the -pure lines above it of the adorable creature. - -Gilbert trod on the wick and in sudden obscurity was blotted out the -dreadful smile which was curling his lips. - -"Andrea," he muttered, "I swore that you should not escape me the third -time that you fell into my hands as you did the other two. Andrea, a -terrible end was needed to the romance which you mocked at me for -composing!" - -With extended arms he walked towards the sofa where the girl was still -cold, motionless and deprived of all feeling. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI. - -SARTINES BELIEVES BALSAMO IS A MAGICIAN. - - -The mesmerist had galloped on the barb through Versailles in a few -seconds and a league on the road to Paris when an idea came as comfort -in the midst of his misery at the fear that all he did would be too -late. He saw his brothers of the secret society at the mercy of his -foes, and the woman who caused all this, through his infatuation for -her, going free. - -"Oh, if ever she returns into my power---- " - -He made a desperate gesture, as he pulled up the splendid horse short on -its haunches. - -"Let me see," he said, frowning, "is silence a word or a fact? can it do -or not do? let me try my will, again. Lorenza," he said while making the -passes to throw the magnetic fluid to a distance, "Lorenza, sleep, I -will it! Wherever you are, sleep, I will it, and rely upon it. Cleave -the air, oh, my supreme will! cross all the currents antipathetic or -indifferent; go through the walls like a cannonball; strike her and -annihilate her will. Lorenza, I will have you sleep--I will have you -mute!" - -After this mighty effort of animal magnetism, he resumed the race, but -used neither whip nor spur and gave the Arab rein. - -It appeared as if he wanted to make himself believe in the potency of -the spell he exercised. - -While he was apparently peacefully proceeding, he was framing a plan of -action. It was finished as he reached the paving stones of Sevres. He -stopped at the Park gates as if he expected somebody. Almost instantly a -man emerged from a coach-doorway and came to him. - -It was his German attendant Fritz. - -"Have you gathered information?" asked the master. - -"Yes, Lady Dubarry is in Paris." - -Balsamo raised a triumphant glance to heaven. - -"How did you come?" - -"On Sultan, now ready saddled in the inn stables here." - -He went for the horse and came back on its back. - -Balsamo was writing under the lantern of the town tax-gatherer's office -door with a pen which was self-fed with ink. - -"Ride back to town with this note," said he, "to be given to Lady -Dubarry herself. Do it in half an hour. Then get home to St. Claude -street, where you will await Signora Lorenza, who will soon be coming -home. Let her pass without staying her or saying anything." - -At the same time he said "He would!" Fritz laid spur and whip on Sultan, -who sprang off, astonished at this unaccustomed aggression, with a -painful neigh. - -Balsamo rode on by the Paris Road, entering the capital in three -quarters of an hour, almost smooth of face and calm in eye--if not a -little thoughtful. - -The mesmerist had reasoned correctly: as rapid as Dejerrid the steed -might be, it was not as swift as the will, and that alone could outstrip -Lorenza escaped from her prison-house. - -As Andrea--the other medium had clearly seen, the vengeful Italian had -found her way to the residence of Lieutenant Sartines. - -Questioned by an usher, she replied merely by these words: - -"Are you Lord Sartines?" - -The servant was surprised that this young and lovely woman, richly -clothed and carrying a velvet-covered casket under her arm, should -confuse his black coat and steel chain of office with the embroidered -coat and perriwig of the Lieutenant of Police, though a foreigner. But -as a lieutenant is never offended at being called a captain, and as the -speaker's eye was too steady and assured to be a lunatic's, he was -convinced that she brought something of value in the casket and showed -her into the secretaries. - -The upshot of all was that she was allowed to see the Minister of -Police. - -He sat in an octagonal room, lighted by a number of candles. - -Sartines was a man of fifty, in a dressing gown, and enormous wig, limp -with curling and powder; he sat before a desk with looking-glass panels -enabling him to see any one coming into the study without having to turn -and study their faces before arranging his own. - -The lower part of the desk formed a secretary where were kept in drawers -his papers and those in cipher which could not be read even after his -death, unless in some still more secret drawer were found the key to the -cipher. This piece of mechanism was built expressly for the Regent Duke -of Orleans to keep his poisons in, and it came to Sartines from his -Prime Minister Cardinal Dubois per the late Chief of Police. Rumor had -it that it contained the famous contract called the "Compact of Famine," -the statutes of the Great Grain Ring among the directors of which -figured Louis XV. - -So the Police Chief saw in this mirror the pale and serious face of -Lorenza as she advanced with the casket under her arm. - -"Who are you--what do you want?" he challenged without looking round. - -"Am I in the presence of Lord Sartines, Head of the Police?" - -"Yes," he curtly answered. - -"What proof have I of that?" she asked. - -This made him turn round. - -"Will it be good proof if I send you to prison?" - -She did not reply but looked round for the seat which she expected to be -offered her by right, as to any lady of her country. He was vanquished -by that single look for Count Alby de Sartines was a well-bred -gentleman. - -"Take a chair," he said brusquely. - -Lorenza drew an armchair to her and sat down. - -"Speak quick," said the magistrate; "what do you want?" - -"To place myself under your protection," answered Lorenza. - -"Ho, ho," said he with a jeering look, peculiar to him. - -"My lord, I have been abducted from my family and forced into a -clandestine marriage by a man who has been ill-using me during three -years and would be my death." - -He looked at the noble countenance and was moved by the voice so sweet -that it seemed to sing. - -"Where do you come from?" he asked. - -"I am a Roman and my name is Lorenza Feliciani." - -"Are you a lady of rank, for I do not know the name?" - -"I am a lady and I crave justice on the man who has incarcerated and -sequestrated me." - -"This is not in my province, since you say you are his wife." - -"But the marriage was performed while I was asleep." - -"Plague on it! you must enjoy sound sleep! I mean to say that this is -not in my way. Apply to a lawyer, for I never care to meddle in these -matrimonial squabbles." He waved his hand as much as to say "Be off!" -but she did not stir. - -"I have not finished;" she said "you will understand that I have not -come here to speak of frivolities, but to have revenge. The women of my -country revenge and do not go to law." - -"This is different," said Sartines: "but have despatch for my time is -dear." - -"I told you that I come for protection against my oppressor. Can I have -it?" - -"Is he so powerful?" - -"More so than any King." - -"Pray, explain, my dear lady: why should I accord you my protection -against a man according to your statement more powerful than a king, for -a deed which may not be a crime. If you want to be revenged, take -revenge, only do not bring yourself under our laws; if you do a misdeed -it will be you whom I must arrest. Then we shall see all about it. That -is the bargain." - -"No, my lord, you will not arrest me, for my revenge is of great utility -to you, the King and France. I revenge myself by revealing the secrets -of this monster." - -"Ha, this man has secrets," said Sartines interested perforce. - -"Great political secrets, my lord. But will you shield me?" - -"What kind of shield?" coldly asked the magistrate; "silver or -official?" - -"I want to enter a convent, to live buried there, forgotten. I want a -living tomb which will never be violated by any one." - -"You are not asking much. You shall have the convent. Speak!" - -"As I have your word, take this casket," said Lorenza; "it contains -mysteries which will make you tremble for the safety of the sovereign -and the realm. I know them but superficially but they exist, and are -terrible." - -"Political mysteries, you say?" - -"Have you ever heard of the great secret society?" - -"The Freemasons?" - -"These are the Invisibles." - -"Yes; I do not believe in them, though." - -"When you open this box, you will." - -"Let us look into it then," he said, taking the casket from her; but, -reflecting, he placed it on his desk. "No, I would rather you opened it -yourself," he added with distrust. - -"I have not the key," she replied. - -"Not got the key? you bring me a box containing the fate of an empire -and you forget the key?" - -"Is it so hard to open a lock?" - -"Not when one knows the sort it is." - -He held out to her a bunch of keys in every shape. As she took it, he -noticed that her hand was cold as stone. - -"Why did you not bring the key with you?" he asked. - -"Because the master of the casket never lets it go from him." - -"This is the man more powerful than the King?" - -"Nobody can tell what he is; eternity alone knows how long he has lived. -None but the God above can see the deeds he commits." - -"But his name, his name?' - -"He has changed it to my knowledge a dozen times--I knew him as -Acharat." - -"And he lives---- " - -"Saint---- " - -Suddenly Lorenza started, shuddered, let the casket and the keys fall -from her hands. She made an effort to speak, but her mouth only was -contorted in a painful convulsion; she clapped her hands to her throat -as if the words about to issue were stopped and choked her. Then, -lifting her arms to heaven, trembling and unable to articulate a word, -she fell full length on the carpet. - -"Poor dear!" muttered Sartines: "but what the devil is the matter with -her? she is really very pretty. There is some jealousy in this talk of -revenge." - -He rang for the servants while he lifted up the Italian, who seemed with -her astonished eyes and motionless lips, to be dead and far detached -from this world. - -"Carry out this lady with care," he commanded to the two valets; "and -leave her in the next room. Try to bring her to, but mind, no roughness. -Go!" - -Left alone, Sartines examined the box like a man who could value fully -the discovery. He tried the keys until convinced that the lock was only -a sham. Thereupon with a cold chisel he cut it off bodily. Instead of -the fulminating powder or the poison which he perhaps expected, to -deprive France of her most important magistrate, a packet of papers -bounded up. - -The first words which started up before his eyes were the following, -traced in a disguised hand: - -"It is time for the Grand Master to drop the name of Baron Balsamo." - -There was no signature other than the three letters "L. P. D." - -"Aha," said the head of police, "though I do not know this writing I -believe I know this name. Balsamo--let us look among the B's." - -Opening one of the twenty-four drawers of the famous desk, he took out a -little register on which was written in fine writing three or four -hundred names, preceded, accompanied or followed by flourishes of the -pen. - -"Whew! we have a lot about this busy B," he muttered. - -He read several pages with non-equivocal tokens of discontent. - -He replaced the register in the drawer to go on with inventorying the -contents of the packet. He did not go far without being deeply -impressed. Soon he came to a note full of names with the text in cipher. -This appeared important to him; the edges were worn with fingering and -pencil marks were made on the margin. - -Sartines rang a bell for a servant to whom he said: - -"Bring me the Chancellor's cryptographist at once, going through the -offices to gain time." - -Two minutes subsequently, a clerk presented himself, with pen in hand, -his hat under one arm, and a large book under the other. Seeing him in -the mirror, Sartines held out the paper to him over his shoulders, -saying: - -"Decipher that." - -This unriddler of secret writing was a little thin man, with puckered up -lips, brows bent by searching study; his pale face was pointed up and -down, and the chin quite sharp, while the deep moony eyes became bright -at times. - -Sartines called him his Ferret. - -Ferret sat down modestly on a stool, drew his knees close together to be -a table to write upon, and wrote, consulting his memory and his lexicon -with an impassible face. In five minutes time he had written: - -"Order to gather 3000 Brothers in Paris. - -"Order to compose three circles and six lodges. - -"Order to select a guard for the Grand Copt, and to provide four -residences for him, one to be in a royal domicile. - -"Order to set aside five hundred thousand francs for his police -department. - -"Order to enroll in the first Parisian lodge all the cream of literature -and philosophy. - -"Order to bribe or in some way get a hold on the magistracy, and -particularly make sure of the Chief of Police, by bribery, violence or -trickery." - -Ferret stopped at this passage, not because the poor man reflected but -because he had to wait for the page to dry before he could turn over. - -Sartines, being impatient, snatched the sheet from his knees and read -it. Such an expression of terror spread over his features at the final -paragraph, that it made him turn pale to see himself in the glass. He -did not hand this sheet back to the clerk but passed him a clean one. - -The man went on with his work, accomplishing it with the amazing -rapidity of decipherers when once they hold the key. - -Sartines now read over his shoulder. - -"Drop the name of Balsamo beginning to be too well known, to take that -of Count Fe---- " - -A blot of ink eclipsed the rest of the name. - -At the very time when the Police Chief was seeking the absent letters, -the out-door bell rang and a servant came in to announce: - -"His Lordship, Count Fenix!" - -Sartines uttered an outcry, and clasped his hands above his wig at risk -of demolishing that wonderful structure. He hastened to dismiss the -writer by a side door, while, taking his place at his desk, he bade the -usher show in the visitor. - -In his mirror, a few seconds after, Sartines saw the stern profile of -the count as he had seen him on the day when Lady Dubarry was presented -at court. - -Balsamo-Fenix entered without any hesitation whatever. - -Sartines rose, made a cold bow, and sat himself ceremoniously down -again, crossing his legs. - -At the first glance he had seen what was the object of this interview. -At a glance also Balsamo had seen the opened casket on the desk. His -glance, however fleeting, had not escaped the magistrate. - -"To what chance do I owe this visit, my lord?" inquired the Chief of -Police. - -"My Lord," returned Balsamo with a smile full of amenity, "I have found -introducers to all the sovereigns of Europe, all their ministers and -ambassadors: but none to present me to your lordship; so I have -presented myself." - -"You arrive most timely, my lord," replied Sartines: "For I am inclined -to think that if you had not called I should have had to send for you." - -"Indeed--how nicely this chimes in." - -Sartines bowed with a satirical smile. - -"Am I happy enough to be useful to your lordship?" queried Balsamo. - -These words were pronounced without a shade of emotion or disquiet -clouding the smiling brow. - -"You have travelled a good deal, count," said the Police Chief. - -"A great deal! I suppose you want for some geographical items. A man of -your capacity is not cramped up in France but must embrace Europe and -the world---- " - -"Not geographical, my lord, but personal---- " - -"Do not restrict yourself; in both, I am at your orders." - -"Well, count, just imagine that I am looking after a very dangerous man, -in faith, who seems to be an atheist, conspirator, forger, adulterer, -coiner, charlatan, and chief of a secret league; whose history I have on -my records and in this casket, which your lordship sees." - -"I understand," said Balsamo; "you have the story but not the man. Hang -it, that seems to me the more important matter." - -"No doubt: but you will see presently how near he is to our hand. -Certainly, Proct Proteon Proteus had not more shapes, Jupiter more -names: Acharat in Egypt, Balsamo in Italy, Somini in Sardinia, the -Marquis of Anna in Malta, Marquis Pellegrini in Corsica, and lastly, -Count Fe--this last name I have not been able to make out; but I am -almost sure that you will help me to it for you must have met this man -in the course of your travels in the countries I have mentioned. I -suppose, though, you would want some kind of description?" - -"If your lordship pleases?" - -"Well," continued Sartines, fixing on the other an eye which he -endeavored to make like an inquisitor's, "he is a man of your age and -stature, and bearing; sometimes a mighty nobleman distributing gold, or -a charlatan seeking natural secrets, or a dark conspirator allied to the -mysterious brotherhood which has vowed in darkness the death of kings -and the downfall of thrones." - -"This is vague," replied Balsamo, "and you cannot guess how many men I -have met who would answer to this description! You will have to be more -precise if you want my help. In the first place, which is his country by -preference?" - -"He lives everywhere at home." - -"But at present?" - -"In France, where he directs a vast conspiracy." - -"This is a good piece of intelligence. If you know what conspiracy he -directs you have one end of a clew in your hands which will lead you up -to the man." - -"I am of your opinion." - -"If you believe so, why do you ask my advice? It is useless." - -"It is because I am debating whether or not to arrest him." - -"I do not understand the Not, my lord, for if he conspires---- " - -"But he is in a measure protected by his title---- " - -"Ah, now I follow you. But by what title? Needless to say that I shall -be glad to aid you in your searches, my lord." - -"Why, sir, I told you that I knew the names he hides under but I do not -know that under which he shows himself, or else---- " - -"You would arrest him? Well, Lord Sartines, it is a blessed thing that I -happened in as I did, for I can do you the very service you want. I -will tell you the title he figures under." - -"Pray say it," said Sartines who expected to hear a falsehood. - -"The Count of Fenix." - -"What, the name under which you were announced?" - -"My own." - -"Then you would be this Acharat, Balsamo, and Company?" - -"It is I," answered the other simply. - -It took Sartines a minute to recover from the amazement which this -impudence had caused him. - -"You see I guessed," he said; "I knew that Fenix and Balsamo were one -and the same." - -"I confess it. You are a great minister." - -"And you are a great fool," said the magistrate, stretching out his hand -towards his bell. - -"How so?" - -"Because I am going to have you arrested." - -"Nonsense, a man like me is never arrested," said Balsamo, stepping -between the magistrate and the bell. - -"Death of my life, who will prevent it? I want to know." - -"As you want to know, my dear Lieutenant of Police, I will tell you--I -shall blow out your brains--and with the more facility and the less -injury to myself as this weapon is charged with a noiseless explosive -which, for its quality of silence, is not the less deadly." - -Whipping out of his pocket, a pistol, with a barrel of steel as -exquisitely carved as though Cellini had chiselled it, he tranquilly -leveled it at the eye of Sartines, who lost color and his footing, -falling back into his armchair. - -"There," said the other, drawing another chair up to the first and -sitting down in it; "now that we are comfortably seated, let us have a -chat." - -It was an instant before Lord Sartines was master of himself after so -sharp an alarm. He almost looked into the muzzle of the firearm, and -felt the ring of its cold iron on his forehead. - -"My lord," he said at last. "I have the advantage over you of knowing -the kind of man I coped with and I did not take the cautionary measures -I should with an ordinary malefactor." - -"You are irritated and you use harsh words," replied Balsamo. "But you -do not see how unjust you are to one who comes to do you a service. And -yet you mistake my intentions. You speak of conspirators, just when I -come to speak to you about a conspiracy." - -But the round phrase was all to no purpose as Sartines was not paying -great attention to his words: so that the word Conspiracy, which would -have made him jump at another time, scarcely caused him to pick up his -ears. - -"Since you know so well who I am," he proceeded, "you must know my -mission in France. Sent by the Great Frederick--that is as an -ambassador, more or less secret of his Prussian Majesty. Who says -ambassador, says 'inquisitor;' and as I inquire, I am not ignorant of -what is going on; and one of the things I have learnt most about is the -forestalling of grain." - -Simply as Balsamo uttered the last words they had more power over the -Chief of Police than all the others for they made him attentive. He -slowly raised his head. - -"What is this forestalling of the grain?" he said, affecting as much -ease as Balsamo had shown at the opening of the interview. "Will you -kindly enlighten me?" - -"Willingly, my lord. Skillful speculators have persuaded his Majesty, -the King of France, that he ought to build grainaries to save up the -grain for the people in case of dearth. So the stores were built. While -they were about it they made them on a large scale, sparing no stone or -timber. The next thing was to fill them, as empty grainarers are -useless. So they filled them. You will reckon on a large quantity of -corn being wanted to fill them? Much breadstuffs drawn out of the -markets is a means of making the people hungry. For, mark this well, any -goods withdrawn from circulation are equivalent to a lack of production. -A thousand sacks of corn in the store are the same as a thousand less in -the market. Multiply these thousands by a ten only and up goes the price -of grain." - -Sartines coughed with irritation. Balsamo stopped quietly till he was -done. - -"Hence, you see the speculator in the storehouses enriched by the -increase in value. Is this clear?" - -"Perfectly clear," replied the other. "But it seems to me that you are -bold enough to promise to denounce a crime or a plot of which his -Majesty is the author." - -"You understand it plainly," said Balsamo. - -"This is bold, indeed, and I should be curious to know how the King will -take the charge. I am afraid that the result will be precisely the same -as that I conceived when I looked through your papers; take care, my -lord, you will get into the Bastile all the same." - -"How poorly you judge me and how wrong you are in still taking me for a -fool. Do you imagine that I, an ambassador, a mere curious investigator, -would attack the King in person? That would be the act of a blockhead. -Pray hear me out." - -Sartines nodded to the man with the pistol. - -"Those who discovered this plot against the French people--pardon the -precious time I am consuming, but you will see presently that it is not -lost time--they are economists, who, very minute and painstaking, by -applying their microscopic lenses to this rigging of the market, have -remarked that the King is not working the game alone. They know that his -Majesty keeps an exact register of the market rate of grain in the -different markets: that he rubs his hands when the rise wins him eight -or ten thousand crowns; but they also know that another man is filling -his own alongside of his Majesty's--an official, you will guess--who -uses the royal figures for his own behalf. The economists, therefore, -not being idiots, will not attack the King, but the man, the public -officer, the agent who gambles for his sovereign." - -Sartines tried to shake his wig into the upright but it was no use. - -"I am coming to the point, now," said Balsamo. "In the same way as you -know I am the Count of Fenix through your police, I know you are Lord -Sartines through mine." - -"What follows?" said the embarrassed magistrate; "a fine discovery that -I am Lord Sartines!" - -"And that he is the man of the market-notebooks, the gambling, the ring, -who, with or without the knowledge of the King, traffics on the -appetites of the thirty millions of French whom his functions prescribe -him to feed on the lowest possible terms. Now, just imagine the effect -in a slight degree of this discovery! You are little loved by the -people; the King is not an affectionate man. As soon as the cries of the -hungry are heard, yelling for your head, the King, to avoid all -suspicion of connivance with you, if any there be, or to do justice if -there is no complicity, will hasten to have you strung upon a gibbet -like that on which dangled Enguerrand de Marigny, which you may -remember?" - -"Imperfectly," stammered Sartines, very pale, "and you show very poor -taste to talk of the gibbet to a nobleman of my degree!" - -"I could not help bringing him in," replied Balsamo, "as I seemed to see -him again--poor Enguerrand! I swear to you he was a perfect gentleman -out of Normandy, of very ancient family and most noble house. He was -Lord High Chamberlain and Captain of the Louvre Palace, and eke Count of -Longueville, a much more important county than yours of Alby. But still -I saw him hooked up on the very gibbet at Montfaucon which was built -under his orders, although it was not for the lack of my telling him: - -"Enguerrand, my dear friend, have a care! you take a bigger slice out of -the cake of finance than Charles of Valois will like. Alas, if you only -knew how many chiefs of police, from Pontius Pilate down to your -predecessor, who have come to grief!" - -Sartines rose, trying in vain to dissimulate the agitation to which he -was a prey. - -"Well, accuse me if you like," he said: "what does the testimony of a -man like you amount to?" - -"Take care, my lord," Balsamo said: "men of no account were very often -the very ones who bring others to account. When I write the particulars -of the Great Grain Speculation to my correspondent, or Frederick who is -a philosopher, as you are aware, he will be eager to transcribe it with -comments for his friend, Voltaire, who knows how to swing his pen: to -Alembert, that admirable geometrician, who will calculate how far these -stolen grains, laid in a line side by side, will extend; in short when -all the lampoon writers, pamphleteers and caricaturists get wind of this -subject, you, my lord of Alby, will be a great deal worse off than my -poor Marigny,--for he was innocent, or said so, and I would hardly -believe that of your lordship." - -With no longer respect for decorum, Sartines took off his wig and wiped -his skull. - -"Have it so," he said, "ruin me if you will. But I have your casket as -you have your proofs." - -"Another profound error into which you have fallen, my lord," said -Balsamo: "You are not going to keep this casket." - -"True," sneered the other; "I forgot that Count Fenix is a knight of the -road who robs men by armed force. I did not see your pistol which you -have put away. Excuse me, my lord the ambassador." - -"The pistol is no longer wanted, my lord. You surely do not think that I -would fight for the casket over your body here where a shout would rouse -the house full of servants and police agents?---- No, when I say that -you will not keep my casket, I mean that you will restore it to me of -your own free will." - -"I?" said the magistrate, laying his fist on the box with so much force -that he almost shattered it. "You may laugh, but you shall not take this -box but at the cost of my life. Have I not risked it a thousand -times--ought I not pour out the last drop of my blood in his Majesty's -service? Kill me, as you are the master; but I shall have enough voice -left to denounce you for your crimes. Restore you this," he repeated, -with a bitter laugh, "hell itself might claim it and not make me -surrender." - -"I am not going to require the intervention of subterranean powers; -merely that of the person who is even now knocking at your street door." - -Three loud knocks thundered at the door. - -"And whose carriage is even now entering the yard," added the mesmerist. - -"Some friend of yours who does me the honor to call?" - -"Just as you say, a friend of mine." - -"The Right Honorable the Countess Dubarry!" announced a valet at the -study door, as the lady, who had not believed she wanted the permission -to enter, rushed in. It was the lovely countess, whose perfumed and -hooped skirts rustled in the doorway. - -"Your ladyship!" exclaimed Sartines, hugging the casket to his bosom in -his terror. - -"How do you do, Sartines?" she said, with her gay smile. - -"And how are you, count?" she added to Fenix, holding out her hand. - -He bowed familiarly over it and pressed his lips where the King had so -often laid his. In this movement he had time to speak four words to her -which the Chief of Police did not hear. - -"Oh, here is my casket," she said. - -"Your casket," stammered the Lieutenant of Police. - -"Mine, of course. Oh, you have opened it--do not be nice about what does -not belong to you! How delightful this is. This box was stolen from me, -and I had the idea of going to Sartines to get it back. You found it, -did you, oh, thank you." - -"With all respect to your ladyship," said Sartines, "I am afraid you are -letting yourself be imposed upon." - -"Impose? do you use such a word to me, my lord?" cried Balsamo. "This -casket was confided to me by her ladyship a few days ago with all its -contents." - -"I know what I know," persisted the magistrate. - -"And I know nothing," whispered La Dubarry to the mesmerist. "But you -have claimed the promise I made you to do anything you asked at the -first request." - -"But this box may contain the matter of a dozen conspiracies," said -Sartines. - -"My lord, you know that that is not a word to bring you good luck. Do -not say it again. The lady asks for her box--are you going to give it to -her or not?" - -"But at least know, my lady---- " - -"I do not want to know more than I do know," said the lady: "Restore me -my casket--for I have not put myself out for nothing, I would have you -to understand!" - -"As you please, my lady," said Sartines humbly and he handed the -countess the box, into which Balsamo replaced the papers strewn over the -desk. - -"Count," said the lady with her most winning smile, "will you kindly -carry my box and escort me to my carriage as I do not like to go back -alone through those ugly faces. Thank you, Sartines." - -"My lady," said Balsamo, "you might tell the count who bears me much ill -will from my insisting on having the box, that you would be grieved if -anything unpleasant befel me through the act of the police and how badly -you would feel." - -She smiled on the speaker. - -"You hear what my Lord says, Sartines," she said; "it is the pure truth: -the count is an excellent friend of mine and I should mortally hate you -if you were to vex him in any way. Adieu, Sartines." - -He saw them march forth without showing the rage Balsamo expected. - -"Well, they have taken the casket but I have the woman," he chuckled. - -To make up for his defeat he began to ring his bell as though to break -it. - -"How is the lady getting on whom you took into the next room?" - -"Very well indeed, my lord: for she got up and went out." - -"Got up? why, she could not stand." - -"That is so, my lord," said the usher: "but five minutes or so after the -Count of Fenix arrived, she awoke from her swoon, from which no scent -would arouse her, and walked out. We had no orders to detain her." - -"The villain is a magician," thought the magistrate. "I have the royal -police and he Satan's." - -That evening he was bled and put to bed: the shock was too great for him -to bear, and the doctor said that if he had not been called in he would -have died of apoplexy. - -In the meantime the count had conducted the lady to her coach. She asked -him to step in, and a groom led the Arab horse. - -"Lady," he said, "you have amply paid the slight service I did you. Do -not believe what Sartines said about plots and conspiracies. This casket -contains my chemical recipes written in the language of Alchemy which -his ignorant clerks interpreted according to their lights. Our craft is -not yet enfranchised from prejudices and only the young and bright like -your ladyship are favorable to it." - -"What would have happened if I had not come to your help?" - -"I should have been sent into some prison, but I can melt stone with my -breath so that your Bastile would not long have retained me. I should -have regretted the loss of the formula for the chemical secrets by which -I hope to preserve your marvelous beauty and splendid youthfulness." - -"You set me at ease and you delight me, count. Do you promise me a -philter to keep me young?" - -"Yes: but ask me for it in another twenty years. You cannot now want to -be a child forever!" - -"Really, you are a capital fellow! But I would rather have that draft in -ten, nay five years--one never knows what may happen." - -"When you like." - -"Oh, a last question. They say that the King is smitten with the -Taverney girl. You must tell me; do not spare me if it is true; treat me -as a friend and tell me the truth." - -"Andrea Taverney will never be the mistress of the King. I warrant it, -as I do not so will it." - -"Oh!" cried Lady Dubarry. - -"You doubt? never doubt science." - -"Still, as you have the means, if you would block the King's fancies---- -" - -"I can create sympathies and so I can antipathies. Be at ease, countess, -I am on the watch." - -He spoke at random as he was all impatience to get away and rejoin -Lorenza. - -"Surely, count," said the lady, "you are not only my prophet of good -but my guardian angel. Mind, I will defend you if you help me. -Alliance!" - -"It is sealed," he said, kissing her hand. - -He alighted and whistling for his horse, mounted and gallopped away. - -"To Luciennes," ordered Lady Dubarry, comforted. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII. - -LOVE VERSUS SCIENCE. - - -In five minutes Balsamo was in his vestibule, looking at Fritz and -asking with anxiety: - -"Has she returned?" - -"She has gone up into the room of the arms and the furs, very wornout, -from having run so rapidly that I was hardly in time to open the door -after I caught sight of her. I was frightened; for she rushed in like a -tempest. She ran up the stairs without taking breath, and fell on the -great black lion's-skin on entering the room. There you will find her." - -Balsamo went up precipitately and found her as said. He took her up in -his arms and carried her into the inner house where the secret door -closed behind them. - -He was going to awake her to vent the reproaches on her which were -nursed in his wrath, when three knocks on the ceiling notified him that -the sage called Althotas, in the upper room, was aware of his arrival -and asked speech of him. - -Fearing that he would come down, as sometimes happened, or that Lorenza -would learn something else detrimental to the Order, he charged her with -a fresh supply of the magnetic fluid, and went up by a kind of elevator -to Althota' laboratory. - -In the midst of a wilderness of chemical and surgical instruments, -phials and plants, this very aged man was a terrible figure at this -moment. - -Such part of his face as seemed yet to retain life was empurpled with -angry fire: his knotted hands like those of a skeleton, trembled and -cracked--his deepset eyes seemed to shake loose in the sockets and in a -language unknown even to his pupil he poured invectives upon him. - -Having left his padded armchair to go to the trap by which Balsamo came -up through the floor, he seemed to move solely by his long spider-like -arms. It must be extraordinary excitement to make him leave the seat -where he conducted his alchemical work and enter into our worldly life. - -Balsamo was astonished and uneasy. - -"So you come, you sluggard, you coward, to abandon your master," said -Althotas. - -As was his habit, the other summoned up all his patience to reply to his -master. - -"I thought you had only just called me, my friend," he meekly said. - -"Your friend, you vile human creature," cried the alchemist, "I think -you talk to me as if I were one of your sort. Friend? I should think I -were more than that: more than your father, for I have reared you, -instructed you and enriched you. But you are no friend to me, oh, no! -for you have left me, you let me starve, and you will be my death." - -"You have a bilious attack, master, and you will make yourself ill by -going on thus." - -"Illness--rubbish! Have I ever been ill save when you made me feel the -petty miseries of your mean human life? I, ill, who you know am the -physician to others." - -"At all events, master, here I am," coldly observed Balsamo. "Let us not -waste time." - -"You are a nice one to remind me of that. You force me to dole out what -ought to be unmeasured to all human creatures. Yes, I am wasting time: -my time, like others, is falling drop by drop into eternity when it -ought to be itself eternity." - -"Come, master, let us know what is to be done?" asked the other, working -the spring which closed the trap in the floor. "You said you were -starved. How so, when you know you were doing your fortnight's absolute -fast?" - -"Yes; the work of regeneration was commenced thirty-two days ago." - -"What are you complaining about in that case--I see yet two or three -decanters of rainwater, the only thing you take." - -"Of course: but do you think I am a silkworm to perform alone the great -task of transformation and rejuvenation? Can I without any strength -alone compose my draft of life? Do you think I shall have my ability -when I am lying down with no support but refreshing drink, if you do not -help me? abandoned to my own resources, and the minute labor of my -regeneration--you know you ought to help and succor, if a friend?" - -"I am here," responded Balsamo, taking the old man and placing him in -his chair as one might a disagreeable child, "what do you want? You have -plenty of distilled water: your loaves of barley and sesame are there; -and I have myself given you the white drops you prescribed." - -"Yes; but the elixir is not composed. The last time I was fifty, I had -your father to help me, your faithful father. I got it ready a month -beforehand. For the blood of a virgin which I had to have, I bought a -child of a trader at Mount Ararat where I retired. I bled it according -to the rites; I took three drops of arterial blood and in an hour my -mixture, only wanting that ingredient, was composed. Therefore my -regeneration came off passing well: my hair and teeth fell during the -spasms caused by the draft, but they came again--the teeth badly, I -admit, for I had neglected to use a golden tube for decanting the -liquor. But my hair and nails came as if I were fifteen again. But here -I am once more old; and the elixir is not concocted. If it is not soon -in this bottle, with all care given to compounding it, the science of a -century will be lost in me, and this admirable and sublime secret which -I hold will be lost for man, who would thus through me be linked with -divinity. Oh, if I go wrong, if I fail, you, Acharat, will have been the -cause, and my wrath will be dreadful!" - -As these final words made a spark flash from his dying eye, the hideous -old man fell back in a convulsion succeeded by violent coughing. Balsamo -at once gave him the most eager care. The old doctor came to his -senses; his pallor was worse; this slight shaking had so exhausted him -that he seemed about to die. - -"Tell me what you want, master, and you shall have it, if possible." - -"Possible?" sneered the other, "You know that all is possible with time -and science. I have the science; but time is only about to be conquered -by me. My dose has succeeded; the white drops have almost eradicated -most of my old nature. My strength has nearly disappeared. Youth is -mounting and casting off the old bark, so to say. You will remark, -Acharat, that the symptoms are excellent; my voice is faint; my sight -weakened by three parts; I feel my senses wander at times; the -transitions from heat to cold are insensible to me. So it is urgent that -I get my draft made so that on the proper day of my fifteenth year, I -shall pass from a hundred years to twenty without hesitation. The -ingredients are gathered, the gold tube for the decanting is ready; I -only lack the three drops of pure blood which I told you of." - -Balsamo made a start in repugnance. - -"Oh, well, let us give up the idea of a child," sneered Althotas, "since -you dream of nothing but your wife with whom you shut yourself up -instead of coming to aid me." - -"My wife," repeated Balsamo, sadly: "a wife but in name. I have had to -sacrifice all to her, love, desire, all, I repeat, in order to preserve -her pure that I may use her spirit as a seer's to pierce the almost -impenetrable. Instead of making me happy, she makes the world so." - -"Poor fool," said Althotas, "I believe you gabble still of your -amelioration of society when I talk to you of eternal youth and life for -man." - -"To be acquired at the price of a horrid crime! and even then---- " - -"You doubt--he doubts!" - -"But you said you renounced that want: what can you substitute?" - -"Oh, the blood of the first virgin creature which I find--or you supply -within a week." - -"I will attend to it, master," said Balsamo. - -Another spark of ire kindled the old man's eye. - -"You will see about it!" he said, "that is your reply, is it? However, I -expected it, and I am not astonished. Since when, you insignificant -worm, does the creature speak thus to its creator? Ah, you see me -feeble, solicitating you and you fancy I am at your mercy! Do you think -I am fool enough to rely on your mercy? Yes or no, Acharat--and I can -read in your heart whether you deceive me or not--ay, read in your -heart--for I will judge you and pursue you." - -"Master, have a care! your anger will injure you. I speak nothing but -the truth to my master. I will see if I can procure you what you want -without its bringing harm, nay, ruin upon us both. I will seek the -wretch who will sell you what you wish but I shall not take the crime -upon me. That is all I can say." - -"You are very dainty. Then, you would expose me to death, scoundrel; you -would save the three drops of the blood of some paltry thing in order to -let the wondrous being that I am fall into the eternal abysm. Acharat, -mark me," continued the weird old man, with a frightful smile, "I no -longer ask you for anything. I want absolutely nothing of you. I shall -wait: but if you do not obey me, I shall take for myself; if you abandon -me I shall help myself. You hear? away!" - -Without answering the threat in any way, Balsamo prepared all things for -the old man's wants; like a good servant or a pious son attending to his -father. Absorbed in quite another thought than that torturing Althotas, -he went down through the trap-hole without noticing the old sage's -ironical glance following him. He smiled like an evil genius when he saw -the mesmerist beside Lorenza, still asleep. - - - - -CHAPTER XXVIII. - -THE ULTIMATE TEST. - - -Before the Italian beauty, Balsamo stopped, with his heart full of -painful but no longer violent thoughts. - -"Here I stand," he mused, "sad but resolute, and plainly seeing my -situation. Lorenza hates me and betrayed me as she vowed she would do. -My secret is no longer mine but in the hands of this woman who casts it -to the winds. I resemble the fox caught in the trap, who gnaws off his -leg to get away, but the hunter coming on the morrow and seeing this -token can say: 'He has escaped but I shall know him when I catch him -again.' - -"Althotas could not understand this misfortune, which is why I have not -told him; it breaks all my hope of fortune in this country and -consequently in the Old World, of which France is the heart--it is due -to this lovely woman, this fair statue with the sweet smile. To this -accursed angel I owe captivity, exile or death, with ruin and dishonor -meanwhile. - -"Hence," he continued, animating, "the sum of pleasure is surpassed by -that of harm, and Lorenza is a noxious thing to me. Oh, serpent with the -graceful folds, they stifle: your golden throat is full of venom; sleep -on, for I shall be obliged to kill you when you wake." - -With an ominous smile he approached the girl, whose eyes turned to his -like the sunflower follows the sun. - -"Alas, in slaying her who hates me, I shall slay her who loves." - -His heart was filled with profound grief strangely blended with a vague -desire. - -"If she might live, harmless?" he muttered. "No, awake, she will renew -the struggle--she will kill herself or me, or force me to kill her. -Lorenza, your fate is written in letters of fire: to love and to die. In -my hands I hold your life and your love." - -The enchantress, who seemed to read his thoughts in an open book, rose, -fell at the mesmerist's feet, and taking one of his hands which she laid -on her heart, she said with her lips, moist as coral and as glossy: - -"Dead be it, but loved." - -Balsamo could resist no longer; a whirl of flames enveloped him. - -"As long as a human being could contend have I struggled," he sighed; -"demon or angel of the future, you ought to be satisfied. I have long -enough sacrificed pride and egotism to all the generous passions -seething in my heart. No, no, I have not the right to revolt against the -only human feeling fermenting in me. I love this woman, and such -passionate love will do more against her than the keenest hate. What, -when I appear before the Supreme Architect, will not I, the deceiver, -the charlatan, the false prophet, have one well cut stone to show for my -craftsmanship--not one generous deed to avow, not a single happiness -whose memory would comfort me amid eternal sufferings? Oh, no, no, -Lorenza, I know that I lose the future by loving you; I know that my -revealing angel mounts to heaven while this woman comes down to my -arms--but I wish Lorenza!" - -"My beloved," she gasped. - -"Will you accept this life instead of the real one?" - -"I beg for it, for it is love and bliss." - -"Never will you accuse me before man or heaven of having deceived your -heart?" - -"Never, never! before heaven and men, I shall thank you for having given -me love, the only boon, the only jewel of price in this world." - -Balsamo ran his hand over his forehead. - -"Be it so," he said. "Besides, have I absolutely need of her--is she the -only medium? No; while this one makes me happy, the other shall make me -rich and mighty. Andrea is predestined and is as clairvoyante as she. -Andrea is young, and pure, and I do not love Andrea. Nevertheless, in -her mesmeric sleep, she is submissive as you are. In Andrea I have a -victim ready to replace you, one to be the _corpus vili_ of the -physician to be employed for experiments. She can fly as far, perhaps -farther, in the shades of the Unknown as you. Andrea, I take you for my -kingdom. Lorenza, come to my arms for my darling and my wife. With -Andrea I am powerful; with Lorenza I am happy! Henceforth, my life is -complete, and I realise the dream of Althotas, without the immortality, -and become the peer of the gods!" - -And lifting up the Italian beauty, he opened his arms from off his -heaving breast on which Lorenza enclasped herself as the ivy girdles the -oak. - -Another life commenced for the magician, unknown to him previously in -his active, multiple, perplexed existence. For three days he felt no -more anger, apprehension or jealousy; he heard nothing of plots, -politics or conspiracies. Beside Lorenza he forgot the whole world. This -strange love threw him into felicity composed of stupor and delirium, -soaring over humanity, as it were, full of misery and intoxication, a -phantom love--for he knew he could at a sign or a word change the sweet -mistress into an implacable enemy. - -Singularly, she remained of astonishing lucidity as far as regarded -himself; but he wanted to learn if this were not sheer sympathy; if she -became dark outside of the circle traced by his love--if the eyes of -this new Eve clearly seeing in Eden, would not be this blind when -expelled from Paradise. - -He dared not make a decisive test, but he hoped, and hope was the starry -crown to his happiness. - -With gentle melancholy Lorenza said to him: - -"Acharat, you are thinking of another woman than me, a woman of the -North, with fair hair and blue eyes--Acharat, this woman walks beside -you and me in your mind. Shall I tell you her name?" - -"Yes," he said in wonderment. - -"Wait--it is Andrea." - -"Right. Yes, you can read my mind; one last fear troubles me. Can you -still see through space though blocked by material obstacles?" - -"Try me." - -He took her hand, and in his mind went away from that place, taking her -soul with him. - -"What do you see?" - -"A vast valley with woods on one side, a town on the other, while a -river separates them and is lost in the distance after bathing the walls -of a palace." - -"It is so, Lorenza. The wood is Vesinet, the town St. Germain; the -palace Maisons. Let us go into the summerhouse behind us. What do you -see?" - -"A young negro, eating candies." - -"It is Zamore, Countess Dubarry's blackmoor. Go on." - -"An empty drawing-room, splendidly furnished, with the panels painted -with goddesses and Cupids." - -"Next?" - -"We are in a lovely boudoir hung with blue satin worked with flowers in -their natural colors. A woman is reclining on a sofa. I have seen her -before--it is Countess Dubarry. She is thinking of you---- " - -"Thinking of me? Lorenza, you will drive me mad." - -"You made her the promise to give her the water of beauty which Venus -gave to Phaon to be revenged on Sappho." - -"That is so; go on." - -"She makes up her mind to a step, for she rings a bell. A woman -comes--it is like her---- " - -"Her sister, Chon?" - -"Her sister. She wants the horses put to the carriage! in two hours she -will be here." - -Balsamo dropped on his knees. - -"Oh heaven, if she should be here in that time, I shall have no more to -beg of you for you will have had pity on my happiness." - -"Poor dear," said she, "why do you fear? Love which completes the -physical existence, enlarges the moral one. Like all good passions, love -emanates from heaven whence cometh all light." - -"Lorenza, you make me wild with joy." - -Still he waited for this last test; the arrival of Lady Dubarry. - -Two strokes of the bell, the signal of an important visitor, from Fritz -told him that the vision was realised. - -He led Lorenza into the room hung with fur and armor. - -"You will not go away from here?" asked the mesmerist. - -"Order me to stay and you will find me here on your return. Besides, the -Lorenza who loves you is not the one who dreads you." - -"Be it so, my beloved Lorenza; sleep and await me." - -Still struggling with the spell, she laid a last kiss on her husband's -lips, and tottered to sink upon a lounge, murmuring. - -"Soon again, my Balsamo, soon?" - -He waved his hand: she was already reposing. - -As he closed the door he thought he heard a sound: but no, Lorenza was -sound asleep. He went through the parlor without fear or any -foreshadowing, carrying paradise in his heart. - -Lorenza dreamed: it seemed to her that the ceiling opened and that a -kind of aged Caliban descended with a regular movement. The air seemed -to fail her as two long fleshless arms like living grapnels clutched her -white dress, raised her off the divan, and carried her to the trap. This -movable platform began to rise, with the grinding of metal and a shrill, -hideous laugh issued from the mouth of this human-faced monster who bore -her upwards without any shock. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIX. - -THE LIQUOR OF BEAUTY. - - -The beautiful favorite of Louis XV. had been shown into the parlor where -she impatiently waited for Balsamo while turning over the leaves of -Holbein's Dance of Death, which caught her attention on the table. She -had just arrived at the picture of the Beauty powdering her cheek before -a mirror, when the host opened the door and bowed to her with a smile of -joy over his face. - -"I am sorry to have made you wait," he said, "but I was a little out in -my calculation about the speed of your horses." - -"Gracious, did you know that I was coming?" - -"Certainly; at least you gave the orders for your sister to transmit -them for your departure, while lounging in your blue boudoir." - -"Wizard that you are, if you can see all that goes on there, you must -apprise me." - -"I only look in where doors are open." - -"But you saw my intention as regards you?" - -"I saw that it was good." - -"So are all mine to you, count. But you merit more than mere intentions -for it seems to me that you are too good and useful to me in taking the -part of tutor the most difficult to play that I know." - -"You make me very happy; what can I do for you?" - -"Have you not, to begin with, some of the seed which makes one -invisible: for on the way it seemed to me that one of Richelieu's men -was riding after me." - -"The Duke of Richelieu cannot be dangerous to you in any meeting," said -the mesmerist. - -"But he was, my lord, before this last scheme failed." - -Balsamo comprehended that here was a plot of which Lorenza had not -informed him. So he smiled without venturing on the unknown ground. - -"I nearly fell a victim to the scheme, in which you had a share." - -"I, in a scheme against you? never." - -"Did you not give Richelieu a philter to make the drinker fail madly in -love?" - -"Oh, no, my lady: he composes those things himself; I did give him a -simple narcotic--a sleeping draft. He called for it on the eve of the -day when I sent you the note by my man Fritz to meet me at Sartines." - -"That is it--the very time when the King went to little Taverney's -rooms. It is all clear now, for the narcotic saved us." - -"I am happy to have served your ladyship, though unawares," he said -without knowing the matter. - -"Yes; the King must have seen the girl under the influence of this -soporific, for he was seen to stagger out of the chapel corridor during -the storm, crying 'She is dead!' Nothing frightens the King more than -the dead, or next to it those in a death-like sleep. Finding Mdlle. de -Taverney in a sleep, he took it for death." - -"Yes, like death, with all the appearances," said the other, remembering -that he had fled without reviving Andrea. "Go on, my lady!" - -"The King woke with a touch of fever and was only better at noon. He -came over to see me in the evening, where I discovered that Richelieu is -almost as great a conjurer as your lordship." - -The countess's triumphant face, and her gesture of coquetry and grace -completed her thought, and perfectly encouraged the Italian about her -sway over the King. - -"So you are satisfied with me?" he asked. - -She held out in token of thanks her white, soft and scented hand, only -it was not fresh like Lorenza's. - -"Now, count, if you preserved me from a great danger, I believe I have -saved you from one not to be despised." - -"I had no need to be grateful to you," said Balsamo, hiding his emotion, -"but I should like to know---- " - -"That casket really contained cipher correspondence which Sartines had -his experts write out plain: That is what he brought to Versailles this -morning, with blank warrants to imprison parties named in the documents: -one was filled with your name, but I would not let him slip that under -the royal hand for the signature. Since Damiens stuck him with the -penknife, he can be frightened into anything by the bogey of -assassination. Sartines persisted and so did I, but the King said with a -smile and looking at me in a style which I know: - -"'Let her alone, Sartines: I can refuse her nothing to-day.' - -"As I was by, Sartines did not like to vex me by accusing you direct but -he talked of the King of Prussia bolstering up the philosophers of a -numerous and powerful sect formed of courageous, resolute and skillful -adepts, working away underhandedly against his Royal Majesty. He said -they spread evil reports, as for instance that the King was in the -scheme to starve the people. To which Louis replied: 'Let anybody come -forward, saying so and I will give him the lie by furnishing him with -board and lodging for nothing. I will feed him in the Bastile.'" - -Balsamo felt a shiver run through him, but he stood firm. - -"And the end?" - -"It was the day after the sleeping potion, you understand," he preferred -my company to Sartines; and turned to me. - -"'Drive away this ugly man,' I said, 'he smells of the prison.' - -"'You had better go, Sartines,' said the King. - -"Seeing he was in a scrape, he came to me and kissing my hand humbly, he -said: 'Lady, let us say no more on this head--(your head, count)--but -you will ruin the realm. Since you so strongly wish it, my men shall -protect your protegé.'" - -The conspirator was buried in thought. - -"So you see you must thank me for not having been clapped into the -Bastile," concluded the countess: "not unjust, perhaps, but -disagreeable." - -Without replying Balsamo took from his pocket a phial containing a fluid -of blood color. - -"For the liberty you give me," he said, "I give you twenty years more -youthfulness." - -She slipped the bottle into her corsage and went off, joyous and -triumphant. - -"They might have been saved but for the coquetry of this woman," he -murmured. "It is the little foot of this courtesan which spurns them -into the abyss. Beyond doubt, God is on our side!" - - - - -CHAPTER XXX. - -THE BLOOD - - -Lady Dubarry had not seen the street door close after her before Balsamo -hurried up into the room where he had left Lorenza. But she was gone. - -Her fine flowered cashmere shawl remained on the cushions as a token of -her stay in the room. - -A painful thought struck him that she had feigned to sleep. Thus she -would have dispelled all uneasiness, doubts and mistrust in her -husband's mind only to flee at the first chance for liberty. This time -she would be surer of what to do, instructed by her former experience. - -This idea made him bound. He searched without avail after ringing for -Fritz to come to him. But nobody was about, as nobody had gone out -behind the countess. - -To run about, moving the furniture, calling Lorenza, looking without -seeing, listening without hearing, thrilling without living, and -pondering without thinking--such was the state of the infuriate for -three minutes, which were as many ages. - -He came out of his hallucination and dipping his hand in a vase of iced -water, he held it on his forehead. By his will he chased away that -throbbing of the blood in the brains which goes on silently in life but -when heard means madness or death. - -"Come, come, let us reason," he said, "Lorenza is no more here, and -consequently must have gone forth. How? Through Andrea de Taverney I can -ascertain all--whether my incorruptible Fritz was bribed and--then, if -love is a sham, if science is an error, and fidelity a snare--Balsamo -will punish without pity or reservation--like the powerful man smites -when he has put aside mercy and preserves but pride. I must let Fritz -perceive nothing while I haste to Trianon." - -In taking up his hat to go, he stopped. - -"Goodness, I am forgetting the old man," he said. "I must attend to -Althotas before all. In my monstrous love, I left my unfortunate friend -to himself--I have been inhuman and ungrateful." - -With the fever animating his movements he sprang to the trap which he -lowered and on which he stepped. - -Scarcely had he reached the level of the laboratory, than he was struck -by the old man's voice crooning a song. To Balsamo's high astonishment -his first words were not a reproach as he expected; he was received by a -natural and simple outburst of gaiety. - -The old man was lolling back in his easy chair, snuffing the air as -though he were drinking in new life at each sniff. His eyes were filled -with dull fire, but the smile on his lips made them lighter as they were -fastened on the visitor. - -In this close, warm atmosphere, Balsamo felt giddy as if respiration and -his strength failed him simultaneously. - -"Master," said he, looking for something to lean against, "you must not -stay here: one cannot breathe. Let me open a window overhead for there -seems to reek from the floor the odor of blood." - -"Blood? ha, ha, ha!" roared Althotas. "I noticed it but did not mind: it -is you who have tender heart and brain who is easily affected." - -"But you have blood on your hands and it is on the table--this smell is -of blood--and human blood," added the younger man, passing his hand over -his brow streaming with perspiration. - -"Ha, he has a subtile scent," said the old sage. "Not only does he -recognize blood but can tell it is human, too." - -Looking round, Balsamo perceived a brass basin half full with a purple -liquid reflected on the sides. - -"Whence comes this blood?" he gasped. - -He uttered a terrible roar! Part of the table, usually cumbered by -alembics, crucibles, flasks, galvanic batteries and the like, was now -clothed with a white damask sheet, worked with flowers. Among the -flowers here and there, spots of a red hue oozed up. Balsamo took one -corner of the sheet and plucked the whole towards him. - -His hair bristled up, and his opened mouth could not let the horrible -yell come forth--it died in the gullet. - -It was the corpse of Lorenza which stiffened on the board. The livid -head seemed still to smile and hung back as though drawn down by the -weight of her hair. - -A large cut yawned above the clavicle, but not a drop of blood was -issuing now. The hands were rigid and the eyes closed under the violet -lids. - -"Yes, thanks for your having placed her under my hand where I could so -readily take her," said the horrible old man; "in her have I found the -blood I wanted." - -"Villain of the vilest," screamed Balsamo, with the cry of despair -bursting from all pores, "you have nothing to do but die--for this was -my wife since four days ago! You have murdered her to no gain." - -"She was not a virgin?" - -Althotas quivered to the eyes at this revelation, as if an electric -shock made them oscillate in their orbits. His pupils frightfully -dilated; his gums gnashed for want of teeth; his hand let fall the phial -of the elixir of long life, and it fell and shivered into a thousand -splinters. Stupefied, annihilated, struck at the same time in heart and -brain, he dropped back heavily in his armchair. - -Balsamo, bending with a sob over the body of his wife, swooned as he was -kissing the tresses. - -Time passed silently and mournfully in the death-chamber where the blood -congealed. - -Suddenly in the midst of the night a bell rang in the room itself. - -Fritz must have guessed that his master was in the laboratory of -Althotas to have sent the warning thither. He repeated it three times -and still Balsamo did not lift his head. - -In a few minutes the ringing came, still louder, without rousing the -mourner from his stupor. - -But at another call, the impatient jangle made him look up though not -with a start. He questioned the space with the cold solemnity of a -corpse coming forth from a grave. - -The bell kept on ringing. - -Energy, reviving, at last aroused intelligence in the husband of Lorenza -Feliciani. He took away his head from hers; it had lost its warmth -without warming hers. - -"Great news or a great danger," he said to himself. "I should as lief -meet a great danger." - -He rose upright. - -"But why should I answer this appeal?" he asked without perceiving the -sombre effect of his voice under the gloomy skylight and in the funeral -chamber. "Is there anything in this world to alarm or interest me?" - -As if to answer him the bell was so roughly shaken that the iron tongue -broke loose and fell on a glass alembic which it shivered on the floor. - -He held back no longer; besides, it was important that neither Fritz nor -another should come here to find him. - -With a tranquil tread he opened the trap and descended. When he opened -the staircase door, Fritz stood on the top step, pale and breathless, -holding a torch in one hand and the broken bell-pull in the other. - -At sight of his master, he uttered a cry of satisfaction and then one of -surprise and fright. Respectful as he usually was, he took the liberty -of seizing him by the arm and dragging him up to a Venetian mirror. - -"Look, excellency," he said. - -Balsamo shuddered. In an hour he had grown twenty years older. In his -eyes were lustre; in his skin no blood; and over all his lineaments was -spread an expression of stupor and lack of intelligence. Bloody foam -bathed his lips, and on the white front of his shirt a large blood spot -spread. He looked at himself for an instant without recognition. Then -he plunged his glance steadily into that of his reflected self. - -"You are quite right, Fritz," he said. "But why did you call me?" - -"They are here, master," said the faithful servant, with disquiet: "the -five masters." - -"All here?" queried Balsamo, starting. - -"With each an armed servant in the yard. They are impatient which is why -I rang so often and roughly." - -Without adjusting his dress or hiding the blood spot, Balsamo went down -the stairs to the parlor. - -"Has your excellency no orders to give me about weapons?" asked the -valet. - -"Why should I take a sword even?" - -"I do not know, I only feared--I thought---- " - -"Thanks, you can go." - -"Yes: but your double-barrelled pistols are in the ebony box on the -gilded buffet." - -"Go, I bid you," said the master, and he entered the parlor. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXI. - -THE TRIAL. - - -The parlor was well lighted, and Balsamo entering could see the grim air -of the five men who kept their seats until he was before them and bowed. -Then they all rose and returned the salute. - -He took an armchair facing theirs without appearing to remark that -theirs formed a horse-shoe in front of his so that he occupied the place -of the culprit at a trial. - -He did not speak first as he would have done on another occasion. From -the painful dulness which succeeded the shock to him he looked without -seeing. - -"You seem to have understood what we come for, brother," said the man -who held the central chair: "yet you were long coming and we were -deliberating if we should not send for you." - -"I do not understand you," simply replied the mesmerist. - -"That did not seem so when you took the place of the accused." - -"Accused?" faltered the other, vaguely. "Still I do not understand." - -"It will not be hard to make you do so," said the chief officer: -"judging by your pale front, dull eyes and tremulous voice. Do you not -hear me?" - -"Yes, I hear," was the reply, while he shook his head to drive away the -thoughts oppressing him. - -"Do you remember, brother," said the president, "that at the last -meeting, the Superior Committee gave you warning of treason meditated by -one of the main upholders of the Order?" - -"Perhaps so, I do not know." - -"You answer as with a perturbed and tumultuous conscience. But -recover--do not be cast down. Answer with the clearness and preciseness -which a dreadful position demands. Answer with such certainty that you -will convince us, for we come with no more hatred than prejudice. We are -the Law. It speaks not till after the judges pronounce." - -Balsamo made no reply. - -Seeing the calm and immobility of the accused, the others stared at him -not without astonishment, before fastening their eyes on the chief -again. - -"You are warned. Protect yourself, for I resume. - -"After this warning the Order delegated five of the members to watch at -Paris about him who was designated as a traitor. It was not easy to -watch a man like you, whose power was to enter everywhere. You had at -your disposal all the means, which are immense, of our association, -given for the triumph of our cause. But we respected the mystery of your -conduct as you fluctuated between the adherents of Dubarry, of Richelieu -and Rohan. But three days ago, five warrants of arrest, signed by the -King and put in motion by Sartines, were presented on the same day to -five of our principal agents, very faithful and devoted brothers who -have been taken away. Two are put in solitary confinement in the -Bastile, two at Vincennes Castle, in the dungeons, and one is in Bicetre -in the deepest cell. Did you know of this?" - -"No," replied the accused. - -"Strange, with the close connections you have with royalty. But this is -stranger still. To arrest those friends, Sartines must have had the note -naming them, the only one, under Arabian characters, which was addressed -to the Supreme Circle in 1769, when you received them and gave them the -grade assigned to them. But the sixth name was the Count of Fenix's." - -"I grant that," said Balsamo. - -"Then how comes it that they five should be arrested as by that list -while you were spared? you deserved prison as well as they. What have -you to answer?" - -"Nothing." - -"Your pride survives your honor. The police discovered those names in -reading our papers which you kept in a casket. One day a woman came out -of your house with this casket and went to the Chief of Police. Thus all -was discovered. Is this true?" - -"Perfectly true." - -The president stood up. - -"Who was this woman?" he said. "A fair and passionate one devoted to you -body and soul and affectionately loved. Lorenza Feliciani is your wife, -Balsamo." - -He groaned in despair. - -"A quarter of an hour after she called on the head of the police, you -called in your turn. She had sown the seed and you were to gather the -harvest. An obedient servant she committed the treachery and you had but -to give the finishing touches to the infernal work. Lorenza came out -alone. No doubt you arranged this and did not want to be compromised by -her company. You came out triumphantly with Lady Dubarry, called there -to receive from your mouth the information which she was to pay. You got -into the carriage of this courtesan, leaving the papers which ruined us -in the hands of Lord Sartines but carrying away the empty casket. -Happily we saw you. The light of the All-seeing Eye did not fail us on -all occasions." - -Balsamo bowed still without remark. - -"I conclude," said the chief judge. "Two guilty ones are pointed out: -the woman who was your accomplice and may have unwittingly injured us by -conveying the revelations of our secrets; the second, yourself the Grand -Copt, the luminous ray who had the cowardice to let your wife shield you -in this deed of treason." - -Balsamo slowly raised his pale face, and fixed on the speaker a glance -with the fire in it which had accumulated while the speech was made. - -"Why do you accuse this woman?" he demanded. - -"We know that you will try to defend her; that you love her to idolatry -and prefer her above all. She is your treasure of science, happiness and -fortune; the most precious of your instruments." - -"You know this?" - -"And that in striking her we hurt you more than in striking you. This is -the sentence, then: Joseph Balsamo is a traitor. He has broken his oath, -but his science is immense and useful to the Order. He ought to live for -the cause he has betrayed; he belongs still to his brothers though he -has renounced them. A perpetual prison will protect the society against -future perfidy, and at the same time let the brothers gather the gain -due to them if only as a forfeit. As for Lorenza Feliciani, a dreadful -doom---- " - -"Stay," said Balsamo, with the greatest calm in his voice. "You are -forgetting that I have not defended myself. The accused ought to have a -hearing in his justification. One word will suffice--one piece of -evidence. Wait for me one moment while I bring the proof I speak of." - -The judges consulted an instant. - -"Do you fear that I will commit suicide?" said the accused with a bitter -smile. "I wear a ring that would kill this room-full of people were I to -open it. Do you fear that I will flee? Let me be escorted, if that be -your fear." - -"Go," said the president. - -For only a while did the prisoner disappear; then they heard his step -descending the stairs, heavily. He entered. - -On his shoulder was the cold discolored, rigid corpse of Lorenza, with -her white hand sweeping the floor. - -"As you said, this woman--whom I adored and was my treasure, my only -joy, my very life--she betrayed us," he said: "here she is--take her! -The High Justicer of heaven did not wait for you to come and slay her." - -With a movement as swift as lightning, he slid the corpse out of his -arms, and rolled it to the feet of the judges. The dark hair and inert -hands struck them with all their profound horror while by the lamplight -the wound glared with its ominous red, deeply yawning in the midst of -the swan-white neck. - -"Utter your sentence, now," said Balsamo. - -Aghast, the judges uttered a terror-stricken cry, and fled dizzily in -confusion inexpressible. The horses of their carriage and escort were -heard neighing in the yard and trampling; the carriage-gate groaned on -its hinges and then solemn silence sat once more on the abode of death -and despair. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXII. - -MAN AND GOD. - - -Nothing had meanwhile changed in the other part of the house. But the -old wizard had seen Balsamo enter his study and carry away the remains -of Lorenza, which had recalled him to life. - -Shrieks of "Fire!" from the old man reached Balsamo, when, rid of his -dread visitors, he had carried Lorenza back to the sofa where only two -hours previously she had been reposing before the old sage broke in. - -Suddenly he appeared to Althota' eyes. - -"At last," said the latter, drunk with joy; "I knew you would have fear! -see how I can revenge myself! It was well you came, for I was going to -set fire to the place." - -His pupil looked at him contemptuously without deigning a word. - -"I am thirsty. Give me some water out of that bottle," he said wildly. - -His features were breaking up fast; no steady fire was in his eyes, only -frightful gleams, sinister and infernal; under his skin was no more -blood. His long arms in which he had carried Lorenza as though she were -a child, now dangled like cuttlefish's suckers. In anger had been -consumed the strength momentarily restored him by desperation. - -"You won't give me to drink? You want to kill me with thirst. You covet -my books and manuscripts and lore, my treasures! Ah, you think you will -enjoy them--wait a bit. Wait, wait!" - -Making a supreme effort, he drew from under the cushion on which he was -huddled up a bottle which he uncorked. At the contact of air, a flame -spouted up from the glass and Althotas, like a magic creature, shook -this flame around him. - -Instantly, the writings piled up around the old man, the scattered -books, the rolls of papyrus extracted with so many hardships from the -pyramids of Egypt and the libraries of Herculaneum, caught fire with the -quickness of gunpowder. The marble flour was turned into a sheet of -fire, and seemed to Balsamo one of those fiery rings described by Dante. - -No doubt the old man thought that his disciple would rush among the -flames to save him, but he was wrong. He merely drew himself away calmly -out of the scope of the fire. - -It enveloped the incendiary himself; but instead of frightening him it -seemed as if he were in his element. The flame caressed him as if he -were a salamander, instead of scorching him. - -Though as he sat, it devoured the lower part of his frame, he did not -seem to feel it. - -On the contrary, the contact appeared salutary, for the dying one's -muscles relaxed, and a new serenity covered his features like a mask. -Isolated at this ultimate hour, the spirit forgot the matter, and the -old prophet, on his fiery car, seemed about to ascend to heaven. - -Calm and resigned, analysing his sensations, listening to his own pangs -as the last voices of earth, the old Magus let his farewell sullenly -escape to life, hope and power. - -"I die with no regret," he said; "I have enjoyed all earthly boons; I -have known everything; I have held all given to the creature to -possess--and I am going into immortality." - -Balsamo sent forth a gloomy laugh which attracted the old man's -attention. - -Althotas darted on him a look through the veiling flames, which was -impressed with ferocious majesty. - -"Yea, you are right: I had not foreseen one Thing--God!" - -As if this mighty word had snatched the soul out of him, he dwindled up -in the chair: his last breath had gone up to the Giver whom he had -thought to deprive of it. - -Balsamo heaved a sigh, and without trying to save a thing from the pyre -of this modern Zoroaster dying, he went down to Lorenza, having set the -trap so that it closed in all the fire as in an immense kiln. - -All through the night the volcano blazed over Balsamo with the roaring -of a whirlwind, but he neither sought to extinguish it or to flee. After -having burnt up all that was combustible, and left the study bare to the -sky, the fire went out, and Balsamo heard its last roar die away like -Althota' in a sigh. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIII. - -THE FAINTING FITS. - - -Andrea was in her room, giving a final touch to her rebellious curls -when she heard the step of her father, who appeared as she crossed the -sill of the antechamber with a book under her arm. - -"Good morning, Andrea," said the baron; "going out, I see." - -"I am going to the Dauphiness who expects me." - -"Alone?" - -"Since Nicole ran away, I have no attendant." - -"But you cannot dress yourself alone; no lady ever does it: I advised -you quite another course." - -"Excuse me, but the Dauphiness awaits---- " - -"My child, you will get yourself ridiculed if you go on like this and -ridicule is fatal at court." - -"I will attend to it, father: but at present the Dauphiness will -overlook the want of an elaborate attire for the haste I show to join -her." - -"Be back soon for I have something serious to say. But you are never -going out without a touch of red on the cheeks. They look quite hollow -and your eyes are circled with large rings. You will frighten people -thus." - -"I have no time to do anything more, father." - -"This is odious, upon my word," said Taverney, shrugging his shoulders: -"there is only one woman in the world who does not think anything of -herself and I am cursed with her for my daughter. What atrociously bad -luck! Andrea!" - -But she was already at the foot of the stairs. She turned. - -"At least, say you are not well," he suggested. "That will make you -interesting at all events." - -"There will be no telling lies there, father, for I feel really very ill -at present." - -"That is the last straw," grumbled the baron. "A sick girl on my hands, -with the favor of the King lost and Richelieu cutting me dead! Plague -take the nun!" he mumbled. - -He entered his daughter's room to ferret about for some confirmation of -his suspicions. - -During this time Andrea had been fighting with an unknown indisposition -as she made her way through the shrubbery to the Little Trianon. -Standing on the threshold, Lady Noailles made her understand that she -was late and that she was looking out for her. - -The titular reader to the Dauphiness, an abbe, was reciting the news, -above all desonating on the rumor that a riot had been caused by the -scarcity of corn and that five of the ringleaders had been arrested and -sent to jail. - -Andrea entered. The Dauphiness was in one of her wayward periods and -this time preferred the gossip to the book; she regarded Andrea as a -spoilsport. So she remarked that she ought not to have missed her time -and that things good in themselves were not always good out of season. - -Abashed by the reproach and particularly its injustice, the vice-reader -replied nothing, though she might have said her father detained her and -that her not feeling well had retarded her walk. Oppressed and dazed, -she hung her head, and closing her eyes as if about to die, she would -have fallen only for the Duchess of Noailles catching her. - -"Oh, dear, she is white as her handkerchief," said the Archduchess; "it -is my fault for scolding her. Poor girl, take a seat! Do you think you -could go on with your reading?" - -"Certainly; I hope so, at least." - -But hardly had she cast her eyes on the page before black specks began -to swarm and float before her sight and they made the print -indecipherable. - -She turned pale anew; cold perspiration beaded her brow; and the dark -ring round her eyes with which Taverney had blamed his daughter enlarged -so that the princesses exclaimed, as Andrea's faltering made her raise -her head. - -"Again? look, duchess, the poor child must be ill, for she is losing her -senses." - -"The young lady must get home as soon as possible," said the Mistress of -the Household drily. "Thus commences the small pox." - -The priest rose and stole away on tiptoe, not wanting to risk his -beauty. - -"Yes," said the Dauphiness, in whose arms the girl came to, "you had -better retire, but do not go indoors at once. A stroll in the garden may -do you good. Oh, send me back my abbe, who is yonder among the tulips." - -Andrea was glad to be out doors, but she felt little improved. To reach -the priest she had to make a circuit. She walked with lowered head, -heavy with the weight of the strange dulness with which she had suffered -since rising. She paid no attention to the birds hunting each other -among the blooming hedges or to the bees humming amid the thyme and -lilacs. She did not remark, only a few paces off, Dr. Jussieu giving a -lesson in gardening to Gilbert. Since the pupil perceived the -promenader, he made but a poor auditor. - -"Oh, heavens!" interrupted he, suddenly extending his arms. - -"What is the matter?" asked the lecturer. - -"She has fainted!" - -"Who? are you mad?" - -"A lady," answered Gilbert, quickly. - -His pallor and his alarm would have betrayed him as badly as his cry of -"She" but Jussieu had looked off in the other direction. - -He saw Andrea fallen on a garden seat, ready to give up the last -sensible breath. - -It was the time when the King had the habit of paying the Dauphin a -visit and came through this way. He suddenly appeared, holding a -hothouse peach, with a true selfish king's wonder, thinking whether it -would not be better for the welfare of France that he should enjoy it -rather than the princess. - -"What is the matter?" he cried as he saw the two men racing towards the -swooning girl whom he vaguely distinguished but did not recognize, -thanks to his weak sight. - -"The King!" exclaimed Jussieu, holding Andrea in his arms. - -"The King!" murmured she, swooning away in earnest this time. - -Approaching, the King knew her at last and exclaimed with a shudder: - -"Again? this is an unheard-of thing! when people have such maladies, -they ought to shut themselves up! it is not proper to go dying all over -the house and grounds at all hours of the day and night." - -And on he went, grumbling all sorts of disagreeable things against poor -Andrea. Jussieu did not understand the allusion, but seeing Gilbert in -fear and anxiety, he said: - -"Come along, Gilbert; you are stronger; carry Mdlle. de Taverney to her -lodgings." - -"I?" protested Gilbert, quivering; "She would never forgive me for -touching her. No, never!" - -And off he ran, calling for help. - -When the gardeners and some servants came up, they transported the girl -to her rooms where they left her in the hands of her father. - -But from another point arrived the Dauphiness, who had heard of the -disaster from the King, and who not only came but brought her physician. - -Dr. Louis was a young man, but he was intelligent. - -"Your highness," he reported to his patroness, "the young lady's malady -is quite natural and not usually dangerous." - -"And do you not prescribe anything?" - -"There is absolutely nothing to be done." - -"Very well; she is luckier than I, for I shall die unless you send me -the sleeping pills you promised." - -"I will prepare them myself when I get home." - -When he was gone the princess remained by her reader. - -"Cheer up, my dear Andrea," she said with a kindly smile. "There is -nothing serious in your case for the doctor will not prescribe anything -whatever." - -"I am glad to hear it, but he is a little wrong, for I do not feel at -all well, I declare to you." - -"Still the ail cannot be severe at which a doctor laughs. Have a good -sleep, my child; I will send somebody to attend you for I notice that -you are quite alone. Will you accompany me, my Lord of Taverney?" - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIV. - -THE AVENGER. - - -For a month Gilbert wandered round the sick girl's lodgings, inventing -work in the gardens in their neighborhood so that he could keep his eye -constantly on the windows. - -In this time he had grown paler; on his face youth was no more to be -viewed than in the strange fire in his eyes and the dead-white and even -complexion; his mouth curled by dissimulation, his sidelong glance, and -the sensitive quivering of his muscles belonged already to later years. - -Looking up, billhook in hand as a horseman struck sparks from the ride -by the walk, he recognized Philip Taverney. - -He moved towards the hedgerow. But the cavalier urged his horse towards -him, calling out: - -"Hey, Gilbert!" - -The young man's first impulse was for flight, for panic seized him and -he felt like racing over the garden and the ponds themselves. - -"Do you not know me, Gilbert?" shouted the captain in a gentle tone -which was understood by the incorrigible youth. - -Comprehending his folly, Gilbert stopped. He retraced his steps but -slowly and with distrust. - -"Not at first, my lord," he said trembling: "I took you for one of the -guards, and as I was idling, I feared to be brought to task and booked -for punishment." - -Content with this explanation, Philip dismounted, put the bridle round -his arm and leaning the other hand on Gilbert's shoulder which visibly -made him shudder, he went on: - -"What is the matter, boy? Oh, I can guess; my father has been treating -you with harshness and injustice. But I have always liked you." - -"So you have." - -"Then forget the evil others do you. My sister has also been always good -to you." - -"Hardly," replied Gilbert: with an expression no one could have -understood for it embodied an accusation to Andrea, and an excuse for -himself, bursting like pride while groaning like remorse. - -"I understood," said Philip: "she is a little high-handed at times, but -she is good-hearted. Do you know where our good Andrea is at the -present?" - -"In her rooms, I suppose, sir," gasped Gilbert, struck to the heart. -"How am I to know---- " - -"Alone, as usual, and pining?" - -"In all probability, alone, since Nicole has run away." - -"Nicole run away?" - -"With her sweetheart--at least it is presumed so," said Gilbert, seeing -that he had gone too far. - -"I do not understand you, Gilbert. One has to wrench every word out of -you. Try to be a little more amiable. You have sense, and learning, so -do not mar your acquirements with an affected roughness unbecoming to -your station in life, and not likely to lift you to a higher." - -"But I do not know anything about what you ask of me; I am a gardener -and am ignorant of what goes on in the palace." - -"But, Gilbert, I believed you had eyes and owed some return in -watchfulness to the house of Taverney, however slight may have been its -hospitality." - -"Master Philip," returned the other in a high hoarse voice, for Philip's -kindness and another unspoken feeling had mollified him: "I do like you; -and that is why I tell you that your sister is very ill." - -"Very ill?" ejaculated the gentleman: "why did you not tell me so at the -start?" "What is it?" he asked, walking so quickly. - -"Nobody knows. She fainted three times in the grounds yesterday and the -Dauphiness's doctor has been to see her, as well as my lord the baron." - -Philip was not listening any farther for his presentiments were realized -and his fortitude came to him in face of danger. He left his horse in -Gilbert's charge, and ran to the chapel. - -Gilbert put the horse up in the stable and ran into the woods like one -of those wild or obscene birds which cannot bear the eye of man. - -On entering the ante-chamber Philip missed the flowers of which his -sister used to be fond but which irritated her since her indisposition. - -As he entered she was musing on a little sofa before mentioned. Her -lovely brow surcharged with clouds drooped lowly, and her fine eyes -vacillated in their orbits. Her hands were hanging and though the -position ought to have filled them with blood they were white as a waxen -statue's. - -Philip caught the strange expression and, alarmed as he was, he thought -that his sister's ailment had mental affliction in it. - -The sight caused so much trembling in his heart that he could not -restrain a start in flight. - -Andrea lifted her eyes and rose like a galvanised corpse, with a loud -scream; breathlessly she clung to her brother's neck. - -"Yes, Philip, you!" she panted, and force quitted her before she could -speak more. - -"Yes, I who return to find you ill," he said, embracing and sustaining -her for he felt her yield. "Poor sister, what has happened you?" - -Andrea laughed with a nervous tone which hurt him instead of encouraging -as she intended. - -"Nothing: the doctor whom the Dauphiness kindly sent me, says it is -nothing he can remedy. I am quite well save for some fainting fits which -came over me." - -"But you are so pale?" - -"Did I ever have much color?" - -"No, but you were alive at that time, while now---- " - -"It is nothing: the pleasant shock of seeing you again---- " - -"Dear Andrea!" - -But as he pressed her to his heart, her strength fled once more and she -fell on the sofa, whiter than the muslin curtains on which her face was -outlined. - -She gradually recovered and looked handsomer than ever. - -"Your emotion at my return is very sweet and flattering, but I should -like to know about your illness--to what you attribute it?" - -"I do not know, dear: the spring, the coming of the flowers: you know I -have always been nervous. Yesterday the perfume of the Persian lilacs -nearly suffocated me--I believe it was then I was taken bad. Strange to -say, I who used to be so fond of the flowers hold them in execration -now. For over two weeks not so much as a daffodil has entered my rooms. -But let us leave them. It is the headache I have, which caused a swoon -and made Mdlle. de Taverney a happy girl, because it has drawn the -notice of the Dauphiness upon her. She has come here to see me. Oh, -Philip, what a delicate friend and charming patroness she is! But since -her doctor says there is nothing to be alarmed at, tell me why you have -been alarmed?" - -"It was that little numbskull Gilbert, of course!" - -"Gilbert," repeated the lady testily. "Did you believe that little idiot -who is only able in doing or saying ill? But how is it I see you without -any notice?" - -"Answer me why you ceased to write?" - -"Only for a few days." - -"For a full fortnight, you negligent girl! Ah, I was utterly forgotten -there even by my sister. They were in a dreadful hurry to pack me off, -yet when I got there I never heard a word about the fabulous regiment of -which I was to take command as promised by the King per the Duke of -Richelieu to our father himself." - -"Oh, do not be astonished at that," said the girl, "the duke and father -are quite upset about it. They are like two bodies with one soul; but -father sometimes cries out against him, saying he is betrayed. Who -betrays him? I do not know and between us I little want to know. Father -lives like a soul in purgatory, fretting about something which never -comes." - -"But the King, he is not well disposed to us?" - -"Speak low. The King," replied Andrea, looking timidly round. "I am -afraid the King is very fickle. The interest which he professed for our -house, for each of us, cooled off, without my being able to understand -it. He does not look at me and yesterday he turned back on me--which was -when I fainted in the garden." - -"Then little Gilbert was right." - -"To tell everybody that I fainted? what does it matter to the miserable -little rogue? I know, my dear Philip," added Andrea laughing, "that it -is not the proper thing to faint in a royal residence but it is not one -of those things that one does for the fun of it." - -"Poor dear, I can well believe that it is not your fault: but go on." - -"That is all; and Master Gilbert might have withheld his remarks about -it." - -"There you are abusing the poor boy again." - -"And you taking his defense." - -"For mercy's sake, do not be so rude to him, so hard, for I have heard -how you treat him. But, goodness, what is the matter now?" - -This time she fainted so that it took a long time for her senses to -return. - -"Undoubtedly you suffer," said Philip, "so as to alarm persons more bold -than I am when you are concerned. Say what you like, this is a case that -wants attending to. I will see your doctor myself," he concluded -tranquilly. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXV. - -THE MISUNDERSTANDING. - - -The day was closing and Dr. Louis, who was trying to read a medical -tract as he came along in the twilight to the chapel, was vexed at the -interposition of an opaque body to intercept the scanty light. - -Raising his head and seeing a man before him, he asked: - -"What do you want?" - -"Excuse me but is not this Dr. Louis?" asked Philip de Taverney. - -"Yes, sir," replied the doctor shutting his book. - -"I should like a word with you---- " - -"Pardon me, but I am in attendance on her Royal Highness the Dauphiness -and---- " - -"But the lady I wish to ask you about is in her household---- " - -"Do you mean Mdlle. de Taverney?" - -"Precisely." - -"Aha," said the doctor quickly, examining the young captain. - -"I am afraid she is very bad, for she went off into a swoon more than -once while I was speaking to her this afternoon." - -"Oh, you seem to take this to heart?" - -"I love Mdlle. de Taverney more than my life." - -He spoke the words with such exalted brotherly affection that the doctor -was deceived. - -"Oh, so it is you who is the lover?" he exclaimed. - -Philip fell two steps back, carrying his hand to his brow and becoming -pale as death. - -"Mind, sir, you insult my sister!" - -"Oh, your sister? excuse me, captain, but your air of mystery, the hour -of your addressing me and the place, all led me into error which I -deplore." - -"Stay, sir; you think that Mdlle. de Taverney has a lover---- " - -"Captain Taverney, I have not said a word of the sort to the Dauphiness, -to your father, or to you--press me no more." - -"On the contrary, we must speak of this. And yet it is impossible. I -should have to give up all the religion of my life: it is accusing an -angel--it is defying heaven! Doctor, let me require you to approve this. -Science may err." - -"Seldom." - -"But, doctor, promise me that you will come and see her when you return -from the Dauphiness? it is the boon the victim would not be refused by -the executioner. You will see her again?" - -"It is useless; but I should like to be mistaken. Captain, I will come -and see your sister to-night." - -Dr. Louis was one of those grave and honorable men for whom science is a -holy thing and who study religiously. In a materialistic age he studied -mental maladies: under the husk of the practitioner he had a heart and -that was why he told Philip that he hoped he had erred. - -That was why, too, he came to make a more full examination and was true -to his appointment. - -Whether by accident or from emotion due to the doctor's call, Andrea was -seized with one of those fainting fits which had so alarmed her brother, -and she was staggering, with her handkerchief carried to her mouth in -pain. - -The doctor assisted her to the sofa and sat down on it beside her. She -was astonished at the second visit of one who had declared the case -insignificant that same morning and still more that he should take her -hand, not like a doctor to feel her pulse, but like a friend. She was -almost going to snatch it away. - -"Do you desire to see me, or is it merely the desire of your brother?" -he asked. - -"My brother did announce his intention of seeing you; but after your -having said the matter was of no moment I should not have disturbed you -myself." - -"Your brother seems to be excitable, jealous of his honor, and -intractable on some points. I suppose this is why you have not unbosomed -yourself to him?" - -Andrea looked at him with supreme haughtiness. - -"Allow me to finish. It is natural that seeing the pain of the young -gentleman and foreseeing his anger, you should obstinately keep secret -before him: but towards me, the physician of the soul as well as of the -body, one who sees and knows, you will be spared half the painful road -of revelation and I have the right to expect you will be more frank." - -"Doctor," replied Andrea, "if I did not see my brother darkened with -true grief and yourself with a reputation of gravity I might believe you -were in a plot to play some comedy with me and to frighten me into -taking some disagreeable medicine." - -"I entreat you, young lady," said the doctor frowning, "to stop in this -course of dissimulation." - -"Dissimulation?" - -"Would you rather I said hypocrisy?" - -"Sir, you offend me." - -"You mean that I read you clearly. Will you spare me the pain of making -you blush?" - -"I do not understand you," said the girl, three times, looking at the -doctor with eyes shining with interrogation and defiance, and almost -with menace. - -"But I understand you. You doubt science, and you hope to hide your -condition from the world. But, undeceive yourself--with one word I pull -down your pride: you are _enceinte_!" - -Andrea uttered a frightful shriek and fell back on the sofa. - -This cry was followed by the crash of the door flying open and Philip -bounded into the room, drawing his sword and crying: - -"You lie!" - -Without letting go the pulse of the fainted woman, the doctor turned -round to the captain. - -"I have said what it was my duty to say," he replied: "and it is not -your sword, in or out of the sheath, which will belie me. I deeply -sorrow for you, young gentleman, for you have inspired as much sympathy -as this girl has aversion by her perseverance in falsehood." - -Andrea made not a movement but Philip started. - -"I am father of a family," went on the doctor, "and I understand what -you must suffer. I promise you my services as I do my discretion. My -word is sacred, and everybody will tell you that I hold it dearer than -my life." - -"This is impossible!" - -"It is true. Adieu, Captain." - -When he was gone, Philip shut all the doors and windows, and coming back -to his sister who watched with stupor these ominous preparations, he -said, folding his arms: - -"You have cowardly and stupidly deceived me. Cowardly, because I loved -you above all else, and esteemed you, and my trust ought to have induced -your own though you had no affection. Stupidly, because a third person -holds the infamous secret which defames us; because spite of your -cunning, it must have appeared to all eyes; lastly, because if you had -confessed the state to me, I might have saved you from my affection for -you. Your honor, so long as you were not wedded, belongs to all of -us--that is, you have shamed us all. - -"Now, I am no longer your brother since you have blotted out the title: -only a man interested in extorting from you by all possible means the -whole secret in order that I may obtain some reparation. I come to you -full of anger and resolution, and I say that you shall be punished as -cowards deserve for having been such a coward as to shelter yourself -behind a lie. Confess your crime, or---- " - -"Threats, to me?" cried the proud Andrea, "to a woman?" And she rose -pale and menacing likewise. - -"Not to a woman but to a faithless, dishonored creature." - -"Threats," continued Andrea, more and more exasperated, "to one who -knows nothing, can understand nothing of this except that you are looked -upon by me as sanguinary madmen leagued to kill me with grief if not -with shame." - -"Aye, you shall be killed if you do not confess," said Philip. "Die on -the instant, for heaven hath doomed you and I strike at its bidding." - -The convulsively young man convulsively picked up his sword, and applied -the point like lightning to his sister's breast. - -"Yes, kill me!" she screamed, without shrinking at the smart of the -wound. - -She was even springing forward, full of sorrow and dementia, and her -leap was so quick that the sword would have run through her bosom but -for the sudden terror of Philip and the sight of a few drops of red on -her muslin at the neck making him draw back. - -At the end of his strength and his anger, he dropped the blade and fell -on his knees at her feet. He wound his arms round her. - -"No, Andrea," he cried, "it is I who shall die. You love me no more and -I care for nothing in the world. Oh, you love another to such a degree -that you prefer death to a confession poured out on my bosom. Oh, -Andrea, it is time that I was dead." - -She seized him as he would have dashed away, and wildly embraced him and -covered him with tears and kisses. - -"No, Philip, you are right. I ought to die since I am called guilty. But -you are so good, pure and noble, that nobody will ever defame you and -you should live to sorrow for me, not curse me." - -"Well, sister," replied the young man, "in heaven's name, for the sake -of our old time's love, fear nothing for yourself or him you love. I -require no more of you, not even his name. Enough that the man pleased -you, and so he is dear to me. - -"Let us quit France. I hear that the King gave you some jewels--let us -sell them and get away together. We will send half to our father and -hide with the other. I will be all to you and you all to me. I love no -one, so that I can be devoted to you. Andrea, you see what I do for you; -you see you may rely on my love. Come, do you still refuse me your -trust? will you not call me your brother?" - -In silence, Andrea had listened to all the desperate young man had said: -only the throbbing of her heart indicated life; only her looks showed -reason. - -"Philip," she said after a long pause, "you have thought that I loved -you no longer, poor brother! and loved another man? now I forgive you -all but the belief that I am impious enough to take a false oath. Well, -I swear by high heaven which hears me, by our mother's soul--it seems -that she has not long enough defended me, alas! that a thought of love -has never distracted my reason. Now, God hath my soul in His holy -keeping, and my body is at your disposal." - -"Then there is witchcraft here," cried Philip; "I have heard of philters -and potions. Someone has laid a hellish snare for you. Awake, none could -have won this prize--sleeping, they have despoiled you. But we are -together now and you are strong with me. You confide your honor in me -and I shall revenge you." - -"Yes, revenge, for it would be for a crime!" said the girl, with a -sombre glow in her eyes. - -"Well let us search out the criminal together," continued the Knight of -Redcastle. "Have you noticed any one spying you and following you -about--have you had letters--has a man said he loved you or led you to -suppose so--for women have a remarkable instinct in such matters?" - -"No one, nothing." - -"Have you never walked out alone?" - -"I always had Nicole with me." - -"Nicole? a girl of dubious morals. Have I known all about her escapade?" - -"Only that she is supposed to have run away with her sweetheart." - -"How did you part?" - -"Naturally enough; she attended to her duties up to nine o'clock when -she arranged my things, set out my drink for the night and went away." - -"Your drink? may she not have mixed something with it?" - -"No; for I remember that I felt that strange thrill as I was putting the -glass to my lips." - -"What strange thrill?" - -"The same I felt down at our place when that foreign lord Baron Balsamo -came to our home. Something like vertigo, a dazing, a loss of all the -faculties. I was at my piano when I felt all spin and swim around me. -Looking before me I saw the baron reflected in a mirror. I remember no -more except that I found myself waking in the same spot without ability -to reckon how long I had been unconscious." - -"Is this the only time you experienced this feeling?" - -"Again on the night of the accident with the fireworks. I was dragged -along with the crowd when suddenly, on the point of being mangled, a -cloud came over my eyes and my rigid arms were extended: through the -cloud I just had time to catch a glimpse of that man. I fell off into a -sleep or swoon then. You know that Baron Balsamo carried me away and -brought me home." - -"Yes; and did you see him again on the night when Nicole fled?" - -"No; but I felt all the symptoms which betoken his presence. I went into -sleep; when I woke, I was not on the bed but on the floor, alone, cold -as in death. I called for Nicole but she had disappeared." - -"Twice then you saw this Baron Joseph Balsamo in connection with this -strange sleep: and the third time---- " - -"I divined that he was near," said Andrea, who began to understand his -inference. - -"It is well," said Philip. "Now you may rest tranquil and abate not your -pride, Andrea: I know the secret. Thank you, dear sister, we are saved!" - -He took her in his arms, pressed her affectionately to his heart, and, -borne away by the fire of his determination, dashed out of the rooms -without awaiting or listening for anything. - -He ran to the stables, saddled and bridled his steed with his own hands, -and rode off at the top of speed to Paris. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVI. - -TWO SORROWS. - - -Philip was ignorant of Balsamo's address but he remembered that of the -lady who he said had harbored Andrea. The Marchioness of Savigny's maid -supplied him with the directions, and it was not without profound -emotion that he stood before the house in St. Claude Street, where he -conjectured Andrea's repose and honor were entombed. - -He knocked at the door with a sure enough hand, and, as was the habit, -the door was opened. - -Leading his horse, he entered the yard. But he had not taken four steps -before he was faced by Fritz. - -"I wish to speak to the master of the house, Count Fenix," said Philip, -vexed at this simple obstacle and frowning as though the German were not -fulfilling his duty. - -He fastened his horse to a hitching-ring in the wall and proceeded up to -the house. - -"My lord is not at home," answered Fritz. - -"I am a soldier and so understand the value of orders," said the -captain: "your master cannot have foreseen my call which is -exceptional." - -"The prohibition is for everybody," replied Fritz, blunderingly. - -"Oh, then, your master is in!" - -"Well, suppose he is?" challenged Fritz, who was beginning to lose -patience. - -"Then I shall wait till I see him." - -"My lord is not at home," repeated the valet: "we have had a fire here -and the place is not fit to live in." - -"But you are living here!" - -"I am the care-taker. And any way," he continued, getting warm, "whether -the count is or is not in, people do not force their way in; if you try -to break the rule, why--I will put you out," he added tranquilly. - -"You?" sneered the dragoon of the Dauphiness's Regiment, with kindling -eye. - -"I am the man," rejoined Fritz, with his national peculiarity of being -the more cool while the more roused up. - -The gentleman had his sword out in a minute. But Fritz, without any -emotion at the sight of the steel, or calling--perhaps he was alone in -the house--plucked a short pike off a trophy of arms and attacking -Philip like a single-stick player rather than a fencer, shivered the -court sword. - -The captain yelled with rage, and sprang to the panoply to get a weapon -for himself. But at this, a secret door opened, and the count appeared -enframed in the dark doorway. - -"What is this noise, Fritz?" he asked. - -"Nothing, my lord," replied the German, but placing himself with the -pike on guard so as to defend his master, who, standing on the stairs, -was half above him. - -"Count Fenix," said Philip, "is it the habit in your country for -visitors to be received by the pikepoints of your varlets or only a -peculiar custom of your noble house?" - -At a sign Fritz lowered his weapon and stood it up in a corner. - -"Who are you?" queried the count, seeing badly by the corridor -lamplight. - -"I am Philip of Taverney," replied the officer, thinking the name would -be ample for the count's conscience. - -"Taverney? my lord, I was handsomely entertained by your father--be -welcome here," said the count. - -"This is better," uttered Philip. - -"Be good enough to follow me." - -Balsamo closed the secret door and walked before his guest to the parlor -where he had outfaced the five masters of the Invisibles. It was lighted -up as though visitors were expected, but that was only one of the habits -of this luxurious establishment. - -"Good evening, Captain Taverney," said Fenix in a voice so mild and low -that it made him look at him. - -He started back. He was but the shadow of himself: a smile of mortal -sorrow flitted on the pallid lips. - -"I must offer excuses for my servant," he said; "he was only obeying -orders and you must own that you were wrong to overbear them." - -"My lord, you must know that there are cases when circumstances -overrule," returned Philip, "and this is one of them. To speak to you, I -was bound to brave death." - -"Speak quickly," said Balsamo, "for I warn you that I listen out of -kindness and that I am soon tired." - -"I shall speak as I ought to do, and at what length I see fit, and -whether you please or not, I shall commence with a question." - -At this, a flash of lightning was disengaged from Balsamo's terrible -frowning brows. - -"Sir," said he, with a tone which he forced to be calm while haughty, -"since I have had the honor to see you, I have met misfortune; my house -has been partly burnt, and many valuable objects destroyed, very -valuable, understand; the result is that I am grieved and a little -estranged by this grief. I beg you to be clear, therefore, or I must -immediately take leave of you." - -"Oh, no," replied Philip, "you are not going to leave as easily as you -say. You may have had misfortunes, but one has befallen me, far greater -than any of yours, I am sure." - -Balsamo smiled hopelessly as before. - -"The honor of my family is lost my lord, and you can restore it." - -"Indeed? you must be mad," and he put out his hand to ring a bell, and -yet with so dull and feelingless a gesture that Philip did not stay it. - -"I am mad," said he in a broken voice. "But do you not understand that -the question is of my sister, whom you held senseless in your arms on -the 31st of May, last, and whom you took to a house no doubt of ill -fame--my sister, of whom I demand the honor, sword in hand." - -"What a lot of beating the bush to come to a plain fact. You say I -insulted--Who says I insulted your sister?" - -"She herself, my lord---- " - -"Verily, you give me a very sad idea of yourself and your sister. You -ought to know that it is the vilest of speculations that some women make -with their fame. As you come to me, bursting in at my door, with your -sword flourished like the bully in the Italian comedies who quarrels for -his sister, it proves that she has great need of a husband or you of -money--for you hear that I make gold. You are mistaken on both points, -sir: You will get no money, and your sister will remain unwed." - -"Then I will have all the blood in your veins," roared Philip. - -"No, I want it, to shed it on a more serious occasion. So take yourself -off, or if you do not and make a noise, I shall call Fritz, who at a -sign from me, will snap you in twain like a reed. Begone!" - -As Philip tried to stop him ringing the bell, he opened an ebony box on -a gilt console and took out a pair of pistols which he cocked. - -"Well, I would rather this--kill me," said the young man, "because you -have dishonored me." - -He spoke the words with so much truth, that Balsamo said as he bent mild -eyes upon him: - -"Is it possible that you are acting in earnest? and that Mdlle. de -Taverney alone conceived the idea and urged you forward? I am willing to -admit that I owe you satisfaction. I swear on my honor that my conduct -towards your sister on that memorable night was irreproachable. Do you -believe me? You must read in my eyes that I do not fear a duel? Do not -be deceived by my apparent weakness. It is a fact that I have scant -blood in my face; but my muscles have lost none of their strength. See!" - -With one hand and no apparent effort, he raised off its pedestal a -massive bronze vase. - -"Well, my lord, I grant that for the 31st of May; but you use a -subterfuge: you have seen my sister since." - -Balsamo wavered but he said: - -"True: I have seen her." And his brow clouded with terrible memories. - -"But, granting that I have seen her, what does that prove against me?" - -"You did it to plunge her into that inexplicable sleep which she has -felt three times at your approach and which you took advantage of to -commit a crime." - -"Again, who says this?" - -"My sister!" - -"How could she know, being asleep?" - -"Ah, you confess that she was put to sleep?" - -"More than that, I put her to sleep." - -"In what end--to dishonor her?" - -"In what end, alas!" said the mesmerist, letting his head fall on his -breast. "To have her reveal a secret more precious than life. And during -that night---- " - -"My sister is a mother!" - -"True," exclaimed Balsamo, "I remember I omitted to awaken her. And -some villain profited by her sleep on that dreadful night--dreadful for -all of us." - -"You are mocking at me?" - -"No, I will convince you. Take me to your sister. I have committed an -oversight, but I am pure of crime. I left the girl in a magnetic -slumber. In compensation of this fault, which it is just to pardon me, I -will give up to you the malefactor's name." - -"Tell it, tell it!" - -"I know it not, but your sister does." - -"But she has refused to name him." - -"Refused you, but not me. Will you believe her if she accuses someone?" - -"Yes; for she is an angel of purity." - -Balsamo called his man and ordered the horses to be harnessed to his -carriage. - -"You will tell me the guilty man's name," said Philip. - -"My friend," said the count, "your sword was broken in my house; let me -replace it with another." He took off the wall a magnificent rapier with -a chiselled hilt which he placed in the officer's sheath. - -"And you?" - -"I have no need of a weapon," he continued, "my defense is at Trianon -and my defender will be yourself when your sister shall have spoken." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVII. - -THE GUILTY ONE. - - -Driven by Fritz, the count's excellent team covered the ground swiftly. - -Philip was silent if not patient during the ride, for he felt that he -was not the superior power which could persuade or domineer over this -wonderful man. - -When they had passed the palace gates and were near the chapel, he -stopped. - -"A last word, my lord," he said; "I do not know what question you were -to put to my sister; at least, spare her the incidents of the horrible -scene passing during her unconsciousness. Spare the purity of the soul -since the reverse befell the virginity of the body." - -"Captain," replied Balsamo, "mark this well. I never came into these -gardens farther than the hedges you see yonder fronting the line of -buildings where your sister is lodged. As for the scene which you fear -the effect of on her mind, the effect will be for yourself alone, and on -a sleeping person; for I will at the present send your sister into the -mesmeric sleep." - -He made a halt folding his arms and turning towards the house where -Andrea dwelt, he stood quiet for a space, frowning, with an expression -of will strong on his face. - -"It is done--she is asleep," he said. "You doubt? To prove that I can -command her at a distance, I order her to come and meet you at the foot -of the stairs where took place our last interview." - -"When I see that, I shall believe," said the officer. - -They went and stood in the grove and Balsamo held out his hand towards -the chapel. A sound made them start in the next cluster of trees. - -"Look out, there is a man!" said Balsamo. - -"I see--it is Gilbert, one of the gardeners here, but he used to be a -retainer of ours," said Philip. - -"Have you anything to fear from him?" - -"No, I should think not: but never mind, stay. If he is up already to -work, others may be about." - -During this time, Gilbert fled frightened, for seeing Philip with -Balsamo, he instinctively comprehended that he was lost. - -"My lord," said Philip, yielding to the charm the magnetiser exercised -on everybody, "if really your power is great enough to bring my sister -hither, manifest it by some sign, without having her out to a place so -public as this where any passer may see and hear." - -"You spoke in time," was the other's answer, grasping his arm and -pointing to Andrea's white figure, appearing at the corridor window as -she was obeying the supernatural mandate. - -He held his palm open towards her and she stopped short. - -Then, like a statue revolved on the pedestal, she wheeled round, and -returned into her room. - -Some instants afterwards the two gentlemen were in the same place. - -But rapid as had been their movement, time was given for a third person -to glide into the house and hide in Nicole's room, for he understood -that his life depended on this interview. - -It was Gilbert. - -Philip had taken his sister in his arms and placed her in a chair while -the count shut the door. Then he took up a candle and passed it to and -fro before her eyes, without the flame causing her lids to blink. - -"Are you convinced that she sleeps?" - -"That is plain but, good God! how strange is this sleep," said Philip. - -"I will question her; or since you fear I may put some inapt question to -her, do so yourself." - -"But though I have spoken to her and touched her just now, she did not -appear to hear me or heed me." - -"You were not in continuity with her: I will place you in contact." - -He joined the hands of brother and sister, and at once Andrea smiled and -murmured: - -"It is you, brother." - -"She knows you and will answer: question." - -"But if she did not remember awake, how can she when sleeping?" - -"A mystery of science." - -Sighing, he sat in an armchair in the corner. - -Philip was motionless, thinking how to begin, when as if responding to -his reflections, Andrea, with her face clouding like his own, said: - -"You are right, brother, it is a sad affliction to the family." - -Philip had not expected that she could translate his very mind and he -shuddered. - -"Make her speak, sir," suggested Balsamo. - -"How?" - -"By willing that she shall do so." - -Philip looked at his sister while mentally formulating an inquiry and -she blushed. - -"Oh, Philip, how unkind of you to believe that Andrea would deceive -you." - -"Then you love nobody?" - -"Not one." - -"But there was an accomplice, the guilty person who must be punished." - -"I do not understand you, brother." - -"You must press her," said Balsamo: "question her bluntly, without heed -of her modesty, for when awakened she will recall nothing of this." - -"But can she answer such questions?" - -"Mark," said Balsamo: "Do you see?" - -She started at the sound of his voice and turned towards him. - -"Not so clearly as if you were speaking," she replied: "but still I do -see." - -"Then tell me what you see on the night of your fainting." - -"Why do you not commence by the night of the 31st of May, sir? Your -suspicions start at that point, methinks? this is the time for all to be -made clear." - -"No, my lord," rejoined Philip: "it is useless: I now believe in your -word of honor. He who disposes of so wondrous a power would not act in -an ignoble way. Sister," repeated he, "relate to me what happened on the -night when you swooned." - -"I do not remember." - -"I suppose as she was asleep---- " - -"Her spirit was awake," said Balsamo, and holding out his hand to the -obstinate medium with a frown indicating a doubling of will and action, -he said: - -"Remember--I will it!" - -"I see myself," said Andrea. "I hold in hand the glass prepared by -Nicole. Oh, goodness! the wretch! she has put some drug in the water and -if I drink, I am lost. I am going to drink it at the moment the count -calls---- " - -"What count?" - -"There," and Andrea pointed to Balsamo. "I set down the glass and I -fall into the sleep. I go forth to meet him under my window in the -linden grove." - -"The count never was in the same room with you, sister?" - -"Never." - -"You see, sir?" said Balsamo. - -"You say you went to meet the count?" - -"Oh, I obey him when he calls." - -"What did he want?" - -Andrea turned towards the third person, questioningly. - -"Tell it, for I am not listening," said Balsamo, burying his face in his -hands to prevent the voice coming to him. - -"He wanted news," said Andrea in a diminishing voice, not to torture the -count's heart, "of a person who fled from his house and who -is--now--dead." - -"Faintly as she breathed the last word, Balsamo heard it, or guessed it -was spoken, for he uttered a gloomy sob. - -"Proceed," said he as a long silence fell: "your brother wants to know -all and he must know it. After the man obtained the information he -sought, what did he do?" - -"He went away, leaving me in the garden, where I fell as he departed as -though the sustaining force had vanished with him. I was still in the -sleep, a leaden one. A man came out of the bushes, took me in his arms -and carried me up into my rooms where he placed me on the sofa. Oh," she -said with scorn and disgust, "it is that little Gilbert again." - -"Gilbert?" - -"He stands to listen--he goes into the other room but returns -frightened. He enters Nicole's closet--Horror!" - -"What?" - -"Another man comes in, and I cannot defend myself--not even scream, for -I am locked in sleep." - -"Who is this man?" - -"Brother," she answered in the deepest distress, "it is the King!" - -Philip shuddered. - -"Just as I thought," muttered Balsamo. - -"He approaches me," continued the medium, "he speaks, he takes me in his -arms, he kisses me. Oh, brother!" - -Tears rolled down the young captain's cheeks while he grasped the sword -handle which Balsamo had given him. - -"Go on," said the count in a more imperative tone than before. - -"What a blessing! he is perplexed, he stops, he looks at me in -terror--he flees--Andrea is saved!" - -"Saved," repeated Philip, who was breathlessly listening to her every -word. - -"Stay! I had forgotten the other, who lurks in the closet, with the -bared knife in his hand--pale as death." - -"Gilbert?" - -"Gilbert follows the King," continued Andrea: "he shuts the door behind -him, he puts his foot on the candle dropped on the carpet; he advances -towards me--Oh!" - -Rising on her brother's arm, her muscles stiffened as though about to -snap. - -"The villain!" she got out at last, and fell without strength. "It was -he!" Then rising so as to reach her brother's ear, she hissed into it -while her eyes glittered: "You will kill him, Philip?" - -"Oh, yes," said the young man. - -As he leaped up he overturned a stand of china and the porcelain was -shivered to pieces. - -The crash was blended with the bang of a door, over which rang Andrea's -shriek. - -"We were overheard," said Philip. - -"It is he," said Andrea. - -"Gilbert everywhere? Yes, I will kill him," and he darted into the -anteroom while Andrea fell on the sofa. - -But Balsamo ran after him and caught him by the arm. - -"Take care, sir," he said: "the secret will become public; it will come -out and the echo in royal residences is noisy." - -"To think it is Gilbert and that he was close to us, listening," said -Philip: "I might have killed the wretch--woe to him!" - -"Yes: but silence: you will find him yet. But you must think of your -sister. You see how fatigued she is with all this emotion." - -"Yes: I understand what she must suffer by my own feelings; the -misfortune is so great and so difficult to repair. I shall die of the -shame." - -"No, you will live for her sake. She has need of you, love her, pity her -and preserve her! But you have no more want of me?" he asked after a -pause. - -"No: overlook my suspicions and my insults: although the evil happened -through you." - -"I do not excuse myself: but remember what your sister said: that she -would have drunk the sleeping draft but for my calling her away. In that -case the guilt would have fallen on the King. Would you have considered -the fate worse?" - -"No, the same crime: I see that we were doomed. Awaken my poor sister, -my lord." - -"Not for her to see me and perhaps guess what occurred. Better to do it -when at a distance, as I sent her to sleep." - -"One word still, count, as you are a man of honor---- " - -"You need not recommend secrecy to me, being what you say: and because -having no farther points of community with mankind, I shall forget it -and its secrets; but rely on me, knight, if I can in any way be useful. -But no, I can be of use to nobody for I am worth nothing on this earth. -Farewell, sir, farewell!" - -Bowing, he glanced at Andrea, whose head dropped forward with all the -tokens of pain and lassitude. - -"O Science," he sighed, "how many victims for a valueless result!" - -As he disappeared, Andrea reanimated: she raised her heavy head as -though it were made of lead and looking with astounded eyes at her -brother, she muttered: - -"Oh, Philip, what has passed?" - -"Nothing," he answered, repressing a sob. - -"Nothing? and yet I dreamed--I thought that Dr. Louis said---- " - -"Nothing: you are pure as the daylight: but all accuses you and looks -black against you. A terrible secret is imposed on us both. I am going -to see Dr. Louis who will tell the Dauphiness that you are home-sick, -and we must get you down to Taverney to save you. Father will not go -with us, and I will prepare him. Courage--heaven is the goal for all. -Make out that you ought never to have left home--that is what made you -ill. Be strong, for our honor--the honor of both of us--depends on -this." - -He embraced his sister, picked up the sword which had fallen, sheathed -it with a trembling hand and darted down the stairs. - - - - -CHAPTER XXXVIII. - -FATHER AND SON. - - -The knight of Redcastle knew he should find his father at their Paris -Lodgings. Since his rupture with Richelieu, he found life insupportable -at Versailles and he tried to conquer torpor by agitation, and by change -of residence. - -With frightful spells of swearing, he was pacing the little garden when -he saw his son appear. In his expectation he snapped at any branch. He -greeted him with a mixture of spite and curiosity; but when he saw his -moody face, paleness, rigid lines of feature, and set of the mouth, it -froze the flow of questions he was about to let go. - -"You? by what hazard?" - -"I am bringing bad news," returned the captain gravely. - -The baron staggered. - -"Are we quite alone?" asked the younger man. - -"Yes." - -"But I think we had better go in, as certain things should not be spoken -under the light of heaven." - -Affecting unconcern and even to smile, the baron followed his son into -the low sitting room where Philip carefully closed the doors. - -"Father, my sister and I are going to take leave of you." - -"What is this?" said the old noble surprised. "How about the army?" - -"I am not in the army: happily, the King does not require my services." - -"I do not understand the 'happily?'" - -"I am not driven to the extremity of preferring dishonor to -fortune--there you have it." - -"But your sister? does she entertain the same ideas about duty?" asked -the baron frowning. - -"She has had to rank them beneath those the utmost necessity." - -The baron rose from his chair, grumbling: - -"What a foolish pack these riddle-makers are!" - -"If what I say is an enigma to you, then I will make it clear. My sister -is obliged to go away lest she be dishonored." - -The baron laughed. - -"Thunder, what model children I have!" he sneered. "The boy gives up his -regiment and the girl a stool-of-state at a princess's feet, all for -fear of dishonor. We are going back to the time of Brutus and Lucretia. -In my era, though we had no philosophy, if any one saw dishonor coming, -he whipped out his sword and ran the dishonor through the middle. I know -it was a sharp method, for a philosopher who does not like to see -bloodshed. But, any way, military officers are not cut out for -philosophers." - -"I have as much consciousness as you on what honor imposes; but blood -will not redeem---- " - -"A truce to your pretty phrases of philosophy," cried the old man; -irritated into trying to be majesty. "I came near saying poltroons." - -"You were quite right not to say it," retorted the young chevalier, -quivering. - -The baron proudly bore the threatening and implacable glance. - -"I thought that a man was born to me in my house," said he: "a man who -would cut out the tongue of the first knave who dared to tell of -dishonor to the Taverney Redcastles." - -"Sometimes the shame comes from an inevitable misfortune, sir, and that -is the case of my sister and myself." - -"I pass to the lady. If according to my reasoning, a man ought to attack -the dagger, the woman should await it with a firm foot. Where would be -the triumph of virtue unless it meets and defeats vice? Now, if my -daughter is so weak as to feel like running away---- " - -"My sister is not weak, but she has fallen victim to a plot of -scoundrels who have cowardly schemed to stain unblemished honor. I -accuse nobody. The crime was conceived in the dark; let it die in the -dark, for I understand in my own way the honor of my house." - -"But how do you know?" asked the baron, his eyes glowing with joy at the -hope of securing a fresh hold on the plunder. "In this case, Philip, the -glory and honor of our house have not vanished; we triumph." - -"Ugh! you are really the very thing I feared," said the captain with -supreme disgust; "you have betrayed yourself--lacking presence of mind -before your judge as righteousness before your son." - -"I have no luck with my children," said the baron; "a fool and a brute." - -"I have yet to say two things to you. The King gave you a collar of -pearls and diamonds---- " - -"To your sister." - -"To you. But words matter not. My sister does not wear such jewels. -Return them or if you like not to offend his Majesty, keep them." - -He handed the casket to his father who opened it, and threw it on the -chiffonier. - -"We are not rich since you have pledged or sold the property of our -mother--for which I am not blaming you, but so we must choose. If you -keep this lodging, we will go to Taverney." - -"Nay, I prefer Taverney," said the baron, fumbling with his lace ruffles -while his lips quivered without Philip appearing to notice the -agitation. - -"Then we take this house." - -"I will get out at once," and the baron thought, "down at Taverney I -will be a little king with three thousand a-year." - -He picked up the case of jewels and walked to the door, saying with an -atrocious smile: - -"Philip, I authorise you to dedicate your first philosophical work to -me. As for Andrea's first work, advise her to call it Louis, or Louise, -as the case may be. It is a lucky name." - -He went forth, chuckling. - -With bloodshot eye, and a brow of fire, Philip clutched his swordhilt, -saying: - -"God grant me patience and oblivion." - - - - -CHAPTER XXXIX. - -GILBERT'S PROJECT. - - -For a week that Gilbert had been in flight from Trianon, he lived in the -woods with no other food than the wild roots, plants and fruit. At the -last gasp, he went into town to Rousseau's house, formerly a sure haven, -not to foist himself on his hospitality, but to have temporary rest and -nourishment. - -It was there that he obtained the address of Baron Balsamo, or rather -Count Fenix, and to his mansion he repaired. - -As he entered, the proprietor was showing out the Prince of Rohan whom a -duty of politeness brought to the generous alchemist. The poor, tattered -boy dared not look up for fear of being dazzled. - -Balsamo watched the cardinal go off in his carriage, with a melancholy -eye and turned back on the porch, when this little beggar supplicated -him. - -"A brief hearing, my lord," he said. "Do you not recall me?" - -"No; but no matter, come in," said the conspirator whose plots made him -acquainted with stranger figures still: and he led him into the first -room where he said, without altering his dull tone but gentle manner: - -"You asked if I recalled you? well, I seem to have seen you before." - -"At Taverney, when the Archduchess came through. I was a dependent on -the family. I have been away three years." - -"Coming to---- " - -"To Paris, where I have studied under M. Rousseau and, later, a gardener -at Trianon by the favor of Dr. Jussieu." - -"You are citing high and mighty names: What do you want of me?" - -Gilbert fixed a glance on Balsamo not deficient in firmness. - -"Do you remember coming to Trianon on the night of the great storm, -Friday, six weeks ago? I saw you there." - -"Oho!" said the other. "Have you come to bargain for silence?" - -"No, my lord, for I am more interested in keeping the secret than you." - -"Then you are Gilbert!" - -With his deep and devouring glance the magnetiser enveloped the young -man whose name comprised such a dreadful accusation. Gilbert stood -before the table without leaning on it: one of his hands fell gracefully -by his side, the other showed its long thin fingers and whiteness spite -of the rustic labor. - -"I see by your countenance what you come for. You know that a dreadful -denunciation is hanging over you from Mdlle. de Taverney, that her -brother seeks your life, and you think I will help you to elude the -outcome of a cowardly act. You ought not to have the imprudence to walk -about in Paris." - -"This little matters. Yes," said the young man, "I love Mdlle. de -Taverney as none other will love her: but she scorned me who was so -respectful to her that, twice having her in my arms, I hardly kissed the -hem of her dress." - -"You made up for this respect and revenged yourself for the scorn by -wronging her, in a trap." - -"I did not set the trap: the occasion to commit the crime was afforded -by you." - -The count started as though a snake had stung him. - -"You sent Mdlle. Andrea to sleep, my lord," pursued Gilbert. "When I -carried her into her room, I thought that such love as mine must give -life to the statue--I loved her and I yielded to my love. Am I as guilty -as they say? tell me, you who are the cause of my misery." - -Balsamo gave him a look of sadness and pity. - -"You are right, boy: I am the cause of your crime and the girl's -misfortune. I should repair my omission. Do you love her?" - -"Before possessing her, I loved with madness: now with fury. I should -die with grief if she repulsed me; with joy if she forgave me." - -"She is nobly born but poor," mused the count: "her brother has a heart -and is not vain about his rank. What would happen if you asked the -brother for the sister's hand?" - -"He would kill me. But as I wish death more than I fear it, I will make -the demand if you advise it." - -"You have brains and heart though your deed was guilt, my complicity -apart. There is a Taverney the father. Tell him that you bring a fortune -to his daughter the day when she marries you and he may assent. But he -would not believe you. Here is the solid inducement." - -He opened a table drawer and counted out thirty Treasury notes for ten -thousand livres each. - -"Is this possible?" cried Gilbert, brightening: "such generosity is too -sublime." - -"You are distrustful. Right; and but discriminate in distrust." - -He took a pen and wrote: - - "I give this marriage portion of a hundred thousand livres in - advance to Gilbert for the day when he signs the marriage contract - with Mdlle. Andrea de Taverney, in the trust the happy match will - be made. - -JOSEPH BALSAMO." - -"If I have to thank you for such a boon, I will worship you like a god," -said the young man, trembling. - -"There is but one God and He reigns above," said the mesmerist. - -"A last favor; give me fifty livres to get a suit fit for me to present -myself to the baron." - -Supplying him with this little sum, Balsamo nodded for him to go, and -with his slow, sad step, went into the house. - -The young man walked to Versailles, for he wanted to build his plans on -the road where he was much annoyed by the hack-drivers who could not -understand why such a dandy as he had turned himself out by the outlay -of the fifty livres, could think of walking. - -All his batteries were prepared when he reached the Trianon but they -were useless. As we know, the Taverneys had departed. All the janitor of -the place knew was that the doctor had ordered the young lady home for -native air. - -Disappointed, he walked back to Paris where he knocked at the door of -the house in Coq-Heron Street, but here again was a blank. No one came -to the door. - -Mad with rage, gnawing his nails to punish the body, he turned the -corner and entered Rousseau's house where he went up to his familiar -garret. He locked the door and hung the handkerchief containing the -banknotes to the key. - -It was a fine evening and as he had often done before, he went and -leaned out of the window. He looked again at the garden house where he -had spied Andrea's movements, and the desire seized him to wander for -the last time in the grounds once hallowed by her presence. - -As he recovered from the smart of the failure to his expectation, his -ideas became sharper and more precise. - -In other times when he had climbed down into the young lady's garden by -a rope, there was danger because the baron lived there and Nicole was -out and about, if only for the meetings with her soldier lover. - -"Let me for the last time trace her footsteps in the sandroof, the -paths," he said: "The adored steps of my bride." - -He spoke the word half aloud, with a strange pleasure. - -He had one merit, he was quick to execute a plan once formed. - -He went down stairs on tiptoe and swung himself out of the back window -whence he could slide down by the espalier into the rear garden. He went -up to the door to listen, when he heard a faint sound which made him -recoil. He believed that he had called up another soul, and he fell on -his knees as the door opened and disclosed Andrea. - -She uttered a cry as he had done, but as she no doubt expected someone -she was not afraid. - -"Who is there?" she called out. - -"Forgive me," said Gilbert, with his face turned to the ground. - -"Gilbert, here?" she said with anger and fear; "in our garden? What have -you come here for?" - -She looked at him with surprise understanding nothing of his groveling -at her feet. - -"Rise and explain how you come here." - -"I will never rise till you forgive me," he said. - -"What have you done to me that I should forgive you? pray, explain. As -the offense cannot be great," she went on with a melancholy smile, "the -pardon will be easy. Did Philip give you the key?" - -"The key?" - -"Of course, for it was agreed that I should admit nobody in his absence -and he must have helped you in, unless you scaled the wall." - -"O, happiness unhoped for, that you should not have left the land! I -thought to find the place deserted and only your memory remaining. -Chance only--but I hardly know what I am saying. It was your father that -I wanted to see---- " - -"Why my father?" - -Gilbert mistook the nature of the question. - -"Because I was too frightened of you to--and yet, I do not know but that -it would be better for us to keep it to ourselves. It is the surest way -to repair my boldness in lifting my eyes to you. But the misfortune is -accomplished--the crime, if you will, for really it was a great crime. -Accuse fate, but not my heart---- " - -"You are mad, and you alarm me." - -"Oh, if you will consent to marriage to sanctify this guilty union." - -"Marriage," said Andrea, receding. - -"For pity, consent to be my wife!" - -"Your wife?" - -"Oh," sobbed Gilbert, "say that you forgive me for that dreadful night, -that my outrage horrifies, but you forgive me for my repentance; say -that my long restrained love justifies my action." - -"Oh, it was you?" shrieked Andrea with savage fury. "Oh, heavens!" - -Gilbert recoiled before this lovely Medusa's head expressing -astonishment and fright. - -"Was this misery reserved for me, oh, God?" said the noble girl, "to -see my name doubly disgraced--by the crime and by the criminal? Answer -me, coward, wretch, was it you?" - -"She was ignorant," faltered Gilbert, astounded. - -"Help, help," screamed Andrea, rushing into the house; "here he is, -Philip!" - -He followed her close. - -"Would you murder me," she hissed, brought to bay. - -"No; it is to do good, not harm that this time I have come. If I -proposed marriage it was to act my part fitly; and I did not even expect -you to bear my name. But there is another for whom see these one hundred -thousand livres which a generous patron gives me for marriage portion." - -He placed the banknotes on the table which served as barrier between -them. "I want nothing but the little air I breathe and the little pit, -my grave, while the child, my child, our child has the money!" - -"Man, you make a grave error," said she, "you have no child. It has but -one parent, the mother--you are not the father of my infant." - -Taking up the notes, she flung them in his face as he retreated. He was -made so furious that Andrea's good angel might tremble for her. But at -the same moment the door was slammed in his flaming face as if by that -violent act she divided the past forever from the present. - - - - -CHAPTER XL. - -DECEMBER THE FIFTEENTH. - - -In the morning after a sleepless night, Gilbert went to Count Fenix's. - -The count was lounging on a sofa as though he, too, had not slept during -the night. - -"Oh, it is our bridegroom," he said, laying aside the book he had opened -but was not reading. - -"No, my lord," replied Gilbert, "I have been sent about my business." - -The count turned round entirely. - -"Who did this?" - -"The lady." - -"That was certain; you ought to have dealt with the father." - -"Fate forbad it." - -"Fate? so we are fatalists?" - -"I have no right to believe in faith." - -"Do not juggle with balls which you do not know," said Balsamo, eyeing -him with curiosity as he frowned. "In grown men it is nonsense, in the -young, rashness. Have pride but don't be a fool. To resume, what have -you done?" - -"Nothing; so I return the money," and he counted out minutely the notes -on the table. - -"He is honest," mused the count, "not avaricious. He has wit; he has -firmness. He is a man." - -"Now I want to account for the two louis I had." - -"Do not overdo it," said the other: "it is handsome to restore a hundred -thousand, but puerile to return fifty." - -"I was not going to return them, but I wanted to show how I spent them, -for I need to borrow twenty thousand." - -"You do not mean any evil to the woman?" - -"No, not to her father or her brother." - -"I know: but one may wound by dogging a person and annoying him." - -"Far from anything of that kind, I want to leave the country." - -"But it would not cost you more than one thousand for that," said -Balsamo, in his keen yet unctuous voice conveying no emotions. - -"My lord, I shall not have a penny in my pocket when I go aboard the -ship: and I want it for reparation of my fault, which you -facilitated---- " - -"You are rather given to harping on the one string," observed the other, -with a curling lip. - -"Because I am right. I wish the money for another than myself." - -"I see. The child?" - -"My child, yes, my lord," said Gilbert, with marked pride. "I am strong, -free and intelligent. I can make my living anywhere." - -"Oh, you will live well enough. Heaven never gives such spirits to an -inadequate frame. But if you have no money for yourself, how will you -get away? The ports are not open and no captain will take a novice for a -seaman. You suppose that I will aid you to disappear?" - -"I know you can, as you have extraordinary powers. A wizard is never so -sure of his power that he does not have more than one trap-door to his -cell." - -"Gilbert," said the wonder-worker, extending his hand towards the young -man, "you have a bold and adventurous spirit; you are a mingling of good -and bad, like a woman; stoical and honest. Stay with me, my house being -a stronghold, and I will make a very great man of you. Besides, I shall -be leaving Paris shortly." - -"In a few months you might do what you like with me," Gilbert replied: -"but dazzling as your offer is to an unfortunate man, I have to refuse -it. But I have a duty as well as vengeance to perform." - -"Here is your twenty thousand livres," said the count. - -"You confer obligations like a monarch," said Gilbert, taking up the -notes. - -"Better, I trust, for I expect no return." - -"I will repay, with as many years of service as the sum is equal to." - -"But you are going away. Whither?" - -"What do you say to America?" - -"I shall be glad to cross the sea at two hour' notice for any land not -France." - -Balsamo had found in his papers a slip of paper on which were three -signatures and the line: "For Boston from Havre, Dec. 15th, the -_Adonis_, P. J., master." - -"Will the middle of December suit you?" - -"Yes," said Gilbert, having reckoned on his fingers. - -Balsamo wrote on a sheet of paper: - - "Receive on the _Adonis_ one passenger. - -"JOS. BALSAMO." - -"But this is dangerous," said Gilbert: "I may be locked up in the -Bastile if this be found on me." - -"Overmuch cleverness makes a man a fool," replied Balsamo. "That is a -vessel of which I am part owner. Go to Havre and ask for the skipper, -Paul Jones." - -"Forgive me, count, and accept all my gratitude." - -"We shall meet again," said Balsamo. - - - - -CHAPTER XLI. - -THE KIDNAPPING. - - -The day of pain and grief had come. It was the 29th of November. - -Dr. Louis was in attendance and Philip was ever on guard. - -She had come to the point, had Andrea, as if to the scaffold. She -believed that she would be a bad mother to the offspring of the lowborn -lover whom she hated more than ever. - -At three o'clock in the morning, the doctor opened the door behind which -the young gentleman was weeping and praying. - -"Your sister has given birth to a son," he said. - -Philip clasped his hands. - -"You must not go near her, for she sleeps. If she did not, I should have -said: 'A son is born and the mother is dead.' Now, you know that we have -engaged a nurse. I told her to be ready as I came along by the -Pointe-de-Jour, but you shall go for her as she must see nobody else. -Profit by the patient's sleep and take my carriage. I have a patient to -attend to on Royale Place where I must finish the night. To-morrow at -eight, I will come." - -"Good-night!" - -The doctor directed the servant what to do for the mother and child -which was placed near her, though Philip, remembering his sister's -aversion thought they ought to be parted. - -The gentlemen gone, the waiting woman dozed in a chair near her -mistress. - -Suddenly the latter was awakened by the cry of the child. - -She opened her eyes and saw the sleeping servant. She admired the peace -of the room and the glow of the fire. The cry struck her as a pain at -first, and then as an annoyance. The child not being near her, she -thought it was a piece of Philip's foresight in executing her rather -cruel will. The thought of the evil we wish to do never affects us like -the sight of it done. Andrea who execrated the ideal babe and even -wished its death, was hurt to hear it wail. - -"It is in pain," she thought. - -"But why should I interest myself in its sufferings--I, the most -unfortunate of living creatures?" - -The babe uttered a sharper and more painful cry. - -Then the mother seemed to know that a new voice spoke within her, and -she felt her heart drawn towards the abandoned little one who lamented. - -What had been foreseen by the doctor came to pass. Nature had -accomplished one of her preparations: physical pain, that powerful bond, -had soldered the heartstrings of the mother to the progeny. - -"This little one must not appeal to heaven for vengeance," thought -Andrea. "To kill them may exempt them from suffering, but they must not -be tortured. If we had any right, heaven would not let them protest so -touchingly." - -She called the servant but that robust peasant slept too soundly for her -weak voice. However, the babe cried no more. - -"I suppose," mused Andrea, "that the nurse has come. Yes I hear steps in -the next room, and the little mite cries not--as if protection was -extended over it, and soothed its unshaped intelligence. So, this then -is a poor mother who sells her place for a few crowns. The child of my -bosom will find this other mother, and when I pass by it will turn from -me as a stranger and call on the hireling as more worthy of its love. It -will be my just reward! No, this shall not be. I have undergone enough -to entitle me to look mine own in the face: I have earned the right to -love it with all my cares and make it respect me for my sorrow and my -sacrifice." - -Slowly the servant was aroused by her renewed cries and went heavily -into the next room for the removed child or to welcome the wetnurse; but -the latter had not arrived and she returned to say that the babe was not -to be seen. - -"Bring it to me, and shut that door." - -Indeed, the wind was pouring in somewhere and making the candle flicker. - -"Mistress," said the servant softly, "Master Philip told me plainly to -keep the child apart from you from fear it would disturb you---- " - -"Bring me my child," said the young mother with an outbreak which nearly -burst her heart. - -Out of her eyes, which had remained dry despite her pangs, gushed tears -on which must have smiled the guardian angels of little children. - -"Mistress," replied the servant, returning. "I tell you that the child -is not there. Somebody must have come in---- " - -"Yes, I heard it; the nurse has come and--where is my brother?" - -"Here he is, mistress; with the nurse." - -Captain Philip returned, followed by a peasant woman in a striped shawl -who wore the smirk customary in the mercenary to her employer. - -"My good brother," said Andrea: "I have to thank you for having so -earnestly pleaded with me to see the baby once more before you took it -away. Well, let me have it. Rest easy, I shall love it." - -"What do you mean?" asked Philip. - -"Please, your honor, the babe is neither here nor there." - -"Hush, let us save the mother," whispered Philip: then aloud: "What a -bother about nothing! do you not know that the doctor took the child -away with him?" - -"The doctor?" repeated Andrea, with the suffering of doubt but also the -joy of hope. - -"Why, yes: you must be all lunatics here. Why, what do you think--that -the young rogue walked off himself?" and he affected a merry laugh which -the nurse and servant caught up. - -"But if the doctor took it away, why am I here?" objected the nurse. - -"Just so, because--why, he took it to your house. Run along back. This -Marguerite sleeps so soundly she did not hear the doctor coming for it -and taking it away." - -Andrea fell back, calm after the terrible shock. - -Philip dismissed the nurse and sent home the servant. Taking a lantern -he examined the next passage door which he found ajar, and on the snow -of the garden he saw footprints of a man which went to the garden door. - -"A man's steps," he cried, "the child has been stolen. Woe, woe!" - -He passed a dreadful night. He knew his father so thoroughly that he -believed he had committed the abduction, thinking the child was of royal -origin. He might well attach great importance to the living proof of the -King's infidelity to Lady Dubarry. The baron would believe that Andrea -would sooner or later enter again into favor, and be the principal means -of his fortune. - -When he saw the doctor he imparted to him this idea, in which he did not -share. He was rather inclined to the opinion that in this deed was the -hand of the true father. - -"However," said the young gentleman, "I mean to leave the country. -Andrea is going into St. Denis Nunnery, and then I shall go and have it -out with my father. I will overcome his resistance by threatening the -intervention of the Dauphiness or a public exposure." - -"And the child recovered, as the mother will be in the convent?" - -"I will put it out to nurse and afterwards send it to college. If it -grows up it shall be my companion." - -But the baron, who was regaining strength after a fit of fever was ready -to swear that he was innocent of abduction, and the captain had to -return baffled. - -The same fate awaited him in another quarter, the least expected. Andrea -avowed her resolution to live for her son and not to be immured in a -convent. - -Philip and the doctor joined in a pious lie. They asserted that the -child was dead, that the cries she heard on the night of its -disappearance were its last. - -They were congratulating themselves on the success of their fiction when -a letter came by the post. It was addressed to: - -"Mdlle. Andrea de Taverney, Paris; Coq-Heron Street, the first -coachhouse door from Plastriere Street." - -"Who can write to her?" wondered Philip. "Nobody but our father knew our -address and it is not his hand." - -Thoughtlessly he gave it to his sister, who took it as coolly. Without -reflecting, or feeling astonishment, she broke open the envelope, but -had scarcely read the few lines before she gave a loud scream, rose like -a mad woman, and fell with her arms stiffening, as heavily as a statue, -into the arms of the servant who ran up. - -Philip picked up the letter and read: - -At Sea., 15th Dec., 17--. - - "Driven by you, I go, and you will never see me again. But I bear - with me my child, who will never call you mother. - -"GILBERT." - -"Oh," said Philip, crushing up the paper in his wrath, "I had almost -pardoned the crime by chance; but this deliberate one must be punished. -By thy insensible, head, Andrea, I swear to kill the villain at sight. -Doctor, see the poor girl into the Convent while I pursue this -scoundrel. Besides, I must have this child. I will be at Havre in -thirty-six hours." - - - - -CHAPTER XLII. - -A STRANGE ENCOUNTER. - - -Philip left his sister in the nunnery and rode straight to the -post-house where he began his journey to the sea. - -At Havre, he found the first ship for America to be the Brig _Adonis_, -to set sail that day for New York and Boston. He sent his effects on -board and followed with the tide. - -Having written a farewell letter to the Dauphiness, Philip had no -concerns with the land. - -It might pass as a prayer to his Creator as well as a letter to his -fellow countrymen. - -"Your Highness (He had written); a hopeless man severed from worldly -ties, goes far from you with the regret of having done so little for his -future Queen. He goes amid the storms of ocean while you remain amid -the whirls and tempests of government. - -"Young and fair, adored, surrounded by respectful friends and idolising -servants, you will no doubt forget one whom your royal hand deigned to -lift from the herd. But I shall never forget it. I go into the New World -to study how I may most efficaciously assist you on your throne. - -"I bequeathe to you my sister, poor blighted flower, who will have no -sunshine but your looks. Deign sometimes to stoop as low as her, and in -the bosom of your joy, and power, and in the concert of unanimous good -wishes, rely, I entreat you, on the blessing of an exile whom you will -hear and perhaps see no more." - -On the voyage Philip read a great deal; he took his meals in his room, -save the dinner with the captain, and spent much of the time on deck, -wrapped in his cloak. - -The other passengers did not like the sea and he saw little of them. - -In the night, sometimes, Philip heard on the planks above him the step -of the captain, a pale, nervous young man, with a quick, restless eye, -with another's, probably the officer of the watch. If it were a -passenger, it was a good reason not to go up as he did not wish to be -intrusive. - -Once, however, as he heard neither voices nor tread, he ventured up. - -The sky was cloudy, the weather warm, and the myriad of phosphorescent -atoms sparkled in the wake. - -It seemed too threatening for most passengers, for none of them were -about. - -At the heel of the bowsprit, however, leaning out over the bow, he dimly -descried a figure--some poor passenger of the second class, or "deck" -sort, an exile who was looking forward for an American port as ardently -as Philip had regretted that of France. - -For a long while he watched him till the chill morning breeze struck -him. He thought of turning in, although the stranger only gazed on the -dawning white. - -"Up early, captain?" he said, seeing that worthy approach. - -"I am always up." - -"Some of your passengers have beaten you this time." - -"You! but military officers are used to being up at all hours." - -"Oh, not me alone," replied Philip. "Look at that deep dreamer; a -passenger also?" - -The Captain looked and was surprised. - -"Who is he?" asked the Frenchman. - -"Oh, a trader," answered Paul Jones, embarrassed. - -"Running after fortune eh? your brig sails too slowly for him." - -Instead of responding, the captain went forward straight to the brooder, -to whom he spoke a few words, whereupon he disappeared down a -companion-way. - -"You disturbed his dreams," said Taverney; "he was not in my way." - -"No, captain, I just told him that it was freshening and the breeze was -killing. The forward-deck passengers are not so warmly clad as you and -I." - -"How are we getting along, captain?" - -"To-morrow we shall be off the Azores, at one of which we shall stop to -take fresh water, for it is pretty warm." - -After twenty days out, they were glad to see any land. - -"Gentleman," said the captain to the passengers, "you have five hours to -have a run ashore. On this little island completely uninhabited, you -will find some frozen springs to amuse the naturalists and good shooting -if you are sportsmen." - -Philip took a gun and ammunition and went ashore in one of the two boats -carrying the merry visitors, delighted to tread the earth. - -But the noise was not to his taste, no more than the pursuit of game so -tame as to run against his legs, and he stopped to lounge in a cool -grotto which was not the natural icehouse indicated. - -He was still in reverie when he saw a shadow at the mouth of the cave. -It was one of his fellow passengers. Though he had not been intimate -with them, even withholding his name, he felt that here he was bound to -extend the honor of the cave by right of discoverer. - -He rose and offered his hand to this timid, stumbling figure whose -fingers closed on his own in acceptance of the courtesy. - -At the same time as the stranger's face was shone in the twilight, -Philip drew back and uttered an outcry in horror. - -"Gilbert?" - -"Philip!" - -The soldier gripped the other by the throat, and dragged him deeper into -the cavern. Gilbert allowed it to be done without a remonstrance. Thrust -with his back against the rocks, he could be pushed no farther. - -"God is just," said Philip, "He hath delivered you to me. You shall not -escape." - -The prisoner let his hands swing by his side and turned livid. - -"Oh, coward and villain," said the victor, "he has not even the instinct -of the beast to defend himself." - -"Why should I defend myself?" returned Gilbert. "I am willing to die and -by your hand foremost." - -"I will strangle you," cried Philip fiercely: "why do you not defend -yourself? coward, coward!" - -With an effort Gilbert tore himself loose and sent the assaillant a yard -away. Then he folded his arms. - -"You see I could defend myself. But get your gun and shoot me straight. -I prefer that to being torn and mangled." - -Philip was reaching for his gun but at these words he repulsed it. - -"No," he said, "how come you here?" - -"Like yourself, on the _Adonis_." - -"Oh, you are the skulking thing who did not dine with the other -passengers but took the air at night?" - -"I was not hiding from you, for I did not know you were aboard." - -"But you were hiding, not only yourself but the child whom you stole -away." - -"Babes are not taken to sea." - -"With the nurse, whom you were forced to engage." - -"I tell you I have not brought my child, which I removed only that it -should not be brought up to despise its father." - -"If I could believe this true," said Philip, "I should deem you less of -a rogue; but you are a thief, why not a liar?" - -"A man cannot steal his own property. And the child is mine!" - -"Wretch, do you flout me? will you tell me where my sister's child is? -will you restore it to me?" - -"I do not wish to give up my boy." - -"Gilbert, listen, I speak to you quietly. Andrea loves the child, your -child, with frenzy. She will be touched by your repentance, I promise -you. But restore the child, Gilbert." - -"You would not believe me and I shall not trust you," rejoined Gilbert, -with dull fire in his eyes and folding his arms: "Not because I do not -believe you an honorable man but because you have the prejudices of your -caste. We are mortal enemies and as you are the stronger, enjoy your -victory. But do not ask me to lay down my arm; it guards me against -scorn, insult and ingratitude." - -"I do not want to butcher you," said the officer, with froth at the -mouth: "but you shall have the chance to kill Andrea's brother. One -crime more will not matter. Take one of these pistols and let us count -three, turn and fire." - -"A duel is just what I refuse Andrea's brother," said the young man, not -stooping for the firearm. - -"Then God will absolve me if I kill you. Die, like a villain, of whom I -clear the world, a sacrilegious bandit, a dog!" - -He fired on Gilbert, who fell in the smoke as if by lightning. Philip -felt the sand at his feet fall in from being wet with blood. He lost his -reason and rushed from the grotto. - -When he ran upon the strand the last boat was waiting. He made its tally -right, and no one questioned him. - -It was not till the subsequent day that Paul Jones noticed that a -passenger was missing. - - - - -CHAPTER XLIII. - -THE LAST ABSOLUTE KING. - - -At eight at night, on the ninth day of May, 1774, Versailles presented -the most curious and interesting of sights. - -Since the first day of the month, Louis XV., stricken with a sickness -of which the physicians dared not at the outset reveal the gravity, had -kept his bed, and began look around him for truth or hope. - -Two head physicians sided with the Dauphin and Dubarry severally; one -said that the truth would kill the patient, and the other that he ought -to know so as to make a Christian end. - -But to call in Religion was to expel the favorite. When the Church comes -in at one door, Satan must fly out of the other. - -While all the parties were wrangling, the disease easily rooted itself -in the old, debauched body and so strengthened itself that medicine was -not to put it to rout. - -At the first, the King was seen between his two daughters, the favorite -and the courtiers most liked. They laughed and made light of the affair. - -Suddenly appeared at Versailles the stern and austere countenance of the -eldest daughter, the Princess Louise, Lady Superior of St. Denis, come -to console her father. - -She stalked in, pale and cold as a statue of Fate. Long since she had -ceased to be a daughter to her father and sister to his children. She -resembled the prophets of woe who come in calamities to scatter ashes on -the gold and jewels. She happened in at Versailles on a day when Louis -was kissing the hands of Countess Dubarry and using them as soft brushes -for his inflamed cheeks and aching head. - -On seeing her, all fled. Her trembling sisters ran to their rooms; Lady -Dubarry dropped a courtsey and hastened to her apartments; the -privileged courtiers stole into the outer rooms; the two chief -physicians alone stayed by the fireplace. - -"My daughter," muttered the monarch, opening his eyes which pain and -fever had closed. - -"Your daughter," said the Lady Louise, "who comes from God, whom you -have forgotten, to remind you. Pursuant to etiquette, your malady is one -of the mortal ones which compels the Royal Family to gather around your -bedside. When one of us has the small pox, he must have the Holy -Sacrament at once administered." - -"Mortal?" echoed the King. "Doctors, is this true?" - -The two medical attendants bowed. - -"Break with the past," continued the abbess, taking up his hand which -she daringly covered with kisses. "And set the people an example. Had no -one warned you, you ran the risk of being lost for eternity. Now, -promise to live a Christian if you live: or die one, if die you must." - -She kissed the royal hand once more as she finished and stalked forth -slowly. - -That evening Lady Dubarry had to retire from the Town and suburbs. - -This is why on the night in question, Versailles was in tribulation. -Would the King mend and bring back Lady Dubarry, or would he die and his -successor send her farther than where she paused? - -On a stone bench at the corner of the street opposite the palace an old -man was seated, leaning on his cane, with his eyes bent on the place. He -was so buried in his contemplation among the crowds in groups, that he -did not perceive a young man who crossed so as to stand by him. - -This young man had a bald forehead, a hook nose, with a twist to it, -high cheekbones and a sardonic smile. - -"Taking the air?" he said as he gave a squint. - -The old man looked up. - -"Ah, my clever surgeon," he said. - -"Yes, illustrious master," and he sat by his side. "It appears that the -King is getting better? only the small pox, that so many people have. -Besides, he has skillful doctors by him. I wager that Louis the -Well-Beloved will scratch through; only, people will not cram the -churches this time to sing Oh, be joyful! over his recov---- " - -"Hush," said the old man, starting: "Silence, for you are jesting at a -man on whom the finger of God is even now laid." - -Surprised at this language, the younger man looked at the Palace. - -"Do you see that window in which burns a shaded lamp? That represents -the life of the King. A friend of mine, Dr. Jussieu, will put it out -when the life goes out. His successor is watching that signal, behind a -curtain. This signal, warning the ambitious when their era commences, -tells the poor philosopher like me when the breath of heaven blasts an -age and a monarchy. Look at this night, young man, how full of storms. -No doubt I shall see the dawn, for I am not so old as not to see the -morrow. But you are more likely to see the end of this new reign than -I." - -"Ah!" cried the young man, as he pointed to the window shrouded in -darkness. - -"The King is dead!" said the old man, rising in dread. - -Both were silent for a few instants. - -Suddenly, a coach drawn by eight horses gallopped out of the palace -courtyard, with two outriders carrying torches. In the vehicle sat the -Dauphin, Marie Antoinette and the King's sister, Lady Elizabeth. The -torchlight flared ominously on their faces. - -The equipage passed close to the two spectators. - -"Long live King Louis the Sixteenth--Long live his Queen!" yelled the -young man in a shrill voice as if he were insulting the new rulers -rather than greeting them. - -The Dauphin bowed, the new Queen showed a sad, stern face, and the coach -disappeared. - -"My dear Rousseau, Lady Dubarry is a widow," jeeringly said the young -man. - -"She will be exiled to-morrow," added the other. "Farewell, Dr. Marat." - -How Marat, chief among the Paris revolutionists, fared, we have to tell -in following pages. His career will be traced, as well as those of -Andrea, of Gilbert and their son, while we are to behold under another -phase the remarkable figure of the arch-conspirator, Balsamo, carrying -on his gigantic mission of overturning the throne of the Bourbons. The -work is entitled: "THE QUEEN'S NECKLACE." - -THE END. - - -_A BOOK FOR EVERY FAMILY._ - -How to Live Well - -On 25 Cents a Day. - -By MRS. GESINE LEMCKE, - -One of the Most Noted Cooks and Housekeepers of the Day. - -It contains a complete bill of fare for every day for six weeks, also -valuable hints and helps for housekeepers. - - The _Philadelphia Call_ says of it: - - "Utopia discovered! Everybody happy and want absolutely abolished. - Hats off to Mrs. Lemcke! Whether this volume accomplishes its - purpose or not is immaterial. 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(Appropriate for anniversaries -and celebrations.) - -=LEISURE-HOUR WORK FOR LADIES.=--Containing instructions for flower and -shell work; Antique, Grecian and Theorem painting; Botanical specimens; -Cone work; Anglo-Japanese work; Decalcomanie; Diaphame; Leather work; -Modeling in clay; Transferring; Crayon drawing; Photograph coloring, -etc., etc. A very complete book, and one that no young lady having spare -time can afford to be without. 15 cents. - -=LOVER'S GUIDE (THE).=--A book no lover should be without. It gives -handkerchief, parasol, glove, and fan flirtations; also window and -dining-room signaling; the language of flowers; how to kiss deliciously; -love-letters, and how to write them, with specimens; bashfulness and -timidity, and how to overcome them, etc., etc. 15 cents. - - -TWO HUNDRED - -OLD-TIME SONGS. - -This volume contains the _words and music_ of choicest gems of the old -and familiar songs we used to sing when we were young. It has been -arranged with great care and we have no hesitation in saying that it is -the best book of the kind published. Read the following =partial table of -Contents=. The book contains 130 songs besides the ones mentioned here -and would cost $50 in sheet music form. - - Annie Laurie. - Auld Lang Syne. - Angel's Whisper, The. - Black Eyed Susan. - Billy Boy. - Baby Mine. - Bell Brandon. - Bonnie Dundee. - Ben Bolt. - Bingen on the Rhine. - Comrades. - Comi' Thr' the Rye. - Caller Herrin'. - Do They Miss Me at Home? - Don't You Go, Tommy. - Flee as a Bird. - In the Gloaming. - John Anderson, My Joe. - Katie's Letter. - Little Annie Rooney. - Larboard Watch. - Life on the Ocean Wave, A. - Low Backed Car, The. - Mollie, Put the Kettle On. - Meet Me by Moonlight. - Nancy Lee. - O, Boys Carry Me 'Long. - Oh! Susannah. - Our Flag is There. - O Had I Wings Like a Dove. - Old Oaken Bucket, The. - O Come, Come Away. - Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep. - Rock Me to Sleep, Mother. - Sparkling and Bright. - There was an Old Woman. - 'Tis the Last Rose of Summer. - Willie, We Have Missed You. - Wait for the Wagon. - Oh Dear! What Can the Matter be. - Oh Why do you Tease Me. - Oh, Would I Were a Bird. - Oh, Would I Were a Boy Again. - Over the Garden Wall. - Pilgrim Fathers, The. - Pat Malloy. - Pauper's Drive, The. - Paddle Your Own Canoe. - Robin Adair. - Robinson Crusoe. - Rose of Allandale. - Star Spangled Banner, The. - Saint Patrick Was a Gentleman. - See Saw, Margery Daw. - Sing a Song of Sixpence. - See, the Conquering Hero Comes. - Stop Dat Knockin'. - Sally in Our Alley. - Scots, What Ha'e W' Wallace Bled. - Sword of Bunker Hill, The. - Spider and the Fly, The. - Shells of Ocean. - Steal Away. - Take Back the Heart. - Three Fishers Went Sailing. - Ten Little Niggers. - 'Tis the Last Rose of Summer. - Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay. - Thou Art Gone From My Gaze. - There is a Green Hill far Away. - There was a Jolly Miller. - -This book of 176 pages containing the above entire list of songs and -many others, _words and music_, will be sent by mail postpaid upon -receipt of price. Paper Cover, 25 cents. Address all orders to - -J. S. OGILVIE PUBLISHING CO., 57 Rose Street, New York. - - -AYER'S - -SARSAPARILLA - -is the best. It is the only one recommended by physicians of standing. -It was the only one admitted at the World's Fair. It is the leader among -blood-purifiers. - -CURES -OTHERS, -AND -WILL CURE -YOU. - -[Illustration: - -AYER'S -SARSAPARILLA -Makes the Weak -Strong. -] - -"Having thoroughly tested, in my practice as a physician, the alterative -action of Ayer's Extract of Sarsaparilla, I view it as of unequaled -excellence."--J. F. BOURNS, M. D., 100 Walnut St., Philadelphia, -Pennsylvania. - -PURIFIES -THE BLOOD - -AYER'S PILLS CURE SICK HEADACHE. - - * * * * * - -Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: - -Andrea hear the compliment=> Andrea heard the compliment {pg 6} - -God have merey=> God have mercy {pg 8} - -Oh, dctoor=> Oh, doctor {pg 12} - -replied the young man gloomly=> replied the young man gloomily {pg 19} - -romanic=> romantic {pg 23} - -carriage-doorway=> carraige-doorway {pg 24} - -nine oclock=> nine o'clock {pg 35} - -they waned their plump hands=> they waved their plump hands {pg 36} - -servants's=> servant' {pg 39} - -It was a suit of anteroom and two parlors=> It was a suite of anteroom -and two parlors {pg 40} - -hostility and resistence=> hostility and resistance {pg 45} - -his eyes was kindled=> his eyes were kindled {pg 47} - -But is was our sole resource=> But it was our sole resource {pg 51} - -Which would Compromise Choiseul=> Which would compromise Choiseul {pg -52} - -The duchess write=> The duchess wrote {pg 53} - -Honesty not, count=> Honestly not, count {pg 54} - -nearly everbody flocked=> nearly everybody flocked {pg 61} - -empoverished nobleman's daughter=> impoverished nobleman's daughter {pg -65} - -full of caressess=> full of caresses {pg 75} - -and a face rose with cautoin=> and a face rose with caution {pg 79} - -circumstancial=> circumstantial {pg 83} - -serious dilema=> serious dilemma {pg 95} - -vitrol so sharp=> vitriol so sharp {pg 96} - -some idots or knaves=> some idiots or knaves {pg 98} - -comtemporaneous=> contemporaneous {pg 102} - -Bosicrucian=> Rosicrucian {pg 106} - -it's work wherever I shall be=> its work wherever I shall be {pg 108} - -bidding us to Wait=> bidding us to wait {pg 109} - -ready to be imolated=> ready to be immolated {pg 112} - -the remans shuddering or moving=> the remains shuddering or moving {pg -116} - -babarous peoples=> barbarous peoples {pg 116} - -garote=> garrote {pg 116} - -gentelmen and brothers=> gentlemen and brothers {pg 122} - -became strociously=> became atrociously {pg 126} - -droppod into the box=> dropped into the box {pg 129} - -catching a glmpse=> catching a glimpse {pg 130} - -what thay would do=> what they would do {pg 132} - -Good by, Taverney!=> Good bye, Taverney! {pg 133} - -jealously has driven her mad=> jealousy has driven her mad {pg 135} - -for nature made me you equal=> for nature made me your equal {pg 144} - -invited them into her suit=> invited them into her suite {pg 147} - -I were such jewelry=> I wear such jewelry {pg 149} - -ringing in the right for Nicole=> ringing in the night for Nicole {pg -153} - -would be caught and expell=> would be caught and expelled {pg 160} - -violet and sulpher light=> violet and sulphur light {pg 163} - -is slience a word or a fact=> is silence a word or a fact {pg 164} - -to dro the name=> to drop the name {pg 169} - -You will recken on=> You will reckon on {pg 174} - -connivence=> connivance {pg 176} - -extraordinay excitement=> extraordinary excitement {pg 182} - -an in an hour=> and in an hour {pg 183} - -the wierd old man=> the weird old man {pg 185} - -my craftmanship=> my craftsmanship {pg 186} - -my Palsamo=> my Balsamo {pg 189} - -parties name in the documents=> parties named in the documents {pg 192} - -Venitian mirror=> Venetian mirror {pg 196} - -everbody will tell=> everybody will tell {pg 215} - -in the same room with your=> in the same room with you {pg 227} - -Aftert he=> After the {pg 227} - -you have pleged=> you have pledged {pg 232} - -proprieter=> proprietor {pg 233} - -he had climed down=> he had climbed down {pg 236} - -abroad the ship=> aboard the ship {pg 239} - -well attack great importance=> well attach great importance {pg 244} - -did not wish to be instrusive=> did not wish to be intrusive {pg 246} - -Philip took a gun and amunition=> Philip took a gun and ammunition {pg -247} - -witholding=> withholding {pg 247} - - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Mesmerist's Victim, by Alexandre Dumas - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MESMERIST'S VICTIM *** - -***** This file should be named 42690-8.txt or 42690-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/6/9/42690/ - -Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Chuck Greif and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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