Add files from ibiblio as of 2025-03-03 20:07:23HEADmain

3 files changed, 6913 insertions, 421 deletions

diff --git a/44254-0.txt b/44254-0.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c88d52c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/44254-0.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,6910 @@
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44254 ***
+
+                               RICHELIEU,
+
+                           A TALE OF FRANCE.
+
+                    I advise you that you read
+            The Cardinal's malice and his potency
+            Together: to consider further, that
+            What his high hatred would effect, wants not
+            A minister in his power.
+                               SHAKSPEARE.
+
+                           IN THREE VOLUMES.
+
+                               VOL. III.
+
+                                LONDON:
+
+                 HENRY COLBURN, NEW BURLINGTON STREET.
+
+                                 1829.
+
+                                LONDON:
+
+     PRINTED BY S. AND R. BENTLEY, Dorset Street, Fleet Street.
+
+
+
+
+                               RICHELIEU.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+     Showing how a Great Minister made a great mistake.
+
+
+Strange to say, in the manuscript notes from which this true history is
+derived, there occurs the most extraordinary omission that perhaps ever
+appeared in the writings of any one pretending to accuracy; and most
+provoking of all, I have searched memoirs and annals, histories and
+letters, state papers and private memoranda, and have consulted all
+sorts of tradition, oral and written, without being enabled to supply
+from any other source the neglect of the original historian. Who would
+believe, that, after having interested the reader so deeply in the
+character of Jacques Chatpilleur, _Cuisinier Aubergiste_, the writer of
+the above-mentioned notes would be so inconsiderate, so stupid, so
+disappointing, as not to say one word concerning the farther progress of
+the redoubtable _vivandier_ on that night, wherein he achieved the two
+famous victories recorded in the last volume. But so it is: instead of
+giving us a pathetic account of the scanty supper he at length contrived
+to furnish forth for the noble prisoner, or of satisfying our curiosity
+in regard to the means he employed to appease the wrath of the Governor,
+the notes skip over the farther proceedings of that entire night, and
+bring us at once upon the Count de Blenau's levee the next morning;
+entering into very minute details concerning the difficulties he
+encountered in arranging his mustaches, buttoning his pourpoint, &c.
+without assistance; all of which I shall pass over as contemptible and
+irrelevant, and below the dignity of authentic history.
+
+With the embarrassment of the Count de Blenau's mind we have something
+more to do; and, to tell the truth, the more he reflected upon his
+situation, the more he was puzzled in regard to his future conduct. A
+fresh examination, either by Lafemas or some member of the Council, was
+to be expected speedily, under which he must either still refuse to
+answer, which would infallibly be followed by the _peine forte et dure_;
+or he must acknowledge that the Queen had privily conveyed him an order
+to confess all, which would involve his royal mistress and himself and
+Pauline in dangers, the extent of which he hardly knew; or he must reply
+to the questions he had before refused to answer, and disclose what had
+been intrusted to his honour, without showing that he was authorized to
+do so; in which case, the reproach of treachery and cowardice must
+inevitably fall upon his name. This was a dilemma with three horns, and
+each very sharp; so that it was difficult to determine which to jump
+upon, and seemingly impossible to avoid them all. De Blenau was sadly
+chewing the cud of these bitter doubts, when he heard some one enter the
+outer chamber; and the moment after, the very privacy of his bedroom was
+invaded by the Governor, who entered with a countenance pale and
+agitated; and who, like all people who have something horrible to
+communicate, begged him not to be alarmed, in a tone that was enough to
+frighten him out of his wits.
+
+"Alarmed at what?" demanded the Count, summoning courage to encounter
+the danger, whatever it might be.
+
+"Why, Monsieur de Blenau," answered the Governor, "you must prepare
+yourself to meet the Cardinal himself; a messenger has just come to say
+that he will be here in person without loss of time. He arrived last
+night at the Palais Cardinal, and brought the King to Paris with him."
+
+"You seem to hold this Cardinal in some fear," said De Blenau, almost
+smiling, amidst his own embarrassment, at the evident terror of the
+Governor. "I could have wished that he had given me a little more time
+for consideration; but I am not so frightened at him as you seem to be,
+who have nothing to do with it."
+
+"But pray remember, _mon cher Comte_," cried the Governor, "that you
+promised not to betray me to the Cardinal in any case."
+
+De Blenau's lip curled with contempt. "I think, you ought to know before
+this time," answered he, "that I am not likely to betray any one.--But
+there seems a noise and bustle in the court, in all probability caused
+by the arrival of the Cardinal. Go and receive him, and depend upon
+me."--Of all misfortunes on the earth, thought De Blenau, the curse of
+cowardice is the most dreadful.
+
+In a few minutes his supposition respecting the arrival of the Cardinal
+was confirmed by a summons to appear before the Council in the hall of
+audience; and with his mind still undecided, he followed the officer
+across the court to the scene of his former examination. A difference,
+however, struck him in the present arrangements of the prison, from
+those which he had before remarked.
+
+The court, instead of being crowded by those prisoners who had the
+liberty of walking in it, was now entirely void; and, fixed like marble
+on each side of the door opening into the audience-hall, was a soldier
+of the Cardinal's guard, between whom stood a clerk, or greffier, of the
+council-chamber, seemingly waiting for the approach of the prisoner. As
+soon as De Blenau was within hearing, the doors were thrown open, and
+the Clerk pronounced, "Claude Count de Blenau, appear before the King in
+council."
+
+"The King!" thought De Blenau; "this Cardinal, not content with taking
+the King's guards, must take his title also:"--but passing on through
+the open doors he entered the hall, where a very different scene
+presented itself from that which had before met his eyes in the same
+place.
+
+The whole farther part of the chamber was filled with the officers and
+attendants of Richelieu: each side, as well as the interstices between
+the massy pillars that supported the roof, was occupied by a body of the
+Cardinal's guard: in the chair at the head of the table sat the King
+himself with the Prime Minister on his right hand: Chavigni,
+Bouthilliers, Mazarin and others, occupied seats on either side; and to
+complete the array appeared several clerks, together with the officers
+of the prison, leaving only the space of about three feet at the bottom
+of the table, which remained clear for the prisoner to present himself
+opposite the throne.
+
+Extraordinary as it was for the King himself to sit upon the examination
+of a State prisoner, the whole demeanour and conduct of the monarch had
+undergone a change since the return of Cinq Mars, which astonished those
+about him more than even his resolution to be present at the council
+held that morning in the Bastille. Even those who were most accustomed
+to watch the changes of the King's variable disposition, would hardly
+have recollected in the Sovereign, who, with the easy dignity and
+self-possession of a clear and intelligent mind, presided at the head of
+the council-table, the same man who in general yielded his very thoughts
+to the governance of Richelieu, and abandoned all his kingly duties to
+one whom he appeared both to dislike and dread. But so it was, that,
+stimulated by some unseen means, Louis seemed at once to have resumed
+the King; and as soon as De Blenau entered the audience-hall, he at once
+opened the business of the day himself with all those powers which his
+mind really possessed when called into activity.
+
+"Monsieur de Blenau," said the King, "we are glad to see you. We have
+heard much of you, and that always a good report, from those that we
+love, and therefore our confidence in your honour and integrity is
+great. There will be various questions asked of you to-day by the
+members of the council present, which much affect the welfare of the
+kingdom, and our own personal happiness; and to these questions we
+command you, as a good subject and an honest man, to answer truly, and
+according to your conscience, without any reservation whatsoever."
+
+Before entering the audience-hall, De Blenau, well knowing that every
+careless word might be subject to misconstruction, had determined to
+speak as little as possible; and therefore, merely answering the King's
+speech by a profound inclination of the head, he waited in silence for
+the questions to which he had alluded.
+
+Richelieu, the keen searching glance of whose eyes had been fixed upon
+him during the whole time, paused for a moment in expectation of a
+reply; but seeing that he said nothing, the Minister proceeded himself.
+"I have heard with astonishment, Monsieur de Blenau," said he, "that you
+have lately refused to answer questions, to which you had before replied
+in conversation with me; and I can conceive no reason, Sir, why you
+should object to give satisfaction on these points one day as much as
+another."
+
+"Nor can I conceive," replied De Blenau, "any reason why your Eminence
+should cause questions to be put to me again which I had before
+answered; and that reiteration even while the replies were yet new in
+your mind."
+
+"My memory might want refreshing," answered the Cardinal; "and you must
+also remember, that the circumstances were very different at the two
+periods in which those questions were addressed to you. In the first
+place, you spoke merely in conversation; in the second case, you were a
+prisoner, and it was therefore necessary that your deposition should be
+taken from your own mouth.--But all this is irrelevant. The Council is
+not inclined to take notice of your former contumacy, provided you now
+reply to what shall be asked you."
+
+De Blenau was again silent, merely bowing to signify that he
+comprehended, without pledging himself either to answer or not; and
+Richelieu proceeded with his questions, placing his hand, as he did so,
+upon a large packet of open letters which lay on the table before him.
+
+"You have already informed me, Monsieur de Blenau, if I remember
+rightly," said the Minister, "that you have, at various times, forwarded
+letters for the Queen, both by the usual public conveyances and
+otherwise."
+
+The King fixed his eyes intently upon the Count, while he replied at
+once, "I have done so!"
+
+"Can you remember," continued the Cardinal, "during what period you have
+been accustomed to send these letters for the Queen? I mean, of what
+date was the first?"
+
+"I cannot precisely at this moment call to mind," answered De Blenau,
+"but it was shortly after your Eminence appointed me, or rather
+recommended me, to the office of Chamberlain to her Majesty."
+
+"You see, Sire," said Richelieu, turning to the King with a meaning
+glance, "just before the taking of Arras by the Imperialists----"
+
+"Exactly so, your Eminence; I remember it by a circumstance that
+occurred at the time," interposed De Blenau, misdoubting the effect of
+the Cardinal's comments.
+
+Richelieu gave him a gracious smile for this confirmation of his remark.
+"Pray, what circumstance was that, Monsieur de Blenau?" demanded he; but
+his smile was soon clouded by the Count's reply.
+
+"It was, that the lace lappets, in order to procure which her Majesty
+wrote that letter to Brussels, were seized at Arras, that city having
+fallen into the enemy's hands. The Queen was much grieved thereat. You
+know, Monseigneur, ladies set great store by their apparel."
+
+Chavigni smiled, but Richelieu's brow gathered into a heavy frown, and
+his reply was in that deep hollow tone of voice, by which alone one
+could distinguish when he was affected by any powerful feeling. His brow
+at all times remained calm, except when he sought to awe or intimidate;
+his eye, too, was under command, scanning the passions of others, and
+expressing none of his own, but those which he himself wished to appear;
+but his voice betrayed him, and when internally agitated, it would sink
+to so low and cavernous a sound, that it seemed as if the dead were
+speaking. It was in this tone that he answered De Blenau.
+
+"The contents of that letter, Sir, are but too well known by their
+effects. But I am to conclude, from your observation, that you are as
+well aware of what the Queen's letters have contained, as the persons to
+whom they were addressed."
+
+"Not so, your Eminence," replied De Blenau. "The import of that letter I
+happened to be acquainted with by accident, but I pretend to no farther
+knowledge."
+
+"Yes, yes, Sir," said Richelieu, "it is very evident that you know well
+to be informed or not on any subject, as it suits your purpose."
+
+"Nay, Monsieur le Cardinal," interposed the King, "I think the young
+gentleman answers with all candour and discretion. We do not seek to
+perplex him, but to hear the truth; and sure I am that he will not
+discredit his birth or honour by prevarication."
+
+"Your Majesty's own honourable mind does justice to mine," replied the
+Count: "I will own that I am guarded in my speech; for surrounded by
+those who seek to draw matter from my mouth, on which to found some
+accusation against me, I were a fool to speak freely. Nevertheless, I
+will answer truly to whatsoever I do answer; and if there should come a
+question to which I cannot reply without betraying my duty, I will tell
+no falsehood, but, as I have done before, refuse to answer, and the
+consequences of my honesty be upon my own head."
+
+"Well, Sir," said the Cardinal, "if you have done the harangue with
+which you are edifying the council, I will proceed with my questions;
+but first let me tell you, that I am not disposed to be dared with
+impunity. I think you denied to me that you had ever forwarded any
+letters to Don Francisco de Mello, Leopold Archduke of Austria, or
+Philip King of Spain.--Beware what you say, Claude Count de Blenau!"
+
+"If I understand your Eminence rightly," said the prisoner, "you do not
+ask me whether I ever did forward such letters, but whether I ever
+denied to you that I did forward them: in which case, I must reply, that
+I did deny having expedited any letter to Don Francisco de Mello, but
+the two other names I never touched upon."
+
+"Then you acknowledge that you have conveyed letters from the Queen to
+the Archduke and the King of Spain?" demanded Richelieu.
+
+"I have made no such acknowledgment," answered De Blenau; "your Eminence
+puts a forced construction on my words."
+
+"In vain you turn, Sir, like a rebellious serpent that strives in its
+windings to escape the hand that grasps it. At once I ask you, have you
+or have you not, ever, by any means, expedited any letter from the
+Queen, or other person, to either the Archduke of Austria, or the King
+of Spain? This, Sir, is a question that you cannot get over!"
+
+The eyes of the whole Council fixed upon the Count as the Cardinal
+spoke. De Blenau paused for a moment to recollect himself, and then
+addressed himself directly to the King. "As a good and faithful
+subject," he said, "there is a great duty which I owe your Majesty, and
+I believe I have always performed it as I ought; but as a servant of
+your royal consort the Queen, I have other duties, distinct, though I
+hope in no degree opposed to those which bind me to my King. As a man of
+honour also and a gentleman, I am bound to betray no trust reposed in
+me, whether that trust seem to me material or not; and though I feel
+sure that I might at once answer the questions proposed to me by his
+Eminence of Richelieu without any detriment or discredit to her Majesty,
+yet so sacred do I hold the confidence of another, that I must decline
+to reply, whatever be the consequence. However, let me assure you, Sire,
+that no word or deed of her Majesty the Queen, which has ever come to my
+ears, has been derogatory to your Majesty's dignity, or contrary to your
+interest."
+
+"Then I am to conclude that you refuse to answer?" said Richelieu
+sternly: "think, Monsieur de Blenau, before you carry your obstinacy too
+far."
+
+"My conduct does not arise in obstinacy," replied De Blenau, "but from a
+sense of what is due to my own honour; and unless it can be shown me
+that it is her Majesty's desire I should inform your Eminence of all I
+know respecting her affairs, from henceforth I hold my tongue, and
+answer no farther questions whatever."
+
+"Be the consequence on your own head then, young man," exclaimed the
+Cardinal. "We will now break up the council.--Monsieur de Blenau, take
+leave of the sun, for you never see another morrow!"
+
+De Blenau's courage was unshaken, but yet a cold chilly feeling gathered
+round his heart as Richelieu bade him take leave of the sun, and rose to
+break up the council. But still the King kept his seat, and Chavigni,
+hastily writing a few words on a scrap of paper, handed it to the
+Cardinal, who, after reading it, appeared to think for a moment, and
+then again addressed De Blenau. "There is one hope still left for you,
+Sir: did Monsieur de Chavigni understand you rightly, that if you had
+the Queen's command to confess what you know of her affairs, you would
+answer the questions we put to you?"
+
+De Blenau breathed freely. "Undoubtedly!" replied he; "my honour will
+then be satisfied, and there will be no subject on which I shall have a
+reserve."
+
+"What will you consider a sufficient expression of her Majesty's
+commands to that effect?" asked Chavigni: "I know that his Eminence
+wishes to treat you with all possible lenity, although the mere command
+of the King in council ought to be sufficient warrant for you to yield
+any information that may be required."
+
+"We think differently on many points, Monsieur de Chavigni," answered De
+Blenau; "but if you can show me her hand-writing to any order, or if one
+of the officers of her household will bear me a message from her Majesty
+to deliver what little I know of her affairs, I will do so without
+farther hesitation."
+
+There was now a momentary consultation carried on in a low voice amongst
+the various members of the council, apparently concerning which of the
+Queen's attendants should be sent for; but at length Chavigni whispered
+to the Cardinal, "Send for La Rivière; he is a friend of Lafemas, and
+will do any thing he is bid."
+
+"If Monsieur de La Rivière bear you the Queen's commands, will you be
+satisfied, Sir Count?" demanded Richelieu.
+
+"The Queen's Gentleman-usher," said De Blenau; "most assuredly; that
+will be sufficient."
+
+"Go yourself, Chavigni," whispered Richelieu, "and as you come, tell him
+what to say.--We will wait his arrival," he proceeded aloud;--"but see,
+Monsieur de Chavigni, that he communicates with the Queen, and be fully
+informed of her wishes."
+
+De Blenau smiled, convinced from his late information through Pauline
+that the Queen was still at Chantilly, and therefore that though La
+Rivière might be himself in Paris, and ready to swear any thing that the
+Cardinal dictated, he could have no communication with Anne of Austria,
+unless, what seemed improbable, she had returned to the capital with the
+King.
+
+As soon as De Chavigni had retired for the purpose of seeking La
+Rivière, Richelieu ran his eye over some memoranda, as if about to put
+farther questions to De Blenau; but the King, not noticing these
+indications of his purpose, addressed the prisoner himself. "Well,
+Monsieur le Comte," said he, "while Chavigni is gone, there are two or
+three points on which I shall be glad to speak with you."
+
+Richelieu was surprised, and not particularly delighted, thinking that
+the King was about to continue the examination himself, which might not
+be conducted precisely in such a manner as to produce the effect he
+wished; but, in the independent mood with which Louis was affected, he
+dared not, with all his daring, attempt to interrupt the course of his
+Sovereign's proceedings, and therefore remained silent, watching the
+opportunity of interposing, to give what turn he best could to the
+interrogatory that appeared about to commence. In the mean while De
+Blenau bowed his head, calmly prepared to bear the mental torture of a
+long cross-examination, where every word might be subject to dangerous
+misconstruction.
+
+"I understand, Monsieur de Blenau," continued the King, while the whole
+Council listened with attentive expectation--"I understand that you have
+the best breed of boar-dogs in France. Pray are they of the Pomeranian
+or the Exul race?--and how can they be procured?"
+
+Richelieu bit his lip; but to De Blenau the King's question was like the
+clearing away of a threatened storm; and habitually attached to the
+chase, as well as deeply learned in all its mysteries, he was delighted
+to find that Louis turned the conversation to a subject equally familiar
+to both.
+
+"Mine are the true Pomeranian breed, Sire," he replied; "flewed an inch
+deep, with eyes like Sandarak--would light your Majesty home at night,
+if by chance you lost your way. In truth, they are only fit for a
+monarch; and Cinq Mars has now four couple of the best in education for
+your Majesty, which, when well trained, and recovered from their
+wildness, he will present to your Majesty in my name; and I humbly hope
+that you will accept them in aid of your Royal sport."
+
+"We shall, we shall; and thank you well, Sir Count," replied the King,
+smiling most graciously at the prospect of possessing a breed which he
+had been long seeking for in vain. "Monsieur le Cardinal, do you hear
+that? We will hunt with them some day. You used to hunt in your day too;
+have you quite given it over?"
+
+"I have been too much busied, Sire," answered Richelieu gravely, "in
+hunting from your Majesty's dominions Huguenot wolves and Spanish foxes,
+to pursue other game."
+
+Louis turned from him with an uneasy shrug, expressive of fully as much
+distaste for Richelieu's employments as the statesman experienced for
+his; and once more addressing De Blenau, he plunged deep into the
+science of hunting, hawking, and fowling; giving the young Count a
+thousand receipts, instructions, and anecdotes, which he listened to
+with the most reverential deference, not only in as much as they
+proceeded from his Sovereign, but also as coming from the most
+experienced sportsman of the age.
+
+In the mean while, Richelieu was fain to employ himself in writing notes
+and memoranda, to allay the spleen and irritation that he felt at what
+he internally termed the King's weak trifling; till at length he was
+relieved by the return of Chavigni, bringing with him the Queen's Usher,
+La Rivière.
+
+De Blenau well knew that this person, who was by birth just within the
+rank of a _gentleman_ (which word was then in France one of great
+significance), had been placed in the service of Anne of Austria for the
+purpose of acting as a spy upon her, from Richelieu's fear of her
+correspondence with Spain; but informed, as the Count now was, of the
+Queen's wishes, it was perfectly indifferent to him who appeared on her
+behalf; his only object being, that his mistress's commands, publicly
+expressed, should, in the minds of all, free him from the imputation of
+having betrayed her.
+
+La Rivière looked round him, as he entered, with a glance not altogether
+free from apprehension; for though Chavigni had given him full
+instructions and information concerning the services he was sent for to
+perform, yet there was something so terrible in the idea of the
+Bastille, that he could hardly keep his limbs from trembling as he
+passed the gates of the prison.
+
+"Come hither, Monsieur de La Rivière," exclaimed the Cardinal, as soon
+as he appeared: "We are wasting too much time here." La Rivière
+approached, and placed himself in the spot to which Richelieu pointed,
+almost exactly opposite to De Blenau.
+
+The Cardinal then proceeded. "Have you seen her Majesty the Queen since
+Monsieur de Chavigni informed you of the wishes of the Council?"
+
+"I have, may it please your Eminence," replied La Rivière, in a
+tremulous voice.
+
+"And what was her Majesty's reply to our request?" asked Richelieu.
+"Speak boldly!" he added, in a tone only calculated to reach the ear of
+the Usher, who stood close beside him, and showed plainly, by his
+hesitating manner, that he was under the influence of alarm. The
+Cardinal, however, attributed this to a wrong cause, thinking that La
+Rivière had not really seen the Queen, and was about to play his part,
+as prompted by Chavigni, but that in all probability he would spoil it
+by his hesitation.
+
+Just as La Rivière was proceeding to answer, however, Chavigni, who had
+taken his place at the council-table the moment he entered, and had been
+writing rapidly since, conveyed a slip of paper across to the Cardinal,
+who raised his hand for the Usher to be silent while he read. The words
+which his friend had written greatly discomposed the Minister's plans.
+They were, "I am afraid it will not succeed: I have seen the Queen, when
+she not only told La Rivière, at once, to command the Count, in her
+name, to answer every question that related to her, but has given him a
+letter under her own hand to that effect. She is either innocent, or
+relies devotedly on De Blenau: whichever is the case, her open conduct
+will clear her in the mind of the King. Act as you like."
+
+"What is the matter, Monsieur le Cardinal?" demanded Louis, somewhat
+impatiently. "Why do we not proceed?"
+
+"Because," answered Richelieu, "what Monsieur de Chavigni says is right,
+Sire, though, I confess, it did not strike me before. Shall we not
+become contemptible in the eyes of the world, by submitting to be
+dictated to by Monsieur de Blenau? And is it not a gross insult to your
+Majesty's power, to obey the commands of the Queen, when he has refused
+to obey your own? I am sorry that this did not appear to me earlier; but
+the objection now seems to me so forcible, that I can proceed no farther
+in this course."
+
+Louis paused. He was as jealous of the Queen possessing any authority as
+Richelieu could wish; but in the present instance he was urged, by
+different motives, in an opposite direction. Some sparks of affection
+had revived in his bosom towards Anne of Austria, and he wished much to
+satisfy himself regarding the suspicions which had been urged against
+her. De Blenau was the dear friend of his favourite Cinq Mars; and his
+mind also had begun to yield to the arguments of those who sought the
+destruction of the Minister. But, on the other hand, the habit of being
+ruled by Richelieu, and the specious arguments he produced, made Louis
+hesitate:--"What, then, do you intend to do?" demanded he, addressing
+the Cardinal.
+
+"In the first place, Sire," replied Richelieu sternly, "I propose to
+interrogate the prisoner once more, and if his contumacy still
+continues, let the _question_ be his doom."
+
+The King's naturally good feelings and love of justice here at once
+overcame all doubt. "No, God forbid!" cried he, rousing himself to
+energy. "What, are we Christians, Monsieur le Cardinal, and shall we put
+a fellow-creature to the torture, when there is a straight-forward way
+to gain the information that we want? Fie upon it! No!"
+
+Richelieu's ashy cheek grew still a shade paler. It was the first time
+for many a year he had undergone rebuke. He felt that trammels with
+which he had so long held the King enthralled were but as green lithes
+twined round the limbs of a giant. He saw that the vast fabric of his
+power was raised upon a foundation of unsteady sand, and that even then
+it trembled to its very base.
+
+"Monsieur La Rivière, answer the King!" continued Louis, in a dignified
+tone. "What says the Queen to the request of our Council, that she would
+command her Chamberlain to answer those questions, in regard to which he
+has a scruple on her account?"
+
+"Her Majesty says, Sire," answered La Rivière, "that she is most willing
+to do any thing that will please your Majesty; and she has not only
+ordered me to command, in her name, Monsieur de Blenau to inform the
+Council of every thing he knows concerning her conduct; but has also
+written this letter, with her own hand, to the same effect." And
+advancing to the table, he bent his knee before the King, and presented
+the document of which he was the bearer.
+
+Louis took the letter, and read it through. "This looks not like a
+guilty conscience," said he, frowning upon Richelieu. "Give that to
+Monsieur de Blenau," he continued to one of the officers. "There, Sir
+Count, is your warrant to speak freely; and though we think you carry
+your sense of honour too far, so as to make it dangerous to yourself,
+and almost rebellious towards us, we cannot help respecting the
+principle, even though it be in excess."
+
+"May I always have such a judge as your Majesty!" replied De Blenau.
+"Most humbly do I crave your royal pardon, if I have been at all wanting
+in duty towards you. Believe me, Sire, it has proceeded not from any
+fault of inclination, but from an error in judgment. I have now no
+farther hesitation, all my duties being reconciled; and, I believe, the
+best way fully to reply to the questions which have been asked me, will
+be by telling your Majesty, that I have on several occasions forwarded
+letters from the Queen, by private couriers of my own, or by any other
+conveyance that offered. None of these letters have been either to the
+Archduke, to Don Francisco de Mello, or any other person whatever,
+connected with the Spanish Government, except her Majesty's brother,
+Philip, King of Spain, to whom I have assuredly sent several; but before
+I ever undertook to do so, her Majesty condescended to give me her most
+positive promise, and to pledge her Royal word, that the tidings she
+gave her brother should on all occasions be confined to her domestic
+affairs, nor ever touch upon the external or internal policy of the
+Government, so that my honour and allegiance should be equally
+unsullied. These letters have sometimes remained upon my person for
+weeks, waiting for the fit opportunity to send them; which circumstance
+having by some means been discovered, has caused me no small
+inconvenience at times. Farther, I have nothing to tell your Majesty,
+but that I have ever heard the Queen express the greatest affection for
+your Royal person, and the warmest wishes for your public and private
+welfare; and, on my honour, I have never observed her do, by word or
+action, any thing which could be construed into a breach of the duty she
+owes your Majesty, either as her sovereign or her husband.
+
+"You see!" exclaimed the King, turning to Richelieu, as De Blenau
+concluded; "You see--exactly what she confessed herself--not one tittle
+of difference."
+
+The anger of the Cardinal, at finding himself foiled, swept away his
+political prudence. Irritated and weakened by a wearing disease, he was
+in no frame of mind to see calmly a scheme he had formed with infinite
+care, so completely overthrown; and forgetting that the King's energies
+were now aroused to oppose him, he resolved to let his vengeance fall on
+the head of De Blenau as the means of his disappointment. His brow
+darkened, and his eye flashed, and he replied in that stern and haughty
+manner which had so often carried command along with it.
+
+"If your Majesty be satisfied, of course so am I, whose sole wish was to
+purge the lily crown from the profaning touch of strangers. But as for
+Monsieur de Blenau, he has confessed himself guilty of a crime little
+short of high treason, in forwarding those letters to a foreign enemy.
+We have already condemned a woman to exile for a less offence; and
+therefore the mildest sentence that the Council _can_ pronounce, and
+which by my voice it _does_ pronounce, is, that Claude Count de Blenau
+be banished for ever from these realms; and that, if after the space of
+sixteen days he be found within their precincts, he shall be considered
+as without the pale of law, and his blood be required at the hand of no
+man that sheds it!"
+
+There was an indignant spot glowing in the King's face while Richelieu
+spoke thus, that Chavigni marked with pain; for he saw that the
+precipitant haste of the Minister was hurrying his power to its fall.
+
+"Too much of this!" cried Louis angrily. "Lord Cardinal, you forget the
+presence of the King. Monsieur de Blenau--We, by our royal prerogative,
+do annul and make void the sentence you have just heard, merely
+commanding you to retire from this chateau of the Bastille, without
+holding communication with any persons attached to the Court, and to
+render yourself within the limits of our province of Bourbon, and there
+to wait our farther pleasure. The Council is over," he continued,
+rising. "Monsieur le Cardinal de Richelieu, by sending the warrant for
+the Count's release some time in the day to our Governor of the
+Bastille, you will merit our thanks."
+
+The officers cleared the way for the King--the _huissiers_ of the
+chamber threw wide the doors--and Louis, with a firm and dignified step,
+proceeded slowly out of the hall, followed by Richelieu, who,
+thunderstruck and confounded, kept his eyes bent upon the ground, in the
+silence of deep astonishment. The rest of the Council, equally mute and
+surprised, accompanied the Cardinal with anxiety in every eye; while the
+officers of the Bastille and the Count de Blenau remained the sole
+occupants of the hall of audience.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+     In which De Blenau gets out of the scrape.
+
+
+The silence that reigned in the audience-hall of the Bastille after the
+scene we have described, endured several minutes, during which each
+person who remained within its walls, commented mutely on the
+extraordinary events he had just witnessed. De Blenau's feelings were of
+course mingled, of surprise at the King's unusual conduct, and
+gratification at his own deliverance. The Governor's thoughts were
+differently employed, looking forward to the fall of Richelieu,
+speculating in regard to his successor, and trying to determine who
+would be the best person to court in the changes that were likely to
+ensue. "Like master, like man," says the adage; and the inferior
+officers of the prison, in compliance therewith, calculated upon the
+removal of the Governor as a consequence of the ruin of the Minister
+who had placed him there, and laid their own minor plans for securing
+their places.
+
+De Blenau was the first to break silence. "Well, my friend," said he,
+addressing the Governor, "I am to be your guest no longer, it seems; but
+be assured that I shall not forget my promises."
+
+"You are infinitely good, Monseigneur," answered the other, bowing
+almost to the ground. "I hope you will believe that I have gone to the
+very extreme of what my duty permitted, to afford you all convenience."
+
+"I have no doubt of it," replied the Count; "but let me ask what has
+become of my good friend, Philip, the woodman? He must not be
+forgotten."
+
+The knowledge of the severity he had exercised towards poor Philip, in
+the first heat of his anger, now called up a quick flush in the pale
+cheek of the Governor; and he determined to shelter himself from the
+resentment of his late prisoner, by telling him that the Woodman had
+been liberated.
+
+In those dangerous times, the acuteness of every one was sharpened by
+continual exercise; and De Blenau's eye, fixing on the varying
+countenance of his companion, soon detected that there was something
+amiss, by the alteration which his question produced. "Monsieur le
+Gouverneur," said he, "give me the truth. I promise you that every thing
+shall be forgotten, provided you have not seriously injured him; but I
+must know that the man is safe who has served me so faithfully."
+
+"The fact then is this, Monseigneur," replied the Governor; "thinking it
+best for all parties, I ordered this Monsieur Philip Grissolles to be
+confined till after your examination to-day, lest any thing might
+transpire that could injure you or me."
+
+"You thought of yourself alone, Sir," answered De Blenau somewhat
+bitterly; "but see that he be restored to that degree of liberty which
+you were ordered at first to permit, or you will hear more of me--"
+
+As he spoke, the door of the audience-hall, communicating with the outer
+court, was thrown open so suddenly as to make the Governor start a pace
+back, and Chavigni entered the room with a countenance, from which all
+his efforts could not banish the anxiety of his mind. Naturally quick
+and impatient, it often happened that his long training in the school of
+political duplicity did not suffice to overcome the struggles of his
+original disposition; and even the violent effort to conquer the native
+earnestness and impatience of his character would sometimes produce more
+visible marks of its working than if he had suffered his passions to
+take their course. In the present instance, his fine features were drawn
+and sharpened by the attempt to drive from them any expression of his
+feelings, and his eye flashed with ill-subdued fire, as he irritated
+himself with a thousand conjectures concerning the latent movers of the
+recent occurrences. On entering, he pointed with his hand towards the
+door for the Governor to leave them; and seeing that he did not
+immediately obey, he exclaimed in no very placable voice, "Begone! I
+wish Monsieur de Blenau's company alone.--What do you wait for? Oh,
+there is the order for his liberation--There, take your pack with you."
+And he pointed to the lower officers of the prison, who thus dismissed,
+quickly followed the Governor as he shrunk away from the Statesman's
+hasty and irritable glance.
+
+"Monsieur de Blenau," said Chavigni, as soon as the door was closed, "it
+was not worth while to detain you here for an hour or two, till such
+time as the order could be sent for your emancipation; I therefore drew
+it out in the lodge.--But you owe me nothing for that;" he continued,
+seeing that De Blenau was about to thank him for the supposed service.
+"I made it an excuse to stay behind, in order to seek an answer to a
+question or two. Now, I make no pretence of asking you these questions
+as a friend, for I know that you consider me not as such; but I do it
+merely on my own account, wishing for information on some points
+regarding which you alone can satisfy me. It is your business,
+therefore, to consider before you answer, whether so to do be for your
+interest or not. The only thing I will promise, which I do honestly, is,
+not to let your replies go beyond my own breast."
+
+"The method of your address is certainly extraordinary, Monsieur de
+Chavigni," replied De Blenau: "but however we may differ on many points,
+I give you credit for so much frankness, that I believe you would not
+betray even your enemy if he relied on you: neither do I know, or rather
+recollect, at this moment, any question I should hesitate to answer.
+Therefore propose what you think fit, and I will satisfy you, or not, as
+suits my convenience."
+
+"Between you and me, Monsieur de Blenau, there is no need of fine
+words. I have always found you strictly honourable, and therefore I rely
+on what you tell me, as if it were within the scope of my own knowledge.
+In the first place, then, you have been witness to an extraordinary
+scene to-day.--Are you at all aware from what cause the King has acted
+as he has done, so at variance with his conduct for fifteen years?"
+
+"Particularly, I am aware of no cause, and can only conjecture that his
+Majesty is tired of being dictated to by his servant?"
+
+"Umph!" said Chavigni, in a tone of dissatisfaction; "there is no need
+to triumph, Monsieur de Blenau. Am I to believe that you know of no one
+who has instigated the King to take such singular steps in your favour?"
+
+"Of none whatever!" answered the Count; "unless it were her Majesty the
+Queen,--the effect of any application from whom, would be quite
+different, I should conceive."
+
+"No, no, no!" said Chavigni. "It was not on her that my suspicions
+rested. I must have been mistaken. One word more.--Have you had any late
+communication with Monsieur de Cinq Mars?"
+
+"About three weeks ago I wrote to him from St. Germain, sending some
+young hounds for the King's service; but that was long before I dreamed
+of finding my way hither."
+
+"I must have been mistaken," repeated Chavigni. "I thank you, Monsieur
+de Blenau. This must be a whim of the King's own--God grant it! for then
+the humour will soon pass."
+
+"And now, Sir," said De Blenau, "that I have answered your questions,
+there are one or two subjects on which you might give me satisfaction.
+Are you inclined to do so?"
+
+"If I can, without injuring myself or others, or disclosing any plan
+that I am desirous to conceal," replied the Statesman.
+
+"My questions shall regard the past, and not the future," said De
+Blenau; "and are intended merely to gratify my own curiosity. In the
+first place then, I once saw you at St. Germain, in conversation with a
+demoiselle attached to Mademoiselle de Beaumont--to what did your
+business with her refer?"
+
+"I did not think you had seen us," replied Chavigni. "I might answer
+that I was making love, and probably you thought so as well as she did
+herself; but my conversation referred to you. I found that she had been
+present when Seguin, the surgeon, brought the news of your having been
+wounded to the Queen: and from her also I learned the words he made use
+of to let her know that you had not lost the packet which you had upon
+you in the wood of Mantes."
+
+"Monsieur de Chavigni," said De Blenau, with more cordiality in his
+manner than he usually evinced towards the Statesman; "the world is too
+well aware of your domestic happiness for any one to suspect you of
+degrading yourself to a soubrette; I thank you for your candour. Now
+tell me, is a poor man, called Philip, the woodman, detained here on my
+account? and why is he so?"
+
+"He is," replied Chavigni, "and the reason is this:--he happened to
+recognize amongst those who attacked you a servant of mine, and was fool
+enough to tell it abroad, so that it reached the King's ears. Now,
+though every thing is justifiable in the service of the State, I did not
+particularly wish that business investigated, and I therefore put
+Monsieur Philip in here to keep him out of the way for a time. You are
+now of course aware why you were attacked. It was to secure the papers
+on your person, which papers we supposed were part of a treasonable
+correspondence between the Queen and the Spanish Government. All that is
+now over; and therefore, if you will promise me not to stir the business
+of that affray in any way--which indeed would do you no good--this
+meddling Woodman shall have his liberty."
+
+"I never had the slightest intention of stirring it," replied De Blenau;
+"and therefore rest satisfied on that score. But at the same time I must
+tell you that the whole affair came to the King's ears through me, and
+not through the Woodman, I believe. I observed your servant, as well as
+he did, and did not fail to write of it to several of my friends, as
+well as speak of it openly on more than one occasion; and this, depend
+upon it, has been the means by which it reached the ears of the King,
+and not by poor Philip."
+
+"Then I have done him wrong," said Chavigni, "and must make him some
+amends.--Let me see.--Oh, he shall be Sub-lieutenant of the forest; it
+will just suit him. And now, Monsieur de Blenau, as a friend, let me
+give you one piece of advice. This country is in a troubled and
+uncertain state, and there will be, doubtless, many plots and cabals
+going on. Retire, as you are commanded, into Bourbon; and if any one
+attempt to lead you into any conspiracy, so far from acceding, do not
+even listen to them; for the Cardinal owes you something for what has
+happened to-day, and he is not one to forget such debts. The eye of an
+angry man is upon you!--so be as guarded as if you trod amongst vipers.
+The time will come when you will say that Chavigni has advised you
+well."
+
+"And it is certainly advice which I shall follow, both from reason and
+inclination. But let me ask--am I to consider the King's prohibition
+strict in regard to communicating with any one at the Court?"
+
+Chavigni thought for a moment, and De Blenau imagined that he was
+considering the circumstances under which Louis's command had been
+given; but it was not so. The mind of the Statesman rapidly reverted to
+Pauline de Beaumont, all his precautions with regard to whom turned out
+to be nugatory; and he now calculated the consequences which were likely
+to ensue under the present state of affairs. He had no fear, indeed, in
+regard to the responsibility he had taken upon himself; for it would be
+easy to prove, in case of investigation, that Pauline had attempted in
+disguise to communicate privately with a State prisoner in the
+Bastille, which would completely justify the measures he had pursued;
+but he wished on all accounts to let a matter drop and be forgotten
+which had already produced such disagreeable events, and he therefore
+determined boldly to inform Madame de Beaumont of what had been done,
+and the motives for doing it; and then--certain that for her own sake
+she would keep silence on the subject--to restore her daughter with all
+speed.
+
+Though the thoughts of Chavigni were very rapid in combination, yet all
+these considerations occupied him so long, that De Blenau, perceiving
+his companion plunged into so profound a reverie, took the liberty of
+pulling him out by the ear, repeating his former question, whether he
+was to consider the King's prohibition in regard to communicating with
+the Court as strictly to be observed.
+
+"Undoubtedly!" replied Chavigni: "beyond all question! You do not want
+to get into the Bastille again, do you? Oh! I perceive it is
+Mademoiselle de Beaumont you are thinking of. But you cannot see her.
+She is neither in Paris, nor at St. Germain; but I will take care that
+when she joins her mother in Paris, she shall be informed of your
+safety; and you can write yourself when you get into the Bourbonnois."
+
+The reader, who is behind the scenes, may probably take the trouble of
+pitying De Blenau for the anxiety he would suffer on hearing that
+Pauline was neither at St. Germain nor in Paris; but there is no
+occasion to distress himself. De Blenau knowing that Pauline had
+absented herself from the court for the purpose of conveying to him the
+epistle of the Queen, naturally concluded that Chavigni had been
+deceived in regard to her absence, and that she was at all events in
+safety wherever she was.
+
+In the mean time Chavigni proceeded. "You must of course go to St.
+Germain, to prepare for your journey; but stay even there as few hours
+as you well may. Remember, I have told you, the eye of an angry man is
+upon you!--To-day is yours--to-morrow may be his--take care that by the
+least imprudence you do not turn your sunshine into storm. That you may
+make all speed, I will lend you a horse; for I own I take some interest
+in your fate--I know not why--It shall be at the gates in an hour,
+together with an order for the Woodman's liberation: so now, farewell.
+I have wasted too much time on you already."
+
+With this speech, half kind, half rude, Chavigni left De Blenau. Whether
+the Statesman's motives were wholly friendly, or whether they might not
+be partly interested, proceeding from a nice calculation of the
+precarious state both of the Cardinal's health and of his power, weighed
+with the authority the Queen might gain from the failure of either, the
+Count did not stay to investigate, although a suspicion of the latter
+kind flashed across his mind. In this, however, he did Chavigni
+injustice. In natural character he was not unlike De Blenau himself,
+frank, honourable, and generous; but education is stronger than nature;
+and education had made them different beings.
+
+On the departure of the Statesman, the Count returned once more to the
+apartment he had occupied while a prisoner, with no small
+self-gratulation on the change in his situation. Here he busied himself
+in preparations for his departure, and took pains to ascertain that the
+paper written by the unhappy Caply still remained in the book, as well
+as that the file was yet in the position which it described. Having
+finished this examination, which he looked upon as a duty to the next
+person destined to inhabit that abode, he waited impatiently till the
+hour should be passed which Chavigni had named as the time likely to
+elapse before the horse he promised would be prepared.
+
+Ere it had flown much more than half, however, the Governor entered the
+chamber, and with many profound bows and civil speeches, informed him
+that Monsieur de Chavigni had sent a horse for his use, and an order for
+the immediate liberation of Philip, the woodman. De Blenau was gratified
+by Chavigni's prompt fulfilment of his word in this last respect; and
+remembering the thousand crowns which he had promised the Governor on
+his liberation, he placed them in his hands, which brought him very near
+to the end of the large sum of gold that his valise contained.
+
+Now De Blenau was perfectly well convinced that the Governor was as
+great a rogue as need be; but there is something so expansive in the
+idea of being liberated from prison, that he could not bear the thought
+of keeping his louis shut up in a bag any longer, and he poured them
+forth into the Governor's palm with as much satisfaction as if he was
+emancipating so many prisoners himself.
+
+An _ecu courant_ was worth, in that day, about three francs, and a
+_louis d'or_ somewhere about four-and-twenty (more or less, according to
+the depreciation), so that eight ecus, or crowns, went to the louis;
+and, consequently, the sum of one thousand crowns amounted very nearly
+to one hundred and twenty-five golden louis, which was a very pretty
+reward for a rogue to receive for being a rascal in a good cause:
+nevertheless, the Governor, even when he had safely clutched the
+promised fee, looked very wistfully at a little green silk bag, which De
+Blenau reserved in his left hand, and which he calculated must contain
+about the same sum, or more.
+
+The Count, however, held it firm; and having given directions to whom,
+and when, his baggage was to be delivered, he descended into the inner
+court, and cast his eyes round in search of his faithful friend Philip.
+But the Woodman had received at once his emancipation from the dungeon
+where we last left him, and the news that De Blenau was free; and though
+he lingered in the court to see the young Count depart, with something
+both of joy and pride in his feelings, yet there was a sort of timid
+delicacy in the peasant's mind, which made him draw back from
+observation, amidst the crowd of prisoners that the court now contained,
+the moment that he perceived the Governor, with many a servile cringe,
+marshalling the late prisoner towards the gate of the Bastille; while
+those less fortunate persons, still destined to linger out their time
+within its walls, stood off with curious envying looks, to allow a
+passage for him now freed from their sad fellowship. De Blenau, however,
+was by no means forgetful of the Woodman, and not perceiving him amongst
+the rest, he inquired where he was, of the obsequious Governor, who
+instantly vociferated his name till the old arches echoed with the
+sound. "Philip! Philip the woodman! Philip Grissolles!" cried the
+Governor.
+
+"Does he know that he is free altogether to return home?" demanded De
+Blenau, seeing him approach.
+
+"No, I believe not," replied the Governor. "I had the honour of waiting
+first upon your Lordship."
+
+Philip now came near, and De Blenau had the gratification of announcing
+to him, unforestalled, that the storm had blown over, and that he might
+now return to his cottage in peace. He also told him of the appointment
+with which Chavigni proposed to compensate his imprisonment--an office
+so elevated, that the gayest day-dreams of Philip's ambition had never
+soared to half its height. But the joy of returning to the bosom of his
+family, to the calm shelter of his native forest, and the even tenor of
+his daily toil, swallowed up all his feelings--A throne would not have
+made him happier; and the tears of delight streaming down his rough
+cheek, brought a glistening drop too into De Blenau's eye. Noble and
+aristocratic as he was, De Blenau felt that there was an aristocracy
+above all--the nobility of virtue; and he did not disdain to grasp the
+broad hand of the honest Woodman. "Fare you well, Philip," he said.
+"Fare you well, till we meet again. I shall not easily forget you."
+
+The Woodman felt something more weighty in his palm than the hand of De
+Blenau, and looked at the heavy green purse which remained in it with a
+hesitating glance. But the Count raised his finger to his lip with a
+smile. "Not a word," said he, "not a word, as you value my friendship."
+And turning round, he followed the Governor through the various passages
+to the outer court, where stood Chavigni's horse caparisoned for his
+journey. De Blenau sprang into the saddle with the lightness of
+recovered freedom. The heavy gate was thrown open, the drawbridge fell,
+and, striking the sides of his horse with his armed heel, the newly
+emancipated prisoner bounded over the clattering boards of the
+_pontlevé_, and with a lightened heart took the road to St. Germain.
+
+His journey was soon made, and, as he approached the place of his
+destination, all the well-known objects round about seemed as if there
+shone upon them now a brighter and more beautifying sun than when he
+last beheld them. At his hotel all was gladness and delight, and
+crowding round their loved Lord, with smiles of welcome, his attendants
+could scarcely be made to comprehend that he was again about to quit St.
+Germain. De Blenau's commands, however, immediately to prepare for a
+long journey, recalled them to their duty; and eager to accompany him
+wherever he went, their arrangements were soon completed, and the
+Majordomo announced that all were ready.
+
+Not so the Count himself, who, notwithstanding the King's command, could
+not resolve to quit St. Germain's without visiting the Palace. Sending
+forward, therefore, his train to the entrance of the forest, he
+proceeded on foot to the gate of the Park, and crossing the terrace,
+entered the chateau by the small door in the western quadrangle.
+
+Perhaps De Blenau was not without a hope that Pauline might have
+returned thither from Paris; and at first, meeting none of the royal
+servants, he walked from empty chamber to chamber, with a degree of
+undefined expectation that in each he should find the object of his
+wishes: but of course his search was in vain, and descending to the
+lower part of the building, he proceeded to the Porter's chamber, who,
+having received no news to the contrary, informed him that the whole
+Court were still at Chantilly.
+
+I know not why it is, but somehow the heart, by long association with
+particular objects, forms as it were a friendship even with things
+inanimate, when they have been the silent witnesses of our hopes or our
+happiness; they form a link between us and past enjoyment, a sort of
+landmark for memory to guide us back to happy recollections; and to quit
+them, like every other sort of parting, has no small degree of pain. We
+are apt, too, to calculate all that may happen before we see them again,
+and the knowledge of the innumerable multitude of human miseries, from
+amongst which Fortune may choose, gives generally to such anticipations
+a gloomy hue. Looking back upon the towers of St. Germain, De Blenau
+felt as if he were parting from Pauline, and parting from her for a long
+and indefinite time; and his heart sickened in spite of all the gay
+dreams to which his liberation had at first given birth.
+
+Who is there that even when futurity is decked in the brightest colours
+which probability can lend to hope--when youth, and health, and ardent
+imagination combine to guarantee all the promises of life--who is there,
+that even then does not feel the painful influence of parting from any
+thing that is loved? Who is there in the world, the summer of whose
+bosom is so eternal, that at such moments, dark imaginings will not
+cloud the warmest sunshine of their heart, and cast a gloomy uncertain
+shadow on the most glowing scenes expectation can display? Just so De
+Blenau. Fancy presented to his mind a thousand forebodings of evil, as
+with many a lingering look he turned again and again towards the Palace;
+and even when at length he was joined by his train, who waited at the
+entrance of the forest, he was still absorbed in gloomy meditations.
+However, he felt it was in vain, and springing on his horse, he turned
+his face resolutely on his onward way.
+
+Skirting along the wood, he soon reached Versailles, and thence
+proceeding with little intermission, he arrived in time to pass the
+night at Etampes, from which place he set out early the next morning for
+Orleans. Continuing to trace along the course of the Loire with quick
+stages, he soon arrived at Nevers, where he crossed the river, and
+shortly after entered the Bourbonnois.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+     Which shows the truth of the French adage, "L'habit ne fait pas le
+     moine."
+
+
+I know I am very wrong, very partial, and very inconsiderate, to give
+two consecutive chapters to the Count de Blenau, when I have more people
+to despatch than had Captain Bobadil in the play, and less time to do it
+in. But I could not help it; those two last chapters would go together,
+and they were too long to be clapped up into one pat, as I have seen
+Sarah the dairy-maid do with the stray lumps of butter that float about
+in the butter-milk, after the rest of the churn's produce has been
+otherwise disposed of. So I am very sorry, and so forth.--And now, if
+you please, my dear reader, we will go on to some one else. What would
+you think of the Norman?--Very well!--For my part, I look upon him as
+the true hero of the story; for according to the best accounts, he eat
+more, drank more, lied more, and fought more than any one else, and was
+a great rogue into the bargain; all which, in the opinion of Homer, is
+requisite to the character of a hero. See the Odyssey _passim_.
+
+At Troyes, the Norman's perquisitions were very successful. No
+Bow-street officer could have detected all the proceedings of
+Fontrailles with more acuteness. Step by step he traced him, from his
+first arrival at Troyes, till the day he set out for Mesnil St. Loup;
+and learning the road he had taken, he determined upon following the
+same track, for he shrewdly concluded, that whatever business of import
+the conspirator had been engaged in, had been transacted in the two days
+and one night, which, according to the story of the _garçon d'auberge_
+at the Hotel du Grand Soleil, he had been absent from the good city of
+Troyes.
+
+Now, our friend Monsieur Marteville had learned another piece of news,
+which made him the more willing to bend his steps in the direction
+pointed out as that which Fontrailles had taken. This was no other than
+that a considerable band of robbers had lately come down into that part
+of the country to collect their rents; and that their principal haunt
+was supposed to be the thick woods which lay on the borders of the high
+road to Troyes, in the neighbourhood of Mesnil.
+
+True it is, the Norman had abandoned his free companions of the forest,
+and received the wages of Monsieur de Chavigni; but still he kept up a
+kind of desultory correspondence with his former associates, and had not
+lost sight of them till certain reports got about, that the _Lieutenant
+Criminel_ was going to visit the forest of Laye, which induced them to
+leave the vicinity of St. Germain, for fear that there should not be
+room enough in the forest for them and the Lieutenant too. It was
+natural enough that Marteville should wish to make a morning call upon
+his old friends: besides--I'll tell you a story. There was once upon a
+time a man who had a cat, of which he was so fond, that, understanding
+one Mr. Pigmalion had got an ivory statue changed into a wife by just
+asking it, he resolved to see what he could do for his cat in the same
+way. But I dare say you know the story just as well as I do--how the cat
+was changed into a woman, and how she jumped out of bed after a mouse,
+and so forth; showing plainly, that "what is bred in the bone will never
+go out of the flesh;" that "nature is better than a schoolmaster;" and
+that "you can never make a silk purse out of a sow's ear;" as Sancho
+would say. But, however, the Norman had a strange hankering after his
+good old trade, and was very well inclined to pass a day or two in the
+free forest, and do Chavigni's work into the bargain. There was a little
+_embarras_ indeed in the case, respecting Louise, for whom, in these
+first days of possession, he did feel a certain degree of attachment;
+and did not choose to leave her behind, though he did not like to take
+her with him, considering the society he was going to meet. "Pshaw!"
+said he at length, speaking to himself, "I'll leave her at Mesnil."
+
+This resolution he began to put in execution, by placing Louise upon one
+horse, and himself upon the other, together with their several valises;
+and thus, in the same state and order in which they had arrived at
+Troyes, so they quitted it for Mesnil St. Loup. All the information
+that Marteville possessed to guide him in his farther inquiries,
+amounted to no more than this, (which he learned from the aforesaid
+_garçon d'auberge_;) namely, that the little gentleman in grey had taken
+the road apparently to Mesnil; that he had been absent, as before said,
+two days and one night; and that his horse, when it came home, appeared
+to have been furnished with a new shoe _en route_. This, however, was
+quite sufficient as a clue, and the Norman did not fail to turn it to
+its full account.
+
+Passing through the little villages of Mehun and Langly, the Norman eyed
+every blacksmith's forge as he went; but the one was next to the
+post-house, and the other was opposite the inn; and the Norman went on,
+saying within himself--"A man who was seeking concealment, would rather
+proceed with his beast unshod than stop there." So, resuming his
+conversation with Louise, they jogged on, babbling, not of green fields,
+but of love and war; both of which subjects were much within the
+knowledge of the Sieur Marteville, his battles being somewhat more
+numerous than his wives, and having had plenty of both in his day.
+
+At all events, Louise was very well satisfied with the husband that
+Heaven had sent her, and looked upon him as a very fine gentleman, and a
+great warrior; and though, now and then, she would play the coquette a
+little, and put forth all the little _minauderie_ which a Languedoc
+soubrette could assume, in order to prevent the Norman from having too
+great a superiority, yet Monsieur Marteville was better satisfied with
+her than any of his former wives; and as she rode beside him, he admired
+her horsemanship, and looked at her from top to toe in much the same
+manner that he would have examined the points of a fine Norman charger.
+No matter how Louise was mounted: suffice it to say, that it was not on
+a side-saddle, such things being but little known at the time I speak
+of.
+
+While they were thus shortening the road with sweet discourse, at the
+door of a little hovel by the side of the highway, half hidden from
+sight by a clumsy mud wall against which he leaned, half exposed by the
+lolloping position he assumed, appeared the large, dirty, unmeaning face
+and begrimed person of a Champenois blacksmith, with one hand grubbing
+amongst the roots of his grizzled hair, and the other hanging
+listlessly by his side, loaded with the ponderous hammer appropriated to
+his trade. "_C'est ici_," thought the Norman; "_Quatre vingt dix neuf
+moutons et un Champenois font cent_--Ninety-nine sheep and a Champenois
+make a hundred; so we'll see what my fool will tell me.--_Holla!
+Monsieur!_"
+
+"_Plait-il?_" cried the Champenois, advancing from his hut.
+
+"Pray has Monsieur Pont Orson passed here to-day?" demanded the Norman.
+
+"Monsieur Pont Orson! Monsieur Pont Orson!" cried the Champenois, trying
+to assume an air of thought, and rummaging in his empty head for a name
+that never was in it: "Pardie, I do not know."
+
+"I mean," said the Norman, "the same little gentleman in grey, who
+stopped here ten days agone, to have a bay horse shod, as he was coming
+back from--what's the name of the place?"
+
+"No!" cried the Champenois; "he was going, he was not coming, when he
+had his horse shod."
+
+"But I say he was coming," replied the Norman. "How the devil do you
+know he was going?"
+
+"_Mais dame!_" exclaimed the other; "How do I know he was going? Why,
+did not he ask me how far it was to Mesnil? and if he had not been
+going, why should he wish to know?"
+
+"It was not he, then," said the Norman.
+
+"_Mais dame! ouai!_" cried the Champenois. "He was dressed all in grey,
+and had a bay horse, on whose hoof I put as nice a piece of iron as ever
+came off an anvil; and he asked me how far it was to Mesnil, and
+whereabouts was the old Castle of St. Loup. '_Monsieur Pont Orson!
+Monsieur Pont Orson? Dieu! qui aurait déviné que c'étoit Monsieur Pont
+Orson?_'"
+
+"_Mais je vous dis que ce n'étoit pas lui_," cried the Norman, putting
+spurs to his horse. "_Allons, chérie. Adieu, Monsieur Champenois,
+adieu!_--Ha! ha! ha!" cried he, when at a little distance. "_Ganache!_
+he has told me all that I wanted to know. Then he did go to Mesnil--the
+old Chateau of St. Loup! What could he want there? I've heard of this
+old chateau."
+
+"But who is Monsieur Pont Orson?" demanded Louise, interrupting the
+broken cogitations of her husband.
+
+"Nay, I know not, _ma chère_," replied her husband. "The man in the
+moon, with a corkscrew to tap yon fool's brains, and draw out all I
+wanted to know about the person whom I told you I was seeking for
+Monsieur de Chavigni.--It was a mere name. But there, I see a steeple on
+yon hill in the wood. Courage! we shall soon reach it. It is not above a
+league.--That must be Mesnil."
+
+The Norman's league, however, proved at least two, and Louise, though a
+good horsewoman, was complaining most bitterly of fatigue, when they
+arrived in the little street of Mesnil St. Loup, and, riding up to the
+dwelling of our old friend Gaultier the innkeeper, alighted under the
+withered garland that hung over the door.
+
+"_Holla! Aubergiste! Garçon!_" cried the Norman, "_Holla!_"
+
+But no one came; and on repeating the summons, the sweet voice of the
+dame of the house was all that could be heard, screaming forth a variety
+of tender epithets, applicable to the _garçon d'écurie_, and intended to
+stimulate him to come forth and take charge of the strangers' horses.
+"Don't you know, _Lambin_," cried she, "that that hog your master is
+lying up-stairs dying for no one knows what? And am I to go out,
+_Maraud_, and take people's horses with my hands all over grease, while
+you stand l--s--ng yourself there? _Cochon!_ if you do not go, I'll
+throw this pot-lid at you." And immediately a tremendous rattle on the
+boards at the farther side of the stable, announced that she had been as
+good as her word.
+
+This seemed the only effectual method of arousing the occult
+sensibilities of the _garçon d'écurie_, who listened unconcerned to her
+gentler solicitations, but, yielding to the more potent application of
+the pot-lid, came forth and took the bridle of the horses, while our
+Norman lifted his lady to the ground.
+
+The sight of such goodly limbs as those possessed by Monsieur
+Marteville, but more especially the blue velvet pourpoint to which we
+have formerly alluded, and which he wore on the present occasion, did
+not fail to produce the most favourable impression on the mind of the
+landlady; and, bustling about with the activity of a grasshopper, she
+prepared to serve the athletic cavalier and his pretty lady to the best
+cheer of the _auberge_.
+
+"Would Madame choose some stewed escargots _pour se restaurer_? Would
+Monsieur take _un coup de vin_ before dinner to wash the dust out of
+his mouth? Would Madame step up-stairs to repose herself? Would Monsieur
+take a _gouter_?" These and a thousand other civil proffers the hostess
+showered upon the Norman and Louise, some of which were accepted, some
+declined; but the principal thing on which the Norman seemed to set his
+heart was the speedy preparation of dinner, which he ordered with the
+true galloping profusion of a beggar on horseback, demanding _the best
+of every thing_. While this was in progress, he forgot not the principal
+object of his journey, but began with some circumlocution to draw the
+hostess towards the subject of Fontrailles' visit to Mesnil.
+
+At the very mention, however, of a little man in grey, the good landlady
+burst forth in such a torrent of invective that she went well nigh to
+exhaust her copious vocabulary of epithets and expletives; while the
+Norman, taken by surprise, stood gazing and shrugging his shoulders,
+wondering at her facility of utterance, and the vast rapidity with which
+she concatenated her hard names. The little man in grey, who had been
+there precisely ten days before, was, according to her opinion, a liar,
+and a rogue, and a cheat; a conjuror, a Huguenot, and a vagabond; a man
+without honour, principle, or faith; a _maraud_, a _matin_, a
+_misérable_; together with a great many other titles the enumeration of
+which she summed up with "_et s'il n'est pas le Diable, le Diable
+l'emporte!_"
+
+"_C'est vrai_," cried the Norman every time she paused to take breath;
+"_C'est vrai._ But how came you to find out he was so wicked?"
+
+The lady's reply was not of the most direct kind; but from it the Norman
+gathered, with his usual acuteness, that after our friend Gaultier had
+pointed out to Fontrailles the road to the old Castle of St. Loup, he
+returned home, his mind oppressed with the consciousness of being the
+confidant of a Sorcerer. He laboured under the load of this terrific
+secret for some days; and then, his constitution not being able to
+support his mental struggles, he sickened and took to his bed, where he
+still lay in a deplorable state, talking in his sleep of the conjuror in
+grey, and of Père Le Rouge, and the Devil himself, and sundry other
+respectable people of the same class. But when awake, it must be
+remarked, the _aubergiste_ never opened his lips upon the subject,
+notwithstanding all the solicitations which his better half, being
+tempted by the curiosity of her sex, did not fail to make. From all
+this the good dame concluded that the little man in grey had bewitched
+her husband and driven him mad, causing him to lie up there upon his bed
+like a hog, neglecting his business and leaving her worse than a widow.
+
+All this was corn, wine and oil to the mind of the Norman, who, wisely
+reserving his opinion on the subject, retired to consult with Louise,
+having a great esteem for woman's wit in such cases. After some
+discussion, a plan was manufactured between them, which, though somewhat
+bold in conception, was happily brought to issue in the following
+manner.
+
+During the dinner, at which the _bourgeoise_ waited herself, she was not
+a little surprised to hear Louise more than once call Marteville by the
+reverend appellation of _mon père_; and if this astonished, how much was
+her wonder increased when afterwards, during a concerted absence of the
+Norman, the fair lady informed her, under a promise of profound secrecy,
+that the goodly cavalier, whose blue velvet doublet she had so much
+admired, was neither more nor less than the celebrated _Père Alexis,
+directeur_ of the Jesuits of Alençon, who was travelling in disguise in
+order to place her (one of his penitents) in a monastery at Rome.
+
+True, Louise either forgot or did not know that they were not precisely
+in the most direct road to Rome, but she was very safe in the person she
+spoke to, who had even less knowledge of where Rome stood than herself.
+Now the story of Louise was a very probable one in every other respect,
+considering the manners of the day; for _les bons pères Jesuites_ very
+often travelled about in disguise for purposes best known to themselves,
+and very few of the _bons pères_, whether Jesuits or not, were averse to
+a fair penitent. Be that as it may, the simple _bourgeoise_ never
+doubted it for a moment, and casting herself at the feet of Louise, she
+entreated her, with tears in her eyes, to intercede with the reverend
+_directeur_ to confess and absolve her sinful husband, who lay up-stairs
+like a hog, doing nothing.
+
+Just at this moment the Norman re-entered the room; and though his
+precise object, in the little drama they had got up, was neither more
+nor less than to confess the unhappy _aubergiste_, yet, as a matter of
+form, he made some difficulty to meddling with the penitent of another;
+but after faintly advising that the _Curé_ of the village should be sent
+for, he agreed, as the case was urgent, to undertake the office of
+confessor himself, though he mildly reproached Louise, in presence of
+the hostess, for having betrayed his real character, and bade her be
+more careful in future.
+
+As soon as he had signified his consent, the _bourgeoise_ ran to tell
+her husband that the very reverend _Père Alexis, directeur_ of the
+Jesuits of Alençon, had kindly consented to hear his confession and
+absolve him of his sins; and in the mean while the Norman gave
+directions to Louise, whose adroitness had often served him in
+discovering the secrets of the Palace, while she had remained with
+Madame de Beaumont, to gain, in the present instance, all the
+information she could from the wife, while he went to interrogate the
+husband.
+
+This being settled, as a blue velvet pourpoint was not exactly the garb
+to play a confessor in, Louise ran in all haste to strip the
+Astrologer's robe we have already mentioned of all its profane symbols,
+and the Norman, casting its shadowy folds over his lusty limbs, and
+drawing the hood over his head, appeared to the eye as goodly a friar as
+ever cracked a bottle. No great regard to costume was necessary, for the
+landlady took it all for granted; and when she beheld the Norman issue
+forth from the room in which the valise had been placed, clothed in his
+long dark robes, she cast herself at his feet in a transport of
+reverence and piety.
+
+Monsieur Marteville, otherwise the Père Alexis, did not fail to give her
+his blessing with great gravity, and with a solemn demeanour and slow
+step followed to the chamber of the sick man.
+
+Poor Gaultier was no longer the gay rosy-cheeked innkeeper which he had
+appeared to Fontrailles, but, stretched upon his bed, he lay pale and
+wan, muttering over to himself shreds and tatters of prayers, and
+thinking of the little man in grey, Père Le Rouge, and the Devil. As
+soon as he beheld the pretended Père Alexis enter his chamber, he
+essayed to rise in his bed; but the Norman motioned him to be still, and
+sitting down by him, exhorted him to make a full confession of his sins,
+and then, to give greater authenticity to his character, he knelt down
+and composed an extempore prayer, in a language equally of his own
+manufacture, but which the poor _aubergiste_ believed devoutly to be
+Latin, hearing every now and then the words _sanctissimus_, _in secula
+seculorum_, and _benedictus_, with which the Norman did not fail to
+season it richly, being the only stray Latin he was possessed of.
+
+"Humgumnibus quintessentialiter expositu dum dum; benedictus sint
+foolatii et sanctissimus fourbi. Hi sty Aubergisti rorum coram nobis
+excipe capones poulardici generi, fur grataverunt pectus, legbonibus
+venzon in secula seculorum sanctissimus benedictus," said the Norman.
+
+"Amen!" cried the innkeeper from the bottom of his heart, with such
+fervency that the Père Alexis could scarcely maintain his gravity.
+
+The Norman now proceeded to business, and putting down his ear to a
+level with the lips of Gaultier, he once more desired him to make a
+clear breast.
+
+"_Oh, mon Père_," cried Gaultier, "_Je suis un pauvre pécheur, un
+misérable!_"
+
+The good Father exhorted him to take courage, and to come to a detail of
+his crimes.
+
+"_Oh, mon Père_," cried he, "I have sold cats for rabbits, and more
+especially for hares. I have moistened an old hareskin with warm water
+and bloodied it with chicken's blood, to make my cats and my badgers and
+my weasels pass for what they really were not. I have cooked up snakes
+for eels, and dressed vipers _en matelot_. I have sold bad wine of
+Bois-marly for good wine of Epernay; and, _Oh, mon Père, je suis un
+pauvre pécheur_."
+
+"Well, well, get on," cried the Norman somewhat impatiently, "I'll give
+you absolution for all that. All innkeepers do the same. But what more
+have you done?"
+
+"_Oh, mon Père, je suis un pauvre pécheur_," proceeded Gaultier in a low
+voice; "I have charged my customers twice as much as I ought to charge.
+I have vowed that fish was dear when it was cheap; and I have--"
+
+"_Nom de Dieu!_" cried the Norman, getting out of temper with the
+recapitulation of Gaultier's peccadilloes. "_Nom de Dieu!_ that is to
+say, in the name of God, I absolve you from all such sins as are common
+to innkeepers, masters of taverns, cooks, _aubergistes_ and the
+like--sins of profession as they may be called--only appointing you to
+kneel before the altar of your parish church for two complete hours,
+repeating the Pater and the Ave during the whole time, by way of
+penance;" thought he, for making me hear all this nonsense.--"But come,"
+he continued, "bring up the heavy artillery--that is, let me hear your
+more uncommon sins. You have some worse things upon your conscience than
+any you have told, or I am mistaken."
+
+"_Oh, mon Père! Oh, mon bon Père!_" groaned Gaultier, "_Je suis un
+pauvre pécheur, un misérable_."
+
+"Now it comes," thought the Norman; "_Allons, allons, mon fils, ayez
+courage! l'Eglise est pleine de miséricorde._"
+
+"There was an old owl in the barn," said Gaultier, "and woodcocks being
+scarce--"
+
+"_Ventre Saint Gris!_" cried Marteville to himself, "this will never
+come to an end;" "_Mais, mon fils_," he said aloud, "I have told you,
+all that is pardoned. Speak, can you charge yourself with murder,
+treason, conspiracy, sorcery,"--Gaultier groaned--"astrology,"--Gaultier
+groaned still more deeply--"or of having concealed any such crimes, when
+committed by others?" Gaultier groaned a third time. The Norman had now
+brought him to the point; and after much moaning, hesitation, and agony
+of mind, he acknowledged that he had been privy to a meeting of
+sorcerers.--Nay, that he had even conducted a notorious Astrologer, a
+little man in grey, on the road to meet the defunct Père Le Rouge and
+his companion the Devil, at the old Chateau of St. Loup; and that it was
+his remorse of conscience for this crime, together with his terror at
+revealing it, after the menaces of the Sorcerer, that had thrown him
+into the lamentable state in which he then lay.
+
+By degrees, the Norman drew from him every particular, and treasuring
+them up in his memory, he hastened to give the suffering innkeeper
+absolution; which, though not performed in the most orthodox manner,
+quite satisfied Gaultier; who concluded, that any little difference of
+form from that to which he had been used, proceeded from the Norman
+being a Jesuit and a _directeur_; and he afterwards was heard to
+declare, that the Père Alexis was the most pious and saintly of men, and
+that one absolution from him was worth a hundred from any one else;
+although the _Curé_ of the village, when he heard the method in which it
+had been administered, pronounced it to be heterodox and heretical, and
+in short a damnable error.
+
+And here be it remarked, that a neighbouring _Curé_ having taken up the
+quarrel of Père Alexis, and pronounced his form to be the right one, a
+violent controversy ensued, which raged in Champagne for more than fifty
+years, producing nine hundred pamphlets, three thousand letters, twenty
+public discussions, and four Papal bulls, till at length it was agreed
+on all hands to write to the Jesuits of Alençon, and demand their
+authority for such a deviation from established rules: when it was
+discovered that they administered absolution like every one else; and
+that they never had such a person as Père Alexis belonging to their very
+respectable and learned body.
+
+But to return to the Norman. As soon as he had concluded all the
+ceremonies he thought right to perform, for the farther consolation of
+Gaultier, he said to him--"Fear not, my son, the menaces of the
+Sorcerer; for I forbid all evil beings, even were it the Devil himself,
+to lay so much as the tip of a finger upon you; and moreover, I will go
+this very night to the old Chateau of St. Loup, and will exorcise Père
+Le Rouge and drive his spirit forth from the place, and, _morbleu!_ if
+he dare appear to me I will take him by the beard, and lead him into
+the middle of the village, and all the little children shall drum him
+out of the regiment--I mean out of the town."
+
+With this bold resolution, Monsieur Marteville descended to the ground
+floor, and communicated his design to Louise and the _bourgeoise_, who
+were sitting with their noses together over a flaggon of _vin chaud_.
+"_Donnez moi un coup de vin_," said he, "_et j'irai_."
+
+But Louise, who did not choose to trust her new husband out of her
+sight, having discovered by a kind of instinct, that in his case
+"absence was worse than death," declared she would go with him, and see
+him take Père Le Rouge by the beard. The Norman remonstrated, but Louise
+persisted with a sort of sweet pertinacity which was quite irresistible,
+and, though somewhat out of humour with her obstinacy, he was obliged to
+consent.
+
+However, he growled audibly while she assisted to disembarrass him of
+his long black robe; and probably, had it not been for his assumed
+character, would have accompanied his opposition with more than one of
+those elegant expletives with which he was wont to season his discourse.
+Louise, notwithstanding all this, still maintained her point, and the
+horses being brought forth, the bags were placed on their backs, and the
+Norman and his spouse set forth for the old Chateau of St. Loup, taking
+care to repeat their injunction to the landlady not to discover their
+real characters to any one, as the business of the _Père directeur_
+required the utmost secrecy.
+
+The landlady promised devoutly to comply, and having seen her guests
+depart, entered the public room, where several of the peasantry had by
+this time assembled, and told every one in a whisper that the tall
+gentleman they had seen get on horseback was the Père Alexis,
+_directeur_ of the Jesuits of Alençon, and that the lady was
+Mademoiselle Louise de Crackmagnole, _sa penitente_. Immediately, they
+all ran in different directions, some to the door, some to the window,
+to see so wonderful a pair as the Père Alexis and his _penitente_. The
+bustle, rushing, and chattering which succeeded, and which the landlady
+could no way abate, called the attention of the Sieur Marteville, who,
+not particularly in a good humour at being contradicted by Louise, was
+so much excited into anger by the gaping of the multitude, that he had
+well nigh drawn the portentous Toledo which hung by his side, and
+returned to satisfy their curiosity by presenting his person rather
+nearer than they might have deemed agreeable. He bridled in his wrath,
+however, or rather, to change the figure, kept it in store for some
+future occasion; and consoling himself with a few internal curses, in
+which Louise had her share, he rode on, and soon arrived at that part of
+the wood which we have already said was named the Sorcerer's Grove.
+
+Of the unheard of adventures which there befel, the giants that he slew,
+and the monsters that he overcame, we shall treat in a future chapter,
+turning our attention at present to other important subjects which call
+loudly for detail.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+     Being a Chapter of Explanations, which the reader has no occasion
+     to peruse if he understands the story without it.
+
+
+"Great news! Cinq Mars!" exclaimed Fontrailles. "Great news! the
+Cardinal is sick to the death, and goes without loss of time to
+Tarascon: he trembles upon the brink of the grave."
+
+Cinq Mars was stretched upon three chairs, the farthest of which he kept
+balanced on its edge by the weight of his feet, idly rocking it
+backwards and forwards, while his mind was deeply buried in one of the
+weak romances of the day, the reading which was a favourite amusement
+with the Master of the Horse, at those periods when the energies of his
+mind seemed to sleep. "Too good news to be true, Fontrailles," he
+replied, hardly looking up; "take my word for it, the Devil never dies."
+
+"That may be," answered Fontrailles, "but nevertheless the Cardinal, as
+I said, is dying, and goes instantly to Tarascon to try another
+climate."
+
+"Why, where hast thou heard all this? and when didst thou come from
+Spain?" demanded Cinq Mars, rousing himself. "Thou hast made good
+speed."
+
+"Had I not good reason?" asked the other. "But they tell me that I must
+question you for news; for that it is something in regard to your
+friend, the young Count de Blenau, which has so deeply struck the
+Cardinal."
+
+"Well then, I will give the story, in true heroic style," answered Cinq
+Mars, tossing the book from him. "Thou dost remember, O my friend!" he
+continued, imitating the language of the romance he had just been
+reading, "how stormy was the night, when last I parted from thee, at the
+old Chateau of Mesnil St. Loup; and if the thunder clouds passed away,
+and left the sky clear and moonlighted, it was but to be succeeded by a
+still more violent tempest. For, long after thou wert snugly housed at
+Troyes, De Thou and myself were galloping on through the storm of
+night. The rain fell, the lightning glanced, the thunder rolled over
+head, and the way seemed doubly long, and the forest doubly dreary, when
+by a sudden blaze of the red fire of heaven, I descried some one,
+mounted on a white horse, come rapidly towards us."
+
+"Come, come, Cinq Mars!" exclaimed Fontrailles, "for grace, leave the
+land of romance--remember I have a long story to tell, and not much time
+to tell it in. Truce with imagination therefore, for we have more
+serious work before us."
+
+"It's truth--it's truth, thou unbelieving Jew," cried Cinq Mars. "No
+romance, I can assure you. Well, soon as this white horseman saw two
+others wending their way towards him, he suddenly reined in his beast,
+and turning round, galloped off as hard as he could go. Now, if
+curiosity be a failing, it is one I possess in an eminent degree; so,
+clapping spurs to my horse, after him I went, full faster than he ran
+away. As for De Thou, he calls out after me, loud enough to drown the
+thunder, crying, 'Cinq Mars, where are you going? In God's name stop--We
+know the place is full of banditti--If these are robbers, they may
+murder you,'--and so on; but finding that I did not much heed, he also
+was smitten with a galloping fit, and so we followed each other, like a
+procession, though with no procession pace: the white horseman first--I
+next--and De Thou last--with about a hundred yards between each of
+us--going all at full speed, to the great peril of our necks, and no
+small danger of our heads from the boughs. I was best mounted however,
+on my stout black horse Sloeberry--you know Sloeberry;--and so
+distancing De Thou all to nothing, I began to come closer to my white
+horseman, who, finding that he could not get off, gradually pulled in,
+and let me come up with him. 'Well, Sir,' said he directly, with all
+possible coolness--'you have ridden hard to-night.'--'In truth, I have,
+my man,' answered I, 'and so have you, and I should much like to know
+why you did so.'--'For the same reason that you did, I suppose,' replied
+the boy, for such it was who spoke.--'And what reason is that?' I
+asked.--'Because we both liked it, I suppose,' replied he.--'That may
+be,' answered I; 'but we have all a reason for our likings.'--'True,
+Sir,' said the boy, 'and I dare say your's was a good one; pray,
+believe that mine was so also,'--All the time he spoke, he kept looking
+round at me, till at last he got a good sight of my face. 'Are not you
+Monsieur de Cinq Mars?' cried he at length.--'And if I am, what follows
+then?'--'Why it follows that you are the person I want,' said the
+boy.--'And what want you with me?'--'Who is that?' demanded he, pointing
+to De Thou, who now came up. I soon satisfied him on that score, and he
+went on. 'My name is Henry de La Mothe, and I am Page to your good
+friend, the Count de Blenau, whom I have seen arrested and carried to
+the Bastille.'
+
+"Now, you know, Fontrailles, how dear I hold De Blenau; so you may guess
+how pleasantly this rang upon my ear. My first question to the Page was,
+whether my friend had sent him to me. 'No, no, Seigneur,' answered the
+boy; 'but as I knew you loved my master, and the King loved you, I
+thought it best to let you know, in case you might wish to serve him. He
+was taken as he was about to go with the Queen to Chantilly, and they
+would not let me or any other go with him, to serve him in prison. So I
+cast about in my mind, how I could serve him out of it, and consequently
+came off to seek you.'--'But how did you know where to find me?'
+demanded I, not a little fearing that our movements were watched; but
+the boy relieved me from that by answering, 'Why, Sir, there was a
+messenger came over from Chantilly to desire the Queen's presence; and
+amongst all the questions I asked him, there was one which made him tell
+me that you had gone to Troyes upon some business of inheritance, and as
+I heard that the path through this wood would save me a league, I took
+it, hoping to reach the town to-night.'
+
+"Well, all the Page's news vexed me not a little, and I thought of a
+thousand things to relieve De Blenau ere I could fix on any. But it
+happened, as it often does in this world, that chance directed me when
+reasoning failed. Having made the best of my way, I arrived with De Thou
+and the boy at Chantilly, at the hour of nine the next night, and
+passing towards my own apartments in the Palace, I saw the King's
+cabinet open, and on inquiry, found that he had not yet retired to rest.
+My resolution was instantly taken; and without waiting even to dust my
+boots, I went just as I was, to pay my duty to his Majesty. My short
+absence had done me no harm with Louis, who received me with more grace
+than ever; so while the newness was on, I dashed at the subject next my
+heart at once. Like a well-bred falcon, I soared my full pitch, hovered
+an instant in my pride of place, and then stooped at once with
+irresistible force. In short, Fontrailles, for the first time I believe
+in my life, I boasted. I told Louis how I loved him; I counted over the
+services I had done him. His noble heart--you may smile, Sir, but he has
+a noble heart--was touched; I saw it, and gave him a moment to think
+over all old passages of affection between us, and to combine them with
+the feelings of the moment, and then I told him that my friend--my bosom
+friend--was suffering from the tyranny of the Cardinal, and demanded his
+favour for De Blenau. 'What can I do, Cinq Mars?' demanded he, 'you know
+I must follow the advice of my ministers and counsellors.'
+
+"It was an opportunity not to be lost," exclaimed Fontrailles, eagerly;
+"I hope you seized it."--"I did," replied Cinq Mars. "I plied him hard
+on every point that could shake the influence of Richelieu. I showed him
+the shameful bondage he suffered. I told him, that if he allowed the
+sovereign power, placed by God in his hands, to be abused by another, he
+was as guilty as if he misused it himself; and then I said--'I plead
+alone for the innocent, Sire. Hear De Blenau yourself, and if you find
+him guilty, bring him to the block at once. But if he have done nothing
+worthy of death, I will trust that your Majesty's justice will instantly
+set him free.' Well, the King not only promised that he would go to
+Paris and examine De Blenau himself, but he added--'And I will be firm,
+Cinq Mars; I know the power is in my own hands, and I will exert it to
+save your friend, if he be not criminal.'
+
+"This was all fair, Fontrailles; I could desire no more; but Louis even
+out did my expectation. Something had already irritated him against the
+Cardinal--I think it was the banishment of Clara de Hauteford. However,
+he went to the Bastille with Richelieu, Chavigni, and others of the
+council. Of course I was not admitted; but I heard all that passed from
+one who was present. De Blenau bore him nobly and bravely, and downright
+refused to answer any questions about the Queen, without her Majesty's
+own commands. Well; Richelieu, according to custom, was for giving him
+the torture instantly. But the King had many good reasons for not
+suffering that to be done. Besides wishing to pleasure me, and being
+naturally averse to cruelty, he had a lingering inclination to cross
+Richelieu, and De Blenau's firmness set him a good example: so the
+Cardinal was overruled; and the Queen's commands to De Blenau to confess
+all being easily procured, he owned that he had forwarded letters from
+her Majesty to her brother the King of Spain. Now, you see, Richelieu
+was angry, and irritated at being thwarted; and he did the most foolish
+thing that man ever did; for though he saw that Louis was roused, and
+just in the humour to cross him, he got up, and not considering the
+King's presence, at once pronounced a sentence of exile against De
+Blenau, as if the sovereign power had been entirely his own, without
+consulting Louis, or asking his approbation at all. Though, God knows,
+the King cares little enough about using his power, of course he does
+not like to be treated as a mere cipher before his own Council; and
+accordingly he revoked the Cardinal's sentence without hesitation,
+sending De Blenau, merely for form's sake, into Bourbon, and then
+rising, he broke up the Council, treating Richelieu with as scanty
+consideration as he had shown himself. By Heaven! Fontrailles, when I
+heard it, I could have played the fool for joy. Richelieu was deeply
+touched, you may suppose; and what with his former ill health and this
+new blow, he has never been himself since; but I knew not that he was so
+far gone as you describe."
+
+"It is so reported in Paris," replied Fontrailles, "and he has become so
+humble that no one would know him. But mark me, Cinq Mars. The Cardinal
+is now upon the brink of a precipice, and we must urge him quickly down;
+for if he once again gain the ascendency, we are not only lost for ever,
+but his power will be far greater than it was before."
+
+"He will never rise more in this world," answered Cinq Mars. "His day, I
+trust, is gone by: his health is broken; and the King, who always hated
+him, now begins to fear him no longer. I will do my best to strengthen
+Louis's resolution, and get him into a way of thinking for himself. And
+now, Fontrailles, for the news from Spain."
+
+"Why, my story might be made longer than yours, if I were to go through
+all that happened to me on the road. It was a long and barren journey,
+and I believe I should have been almost starved before I reached Madrid,
+if I had not half filled my bags with biscuits. However, I arrived at
+length, and not without some difficulty found a place to lodge, for
+these cold Spaniards are as fearful of admitting a stranger to their
+house, as if he were a man-tiger. My next step was to send for a tailor,
+and to hire me a lacquais or two, one of whom I sent instantly to Madame
+de Chevreuse, praying an audience of her, which was granted
+immediately."
+
+"Why thou wert not mad enough to make a _confidante_ of Madame de
+Chevreuse?" exclaimed Cinq Mars; "why, it is carrying water in a sieve.
+A thousand to one, she makes her peace with Richelieu, by telling him
+the whole story."
+
+"Fear not, Cinq Mars," answered Fontrailles. "Have you yet to learn that
+a woman's first passion is revenge? To such extent is the hatred of
+Madame de Chevreuse against the Cardinal, that I believe, were she asked
+to sacrifice one of her beautiful hands, she would do it, if it would
+but conduce to his ruin."
+
+Cinq Mars shook his head, still doubting the propriety of what had been
+done; but Fontrailles proceeded.
+
+"However, I told her nothing; she knew it all, before I set foot in
+Spain. You must know, King Philip is a monarch no way insensible to
+female charms, and the Duchess is too lovely to pass unnoticed any
+where. The consequences are natural--A lady of her rank having taken
+refuge in his dominions, of course the King must pay her every
+attention. He is always with her--has a friendship, a _penchant_, an
+affection for her--call it what you will, but it is that sort of feeling
+which makes a man tell a woman every thing: and thus very naturally our
+whole correspondence has gone direct to Madame de Chevreuse. My object
+in first asking to see her, was only to gain an immediate audience of
+the King, which she can always command; but when I found that she knew
+the whole business, of course, I made her believe that I came for the
+express purpose of consulting her upon it. Her vanity was flattered. She
+became more than ever convinced, that she was a person of infinite
+consequence, and acknowledged discernment; entered heart and hand into
+all our schemes; stuck out her pretty little foot, and made me buckle
+her shoe; brought me speedily to the King's presence, and made him
+consent to all I wished; got the treaty signed and sealed, and sent me
+back to France with my object accomplished, remaining herself fully
+convinced that she is at the head of the most formidable conspiracy that
+ever was formed, and that future ages will celebrate her talents for
+diplomacy and intrigue."
+
+Cinq Mars, though not fully satisfied at the admission of so light a
+being as Madame de Chevreuse into secrets of such importance, could not
+help smiling at the account his companion gave; and as it was in vain to
+regret what was done, he turned to the present, asking what was to be
+done next. "No time is now to be lost," said he. "For the whole danger
+is now incurred, and we must not allow it to be fruitless."
+
+"Certainly not," answered Fontrailles. "You must ply the King hard to
+procure his consent as far as possible. In the next place, a counterpart
+of the treaty must be signed by all the confederates, and sent into
+Spain, for which I have pledged my word; and another, similarly signed,
+must be sent to the Duke of Bouillon in Italy. But who will carry it to
+the Duke? that is the question. I cannot absent myself again."
+
+"I will provide a messenger," said Cinq Mars. "There is an Italian
+attached to my service, named Villa Grande, a sort of half-bred
+gentleman, who, lacking gold himself, hangs upon any who will feed him.
+They laugh at him here for his long mustaches, and his longer rapier;
+but if he tell truth, his rapier has done good service; so, as this will
+be an undertaking of danger, he shall have it, as he says he seeks but
+to distinguish himself in my service, and being an Italian, he knows the
+country to which he is going."
+
+"If you can trust him, be it so," replied Fontrailles. "At present let
+us look to other considerations. We must seek to strengthen our party by
+all means; for though circumstances seem to combine to favour us, yet it
+is necessary to guard against any change. Do you think that the Queen
+could be brought to join us?"
+
+"Certainly not!" replied the Master of the Horse; "and if she would, to
+us it would be far more dangerous than advantageous. She has no power
+over the mind of the King--she has no separate authority; and besides,
+though Richelieu's avowed enemy, she is so cautious of giving offence
+to Louis, that she would consent to nothing that was not openly
+warranted by him."
+
+"But suppose we are obliged to have recourse to arms," said Fontrailles,
+"would it not be every thing in our favour to have in our hands the
+Queen and the Heir apparent to the throne."
+
+"True," answered Cinq Mars; "but if we are driven to such extremity, she
+will be obliged to declare for some party, and that of necessity must be
+our's; for she will never side with Richelieu. We can also have her well
+surrounded by our friends, and seize upon the Dauphin should the case
+require it."
+
+"What say you, then, to trying the Count de Blenau? He is your friend.
+He is brave, expert in war, and just such a man as leads the blind
+multitude. But more, he is wealthy and powerful, and has much credit in
+Languedoc."
+
+"I do not know," said Cinq Mars thoughtfully, "I do not know.--De Blenau
+would never betray us, even if he refused to aid our scheme. But I much
+think his scruples would go farther than even De Thou's. I have often
+remarked, he has that sort of nicety in his ideas which will not suffer
+him to enter into any thing which may, by even a remote chance, cast a
+shade upon his name."
+
+"Well, we can try him at all events," said Fontrailles. "You, Cinq Mars,
+can ask him whether he will join the liberators of his country."
+
+"No, Fontrailles," answered the Master of the Horse in a decided tone;
+"no, I will not do it. Claude de Blenau is a man by whom I should not
+like to be refused. Besides, I should hesitate to involve him, young and
+noble-hearted as he is, in a scheme which might draw down ruin on his
+head."
+
+"In the name of Heaven, Cinq Mars," cried Fontrailles, with real
+astonishment at a degree of generosity of which he could find no trace
+in his own bosom, "of what are you dreaming? Are you frenzied? Why, you
+have engaged life and fortune, hope and happiness, in this scheme
+yourself, and can you love another man better?"
+
+"There is every difference, Fontrailles--every difference. If I cut my
+own throat, I am a fool and a madman, granted; but if I cut the throat
+of another man, I am a murderer, which is somewhat worse. But I will be
+plain with you. I have embarked in this with my eyes open, and it is my
+own fault. Therefore, whatever happens, I will go on and do my best for
+our success. But mark me, Fontrailles, if all were to come over again, I
+would rather lay down one of my hands and have it chopped off, than
+enter into any engagement of the kind."
+
+A cloud came over the brow of Fontrailles for a moment, and a gleam of
+rage lighted up his dark grey eye, which soon, however, passed away from
+his features, though the rankling passion still lay at his heart, like a
+smouldering fire, which wants but a touch to blaze forth and destroy.
+But his look, as I have said, was soon cleared of all trace of anger;
+and he replied with that show of cheerfulness which he well knew how to
+assume, "Well, Cinq Mars, I do not look upon it in so gloomy a light as
+you do; though perhaps, were it now to begin, I might not be so ready in
+it either, for the chances we have run were great; but these, I trust,
+are over, and every thing certainly looks prosperous at present.
+However, there is no use in thinking what either of us might do had we
+now our choice. We are both too far engaged to go back at this time of
+day; so let us think alone of insuring success, and the glory of having
+attempted to free our country will at least be ours, let the worst
+befall us."
+
+The word _glory_ was never without its effect on Cinq Mars. It was his
+passion, and was but the more violent from the restraint to which his
+constant attendance on the King had subjected it, seldom having been
+enabled to display in their proper field those high qualities which he
+possessed as a soldier. "So far you are right, Fontrailles," replied he;
+"the glory even of the attempt is great, and we have but one course to
+pursue, which is straightforward to our object. You, do every thing to
+bind the fickle goddess to our cause, and so will I; but thinking as I
+do, I cannot find it in my heart to involve De Blenau. Manage that as
+you like; only do not ask me to do it."
+
+"Oh that is easily done," answered Fontrailles, "without your bearing
+any part in it. Of course each of the confederates has a right to invite
+whomsoever he may think proper to join his party, and it would be highly
+dishonourable of any other to dissuade the person so invited from aiding
+the scheme on which all our lives depend. The Count de Blenau, I think
+you say, is now retired to Bourbon. There also is the Duke of Orleans,
+and I will take care that he shall broach the subject to the Count
+without implicating you."
+
+Cinq Mars started from his seat, and began pacing the room with his eyes
+bent on the ground, feeling an undefined sensation of dissatisfaction at
+the plans of Fontrailles, yet hardly knowing how to oppose them. "Well,
+well," said he at length; "it is your business, not mine; and besides, I
+do not, in the least, think that De Blenau will listen to you for a
+moment. He has other things to think of. Mademoiselle de Beaumont is
+absent, no one knows where; and he must soon hear of it."
+
+"Be that as it may," replied Fontrailles, "I will try. And now, Cinq
+Mars, let me touch upon another point;" and the wily conspirator
+prepared all his powers to work upon the mind of his less cautious
+companion, and to urge him on to an attempt which had already been the
+object of more than one conspiracy in that day, but which, by some
+unaccountable means, had always failed without any apparent difficulty
+or obstacle. This was no other than the assassination of the Cardinal de
+Richelieu: and those who read the memoirs of the faction-breathing
+Gondi, or any other of the historical records of the time, will wonder
+how, without any precaution for his personal safety, Richelieu escaped
+the many hands that were armed for his destruction.
+
+Princes and nobles, warriors and politicians had thought it no crime to
+undertake the death of this tyrant Minister; but yet there was something
+in the mind of Cinq Mars so opposite to every thing base and
+treacherous, that Fontrailles feared to approach boldly the proposal he
+was about to make. "Let us suppose, my noble friend," said he, in that
+slow and energetic manner which often lends authority to bad argument,
+"that all our schemes succeed--that the tyrant is stripped of the power
+he has so abused--that the tiger is enveloped in our toils. What are we
+to do? Are we to content ourselves with having caught him? Are we only
+to hold him for a moment in our power, and then to set him loose again,
+once more to ravage France, and to destroy ourselves? And if we agree to
+hold him in captivity, where shall we find chains sufficient to bind
+him, or a cage in which we can confine him with security, when there are
+a thousand other tigers of his race ready to attack the hunters of their
+fellow?"
+
+"I propose nothing of the kind," answered Cinq Mars; "once stripped of
+his authority, let him be arraigned for the crimes which he has
+committed, and suffer the death he has merited. The blood of thousands
+will cry out for justice, and his very creatures will spurn the monster
+that they served from fear."
+
+"Then you think him worthy of death," said Fontrailles, in that kind of
+undecided manner which showed that he felt he was treading on dangerous
+ground.
+
+"Worthy of death!" exclaimed Cinq Mars; "who can doubt it?--Fontrailles,
+what is it that you mean? You speak as if there was something in your
+mind that you know not how to discover. Speak, man. What is it you would
+say?"
+
+"Who will deny that Brutus was a patriot?" said Fontrailles; "a brave, a
+noble, and a glorious man? And Brutus stabbed Cæsar in the
+Capitol!--Cinq Mars, when the freedom of our country is at stake, shall
+we wait tamely till we have preached a timid Monarch into compliance, or
+drawn a foreign power to our aid, when _one--single--hand_ could do the
+work of justice, and rid the world of a tyrant who has lived so much too
+long?"
+
+"Ha!" exclaimed Cinq Mars, starting back, and laying his hand upon his
+sword; "dost thou suppose me an assassin? Art thou one thyself, that
+thou canst so well gloze over murder with a stale tale of
+antiquity?--Monsieur de Fontrailles," he continued more calmly, but
+still with stern indignation, "you have mistaken the person to whom you
+addressed yourself. Pardon me. We will speak no more upon this subject,
+lest we end worse friends than we began."
+
+Fontrailles was not a common hypocrite; he saw at once that on this
+point persuasion would be vain, and defence of his first proposal would
+but leave the worse impression on the mind of his companion; and
+therefore his determination was formed in a moment to take up the exact
+reverse position to that which he had just occupied, and if possible to
+force Cinq Mars into a belief that the proposal had only been made to
+try him. The first wild start of his companion had caused Fontrailles to
+draw back almost in fear; but instantly recovering himself, like a
+well-trained actor, every muscle of whose face is under command, he
+fixed his eyes on Cinq Mars, and instead of any sign of anger or
+disappointment, he threw into his countenance an expression of gratified
+admiration. "Cinq Mars, my noble friend!" he exclaimed, opening his
+arms to embrace him as the other concluded; "you are the man I thought
+you! Pardon me if I have sought to try you! but when I heard you propose
+to affect the Cardinal's life by our plans, I knew not how far that idea
+might lead you, and I wished to be sure of the man with whom I was so
+deeply engaged. I declare before Heaven, that had I found that you
+proposed to do Richelieu to death by aught but legal means, I should
+have been deeply grieved, and would have fled from France where-e'er my
+fortune might lead, leaving you to follow your plans as best you might.
+But I am now satisfied, and demand your pardon for having ever doubted
+you."
+
+Cinq Mars suffered the embrace which Fontrailles proffered, but returned
+it coldly. Acting is ever acting, however near it may approach to
+nature; and notwithstanding all the hypocritical art of which
+Fontrailles was a master, and which he took care to exert on the present
+occasion, the mind of Cinq Mars still retained its doubts as to the
+character of the man with whom he had so closely linked his fate. "If he
+_is_ a villain," thought the Master of the Horse, "he is a most black
+and consummate villain;" and though they parted apparently friends, the
+recollection of that morning's conversation still haunted the
+imagination of Cinq Mars like some ill vision; nor did the impression
+cease with his waking thoughts, but visited him even during the hours of
+repose, making him believe himself chained in a dungeon with Fontrailles
+standing over him turning a dagger round and round in his heart, while
+ever and anon he cried "Thou art a murderer!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+     Which evinces the necessity of saying, no; and shows what it is to
+     hunt upon a wrong scent.
+
+
+In journeying onward towards the Bourbonnois, the thoughts of De Blenau
+had full time to rest upon the late occurrences; and though these had
+been of such a fearful nature, yet so rapidly had they passed, that
+dangers and sorrows, prisons and trials, floated before his remembrance
+like a confused and uncertain dream; and it required an effort to fix
+all the particular circumstances in their correct position, for the
+purpose of investigating the motives of the principal actors in those
+events which had so deeply affected himself.
+
+This, when he could turn his mind from happier contemplations, was the
+principal occupation of his thoughts; and more especially in reflecting
+upon the conduct of the King, De Blenau imagined that he could perceive
+a regular design in every part of the Monarch's behaviour, which in
+truth it did not possess. Under this view he was left to conclude, that
+he had been ordered to retire to Bourbon for the specific reason that he
+had there no acquaintance or influence which could be dangerous to the
+Government; but it is more probable that Louis, not wishing to reverse
+the Cardinal's sentence entirely, by freely pardoning De Blenau, had in
+the hurry of the moment mentioned any province that suggested itself.
+However that might be, it so happened that De Blenau was hardly known to
+any individual within the limits to which, by the King's command, he was
+bound to confine himself. Nor did he feel any additional uncomfort in
+the prospect of passing a short space of time in comparative solitude;
+for his mind was not likely to be well attuned to society, while
+constrained to absent himself from those he loved best; and he was
+rather pleased than otherwise, that the time of his separation from
+Pauline would be passed without the annoyance of associating with people
+to whom he was indifferent.
+
+De Blenau's first care, on arriving at Moulins, was to write to Pauline
+de Beaumont.
+
+Fancy might easily supply his letter, which is otherwise irrecoverably
+gone; but as each reader's imagination will do more justice to it,
+according to his own taste, than mine could do, I will leave it
+unwritten here, especially as I have undertaken to commemorate truth
+only; and I really know nothing of the matter. Suffice it that it was
+full of all that affection, and gratitude, and hope, and delight could
+suggest, and gave a bright picture of a bright and happy mind. As
+couriers and posts in those days were as different from such things at
+present, as the first wooden clock was from a modern chronometer, De
+Blenau did not choose to trust his letter to the uncertain conveyance of
+the Government carrier, or, as he was then called, the _Ordinaire_; but
+placing it in the hands of his trusty page, Henry de La Mothe, he sent
+him forth upon a journey to St. Germain, with orders to deliver many a
+kind greeting to Pauline in person, and to bring back an answer with all
+speed.
+
+The boy set out, and De Blenau, flattering himself with the idea that
+his banishment from court would not be of any long continuance, took
+his residence for the time in the immediate neighbourhood of Moulins,
+contenting himself with an old chateau, the proprietor of which was very
+willing--his fortune and his castle both being somewhat decayed--to
+sacrifice his pride of birth, in consideration of a handsome
+remuneration from the young Count.
+
+Here De Blenau had dwelt some time, waiting the return of his messenger,
+and in possession of that quiet solitude most consonant to his feelings,
+when he was disturbed by a billet left at his gate by a horseman, who
+waited not to be questioned, but rode away immediately after having
+delivered it. The note itself merely contained a request, that the Count
+de Blenau would ride in the direction of St. Amand on the following
+evening, at the hour of four, when he would meet with one who had
+business of importance to communicate. The hand-writing was unknown to
+him, and De Blenau at first hesitated whether to obey the summons or
+not; but curiosity has a thousand ways of strengthening itself, and at
+last he reasoned himself into a belief, that whatever it might be, no
+harm could accrue from his compliance.
+
+Accordingly, on the following evening, as the hour drew near, he mounted
+his horse, and, accompanied by his usual attendants, proceeded towards
+St. Amand. Having ridden on for more than an hour without meeting any
+one above the rank of a peasant, he began to accuse himself for having
+been the dupe of what might prove some foolish joke. He had even reined
+in his horse with the purpose of returning, when he perceived a person
+approaching on horseback, who, notwithstanding a sort of
+carelessness,--even perhaps, slovenliness of manner and carriage--had
+about him that undefinable air, which in all ages, and in every guise,
+denotes a gentleman, and a distinguished one. It was not, however, till
+he came near, that De Blenau recognised Gaston Duke of Orleans, whom he
+had not seen for some time. The moment he did remember him, he gave him
+the centre of the road, and saluting him respectfully, was passing on,
+never dreaming that the summons he had received could have proceeded
+from him.
+
+"Good day, Monsieur de Blenau. You are close upon the hour," said the
+Duke, drawing up his horse, and at once allowing the Count to
+understand that it was with him that the appointment had been made.
+
+"I was not aware," replied De Blenau, "that the summons which I received
+last night was from so honourable a hand, or I should have had no
+hesitation in obeying."
+
+"Why, that is right," said the Duke. "The truth is, I wished much to see
+you, Monsieur le Comte, upon a business wherein you may not only be of
+much service to yourself and me, but also to your country. We will ride
+on, if you please; and as we go, I will explain myself farther."
+
+De Blenau turned his horse and rode on with the Duke; but the warning
+which Chavigni had given him, came strongly into his mind; and Gaston of
+Orleans was too famous for the unfortunate conspiracies in which he had
+been engaged, for De Blenau to think with aught but horror, of acting in
+any way with a man, the weak versatility of whose disposition had
+already brought more than one of his friends to the scaffold. He
+therefore waited for the Duke's communication, determined to cut it
+short as soon as propriety admitted; and even to deviate from the
+respect due to his rank, rather than become the confidant of a Prince,
+whose station was his sole title to reverence.
+
+"You do not answer me, Monsieur de Blenau," said the Duke, after having
+waited a moment or two for some reply. "Are you, Sir, inclined to serve
+your country; or is the Cardinal de Richelieu your good friend?"
+
+"That I am inclined to serve my country," replied De Blenau, "your
+Highness need not doubt; and when my sword can avail that country
+against a foreign adversary, it shall always be ready at her call. In
+regard to his Eminence of Richelieu, I hope that he is no more my enemy
+than I am his; and that he will no more attempt to injure me than I will
+to injure him."
+
+"But has he not endeavoured to injure you already?" said the Duke.
+"Listen to me, Sir Count. Suppose that there were many men at this
+moment well inclined to free France from the yoke under which she
+labours. Suppose I were to tell you that----"
+
+"Let me beseech your Highness," interposed De Blenau, "to tell me no
+more; for, if I understand you rightly, it must be a confidence
+dangerous either to you or me--dangerous to you, if I reveal it; and
+dangerous to me, if I do not. Pardon me, my Lord, for interrupting you;
+but let my ears remain in their present innocence of what you mean. What
+may be your wishes with me, I know not: but before you proceed farther,
+let me say that I will enter into no scheme whatever against a
+government to which his Majesty has given his sanction, and which it is
+always in his power to alter or remove at his pleasure, without any one
+being entitled to question his authority either in raising it or casting
+it down. And now, having ventured to premise thus much, if I can serve
+your Highness personally, in any way where my honour and my allegiance
+are not at all implicated, I shall be most happy in an opportunity of
+showing my attachment to your royal person and family."
+
+"Why then, Monsieur de Blenau," replied the Duke, "I think the best
+thing we can do is, to turn our horses different ways, and forget that
+we have met to-day at all. Our conference has been short, but it has
+been to the purpose. But of course, before we part, I expect your
+promise, as a man of honour, that you will not betray me."
+
+"I have nothing to betray, my Lord," replied De Blenau with a smile.
+"We have met on the road to St. Amand. We have not been five minutes in
+each other's company. Your Highness has told me nothing, whatever I may
+have suspected; therefore you may rest perfectly secure that I have
+nothing to betray, even if they put me to the torture to-morrow. But as
+I think that for your Highness's sake, we had better be as little
+together as possible, I will humbly take my leave."
+
+So saying, De Blenau bowed low, and turned his horse towards Moulins,
+the Duke of Orleans preparing to take the other road; but suddenly the
+latter stopped, and turning his head, asked if De Blenau had gained any
+news of Mademoiselle de Beaumont.
+
+"I am not aware of what your Highness alludes to," replied De Blenau,
+quickly reining in his horse, and returning to the side of the Duke.
+
+"What, then you have not heard--When had you letters from St. Germain?"
+
+"Heard what? In the name of God, speak, my Lord!" cried De Blenau: "Do
+not keep me in suspense."
+
+"Nay, Monsieur de Blenau, I know but little," answered the Duke. "All my
+news came yesterday in a letter from St. Germain, whereby I find that
+Mademoiselle de Beaumont has disappeared; and as no one knows whither
+she is gone, and no cause is apparent for her voluntary absence, it is
+conjectured that Richelieu, finding, as it is whispered, that she
+endeavoured to convey intelligence to you in the Bastille, has caused
+her to be arrested and confined _au secret_."
+
+"But when did she disappear?--Who saw her last?--Have no traces been
+discovered?--Why do they not apply to the King?" exclaimed De Blenau,
+with a degree of agitation that afforded amusement, rather than excited
+sympathy in the frivolous mind of the Duke of Orleans.
+
+"Really, Monsieur de Blenau, to none of all your questions can I at all
+reply," answered Gaston. "Very possibly, the lady may have gone off with
+some fair lover, in which case she will have taken care to leave no
+traces of her flight.--What think you of the weather?--will it rain
+to-day?"
+
+"Hell and fury!" cried De Blenau, incensed at the weak trifling of the
+Prince, at a moment when his feelings were so deeply interested; and
+turning his horse round without farther adieu, he struck his spurs into
+the animal's sides, and, followed by his attendants, galloped off
+towards Moulins. Arrived at the chateau which he inhabited, his thoughts
+were still in such a troubled state, as to forbid all calm
+consideration. "Prepare every thing to set out. Saddle fresh horses.
+Send to Moulins for the _Propriétaire_," were De Blenau's first
+commands, determined at all risks to set out for St. Germain, and seek
+for Pauline himself. But while his orders were in train of execution,
+reflection came to his aid, and he began to think that the news which
+the Duke had given him might not be true--that Gaston might either be
+deceived himself, or that he might have invented the story for the
+purpose of forcing him into a conspiracy against Richelieu's government.
+"At all events," thought he, "Henry de La Mothe cannot be longer absent
+than to-morrow. I may miss him on the road, and thus be four days
+without information instead of one." Accordingly, after some farther
+hesitation, he determined to delay his journey one day, and
+counterordered the preparations which he had before commanded.
+Nevertheless, his mind was too much agitated to permit of his resting
+inactive; and quitting the chateau, he walked quickly on the road
+towards Paris; but he had not proceeded more than a quarter of a league,
+when from the top of a hill he perceived a horseman coming at full speed
+towards him. At first, while the distance rendered his form altogether
+indistinct, De Blenau decided that it was Henry de La Mothe--it must
+be--it could be nobody else. Then again he began to doubt--the horse did
+not look like his; and De Blenau had almost determined that it was not
+his Page, when the fluttering scarf of blue and gold becoming apparent,
+decided the question, and he hurried forward, impatient even of the
+delay which must yet intervene.
+
+The Page rode on at full speed; and even from that circumstance De
+Blenau drew an unfavourable augury: he had something evidently to
+communicate which required haste. His horse, too, was not the same which
+had carried him away, and he must have changed him on the road: this too
+was a sign of that urgent despatch which could alone proceed from some
+painful cause. However, the Page came rapidly forward, recognized his
+lord, and drawing in his horse, alighted to give relief to De Blenau's
+doubts, only by confirming his fears.
+
+His first tidings were perfectly similar to the information which had
+been given by the Duke of Orleans; but the more minute details which he
+had obtained, forming part of the history which he gave De Blenau of all
+that had occurred to him on his journey, I shall take the liberty of
+abridging myself, instead of leaving them in the desultory and
+long-winded condition in which they proceeded from the mouth of Monsieur
+de La Mothe.
+
+Setting out from Moulins on one of the Count de Blenau's strongest
+horses, and furnished with plenty of that patent anti-attrition
+composition, which has facilitated the progression of all sorts of
+people in all ages of the world, and in all states except in
+Lycurgus-governed Sparta--namely gold, Henry de La Mothe was not long in
+reaching St. Germain; and with all the promptitude of his age and
+nature, he hastened eagerly towards the Palace, promising himself
+infinite pleasure in delivering a genuine love-letter into the fair
+hands of Mademoiselle Pauline. No small air of consequence, therefore,
+did he assume in inquiring for Mademoiselle de Beaumont, and announcing
+that he must speak with her himself: but the boyish vivacity of the Page
+was soon changed into sorrowful anxiety, when the old servant of Anne
+of Austria, to whom his inquiries had been addressed, informed him that
+the young lady had disappeared, and was no where to be heard of. Now
+Henry de La Mothe, the noble Count de Blenau's gay Page, was an
+universal favourite at St. Germain; so out of pure kindness, and without
+the least inclination in the world to gossip, the old servant took him
+into the Palace, and after treating him to a cup of old St. Vallier
+wine, told him all about the disappearance of Pauline, which formed a
+history occupying exactly one hour and ten minutes in delivering.
+
+Amongst other interesting particulars, he described to the Page how he
+himself had accompanied Mademoiselle de Hauteford and Mademoiselle de
+Beaumont from Chantilly to Paris, for the purpose of conveying news to
+Monsieur de Blenau, in the Bastille;--and how that night he followed the
+two young ladies as far as the church of St. Gervais, where they
+separated, and he remained at the church door, while Mademoiselle de
+Hauteford went in and prayed for the good success of Pauline;--and
+farther, how Mademoiselle de Hauteford said all the prayers she knew,
+and composed a great many new ones to pass the time, and yet no Pauline
+returned;--and how at last she came out to know what the Devil had
+become of her;--and how he told her, that he could not tell.
+
+He then went on to describe their search for Pauline, and their
+disappointment and distress at not finding her, and the insolence of a
+lying Innkeeper, who lived opposite the prison, and who assured him that
+the young lady was safe, for that he himself had delivered her from
+peril by the valour of his invincible arm. After this, he took up the
+pathetic, and showed forth in moving terms the agony and despair of
+Madame de Beaumont on first hearing of the non-appearance of her
+daughter; and then commented upon the extraordinary insensibility that
+she had since shown. "For after two days," said he, "she seemed to grow
+quite satisfied, and to forget it all, the cold hearted old----_cat_."
+
+"'Tis just like her," said Henry de La Mothe. "They say, when her
+husband was killed, she never shed a tear. But mark me, Monsieur
+Mathieu, she shall not have the Count's letter. As Mademoiselle is not
+here, I'll take it back to him unopened; so have a care not to tell the
+old Marquise that I have been here. Before I go back, however, I'll away
+to Paris, to gather what news I can. That _aubergiste_ meant
+something--I know him well. 'Tis old Jacques Chatpilleur, the
+_vivandier_, who served with the army in Roussillon, when I was there
+with the Count."
+
+"Well, well, my good youth, go to Paris if you please," replied the old
+servant. "You'll gain no tidings more than I have given you.--Did not I
+make all sorts of inquiries myself? and they are not likely to deceive
+me, I wot. Young birds think they can fly before they can peck; but go,
+go,--you'll gain no more than what I have told you."
+
+Henry de La Mothe did not feel very well assured of the truth of this
+last position; and therefore, though his back ached with a four days'
+ride as fast as he could go, he set out again for Paris, where he
+arrived before night-fall; and entering the city by the Port St.
+Antoine, directed his course to the house of our doughty friend,
+Jacques Chatpilleur, where he was instantly acknowledged as an old
+acquaintance by the worthy _aubergiste_, and treated with suitable
+distinction. Although every moment was precious, the Page did not think
+fit to enter upon the business that brought him till the _auberge_ was
+clear of intruders; and this being the hour at which many an honest
+burgess of the good city solaced his inward man with _boudin blanc_ and
+Burgundy when the fatigues of the day began to cease, Henry de La Mothe
+thought he might as well follow the same agreeable calling, and while he
+was at Rome, do as Romans did.
+
+More than an hour passed before the Page had an opportunity of
+communicating fully with the good _aubergiste_; but when Jacques
+Chatpilleur heard that the lady he had delivered from the clutches of
+Letrames, was no less a person than Pauline, only daughter and heiress
+of the late celebrated Marquis de Beaumont, and that, notwithstanding
+his assistance, she had somehow been carried off on that identical
+night, his strange woodcock-shaped person became agitated with various
+extraordinary contortions, proceeding from an odd mixture of pleasure
+and grief, which at once took possession of him, and contended for the
+mastery.
+
+"_Mon Dieu!_" cried he, "to think that it was Mademoiselle de Beaumont,
+and that she should be lost after all!" And the _aubergiste_ set himself
+to think of how it could all have happened. "I'll bet a million," cried
+he at length, starting from his reverie, and clapping his hands together
+with a concussion that echoed to the Bastille itself--"I'll bet a
+million that it was that great gluttonous Norman vagabond, who on that
+very night eat me up a _matelot d'anguille_ and a _dinde piquée_. He is
+understrapping cut-throat to Master Chavigni, and he has never been here
+since. He has carried her off, for a million; and taken her away to some
+prison in the provinces, all for trying to give a little news to the
+good Count. But I'll ferret out his route for you. On with your beaver
+and come with me. Margueritte, look to the doors while I am absent. I
+know where the scoundrel lodged; so come along, and we'll soon hear more
+of him."
+
+So saying, the landlord of the Sanglier Gourmand led Henry de La Mothe
+forth into the Rue St. Antoine, and thence through the several turnings
+and windings by which the Norman had carried Pauline to the late
+lodgings of Monsieur Marteville. Here Jacques Chatpilleur summoned all
+persons in the house, male and female, lodger and landlord, to give a
+full, true, and particular account of all they knew, believed, or
+suspected concerning the tall Norman who usually dwelt there. And such
+was the tone of authority which he used, and the frequency of his
+reference to Henry de La Mothe, whom he always specified as "this
+honourable youth," that the good folks instantly transformed, in their
+own imaginations, the Page of the Count de Blenau into little less than
+the valet de chambre of the prime Minister, and consequently answered
+all questions with becoming deference.
+
+The sum of the information which was thus obtained amounted to this,
+that on the evening in question, Monsieur Marteville had brought thither
+a young lady--whether by force or not, no one could specify; that she
+was dressed as a Languedoc peasant, which Monsieur Chatpilleur
+acknowledged to be the disguise Pauline had assumed; and that the same
+evening he had carried her away again on horseback, leading her steed
+by the bridle rein. It farther appeared that the Norman, while preparing
+to set out, had asked a great many questions about Troyes in Champagne,
+and had inquired whether there was not a wood extending over some
+leagues near Mesnil St. Loup, which was reported to be infested by
+robbers. From all this the inhabitants of the house had concluded
+universally that his journey was destined to be towards Troyes, and that
+he would take care to avoid the wood of Mesnil St. Loup.
+
+Henry de La Mothe now fancied that he had the clue completely in his
+hands, and returning with Jacques Chatpilleur to his _auberge_, he took
+one night's necessary rest, and having exchanged his horse, which was
+knocked up with its journey, he set out the next morning on his return
+to Moulins.
+
+After this recital, all considerations of personal safety, the King's
+commands to remain in Bourbon, the enmity of the Cardinal, and the
+warnings of Chavigni, vanished from the mind of De Blenau like smoke;
+and returning to the Chateau, he ordered his horses to be instantly
+prepared, chose ten of his most resolute servants to accompany him,
+ordered Henry de La Mothe to remain till he had recovered from his
+fatigues, and then to return to St. Germain, and tell Madame de Beaumont
+that he would send her news of her daughter, or lose his life in the
+search; and having made all other necessary arrangements, he took his
+departure for Troyes without a consideration of the consequences.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+     The consequence of fishing in troubled water.
+
+
+We must now return to the two worthy personages whom we left jogging on
+towards the Chateau of St. Loup, taking them up at the precise place
+where we set them down.
+
+"_Bon gré mal gré va le prêtre au séné_," grumbled the Norman.
+"Remember, Madame Louise, I take you with no good-will: you insist upon
+going; so now if you meet with any thing disagreeable, it is your own
+fault,--mark that, _ma poule_."
+
+"I'm no more afraid of the Devil than yourself," answered Louise pertly;
+"and I suppose I shall meet with no one worse than he is."
+
+"You may," replied the Norman; "but come on, it gets late, and we have
+no time to spare."
+
+The tone of Marteville was not very encouraging; but Louise was resolved
+not to lose sight of her husband, and being by nature as bold as a lion,
+she followed on without fear. True it is, that she did not know the
+whole history of the Sorcerer's Grove, or perhaps she might have felt
+some of those imaginary terrors from which hardly a bosom in France was
+altogether free: although Louise, bred up by Madame de Beaumont, whose
+strong and masculine mind rejected most of the errors of that age, had
+perhaps less of the superstition of the day than any other person of her
+own class.
+
+The first approach to the Sorcerer's Grove was any thing but terrifying.
+The road, winding gently down the slope of the hill, entered the forest
+between some fine tall trees, which rising out of a tract of scanty
+underwood and open ground, with considerable spaces between each of the
+boughs, afforded plenty of room for the rich sun to pour his rays
+between, and to chequer the green shadows of the wood with intervals of
+golden light. Every here and there, also, the declining sunbeams caught
+upon the old knotted trunks, and on the angles of the broken ground on
+either side, enlivening the scene without taking from its repose; and
+at the bottom of the hill, seen through the arch of boughs which
+canopied the way, appeared a bright mass of sunshine, with a glimpse of
+the sky beyond, where a larger open space than ordinary gave free access
+to the day. From this spot, however, the road, entering the deeper part
+of the wood, took a direction towards the old Château of St. Loup; and
+here the trees, growing closer together, began to shut out the rays;
+gloom and darkness spread over the path, and the rocks rising up into
+high broken banks on each side, cut off even the scanty light which
+glided between the thick branches above. At the same time, the whole
+scenery assumed a wilder and more desolate character, and the windings
+of the road round the base of the hill prevented the eye from catching
+even a glimpse of the prospect beyond.
+
+Here, strewed upon the path, lay great masses of green mouldy rock,
+fallen from the banks on each side, evincing plainly how seldom the foot
+of man traversed its solitude; there again a mundic stream, blood-red,
+flowed across and tinged all the earth around with its own unseemly hue;
+while long brambles and creeping shrubs, dropping with chill dew, grew
+at the base of the rocks on either side, and shooting out their thorny
+arms, caught the feet of the horses as they passed. The deep solitude,
+the profound silence, the shadow of the overhanging woods, and the
+sombre gloom of every object around, began to have their effect on the
+mind of Louise, and notwithstanding her native boldness of heart, she
+set herself to conjure up more than one unpleasing vision. Her fears,
+however, were more of the living than the dead; and having now, against
+her nature, kept silence a long while, out of respect to the angry
+humour of her dearly beloved husband, she ventured to assert that it
+looked quite a place for robbers, and added a hope that they should not
+meet any.
+
+"Pardie! I hope we shall!" replied the Norman. "Those you call robbers
+are _fort honnêtes gens_: they are merely gentlemen from the wars, as I
+am myself: soldiers at free quarters, who have ever had a right
+prescriptive to levy their pay with their own hand. I beg that you will
+speak respectfully of them."
+
+Louise looked at her husband with an inquiring glance, not very well
+knowing whether to take his speech seriously, or merely as a jest; but
+there was nothing mirthful in the countenance of Monsieur Marteville,
+who, out of humour with his fair lady for persisting to accompany him,
+was in no mood for jesting. At this moment a whistle was heard in the
+wood, so like the note of a bird, that Louise was deceived, and would
+have taken no farther notice of the sound, had not her companion applied
+his hand to his lips and imitated it exactly.
+
+"What is that?" demanded Louise, upon whose mind a thousand undefined
+suspicions were crowding fast: "What noise is that in the wood?"
+
+"It's only a _pivert_," replied the Norman with a grim smile, in the
+effort of which the scar upon his lip drew the corner of his mouth
+almost into his eye.
+
+"A _pivert_!" replied Louise: "No, no, that is not the cry of a
+woodpecker--you are cheating me."
+
+"Well, you will see," replied Marteville; "I'll make him come out." So
+saying, he repeated the same peculiar whistle, and then drawing in his
+rein, shook himself in the saddle, loosened his sword in the sheath, and
+laid his hand on one of his holsters, as a man who prepares for an
+encounter, of the event of which he is not quite certain whether it will
+be for peace or war.
+
+His whistle was again returned, and a moment after the form of a man was
+seen protruding itself through the trees that crowned the high bank
+under which they stood. His rusty iron morion, his still rustier
+cuirass, his weather-beaten countenance and dingy apparel, formed
+altogether an appearance so similar to the trunks of the trees amongst
+which he stood, that he would have been scarcely distinguishable, had it
+not been for the effort to push his way through the lower branches, the
+rustling of which, and a few falling stones forced over the edge of the
+rock at his approach, drew the eye more particularly to the spot where
+he appeared. In his hand he carried a firelock, which, by a natural
+impulse, was pointed at the Norman the moment he perceived a doublet of
+blue velvet--as the fowling-piece of a sportsman is instinctively
+carried to his shoulder, on the rising of a partridge or a grouse. But
+Monsieur Marteville was prepared for all such circumstances; and drawing
+the pistol which hung at his saddle-bow, and which, if one might judge
+by length, would carry a mile at least, he pointed directly towards the
+rusty gentleman above described, crying out, "_Eh bien, l'ami! Eh bien!_
+Do you shoot your friends like woodcocks? or have you forgotten me?"
+
+"_Nom de Dieu!_" cried the man above: "_Je vous en demande mille
+pardons, et mille, Monsieur le Capitaine._ I'll come down to you
+directly. Christi! I had nearly given you a ball! But I'll come down!"
+
+While the robber was putting this promise in execution, Marteville
+whispered a few words of consolation to Louise, bidding her not be
+afraid, that they were _fort honnêtes gens, très aimables_ to their
+friends, _et cetera_; but seeing that his words produced no effect, and
+that the unfortunate girl, beginning to comprehend the nature of his
+character, had burst into tears of bitter regret, he muttered a curse or
+two, not loud, but deep; and without any farther effort to allay her
+fears, sat whistling on his horse, till the robber, half sliding, half
+running, managed to descend from the eminence on which he had first
+appeared.
+
+"_Eh bien_, Callot," said Monsieur Marteville to his former companion,
+"how goes it with the troop?"
+
+"But badly," replied Callot: "What with one devilry or another, we have
+but half a dozen left."
+
+"And where is Pierrepont Le Blanc?" demanded the Norman: "Could not he
+keep you together?"
+
+"Oh! we have sent him to the kingdom of moles," answered the robber,
+twisting his face into a most horrible grin. "First he quarrelled with
+one, and then he quarrelled with another; and then, as he was captain,
+and had the purse, he bethought him of taking himself off with all the
+treasure. But we caught him on the road; and so, as I have said, we sent
+the buccaneer on an embassy to the kingdom of moles. After that, there
+were two of us shot near Epernay, by a party of the Guard; and then six
+more went to see what could be gathered upon the road to Perpignan, and
+one was taken and hanged at Troyes; so that there are but myself and
+five others of the old band left."
+
+"And quite enough too, if you had a bold leader," replied the Norman.
+"But where do you roost, _mes jolis oiseaux_?"
+
+"No, no; we do not perch now," answered the robber; "we go to earth.
+Under the old castle here, are the most beautiful vaults in the world;
+and I defy Beelzebub himself to nose us, when we are hidden there."
+
+"But why not take to the château itself? Is it so far decayed?"
+
+"Nay," replied the other, "for that matter, it is as good a nest as any
+one would wish to house in: but it is not quite so forsaken as folks
+think. We did put up there at first; but one night, while all of our
+party were out but three--being myself and two others who stayed--we
+heard suddenly the sound of horses, and looking out, we saw by the
+twilight five stout cavaliers dismount in the court; and up they marched
+to the very room where we were sitting, so that we had scarce time to
+bundle up our things and to cover. And there they sat for four good
+hours; while we were shut up in the little watch-tower next to them,
+with no way to get out, and no powder but what was in our carbines, or
+mayhap we should have given them a dose or two of leaden pills, for at
+first we thought they were on the look-out for our band. But presently
+after, up came another, and then they all set to, to talk high treason.
+I could not well hear, for the door was so thick, and we dared not move;
+but I know they spoke of a treaty with Spain, and bringing in Spanish
+troops into France. Since then, we have kept to the vaults, for fear of
+being nosed."
+
+"Well, Louise," whispered the Norman, turning to the _soubrette_, "you
+see I did not come here for no purpose. It is this treaty with Spain I
+want to find out; and if I do, our fortune is made for ever, and you
+will eat off gold, and drink out of gold, and be as happy as a
+princess!"
+
+The prospects which her husband held out, and which might certainly be
+called golden, were not without their effect on Louise; but still his
+evident familiarity with the gentleman in the rusty steel coat did not
+at all suit her ideas of propriety, nor were the matters which they
+discussed in the least to her taste; but as remonstrance was in vain,
+and she began to perceive that the influence of her tears was not very
+great, she resigned herself to her fate in silence.
+
+Several more questions and replies passed between the Norman and his
+ancient comrade, which, as they tend to throw no light upon this
+history, shall not find a place therein. At length Monsieur Callot, in
+as hospitable and courtly a strain as he could assume, requested the
+pleasure of Monsieur Marteville's company to spend the evening in the
+vaults of the old chateau, if he had not grown too fine, by living among
+the great, to associate with his old friends. In return for this, the
+worthy Norman assured him, that he never was so happy as when he was in
+their society, accepted the invitation with pleasure, and begged to
+introduce his wife. Callot would fain have offered his salute to the
+lips of the fair lady, and had mounted on a huge stone beside her horse
+for that purpose; but Louise repulsed him with the dignity of a duchess,
+and Callot did not press the matter farther, merely giving a shrewd wink
+of the eye and screw of the under-jaw, as much as to say, "she's nice,
+it seems," and then led the way towards the present abode of
+Marteville's old band.
+
+The road which he took, wound through the very depth of the wood towards
+that side of the hill which, looking over the wide extent of
+forest-ground lying between the old castle and the high road to Troyes,
+seemed to offer nothing but dark inaccessible precipices, from the
+shallow stream that ran bubbling at its base to the walls of the ruin
+above. Crossing the rivulet, however, which did not rise higher than the
+horses' knees, the robber led the way round a projecting mass of rock,
+that seemed to have been forcibly riven from the rest, and which, though
+it left space enough for the horses to turn, would have effectually
+concealed them from the sight of any one who might be in the wood.
+
+The two sides of the hill next to the village of Mesnil, and the ridge
+of rising ground on which it was situated, sloped easily into the
+valleys around, and were covered with a rich and glowing vegetation; but
+on the northern as well as the western side, which the Norman and his
+companions now approached, the rock offered a very different character,
+and one, indeed, extremely rare in that part of the country.
+
+Wherever the eye turned, nothing presented itself but flat surfaces of
+cold grey stone, with the deep markings of the rifts and hollows which
+separated them from each other. Occasionally, indeed, a patch of thin
+vegetable earth, accumulating on any point that offered the means of
+support, yielded a slight gleam of verdure, so poor in hue, and so
+limited in extent, that it seemed alone to rival the lichens and stains
+of the rocks around, and to serve but as a mockery of the naked crag
+that bore it. Here and there too, a black antique pine, fixing its
+sturdy roots in the bleakest pinnacles, would be seen to start boldly
+out, as if to brave the tempests, that, sweeping over the oaks in the
+forest below, spent their full fury on its more ambitious head. The
+principal objects, however, that attracted attention, were the multitude
+of deep fissures and hollows which presented themselves at every point,
+and the immense blocks of stone which, scattered about round the base of
+the rock, offered plentiful means of concealment to any one who might
+there seek to baffle a pursuer.
+
+Turning, as we have said, round the base of one of these large masses,
+the robber uttered three loud whistles, to give notice that it was a
+friend approached; and immediately after, from a cavern, the mouth of
+which was concealed in one of the fissures above-mentioned, came forth
+two figures, whose wild apparel corresponded very well with that of
+their companion.
+
+"_Morbleu! Monsieur Marteville!_" cried one of them, the moment he
+recognised the Norman, "_est-ce vous? Soyez le bien venu!_ Come at a
+lucky moment for some of the best wine of Bonne! The _Gros St.
+Nicholas_--you remember our old companion--has just returned from the
+Chemin de Troyes, where he met two charitable monks, who, out of pure
+benevolence, bestowed upon him three paniers of good wine and twelve
+broad pieces; though they threatened to excommunicate him, and the two
+who were with him, for holding steel poniards to their throats while
+they did their alms. However, you are heartily welcome, and the more so
+if you are come to stay with us."
+
+"We will talk of that presently," said the Norman. "But in the first
+place, good friends, tell me, can one get up to the castle above, which,
+Callot says, is habitable yet? for here is my wife, who is not much used
+to dwell in vaults, and may like a lodging above ground better."
+
+"Oh, certainly! Madame shall be accommodated," said the last speaker,
+who seemed to be more civilized than good Monsieur Callot. "Our own
+dwelling is well enough; but if she so please, I will show you up the
+staircase which leads from the vaults to the court above. However, I
+hope she will stay to partake of our supper, which is now before the
+fire, as you shall see."
+
+"She shall come down again," said the Norman, dismounting, and lifting
+Louise out of the saddle, "and will thank you for your good cheer, for
+we have ridden far." So saying, he followed into the cave, which at
+first presented nothing but the natural ruggedness of the rock; but at
+that spot where the daylight began to lose its effect in the increasing
+darkness of the cavern, one might perceive, though with difficulty, that
+it assumed the form of a regular arch cased with masonry; and in a
+moment or two, as they proceeded groping their way after the robber,
+they were warned that there were steps: mounting these, and turning to
+the left, they discerned, at a little distance in advance, a bright red
+light streaming from behind a projecting angle, which itself remained in
+utter obscurity. The robber here went on first, and they heard him
+announce in a loud and jocular tone, "_Le Sieur Marteville, et Madame sa
+femme!_" with as much ceremony as if he had been heralding them into the
+presence of royalty.
+
+"_Bah! vous plaisantez!_" cried a thick merry voice, seeming as if it
+issued from the midst of stewed prunes. But the Norman advancing, bore
+evidence of the truth of the other's annunciation, and was instantly
+caught in the arms of the Gros St. Nicolas, as he was called; who
+merited, at least, the appellation of _gros_, though with the sanctity
+he appeared to have but little to do. He was fat, short, and
+protuberant, with a face as round as the full moon, and as rosy as a
+peony. In fact, he seemed much better fitted for a burgess or a priest,
+an innkeeper or an alderman, than for the thin and meagre trade of a
+cut-purse, which seldom leaves any thing but bones to be hanged at last.
+However, he bore him jollily; and, when the party entered, was, with
+morion and breast-plate thrown aside, engaged in basting a large quarter
+of venison, which smoked before a stupendous fire, whose blaze
+illuminated all the wide vault, which formed their _salle à manger_ and
+kitchen both in one.
+
+"_Est-il possible?_" cried the Gros St. Nicolas, embracing our Norman,
+whose companion he had been for many years both in honourable and
+dishonourable trades;--"_Mon ami! Mon Capitaine! Mon Brave! Mon Prince!
+Enfin, Mon Normand!_"
+
+Quitting the ecstasies of the Gros St. Nicolas at meeting once more with
+his friend, and the formalities of his introduction to Louise, we shall
+only say that, according to the request of the Norman, one of the
+freebooters led the way up a circular staircase in the rock, which soon
+brought them into the open air, through a small arch entering upon the
+court of the old castle. Here Marteville, having marked all the peculiar
+turns which they had taken, with the accuracy which his former life had
+taught, bade good day to their guide, promising to rejoin the party
+below by the time the venison was roasted; and finding that more than an
+hour of daylight yet remained, he proceeded with Louise to explore the
+remains of the château.
+
+The little attentions he had lately paid, had greatly conciliated his
+fair lady; and though still somewhat disposed to pout, she suffered him
+to explain his views with a tolerable degree of placability. "You must
+know, _ma charmante Louise_," said he, "that there is a tremendous plot
+going on against the Government; and that Monsieur de Chavigni has
+intrusted me to discover it. You heard what Callot said, concerning a
+treaty with Spain. Now I have always understood, that when these secret
+treaties are formed, a copy is deposited in some uninhabited place for
+greater security. You see, I have traced Fontrailles to this castle, and
+it is evident that here he met the other conspirators: now where, then,
+can they have secreted the treaty but somewhere about here? So now,
+Louise, help me to find this paper, if it is to be found; and then we
+will soon quit these men, of whom you seem so much afraid, and go and
+live like princes on the fortune that Chavigni has promised."
+
+To this long speech of her husband, which he accompanied with sundry
+little caresses, Louise replied, in a tone still half sulky, that she
+was ready to seek the paper, but that she did not see how they could
+find it, with nothing to guide them in the search. But nevertheless,
+when they did seriously begin their perquisitions, she displayed all
+that sagacity in discovering a secret which women instinctively possess.
+Of course, the first place to which they particularly directed their
+inquiries was the chamber in which, according to the account of Callot,
+the meeting of the conspirators had been held.
+
+Here they looked in every nook and corner, turned over every heap of
+rubbish, examined the chairs and the table of old _Père Le Rouge_, and
+having gone over every inch of the apartment, began anew and went over
+it all again. At length Louise, seemingly tired of her search in that
+chamber, left her husband to pursue it as he pleased, and sitting down
+in one of the settles, began to hum a Languedoc air, beating time with
+her fingers on the table.
+
+"Pardie!" cried the Norman, after having hunted for some time in vain:
+"it is not here, that is certain!"
+
+"Yes, it is!" said Louise, very quietly continuing to beat time on the
+table; "it is in this very room."
+
+"_Nom de Dieu!_ where is it then?" cried Monsieur Marteville.
+
+"It is here, in the inside of this hollow piece of wood," answered
+Louise, tapping the table with her knuckles, which produced that sort of
+empty echoing sound that evinced it was not so solid as it appeared.
+
+The Norman now approached, and soon convincing himself that Louise was
+right, he took her in his arms and gave her a kiss that made the ruin
+echo. The next thing was to get into the drawer, or whatsoever it was,
+that occupied the interior of the table; but this not proving very easy,
+the impatient Norman set it upright upon one end, and drawing his sword,
+soon contrived to cleave it through the middle; when, to the delight of
+the eyes that looked upon it, appeared a large cavity neatly wrought in
+the wood, containing a packet of vellum folded, and sealed at all
+corners in blue and yellow wax, with neat pieces of floss-silk to keep
+it all together. The Norman could have eaten it up; and Louise, with a
+degree of impatient curiosity peculiarly her own, was already fingering
+one of the seals, about to break it open, when Marteville stopped her
+with a tremendous oath. "What are you going to do?" cried he: "you know
+little what it is to pry into State secrets. If you had opened that
+seal, instead of having perhaps a reward of twenty thousand crowns, we
+should both have been sent to the Bastille for the rest of our lives."
+Louise dropped the packet in dismay; and the Norman continued, "Did you
+never hear of the Abbé de Langy, who happening to be left by Monsieur de
+Richelieu in his private cabinet only for five minutes, with some State
+papers on the table, was sent to the Bastille for twelve years, merely
+for fear he had read them? No, no; this must go to Monsieur Chavigni
+without so much as cracking the wax."
+
+"Could not we just look in at the end?" demanded Louise, looking
+wistfully at the packet, which her husband had now picked up. But upon
+this he put a decided negative; and having now succeeded to his heart's
+content, the burly Norman, in the exuberance of his joy, began singing
+and capering till the old pile both echoed and shook with his gigantic
+gambols. "_Ma Louise_," cried he at length, "_vous êtes fatiguée. Je
+vais vous porter_;" and catching her up in his arms, notwithstanding all
+remonstrance, he carried her like a feather into the court-yard, through
+the narrow arch, and threading all the intricacies of the vaults with
+the same sagacious facility with which a ferret glides through the
+windings of a warren, he bore her safely and in triumph into the _salle
+à manger_ of the honourable fraternity below. This was not the mode of
+progression which Louise most admired, nor was she very much gratified
+at being exhibited to her husband's old friends in so ungraceful an
+attitude; and the consequences, of course, were, that she would
+willingly have torn his eyes out had she dared.
+
+However, Monsieur Callot, Le Gros St. Nicolas, and others, applied
+themselves successfully to soothe her ruffled spirits; and the venison
+being ready, and a long table laid, each person drew forth their knife,
+and soon committed infinite havoc on the plump haunch which was placed
+before them. The wine succeeded, and then that water of life which very
+often ends in death. All was hilarity and mirth, song, jest, and
+laughter. Gradually, one barrier after another fell, as cup succeeded
+cup. Each one told his own story, without regard to the rest; each one
+sang his own song; each one cracked his own joke. Louise had retired to
+a settle by the side of the fire, but still mingled in the conversation,
+when it could be called such; and Monsieur Callot, somewhat full of
+wine, and a good deal smitten with her charms, plied her with
+assiduities rather more perhaps than was necessary. In the mean time,
+the Gros St. Nicolas, running over with brandy and good spirits, kept
+jesting the Norman upon some passages of his former life, which might as
+well have been passed over and forgotten. "Madame!" cried he at length,
+turning round towards Louise, with an overflowing goblet in his hand,
+and his broad face full of glee, "I have the honour of drinking to your
+health, as the fifth spouse of our good friend Monsieur de Marteville;
+and let me assure you, that of the three that are living and the two
+that are dead, you are the most beautiful beyond compare!"
+
+Up started Louise in an agony of indignation, and forth she poured upon
+the Gros St. Nicolas a torrent of vituperation for jesting upon such a
+subject. But on his part he only shrugged his shoulders, and declared
+that he did not jest at all. "_Mon Dieu!_" said he, "it is very
+unreasonable to suppose that Monsieur Marteville, who is as big as five
+men, should be contented with one wife. Besides, it is _très agréable_
+to have a wife in every province; I always do so myself."
+
+The thunder of Louise's ire, now increased in a seven-fold degree, was
+turned instantly upon her dearly-beloved husband. Her eyes flashed, and
+her cheek flamed, and approaching him, where he sat laughing at the
+whole business, she demanded that he should exculpate himself from this
+charge of pentigamy, with a tone and manner that made the Norman, who
+had drunk quite enough, laugh still more. With an unheard-of exertion of
+self-command, Louise kept her fingers from his face; but she burst forth
+into reproaches so bitter and stinging, that Marteville's mirth was soon
+converted into rage, and he looked at her with a glance which would
+quickly have taught those who knew him well not to urge him farther. But
+Louise went on, and wound up by declaring, that she would live with him
+no longer--that she would quit him that very moment, and finding her way
+to Monsieur Chavigni, would tell him all--adding, that she would soon
+send the Guard to ferret out that nest of ruffians, and that she hoped
+to see him hanging at the head of them. With this expression of her
+intentions, Louise darted out of the vault; but the Norman, who,
+speechless with rage, had sat listening to her with his teeth clenched,
+and his nether lip quivering with suppressed passion, started suddenly
+up, cast the settle from him with such force that it was dashed to
+pieces against the wall, and strode after her with the awful cloud of
+determined wrath settled upon his brow.
+
+The mirth of the robbers, who knew the ungovernable nature of their
+companion's passions, was now over, and each looked in the face of the
+other with silent expectation. After a space, there was the murmur of
+angry voices heard for a moment at the farther end of the passage; then
+a loud piercing shriek rang through the vault; and then all was silence.
+A momentary sensation of horror ran through the bosoms of even the
+ferocious men whose habits rendered them familiar with almost every
+species of bloodshed. But this was new and strange amongst them, and
+they waited the return of the Norman with feelings near akin to awe.
+
+At length, after some time, he came, with a firm step and unblenching
+brow, but with a haggard wildness in his eye which seemed to tell that
+remorse was busy with his heart. However, he sat him down without any
+allusion to the past, and draining off a cup of wine, strove laboriously
+after merriment. But it was in vain; the mirth of the whole party was
+evidently forced; and Marteville soon took up another strain, which
+accorded better with the feelings of the moment. He spoke to them of the
+dispersion of the band, which had taken place since he left them;
+announced his intention of joining them again; and drawing forth a
+purse containing about a thousand livres, he poured them forth upon the
+table, declaring them to be his first offering to the treasury.
+
+This magnificent donation, which came in aid of their finances at a
+moment when such a recruit was very necessary, called forth loud shouts
+of applause from the freemen of the forest; and the Gros St. Nicolas
+starting up, addressed the company much to the following effect:
+"Messieurs--every one knows that I am St. Nicolas, and no one will deny
+that I am surrounded by a number of goodly clerks. But although in my
+saintly character I will give up my clerical superiority to nobody; yet
+it appears to me, that our society requires some lay commander;
+therefore I, your bishop, do propose to you to elect and choose the
+Sieur Marteville, here present, to be our king, and captain in the wars,
+in room of the Sieur Pierrepont Le Blanc, who, having abdicated without
+cause, was committed to the custody of the great receiver-general--the
+earth, by warrant of cold iron and pistol-balls. What say ye, Messieurs,
+shall he be elected?"
+
+A shout of approbation was the reply; and Marteville, having been duly
+elected, took the oaths, and received the homage of his new subjects.
+He then entered into a variety of plans for increasing the band,
+concentrating its operations, and once more rendering it that formidable
+body, which it had been in former times. All this met with the highest
+approbation; but the Captain showing the most marked dislike to
+remaining in the forest which they at present tenanted, and producing a
+variety of reasons for moving their quarters to Languedoc, where the
+neighbourhood of the court and the army offered greater facilities both
+for recruiting their numbers and their purses, it was agreed that they
+should disperse the next morning, and re-assemble as soon as possible,
+at a certain spot well known to the whole party, about forty leagues
+distant from Lyons.
+
+This was happily effected; and the Norman, on presenting himself at the
+rendezvous, had the pleasure of introducing to the band two new
+associates, whom he had found the means of converting on the road.
+
+Although abandoning himself heart and soul to the pleasures of his
+resumed profession, our friend Marteville was not forgetful of the
+reward he expected from Chavigni; and as his official duties prevented
+his being himself the bearer of the paper he had obtained, he despatched
+it to Narbonne, where the Statesman now was, by his faithful subject
+Callot, with orders to demand ten thousand crowns of Monsieur de
+Chavigni, as a reward for having discovered it, adding also an elaborate
+epistle to the same effect.
+
+The Norman never for a moment entertained a suspicion that the paper he
+sent was any thing but the identical treaty with Spain, which the
+conspirators had been heard to mention; and he doubted not that the
+Statesman would willingly pay such a sum for so precious a document. But
+the embassy of Monsieur Callot did not prove so fortunate as had been
+anticipated. Presenting himself to Chavigni, with as much importance of
+aspect as the ambassador from Siam, he tendered his credentials, and
+demanded the reward, at a moment when the Statesman was irritated by a
+thousand anxieties and dangers.
+
+Making no ceremony with the fine blue and yellow wax, Chavigni, having
+read the Norman's epistle, soon found his way into the inside of the
+other packet, and beheld in the midst of a thousand signs and figures,
+unintelligible to any but a professed astrologer, a prophetic scroll
+containing some doggrel verses, which may be thus rendered into
+English:--
+
+       THE FATE OF RICHELIEU.
+
+    Born beneath two mighty stars,
+      Mercury with Mars combined,
+    He shall prompt a thousand wars,
+      Nor live the balm of peace to find.
+
+    Less than a King, yet Kings shall fall
+      And tremble at his fatal sway;
+    Yet at life's end he shall recall
+      The memory of no happy day.
+
+    And the last year that he shall know,
+      Shall see him fall, and see him rise;
+    Shall see him yield, yet slay his foe,
+      And scarcely triumph ere he dies.
+
+    Begot in factions, nursed in strife,
+      Till all his troubled years be past,
+    Cunning and care eat up his life,--
+      A slave and tyrant, first and last.
+
+           PERE LE ROUGE.
+
+Chavigni gazed at the paper in amazement, and then at the face of
+Monsieur Callot, who, totally unconscious of the contents, remained
+very nonchalantly expecting the reward. "Ten thousand crowns!" cried the
+Statesman, giving way to his passion. "Ho! without there! take this
+fellow out and flog him with your hunting whips out of Narbonne. Away
+with him, and curry him well!"
+
+The grooms instantly seized upon poor Callot, and executed Chavigni's
+commands with high glee. The robber, however, though somewhat surprised,
+bore his flagellation very patiently; for under the jerkin which he
+wore, still lay the rusty iron corslet we have before described, which
+saved him from appreciating the blows at their full value.
+
+The matter, however, was yet to be remembered, as we shall see; for when
+Callot, on his return to the forest, informed his captain what sort of
+reward he had received for the packet, the Norman's gigantic limbs
+seemed to swell to a still greater size with passion, and drawing his
+sword he put the blade to his lips, swearing, that before twelve months
+were over, it should drink Chavigni's blood: and promises of such sort
+he usually kept most punctually.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+     Wherein De Blenau finds out that he has made a mistake, and what
+     follows.
+
+
+Having now conducted our truly-begotten friend, the Sieur Marteville,
+considerably in advance of the rest of the characters in this true
+history, it becomes us to show our impartiality by detailing the
+principal actions of our other personages, and also to display the
+causes which brought the noble Count de Chavigni to such a distance as
+Narbonne, a little town in the southern nook of Languedoc, not above a
+few leagues from Perpignan. However, as all these circumstances are
+naturally explained in the history of the Count de Blenau, we may as
+well follow him on the useless pursuit into which he had been led by
+the precipitancy of Monsieur Henry de La Mothe, his page, who would have
+saved his master a great deal of trouble and distress, as we all know,
+if he had thought fit to see the Marquise de Beaumont; but young hounds
+will often cry upon a wrong scent, and mislead those who should know
+better.
+
+Thus it happened in the present instance; and De Blenau, blinded by
+anxiety for Pauline, took the suspicions of his Page for granted,
+without examination. He knew that Chavigni scrupled not at any measures
+which might serve a political purpose; he knew that the Norman was in
+the immediate employment of the Statesman, and was still less delicate
+in his notions than his master; and he doubted not that Pauline, having
+been discovered issuing from the Bastille, had been carried off without
+ceremony, and sent from Paris under the custody of the ci-devant robber.
+At all events, De Blenau, as he rode along, composed a very plausible
+chain of reasoning upon the subject; and far from supposing that the
+Norman would avoid the wood in the neighbourhood of Mesnil, he
+concluded, from his knowledge of Marteville's former habits, that a
+forest filled with robbers would fulfil all his anticipations of
+Paradise, and be too strong an attraction to be resisted.
+
+Thus cogitating, he rode on to Decize, and thence to Corbigny, where day
+once more broke upon his path; and having been obliged to allow the
+horses a few hours' rest, he tried in vain for some repose himself.
+Auxerre was his next halt, but here only granting his domestics one hour
+to refresh, he passed the Yonne, and soon after entered Champagne, which
+traversing without stopping, except for a few minutes at Bar sur Seine,
+he reached Troyes before midnight, with man and horse too wearied to
+begin their search before the following morning.
+
+It unluckily so happened that De Blenau did not alight at the hotel of
+the Grand Soleil, where he might have gained such information as would
+in all probability have prevented his farther proceedings; and as the
+keeper of the auberge where he stopped, was at open war with the
+landlord of the Grand Soleil, to all the inquiries which were made the
+next morning, the only reply the _aubergiste_ thought fit to give was,
+that "indeed he could not tell; he had never seen such a person as De
+Blenau described the Norman to be, or such a lady as Pauline;"--though,
+be it remarked, every body in the house, after having gazed at
+Marteville and Louise for a full hour on their arrival, had watched
+their motions every day, and had wondered themselves stiff at who they
+could be and what they could want. At length, however, De Blenau caught
+hold of an unsophisticated hostler, of whom he asked if within the last
+ten days he had seen a carriage stop or pass through the town containing
+two such persons as he described.
+
+The hostler replied, "No; that they seldom saw carriages there; that a
+tall gentleman, like the one he mentioned, had ridden out of the town
+just two days before with a lady on horseback; but Devil a carriage had
+there been in Troyes for six years or more, except that of Monseigneur
+the Governor."
+
+De Blenau, glad of the least intimation where news seemed so scanty, now
+described the Norman as particularly as he could from what he had seen
+of him while speaking to Chavigni in the Park of St. Germain's, dwelling
+upon his gigantic proportions, and the remarkable cut upon his cheek.
+
+"Yes, yes!" replied the hostler, "that was the man; I saw him ride out
+with a _jolie demoiselle_ on the road to Mesnil St. Loup; but Devil a
+carriage has there been in Troyes for six years or more, except that of
+Monseigneur the Governor."
+
+"Well, well," replied De Blenau, wishing if possible to hear more,
+"perhaps they might not be in a carriage. But can you tell me where they
+lodged while in the city of Troyes?"
+
+Even the obtuse faculties of the hostler had been drilled into knowing
+nothing of any other auberge in the town but his own. "Can't tell,"
+replied he. "Saw him and the lady ride out on horseback; but Devil a
+carriage has there been in Troyes for six years or more, except that of
+Monseigneur the Governor."
+
+It may have been remarked, that a certain degree of impatience and
+hastiness of determination was one of the prevailing faults of De
+Blenau's disposition; and in this case, without waiting for farther
+examination, he set out in pursuit of the Norman as soon as his horses
+were ready, merely inquiring if there was any castle in the
+neighbourhood of Mesnil which might serve for the confinement of State
+prisoners.
+
+The landlord, to whom the question was addressed, immediately determined
+in his own mind, that De Blenau was an agent of the Government; and
+replied, "None, that he knew of, but the old Chateau of St. Loup; but
+that Monseigneur had better have it repaired before he confined any one
+there, for it was so ruinous they would get out, to a certainty, if they
+were placed there in its present state."
+
+De Blenau smiled at the mistake, but prepossessed with the idea that the
+Norman was carrying Pauline to some place of secret imprisonment, he
+determined at once to proceed to the spot the _aubergiste_ mentioned,
+and to traverse the wood from the high road to Troyes, as the most
+likely route on which to encounter the Norman, against whom he vowed the
+most summary vengeance, if fortune should afford him the opportunity.
+
+As, from every report upon the subject, the forest had been for some
+time past the resort of banditti, De Blenau gave orders to his servants
+to hold themselves upon their guard, and took the precaution of throwing
+forward two of his shrewdest followers, as a sort of reconnoitring
+party, to give him intelligence of the least noise which could indicate
+the presence of any human being besides themselves. But all these
+measures seemed to be unnecessary; not a sound met the ear; and De
+Blenau's party soon began to catch glimpses of the old Chateau of St.
+Loup, through the breaks in the wood; and gradually winding round
+towards the east, gained the slope which gave them a clear view of the
+whole building.
+
+The whole appearance of the place was so desolate and dilapidated, that
+the first glance convinced De Blenau that Chavigni would never dream of
+confining Pauline within such ruinous walls; as the mere consideration
+of her rank would prevent him from using any unnecessary severity,
+though her successful attempt to penetrate into the Bastille afforded a
+plausible excuse for removing her from Paris. However, in order not to
+leave the least doubt upon the subject, he mounted to the court-yard,
+and having ascertained that every part of the building was equally unfit
+for the purposes of a prison, and that it was actually uninhabited
+except by owls and ravens, he determined to cross to a town, the spire
+of whose church he saw rising on the opposite hill, and to pursue his
+search in some other direction.
+
+Descending, therefore, by the same slope which he had previously
+mounted, he wound round the base of the hill much in the same path by
+which Callot had conducted the Norman and Louise. The stream, however,
+formed the boundary of his approach to the castle on that side; and
+passing the rocks, which we have already mentioned as strewed about at
+the foot of the precipices, he followed the course of the river, till,
+winding into the wood, the castle, and the hill on which it stood, were
+lost to the sight. Here as he rode slowly on, revolving various plans
+for more successfully pursuing the Norman, and reproaching himself for
+not having made more accurate inquiries at Troyes, his eye was suddenly
+attracted by the appearance of something floating on the river like the
+long black hair of a young woman.
+
+De Blenau's heart sank within him; his courage failed, his whole
+strength seemed to give way, and he sat upon his horse like a statue,
+pointing with his hand towards the object that had thus affected him,
+but without the power of uttering any order concerning it.
+
+In the mean while the hair waved slowly backwards and forwards upon the
+stream, and one of the servants perceiving it, dismounted from his
+horse, waded into the water, and catching it in his grasp, began
+dragging the body to which it was attached towards the brink. As he did
+so, the part of a red serge dress, such as that in which Pauline had
+visited the Bastille, floated to the surface, and offered a horrible
+confirmation of De Blenau's fears. The first shock, however, was passed,
+and leaping from his horse with agony depicted in his straining eye, he
+sprang down the bank into the stream, and raising the face of the dead
+person above the water, beheld the countenance of Louise.
+
+Perhaps the immoderate joy which De Blenau felt at this sight might be
+wrong, but it was natural; and sitting down on the bank, he covered his
+face with his hands, overcome by the violent revolution of feeling which
+so suddenly took place in his bosom.
+
+In the mean while his servants drew the body of the unfortunate girl to
+the bank, and speedily discovered that the mode of her death had been of
+a more horrible description than even that which they had at first
+supposed; for in her bosom appeared a deep broad gash as if from the
+blow of a poniard, which had undoubtedly deprived her of life before
+her murderer committed the body to the stream.
+
+According to the costume of her country, Louise had worn upon the day of
+her death two large white pockets above the jupe of red serge. These
+were still attached to the black velvet bodice which she displayed in
+honour of her marriage with the Norman, and contained a variety of
+miscellaneous articles, amongst which were several epistles from her
+husband to herself in the days of their courtship, which showed De
+Blenau that she had been employed as a spy upon Pauline and Madame de
+Beaumont ever since their arrival at St. Germain's: added to these was a
+certificate of marriage between Jean Baptiste Marteville and Louise
+Thibault, celebrated in the chapel of the Palais Cardinal, by François
+Giraud. All this led De Blenau to conclude, that he had been misled in
+regard to the cause of Pauline's absence from St. Germain's; and he
+accordingly proceeded to the little bourg of Senecy on his return
+towards Troyes, making his men bear thither the body of Louise with as
+much decent solemnity as the circumstances admitted. Having here
+intrusted to the good Curé of the place the charge of the funeral, and
+given two sums for the very different purposes of promoting the
+discovery of the murderer and buying a hundred masses for the soul of
+the deceased, De Blenau pursued his journey, and arrived at Troyes
+before night.
+
+Putting up this time at the hotel of the Grand Soleil, De Blenau soon
+acquired sufficient information to confirm him in the opinion that the
+Norman had been accompanied by Louise alone; but at the same time, the
+accounts which the people of the house gave respecting the kindness and
+affection that Marteville had shown his bride, greatly shook the
+suspicions which had been entertained against him by De Blenau, who,
+unacquainted with any such character as that of the Norman, knew not
+that there are men who, like tigers when unurged by hunger, will play
+with their victims before they destroy them.
+
+The next morning early, all was prepared for the departure of De Blenau,
+on his return to Moulins, when his farther progress in that direction
+was arrested by the arrival of Henry de La Mothe, his page, accompanied
+by one of the King's couriers, who immediately presented to the Count
+two packets, of which he had been the bearer from St. Germain's. The
+first of these seemed, from the superscription, to be a common official
+document; but the second attracted all his attention, and made his heart
+beat high by presenting to him the genuine hand-writing of Pauline de
+Beaumont. Without meaning any offence to Royalty, whose insignia were
+impressed upon the seal of the other packet, De Blenau eagerly cut the
+silk which fastened the billet from Pauline. It contained only a few
+lines, but these were quite sufficient to give renewed happiness to the
+heart of him who read it. She had just heard, she said, that the King's
+messenger was about to set out, and though they hardly gave her time to
+fold her paper, yet she would not let any one be before her in
+congratulating him on his freedom to direct his course wheresoever he
+pleased. She could not divine, she continued, whether his choice would
+lead him to St. Germain's, but if it did, perhaps he might be treated to
+the history of an errant Demoiselle, who had suffered various adventures
+in endeavouring to liberate her true Knight from prison.
+
+De Blenau read it over again, and then turned to the other paper, which
+merely notified that the King, contented with his loyal and peaceable
+behaviour while _relegué_ in Bourbon, had been graciously pleased to
+relieve him from the restrictions under which he had been placed for his
+own benefit and the State's security; and informed him, in short, that
+he had leave, liberty, and licence, to turn his steps whithersoever he
+listed.
+
+"To St. Germain's!" cried De Blenau gaily. "To St. Germain's! You, Henry
+de La Mothe, stay here with François and Clement. Take good care of
+Monsieur l'Ordinaire, and see that he be rewarded."--The messenger made
+him a reverence.--"After you have reposed yourself here for a day,"
+continued the Count, "return to Moulins; pay _notre Propriétaire_, and
+all that may be there due. There is the key of the _coffre fort_. Use
+all speed that you well may, and then join me at home. And now for St.
+Germain's."
+
+So saying, he sprang on his horse as light as air, gave the well-known
+signal with his heel, and in a moment was once more on the road to
+Paris.
+
+Although I find a minute account of De Blenau's whole journey to St.
+Germain's, with the towns and inns at which he stopped, marked with the
+precision of a road-book, I shall nevertheless take upon myself the
+responsibility of abridging it as far as well can be, by saying that it
+began and ended happily.
+
+The aspect of St. Germain's, however, had very much changed since De
+Blenau left it. Louis had now fixed his residence there; his confidence
+in the Queen seemed perfectly restored; every countenance glowed with
+that air of satisfaction, which such a renewal of good intelligence
+naturally produced; and the Royal residence had once more assumed the
+appearance of a Court.
+
+The first welcome received by De Blenau was from his gallant friend Cinq
+Mars, at whose request his recall had been granted by the King, and who
+now, calculating the time of the exile's return, stood at the door of De
+Blenau's hotel, ready to meet him on his arrival.
+
+"Welcome, welcome back! my long-lost friend, Claude de Blenau,"
+exclaimed Cinq Mars, as the Count sprang from his horse; "welcome from
+the midst of prisons and trials, perils and dangers!"
+
+"And well met, gallant Cinq Mars, the noble and the true," replied De
+Blenau. "But tell me, in heaven's name, Cinq Mars, what makes all this
+change at St. Germain's? Why, it looks as if the forest were a fair, and
+that the old town had put on its holiday suit to come and see it."
+
+"Nay, nay! rather, like a true dame that dresses herself out for her
+lover's return, it has made itself fine to receive you back again,"
+replied the Master of the Horse. "But if you would really know the
+secret of all the change that you see now, and will see still more
+wonderfully as you look farther, it is this. Richelieu is ill at
+Tarascon, and his name is scarcely remembered at the Court, though
+Chavigni, that bold rascal, and Mazarin, that subtle one, come prowling
+about to maintain, if possible, their master's sway. But the spell is
+broken, and Louis is beginning to be a King again: so we shall see
+bright days yet."
+
+"I hope so; in truth I hope so, Cinq Mars," replied De Blenau. "But, at
+all events, we will enjoy the change so far as it has gone. And now,
+what news at the Palace? How fare all the lovely ladies of the Court?"
+
+"Why well," answered Cinq Mars; "all well; though I know, De Blenau,
+that your question, in comprising a hundred, meant but one only. Well,
+what say you?--I have seen thy Pauline, and cannot but allow that thy
+taste is marvellous good. There is a wild grace about her, well worth
+all the formal dignity of a court. One gets tired of the stiff courtesy
+and the precise bow; the kissing of hands and the lisping of names; the
+_Monseigneurings_ and the _Madamings_. Fie! one little touch of nature
+is worth it all."
+
+"But answer me one question, Monsieur le Grand," said De Blenau. "How
+came there a report about, that Pauline had been carried off by some of
+the Cardinal's people, and that no one knew where she was? for such a
+tale reached me even in Bourbon."
+
+"Is it possible that you are the last to hear that story?" exclaimed
+Cinq Mars. "Why, though the old Marquise, and the rest at the Palace,
+affect to keep it a secret, every one knows the adventures of your
+_demoiselle errante_."
+
+De Blenau's cheek flushed to hear such a name applied to Pauline; but
+Cinq Mars continued, observing that his friend was hurt--"Nay, nay,
+every one admires her for the whole business, and no one more than I.
+But, as I was saying, all the world knows it. The Queen herself told it
+to Monsieur de Lomenie, and he to his cousin De Thou, and De Thou to
+me; and so it goes on. Well, but I must take up the gossip's tale at the
+beginning. The Queen, wishing to communicate with you in prison, could
+find no messenger, who, for either gold or fair words, would venture his
+head into the rat-trap, except your fair Pauline; and she, it seems,
+attempted twice to get into the Bastille, once by day and once at night,
+but both times fruitlessly. How it happened I hardly remember, but by
+some means Chavigni, through some of his creatures, winded the whole
+affair; and posting from Chantilly to Paris, catches my fair lady in the
+very effort, disguised as a _soubrette_; down he pounces, like a falcon
+on a partridge, and having secured the delinquent, places her in a
+carriage, which, with the speed of light, conveys her away to his castle
+in Maine, where Madame la Comtesse de Chavigni--who, by the way, is an
+angel according to all accounts--receives the young lady and entertains
+her with all kindness. In the mean while, Monsieur le Comte de Blenau is
+examined by the King in person, and instead of having his head cut off,
+is merely _relegué_ in Bourbon; upon which Chavigni finds he has lost
+his labour, and is obliged to send for the pretty prisoner back again
+with all speed."
+
+Although De Blenau was aware, from his own personal experience, that
+Cinq Mars had mistaken several parts of his history, he did not think
+fit to set him right; and the Master of the Horse proceeded: "However,
+let us into thy hotel. Get thy dinner, wash the dust from thy beard,
+array thyself in an unsullied doublet, and we will hie to the dwelling
+of thy lady fair, to glad her eyes with the sight of thy sweet person."
+
+De Blenau smiled at his friend's raillery, and as the proposal very well
+accorded with his wishes, every moment seeming mis-spent that detained
+him from Pauline, he changed his dress as speedily as possible, and was
+soon ready to accompany Cinq Mars to the Palace.
+
+As they proceeded on their way towards the gates of the Park, a figure
+presented itself, which, from its singularity, was worthy of notice. It
+was that of a tall, thin raw-boned man, who, naturally possessing a
+countenance of the ugliest cast of Italian ugliness, had rendered it
+still more disagreeable by the enormous length of his mustaches, which
+would have far overtopped his nose, had it been a nose of any ordinary
+proportion; but a more extensive pear-shaped, ill-adapted organ never
+projected from a human countenance; and this, together with a pair of
+small, flaming black eyes, which it seemed to bear forward with it above
+the rest of the face, protruding from a mass of beard and hair,
+instantly reminding the beholder of a badger looking out of a hole. The
+chin, however, bore no proportion to the nose, and seemed rather to
+slink away from it in an oblique direction, apparently overawed by its
+more ambitious neighbour.
+
+The dress of this delectable personage was a medley of the French and
+Flemish costumes. He wore a grey vest of silk, with sleeves slashed at
+the elbow, and the shirt, which was not conspicuously clean, buttoned at
+the wrist with agate studs. His _haut de chausse_, which was of deep
+crimson, and bore loops and ribbons of yellow, was fringed round the
+leg, near the knees, with a series of brazen tags or points but
+indifferently silvered; and as he walked along with huge steps, these
+aforesaid tags clattered together with a sort of important sound, which,
+put in combination with the rest of his appearance, drew many a laugh
+from the boys of St. Germain's. Over his grey vest was drawn a
+straight-cut doublet of yellow silk, without sleeves; and a pair of long
+boots, of untanned leather, covered all defects which might otherwise
+have been apparent in his hose. His dress was completed by a tawdry
+bonnet with a high black plume: and a Toledo blade of immeasurable
+length, with a worked iron hilt and black scabbard, hung by his side,
+describing with its point various strange figures on the dust of the
+road.
+
+"Here comes Villa Grande, the Italian lute-player," exclaimed Cinq Mars
+the moment he saw him. "Do you know him, De Blenau?"
+
+"I have heard him play on his instrument and sing at your house,"
+replied De Blenau; "and from his language that night, may say I know him
+through and through, for a boasting coxcomb, with as much courage as the
+sheath of a rapier,--which looks as good as a rapier itself till it is
+touched, and then it proves all emptiness. Mind you how he boasted of
+having routed whole squadrons when he served in the Italian horse? and I
+dare say he would run from a stuffed pikeman in an old hall."
+
+"Nay, nay; you do him wrong, Claude," replied Cinq Mars. "He has rather
+too much tongue, it is true; but that is not always the sign of a bad
+hound. I must speak to him, however, for he does me service.--Well,
+Signor Villa Grande," continued he, addressing the Italian, who now
+approached, swinging an enormous cane in his hand, and from time to time
+curling up the ends of his mustaches; "you remember that you are to be
+ready at a moment's notice. Be sure, also, that your mind be made up;
+for I tell you fairly, the service which you undertake is one of
+danger."
+
+"Monsieur," replied the Italian with a strong foreign accent, "I will be
+ready, when you call upon me, in shorter time than you could draw your
+sword; and as for my mind being made up, if there were an army drawn out
+to oppose my progress, I would be bound to carry the despatch to the
+Duke of Bouillon, or die in the attempt. Fear not my yielding it to any
+body; _piutosto morir vol'io_, as the song has it," and he hummed a few
+bars of one of his native airs.--"_Oh Dio!_" continued he, recognising
+De Blenau, who had turned away on perceiving that Cinq Mars spoke to
+the Italian on some business of a private nature. "_Oh Dio!_ Monsieur le
+Comte de Blenau, is it really you returned at last? _Benedetto quel
+giorno felice!_ Doubtless you are aware of the glorious plans of your
+friend Monsieur le Grand."
+
+"Good day, Signor," answered De Blenau; "I know of no one's plans but my
+own, the most glorious of which, within my apprehension at present, is
+to get to the Palace as soon as possible. Come, Cinq Mars, are you at
+leisure?" and he took a step or two in advance, while the Master of the
+Horse gave the Italian a warning to put a bridle on his tongue, and not
+to let it run so loosely without any regard to necessary caution.
+
+"For Heaven's sake, take care what you are about, Cinq Mars!" said De
+Blenau, when he was again joined by his friend. "Of course you are the
+best judge of your own plans; but unless you have a mind to ruin them
+all, do not trust them to such a babbling idiot as that; and beware
+that, in attempting to catch a lion, you do not get torn yourself."
+
+"Oh, no fear," replied the Grand Ecuyer; "that fellow knows nothing more
+than it is absolutely necessary for him to know, and as for the rest, I
+have plunged into a wide sea, Claude, and must swim to land somehow."
+
+They had by this time reached the gates of the Palace, and Cinq Mars,
+knowing that some meetings are better in private, left his friend, and
+turned his steps towards the apartments of the King.
+
+In the mean while, De Blenau proceeded with a rapid pace towards that
+part of the Palace which had been assigned to Madame de Beaumont; and
+his heart beat with that wild uncontrollable emotion, which the meeting
+with one dearly loved can alone produce. At that very moment similar
+sensations were throbbing in the bosom of Pauline de Beaumont, who from
+the window had seen the approach of Cinq Mars and another; and long
+before her eye could distinguish a feature, her heart had told her who
+it was. A sort of irresistible impulse led her, at first, to fly towards
+the door by which she expected him to enter; but before she was half
+across the room, some other feeling came over her mind. She returned to
+her seat at the window, and a blush stole over her cheek, though there
+was no other person present to observe her emotion or pry into its
+cause.
+
+The door was partially open, and more than once she raised her eyes
+towards it, and thought that De Blenau was long in coming so short a
+distance. But presently she heard his step, and there was an impatient
+eagerness even in the sound of his footfall that convinced her he lost
+no time. Another moment and he entered the room--Every feeling but one
+was at an end, and Pauline was in his arms.
+
+It is not at the moment when a lover has endured many sorrows, and
+escaped from many dangers, that a gentle heart can practise even the
+every-day affectations which a great part of the world are pleased to
+mistake for delicacy; and far less inclined to attempt it than any other
+person in the world, was Pauline de Beaumont. The child of nature and
+simplicity, her delicacy was that of an elegant mind and a pure heart.
+Of what she did feel she concealed little, and affected nothing; and De
+Blenau was happy.
+
+Of course there was a great deal to be told, and De Blenau was listening
+delighted to an account of the considerate kindness with which the
+Countess de Chavigni had treated his Pauline, when the sound of voices
+approaching towards them stopped her in her history.
+
+It is precisely at such moments as those when we wish every body but
+ourselves away, that the world is most likely to intrude upon us; and
+Pauline and De Blenau had not met more than five minutes, as it seemed
+to them, when the Queen and Madame de Beaumont entered the
+apartment.--How long they had been really together is another question,
+for lovers' feelings are not always the truest watches.
+
+"Welcome, my faithful De Blenau," said the Queen. "We encountered the
+Grand Ecuyer but now, who told us where we should find you. For my own
+part, I suppose I must in all justice forgive your paying your devoirs
+here before you came to visit even me. However, ere there be any one
+near to overhear, I must thank you for all you have done for me, and for
+all you have suffered on my account. Nor must I forget my little heroine
+here, who went through all sorts of peril and danger in conveying my
+message to you in the Bastille."
+
+"Your Majesty was very good in sending me such an angel of comfort,"
+replied De Blenau. "And certainly, had it not been for the commands she
+brought me, I believe that his most Christian-like Eminence of
+Richelieu would have doomed me to the torture for my obstinacy."
+
+"Put it in other words, De Blenau," said Anne of Austria. "You mean that
+you would have endured the torture sooner than betray your Queen. But
+truly, Pauline must have a stout heart to have carried through such an
+undertaking; and I think that the fidelity and attachment which you have
+both shown to me, offers a fair promise for your conduct towards each
+other. What say you, Madame de Beaumont?"
+
+"I think, Madame," replied the Marchioness, "that Pauline has done her
+duty with more firmness than most girls could have commanded; and that
+De Blenau has done his as well as it could be done."
+
+"Pauline merits more praise than her mother ventures to give," said the
+Queen. "But I had forgot the King's summons; and probably he is even now
+waiting for us. Come, Pauline; come, De Blenau. Louis gives high
+commendation to your demeanour in prison; let us see how he greets you
+out of it."
+
+A message had been conveyed to Anne of Austria, just before the arrival
+of De Blenau, intimating that the King desired to see her; and she now
+led the way to the _Salle Ronde_, as it was then called, or the _Salle
+des Muses_, as it was afterwards named by Louis the Fourteenth, where
+the King waited her approach. Although the uncertain nature of Louis's
+temper always made her feel some degree of apprehension when summoned to
+his presence, the kindness he had lately shown her, and the presence of
+a large proportion of her friends, made her obey his call with more
+pleasure than she usually felt on similar occasions.
+
+Louis's object, in the present instance, was to inform the Queen of the
+journey he was about to make into the neighbourhood of Perpignan, in
+order to confirm the inhabitants of Roussillon in their new allegiance
+to the crown of France; and Cinq Mars, who had always sincerely wished
+the welfare of Anne of Austria, took this opportunity of insinuating to
+the King, that to show publicly his restored confidence in the Queen, so
+far from lessening his authority, even in appearance, would be in truth
+only asserting his own dignity, from which the proceedings of Richelieu
+had so greatly derogated.
+
+De Blenau and Pauline followed a step or two behind the Queen and
+Madame de Beaumont, and would willingly have lingered still longer by
+themselves; but as something must always be sacrificed to appearance,
+they quickened their pace as Anne of Austria approached the door of the
+_Salle Ronde_, and came up with her just as she entered the room in
+which the principal part of the French court was assembled. The moment
+she appeared, Louis advanced towards the Queen from the brilliant circle
+in which he stood, and embraced her affectionately. "Welcome, my fair
+lady," said he. "I see you have brought the new returned exile with
+you.--Monsieur de Blenau, I am glad to see you at court;--this is a
+pleasanter place than where we met last."
+
+"I can assure you, Sire," replied De Blenau, "that I will never be
+willingly in circumstances to meet your Majesty there again."
+
+"I do not doubt it, I do not doubt it," said the King. "You should thank
+Heaven that delivered you from such peril, Sir Count.--Madam," he
+continued, turning to the Queen, "I requested to see you, not only for
+the pleasure which your presence must always give, but to inform you,
+that affairs of state will shortly call me to Narbonne, in Languedoc,
+from whence I shall return with all convenient speed."
+
+"Your Majesty soon leaves St. Germain's," replied the Queen. "I do not
+think you love it for a sojourn, as in other days."
+
+"Not so," answered Louis; "so well do I love it, that I had purposed to
+have worn out the rest of my days here, had not the duties of my station
+called me hence: but my return will be speedy if God give me life.--What
+man can say how long he may remain? and I feel many a warning that my
+time will be but short in this world.--Ha! what mean those drops in your
+eyes?--I did not know, Anne, that such were your feelings." And he
+pressed the Queen's hand, which he had continued to retain in his.
+
+"Oh Louis!" replied Anne of Austria, and by that simple exclamation
+conveyed a more delicate reproach to the heart of her husband than she
+could have done by any other expression in the range of language. Louis
+felt it, and drawing her arm kindly through his own, he proposed aloud
+that the whole party should walk forth upon the terrace. It was the
+Queen's favourite spot, and she easily understood that it was meant as
+some atonement for many a former slight. Those, too, who stood round
+and saw what had taken place, began to perceive that a new star was
+dawning in the horizon, and turned their eyes to watch its progress and
+court its influence.
+
+The King and Queen were followed by the greater part of the court; and
+during the walk Louis continued to manifest that kindness towards his
+wife, which had it been earlier shown, might have given him a life of
+happiness. "Let me beg you, Madam," said he, as at length they turned to
+enter the Palace, "not only to be careful of our children, for that I am
+sure you will be, but also to be careful of their mother, for my sake."
+
+The Queen's feelings were overpowering; the tears rolled rapidly down
+her cheeks, taking from her all power of utterance, and quitting the
+King, after pressing his hand to her lips, she retired to her own
+apartments, to indulge in solitude the new and delightful emotions which
+her husband's unexpected kindness had excited.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+     Which shows that the Moment and the Manner have often more to do
+     with Success than the Matter.
+
+
+The various preparations for the King's journey into Roussillon occupied
+no small space of time. Litters and carriages were to be provided;
+relays of horses to be stationed on the road; cooks and victuallers were
+to be sent forward; and a thousand other arrangements to be made,
+required either by the general difficulty of locomotion in those days,
+or by the failing health of the King. It was not then, as in the present
+time, when monarchs and subjects travel with equal facility all over the
+globe: when a king gets into his travelling chaise with no more to do
+than a private man, and is carried along over a level road without let
+or hindrance, jolt or jumbling, to whatsoever place his fancy may
+incline him. The journey of a sovereign was then as formidable an
+undertaking as the passage of the Great Desert to a modern traveller,
+and required fully as much provision and circumspection.
+
+One great object of Richelieu's policy had been to diminish the feudal
+influence of the nobility, and by forcing them to reside with the Court,
+to break through their constant communication with their vassals. In
+pursuit of this, he had drawn the greater part of the nobles to Paris;
+and now that his absence and declining favour with the King dissolved
+the charm which seemed to hold them in the capital, they congregated at
+St. Germain's like a flock of bees, that, having lost their hive, flew
+forth in search of a new one. Many of these were bound, by their various
+offices in the household, to accompany the King in his present journey;
+others were particularly invited to do so either by Louis himself or by
+Cinq Mars and Fontrailles, who sought to surround the King with those
+who, on any sudden emergency, might support their party against the
+Cardinal; and a crowd of others, from vanity or interest, curiosity or
+ambition, were glad to follow in the train of the Monarch.
+
+Thus the greater part of the nobles who had flocked to St. Germain's, on
+Richelieu's departure from Paris, now again left it in order to take
+part in the journey to Narbonne. As all the horses, and every sort of
+accommodation on the direct road, were engaged for the service of the
+King and those immediately attendant upon him, the greater part of the
+Court took the indirect roads by which they could always be near the
+Royal party; and the rest followed a day or two after, taking advantage
+of whatever conveniences might be left unappropriated.
+
+There were one or two, however, who departed before Louis, and of these
+the principal was Chavigni, who set out accompanied by a few servants,
+two or three days prior to that appointed for the King's expedition. His
+ostensible destination was, like that of the rest of the Court, to
+Narbonne; but turning to the left, he directed his course towards
+Tarascon, and having travelled with the utmost rapidity, while Louis
+proceeded by easy stages, he had quite sufficient time to communicate
+fully with Richelieu, and proceed to Narbonne before the King's
+arrival.
+
+The journey into Roussillon had been undertaken by the express advice of
+Richelieu; and though Cinq Mars ventured boldly to attack the conduct of
+the Cardinal in every respect, to place all his measures in the worst
+point of view, and to encourage every sentiment in the King's mind which
+was in opposition to those of the Minister, still no change, or even a
+proposal of change in the Government had been mentioned, up to the time
+of the Court reaching Narbonne. Richelieu was still Prime Minister, and
+the Council remained composed of persons devoted to his interest, though
+the views of Cinq Mars were already spoken of in more than one circle,
+and the consent of the King was so far assumed as a matter decided, that
+the two parties were distinguished by the names of Royalist and
+Cardinalist.
+
+While the Court remained with the army near Perpignan, and after its
+removal to Narbonne, Richelieu still lay dangerously ill at Tarascon.
+His mind was deeply depressed, as well as his corporeal powers; and in
+the opinion of all, a few weeks were likely to terminate both his
+ministry and his existence, even if the eager hand of his enemies did
+not hurry him onward to more rapid destruction. But the fiery spirit of
+Cinq Mars brooked no delay: the lazy course of natural decay was too
+slow for his impatience; and though De Thou, who accompanied his friend
+to Narbonne, reiterated in his ears the maxims of caution and wisdom, on
+the other hand Fontrailles, fearful lest he should lose the merit and
+consequent influence he should acquire by the removal of Richelieu,
+never ceased to urge the favourite to hurry on the completion of their
+design.
+
+In the mean time, every thing seemed favourable to the conspirators; and
+Cinq Mars felt confident that the secret inclination of Louis would
+second all his views; but nevertheless, he wished for some more public
+and determinate expression of the King's opinion, before he asked his
+consent to the measures which had been concerted. After the arrival of
+the Court at Narbonne, however, the Monarch's conduct in respect to
+Richelieu became of so decisive a character, that no farther delay
+appeared necessary. Within a few miles of the place where the Cardinal
+lay ill, the King seemed entirely to have forgotten that such a man
+existed, or only to remember him with hatred. His name, if it was ever
+mentioned, instantly called into Louis's countenance an expression of
+uneasiness and disapprobation; and by no chance was the King ever heard
+to pronounce it himself. By all these circumstances, Cinq Mars was
+determined to communicate to Louis, as soon as possible, the schemes
+which had been formed for freeing the country from the yoke of
+Richelieu. He suffered, however, several days to elapse in waiting for a
+favourable opportunity, and at length, as often happens, growing
+impatient of delay, took perhaps the most inauspicious moment that could
+have been selected. It was on a morning when every thing had gone wrong
+with Louis.
+
+Notwithstanding his failing health, he still clung to his accustomed
+amusements, and very often rode forth to hunt when he was very unfit for
+any bodily exercise. On these occasions, the distressing consciousness
+of his decaying powers always rendered him doubly irritable; and on the
+day which Cinq Mars unfortunately chose to broach the subject of the
+dismissal of Richelieu, a thousand trivial accidents had occurred to
+increase his ill humour to the highest pitch. His horse had fallen with
+him in the chase; they had beat the country for hours without finding
+any game worthy of pursuit; and when at length they did rouse a fine
+boar, and had brought him to bay, he broke out after killing two of the
+King's best hounds, and plunged into the deepest part of the forest.
+Louis was returning home from this unsuccessful chase, when Cinq Mars,
+turning his eyes towards the towers of Tarascon, which just then were
+seen rising above the trees in the distance, pointed to them with his
+hunting-whip, saying, "There lies the Cardinal!"
+
+"Well, Sir," exclaimed Louis eagerly, catching at any thing on which to
+vent his irritability--"do you wish me to go and see him? Doubtless he
+will be glad of the visit. Let us go." And he reined in his horse, as if
+with the intention of turning him towards Tarascon.
+
+"Far be it from me to advise your Majesty so to do," replied Cinq Mars,
+who clearly perceived that the King's answer proceeded only from casual
+irritation. "It was the sight of the old towers of the Chateau, that
+called the Cardinal to my mind. In truth, I had almost forgotten him."
+
+"Forgotten him, Cinq Mars!" cried the King. "I think he has done enough
+to make himself remembered."
+
+"He has indeed, Sire," replied Cinq Mars, "and his memory will long last
+coupled with curses in the heart of every true Frenchman. But there he
+lies; I trust, like the Tarasque, hideous but harmless, for the
+present."
+
+"What do you mean by the Tarasque?" demanded Louis; "I never heard of
+it."
+
+"It is merely a whimsical stone dragon, Sire," replied Cinq Mars, "that
+lies carved in the Church of St. Marthe, at Tarascon on the Rhone--a
+thing of no more real use than the Cardinal de Richelieu."
+
+"Of no use, Sir!" exclaimed the King, his eye flashing fire. "Do you
+think that we would repose such trust, and confide our kingdom's weal to
+one who is of no use? Silence, Sir!" he continued, seeing Cinq Mars
+about to reply: "No more of this subject--we have heard too much of it."
+
+Cinq Mars was too wise to add another word, and the King rode on to
+Narbonne, maintaining a sullen silence towards all around him.
+
+Of the conversation which had passed not one word had escaped the ears
+of Fontrailles; and the moment the _cortège_ had dismounted, he
+followed the Master of the Horse towards a distant part of the grounds
+which lay behind the Chateau. Cinq Mars walked on as if he did not see
+him, and at last finding that he persisted in following, he stopped
+abruptly, exclaiming, "Well, Fontrailles! well! what now? What would you
+say? I can guess it all, so spare yourself the trouble."
+
+"You mistake me, Cinq Mars," replied Fontrailles, "if you think I would
+blame you. You did your best, though the time was not the best chosen;
+but all I wish to press upon you is, not to let this dispirit you. Let
+the subject die away for the present and seem forgotten, till the King
+is in a better mood. Every hour of his neglect is death to Richelieu;
+and besides, the King's consent is not absolutely necessary to us."
+
+"To me, absolutely necessary," replied Cinq Mars, "for I stir not one
+step without it."
+
+"Nay, the King's private consent to you is of course necessary,"
+answered Fontrailles; "but you surely do not think of informing him of
+the treaty with Spain. After the affair is finished, and Richelieu's
+power at an end, Louis will see the necessity of it; but such, you must
+know, is his hatred towards Spain, that he would consider the very
+proposal as little better than high treason."
+
+"I am not yet determined in that respect," answered Cinq Mars; "my
+conduct will of course be decided by how I find the King inclined. I
+like no concealments, where they can be avoided. But in the first place,
+Villa Grande must carry the treaty to----"
+
+Cinq Mars paused; for, as he spoke, Chavigni turned sharp round from an
+alley close by, and passed on. The Statesman bowed, _en passant_, to the
+Master of the Horse, who but slightly returned his salutation, while, on
+the other hand, Fontrailles doffed his hat and inclined his head with a
+hypocritical smile, in which habitual servility was strongly blended
+with triumphant malice.
+
+Chavigni spoke not, but there were two or three words had caught his ear
+as he passed, which at once turned his suspicions into the right
+channel, and stimulated him to know more. We have already said that it
+was a maxim with the Statesman, that in politics nothing is mean; and he
+would have felt not the slightest hesitation in listening to the
+conversation of Cinq Mars, could he have done so without being observed.
+To effect this, it was necessary to take a large round in order to
+approach the alley in which the two conspirators walked without drawing
+their attention to himself; but as he turned to do so, he observed the
+Master of the Horse separate from his companion and come towards the
+spot where he stood, and not wishing to put Cinq Mars on his guard, by
+showing that he was watched, he turned away and directed his steps
+towards the Château.
+
+"Must carry the treaty--" thought Chavigni. "Who must carry the treaty?
+If I could but have heard that name, I should then have had the clue in
+my hands. However, Monsieur de Cinq Mars, you shall be well looked to,
+at least--take care that you trip not--for if you do, you fall." Thus
+thinking, he passed on to the stables, where his horses stood,
+intending, notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, and the failing
+light, to ride over to Tarascon and communicate with Richelieu, even if
+he should be obliged to become a borrower of the night for a dark hour
+or twain. His grooms, however, taking advantage of his absence, had
+dispersed themselves in various directions in search of amusement to
+pass the hours in the dull town of Narbonne; and consequently Chavigni
+could find no one to saddle his horses for the proposed journey.
+
+Irritated at this impediment, he was about to quit the stable in search
+of some of the truant grooms, when he again perceived Cinq Mars
+approaching, accompanied by the Italian Villa Grande. They were in
+earnest conversation, and Chavigni, knowing that Cinq Mars had horses
+lodged next to his own, drew back, and searching for a crevice in the
+wooden partition, which was as old and decayed as he could desire, he
+applied himself to listen to all that passed as soon as the Master of
+the Horse and his companion entered the adjoining stable. The first
+words he heard were from the Italian. "You know, Monseigneur," said he,
+"that the utmost a man can do, is to die in defence of his charge; and
+that will I do, sooner than yield to any man that which you intrust to
+my hands."
+
+"Well, well," replied Cinq Mars, "there is no need of so many
+professions, good Sir. To-morrow morning then, at day-break, you set
+out. That is the horse--mind you use him well, but spare not his speed.
+Salute the noble Duke on my part with all kindness and love. At nine you
+come for the treaty: but mark that you keep your time, for at ten I
+must be with the King."
+
+"But Monseigneur, Monseigneur!" cried Villa Grande, as Cinq Mars turned
+to leave him; "perhaps your lackeys will not let me have the horse."
+
+"Well then, when you come to-night," replied the Grand Ecuyer, "you
+shall have an order for him."
+
+"Now then, your secret is in my power," thought Chavigni, as Cinq Mars
+and his companion left the spot. "Monsieur de Villa Grande, I will
+instantly make out an order for your arrest to-morrow morning, and save
+you the trouble of your journey.--Salute the noble Duke!" he continued,
+meditating on the words of Cinq Mars--"What Duke?--It must be Gaston of
+Orleans--But he is a royal Duke--But we shall see." And as he walked on
+towards the Chateau he bent his eyes upon the ground, revolving in his
+mind the various plans which suggested themselves for withdrawing his
+patron and himself from the brink of that political precipice on which
+they stood.
+
+His thoughts, however, which for a moment wandered to every different
+circumstance of his situation, seeking amongst the many dangers that
+surrounded, some favourable point on which to found a hope, were all
+suddenly recalled to one object, by the approach of Cardinal Mazarin,
+who by his hurried step and anxious countenance appeared to be troubled
+by some unforeseen event.
+
+Notwithstanding their being linked in one cause, notwithstanding their
+present interests drawing together, notwithstanding all the apparent
+friendship that existed between them, Chavigni looked upon the Cardinal
+as one who with less zeal had rivalled him in the favour of Richelieu,
+and who with less talent had insinuated himself as much into the affairs
+of Government; and Mazarin, although obliged to coalesce with
+Richelieu's favourite, looked forward to the day when the struggle for
+pre-eminence between them would come to a climax, and one would rise
+upon the ruin of the other: and he saw clearly that when that day did
+arrive, all his own subtlety would hardly qualify him to compete with
+the bold mind and vigorous talents of Chavigni, unless he could in the
+first instance gradually acquire for himself such a superiority of
+interest, as to enable him to command rather than contend for the
+highest station.
+
+The natural effect of these conflicting interests was a feeling of
+jealous suspicion in the mind of each, which in Mazarin only appeared by
+the care he took to strengthen his influence wherever it was most
+opposite to that of Chavigni; while at the same time, he showed his
+fellow statesman an outward respect and deference almost amounting to
+servility. But on the other part, Chavigni's hasty disposition made his
+dislike more apparent, though he took no means of injuring his rival.
+
+As they approached each other, the Cardinal made a sign to the Page who
+attended him to remain behind, and folding the train of his robe over
+his arm, he advanced quickly to Chavigni, embracing him with the
+greatest semblance of attachment. "My excellent friend," he exclaimed,
+"I have sought you everywhere: let me beg you to fly instantly to
+Tarascon, or all our hopes are ruined."
+
+"In truth," replied Chavigni, not allowing Mazarin to explain the
+motives of his request; "your Eminence requires what I can hardly comply
+with; as I have but now got business on my hands which needs some time
+to manage. But may I crave the object which would be gained by my going
+to Tarascon? I should think that he who could stay two hostile armies
+on the point of battle, was fully sufficient to any stroke of policy."
+
+There was a sarcastic smile on the lip of Chavigni, as he alluded to the
+peace which Mazarin had procured at Cazal, at the moment when the French
+and Spanish armies were about to engage; but the Cardinal would see only
+the compliment. "You are too kind," replied he; "but in this instance,
+you only can succeed; you only, I feel assured--and that not without the
+exertion of all your influence--can prevent the Cardinal Prime Minister
+from sending his resignation to the King."
+
+"His resignation!" exclaimed Chavigni, starting back with unfeigned
+astonishment. "In the name of Heaven, what do you mean?"
+
+"I mean this, Chavigni," replied Mazarin, "that unless you reach
+Tarascon before daylight to-morrow morning, and use every argument in
+your power to produce, the courier, who bears the official resignation
+of his Eminence of Richelieu, will have set out for this place. I saw
+the paper signed to-day, with my own eyes, before I came away; and all
+that my utmost entreaties could gain was, that it should be delayed
+till to-morrow morning, in hopes of your arrival before that time. His
+Eminence feels convinced that the King's favour and his own power are
+lost for ever; and in truth I begin to think so too."
+
+"Madness and folly!" exclaimed Chavigni, striking his hand against his
+forehead with vexation. "Madness and folly!--Rascal, saddle me a horse,"
+he continued to a groom, who now loitered into the court with that sort
+of slow indifferent air which would put an angel in a passion. "Where,
+in the name of all the devils, have you been lingering? Pardon me, your
+Eminence--but I am vexed. I did not think his great mind was so
+overthrown.--Saddle me a horse, I say. Slave, must you stand
+eaves-dropping? Better you had been born deaf than overhear my
+conversation. There are such things as oubliettes to cure listeners.
+Saddle me a horse, I say."
+
+"Will you not take some of my servants with you?" said Mazarin; "they
+are all in readiness."
+
+"No, no," replied Chavigni, "I go alone. Do not let it get abroad that I
+am gone. I will be back betimes to-morrow."
+
+"You had better take one servant, at least," said the Cardinal. "The
+roads are not safe. It is dangerous."
+
+"Dangerous!" exclaimed Chavigni. "Who thinks of danger when his all is
+at stake? Your Eminence has a great regard for human lives, I know--for
+mine more especially. But depend upon it, I shall come home safe
+to-morrow, though I go alone to-night. Now, Sir," he continued to the
+groom, who led forth a strong black hunter for his service, "girth up
+the saddle a little tighter: unbuckle that cross from his poitral; I am
+neither going on a pilgrimage nor a procession."
+
+And now, walking twice round the horse to see that all the caparisons
+were in right order, he sprang into the saddle, and dashing his rowels
+into the hunter's flank, galloped out of the court-yard, bowing with a
+smile as he passed by Mazarin, who started back a step, as the horse's
+feet, in the rapidity of its course, struck fire with the stones of the
+pavement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+     Which shows how a King made reparation, and what came of it.
+
+
+While, as we have seen, Chavigni galloped off towards Tarascon,
+forgetting in the agitation produced by the tidings of Mazarin, to take
+those measures which he had proposed in regard to Villa Grande, Cinq
+Mars returned directly towards the palace, or rather, the house which
+had been converted into a palace for the King's use. It was one of those
+old buildings which at that time were common in France, and which even
+now are often to be met with in cities where the remains of ancient
+splendour, left alone to the less destructive power of time, have not
+been demolished by the violence of turbulent times, or the still more
+inveterate enmity of modern improvement. The whole front, with the two
+octagonal towers at the sides, and the long corridors on the right and
+left hand of the court, were ornamented with a multitude of beautiful
+arabesques and bas reliefs. These last, the bas reliefs, entirely
+covered the principal façade of the building, and offered a number of
+pictures in stone, representing in some parts battles and triumphs, and
+in others displaying the humbler and more peaceful subjects of pastoral
+life and religious ceremonies. Amongst the rest was one medallion which
+caught the attention of Cinq Mars; and as the failing light prevented
+him from seeing it where he stood, he approached to observe it. The
+chisel of the sculptor usurping the place of the pencil, had there
+pourtrayed a landscape with a flock of sheep pasturing quietly by the
+side of a brook, while a shepherd appeared sleeping under a hill, down
+which a wolf was seen stealing upon the flock. Underneath was written in
+old gothic characters, _Eveillez vous, le loup s'approche_.
+
+Cinq Mars smiled as he read it, applying the warning to himself. "Let
+him come," said he, thinking of Richelieu; "he will be caught himself."
+So saying, he turned, and entering the Palace, retired to his own
+apartments. He had not remained there long, however, before he was once
+more joined by Fontrailles. "Follow me quick, Cinq Mars," cried the
+conspirator; "the King asks for you. Now is the moment to speak to him.
+He thinks that his peevishness hurt you this morning, and he is willing
+to make atonement."
+
+It may be well supposed that Cinq Mars lost no time in following his
+companion up the great staircase to the King's apartments. It was,
+indeed, as Fontrailles had said. Since his return, Louis had enjoyed an
+hour of repose, which cleared from his mind the irritability induced by
+fatigue, and made him reproach himself for the unkindness he had shown
+to one so devotedly attached to him as the Master of the Horse. The
+remembrance of it oppressed him, and he sent for his favourite, not
+indeed to apologize, but to wipe away the impression that his
+irritability had caused, by more than usual kindness and familiarity.
+The two conspirators found Louis seated in a cabinet, which, being
+placed in one of the towers, partook of its octangular form. The walls
+were wainscoted with dark carved oak, and even the _plafond_ was all of
+the same gloomy-coloured material, except a massy gilt cornice and
+projecting rose in the centre, from which hung a single silver lamp, the
+rays of which, falling on the figure of the King beneath, gave an
+additional paleness to his worn but fine countenance, and slightly
+touching upon his plain black velvet suit, shone full on the richly
+illuminated book in which he had been reading.
+
+Louis raised his eyes as Fontrailles entered, and then turning them full
+on the noble countenance of Cinq Mars who followed, a pleased smile
+beamed for a moment on his lip, and he exclaimed, "Well, Cinq Mars, art
+thou Nimrod enough to hunt again to-morrow after our misfortunes of
+to-day? Come in, Monsieur de Fontrailles," he continued, seeing that
+Fontrailles remained near the door, hesitating whether he should retire
+or not, now that he had done the King's bidding in summoning the Grand
+Ecuyer. "Come in, I pray--Sit you down, Gentlemen--it is the King's
+request: you, Cinq Mars, here--Monsieur de Fontrailles, there is a seat.
+Now," he continued, glancing his eye round as the light of the lamp
+gleamed faintly on their several countenances--"now we look like some
+secret triumvirate met to decide the fate of nations."
+
+"And that might be too," replied Cinq Mars: "your Majesty to command,
+and we to execute."
+
+The King took no notice, but went on with what he had himself been
+saying: "There is Cinq Mars looks like a noble prince, and Fontrailles
+like a wily minister, and I---- I believe," he continued laughing, "I
+have left myself no place but that of secretary."
+
+"Alas!" said Cinq Mars with a deep sigh, "alas! that there should be any
+man in your Majesty's dominions more a king than yourself."
+
+Fontrailles and the King both started; and the Conspirator internally
+pronounced "All is lost," while Cinq Mars himself, who had spoken
+without thought, only felt the imprudence of his speech when it was
+beyond recall.
+
+"Cinq Mars! Cinq Mars!" cried Louis, "that is a daring speech;--but I
+know it proceeded from your love for me, and therefore I pardon it. But
+I will tell you that no man is more a King in France than I am."
+
+"I crave your Majesty's gracious pardon," replied the Master of the
+Horse. "If I have offended your Majesty, it was from love for you alone
+that I spoke. My words were bolder than my thoughts, and I only meant
+to say that I could wish to see my Monarch show himself that great King
+which he naturally is. I would fain see the staff of command withdrawn
+from one who abuses it."
+
+"Cinq Mars," answered the King, "that staff is in my own hand. It was
+but lent, my friend; and it is now resumed."
+
+The Master of the Horse paused for a moment, not exactly certain how far
+he could rely upon the King's good humour, which he had already tried so
+incautiously, and turned his eyes towards Fontrailles, as if for
+counsel.
+
+"Speak, Cinq Mars," said Louis, seeing his hesitation, "speak boldly,
+and fear not; for I fully believe that all your wishes are for my
+service, and I would fain hear the voice of those that regard me with
+affection, rather than for their own interest; and one of these do I
+hold you to be."
+
+"Your Majesty does me justice," replied Cinq Mars. "Let me not offend
+you then, when I say that the power you lent is scarcely resumed while
+the title under which it was enjoyed remains. The Cardinal Duke of
+Richelieu, my liege, is still Prime Minister of France. He has still all
+the power (though not exercised), the revenues, the offices. Our
+soldiers are fighting at his command, our provinces are governed by his
+creatures, our high posts are filled by his friends. He has an army for
+his servants, and more than the riches of a prince. Why not--oh, why
+not, Sire, break the enchanter's wand that gave him so much sway, and
+sweep away the hordes that prey upon the State, like swarms of flies
+upon a slain deer? Why not direct the operations of your troops
+yourself, and let the armies of France be the armies of the King, and
+not of Richelieu? Why not chase from your councils a man who has so
+often abused the generous confidence of his Sovereign, and make him
+disgorge the ill-gotten wealth which he has wrung from the hearts of
+your people?"
+
+As he spoke, Cinq Mars grew warm with his subject; his eye sparkled, his
+arm was extended with that wild and graceful energy for which he was
+conspicuous; his words flowed uninterrupted, with all the eloquence of
+enthusiasm, and his fine and princely features acquired a new and
+striking expression, while, animated in the cause of his Country's
+liberty, he pleaded against the tyrant who had oppressed both king and
+people. Louis gazed on him at first as on one inspired; but as a host
+of consequences crowded on his mind, threatening him with a thousand
+vague and unsubstantial dangers, he placed his hands before his eyes,
+and remained for some moments in deep thought.
+
+"My friend," said he at length, "what is it you would have me do? This
+man--this bad man if you will--but still this great man--is like an oak
+whose roots are deep in the earth; you may hew them asunder one by one,
+but it requires a giant's strength to pluck the tree up at once.
+Richelieu's power may be taken from him gradually; but to attempt what
+you propose, would instantly cause a rebellion amongst my subjects. He
+has so many who depend upon him; he has so many that are allied to
+him--"
+
+"What!" exclaimed Cinq Mars, "shall it be said that King Louis was
+afraid to dismiss his own minister?"
+
+"Not afraid for myself, Sir," replied the King, somewhat sharply; "but
+afraid of bringing the miseries of civil war upon my people."
+
+Perceiving that Cinq Mars was urging the King too impetuously,
+Fontrailles, who had hitherto remained silent, now joined in the
+conversation in a soft insinuating tone, calculated to remove any newly
+raised irritation from Louis's mind. "All danger, Sire," said he, still
+labouring to quiet the King's fears without opposing his opinion, "all
+danger, which might otherwise be imminent, could easily be obviated, by
+commanding the noble Duke of Bouillon--"
+
+At the name of the Duke of Bouillon Louis made an impatient motion with
+his hand. "He is Spanish at his heart," said he; "that Duke of Bouillon
+is Spanish, rank Spanish. But what of him, Monsieur de Fontrailles?"
+
+"Believe me, my Liege," replied Fontrailles, "the Duke of Bouillon, whom
+I know well, is not so much a friend to Spain as he is an enemy to
+Richelieu. Remember, Sire, how he is linked with the Prince of Orange,
+the sworn adversary of Spain."
+
+Louis shook his head doubtingly. "But what of him, Fontrailles? Come, to
+the point."
+
+"Only this, Sire," said Fontrailles. "The Duke commands an army in Italy
+devoted to your Majesty's service; but permit me or Cinq Mars to give
+him private orders in your name to march them into France, and who
+shall dare to murmur at your royal will?"
+
+"Why, that might be done, it is true," answered Louis; "but I am afraid,
+_mon Grand_," he continued, applying to Cinq Mars the term by which he
+distinguished him in his kindest and most familiar moments--"I am
+afraid, _mon Grand_, that though thou art a keen huntsman and a good
+soldier, thou wouldst make but a sorry minister."
+
+"I minister!" exclaimed the Grand Ecuyer; "God forbid! No, no, my Lord!
+never did such a thought cross my imagination. Believe me, Sire, I had
+no view of personal aggrandizement in the proposal I submitted to your
+Majesty."
+
+"But if you take from Richelieu his office, whom do you wish to
+substitute in his place?" demanded Louis; "some one must be minister."
+
+"True, my Liege; but are there not thousands well fitted for the post?"
+said Cinq Mars--"Politicians as deep, but more humane than
+Richelieu--Men who can govern, and yet not tyrannize? I will undertake
+to find such a one for your Majesty, and yet remain myself fully
+satisfied with being the humble friend of my royal master, and the
+sincere well-wisher of my native Country. But let me order, in your
+name, the Duke of Bouillon to march into France; and then, provided with
+sufficient forces to disarm this usurping Minister, and overawe
+rebellion, your own royal will will be your only guide."
+
+"At present," said Fontrailles, "the King's love for his people operates
+in two opposing directions, making him anxious to relieve them from the
+burden under which they groan, yet fearful of throwing a portion of them
+into rebellion. But by the presence of the Duke's army, the Minister
+might be removed, without endangering the tranquillity of the realm."
+
+"True," said Louis; "true. Monsieur de Fontrailles, you say right;" and
+placing his hand before his eyes, the King thought for a moment,
+struggling inwardly to exert the powers of his mind, and call up
+sufficient resolution to deliver himself from the thraldom in which he
+had so long been held. But dangers, and doubts, and difficulties swam
+before his mental vision, like motes dancing in the sunbeam; and never
+destined in life to overcome his long-encouraged inactivity, he strove
+to cast the responsibility from himself. "Well, well," exclaimed he,
+"Cinq Mars, you shall decide it; I will leave the conduct of it all to
+you. But beware that you do not bring the miseries of civil war upon my
+kingdom; for be assured that if you do, I will require it of you
+deeply--It is your own seeking, and the consequences be upon your own
+head."
+
+"Let it be so, then, my Liege," cried Cinq Mars, kissing the emaciated
+hand of the feeble Monarch; "it shall not be my fault if France and my
+Sovereign are not soon freed from the cloud that has so long
+overshadowed them both."
+
+"Well, well," said Louis, "we will trust in God for the event. But
+beware of Bouillon; Cinq Mars, he is rank Spanish at his heart. And now,
+gentlemen, to bed, for we must rise in time for our sport. But, in
+truth, I fear I shall not hunt much longer--the body fails me, Cinq
+Mars, though I was once a thing of strength, as thou art."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+     How Chavigni rode fifty miles to ride back again.
+
+
+While these schemes for the downfall of his Patron were going forward at
+Narbonne, Chavigni spurred on rapidly towards Tarascon, where the
+falling Minister lay sick, both in body and in mind. Besides the
+personal attachment of the Statesman to Richelieu, who had formed his
+fortunes, and led him in the way to greatness, every consideration of
+his own interest bade him oppose the resignation of the Cardinal, which
+he clearly saw would bring inevitable destruction upon all persons
+connected with the existing ministry.
+
+He had long perceived that a powerful party was forming against
+Richelieu, especially since his absence and illness gave facility to
+their operations. All Chavigni's talents and influence had been exerted
+to oppose them; but that the Cardinal would resign his high office, he
+had never suspected for a moment, and therefore the tidings brought by
+Mazarin came upon him like a thunder-stroke, taking from him all faculty
+of thought, but on that one thing. He was well aware too, that it was no
+easy task to turn Richelieu from his purpose; and as he rode on, his
+mind was solely occupied by a thousand tumultuous and ill-digested
+plans, for preventing the execution of what the Cardinal designed.
+
+Daylight set in the west, and night fell heavily over the earth without
+exciting a thought in the bosom of Chavigni; for the irritation of his
+feelings took away all sensation of bodily fatigue, and almost all
+attention to external objects, till at length the failing pace of his
+horse showed him that he at least must have rest; and accordingly he
+paused for a short space at a little village, a few leagues from
+Tarascon, in order to refresh his beast. But even here the agitation of
+his mind prevented him from seeking any repose himself, and he continued
+walking up and down before the little auberge, for the time that he was
+thus compelled to remain.
+
+It was considerably past midnight, when Chavigni arrived at the
+residence of the Minister. On entering the court-yard, all was in
+darkness, except where, in one spot, a light was seen burning in the
+chamber of the invalid, and throwing dark across the window the bent
+shadow of a sleeping attendant. The Statesman fastened his horse to one
+of the iron hooks in the court-yard, and advanced, intending to make
+himself heard by some one within, but he found that the grooms, grown
+negligent during their Lord's sickness, had left the door unfastened,
+and pushing it with his hand, it readily gave way. "It is like his
+fate," thought Chavigni: "while he is ill and sleeping, the gate is left
+open, and any one may enter."
+
+Passing onward through the hall, he now mounted the grand staircase,
+lighted by a lamp that had been left to die out as it might, and
+approached the room where the Cardinal lay.
+
+The door of the antechamber opened stiffly, but still the drowsy
+attendant did not awake; and Chavigni passed on into the bed-chamber of
+the Cardinal, without any one being aware of his presence. "Were this
+but known," thought the Statesman, "how many assassins' hands would now
+be armed for this one man's destruction!"
+
+It was Richelieu alone, who, lying in feverish restlessness, caught the
+sound of approaching steps; and there was a sort of intensity in the
+glance which he fixed on the door communicating with the anteroom, which
+seemed to say that his judgment of the visitor's purpose was not very
+favourable. However that might be, whether from the recklessness of
+illness, or from the torpor of one who regards the future as a blank, he
+took no farther notice of the sound he heard, than by fixing his eyes
+sternly on the door. But the next moment, as the light fell strongly on
+the face of his friend, the countenance of Richelieu brightened with a
+smile; and perceiving that Chavigni, who did not see he was awake,
+approached silently towards the attendant to rouse him, the Cardinal
+pronounced his name in an under-tone, and beckoned him towards his
+bedside.
+
+"It is grateful," said Richelieu, as the Statesman drew near, "to find
+that even declining fortunes cannot alienate some hearts. You have seen
+Mazarin, I suppose."
+
+Chavigni was about to answer, but the sound of the Cardinal's voice had
+awakened the attendant, who was now gazing about in no small alarm, on
+perceiving a stranger standing by the Minister's bedside. Richelieu,
+however, without showing any anger at his negligence, calmly commanded
+him to leave them; and as soon as they were alone, Chavigni proceeded.
+"I have seen Cardinal Mazarin, my Lord, and from him I have learned a
+piece of news which grieves me most deeply. I cannot believe that
+illness can have so far depressed the spirits of your Eminence, as to
+make you entertain the thought of casting from you all those high
+honours, which you have so long enjoyed, and of leaving France, in a
+moment of her greatest peril, to be governed by the hands of the weak
+and the designing."
+
+"It is not illness, Chavigni," replied the Cardinal, with a melancholy
+shake of the head. "No! but my day is over. The power has passed from my
+hands, and it only remains for me to yield the name of it, before that
+too is taken from me by my enemies."
+
+"Pardon me, your Eminence," said Chavigni; "but indeed the power is not
+gone from you. Under whose orders are our armies fighting? Under whose
+command is every city and fortress in France? Is it the character of a
+great man--is it the character of a brave man, to yield all without a
+struggle?--to cast away the sword he has so long wielded, and to give
+himself bound into the hands of his adversaries?"
+
+"Mark me, Chavigni," said Richelieu, raising himself upon his elbow,
+"Louis is now within the distance of a few leagues. He knows that I am
+ill--perhaps that I am dying; and yet, by no sign of common courtesy
+does he show that he remembers me. But that was not the beginning. I saw
+that my power was gone, when he dared, in the face of all the Council,
+to annul the sentence I had passed on that arrogant, stiff-necked Count
+de Blenau, who had the hardihood to defy the utmost extent of my power."
+And the Minister's eyes flashed with the memory of his anger.
+
+"Had your Eminence followed my advice," replied Chavigni, "that business
+would never have occurred. There is that sort of gallant magnanimity
+about Claude de Blenau which carries all before it; and I felt assured
+that neither fear nor interest would ever induce him to disclose any
+thing intrusted to his honour. Depend upon it, Monseigneur, that it is
+better not to meddle with such men, when we can avoid it."
+
+"Well, well, Sir," exclaimed the Cardinal, impatiently, "without doubt
+you were quite right and I was quite wrong. But do not teach me to
+believe that you too, Chavigni, lose your respect for my person when my
+power is failing."
+
+"Pardon me, your Eminence," replied Chavigni, in a tone of deep feeling,
+"you wrong me much. Your Eminence has been more than a father to me.
+During the continuance of your power you have always exerted it in my
+favour; and whether it remains with you or not, my respect and my
+affection will never fail to follow you in every situation. Believe me,
+Monseigneur, that it is that respect and affection, which brings me here
+even now, to petition that you will wave your intention of----"
+
+"Chavigni, it is useless," interposed the Cardinal. "I have only the
+choice left, to yield it of my own free will, or to have it wrenched
+from my unwilling hand. Judge which is the wisest--judge which is the
+best."
+
+"Were that certainly the case," said Chavigni, thoughtfully.
+
+"It _is_ certainly the case," replied the Minister. "There are many,
+many combined against me:--singly, they are but reeds, and one by one I
+would break them like reeds; but united together, and with the King at
+their head,"--and he shook his head despairingly,--"they are far too
+strong either for you or me!"
+
+"But could no means be found to separate them? Bethink you,
+Monseigneur,--avarice, revenge, ambition, might sow the seeds of discord
+amongst them, and give them like sheep into our hands."
+
+"It is too late, my friend!" replied the Cardinal: "it is too late! Had
+I foreseen it, I might have prevented their combining. I might have
+crushed some, and bribed others; destroyed the powerful, and overawed
+the timid. But it is now too late!"
+
+"But whom does your Eminence think particularly implicated?" demanded
+Chavigni.
+
+"Oh, there are many--many--many!" replied Richelieu, withdrawing the
+thin pale hand he had stretched over his face as he finished the last
+desponding words "too late," probably desirous of hiding the emotion
+produced by the conviction that his power was irretrievably gone.
+However, when that hand was removed, his countenance showed no traces of
+any remaining agitation. "There are many, Chavigni," he said: "there are
+Vendome, and Bouillon, and noisy Beaufort, and turbulent Gaston of
+Orleans, and witty Marsillac, and cool, moralizing De Thou, who has so
+often dared to pry into my actions and condemn them;--then there is,
+above all, sly Fontrailles, and Cinq Mars, whom I----"
+
+"Ha!" exclaimed Chavigni, as the Cardinal's words recalled to his mind
+the conversation between Cinq Mars and Fontrailles--"I had forgot--like
+an idiot, I had forgot!" and he struck his clenched hand violently
+against his brow, as if he sought to punish his own folly. "But it is
+not yet too late," he cried, "it is not yet too late."
+
+"Forgot what, Chavigni?" demanded the Cardinal, seeing with astonishment
+the emotion which was called up in his friend by the remembrance of so
+great an oversight. "Forgot what? Too late for what? What is it moves
+you so deeply?"
+
+"Pardon me, your Eminence," replied Chavigni, "I have not time to
+explain; only I have to ask two favours. The first is, that you will
+let me take a stout horse from your stables; mine will go no farther.
+The next," he added, in a tone of greater composure, but still one of
+earnest entreaty--"the next is, if you had ever a regard for me--if ever
+I served you well and faithfully, that you will promise me to take no
+step in the business we have spoken of, till my return; which shall be
+before to-morrow evening."
+
+"It can make but little difference waiting till that time," answered the
+Cardinal. "But what is the matter, Chavigni? What is it agitates you
+thus?"
+
+"Have I your promise, Monseigneur?" asked Chavigni quickly.
+
+"You have," said Richelieu. "Out of regard for you, and solely because
+you ask it, I will suspend my resolution till your return."
+
+"Well then, God protect your Eminence till we meet again!" exclaimed the
+Statesman. "I go upon your service; and if I do not succeed, I care not
+how soon my head may be brought to the block, as a just punishment for
+my mad forgetfulness." Thus saying, he quitted the room, and descending
+to the stables, called up the grooms whose sleepy movements ill
+accorded with the rapid emotions of his bosom. Now the stirrups were not
+long enough, then the girths had to be buckled tighter, then the bit was
+mislaid, and then the crupper could not be found. At length, however,
+the horse was fully prepared, and calling for a cup of wine, Chavigni
+drained it to the bottom, and galloping out of the court, was soon once
+more on the road to Narbonne. But it was in vain that he used whip and
+spur to arrive at that town before the hour appointed for the Italian's
+departure. Ere he had measured half the way, the day rose bright over
+the hills before him, and clenching his hands, he exclaimed in the
+bitterness of disappointment, "Too late! I am too late!" Still, however,
+he went on at full speed, hoping that by sending out couriers in every
+different direction he might yet overtake the messenger.
+
+Every one who has ridden from Tarascon to Narbonne must remember the
+picturesque beauties of that part of the country. At the spot where
+Chavigni had now arrived, high rocks breaking forth from a thick
+covering of wood skirted his way on each side, and having ascended to
+the top of the hill, an immense valley lay before him, scattered with
+forests and broken into a thousand inferior ridges, some of which bore
+upon their summits the steeple of a village church, some the ruins of
+those ancient towers which had been erected in days gone by to defend
+the passes from the neighbouring Moors of Spain. At his feet thin waves
+of white mist floating in the morning light, partially obscured the road
+he was going, till, rising out of the trees, it was seen winding along
+the mountains on the other side. Chavigni paused for a moment to trace
+its direction; and as he did so, his eye fell upon the figure of a
+single horseman, descending into the valley from the opposite hill.
+
+"Whom have we here?" thought the Statesman, not without a faint hope
+that it might be the person he sought. Spurring on his horse, however,
+he rode forward to meet him; but on reaching the bottom of the descent,
+the figure he had seen from above became hidden by the windings of the
+road amongst the trees, and Chavigni's heart fluttered lest the
+horseman, whoever he was, might have taken the other road which turned
+through the valley to the left.
+
+At length, however, the sound of a horse's feet was heard approaching
+quickly towards him, and, certain that he must now pass that way, the
+Statesman drew in his rein, and stood with his eyes intently fixed upon
+the spot where the road verged into the forest. As there was still a
+considerable descent from the spot where Chavigni paused to the bottom
+of the valley, the sound was heard for a long time coming nearer and
+nearer before any one appeared. At length, however, the horseman came in
+sight, presenting to the glad eyes of the Statesman the identical figure
+of the Italian, Villa Grande, with his long sword, extensive mustaches,
+and a pair of heavy pistols at his saddle-bow.
+
+Chavigni doubted not that to possess himself of the papers which the
+Italian carried, would require a desperate struggle, but without a
+moment's hesitation he drew his sword, and galloped on to attack him. No
+sooner had Villa Grande perceived a stranger on the road before him,
+than he reined in his horse; but now, as Chavigni rode on full speed
+towards him with a menacing attitude and drawn sword, the Italian, in
+his terror, conceived at once that it was a robber, and throwing himself
+to the ground in mortal fear, he fell on his knees, exclaiming--"I will
+give it you all--every ducat, only spare my life!"
+
+"Rise, rise! cowardly villain!" cried Chavigni, catching the bridle of
+the Italian's horse, which was starting away with a wild toss of the
+head, as the Statesman rode up;--"rise, Sir Poltroon! do you not know
+me?"
+
+"Know you! know you!" exclaimed Villa Grande, gazing wildly at Chavigni.
+"Oh, Monseigneur, is it you? How you frightened me!" But Villa Grande,
+who had trembled sufficiently when he thought it was a robber, trembled
+ten times more than ever as he recognised the Statesman; and he could
+scarcely find strength in his knees to raise himself from the ground.
+
+"Rise, Sir!" exclaimed Chavigni impatiently; "and instantly give me the
+treaty."
+
+"Treaty!" cried Villa Grande, still trembling, but endeavouring to put
+on a look of astonishment. "What treaty does Monseigneur mean? I know of
+no treaty."
+
+"Lying slave!" exclaimed Chavigni, striking him with the flat side of
+his sword; "if you do not produce it within ten seconds of time, by
+Heaven I will cut it out of your base cowardly heart!"
+
+"But if I do----" said the Italian, seeing there was no escape left.
+
+"Come, Sir," cried the Statesman; "no _buts_ for me. If you stand
+shuffling one minute more, I will run my sword through you, and search
+for it on your carcase myself."
+
+"Well, well! Monseigneur, I see you know it all, and therefore it will
+be no stain on my honour if I give it to you."
+
+"Honour!" cried Chavigni, with a scoff.--"Come, Sir, the treaty."
+
+Villa Grande approached his horse, and raising the flap of the saddle,
+with shaking hands, drew forth, from a pocket concealed in the padding,
+a large paper sealed in an envelope. Chavigni caught it eagerly from his
+grasp, and running his eye over the address, he read--"To Monseigneur
+the Duke de Bouillon, Commander-in-Chief of all the armies of France,
+warring in Italy."--"Ha!" continued the Statesman, "this is not the road
+to Italy. What brings you here?" and he turned towards Villa Grande. But
+while the Statesman's eyes were fixed upon the paper, the wily Italian
+had begun to creep towards the wood; Chavigni, however, perceiving his
+design, caught one of the pistols from the horse's saddle-bow, and
+pointing it towards the fugitive, soon brought him back again. "Stand
+you there, Sir," said he. "Now tell me what makes you here, when this
+packet was intended for Italy?"
+
+"Why, Monseigneur--why--why--to tell the truth, there was another little
+despatch to be delivered on the frontiers of Spain; here it is;" and
+diving into a deep pocket in his doublet, he produced a packet smaller
+than the other, and gave it into Chavigni's hand. "And now, Monseigneur,
+I have freely discovered all I know," continued Villa Grande, "I hope
+that you, Monseigneur, will promise me your protection; for if the other
+party get hold of me, they will murder me to a certainty."
+
+Chavigni made no answer, but without any ceremony broke the seals of the
+two packets, and passing his horse's bridle over his arm while he read
+them, he opened the treaty, and turned to the list of names by which it
+was signed. In the mean while, Villa Grande kept his eyes fixed upon
+him, watching for a favourable moment to escape, if the Statesman's
+attention should be sufficiently engaged to allow him so to do.
+
+"Ah! here I have them fairly written," proceeded Chavigni, speaking to
+himself. "Philip, the most Catholic!--Olivarez!--then follow Gaston of
+Orleans; Cinq Mars, Grand Ecuyer--Fontrailles;--and a space--for
+Bouillon of course. Now let us see the letter to the noble Duke;" and he
+opened the one which he found in the same packet with the treaty. But as
+he read, his eye fixed with painful earnestness upon the paper, and the
+colour fled from his cheek. "God of Heaven! what is this?" said he,
+reading. "'Though I doubt not, my noble friend, that after all which has
+lately passed, you would put your forces in motion at my simple desire,
+the King's command is yet higher authority; and that I now send you, to
+march with all speed to the frontier, embarking five thousand foot at
+Porto Longone, to land at Marseilles. All this in case the friends and
+adherents of Richelieu should attempt to make head against the royal
+authority.'----"
+
+"All is lost!" muttered Chavigni. "But let us see the whole, at least,
+to provide for our own safety;" and he again turned to the paper, which
+proceeded--"'I send you the treaty with Spain for your signature, which
+is especially necessary to the article relative to your principality of
+Sedan. The troops of his Catholic Majesty are on the frontier, ready to
+march at our command; but I have been obliged to conceal from the King
+our Spanish connexion, as his hatred to that country is as great as
+ever.'"
+
+"I have you! I have you! Monsieur Cinq Mars," exclaimed Chavigni,
+clasping his hands with joy. "This treaty is your death warrant, or I
+know not King Louis.--Italian scoundrel!" he continued, turning to look
+for Villa Grande--"Ha! the slave has escaped--that must not be; he were
+the best witness in the world against them;" and springing from his
+horse, he tied him to a tree together with that of the Italian.
+
+While Chavigni had been reading, with all his attention fixed upon the
+paper, and all his passions excited by its contents, Villa Grande,
+watching his moment, had crept gradually to the edge of the wood, and
+darted into a narrow path, half covered with branches. But though the
+way he had taken was thus, in a degree, concealed, it did not escape the
+quick eye of the Statesman; and as the motions of the Italian, till he
+had got into the wood, had been necessarily cautious, in order not to
+call his attention; Chavigni, following as fast as lightning, soon
+caught the sound of his retreating footsteps, reverberated from the
+rocks around. As he advanced, he called loudly to the Italian to stop,
+and that he should have a free pardon; but Villa Grande, trusting to the
+distance that was still between them, and hoping, if he could elude
+immediate pursuit, to be able to escape into Spain, continued running
+on, while Chavigni as perseveringly followed, threatening and promising
+by turns, but alike without effect.
+
+At length the strength of the Italian, already diminished by fear, began
+to fail entirely; and Chavigni found that the distance between them was
+rapidly lessening, when in a moment the sound of footsteps, which had
+hitherto guided him, ceased entirely--a cry of agony reached his ear;
+and running still more quickly forward, he, too, had nearly been
+precipitated over the edge of a steep crag, which, in the hurry of his
+flight, the unhappy Italian had not noticed. The Statesman's first
+impulse was to start back, for he was on the very brink of the precipice
+before he was aware; but soon recovering himself, he approached the
+edge, and looking over, beheld the mangled form of Villa Grande lying
+on some rough stony ground at the bottom of the rock.
+
+"God of Heaven!" cried Chavigni, "what a fall! The poor wretch must
+surely be dead. However, he must not lie there, for the wolves will soon
+be at him;" and looking around, he sought for some way to descend the
+rock. It was a considerable time before he could accomplish his object,
+but at length he succeeded, and on arriving at the spot where Villa
+Grande lay, he found that the Italian, in his flight, had taken a
+diagonal path through the forest, which cut off a large bend in the main
+road, and joined it again by a zig-zag path down the rock at some
+distance. Thus the spot where Villa Grande was then lying, was about
+half a mile from the place at which he had first been encountered by
+Chavigni, if the high road was followed; but by the path through the
+wood the distance could not be more than a few hundred yards. Chavigni's
+first care was to examine the body of the Italian, who was so entirely
+deprived of sense, that at first the Statesman believed him to be dead;
+but in a moment or two some signs appeared which led him to conclude
+that life was not completely extinct; and taking him in his arms he
+carried him to the spot where the horses stood. Here he placed him on
+the stout black hunter which Cinq Mars had lent, and led him slowly to a
+small town about a mile farther on the road.
+
+It has been already stated, that hardly was there a village so small in
+the whole extent of France as not to be furnished with one or more of
+those agents of Richelieu's minute policy, whose principal duty
+consisted in communicating every thing that passed around them to
+another class of superior agents, and also to facilitate all the secret
+operations of Government in the sphere ascribed to them. The actual pay
+received by these men was but small; but the favour shown to them on all
+occasions, and the facilities afforded to them in their more ordinary
+employments, put them above competition with others in the same class,
+and amply rewarded their private services: for it must always be
+remembered that their connexion with the Government was held as a
+profound secret, and consequently they always were seen to exercise some
+open trade, which, in most cases, prevented their less ostensible
+employment from being even suspected by their neighbours.
+
+It was to the house of one of these inferior agents that Chavigni led
+the horse charged with the senseless body of Villa Grande; and having
+commanded that he should be taken in and placed in bed, he himself aided
+in endeavouring to recall him to life, partly from the natural humanity
+of his disposition, partly from those political considerations which
+were ever paramount in his mind. Villa Grande, if he could be restored,
+would prove, Chavigni knew, too excellent a witness against the
+conspirators whom he had served, to permit of his life being lightly
+cast away; especially as it was evident, that either fear or bribery
+would induce him to confess any thing: but even had it not been for this
+reflection, the Statesman's natural disposition would probably have led
+him to succour the unhappy man, in whose misfortune he had been so
+greatly instrumental.
+
+After many efforts, Villa Grande once more began to evince that the
+vital spark was not yet extinguished; and having so far succeeded,
+Chavigni, upon whose mind a thousand subjects of deep import were
+pressing every moment for attention, gave directions to the agent we
+have already mentioned, to show every attention to the wounded man, and
+to keep him, for that day, at his own house, which was situated a
+quarter of a league out of Limoux; but as soon as night came, to have
+him privately removed to Corneille, at which place a surgeon could be
+more easily procured from Carcasonne; and having reiterated the most
+strict injunctions to keep the whole business profoundly secret, lest
+the conspirators should learn the fate of their envoy, and take their
+measures accordingly, Chavigni once more turned his steps towards
+Tarascon, to recount to Richelieu the events of the day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+     Which was written expressly to prove that there is many a Slip
+     between the Cup and the Lip.
+
+
+It was the small Chapel of St. Catherine, otherwise called the Queen's
+Chapel, attached to the Palace-church of St. Germain en Laye, to which
+Potier, Bishop of Beauvais, proceeded with slow steps from the door of
+private communication with the chateau, on a night in October, one
+thousand six hundred and forty-two. He was preceded by two young Abbés,
+carrying lighted tapers, and followed by a group, whose white garments
+spoke that they came on some occasion of joy. The first of these was
+Anne of Austria, with her eyes animated, and her countenance glowing
+with the interest she took in every thing which bore the least
+appearance of secrecy or romance. Her right arm was passed through that
+of the Marchioness de Beaumont, who moved on with a calm, rather grave
+countenance; while on the Queen's left, walked a young lady in the first
+gay spring of life, ever and anon turning a smiling, playful glance
+behind to Pauline de Beaumont, who, leaning on the arm of Claude de
+Blenau, followed, agitated, blushing, and happy, towards the altar at
+which they were to be united for ever. Seguin, the Queen's physician,
+and Henri de La Mothe, the Count's page, were admitted as witnesses to
+the ceremony; and an attendant was stationed at the door, to guard
+against any troublesome devotee entering the church during the time it
+was thus occupied.
+
+The idea of marrying Pauline de Beaumont privately to the Count de
+Blenau, had entirely originated with the Queen, whose passion for any
+thing romantic often threw both herself and her friends into situations
+of great danger. In the present instance, she represented to Madame de
+Beaumont that a thousand circumstances might occur in those unhappy
+times, to tear De Blenau again from her he loved; or that the Cardinal
+might positively prohibit their marriage, and then, she asked, who would
+dare to oppose him? whereas their private union would obviate all
+difficulties, and incur no danger.
+
+Madame de Beaumont made many objections, and her daughter hesitated; but
+the wishes of the Queen overcame all the Marchioness's scruples; and the
+entreaties of De Blenau were not less powerful with Pauline.
+
+The appointed night being arrived, and all the arrangements having been
+made as privately as possible, Pauline, as we have said, followed her
+Mother and the Queen into the Chapel of St. Catherine. But as she did
+so, there was a sort of despondency fell upon her that she could not
+account for. As she leaned upon De Blenau, she felt that she was most
+happy in being united to him. She was agitated, it was true, but still
+it was natural that she should be so, she thought. All her duties, all
+her ideas, were, by one single word, about to suffer an entire change,
+yet that did not take from her happiness. But still there was an
+undefined fear, a sort of melancholy presentiment, which weighed upon
+her spirits she knew not why. She asked herself, was De Blenau less
+kind? Oh, no! And as the thought passed through her mind, she raised her
+eyes for a moment from the ground, on which they had been bent, and
+turned them on her lover. In so doing, they met the full, soft,
+affectionate gaze, with which De Blenau was at that moment regarding
+her, and a deep blush rose in her cheek, but soon faded away, and left
+her again pale and thoughtful. She had not, however, much time to
+analyse her feelings; for, by this time, the Bishop had reached the
+altar, and waited their approach.
+
+Potier, Bishop of Beauvais, had little of that gentleness of
+disposition, or suavity of manner, calculated to re-assure Pauline. He
+had undertaken the office which he came there to fulfil, merely at the
+desire of the Queen, and that not without making considerable
+opposition. But, though Potier was obstinate, Anne of Austria was still
+more so. She had resolved that the ceremony should be performed, and
+that he should perform it, and she carried her point; but yet he made
+his dislike to the task very apparent, and regarded the innocent Pauline
+with no very friendly looks.
+
+"Come, Mademoiselle," said he, as Pauline seemed to linger for a moment,
+"you and Monsieur le Comte will have enough of each other's society
+after my office is over. Let us proceed with the ceremony."
+
+The group arranged themselves round the altar, and the Bishop opening
+the book began to read. The promise, which was to bind her to De Blenau
+for ever, trembled on Pauline's lips, when a confused noise at the
+private door leading to the Palace caught her ear, and she paused.
+
+De Blenau, who had not heard it, turned towards her in surprise; but
+immediately the voice of the attendant, who had been stationed there as
+portgreve, was heard exclaiming to some one, who apparently endeavoured
+to make his way into the church, "Stand back, I say. You do not enter
+here! What is your authority?"
+
+"My authority," replied another voice, "is a warrant of Council. Oppose
+it if you dare. Strike him down, if he does not let you pass." And
+immediately the door bursting open, an Officer of the Cardinal's Guard,
+with a file of soldiers, entered the church.
+
+"Guard the doors," cried the Officer, "and let no one quit the place."
+And giving his partizan to one of the soldiers, he advanced towards the
+high Gothic arch, forming the boundary between the main aisle and the
+Chapel of St. Catherine.
+
+Pauline clung to De Blenau. "Oh, Claude!" cried she, "they are going to
+tear you from me again. My heart misgave me.--I was sure that something
+dreadful would interpose between us."
+
+De Blenau whispered a few words of comfort to her, and Potier himself
+was moved by her agitation. "Do not be afraid, young Lady," said he; "we
+are on sacred ground.--Stop, sir," he continued, advancing to the steps
+of the Chapel, which the Officer had just reached: "what seek you here?
+And how do you presume to bring armed men into this Church?"
+
+"I come, sir," answered the Officer, "with a warrant from his Majesty's
+Council, to arrest Claude Count de Blenau;" and he made a step towards
+the Chapel.
+
+"Hold!" exclaimed the Bishop, "You arrest him not here. This ground is
+sanctuary; and I command you, in the name of God and our holy religion,
+to withdraw your men, and instantly to quit this Church." And he waved
+his hand with an air of dignified authority.
+
+The Officer paused. "But, Monseigneur," he replied, "the Count is
+charged with high treason."
+
+"With high treason!" exclaimed the Queen.--"With high treason!" echoed
+Pauline, clinging still closer to De Blenau's arm, which she held
+encircled by both her own.
+
+"He is charged with high treason," repeated the Officer; "and I must
+fulfil my duty."
+
+"Were he charged with all the crimes which disgrace humanity," replied
+the Bishop, "here he is sanctuarized; and I command you, on pain of
+excommunication--you, Sir Officer, and your soldiers, to quit the
+church. I stand not here to see this altar violated, whatever be your
+authority."
+
+The Officer paused a moment, uncertain how to act. "Well, holy Father,"
+replied he at length, "I obey; but I shall take especial care to guard
+every door of the church; so that if there be any blame, it does not
+fall on me." And muttering between his teeth the discontent he did not
+dare to vent aloud, he slowly withdrew his men.
+
+The eye of Anne of Austria watched them intently till the last soldier
+had passed through the door which communicated with the Palace. Then
+turning quickly to the Count, she exclaimed, "Fly quick, De Blenau, up
+that staircase, cross the _jube_, through the monks' gallery round the
+choir. You will find a door on the right that leads into the King's
+cabinet. Wait there till I send--Quick, fly--I desire--I command you."
+
+"Oh fly, Claude, fly!" reiterated Pauline, "they will murder you surely
+this time, if you do not fly."
+
+"Pardon me, your Majesty--pardon me, dear Pauline," replied De Blenau;
+"it cannot be. There is no man in France more innocent, in deed, word,
+or even thought, of treason against his King and Country than I am; and
+Claude de Blenau flies from no one, so long as his honour and integrity
+remain by him: when these fail, then he may become a coward. But to
+these will I now trust, and instantly surrender myself to his Majesty's
+warrant. I did not interfere while Monseigneur defended the rights of
+the sanctuary, for he did but the duties of his high office; nor indeed
+was I willing to yield my sword to a servant of Cardinal Richelieu. Take
+it, Henry," he continued, unbuckling it from his side, and giving it to
+the Page; "take it, and keep it for your master."
+
+"De Blenau, you are an obstinate man," said the Queen. "I will urge
+nothing; but look at this pale cheek, and fancy what the feelings of
+that sweet girl must be." And she pointed to Pauline who stood by with
+the tears chasing each other down her face.
+
+Notwithstanding the firmness with which he spoke, there had been many a
+bitter pang struggling in De Blenau's breast. The appeal of the Queen,
+and the sight of Pauline's distress, overcame his calmness; and starting
+forward, he caught her in his arms and pressed an ardent kiss upon her
+lips. "Dear, dear Pauline," he exclaimed, "all will go well, be assured.
+My innocence will protect me."
+
+Pauline shook her head mournfully, but her heart was too full to reply.
+
+"Then you will not fly?" demanded the Queen, with some degree of
+impatience.
+
+"He is in the right, Madam," said the Bishop. "As a good subject, he is
+bound to obey the laws of his country; and in duty to himself, he ought
+not to give weight to the charge against him by seeming afraid to meet
+it."
+
+Anne of Austria turned away with a look of angry disappointment. "Well,
+at all events," said she, "let us conclude the ceremony which has been
+thus interrupted, and afterwards the Count can act as he pleases."
+
+De Blenau hesitated. He felt that what the Queen proposed, if carried
+into effect, would be the only consolation he could receive under the
+new misfortune that had befallen him; but he felt also that it was a
+selfishness to wish it, and he looked towards the Bishop who had so well
+supported his first resolution. But Potier bent his eyes gravely on the
+ground, disapproving the proposal, yet unwilling farther to oppose the
+Queen.
+
+"It shall be as Pauline decides," said De Blenau, taking her hand and
+raising it gently to his lips. "Pauline," he continued, "you know how
+deeply I love you; you know how I have longed for the hour that should
+give me your hand. But I fear that I should be cruelly selfish, were I
+to ask you to become the bride of one whose fate is so uncertain--Speak,
+dear Pauline."
+
+Mademoiselle de Beaumont spoke not, but she raised her eyes to De Blenau
+with an expression which told that every feeling of her heart was given
+to him. The Marchioness, however, interposed. "No!" said she: "Claude,
+you are right; it is better to wait. The time will come, I feel sure,
+when you will be able to claim Pauline in the midst of smiles and
+happiness, instead of tears and danger. Does not your Majesty think this
+delay advisable?"
+
+"My opinion has been expressed already," replied Anne of Austria
+peevishly. "But it is not my affair--act as you think fit. But were I
+Pauline, and my lover gave me up so calmly, I would seek another in his
+absence to console me."
+
+De Blenau, deeply hurt, bit his lip, and by a strong effort forced
+himself to silence: but Pauline placed her hand in his, and raising her
+eyes to his face: "Fear not, Claude," she said; "in life and in death, I
+am yours. None other shall ever possess the hand of Pauline de
+Beaumont."
+
+"You are a noble girl, Pauline," exclaimed the Queen. "De Blenau, I was
+wrong; but it vexes me to see that you will always be more in the right
+than I am. Do not look so sad, Pauline. The more I think of it, the more
+I feel sure that De Blenau's innocence will stand him in good stead yet,
+in spite of the meager Cardinal: and I begin to reckon also somewhat on
+my own influence with Louis; he is far kinder than in former days; and
+I will make it a point of earnest prayer, that De Blenau be fairly used.
+Besides, they have now no plea against him. There are no secret letters
+to be discovered--no correspondence with the public enemy."
+
+Pauline shook her head mournfully. A cloud had come over the sun of her
+days, and she fancied that he would never beam brightly again.
+
+"If we could ascertain the reason of this arrest," said Madame de
+Beaumont, "it might in some degree satisfy our minds."
+
+"That may be easily done," replied the Bishop, "as Monsieur de Blenau is
+resolved to surrender himself. We can question the Officer, in regard to
+what occurred at the place from whence he comes; and by that means
+discover what circumstances have arisen to cast suspicion on the Count."
+
+What the Bishop proposed was instantly agreed to; and De Blenau sent
+forward his Page to inform the Officer of his determination.
+
+Anne of Austria then took a few steps along the nave, and turned to see
+if he still held his resolution. De Blenau bowed. "I follow your
+Majesty," he said "I feel that I have nothing to fear." And they passed
+on slowly and sadly to the other end of the church.
+
+As they went, Pauline still clung to the arm of her lover, as if she
+feared that every moment they would tear him from her; and tear after
+tear rolled silently down her cheeks. The heart of De Blenau also was
+too full for words, so that silence hung upon the whole party.
+
+At the door which communicated with the Palace, stood the Cardinal's
+Officer, with two or three of his men; and as she approached, the Queen
+desired him to follow her to the saloon. The Officer bowed low, and
+replied, that he would obey her commands; but immediately advancing to
+De Blenau, he laid his hand upon the Count's arm. "In the King's name,
+Monsieur le Comte de Blenau," said he, "I arrest you for high treason.
+Behold my warrant."
+
+Pauline recoiled with a look of fear; and De Blenau calmly put the man's
+hand from off his sleeve. "Pass on, Sir," he said, "I am your prisoner."
+The Officer hesitated; "Pass on, Sir," repeated the Count; "you have my
+word. I am your prisoner."
+
+The man passed on, but not before he had made a sign to the soldiers who
+were with him, who suffered the Count and Pauline to pass, and then
+closing in, followed at a few paces distance.
+
+On reaching the saloon, the Queen took her seat; and beckoning to
+Pauline, who, faint and terrified, was hardly able to support herself,
+she made her sit down on the footstool at her feet. "Now, Sir Officer,"
+said Anne of Austria, "what news bring you from Narbonne? How fares his
+Majesty the King?"
+
+"May it please you, Madame," he replied, "I come not from Narbonne, as
+your Majesty supposes, but from Tarascon, where the King had just
+arrived when I departed."
+
+"The King at Tarascon!" exclaimed Anne of Austria. "In the name of
+Heaven, what does he at Tarascon?"
+
+"That is beyond my knowledge," answered the Officer. "All I can tell
+your Majesty is, that for the last week there has been strange flying of
+couriers from one place to another. Monsieur de Chavigni has almost
+killed himself with riding between Tarascon and Narbonne. Every thing is
+altered, evidently, but no one knows how or why; and just as Aleron,
+Monsieur de Brezé's _maitre d'hotel_, was about to give me the whole
+history, I received an order to set off for Paris instantly, and when I
+arrived there, to take twenty troopers from the _caserne_, and come on
+hither on the errand which I have the honour to perform."
+
+"But did you hear nothing?" demanded the Queen, earnestly. "Did this
+Aleron tell you nothing?"
+
+"Nothing, Madame," replied the Officer. "He had just made me promise
+inviolable secrecy, and we were interrupted before he began his tale; or
+I would have told your Majesty with pleasure."
+
+"But from report?" said the Queen. "Did you gain no knowledge from
+rumour?"
+
+"Oh, there were rumours enough, truly," answered the man; "but as fast
+as one came, it was contradicted by another. Some said that the troops
+at Perpignan had revolted, and some that Monsieur le Grand had killed
+Cardinal Mazarin. Others brought word that Monsieur de Noyers had tried
+to poison the King; and others, that the King had kicked Fontrailles for
+hunting in short boots."
+
+"Nonsense!" said the Queen; "all nonsense.--It is unfortunate," she
+continued, musing, "that we can get no information. But tell me, where
+are you ordered to conduct Monsieur de Blenau?--To the Bastille?"
+
+At the name of a place where both De Blenau and herself had suffered so
+much, and which was associated in her mind with every horrible idea,
+Pauline clasped her hands over her eyes, as if to shut out the frightful
+visions it recalled.
+
+"No, Madame," replied the Officer, "I am commanded to conduct Monsieur
+de Blenau, as quickly as possible, to Tarascon; and allow me to remind
+your Majesty that the time is passing fast."
+
+De Blenau made a sign to the Officer, indicating that he was ready. He
+saw that Pauline's hands still covered her eyes, and, wishing to spare
+her the pain of such a parting, he bowed profoundly to the Queen, and
+moved in silence to the door. The Queen and Madame de Beaumont saw his
+intention, and remained silent; but as he reached the door, he could not
+resist the desire to turn and look once more upon her whom he was
+leaving perhaps for ever--who had so nearly been his bride--whom he had
+loved so long--who had undergone so much for him. It was excusable, but
+the delay defeated his purpose. The sudden silence alarmed Pauline--she
+raised her eyes--she saw De Blenau in the act of departing, and the last
+fixed painful glance with which he regarded her. All but her love was
+that moment forgotten; and starting wildly forward, she threw herself
+into his arms, and wept bitterly on his bosom. But Madame de Beaumont
+advancing, gently disengaged her from his embrace: Pauline hid her eyes
+upon her mother's shoulder; and De Blenau, with a heart ready to break,
+fled quickly from a scene that his fortitude could support no longer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+     Which shows that a Man who has climbed a Mountain may stumble at a
+     Pebble; or the Consequences of one Oversight.
+
+
+We must once more go back to Narbonne, in order to explain the events
+which had there taken place since the day on which Chavigni possessed
+himself of the treaty with Spain. Cinq Mars, hearing nothing of his
+agent, of course concluded that he was quietly pursuing his way; and
+willing to take every precaution to insure the success of his plans, he
+spent the next day in riding over to the camp at Perpignan, and
+endeavouring to ingratiate himself with the officers and soldiers of
+that part of the army. The splendour of his train and equipages, the
+manly beauty of his person, his dexterity in all warlike exercises, and
+the courteous familiarity of his manners, attracted all eyes, and won
+all hearts; and Cinq Mars, well contented with the day's success, did
+not return to Narbonne till very late at night.
+
+The next morning had been appointed for hunting; but that day the King
+was rather later than usual, and Cinq Mars, as he waited in the saloon
+till Louis should be ready, took up a romance which some of the Pages
+had left behind, and stretching his tall elegant form at length in the
+window-seat, he began reading, to pass the time.
+
+The book was _The true History of Don Cleofas of Castille_, and as Cinq
+Mars read on, he became interested in the fate of the hero. He had
+opened the volume at that part where the Knight rescues Matilda from the
+power of the Moors. He was in the act of persuading her to descend the
+staircase in the tower, at the foot of which the repentant Renegade
+waited with their horses; and Cinq Mars, whose whole heart was full of
+romance, at one moment entered entirely into the vehement and almost
+angry arguments of Don Cleofas, and then again felt for the alarm and
+doubt of the timid Matilda.
+
+So much, indeed, was he occupied, that as some one passed to and from
+the King's chamber, he scarcely raised his eyes to notice who it was;
+and when at last he did so, he found it was only a Page.
+
+The tale went on, and his eye ran from sentence to sentence, to see if
+the fears of Matilda had proved fatal to their hopes of escape; and his
+heart beat with anxiety and alarm as the wind blew the door to behind
+them, and they listened to hear whether the Moors had been awakened by
+the sound. It was at that moment that another step met his ear, whose
+firm, decided pace plainly told that it was not that of a domestic. Cinq
+Mars raised his eyes, and as he did so, they encountered those of
+Chavigni, who was passing on to the apartments of the King. Chavigni
+bowed, with a peculiar smile. Cinq Mars returned his salutation, and
+again began reading his book. "It is all over with your power, Monsieur
+de Chavigni," thought the Master of the Horse; "I will but read out this
+adventure of the two lovers, and then I will come to disturb your
+_tête-à-tête_ with his Majesty."
+
+Cinq Mars read on. "Don Cleofas and his fair Matilda descended the
+staircase in the city walls; but before they reached the gate, the
+alarm was given, and by the time they had mounted their horses, all the
+garrison was armed for their pursuit. Flights of arrows followed them
+from the ramparts as they fled, and a body of horse kept close upon
+their track. But still Don Cleofas pursued his way, the bridle of
+Matilda's horse thrown over his arm, and his right hand ready to grasp
+his sword, should the Moors overtake them. It was up the ascent of a
+steep hill that he took his way, and at the top he reined in his horse,
+on the edge of the crags which looked down into a peaceful valley below.
+Don Cleofas sprang to the ground, gave one look to the Moors who were
+following fast behind, and, as a last resource, catching Matilda in his
+arms, he leaped from the brink, bounding from rock to rock in the
+descent, with the agility of an izzard, till at length he reached the
+deepest part of the valley below."--All this was told at full length in
+the romance. The terrors of Matilda, the daring of the Knight, the angry
+gestures of the Moors, the steepness of the descent, and the calm beauty
+of the valley, were all dilated upon and described with the utmost
+minuteness and accuracy; which very much delighted Cinq Mars, but took
+him a long time to read; so that just at the moment he had got them
+safely to near the end of their journey, the door of the King's
+apartments again opened, and Chavigni passed through the room on his
+return. Perceiving this to be the case, Cinq Mars thought that he might
+as well go on with his book: which he had just begun to do, when
+Fontrailles entered the saloon and interrupted him. "In the name of
+Heaven, Cinq Mars," exclaimed he, "what are you about?"
+
+"I am waiting till the King is ready," answered the Master of the Horse
+composedly, scarcely taking his eyes from the romance.
+
+"And is it possible," asked Fontrailles in a tone of angry astonishment,
+"that you have lain here reading that drivelling book, and suffered
+Chavigni to be again so long with the King?"
+
+"Again!" said Cinq Mars, becoming more attentive; "he only passed once
+that I saw."
+
+"And ought he to have been there once, if that were all?" asked
+Fontrailles. "But let me tell you, Cinq Mars, he was there last night
+for more than an hour. Oh, Cinq Mars! Cinq Mars! is this a time, when
+our lives, our fortunes, and our country's weal are at stake, to sit
+there dozing over a romance, and see our bitterest enemy have access to
+the King's ear, but too easy to be abused? Depend on it, something more
+will come of this."
+
+"But why did you not let me know," demanded the Master of the Horse,
+"that he had seen the King last night?"
+
+"I learned it but this moment," replied Fontrailles. "But here comes a
+Page from the King's apartments. A message to you, Cinq Mars, on my
+life."
+
+The Page approached. "I am commanded by the King's Majesty to acquaint
+you, Monseigneur," said he, addressing the Grand Ecuyer, "that he feels
+himself too unwell to enjoy the pleasures of the chase to-day. But he
+desires that his indisposition may not prevent you, and the other
+gentlemen invited, from following your sport."--And having delivered
+this message, the attendant withdrew without waiting for any reply.
+
+"Well, now you see, Fontrailles," exclaimed Cinq Mars, "there is nothing
+wrong here. Nothing can be more kind and considerate than, when ill
+himself, to wish us to follow the sport without him."
+
+An expression of heavy, deep-seated thought sat upon the brow of the
+clear-sighted, suspicious Fontrailles. He took two or three steps up and
+down the apartment, and then, turning to Cinq Mars with a countenance in
+which painful anxiety and bitter irony were strangely mingled, he
+considered his companion with an attentive glance, which ran rapidly
+over his tall elegant figure. "Cinq Mars," said he, "you are more than
+six feet high, and could spare a few inches of your height upon an
+occasion--even were they to make you shorter by the head, you would
+still be a tall man. As for me, I am short already, and cannot afford to
+be cut down. A word to the wise--I go to shelter myself from
+pruning-knives. Do as you please. We shall meet in this world or the
+next. Adieu!" And turning on his heel, he quitted the saloon.
+
+"The man is mad!" said Cinq Mars aloud as Fontrailles left
+him--"irretrievably cracked!" And jumping up from the window-seat, he
+descended to the court-yard, called the huntsmen together, mounted his
+horse, and led the chase as merrily as if nothing had happened but the
+ordinary trifles of a day.
+
+Had he known all, very different would have been his feelings. The visit
+of Chavigni to the King was one on which the fate of France depended;
+and the wily Statesman had entered the apartments of the Monarch,
+prepared equally to guard every word he uttered himself, and to watch
+every turn of Louis's irritable and unsteady mind.
+
+The King was leaning on a table in his Cabinet, dressed for the hunting
+expedition we have mentioned, and more than an usual degree of
+peevishness was expressed in his countenance. "Well, Sir," exclaimed
+Louis as Chavigni entered, "what other bad news have you the pleasure of
+bringing me? What other friends have turned traitors? What other power
+is about to invade my dominions? By the Holy Trinity! I never see your
+face but it makes me melancholy."
+
+Chavigni was not sorry to perceive the King's irritability. The night
+before he had conveyed to him, in general terms, the news of a private
+treaty existing between Spain and some that Louis supposed his friends,
+and had promised to bring him that morning the names of the different
+parties engaged. He now came to fulfil that promise, and he saw that the
+former information had been working upon Louis's mind, and raised in it
+a degree of impatience and anger that would fall heavily on the first
+object presented to his resentment. Nor did Chavigni doubt that he would
+easily be able to turn it in the direction that he wished.
+
+"My Liege," replied he, "when I find your Majesty's confidence betrayed,
+your dominions threatened, and even your person in danger, it is my duty
+to give your Majesty timely warning, although the news be as unpleasant
+for me to bear as for you to hear. To conceal treason is the part of a
+traitor, and as one of your Majesty's Council----"
+
+"Well, well, Sir," cried Louis, interrupting him, "spare your
+exculpation. The executioner is doubtless guiltless of the blood he
+sheds, but it is not a right honourable trade."
+
+An angry flush came over Chavigni's countenance, but it quickly
+subsided; and he replied calmly, "I came here, as your Majesty knows, to
+give you more minute particulars of the information I rendered you
+yesterday; and to prove to you that some whom you esteem your dearest
+friends, and some who are your nearest relations, are the veriest
+traitors in France. The affair for no one can be more unpleasant than
+for myself, for there are some to whom I wish well, that have in this
+merited their death: therefore, Sire, if you find it too painful to
+hear, in the name of Heaven, let it rest in silence. I will hie me home
+and burn the papers I have brought here; and satisfied with having done
+my duty, only hold myself ready, when the misfortunes which must follow,
+do arrive, to serve your Majesty with my hand and heart." And bowing
+profoundly, Chavigni took a step back, as if about to quit the presence.
+
+"Hold, Monsieur de Chavigni," said the King, "you have done your duty,
+we do not doubt. But unpleasant tidings, Sir, are not to be received
+pleasantly. Were it ourself alone that they aimed at, perhaps we might
+leave treason to overreach itself; but as the welfare of our kingdom is
+at stake, we must look the frowning truth in the face, and prepare to
+punish the guilty, be they who they may, that we may insure the safety
+of the innocent."
+
+"Louis the Just," said Chavigni, advancing and using a term which had
+been bestowed upon the King by the astrologers of the day from his
+having been born under the sign 'Libra,' "Louis the Just will not act
+otherwise than justly; and if I prove not to your Majesty's
+satisfaction that a most dangerous conspiracy is on foot, let your royal
+indignation fall upon me."
+
+"I know not what you call a conspiracy, Sir," answered Louis, his mind
+reverting to the plans of Cinq Mars, to which, as we have seen, he had
+given his own sanction only a few nights before, and for the discovery
+of which he felt as much alarm as if Richelieu possessed the power of
+punishing him also.
+
+"The conspiracy I speak of, Sire," rejoined the Statesman, "is formed
+not only to oblige your Majesty to change your Ministers, but--"
+
+"I can conceive no plan for _obliging_ me to change my Ministers,"
+interrupted the King. "You must have mistaken, Monsieur de Chavigni;
+perhaps the persons whom you style conspirators, have only in view to
+make me dutiful petition and remonstrance, in which case I should give
+their arguments all due weight and consideration. Therefore, if this be
+the information you bring, I wish to hear no more."
+
+Long accustomed to observe every particular point of weakness in the
+King's mind, Chavigni at once conceived the whole train of Louis's
+thoughts, and judged from the very alarm which he saw in the Monarch's
+countenance, that if the Cardinal's power could once be re-established,
+it would be more unbounded than ever; and as these ideas passed through
+his mind, they called a transient smile upon his lip.
+
+"Why do you smile, Sir?" demanded the King, sharply.
+
+"Pardon me, Sire," answered Chavigni. "But it was, that you should think
+me so weak as to trouble you upon such a subject. If leaguing with the
+enemies you have fought and conquered, be humble petition; if bringing
+foreign troops to invade your dominions, be dutiful remonstrance; if
+promising to deliver the strong places of France into the hands of
+Spain, be loyalty and faith,--then have I unnecessarily disturbed your
+repose."
+
+Chavigni's speech worked upon the King, as he expected. "How say you!"
+exclaimed Louis, his eyes flashing fire. "Who has dared to conceive such
+a thought? Who has had the hardihood to unite himself to Spain--our
+sworn enemy--our mortal foe?--Prove your assertion, Sir--Prove that such
+a traitor exists in our dominions; and were he our own brother, we would
+doom him to death."
+
+Chavigni instantly caught at the idea. "Sorry I am to say, Sire," he
+replied, "that your Majesty has but too truly divined the person. The
+Duke of Orleans, unhappily, is the chief of this dangerous conspiracy.
+Behold, my Liege, his name to this treaty with Spain;" and artfully
+contriving to conceal the greater part of the names with his hand in
+holding it before the King, he pointed out the great sprawling
+"_Gaston_," which stood the first on the list of signatures.
+
+Louis instantly recognised his brother's hand-writing. "Gaston of
+Orleans! Gaston of Orleans!" he exclaimed, "will nothing satisfy you?
+Must you betray your country to her enemies, as well as plot against
+your brother's life with magicians and astrologers?"
+
+We have already had occasion to remark, that Louis, deeply imbued with
+all the superstitions of the age, put full faith in every part of
+astrology, and dreaded nothing more than the effects of enchantment. Nor
+could any thing free his mind from the idea, that his brother had, in
+former times, conspired against his life, with certain magicians who
+were actually executed for the crime; one amongst others being the
+famous Père Le Rouge, whom we have more than once noticed in this sage
+history. The Duke of Orleans himself escaped with a temporary
+banishment, but the circumstance still rankled in the King's mind; and
+at present the anger which might perhaps have turned aside from Cinq
+Mars, had Chavigni at first suffered the favourite's name to appear, now
+burst with full force upon the less favoured Gaston.
+
+"Issue a warrant for his instant arrest," exclaimed the King. "By
+Heaven, he shall not escape more than another man."
+
+"May it please your Majesty!" answered Chavigni, "to sign the warrant
+yourself. This is a case of no simple conspiracy, where the King's
+brother is at its head, and many of the first in the kingdom its
+supporters; and the warrants ought not to be simple _lettres de cachet_
+of Council, but ought to bear the royal signature."
+
+"Well, Sir," replied the King, "have the warrants prepared, and I will
+sign them. I am going now to hunt, and at my return we will examine
+these papers and speak farther."
+
+"I have the warrants drawn out here," said the Statesman, not choosing
+to let the first impression subside. "It will not detain your Majesty a
+moment; I felt convinced that you would not allow justice to slumber,
+and therefore had them prepared. This is against the body of Gaston of
+France, Duke of Orleans," he continued, looking at one of the papers.
+
+"Well, give it to me!" exclaimed the King, taking up a pen; "it shall be
+done at once."
+
+Chavigni put the warrant in Louis's hand, and looked at him with intense
+feeling, and a triumphant smile, as he hastily wrote his signature to
+it. "Now," thought Chavigni, "I have you, one and all. Now, proud Cinq
+Mars, and calculating Bouillon, you are in my power! He signs the
+warrant against his own brother, and he dare not let you escape;" and,
+countersigning the warrant, he put a second into the King's hand,--"That
+is against the Duke of Bouillon, Sire!" and he calmly took up the first,
+and placed it in his portfolio.
+
+"The Duke of Bouillon!" exclaimed Louis, with a sudden start,
+remembering the orders he had sent him, and terrified lest Richelieu
+should have discovered them. "Is his name to that paper?"
+
+"No, Sire!" answered the Statesman; "it is not. But in the treaty
+itself, there is abundant proof of his concurrence; and it was on its
+way to him in Italy when it was discovered. The same messenger bore it
+that conveyed to him your orders to march his troops into France:" and
+Chavigni fixed his keen penetrating glance upon the King's countenance.
+Louis turned away his head, and signed the warrant; while Chavigni
+proceeded to place before him that against Fontrailles, and subsequently
+one which authorized the arrest of Cinq Mars.
+
+"How!" exclaimed the King, "here are the first and most loyal men in my
+kingdom. Monsieur de Chavigni, this is going too far!"
+
+"Their names, my Liege," answered Chavigni, "are affixed to the
+treasonable treaty in my hand."
+
+"It cannot be!" cried Louis, an expression of painful apprehension
+coming over his countenance: "It cannot be! My faithful, loyal Cinq Mars
+is no traitor. I will never believe it!" And he threw himself into a
+seat, and covered his eyes with his hands.
+
+Chavigni opened the treaty calmly, and briefly recapitulated the
+principal articles. "The first item is, my Liege," he proceeded, "that
+Spain shall instantly furnish ten thousand men to enter France by the
+way of Flanders; and for a security to his Catholic Majesty, a second
+item provides, that the Duke of Bouillon shall place in his hands, for
+the time being, the Principality of Sedan. A third goes on to arrange,
+that five principal fortified towns of France shall be given into the
+hands of Spain; and the whole concludes, with a solemn alliance,
+offensive and defensive, between the conspirators and the Spanish
+King.--And to this treaty," added he, in a firm, deep tone of voice,
+"stand the names of Cinq Mars and Fontrailles."
+
+"Cinq Mars has been deceived, misled, abused!" cried the King, with a
+degree of agitation almost amounting to agony.
+
+"That will appear upon his trial, my Liege," rejoined Chavigni; and then
+wishing rather to soften the hard task he called upon Louis to perform,
+he added, in a gentler manner, "Your Majesty was born under the sign
+_Libra_, and have always merited the name of Just. If any thing in
+extenuation of his fault appear in the case of Monsieur le Grand Ecuyer,
+that can be taken into your merciful consideration after his arrest; but
+having calmly given an order for the imprisonment of your own Royal
+brother, your Majesty cannot--will not, show the manifest partiality of
+letting a person equally culpable escape. May I once more request your
+Majesty to sign the warrant?"
+
+"Well, well!" cried Louis, snatching up the pen. "But remember, Cinq
+Mars must be pardoned. He has been deceived by that treacherous Duke of
+Bouillon and that oily Fontrailles. Oh, he is all honour and loyalty;
+have I not experienced a thousand instances of his affection?--It is
+false! it is false!" And he dashed down the pen without using it.
+
+Chavigni gazed on him for a moment with a feeling very nearly allied to
+contempt. "Well then, your Majesty," he said at length, "is it your
+pleasure that I cause the arrest of the Dukes of Orleans and Bouillon,
+with Monsieur de Fontrailles, and others concerned in this conspiracy,
+and let Monsieur de Cinq Mars know that Louis the Just makes a
+distinction between him and other men?"
+
+"No, no, Chavigni," replied Louis, mournfully; "give me the paper--I
+will sign it--But Cinq Mars must be saved. He has been deceived--I will
+sign it;" and turning away his head, he wrote his name with a trembling
+hand. But still he continued to hold the warrant, as if unwilling to
+part with it, repeating more than once in a tone rather of entreaty than
+command, "Indeed, indeed, Chavigni, he must be saved!"
+
+"Will your Majesty look at this part of the treaty to see that I have
+stated it correctly?" said the Statesman, offering the papers to the
+King. Louis laid down the warrant to receive them; and Chavigni
+instantly raising the order for the arrest of Cinq Mars from the table,
+placed it in his portfolio with the rest. Louis saw that it was gone
+beyond recall; and dropping the treaty from his hands, hid his face in
+his cloak with feelings near akin to despair.
+
+Chavigni's object was gained, and the power of Richelieu re-established.
+Not only all the conspirators were delivered bound into his hands, but
+the King himself was virtually in his power. Too weak, as the Statesman
+well knew, to stand alone, or to choose new ministers for himself, Louis
+had no resource but to yield himself once more blindly to the guidance
+of the Cardinal; and from the moment he had signed the warrant against
+Cinq Mars, Chavigni looked upon him but as a royal tool to work out the
+designs of that great unshrinking politician, who had already so long
+used him for his own purposes.
+
+The unfortunate Monarch, also, was but too well aware of his own want of
+energy, and of the unsupported situation in which he had left himself;
+and yielding to his ancient dread of Richelieu, he charged Chavigni with
+a multitude of exculpatory messages to the Minister, calling him _his
+best friend and his cousin_, and adding various civil speeches and
+professions, which both Chavigni and the Cardinal knew how to estimate.
+
+"There are many other persons, Sire," said the Statesman, as he was
+about to depart, "who are implicated more or less in this unhappy
+conspiracy; but as their guilt is either in a minor degree, or their
+rank less elevated, I will not trouble your Majesty to put your personal
+signature to the warrants against them. In the mean time, allow me to
+hint that the King ought not to be seen hunting with traitors when they
+are known to be so."
+
+"No, no," replied Louis, mournfully; "I am in no mood for hunting now.
+But where go you, Monsieur de Chavigni? You will not leave me for
+long," added the King, feeling that he must have some one to lean on,
+and little caring who, so that they yielded him support. "You will not
+leave me for long in this case of danger."
+
+"I am about to proceed to Corneille," replied Chavigni, "to order up a
+body of the Cardinal's guard. At present, I have no escort but a few
+servants. We are surrounded by the retainers of the different
+conspirators, and, were I to attempt the execution of your Majesty's
+warrants, we might meet with opposition. But I will soon set that at
+rest, and before to-morrow morning there shall be a thousand men in
+Narbonne, truly devoted to your Majesty's service."
+
+The King gave an involuntary shudder; and Chavigni, with a mockery of
+profound respect, which he felt but little, took leave and quitted the
+presence.
+
+The moment he was gone, Louis called to one of the attendants, and
+carefully shutting the door when he had entered, "François," said he,
+"you are a silent, cautious man--I can trust you: Go to Monsieur le
+Grand Ecuyer, and, if he is alone, tell him, that France is a climate
+dangerous for his health, to betake himself elsewhere, and that
+speedily. But if there is any one with him, merely say, that the King
+feels himself too unwell to enjoy the pleasures of the chase to-day; but
+that he desires that his indisposition may not prevent the gentlemen
+invited from following their sport. But, François, watch well Cinq
+Mars's return; find him out alone, and give him the first message. Only
+beware, that in it the King's name is never mentioned. Do you
+understand?"
+
+The Page bowed profoundly, but still maintained the same unbroken
+silence, and retired to fulfil the King's commands. The presence of
+Fontrailles, however, prevented him from delivering the warning, until
+the Master of the Horse returned from hunting, when he found an
+opportunity of speaking to him alone. Such a caution, delivered by the
+King's own Page, alarmed the favourite; and though it was by this time
+late, he sent a servant to see if the city gates were shut. The servant
+scarcely gave himself the trouble to inquire, but returning immediately,
+informed his master that they were. Cinq Mars stayed--and before the
+next morning, every avenue from Narbonne was occupied by the Cardinal's
+guard.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+     Containing a journey, a discovery, and a strange sight.
+
+
+I have known some persons in the world who, gliding quietly through
+life, have floated on upon the stream of time, like a boat on the waters
+of a broad and tranquil river, carried on by the unruffled tide of
+prosperity, and lighted to their journey's end by the cloudless sun of
+happiness. And I have met with others, whose star seemed to rise in
+clouds, to hold its course through storms, and to set in blacker
+darkness than that which gave it birth. But long continued joy loses its
+first zest, and uninterrupted sorrow its first poignancy; habit robs
+even misery of its acuteness; and care that is long endured, brings
+along with it the power of longer endurance. It is the sudden
+transition from joy to sorrow, that is the acme of human suffering,
+adding the bitterness of regret for past enjoyment to all the pangs of
+present distress.
+
+It was thus with Claude de Blenau. All his wishes had been nearly
+fulfilled; Hope had almost grown into certainty; Pauline was almost his
+own; when he was snatched from the bosom of joy and security to new
+scenes of misery and danger. The few last hours came back to his memory
+like one of those bright visions that sometimes visit our slumber, with
+every part so truly told, so faithfully drawn, that they become too like
+reality, and then, when our hearts are full of scenes that we have
+loved, and pleasures that we have lost, the pageant fades, and we find
+it but a dream.
+
+When once he had torn himself from Pauline, the objects round him called
+forth little of De Blenau's attention; and the carriage in which he was
+placed rolled on for many leagues, before he had sufficiently recovered
+his tranquillity even to think of the minor points of his situation. The
+moon, which at their departure shone bright and clear on the broad
+masses of the forest, had by this time sunk below the horizon; the
+darkness which had followed her decline had also passed away; the grey
+streaks of dawn had warmed into the bright blushes of the early morning,
+and the new-risen sun began to look over a dewy world, that awoke
+sparkling and smiling, as if for joy at his approach. But the scene
+which, at any other time, would have called up a thousand remembrances
+of the happy days and hunter sports of his youth, scarcely now roused
+him from the reverie in which he was plunged; and if he looked round, or
+spoke to the person who conducted him, it was merely to ascertain in
+what direction they were going, or what was the ultimate destination of
+their journey. Never before had he so completely abandoned himself to
+despondency; but as a second and third day passed, he began to recover
+from the first bitterness of his feelings, and endeavoured to draw from
+the Officer the precise crime with which he was charged, and what
+circumstances of suspicion had arisen against him. But no farther
+information was to be procured. The Officer continued firm in the same
+story he had told the Queen--that his orders were to conduct him to
+Tarascon, and that he was quite ignorant of the circumstances which led
+to his arrest. And with this De Blenau was obliged to be satisfied.
+
+During the journey the Officer showed much civility and attention to the
+prisoner, though he took good care to place a guard at the door of his
+chamber when they stopped for the night, which was always at the house
+of one of those private agents of the Government, already mentioned,
+with whose dwellings the officers of the Cardinal's guard were generally
+acquainted. After proceeding, however, for several days, he plainly
+perceived that nothing could be farther from De Blenau's thoughts than
+any plan for making his escape, and, in consequence, the watch he kept
+over his prisoner became far less strict, which afforded the Count many
+opportunities of communicating freely with the persons at the various
+places where they stopped for horses or refreshment.
+
+The arrest of Cinq Mars and several others, with the full restoration of
+the Cardinal's power, was at that moment, in France, one of those topics
+of wonder and interest, which seem necessary from time to time to keep
+up the spirits of the gossiping classes of society; and though the good
+folks at inns and elsewhere found the appearance of a prisoner, escorted
+by a body of the Cardinal's guard, to act as a great check upon their
+natural loquacity; yet, as the officer was somewhat of a _bon vivant_,
+and rather attached to his bottle, the awe inspired by his functions was
+not so strong as to prevent the news of the Grand Ecuyer's misfortune
+from reaching the ears of De Blenau, who easily concluded that, from
+their well-known intimacy, suspicion had fallen upon himself.
+
+The prisoner and his conductors at length began to approach that part of
+the country where the re-established Minister held his court, to which
+all his old retainers and friends were now flocking, together with many
+others, who, led by hope or impelled by fear, hastened to offer their
+servile adulation to a man they in general detested. The roads were thus
+thronged with people, and many a gay cavalcade passed by the carriage in
+which De Blenau was borne along, the horsemen looking for a moment into
+the vehicle out of curiosity, but quickly turning away their eyes again,
+lest they should be obliged to acknowledge some acquaintance with a
+person who had fallen under the Cardinal's displeasure.
+
+It was night when they arrived at Montolieu, and De Blenau asked his
+conductor if he intended to stop there till morning.
+
+"No, Monsieur le Comte," replied the Officer; "we must proceed as
+speedily as possible to Mirepoix, where I expect orders for my farther
+conduct."
+
+"Then you go to Tarascon, in the Pyrenees," said De Blenau. "I thought
+his Eminence was at the city of that name by the banks of the Rhone,
+opposite Beaucaire."
+
+"He was there some time ago," replied the Officer; "but he has since
+gone to the mountains, where, doctors say, there are waters which have
+great virtues in sickness like his. For my part, I always thought the
+springs there very bad, and neither fit for man nor beast. But,
+nevertheless, we must hasten on, Sir."
+
+The next place they stopped at was Corneille; and, according to his
+custom, the Officer remained with De Blenau in the carriage, while the
+troopers arranged every thing that was necessary for proceeding on their
+journey. There seemed, however, to be a considerable bustle amongst the
+men; and after waiting patiently for a few minutes, the Officer drew
+back the curtain, and thrusting his head from the window, inquired the
+cause of delay? The answer he received, imported that no fresh horses
+could be procured, and that those which had drawn them so far were
+incapable of proceeding even to the next town. "How happens it that
+there are no horses?" demanded he impatiently; "there ought always to be
+horses reserved for the use of the Government." To this it was replied,
+that so many people had passed to the court at Tarascon, that every
+horse which could be hired, even at an exorbitant price, had been
+carried away.
+
+The Officer paused, as if doubting what course to pursue; but there
+being no remedy, he was obliged to alight, in order to pass the night at
+Corneille; taking care, however, to despatch one of the troopers to
+Mirepoix, to bring any orders which might be waiting for him in that
+town.
+
+The moon was up, and as De Blenau descended from the carriage, he
+perceived a little stream dashing and glistening over the wheel of a
+mill, that stood dark and defined against the moonlight sky. It was to
+this they were apparently proceeding; and as they approached nearer,
+there was seen an irregular part of the building projecting from the
+rest, which seemed appropriated to the particular use of the Miller. At
+the same time, on a wooden staircase, which wound up the outside of the
+house, appeared a man, holding a light, and habited in one of those
+dusty jackets, which have been the insignia of flour-grinders from all
+generations. At the moment I speak of, he was holding a conversation
+with one of the troopers, and, by his quick articulation and busy
+gestures, seemed engaged in making remonstrances, without any great
+effect.
+
+"What does he say?" exclaimed the Officer, who caught a few words of
+their conversation as he got out of the carriage. "That we cannot stop
+here the night? Give him a cuff of the head, Joly, to teach him better
+manners to the Cardinal's guard. By Heavens! he shall find me horses
+to-night, or he shall lodge me till to-morrow!"
+
+"Stay if you will, Sir Officer," rejoined the Miller, raising his
+voice--"but I tell you that you ought not to stay; and as for laying a
+finger on me--you know I serve the Cardinal as well as you, and you dare
+not!"
+
+"Dare not!" cried the Officer, who was by this time mounting the
+stairs, catching the Miller by the collar, and striking him a slight
+blow--"You are a refractory rascal, Sir!--Open the door of your house,
+or I will throw you over the staircase.--Come, Monsieur de Blenau,
+follow me."
+
+The Miller offered no resistance, but threw wide the door, and let the
+Officer pass in. De Blenau came next, having taken little notice of the
+altercation; but as he went by the Miller, who held the door open, he
+heard him mutter to himself in an under voice, "He shall pay for it with
+his blood," in a deep bitter tone of determined hatred, that made the
+Count turn round, expecting to see the ferocious countenance of an
+assassin. Nothing, however, could be more different from the appearance
+of the speaker, who was a smooth, pale-faced man, whose look expressed
+little besides peaceful tranquillity and patient resignation.
+
+The room into which they entered was a large uncouth chamber, filled
+with various articles of household furniture, the unusual assemblage of
+which showed that it was used for most of the different purposes of
+life. There was a bed in one corner, with a large screen, or paravent,
+half drawn before it. Beside the fire hung a row of copper saucepans
+and cooking utensils; round about were several saddles, and other pieces
+of horse furniture; and in the centre was a large table, with two or
+three half-emptied bottles and some glasses, which bore marks of having
+been recently used; and at the same time a long bench was placed at one
+side of the table, with three single seats on the other.
+
+On the opposite side of the apartment was a wooden partition, evidently
+new, which seemed to separate what had once been one large chamber into
+two, with a door of communication between them.
+
+"Oh, ho! Monsieur Godefroy!" exclaimed the Officer, looking at the
+table, and then turning a significant glance to the Miller. "So, you
+have been carousing, and did not like to let us share in your good
+cheer. But come, we will not be sent away like a dog without his dinner.
+Let us taste your Burgundy; and if you were to lay three of those plump
+_boudins_ upon the fire, they might savour the wine."
+
+"You are very welcome, Sir Officer, to any thing the house affords,"
+replied the Miller, neither civilly nor sulkily. "Help yourself to the
+_boudins_, while I go down for the wine."
+
+"They say in my province, Monsieur de Blenau," said the Officer, placing
+a seat for the prisoner near the fire, "_Qui dort dine, et qui fait
+l'amour soupe_. Now, as we have neither slept nor dined, and have no one
+to make love to, let us sup, at least."
+
+De Blenau's only reply was, that he had no appetite; which seemed
+considerably to surprise the Officer, who, as soon as the Miller had
+brought in the wine, and his supper was ready, fell to with no small
+eagerness, and did not leave off till he had transferred the greater
+part of the trencher's contents to his stomach. The Miller seemed more
+inclined to follow the Officer's example than De Blenau; and his anger
+having apparently subsided, he pressed his guest to continue the meal in
+so sociable and friendly a manner, that De Blenau could scarcely
+conceive that the words he had heard as he entered, had been any thing
+but the effect of momentary irritation. But shortly after he had again
+cause to alter his opinion; the eagerness with which the Miller invited
+his companion to drink, producing bottle after bottle of different
+wines, generally denied by their price to persons in his station of
+life; and the subdued glance of triumph with which he viewed the
+various stages of intoxication at which the Officer gradually arrived,
+caught De Blenau's attention, and excited his suspicion. However, the
+vengeance, which the Miller meditated, was of a very different nature
+from that which the Count imagined. Nothing which could, by any chance,
+recoil upon himself ever entered his thoughts, and his plan reached no
+farther than to render the man who had offended him, deeply culpable in
+the eyes of Richelieu, thus calling upon his head that relentless anger
+which would be much more effectual vengeance than any punishment he
+could himself inflict.
+
+Two or three hours had passed in this manner, during which time the
+Officer had made various efforts to resist the fascination of the
+bottle, often pushing it away from him, as if resolved not to taste
+another drop, and then again, as he became heated in conversation,
+drawing it back and filling his glass with an almost unconscious hand,
+when the sound of a horse's feet was heard without, and starting up, he
+declared that it was news from Mirepoix, and staggered towards the door.
+
+The moment he had quitted the room, the Miller approached De Blenau,
+glanced his eyes round the chamber, and then addressed him in a
+whisper. "What a moment," said he, "for a prisoner to make his escape,
+while that drunkard's senses are confused with wine!"
+
+De Blenau started at the suddenness of the proposal, and eyed his
+companion with an inquiring glance. "If you allude to me," he replied at
+length, "I thank you, but I have no thought of escaping."
+
+"You have not!" said the Miller, apparently surprised. He thought for a
+moment, and then added--"Oh, you reckon on your innocence. But let me
+tell you, Sir Count, that there is both danger and uncomfort in a long
+imprisonment."
+
+"I know it," answered De Blenau; "but I would rather submit to both,
+than cast a suspicion on my honour and my innocence, by attempting to
+fly."
+
+This was a sort of reasoning the other did not understand; and his lip
+curled with a slight expression of contempt, which would have showed
+itself more visibly, had not De Blenau's rank, though a prisoner, kept
+the _bourgeois_ in awe. He turned away, however, seemingly with the
+intention of quitting the room; but when he got to the other side, he
+paused, laid his hand upon his brow, and after thinking for a moment,
+again came back to De Blenau. "I advised you for your own good,
+Monsieur le Comte," he said; "and though you will not escape from the
+dangers of accusation, I will give you the means of proving your
+innocence. In that room," and he pointed to the small door in the
+partition, "you will discover two packets of papers exactly similar:
+take either of them, and in that you will find enough to disprove all
+that your enemies will say against you."
+
+"But," said De Blenau, "what right have I to possess myself of papers
+belonging, probably, to another?"
+
+"Pshaw!" cried the Miller, "one would think that your neck itched for
+the axe! Are you not in my house? Do not I bid you take them? Of course,
+you will not betray me to the Government; but take the papers, for I
+give them to you." And making a sign to De Blenau to use all speed, he
+went to the door which opened on the road. Before he passed it, however,
+he turned to the prisoner once more and cautioned him to make no noise,
+nor regard any thing else in the room, but after having taken one of the
+packets from the table on which they were placed, to quit it as speedily
+as possible. The precaution, however, was useless; for before De Blenau
+had even time to determine upon any line of conduct, the Officer again
+entered the room, and, balancing himself as well as he could, contrived
+to arrive at the table after many a zig-zag and many a halt. He had
+precisely reached that pitch of intoxication, when a man, having for
+some time suspected that he is tipsy, finds out that such a supposition
+was entirely a mistake, and that he never was more sober, or more in his
+senses in his life: consequently, he had not the slightest objection to
+drink a bottle of the _vin de Saint Peret_, which the miller set before
+him; although the Burgundy he had already imbibed had very considerably
+dulled his perception, and detracted from his locomotive power. The
+wine, as it creamed and sparkled in his glass, was raised to his head
+with increased difficulty at every renewed draught; and at last, feeling
+something the matter with him he knew not what, he started from the
+table, made an effort to reach a chair by the fire, but receiving
+instantly internal conviction of the impossibility of the attempt, he
+cast himself upon the bed behind the screen, which happened to be nearer
+at hand, and in a few minutes all his senses were steeped in oblivion.
+Immediately the Miller raised his hand, pointed to the door in the
+partition, and left the apartment as if unwilling to witness what was to
+follow.
+
+De Blenau paused for a moment to reflect on this man's conduct; but
+however extraordinary it might be, he could see nothing to prevent his
+possessing himself of papers which, he was assured, would prove his
+innocence of the crimes with which he was charged--a thing not always
+easy to the most guiltless. Accordingly, rising from his seat, he passed
+by the bed where the Officer lay snoring in the fulness of ebriety, and
+opened the door in the partition to which he had been directed. The room
+with which it communicated was small, and dimly lighted by a lamp that
+stood flickering on a table, as if it scarcely knew whether to go out or
+not. Near the lamp lay various implements for writing, together with two
+papers, one folded up and marked, the other open, and seemingly hardly
+finished. Around were scattered various basnets and vials, which
+appeared to contain the medicaments for a sick man; and on one of the
+chairs was thrown a long sword, together with a poniard and a brace of
+pistols.
+
+De Blenau advanced to the table, and taking up the open paper, ran his
+eye hastily over its contents. In so doing, his own name met his sight;
+and forgetting the caution he had received, to make speed and quit the
+apartment as soon as he had possessed himself of it, he could not
+refrain from reading on:--"With regard to Monsieur the Count de Blenau,"
+the paper proceeded, "the prisoner feels perfectly convinced that he was
+always ignorant of the treaty and the designs of the conspirators. For,
+Monsieur de Cinq Mars particularly warned him (the prisoner) never to
+mention the circumstance before the Count, because that he was not to be
+made acquainted therewith; and moreover----"
+
+As De Blenau read, a deep groan came upon his ear, evidently proceeding
+from some one in the same room with himself, and, holding up the lamp,
+he endeavoured to discover who it was that had uttered it; but in
+lifting it suddenly, the feeble light was at once extinguished, and the
+whole chamber remained in darkness, except where a gleam came through
+the doorway of the other room.
+
+"Godefroy! Godefroy!" exclaimed a faint voice, "do not put out the
+light--why have you left me so long?--I am dying, I am sure I am
+dying."
+
+"I will bring another light," said the Count, "and be with you
+instantly." And forgetting, in the hurry of the moment, his peculiar
+situation, and the caution which ought to have accompanied it, he
+hastened into the other apartment, where the Officer still lay
+undisturbed in his drunken slumbers, and taking one of the rosin candles
+from the table, returned to give what succour he could to the person
+whose faint voice he had heard.
+
+On re-entering the chamber with the stronger light which he now brought,
+his eyes fell upon the drawn curtains of an alcove bed at the farther
+extremity; and approaching quickly, he pulled them back, shading the
+candle as well as he could, to prevent its glare from offending the eyes
+of the sick person.
+
+But his precaution was in vain. Light and darkness had become the same
+to the pale inanimate form before him. De Blenau saw that, during the
+moment of his absence, being had passed away; and holding the light
+nearer to the bed, he thought he could trace, in the disfigured
+countenance that lay in ashy paleness upon the pillow, the features of
+the Grand Ecuyer's Italian lute-player, Villa Grande.
+
+He was engaged in examining them more attentively, when some one
+silently laid their hand upon his arm, and turning quickly round, he
+beheld Chavigni, while the countenance of the Miller appeared in the
+doorway, very little less pale than that of the dead man. De Blenau's
+first impulse was to point to the dead man, while his eyes rested on the
+countenance of Chavigni, in which a slight degree of agitation showed
+itself for a moment, and then disappeared.
+
+"So!" said the Statesman, regarding the lifeless body of Villa Grande,
+"he is dead, poor wretch!--Gone on that uncertain journey which lies
+before us all, like a land covered with a thick mist, whose paths, or
+whose termination, none of us can discover.--But to matters of life and
+moment," he continued. "What do you here, Monsieur de Blenau?"
+
+"I should suppose, Sir, that you are better acquainted with the object
+of my journey than I am myself," replied the Count. "You must be well
+aware it was undertaken against my will."
+
+"You have mistaken me, Sir," said Chavigni. "The end of your journey
+hither, I am well aware of. But how came you in this chamber? What do
+you with that paper which is in your hand? I expect a straightforward
+answer."
+
+"Did I give you any, Sir," replied De Blenau, "my answer should be
+straightforward. But you ought to have known me better than so proudly
+to demand a reply, when you are unentitled to interrogate me. Being a
+prisoner, I must be guarded as such, though I tell you at once I have no
+intention of trying to escape; and being defenceless, you may take these
+papers from me, though they are material proofs of my innocence.
+However, I will rely upon your justice,--upon your honour,--that
+whatever charges be brought against me, the confession of this man may
+be opposed to them in my justification."
+
+"Monsieur de Blenau," replied Chavigni, "I wish you would sometimes give
+me an excuse for doubting your sincerity; for then I could see the fate
+which is like to betide you, without regret. When you were liberated
+from the Bastille, I told you that the eye of an angry man was upon you,
+and warned you as a friend to avoid all cause for suspicion. The
+Minister has never forgotten you. You were the first who brought a
+shadow over his dominion--I hope, therefore, that your innocence can be
+proved beyond a doubt; for mercy or tenderness between you and the
+Cardinal are out of the question. Nevertheless, I cannot let you keep
+this paper, which belongs to the Council; but I will take care that any
+thing which it contains in your favour shall not be lost. In the mean
+while I shall be obliged to send you to Lyons; and Heaven speed you as
+safely out of this scrape as out of the last."
+
+"If perfect innocence of any crime towards the State can save me," said
+De Blenau, following Chavigni into the outer room, "I have nothing to
+fear."
+
+"I hope it is so," replied the Statesman. "And now," he continued,
+turning to the Miller, "let me tell you, Master Godefroy, that you are
+highly culpable yourself, for leaving a State prisoner wholly without
+guard when you saw the Officer, in whose custody he was, in such a
+state as this. Make no excuses, Sir--it shall be remembered."
+
+Chavigni now approached the drunken man, and tried to rouse him; but
+finding it in vain, he called in the Sergeant, and writing a few words
+for his warranty, ordered him to conduct the Officer, next morning, to
+Tarascon under arrest.
+
+"Monsieur de Blenau," he continued, turning to the Count, "you will do
+me the favour of accompanying me to Montolieu. The horses attached to my
+carriage are fresher than those which drew you."
+
+The promptitude with which Chavigni's orders were given, brought all the
+preparations to a rapid conclusion. A few minutes sufficed him to issue
+the necessary commands for transferring the baggage which had been
+brought with De Blenau to the other carriage; and adding a few clear
+rapid directions to the Miller concerning the body of Villa Grande, the
+Statesman was ready to accompany De Blenau before he had been a quarter
+of an hour in the house.
+
+At Montolieu, De Blenau was permitted to rest a day, and was then sent
+forward under a fresh escort to Lyons. The prisoner was now hurried
+rapidly on his journey, travelling the whole of the first night, and at
+last only stopping for a few hours to give him some repose at a village
+about eight leagues from the city to which he was proceeding. As soon as
+daylight dawned, they again began their journey; and taking the lower
+road by the banks of the Rhone, gradually approached the ancient town of
+Lyons.
+
+The first pause they made was a compelled one, upon the wooden bridge,
+situated on the river just below the town. This entrance had been chosen
+to avoid the more populous suburbs; but the conductor of the escort had
+been mistaken in his calculation, for owing to some circumstances of
+general interest, which drew all the idle and the curious to that spot,
+the bridge and the alleys to it were entirely covered with dense masses
+of human beings, which completely obstructed the way. With difficulty
+the carriage was dragged half over the bridge; and then, notwithstanding
+the exertions of the guard, it was obliged to stop. De Blenau drew back
+the leather curtain which obstructed his view, and turning his eyes
+towards the river, a scene burst upon his sight which at once explained
+to him the cause of such an assemblage.
+
+There was a small but magnificent galley making its way slowly to the
+landing-place. The rigging was adorned with streamers; the deck
+glittered with all the splendid apparel of a court, the rowers were
+clothed in rich uniform, scarcely different from that of the guards
+which flanked each bank of oars; gold, and jewels, and blazonry shone
+around. But the spot on which all eyes rested was a small canopy of rich
+embroidery, upheld above the deck on silver poles by four officers of
+the guard, in such a manner as to keep off the rays of the sun, but not
+impede the breeze of the river from playing round a pile of rich velvet
+cushions, on which, amidst the pomp and display of a sovereign prince,
+lay the emaciated form of the Cardinal de Richelieu. His countenance was
+calm and unmoved; indeed, he seemed hardly to regard the scene around,
+listening to the conversation of an Abbé, who stood beside him for the
+sole purpose of amusing him by various tales and anecdotes during the
+voyage. Sometimes, however, he would raise his eyes, and appear to speak
+to some of those who stood by; and then his glance would rapidly turn
+towards a smaller boat, which, attached by two long ropes, was towed on
+at the stern of his own galley. In that boat, seated between two of the
+Cardinal's guard, sat the imprudent and unfortunate Cinq Mars, and his
+companion in misfortune, De Thou. All the gay gallant spirit of the
+Master of the Horse, which once taught him to scoff at the very idea of
+adversity as at a bugbear of the imagination, was now quelled and lost,
+and with a bending head, and eyes cast down, he sat perfectly
+motionless, like a lifeless but elegant statue. De Thou, on the
+contrary, calmly surveyed the passing scene. He seemed to have forgot
+that he was there as a prisoner, borne, a part of that barbarous triumph
+which his enemy was enjoying; and, even when his glance met that of the
+Cardinal, his countenance remained undisturbed by any emotion of anger,
+or any expression of reproach.
+
+I have said that Richelieu would sometimes turn his look towards the
+boat in which his captives were borne along; and still when he did so, a
+momentary gleam would lighten in his eyes, and he would hastily glance
+them round the multitude that lined the shores and the bridge. But
+there was no sound of gratulation met his ear, no acclamation for his
+regained ascendency. The busy whisper of curiosity would stir amongst
+the people, or perhaps the murmur of compassion, as they gazed upon the
+victims about to be sacrificed to his vengeance. But there was no love
+to express; and fear changed their curses into the bitterness of
+silence.
+
+Such was the scene in the midst of which De Blenau found himself, when
+the carriage stopped. He had just time to become aware of all its most
+painful circumstances, when the guards again opened a way through the
+people, and the vehicle passed on. The high round tower of
+Pierre-en-Scize, raising its dark mass above the rest of the prison, was
+the next thing that met his view, and he doubted not that the place of
+his imprisonment was before him; but the carriage rolled on into the
+great Place Terreaux, where it suddenly drew up.
+
+"Then I am not to be taken to Pierre-en-Scize?" said De Blenau to the
+officer who had accompanied him from Montolieu.
+
+"No, Monsieur le Comte," replied he, "Pierre-en-Scize will be
+sufficiently occupied with Messieurs Cinq Mars, De Thou, and others;
+and when Monsieur de Bouillon, and the Duke of Orleans--"
+
+"Good God!" exclaimed De Blenau, "is the Duke of Orleans implicated in
+this unfortunate business?"
+
+The officer smiled. "Why, they do say, Sir, that the King himself is in
+the conspiracy. But as to the Duke, you know more of his share in it
+than any one else--at least so we are told. But I must now beg you to
+descend."
+
+"You are under a mistake, Sir," replied De Blenau. "I know nothing of
+the Duke, and as little of the conspiracy." And following the officer,
+he entered a house in the Place Terreaux, which had been changed for the
+time from one of the public offices of the city into a place of
+confinement, and offered all the security without the horrors of a
+prison. The windows were grated, it is true, but they looked out into
+the free world below, and the captive might sit there and forget that he
+was denied the power of joining the gay throng that passed along before
+his eyes in all the pride of liberty.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+     Giving a good receipt for proving a man guilty when he is innocent.
+
+
+De Blenau had not been long in his new abode, before he learned that the
+express orders of Chavigni had caused him to be carried thither, rather
+than to Pierre-en-Scize, where his confinement would have been more
+strict; and he felt grateful for this mark of the Statesman's
+consideration. For the first few days, too, he experienced every kind of
+attention, and was permitted to enjoy all sort of liberty consistent
+with his safe custody.
+
+But this was not destined to endure long; and his imprisonment gradually
+became more rigorous than that which he had undergone in the Bastille.
+The use of books and writing materials was denied him, and every means
+of employing his thoughts seemed studiously withheld. This mode of
+weakening the mind, by leaving it to prey upon itself, had its effect
+even on De Blenau. He became irritable and desponding; and as he
+received no intimation in regard to the charge against him, he began to
+conjure up a thousand vague unreal images, and to destroy them as soon
+as raised.
+
+After this had continued for some days, he was surprised by the door of
+his apartment opening one night, at the moment he was about to retire to
+rest, giving admittance to the corrupt Judge Lafemas, and a person
+habited as one of the _Greffiers_ of the Court. There are some who are
+cruel from fear, and some from motives of interest; but few, I trust,
+who from natural propensity rejoice in the sufferings of a
+fellow-creature. Such, however, was the character of Lafemas--at least
+if we may believe the histories of the time; and in the present instance
+he entered the chamber of De Blenau with a countenance which certainly
+expressed no great unwillingness in the performance of what is always
+painful when it is a duty.
+
+In this place we shall but give a small part of the conversation between
+De Blenau and the Judge; for the course of examination which the latter
+pursued toward the prisoner was so precisely similar in its nature to
+that which he followed on a former occasion in the Bastille, that its
+repetition is unnecessary, especially as our history is now hurrying
+rapidly to its awful and inevitable conclusion. A part of it, however,
+may serve to illustrate the charges brought against De Blenau, and the
+circumstances on which they were founded.
+
+"Good night, Monsieur de Blenau," said Lafemas, approaching the table at
+which he sat. "I did not think to meet you again in prison: I had hoped
+that when last you escaped so well, you would have been careful to keep
+yourself free from any thing of this kind."
+
+"Good night, Monsieur le Juge," replied De Blenau; "do me the favour of
+sitting down--for I suppose I may do the honours of my chamber, though
+it be but a prison. I am glad to see you, Sir; for I trust you can
+inform me why I am here confined."
+
+"Monsieur de Blenau," said the Judge, seating himself, "we will be frank
+with one another. You are very well aware how deeply you are implicated
+in this conspiracy; and I will tell you that we have ample proofs of
+every thing. But at the same time I know of a way by which you can save
+yourself; a way which one or two highly honourable men have embraced,
+having been misled at first by designing persons, but having returned to
+a sense of duty and honour, and confessed all they knew, together with
+the names of those they supposed to be amongst the guilty."
+
+"I have no doubt, Sir," replied the Count, "that all and every thing you
+say is correct and right. But there is one point, on which I am in the
+dark. I am not aware of what conspiracy you mean.--I have, it is true,
+conspired----" Lafemas turned an attentive ear, and De Blenau perceived
+that the Greffier who had followed the Judge was making a note of all
+that passed. "Stop, gentlemen," said he, nodding to the officer; "take
+the whole of my sentence, I beg. You shall have it in plain language--I
+have, it is true, conspired on more than one occasion, with sundry of
+his Majesty's lieges, to kill a fat buck or a lusty boar, in various of
+the royal forests in this kingdom. But this is the only conspiracy of
+which I have been guilty; and for that I can plead his Majesty's free
+permission and pardon."
+
+"All this is very good, Monsieur le Comte," said Lafemas, his brows
+darkening; "but I must tell you that it will not serve the purpose you
+propose. I came here to you as a friend--"
+
+"And as a friend," interrupted De Blenau, "you brought with you that
+gentleman in black to take down my words, in case I should be at a loss
+to remember what I had said."
+
+"I must once more tell you, Sir," said the Judge, "that this will not
+answer your purpose, for a full confession has been made by Monsieur de
+Cinq Mars since his condemnation."
+
+"Since his condemnation!" exclaimed De Blenau. "Good God! is it possible
+that he is condemned?"
+
+Lafemas was little capable of understanding any of those finer feelings
+which brighten the dull void of human existence. He read from the black
+page of his own mind, and fancied that every other was written in the
+same dark character. All that he saw in the exclamation of De Blenau was
+fear for himself, not feeling for his friend; and he replied, "Yes,
+Monsieur le Comte, he is condemned to lose his head for the crimes of
+which he has been guilty: the question also formed part of his sentence,
+but this he has avoided by making a full confession, in which, as you
+may easily suppose, your name is very fully comprised."
+
+"You may as well cease, Sir," replied the Count. "It may indeed be true
+that my unhappy friend is guilty and has confessed his guilt; but no
+language you can use will ever persuade me that, knowing my innocence,
+as he well does, he would say any thing that could implicate me.--I will
+farther answer every thing that can possibly be asked of me in a very
+few words. As to myself, I have nothing to confess, for I am perfectly
+guiltless towards the State: and as to others, I can give no
+information, for I am wholly ignorant of any plot, conspiracy, or
+treason whatsoever."
+
+"I am sorry for your obstinacy, Monsieur de Blenau," said Lafemas
+rising; "for the Cardinal has resolved that you shall confess, and we
+have the means of making the most stubborn answer. I am, in fact,
+commanded this very night to use measures which might not be very
+agreeable to you. But I give you till to-morrow to consider, and so bid
+you farewell."
+
+The plans of Cinq Mars had run into various ramifications, involving a
+multitude of persons in a greater or less degree; but all fell equally
+under the hatred of the Cardinal, and he spared no means, legal or
+illegal, to discover the most remote windings of the conspiracy, and to
+force or induce the various parties to it to make confessions, which
+were afterwards used as evidence against themselves, as well as others.
+As the proofs against De Blenau were, of course, very defective, the
+last command of Richelieu to Lafemas, before leaving Lyons, was to spare
+no power of intimidation, in order to make the prisoner criminate
+himself, before even granting him the form of a trial. In pursuance of
+these directions, Lafemas ceased not for some days to torment De Blenau
+with continual interrogatories, mingled with menaces and irritation,
+ingeniously calculated either to frighten his victim into some
+confession of guilt, or to throw him off his guard by rousing his anger.
+More than once he was carried into the chamber of the Question, and once
+was even bound to the rack. But though, in the secret halls of the
+Bastille, Lafemas would not have scrupled to proceed to any act of
+cruelty, yet at Lyons, amidst people upon whose silence he could not
+rely, he dared not put the prisoner to the question, without some
+appearance of legal authority. At length, therefore, the day for his
+trial was fixed; but yet Lafemas prepared to make him previously undergo
+a species of refined torture, which none but a demon could have devised.
+
+Denied all the privileges usually conceded to prisoners, unacquainted
+with the precise charges to be brought against him, refused all legal
+assistance, and debarred the use of pen and ink, De Blenau clearly saw
+that Richelieu had resolved on his destruction, and merely granted him
+the form of a trial to gloss over his tyranny, in the eyes of the
+people; nevertheless, he prepared to defend himself as far as possible,
+and at all events to establish his innocence; for the honour of his good
+name, though it might not even tend to save him from the injustice with
+which he was threatened. For this purpose he accurately examined his
+conduct since his liberation from the Bastille, and noted carefully
+every circumstance, that he might be enabled to prove the nature of all
+his occupations so correctly, that the impossibility of his joining in
+any conspiracy would be made evident. He found, however, that to do this
+effectually, some aid besides that of mere memory would be necessary,
+and possessing no other means of committing his thoughts to writing, he
+had recourse to the expedient of pointing some pieces of wood, which he
+procured from the gaoler, and then by charring them in the lamp, he was
+enabled to make notes upon some torn linen, preparatory to his trial.
+Being thus occupied the greater part of the night, his usual time of
+rest was from day-break to mid-day; but one night, a few days previous
+to the time appointed for his trial, he was disturbed in his occupation
+by the dull heavy clang of hammers in the great Square before his
+prison, and proceeding to the window, he endeavoured to ascertain the
+cause. Through the bars he could perceive various lights, and people
+moving about in different directions, but could not discern in what they
+were employed; and quitting the casement, he returned to the slow and
+laborious operation of writing his notes, in the manner we have
+described. At length, wearied out, he threw himself upon his bed,
+without taking off his clothes, and soon fell into a profound sleep,
+which remained unbroken till late the next day. It is probable that he
+might have slept still longer, had he not been aroused by his
+tormentor, Lafemas, who, standing by his bedside, with two of his
+inferior demons, roused him out of the happy forgetfulness into which he
+had fallen. "Rise, Monsieur de Blenau, rise!" said the Judge, his eyes
+gleaming with malicious pleasure; "rise, here is something in the
+_Place_ which it is necessary you should behold."
+
+De Blenau awoke suddenly from his sleep, suffered himself to be
+conducted to the window, where the Judge and his two followers placed
+themselves behind him, so as to obstruct his retreat, and in a manner to
+force upon him the sight of what was passing in the _Place_.
+
+The Square of Terreaux was filled with an immense multitude, and there
+was a deep awful silence reigned amongst them. All eyes were turned
+towards a spot exactly opposite the window at which De Blenau stood,
+where there appeared a high raised scaffold, covered with black cloth,
+and surrounded by a strong body of troops, who kept the multitude at a
+distance, without impeding their view of the dreadful scene which was
+acting before them. A large log of timber lay across the front of the
+scaffold, and beside it stood a tall brawny man, leaning on an immense
+axe, which seemed as if a giant's force would hardly wield it, so
+ponderous was its form. The Prevost of Lyons, dressed in black, and
+bearing his staff of office, stood on the other side with several of the
+civil officers of the city; and a file of pikemen closed each flank of
+the scaffold, leaving the front open, as we have said, to the view of
+the spectators.
+
+But it was the form of his unhappy friend, Cinq Mars, that first riveted
+De Blenau's attention; and he continued to gaze upon him with painful
+interest, while, standing beside the block on which he was to suffer, he
+calmly unloosed his collar, and made the executioner cut away the glossy
+curls of his hair, which otherwise, falling down his neck, might have
+impeded the blow of the axe. When this was over, Cinq Mars raised the
+instrument of his death, and running his finger over the edge, seemed to
+ascertain that it was sharp; and then laying it down, he turned to the
+good De Thou, who stood beside him, a sharer in his punishment, though
+not a sharer in his fault. Cinq Mars appeared to entreat his pardon for
+some offence; and it is probable that having implicated him at all in
+the conspiracy was the only circumstance that then weighed upon the mind
+of the Grand Ecuyer. The only reply of De Thou was a warm affectionate
+embrace; and then with the easy dignity of a mind at rest, Cinq Mars
+withdrew himself from his arms, and knelt down before the block--De
+Blenau turned away his head.
+
+"You had better observe, Monsieur de Blenau," said Lafemas, "the fate
+which those two traitors undergo; for such will be your own, if you
+refuse the hand of mercy held out to you, and persist in obstinate
+silence.--Ah!--so much!" continued he, looking from the window, "so much
+for Monsieur de Cinq Mars! That new fellow is expert--he has the head
+off at one blow!"
+
+"Wretch!" exclaimed De Blenau, forcibly passing him, and proceeding from
+the window, "unfeeling wretch!--Monsieur Lafemas," he added, after
+pausing a moment, "you were perhaps right in supposing that this torture
+was superior to any other you could inflict. But I have once more to
+tell you, Sir, that by this or by any other means you will wring from me
+nothing that can betray my innocence or my honour."
+
+"Then die as you deserve!" replied Lafemas; and after once more looking
+from the window, and muttering to himself a few words, whose import De
+Blenau did not catch, he left the apartment with his two followers. De
+Blenau cast himself on the bed, and hiding his face in the clothes,
+endeavoured to drive from his memory the dreadful scene he had just
+beheld; but it still continued for many an after-hour to hover before
+his eyes, and deprive him of all rest or peace.
+
+The hours of a prison are always slow, and they were now doubly slow to
+De Blenau, having no other pastime than painful reflections, and
+anticipations equally bitter.
+
+At length, however, the day of his trial arrived, and he was conveyed in
+a carriage to Pierre-en-Scize, where, in the hall of audience, sate
+three of the devoted creatures of Richelieu, presiding over a body
+equally governed by themselves, and all prepared to pronounce a sentence
+already dictated by the Minister. Although the President of the
+parliament of Grenoble nominally directed the business of the Court,
+Lafemas was not absent, and in his eyes De Blenau instantly discerned
+his fate.
+
+The charge against the prisoner was read by one of the clerks, declaring
+him to stand in danger of high treason, in having conspired with the
+Sieurs Cinq Mars, Fontrailles, De Thou, and others, to bring foreign
+troops into France, and for having treated and combined with a power at
+open war with the kingdom for various treasonable and disloyal purposes.
+
+The evidence brought forward to establish this, was as frivolous as the
+accusation was unfounded. Even the very semblance of justice was nearly
+abandoned, the Judges seeming to go through the trial as a useless and
+tiresome ceremony, which might very well be dispensed with.
+
+It was proved, indeed, that the prisoner had often been seen in private
+with the unfortunate Cinq Mars; and it was also given in evidence by a
+servant of the Duke of Orleans, that he had carried a letter from that
+Prince to De Blenau at Moulins; and that in consequence of that letter,
+as he conceived, the Duke had gone, with a great air of secrecy, to a
+particular spot, where he was unaccustomed to ride upon ordinary
+occasions, and that there he was met by De Blenau. What conversation
+took place between them, he could not tell; but after they had
+separated, the Duke, he said, gave particular orders that their meeting
+should be mentioned to no man.
+
+The next witness brought forward was the messenger who had carried to De
+Blenau the King's permission to return to court, and who proved that,
+instead of finding the Count at Moulins, or any where in the
+Bourbonnois, to which, according to the King's command, he was bound to
+confine himself, he had been conducted by the Count's page to Troyes in
+Champagne, where he found Monsieur de Blenau himself ready to set off
+for some other place. This witness also added, that he had learned in
+the town of Troyes, that Monsieur de Blenau had been absent one whole
+day, during which time he had visited the old Castle of Mesnil St. Loup;
+and that at his return he did not go to the same hotel from which he had
+proceeded in the morning.
+
+When the evidence was gone through, the President of Grenoble signified
+to the prisoner that he might speak in his own defence; and though well
+assured that on his judges he could make no impression, De Blenau
+resolved not to allow the accusation to remain unrepelled, and replied
+at some length to what had been urged against him. He showed the
+impossibility of preparing any defence, when the nature of the charge
+had never reached his ears till that day. He pointed out that, though he
+had known and loved the unhappy Cinq Mars, their friendship was no proof
+that he was at all acquainted with the conspiracy for which the other
+had suffered; and that though he had met the Duke of Orleans, and
+received a letter from him, that was not sufficient to show him
+concerned in any plot against the State. He acknowledged that he had
+left the Bourbonnois without the King's permission; but he stated the
+powerful motives which had induced him to do so, and gave a correct
+account, from the notes he had prepared, of every moment of his time
+since he had been liberated from the Bastille. He farther declared his
+innocence: he proved that he had been absent from all the principal
+scenes of the conspiracy; and ended by demanding that the confession of
+the Italian Villa Grande should be produced.
+
+The President of Grenoble turned his eyes upon Lafemas; but that worthy
+Judge assumed an air of perfect unconsciousness, and demanded, what
+Italian the prisoner meant?
+
+De Blenau now clearly and distinctly stated all he knew concerning him,
+and again demanded that his confession should be brought forward. But
+still Lafemas appeared in doubt. "Monsieur de Blenau," said he,
+"although this seems to me but a manoeuvre to gain time, I have no
+objection that the papers of this Court should be searched, if you can
+give us the baptismal name of this Italian, of whom at present we know
+nothing; and even this is a mere matter of grace and favour."
+
+De Blenau declared his incapacity to do so, but protested against the
+unjust proceedings of the Court, and showed that, if time and
+opportunity had been allowed for preparing his defence, he would have
+been enabled, by application to the Count de Chavigni, to bring forward
+the paper he mentioned, and to prove the truth of every thing he had
+asserted, by the evidence of persons now at a distance. He was still
+speaking when Lafemas rose and interrupted him. "Perceiving," said the
+Judge, with unblushing effrontery, "that the prisoner has concluded his
+defence, I will now occupy the Court for a few moments, in order to
+explain the reasoning on which my own opinion is founded, although I see
+but one conclusion to which any one can come upon the merits of the case
+before us. It has been shown that the prisoner was the sworn--the bosom
+friend of the traitor who has already suffered for his crimes; that he
+was in constant communication with almost all the conspirators; and that
+the Royal Duke, who has unfortunately dyed his name with so black a
+spot, at the very same time that he was engaged in plotting the ruin of
+his country, was in secret correspondence with the individual before us.
+It has farther been proved, that the prisoner, after having been
+_relegué_ in Bourbon, quitted the place to which he was bound to confine
+himself, and went, upon what he cannot but own himself to be a wild
+romantic chase, into Champagne. This part of his story is a very strange
+one, according to his own showing; but when we come to compare it with
+the confession of the traitor Cinq Mars, the matter becomes more clear.
+It was in the old Castle of St. Loup, near the city of Troyes, says the
+confession, that the principal meeting of the conspirators was held; and
+it was to this very Castle of St. Loup that the prisoner directed his
+course from Moulins. Evidently for the purpose of concealment also, the
+prisoner, on his return to Troyes, instead of directing his course to
+the inn where he had formerly alighted, proceeded to another, at which,
+unfortunately for himself, he was overtaken by the King's messenger. I
+think it is unnecessary to say more upon these points. To my mind they
+are convincing. It is true, indeed, Monsieur de Blenau has shrewdly kept
+his hand-writing from any paper which could prove him an active member
+of this conspiracy. But what man in his senses can doubt that he was
+criminally aware of its existence? This, then, is his crime: and I
+pronounce the concealment of treason to be as great a crime as treason
+itself. But if there were wanting a case in point to prove that the law
+considers it as such, I would cite the condemnation of De Thou, who, but
+two days ago, suffered with the traitor Cinq Mars. Let us now, my
+brethren," he added, "retire to consider of our sentence; for I have
+only spoken thus much, not to bias your opinion, but simply that the
+prisoner himself, before he leaves the Court, may know, at least, _my_
+sentiments."
+
+The Judges now withdrew to the cabinet appointed for their
+deliberations, and De Blenau was removed from the court to a small
+apartment hard by. He had not been here a moment when his page, Henri de
+La Mothe, burst into the room. "My dear, dear master!" exclaimed the
+boy, throwing himself at his feet, "they tell me that you certainly will
+not be condemned, for that you have not been taken to what is called the
+_dead man's dwelling_: so the sentinel let me in to see you."
+
+"Henry! how came you hither!" exclaimed De Blenau, hurriedly--"But we
+have no time to think of that--My fate is sealed--I have read it in the
+triumphant glance of that demon, Lafemas.--Mark me, my boy, and if ever
+you loved me, obey me well.--When I am dead--Do you hear?--When I am
+dead, near my heart you will find a portrait. Take it, with this ring,
+to Mademoiselle de Beaumont. Tell her, that the one was the likeness of
+all I love on earth; and the other, the ring that was to have bound her
+to me for ever. Say that De Blenau sends them to her in death, and that
+his last thought was of Pauline de Beaumont."
+
+"Alas! Mademoiselle de Beaumont!" said the Page. But as he spoke, the
+door opened and an officer of the court entered, followed by a priest.
+"Begone, boy!" said the officer, leading Henry to the door. "How came
+you in here? We have more serious matter in hand now."
+
+"Remember!" said De Blenau, holding up his hand impressively,
+"remember!" And Henry, bursting into tears, was hurried from the
+apartment. "Now, Father," continued De Blenau, turning to the Priest,
+"let us to your business."
+
+"It is a sad one, my son," he replied; "it is but to tell you, that you
+must prepare to leave a world of sorrow!"
+
+"God's will be done!" said De Blenau.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+     Which, if the reader can get through it, will bring him to the end
+     of the history.
+
+
+All delay in the execution of a sentence where there exists no hope of
+mercy, is but needless cruelty; yet De Blenau was suffered to linger
+fourteen weary nights and days between the day of his condemnation and
+that appointed for his death. It approached, however, at length. We are
+told, by those who have had the best opportunities of judging, that the
+last night of a condemned prisoner's existence is generally passed in
+slumber. It was so with De Blenau. Hope and fear were equally things
+gone by to him. The bitter sentence of death had rung in his ear. He had
+traced the last lines of affection to her he loved. He had paid the
+last duties of religion; and fatigued with the strong excitement which
+his mind had undergone, he threw himself on his couch and fell into that
+profound sleep which only despair can give, and which approaches near to
+annihilation.
+
+He was yet buried in forgetfulness when the gaoler came to announce that
+the fatal hour was come, and for a moment, even after his spirit had
+resumed her powers, memory still wandered far from the reality. He had
+not dreamed, but all thought of the last few months had been
+obliterated, and remembrance escaping from the painful present, lingered
+fondly over all he had left behind.
+
+It lasted not long, and as all the truth came rushing on his mind, he
+thought alone of his approaching fate, and to meet it as became him. His
+heart, indeed, was sick of all the instability of this world's things,
+and for an instant there was a feeling almost amounting to satisfaction,
+when he thought that the eternal balancing between hope and fear,
+between joy and disappointment, was soon to be over, and that his soul,
+wearied of change and doubt, would quickly have peace and certainty.
+But then again the lingering ties of earth, the fond warm fellowships of
+human existence came strongly upon him, with all the throng of kindly
+sympathies that bind us to this world, and made him shrink from the
+thought of breaking them all at once.
+
+This also lasted but a moment--his fate was sealed, and hurrying over
+all that might in any degree undermine his fortitude, he followed into
+the court-yard, where the Prevost de Lyons and several of the
+authorities of the town, with a file of soldiers, waited his coming.
+
+The distance was so short from the place of his confinement to the
+scaffold where he had beheld for the last time his unhappy friend Cinq
+Mars, that the use of a carriage was dispensed with; and the guard
+having formed an avenue through the crowd, the gates were thrown open to
+give him exit for the last time.
+
+"Monsieur de Blenau, will you take my arm," said the Prevost of Lyons:
+"mine is a sad office, Sir, but the arm is not an unfriendly one."
+
+De Blenau, however, declined it with thanks, saying that he needed no
+support, and with a Priest on one hand and the Prevost on the other, he
+proceeded calmly towards the scaffold, and ascended the steps with a
+firm unshaken footstep. The block, and the axe, and the masked
+executioner were nothing in De Blenau's eyes but the mere weak
+precursors of the one awful event on which all his thoughts were bent,
+and for which his mind was now fully prepared. There was but one thought
+which could at all shake his fortitude--there was but one tie to be
+broken which wrung his heart to break. He thought of Pauline de
+Beaumont--but he thought also that he had merited a better fate; and
+proudly spurning the weakness that strove to grow upon his heart, he
+resolved to die as he had lived, worthy of her he loved. The very
+feeling gave new dignity to his air, and he stood erect and firm while
+the soldiers were disposed about the scaffold, and his sentence was read
+aloud by the Prevost.
+
+A great multitude surrounded the place, and fixed their eyes upon the
+victim of arbitrary power, as he stood calm and unmoved before them, in
+the spring of youth and the dignity of conscious innocence. There were
+few who had not heard of the Count de Blenau, and all that they had
+heard was good. The heart of man too, however fallen, has still one
+spot reserved for the dwelling of compassion, and its very weakness
+makes it soften to virtue in distress, and often even to forget faults
+in misfortunes. However that may be, there was a glistening in the eyes
+of many as they turned their looks towards De Blenau, who, according to
+the universal custom of the time, advanced to the front of the scaffold
+to address them. "Good friends," said he, "it is the will of Heaven that
+here I should give back the spirit which has been lent me; and so help
+me that God into whose bright presence I now go, as I am innocent of any
+crime towards my King and Country!" A murmur ran among the people. "This
+is my last asseveration," he continued; "and my last counsel to you is,
+to keep your hearts clear and guiltless, so that if misfortune should
+follow any one as it has followed me, he may be able to lay his head
+upon the block as fearlessly as I do now." And retiring a step, he
+unloosed his collar, and knelt for the stroke of the executioner.
+
+"A horse! A horse! A council messenger! Pardon for the Count! Pardon for
+the Count!" cried a thousand voices from the crowd. De Blenau looked up.
+Headlong down the long narrow street that then led in a straight line
+from the square, his horse in foam, his hat left far behind, and his
+long grey hair flying in the wind, spurring as if for life, came a
+horseman, who ever and anon held up a packet in his hand, and
+vociferated something that was lost in the distance. He wore the dress
+of a Lieutenant of the King's forests, and dashing like lightning
+through the crowd, that reeled back on every side as he approached, he
+paused not till he reached the foot of the scaffold,--threw himself from
+his horse--passed unopposed through the guards--rushed up the steps, and
+Philip the Woodman of Mantes cast himself at De Blenau's feet. "My
+noble, noble Lord!" exclaimed the Woodman. It was all that he could
+utter, for his breath was gone with the rapidity of his progress.
+
+"What is all this?" cried the Prevost of Lyons, coming forward. "And why
+do you stop the execution of the prisoner, Sir Lieutenant? What is all
+this?"--
+
+Philip started on his feet, "What is it?" he exclaimed, "why, that none
+of you blood-sucking wolves dare put a fang to the Count's throat:
+that's what it is! There is his pardon, with the King's own signature;
+ay! and the Cardinal's to boot! At least, so Monsieur de Chavigni tells
+me; for being no great clerk, I have not read it myself."
+
+The Prevost unfolded the paper and read, "'_Aujourd'hui_,' &c.--Ah! yes,
+all in form.--'The King having learned that the crimes of the Sieur
+Claude de Blenau, Count de Blenau, and Seigneur de Blancford, are not so
+heavy as at first appeared, and having investigated--&c. has ordained
+and does ordain--out of his great grace, &c.--that the sentence of death
+be changed and commuted to perpetual banishment, &c.--And if after
+sixteen days from the date hereof, he be found within the kingdoms of
+France and Navarre,' &c.--You understand, Monsieur le Comte.--Well, Sir,
+I congratulate you. Here is the King's name; 'Louis,' _et plus bas_,
+'Richelieu'--Will you come and take some refreshment at my poor
+lodgings?"
+
+De Blenau was glad to accept the invitation, for his mind was too much
+confused to fix upon any plan of action at the moment. His resolution
+had borne him strongly up at the time when all hope seemed lost; but now
+the sudden change overpowered him; and amidst the acclamations of the
+multitude, he suffered himself to be conducted in silence to the house
+of the Prevost; where he was soon after discovered by his Page, Henri de
+La Mothe.
+
+We shall now pass quickly over the means which he took to procure money
+for the expenses of the journey before him, merely saying that, through
+the kindness of the Prevost, he was soon furnished with the necessary
+funds for proceeding; and accordingly set out from Lyons the second
+morning after that, the events of which we have described. Two powerful
+reasons induced De Blenau to turn his steps towards Spain: in the first
+place, it was much nearer than either Germany or Flanders, which were
+the only other countries where he could hope for perfect security; and,
+in the next place, his road to the frontier passed not only close to his
+own estates, but skirted the property of Madame de Beaumont, and he was
+not without hopes of meeting there some that were the dearest to him of
+the earth; for he learned from Henri de La Mothe, that the vengeance of
+the implacable Richelieu had extended to Pauline, and her mother, who
+had been ordered once more to quit the Court of France, as a punishment
+for having conveyed information to him in the Bastille.
+
+Philip the Woodman was not forgotten in De Blenau's new arrangements;
+and under the pretence of charging him with a letter back to St.
+Germain's, in case Madame de Beaumont should not be in Languedoc, the
+young Count seduced him into a promise of accompanying him to
+Argentière. His real motive, however, was, to recompense the Woodman's
+services, on arriving at his own property, in a manner which the scanty
+state of his finances prevented him from doing at Lyons.
+
+Notwithstanding all the joy he felt at his deliverance, there was a
+heaviness hung over De Blenau as he rode out of Lyons, which he could
+not account for, and a sensation of fatigue which he had never felt
+before. To shorten the road, he beckoned to the Woodman, who, with Henri
+de La Mothe, had dropped a little behind, and made him relate the
+circumstances which led to his being despatched with the King's pardon
+to Lyons. Philip's story, which occupied a long while in telling, may be
+considerably shortened without disadvantage.
+
+It must be remembered, that at the time of De Blenau's liberation from
+the Bastille, Chavigni had promised, as some compensation for all that
+Philip had suffered by his means, to have him appointed Sous-lieutenant
+of the forest of Mantes: and he kept his word.
+
+Philip was placed in the office, and exercised its functions, but the
+actual brevet containing his official appointment had been delayed by a
+multitude of other affairs pressing for attention, till the Statesman's
+return from Narbonne. At length, Philip heard that Chavigni had
+returned, and that the King, with all the Ministers, were once more at
+St. Germain's; and he ventured to wait upon his patron, as he had been
+desired, to remind him of expediting the brevet. There were several
+persons waiting, and in his turn he was shown into the Statesman's
+cabinet.
+
+Chavigni had forgotten his face, and asked the simple question, "Who are
+_you_?"
+
+Such simple questions, however, often produce more important
+consequences. "I am the Woodman," replied Philip, "who was in prison
+with the Count de Blenau."
+
+"The Count de Blenau!" exclaimed Chavigni, while an expression of
+horror passed over his countenance. "By all the Saints, I had forgot!
+Yet, let me see, to-day is Wednesday--there is yet time--stay here a
+moment!" and he rushed out of the room, leaving the astonished Woodman
+not knowing at all what he meant. In about a quarter of an hour the
+Statesman returned, breathless with the expedition he had used--"There!"
+he exclaimed, putting a paper into Philip's hand--"There is his pardon,
+signed by both the King and the Cardinal!--Away! take the swiftest horse
+in my stable!--lose not a moment, or you will be too late! Use the
+King's name for fresh horses, and show that signature.--Tell the Count,
+Chavigni has kept his word."
+
+"And where am I to go?" demanded Philip, quietly, still completely
+ignorant of the cause of Chavigni's agitation.
+
+"To Lyons, to Lyons! you fool!" cried Chavigni. "If you use not all
+speed, the Count's head will be off before you arrive with his pardon."
+
+"The Count de Blenau?" demanded Philip.
+
+"Yes, yes, I tell you!" reiterated the Statesman, "your good old friend,
+the Count de Blenau! So lose no time, if you would save his life."
+
+Philip lost no time, and arrived at Lyons, as we have seen, just at the
+critical moment of De Blenau's fate.
+
+Though Philip's narrative served to interest De Blenau, and the
+chattering of Henri de La Mothe to amuse him on the way, nevertheless he
+could not conceal from himself that there was a lassitude gradually
+growing upon him, which seemed to announce the approach of some serious
+sickness. Naturally of a strong constitution, and an ardent temperament,
+he never yielded to indisposition, till unable to sustain it any longer;
+and though fatigue, anxiety, and distress, had weakened him much, and
+his two attendants often hinted that he looked unwell, and required
+repose, De Blenau would not acknowledge that he was ill, until he
+arrived in the neighbourhood of Tournon. There, however, the powers of
+nature failed him, and he felt that he could proceed no farther.
+Scarcely able to sit his horse, he entered the town, and looked eagerly
+about for some place where he could repose, when suddenly the eyes of
+Henri de La Mothe rested upon the well-known sign of the _Sanglier
+Gourmand_, which, as they afterwards found, was still kept by no other
+person than the celebrated Jacques Chatpilleur, who had at last been
+driven from the neighbourhood of the Bastille by the wrathful Governor,
+for one of his drunken achievements, very similar to the one recounted
+in our second volume, and had taken refuge in his native place, Tournon.
+Here De Blenau alighted, and was conveyed to a bed-chamber, where he was
+soon attacked by a violent fever, which rapidly increased. Delirium
+followed; and he quickly lost all remembrance of surrounding objects,
+though the name of Pauline de Beaumont would often tremble on his
+tongue, and he fancied that he saw a thousand airy shapes hovering round
+his bed, and constantly reminding him of her he loved.
+
+In about twenty days the disease had run its course, and passed away,
+leaving him in a state of excessive weakness; but, in the mean time, the
+fever, which had nearly destroyed De Blenau, had entirely ruined the
+unhappy Jacques Chatpilleur. The report spread through Tournon, that the
+_aubergiste_ had a malignant sickness raging in his house; and instead
+of coming thither, as usual, for the good things of this life, the
+citizens not only passed his door without entering, but even crossed
+over the way, as they went through the street, to be as far as possible
+from the infected air. For some days after he discovered this defection,
+melancholy preyed upon the unhappy _aubergiste_; but suddenly he seemed
+to have taken a bold resolution; pulled down his sign; put by his pots
+and pans; resumed his gaiety; and no sooner did De Blenau talk of once
+more proceeding, than Jacques Chatpilleur laid before him his sad
+condition, and prayed, as an act of justice, that he would take him with
+him into Spain, and suffer him to be his Lordship's cook.
+
+De Blenau had not the heart to deny him; but another thing came now to
+be considered. The time which, according to the ordinance of the King,
+had been allowed him for the purpose of quitting the realm, had long
+expired, and he was now virtually an outlaw. Every one was called upon
+to deliver him up as an exile returned without grace, and by law his
+blood could be required at the hand of no one who shed it. These
+circumstances, though not very agreeable in themselves, would have given
+De Blenau but little concern, had not the Judge Lafemas been still in
+his immediate neighbourhood. But from his vindictive spirit he had
+every thing to fear if discovered within the precincts of France after
+the allotted time had expired; and in consequence he determined to
+travel by night, as soon as his strength was sufficiently restored, and
+to effect his escape into Spain with as little delay as possible.
+
+Jacques Chatpilleur applied himself with all the vigour of an _ancien
+vivandier_ to re-establish his new lord in his former robust health, and
+succeeded so well as to leave but little traces of all that fever and
+anxiety had done upon his frame. In the mean time, Henri de La Mothe
+took care to prepare secretly every thing for their departure; and
+Philip the Woodman, who had somewhat balanced between a wish to return
+to his family, and love for the good young Count, determined to follow
+him to the frontier, as soon as he heard that his life was at the mercy
+of any one who chose to take it.
+
+Under these circumstances, one clear autumn night, towards twelve
+o'clock, De Blenau sallied forth from the little town of Tournon,
+accompanied by the somewhat curious escort of the Innkeeper, the
+Woodman, and the Page, and proceeding silently and cautiously, arrived
+safely in the neighbourhood of La Voulte, where, betaking themselves to
+one of the large open fields of the country, the party reposed
+themselves under the mulberry-trees, which by this time had been long
+stripped both of their green leaves and their silken balls, but which
+still offered some degree of concealment, and something to which they
+could attach their horses.
+
+At noon, Jacques Chatpilleur, as the most expert, was despatched to the
+town for some provisions, which commission he executed with great zeal
+and discretion, and returning, informed De Blenau that he had seen a
+gentleman in black pass through the town, accompanied by a considerable
+train habited in the same sad colour.
+
+As De Blenau conjectured that this might be Lafemas, it was determined
+to take additional precautions, and rather to live upon scanty fare than
+send into any town again; and setting off as soon as it was dark, they
+passed by Privas, and reached the skirts of the thick wood that began
+about Aubenas, and sweeping round La Gorce extended almost to Viviers on
+the one side, and to L'Argentière on the other. Near to Viviers lay the
+estates of the Marchioness de Beaumont, and within a league of
+Argentière was the Château de Blenau; but it was towards the former that
+De Blenau bent his steps as soon as the second night had come. Before
+they had gone far, it began to rain hard, and though the wood afforded
+some covering, yet the lateness of the season had stripped it of all
+that could yield any efficient shelter, except at a spot where two
+evergreen oaks, growing together like twin-brothers, spread their still
+verdant branches over a considerable space of ground. De Blenau was
+inclined to proceed as quickly as possible; but Jacques Chatpilleur, who
+now acted as body physician as well as cook, so strongly cautioned his
+lord to avoid the wet, that the whole party betook themselves to the
+shelter of the oaks, in hopes of the rain passing away.
+
+Before them lay a considerable tract of road, upon which, after about
+half an hour of heavy rain, the moon began to shine once more; and De
+Blenau was about to proceed, when the sound of horses was heard upon the
+very path which they had just passed. De Blenau and his party drew back
+as quietly as possible behind the trees, and though the horses' feet
+still made some noise, the water dropping from the branches of the
+forest was enough to cover the sound. Scarcely, however, were they
+themselves concealed, when a horseman appeared upon the road in a
+sombre-coloured suit, with some one riding on his right hand, whom De
+Blenau judged to be an inferior, from the bending position in which he
+listened to what the other said. Six servants followed at a little
+distance, and a straggler brought up the rear, wringing the wet from the
+skirts of his doublet. One by one, they passed slowly by; the uncertain
+light showing them to be well-armed and mounted, but still not shining
+sufficiently to allow De Blenau the opportunity of considering their
+features, though he thought that the form of the first rider was in some
+degree familiar to him. It was not unlike that of Lafemas, yet, as far
+as he could judge, taller and more erect. The cavalcade passed on, and
+were seen winding down the road in the moonlight, till they came
+opposite to a spot where some felled timber and blocks of stone
+embarrassed the ground. Immediately that they arrived there, there was a
+bright flash, the report of a carbine, and one of the horses fell
+suddenly to the ground. In a moment, nine or ten horsemen, and two or
+three on foot rushed forth from the wood; and the clashing of steel, the
+report of pistols, and various cries of wrath or agony came sweeping
+upon the gale.
+
+"Were it Lafemas himself," cried De Blenau, "this must not be! _En
+avant pour la France!_" and dashing his rowels into the horse's side, he
+galloped headlong down the road, followed by the Woodman, the Page, and
+the redoubtable Jacques Chatpilleur.
+
+Two moments brought them to the scene of the combat, and the moon
+shining out seemed expressly to light the fray. The one party was
+evidently to be distinguished by their black habits, the other by their
+rusty cuirasses and morions. Directly in the way of De Blenau was the
+Cavalier he had marked as he passed, contending with a man of almost
+gigantic strength; but, notwithstanding the superior force of the
+latter, his antagonist still foiled him by his skilful defence, when
+suddenly one of the robbers on foot attacked the Cavalier also behind.
+Thus beset, he turned to strike him down, when the tremendous Norman
+(for it was no other) caught his bridle rein, and urging the horse back,
+threw him to the ground. The robber on foot shortened the pike he
+carried to plunge it in his body. But by this time De Blenau's party had
+come up; and the courageous _aubergiste_ galloping on, bore the point of
+his long sword in a direct line forward, which catching the pikeman
+just below the cuirass, spitted him, to use Jacques Chatpilleur's own
+expression, just like a widgeon.
+
+In the mean while, the Norman had turned upon De Blenau, and snapped a
+pistol at his head, which, however, missed fire. Enraged at his
+disappointment, he threw the weapon from him, and spurring on his horse,
+aimed a tremendous blow at the Count, which was instantly parried, and
+returned by a straightforward lunge that cut him above the eye, and
+deluged his face in blood. Mad with the pain, and half-blinded with the
+gore, Marteville attempted once more the feat by which he had overthrown
+his former antagonist; and, catching De Blenau's rein, urged his horse
+back with Herculean strength. In vain the Count spurred him forward; he
+sank upon his haunches, and was floundering in the fall, when De Blenau,
+finding it inevitable, let go the rein, fixed his knees firm in the
+saddle, and raising his sword with both hands, discharged it with all
+his force upon the head of the Norman. The true steel passed clear on,
+hewed through the iron morion, cleft through hair and skull, and sank
+deep into his brain. He reeled in the saddle; his hands let go their
+grasp, and he fell headlong to the ground, while the horse of De Blenau,
+suddenly released from the pressure, rose up, and plunging forward trod
+him under its feet. De Blenau lost not his presence of mind for a
+moment, and while his horse was yet in the spring, he aimed a blow at
+the Gros St. Nicolas, who had been hurrying to the assistance of his
+captain, which disabled his shoulder, and threw him from his horse.
+"_Sauve qui peut!_" cried the Robber, starting up on his feet and
+running for the wood, "_Sauve qui peut!_ The Captain is dead!"
+
+"_Sauve qui peut! Sauve qui peut!_" rang among the Robbers, and in a few
+minutes De Blenau and his party were left masters of the field. The
+Count drew up his horse, exclaiming, "Do not follow! Do not follow! Let
+us look to the wounded;" and dismounting, he hurried to assist the
+fallen Cavalier, who was struggling to disengage himself from his horse.
+
+"Next to God, Sir, I have to thank you," said the stranger, as soon as
+he had risen. "But--is it possible! Monsieur de Blenau!" he exclaimed as
+the moonlight gleamed on the countenance of the Count. "God of heaven, I
+thought you were in Spain long ago!"
+
+"Monsieur de Chavigni! or I am mistaken," said De Blenau. "But I know
+that I can trust to your honour, and therefore must say, that though my
+late illness may have rendered me an outlaw, by detaining me in France
+after my sentence of exile, yet I will not regret it, as it has given me
+the opportunity of serving the man to whom I am indebted for my
+life.--There, Sir, is my hand."
+
+Chavigni embraced him warmly. "Let us look to the men who are wounded,
+Monsieur de Blenau," said he, "and then I will give you a piece of news
+which, however painful to me, will be satisfactory to you.--Cannot some
+one strike a light, that we may examine more carefully what has occurred
+on this unhappy spot; for I see many on the earth."
+
+"It shall be done in the turning of a spit, Monseigneur," said Jacques
+Chatpilleur, who had already collected some dry wood; and who now
+quickly produced a fire by means of the flint of a pistol.
+
+The scene that presented itself was a sad one. On the earth lay two of
+Chavigni's servants dead, and one desperately wounded. To these was
+added Henri de La Mothe, who had received a severe cut on the head, and
+was stunned with the blow. Not far from the body of the Norman lay his
+companion Callot, who was the pikeman despatched by the bellicose
+_aubergiste_. In addition to these was a robber, whose head had been
+nearly severed from his body by the cutlas which was borne by Philip the
+woodman, in his capacity of Lieutenant of the King's forests; and one so
+severely wounded by a pistol-ball from the hand of Chavigni, that his
+companions had been obliged to abandon him. From him they learned that
+the attack upon Chavigni had been preconcerted; that understanding he
+was bending his steps towards Montpellier, Marteville had obtained exact
+information of his course; and finding that he must pass through the
+forest by Viviers, had laid in wait for him, with the expectation both
+of revenge and plunder.
+
+"And now, Monsieur de Blenau," said Chavigni, as soon as their
+investigation ended, "whither does your immediate path lay? You know you
+can trust me."
+
+"I do," said De Blenau. "I go first towards Viviers, to the Chateau of
+the late Marquis de Beaumont."
+
+"And I go there too," said Chavigni. "I am even now expected; for I sent
+forward a servant to announce my coming."
+
+"Indeed!" exclaimed De Blenau, "May I ask your errand?"
+
+A faint smile curled Chavigni's lip, which was uncommonly pale. "You
+will hear on my arrival," said he; "for I see you are ignorant of what
+has lately taken place, though the couriers must have arrived in all the
+towns three days ago.--But let us have our wounded brought along, and we
+will proceed to the Chateau.--It cannot be far distant."
+
+The preparations were soon made--the Chateau was soon reached--and
+Pauline de Beaumont was soon once more clasped in the arms of her
+lover.--But let all that pass.
+
+"Madame," said Chavigni, advancing to the Marchioness, "you doubtless
+wonder as much as Monsieur de Blenau, what can have brought me hither.
+But as I came to Montpellier, I had the King's commands to inform you,
+that the fine which was imposed upon your estates is remitted in full.
+And to you, Monsieur de Blenau, I have to announce, that your banishment
+is at an end, for his Majesty has given permission to all exiles to
+return to France, with a very few exceptions, amongst which you are not
+included.--I need not tell you from these circumstances, that--the
+Cardinal de Richelieu is dead!"
+
+"Good God!" exclaimed De Blenau, "so soon!"
+
+"Even so!" replied Chavigni. "Monsieur de Blenau, doubtless you are
+happy--for he was your enemy.--But he was to me a friend--he was nearly
+a father, and I mourn for him."
+
+"May he rest in peace!" said De Blenau. "He was a great man. May he rest
+in peace!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Little more remains to be said; for this long history draws towards its
+close. The sorrows, the dangers, and the difficulties, which had so long
+surrounded De Blenau and Pauline, had now passed away, like the storms
+of a summer day, that overcloud the morning, but leave the evening calm
+and fair. They were united--in the beautiful valleys of Languedoc, and
+in the fair scenes where they had first met, they continued to live on
+in happiness and love, till the hand of time led them gently to the
+grave.
+
+That generation and its events have passed away; but there still remains
+one record of the hero of this tale: for in a little village church,
+between Argentière and Viviers, stands a fine marble tomb, with the
+figure of a knight sculptured in a recumbent posture. Underneath is
+engraven the date--one thousand six hundred and eighty-five, with the
+simple inscription,
+
+    "_Ci git Claude, Comte de Blenau_."
+
+
+
+
+NOTES.
+
+
+"Après toutes les persécutions qui furent faites à plusieurs
+particuliers, le Roy suivant son naturel s'abandonna tout entier au
+pouvoir de son favori. Il se vit réduit à la vie la plus mélancolique et
+la plus misérable du monde, sans suite, sans cour, sans pouvoir, et, par
+conséquent, sans plaisir, et sans honneur. Ainsi se sont passés
+plusieurs années de sa vie à St. Germain, où il vivoit comme un
+particulier, et pendant que ses armées prenoient des villes et gagnoient
+des batailles, il s'amusait à prendre des oiseaux."
+
+_Memoires pour servir à l'Histoire d'Anne d'Autriche._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Les ennemis de la Reine pour réussir encore mieux dans les desseins
+qu'ils avoient de la faire haïr du Roy son mari, se servirent fortement
+contre elle des intelligences qu'elle avoit en Espagne."
+
+_Madame de Motteville, Mem. de la Reine._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Mais la Reine m'a conté qu'un jour il (le Cardinal) lui parla d'un air
+trop galland pour un ennemi; et qu'il lui fit un discours fort
+passionné; mais qu'ayant voulu lui répondre avec colère et mépris, le
+Roy dans ce moment étoit entre dans le cabinet où elle étoit, qui par sa
+présence interrompit sa réponse."
+
+_Madame de Motteville._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Le Chevalier de Jars fut le plus maltraité, et comme il a été depuis
+tout à fait de mes amis, et que dans sa persécution il y a quelques
+choses qui sont dignes de l'estime des honnêtes gens, je veux en marquer
+les principaux endroits qui pourront faire voir de quelle trempe étoit
+son ame, quelle étoit sa probité, la vigueur de son esprit et la
+grandeur de son courage. Il fut onze mois dans la Bastille enfermé dans
+un cachot. Il fut pris en hyver, et l'habit de velours noir qu'il y
+porta demeura toujours sur son corps tant qu'il habita dans cette
+effroyable demeure. On l'interrogea quatre-vingt fois avec toute la
+severité possible, et il repondit toujours avec bon sens et fermeté,
+sans se laisser entamer sur aucun chapitre, sans se couper en ses
+reponses, ni sans embarrasser personne. On l'en fit sortir pour le mener
+à Troyes avec toutes les rudes apparences d'un homme qu'on alloit mener
+à la mort....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A Troyes on lui donna pour Juge Lafemas, celui qui l'avoit déjà
+tourmenté dans la Bastille, qu'on appelloit le _Bourreau du Cardinal_.
+On accompagna celui-là d'un nombre suffisant de Juges pour lui faire son
+procès, qui ne furent pas plus honnêtes gens que lui. Il y travailla par
+toutes les voies que ces sortes de gens scavent pratiquer, et il fut
+fortement secondé des autres. Ils voulurent lui acheter des faux
+temoins, &c....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Lafemas avoit promis au Ministre qu'il le tourmenteroit si bien, qu'il
+en tireroit à peu pres ce qu'il en desiroit scavoir, et que sur peu de
+mal il trouverait les moyens de lui faire son procès; selon les manières
+mêmes du Cardinal, qui, à ce que j'ai oüi conter à ses amis, avoit
+accoutumé de dire qu'avec deux lignes de l'écriture d'un homme on
+pouvoit faire le procès au plus innocent, parceque on pouvoit sur cette
+matière ajuster si bien les affaires que facilement on y pouvoit faire
+trouver ce qu'on voudroit.
+
+"Sur ce fondement Lafemas travaille au jugement du Chevalier de Jars; il
+le menace, il l'interroge et fait tout ce qu'une ame pleine de lâcheté
+est capable de faire....
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+En effet, il fut mené sur la sellette, où fort constamment il récusa
+pour Juge Lafemas, lui reprocha toutes ses lâchetés, l'appella une
+seconde fois scélérat, et avertit ses autres Juges de ce que Lafemas
+avoit promis au Cardinal contre lui. Il fut interrogé tout de nouveau,
+et demeura trois heures en cet état. Il se defendit si courageusement
+qu'il confondit ceux qui le vouloient perdre et qui avoient du moins le
+dessein de lui faire trahir ses amis. Sortant de là, le Prevôt de l'Ile
+s'approcha de lui et lui dit, 'Monsieur, bon courage! j'espère bien pour
+vous, car on m'a dit de vous ramener dans la prison où vous êtes, et
+c'est l'ordinaire de mener ceux qu'on va condamner à mort dans un autre
+lieu.' Le Chevalier lui dit du même ton dont il avoit accoutumé de
+censurer les choses qu'il n'approuvoit pas. 'Mon ami, ces pendars là me
+vont condamner, je le vois bien à leur mine. Il faut avoir patience, et
+le Cardinal enragera de voir que je me moque de lui et de ses tortures.'
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Ayant été condamné, on le mena sur l'échaffaut. Il y parut plein de
+courage et d'honneur. Il se moqua de ses ennemis, montrant de recevoir
+la mort avec une grande fermeté. Etant prêt d'avoir la tête tranchée, on
+lui vint apporter sa grace."
+
+_Madame de Motteville._
+
+                                THE END.
+
+                                LONDON:
+                     PRINTED BY S. AND K. BENTLEY,
+                      Dorset Street, Fleet Street.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
+
+neighbourhoed=> neighbourhood {pg 333}
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Richelieu, v. 3/3, by G. P. R. James
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44254 ***
diff --git a/44254-h.zip b/44254-h.zip
deleted file mode 100644
index 85bce6d..0000000
--- a/44254-h.zip
+++ /dev/null
diff --git a/44254-h/44254-h.htm b/44254-h/44254-h.htm
index 32b2ef1..2671784 100644
--- a/44254-h/44254-h.htm
+++ b/44254-h/44254-h.htm
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
   <head>  <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" />
-<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />
 <title>
   The Project Gutenberg eBook of Richelieu, A Tale Of France. Vol. III., by G. P. R.
 James.
@@ -70,45 +70,7 @@ display: inline-block; text-align: left;}
 </style>
   </head>
 <body>
-
-
-<pre>
-
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of Richelieu, v. 3/3, by G. P. R. James
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
-
-
-Title: Richelieu, v. 3/3
-       A Tale of France
-
-Author: G. P. R. James
-
-Release Date: November 21, 2013 [EBook #44254]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RICHELIEU, V. 3/3 ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by sp1nd, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-produced from images generously made available by The
-Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-</pre>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44254 ***</div>
 
 <hr class="full" />
 
@@ -7001,386 +6963,6 @@ style="padding:2%;border:3px dotted gray;">
 
 <hr class="full" />
 
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Richelieu, v. 3/3, by G. P. R. James
-
-*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RICHELIEU, V. 3/3 ***
-
-***** This file should be named 44254-h.htm or 44254-h.zip *****
-This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
-        http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/2/5/44254/
-
-Produced by sp1nd, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-produced from images generously made available by The
-Internet Archive)
-
-
-Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
-will be renamed.
-
-Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
-one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
-(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
-permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
-set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
-copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
-protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
-Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
-charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
-do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
-rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
-such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
-research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
-practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
-subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
-redistribution.
-
-
-
-*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
-
-THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
-PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
-
-To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
-distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
-(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
-Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
-http://gutenberg.org/license).
-
-
-Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works
-
-1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
-and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
-(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
-the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
-all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
-If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
-terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
-entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
-
-1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
-used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
-agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
-things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
-paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
-and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
-works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
-
-1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
-or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
-collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
-individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
-located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
-copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
-works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
-are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
-Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
-freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
-this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
-the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
-keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
-Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
-
-1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
-what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
-a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
-the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
-before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
-creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
-Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
-the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
-States.
-
-1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
-
-1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
-access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
-whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
-phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
-copied or distributed:
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license
-
-1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
-from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
-posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
-and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
-or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
-with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
-work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
-through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
-Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
-1.E.9.
-
-1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
-with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
-must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
-terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
-to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
-permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
-
-1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
-work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
-
-1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
-electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
-prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
-active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm License.
-
-1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
-compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
-word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
-distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
-"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
-posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
-you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
-copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
-request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
-form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
-
-1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
-performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
-unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
-access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
-that
-
-- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
-     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
-     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
-     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
-     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
-     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
-     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
-     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
-     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
-     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
-     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
-     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
-
-- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
-     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
-     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-     License.  You must require such a user to return or
-     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
-     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
-     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
-
-- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
-     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
-     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
-     of receipt of the work.
-
-- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
-     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
-
-1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
-forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
-both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
-Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
-Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
-
-1.F.
-
-1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
-effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
-public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
-collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
-works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
-"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
-corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
-property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
-computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
-your equipment.
-
-1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
-of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
-liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
-fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
-LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
-PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
-TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
-LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
-INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
-DAMAGE.
-
-1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
-defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
-receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
-written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
-received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
-your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
-the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
-refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
-providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
-receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
-is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
-opportunities to fix the problem.
-
-1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
-in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
-WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
-WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
-
-1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
-warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
-If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
-law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
-interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
-the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
-provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
-
-1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
-trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
-providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
-with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
-promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
-harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
-that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
-or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
-work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
-Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
-
-
-Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
-electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
-including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
-because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
-people in all walks of life.
-
-Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
-assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
-goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
-remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
-and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
-To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
-and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
-and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
-
-
-Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
-Foundation
-
-The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
-501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
-state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
-Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
-number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
-http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
-Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
-permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
-
-The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
-Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
-throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
-809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
-business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
-information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
-page at http://pglaf.org
-
-For additional contact information:
-     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
-     Chief Executive and Director
-     gbnewby@pglaf.org
-
-
-Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
-Literary Archive Foundation
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
-spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
-increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
-freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
-array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
-($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
-status with the IRS.
-
-The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
-charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
-States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
-considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
-with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
-where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
-SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
-particular state visit http://pglaf.org
-
-While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
-have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
-against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
-approach us with offers to donate.
-
-International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
-any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
-outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
-
-Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
-methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
-ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
-To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
-
-
-Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
-works.
-
-Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
-concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
-with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
-Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
-
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
-editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
-unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
-keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
-
-
-Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
-
-     http://www.gutenberg.org
-
-This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
-including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
-subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
-
-
-</pre>
-
+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 44254 ***</div>
 </body>
 </html>