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diff --git a/old/chplt10h.htm b/old/chplt10h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bf0ee78 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/chplt10h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,21211 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content="HTML Tidy, see www.w3.org"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252"> +<title>The Chaplet of Pearls, Charlotte M Yonge</title> +</head> +<body> +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Chaplet of Pearls, by Charlotte M Yonge +#31 in our series by Charlotte M Yonge + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Chaplet of Pearls + +Author: Charlotte M Yonge + +Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5274] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on June 23, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHAPLET OF PEARLS *** + + + + +Prepared by Hanh Vu, capriccio_vn@yahoo.com. +A web page for Charlotte M Yonge will be found at www.menorot.com/cmyonge.htm + + +</pre> + + + + +<h1>THE CHAPLET OF PEARLS</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h3>CHARLOTTE M. YONGE</h3> + +<h3>CONTENTS</h3> + +<p>CHAPTER I. THE BRIDAL OF THE +WHITE AND BLACK</p> + +<p>CHAPTER II. THE SEPARATION</p> + +<p>CHAPTER III. THE FAMILY COUNCIL</p> + +<p>CHAPTER IV. TITHONUS</p> + +<p>CHAPTER V. THE CONVENT +BIRD</p> + +<p>CHAPTER VI. FOULLY COZENED</p> + +<p>CHAPTER VII. THE QUEEN'S PASTORAL</p> + +<p>CHAPTER VIII. 'LE BROUILLON'</p> + +<p>CHAPTER IX. THE WEDDING WITH +CRIMSON FAVOURS</p> + +<p>CHAPTER X. MONSIEUR'S +BALLET</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XI. THE KING'S TRAGEDY</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XII. THE PALACE OF SLAUGHTER</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XIII. THE BRIDEGROOM'S ARRIVAL</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XIV. SWEET HEART</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XV. NOTRE-DAME DE +BELLAISE</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XVI. THE HEARTHS AND THICKETS OF +THE BOCAGE</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XVII. THE GHOSTS OF THE TEMPLARS</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XVIII. THE MOONBEAM</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XIX. LA RUE DES TROIS FEES</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XX. THE ABBE</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXI. UNDER THE WALNUT-TREE</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXII. DEPARTURE</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXIII. THE EMPTY CRADLE</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXIV. THE GOOD PRIEST OF NISSARD</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXV. THE VELVET COACH</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXVI. THE CHEVALIER'S EXPIATION</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXVII. THE DYING KING</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXVIII. THE ORPHANS OF LA SABLERIE</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXIX. IN THE KING'S NAME</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXX. CAGED IN THE BLACKBIRD'S +NEST</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXXI. THE DARK POOL OF THE FUTURE</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXXII. 'JAM SATIS'</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXXIII. THE SCANDAL OF THE SYNOD OF MONTAUBAN</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXXIV. MADAME LA DUCHESSE</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXXV. THE ITALIAN PEDLAR</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXXVI. SPELL AND POTION</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXXVII. BEATING AGAINST THE BARS</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE ENEMY IN PRESENCE</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XXXIX. THE PEDLAR'S PREDICTION</p> + +<p>CHAPTER +XL. THE SANDS +OF OLONNE</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XLI. OUR +LADY OF HOPE</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XLII. THE SILVER +BULLET</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XLIII. LA BAISER +D'EUSTACIE</p> + +<p>CHAPTER XLIV. THE GALIMAFRE</p> + +<h3>PREFACE</h3> + +<p>It is the fashion to call every story controversial that deals +with times when controversy or a war of religion was raging; but it +should be remembered that there are some which only attempt to +portray human feelings as affected by the events that such warfare +occasioned. 'Old Mortality' and 'Woodstock' are not +controversial tales, and the 'Chaplet of Pearls' is so quite as +little. It only aims at drawing certain scenes and certain +characters as the convulsions of the sixteenth century may have +affected them, and is, in fact, like all historical romance, the +shaping of the conceptions that the imagination must necessarily +form when dwelling upon the records of history. That faculty +which might be called the passive fancy, and might almost be +described in Portia's song, --</p> + +<p> 'It is engendered in the eyes, By READING +fed - and there it dies,'--</p> + +<p>that faculty, I say, has learnt to feed upon character and +incident, and to require that the latter should be effective and +exciting. Is it not reasonable to seek for this in the days +when such things were not infrequent, and did not imply exceptional +wickedness or misfortune in those engaged in them? This seems +to me one plea for historical novel, to which I would add the +opportunity that it gives for study of the times and delineation of +characters. Shakespeare's Henry IV. and Henry V., Scott's +Louis XI., Manzoni's Federigo Borromeo, Bulwer's Harold, James's +Philip Augustus, are all real contributions to our comprehension of +the men themselves, by calling the chronicles and memoirs into +action. True, the picture cannot be exact, and is sometimes +distorted--nay, sometimes praiseworthy efforts at correctness in +the detail take away whatever might have been lifelike in the +outline. Yet, acknowledging all this, I must still plead for +the tales that presumptuously deal with days gone by, as enabling +the young to realize history vividly--and, what is still more +desirable, requiring an effort of the mind which to read of modern +days does not. The details of Millais' Inquisition or of his +Huguenot may be in error in spite of all his study and diligence, +but they have brought before us for ever the horrors of the <i> +auto-da-fe</i>, and the patient, steadfast heroism of the man who +can smile aside his wife's endeavour to make him tacitly betray his +faith to save his life. Surely it is well, by pen as by +picture, to go back to the past for figures that will stir the +heart like these, even though the details be as incorrect as those +of the revolt of Liege or of La Ferrette in 'Quentin Durward' and +'Anne of Geierstein.'</p> + +<p>Scott, however, wilfully carved history to suit the purposes of +his story; and in these days we have come to feel that a story must +earn a certain amount of credibility by being in keeping with +established facts, even if striking events have to be sacrificed, +and that the order of time must be preserved. In +Shakespeare's days, or even in Scott's, it might have been possible +to bring Henry III. and his <i>mignons</i> to due punishment within +the limits of a tale beginning with the Massacre of St. +Bartholomew; but in 1868 the broad outlines of tragedy must be +given up to keep within the bounds of historical verity.</p> + +<p>How far this has been done, critics better read than myself must +decide. I have endeavoured to speak fairly, to the best of my +ability, of such classes of persons as fell in with the course of +the narrative, according to such lights as the memoirs of the time +afford. The Convent is scarcely a CLASS portrait, but the +condition of it seems to be justified by hints in the Port Royal +memoirs, respecting Maubuisson and others which Mere Angelique +reformed. The intolerance of the ladies at Montauban is +described in Madame Duplessis-Mornay's life; and if Berenger's +education and opinions are looked on as not sufficiently alien from +Roman Catholicism, a reference to Froude's 'History of Queen +Elizabeth' will show both that the customs of the country clergy, +and likewise that a broad distinction was made by the better +informed among the French between Calvinism and Protestantism or +Lutheranism, in which they included Anglicanism. The minister +Gardon I do not consider as representing his class. He is a +POSSIBILITY modified to serve the purposes of the story.</p> + +<p>Into historical matters, however, I have only entered so far as +my story became involved with them. And here I have to +apologize for a few blunders, detected too late for alteration even +in the volumes. Sir Francis Walsingham was a young rising +statesman in 1572, instead of the elderly sage he is represented; +his daughter Frances was a mere infant, and Sir Philip Sidney was +not knighted till much later. For the rest, I have tried to +show the scenes that shaped themselves before me as carefully as I +could; though of course they must not be a presentiment of the +times themselves, but of my notion of them.</p> + +<p>C. M. Yonge</p> + +<p>November 14<sup>th</sup>, 1868</p> + +<h1>THE CHAPLET OF PEARLS</h1> + +<h1>or</h1> + +<h1>THE WHITE AND BLACK RIBAUMONT</h1> + +<h3>CHAPTER I. THE BRIDAL OF THE WHITE AND BLACK</h3> + +<p>Small was the ring, and small in truth the finger:</p> + +<p>What then? the faith was large that dropped it down.</p> + +<p>Aubrey De Vere, INFANT BRIDAL</p> + +<p>Setting aside the consideration of the risk, the baby-weddings +of the Middle Ages must have been very pretty sights.</p> + +<p>So the Court of France thought the bridal of Henri Beranger +Eustache de Ribaumont and of Marie Eustacie Rosalie de Ribaumont du +Nid-de-Merle, when, amid the festivals that accompanied the +signature of the treaty of Cateau-Cabresis, good-natured King Henri +II. presided merrily at the union of the little pair, whose unite +ages did not reach ten years.</p> + +<p>There they stood under the portal of Notre-Dame, the little +bridegroom in a white velvet coat, with puffed sleeves, slashed +with scarlet satin, as were the short, also puffed breeches meeting +his long white knitted silk stockings some way above the knee; +large scarlet rosettes were in his white shoes, a scarlet knot +adorned his little sword, and his velvet cap of the same colour +bore a long white plume, and was encircled by a row of pearls of +priceless value. They are no other than that garland of +pearls which, after a night of personal combat before the walls of +Calais, Edward III. of England took from his helmet and presented +to Sir Eustache de Ribaumont, a knight of Picardy, bidding him say +everywhere that it was a gift from the King of England to the +bravest of knights.</p> + +<p>The precious heirlooms were scarcely held with the respect due +to an ornament so acquired. The manly garb for the first time +assumed by his sturdy legs, and the possession of the little sword, +were evidently the most interesting parts of the affair to the +youthful husband, who seemed to find in them his only solace for +the weary length of the ceremony. He was a fine, handsome +little fellow, fair and rosy, with bright blue eyes, and hair like +shining flax, unusually tall and strong-limbed for his age; and as +he gave his hand to his little bride, and walked with her under a +canopy up to kneel at the High Altar, for the marriage blessing and +the mass, they looked like a full-grown couple seen through a +diminishing-glass.</p> + +<p>The little bride was perhaps a less beautiful child, but she had +a splendid pair of black eyes, and a sweet little mouth, both set +into the uncomprehending solemnity of baby gravity and contentment +in fine clothes. In accordance with the vow indicated by her +name of Marie, her dress was white and blue, turquoise +forget-me-nots bound the little lace veil on her dark chestnut +hair, the bosom of her white satin dress was sprinkled with the +same azure jewel, and turquoises bordered every seam of the +sweeping skirt with a train befitting a count's daughter, and +meandered in gorgeous constellations round the hem. The +little thing lisped her own vows forth without much notion of their +sense, and indeed was sometimes prompted by her bridesmaid cousin, +a pretty little girl a year older, who thrust in her assistance so +glibly that the King, as well as others of the spectators, laughed, +and observed that she would get herself married to the boy instead +of her cousin.</p> + +<p>There was, however, to be no doubt nor mistake about Beranger +and Eustacie de Ribaumont being man and wife. Every ceremony, +religious or domestic, that could render a marriage valid, was gone +through with real earnestness, although with infinite gaiety, on +the part of the court. Much depended on their union, and the +reconcilement of the two branches of the family had long been a +favourite scheme of King Henri II.</p> + +<p>Both alike were descended from Anselme de Ribaumont, renowned in +the first Crusade, and from the brave Picard who had received the +pearls; but, in the miserable anarchy of Charles VI.'s reign, the +elder brother had been on the Burgundian side--like most of the +other nobles of Picardy--and had thus been brought into the English +camp, where, regarding Henry V. as lawfully appointed to the +succession, and much admiring him and his brother Nedford, he had +become an ardent supporter of the English claim. He had +married an English lady, and had received the grant if the castle +of Leurre in Normandy by way of compensation for his ancestral one +of Ribaumont in Picardy, which had been declared to be forfeited by +his treason, and seized by his brother.</p> + +<p>This brother had always been an Armagnac, and had risen and +thriven with his party,--before the final peace between France and +England obliged the elder line to submit to Charles VII. +Since that time there had been a perpetual contention as to the +restitution of Chateau Ribaumont, a strife which under Louis XI. +had become an endless lawsuit; and in the days of duelling had +occasioned a good many insults and private encounters. The +younger branch, or Black Ribaumonts, had received a grant from +Louis XI. of the lands of Nid-de-Merle, belonging to an unfortunate +Angevin noble, who had fallen under the royal displeasure, and they +had enjoyed court favour up to the present generation, when Henri +II., either from opposition to his father, instinct for honesty, or +both, had become a warm friend to the gay and brilliant young Baron +de Ribaumont, head of the white or elder branch of the family.</p> + +<p>The family contention seemed likely to wear out of its own +accord, for the Count de Ribaumont was an elderly and childless +man, and his brother, the Chevalier de Ribaumont, was, according to +the usual lot of French juniors, a bachelor, so that it was +expected that the whole inheritance would centre upon the elder +family. However, to the general surprise, the Chevalier late +in life married, and became the father of a son and daughter; but +soon after calculations were still more thrown out by the birth of +a little daughter in the old age of the Count.</p> + +<p>Almost from the hour in which her sex was announced, the King +had promised the Baron de Ribaumont that she should be the wife of +his young son, and that all the possessions of the house should be +settled upon the little couple, engaging to provide for the +Chevalier's disappointed heir in some commandery of a religious +order of knighthood.</p> + +<p>The Baron's wife was English. He had, when on a visit to +his English kindred, entirely turned the head of the lovely Annora +Walwyn, and finding that her father, one of the gravest of Tudor +statesmen, would not hear of her breaking her engagement to the +honest Dorset squire Marmaduke Thistlewood, he had carried her off +by a stolen marriage and <i>coup de main</i>, which, as her beauty, +rank, and inheritance were all considerable, had won him great +reputation at the gay court of Henri II.</p> + +<p>Infants as the boy and girl were, the King had hurried on their +marriage to secure its taking place in the lifetime of the +Count. The Countess had died soon after the birth of the +little girl, and if the arrangement were to take effect at all, it +must be before she should fall under the guardianship of her uncle, +the Chevalier. Therefore the King had caused her to be +brought up from the cottage in Anjou, where she had been nursed, +and in person superintended the brilliant wedding. He himself +led off the dance with the tiny bride, conducting her through its +mazes with fatherly kindliness and condescension; but Queen +Catherine, who was strongly in the interests of the Angevin branch, +and had always detested the Baron as her husband's intimate, +excused herself from dancing with the bridegroom. He +therefore fell to the share of the Dauphiness Queen of Scots, a +lovely, bright-eyed, laughing girl, who so completely fascinated +the little fellow, that he convulsed the court by observing that he +should not have objected to be married to some one like her, +instead of a little baby like Eustacie.</p> + +<p>Amid all the mirth, it was not only the Chevalier and the Queen +who bore displeased looks. In truth, both were too great +adepts in court life to let their dissatisfaction appear. The +gloomiest face was that of him whose triumph it was--the +bridegroom's father, the Baron de Ribaumont. He had suffered +severely from the sickness that prevailed in St. Quentin, when in +the last August the Admiral de Coligny had been besieged there by +the Spaniards, and all agreed that he had never been the same man +since, either in health or in demeanour. When he came back +from his captivity and found the King bent on crowning his return +by the marriage of the children, he had hung back, spoken of +scruples about such unconscious vows, and had finally only +consented under stress of the personal friendship of the King, and +on condition that he and his wife should at once have the sole +custody of the little bride. Even then he moved about the gay +scene with so distressed and morose an air that he was evidently +either under the influence of a scruple of conscience or of a +foreboding of evil.</p> + +<p>No one doubted that it had been the latter, when, three days +later, Henri II., in the prime of his strength and height of his +spirits, encountered young Des Lorges in the lists, received the +splinter of a lance in his eye, and died two days afterwards.</p> + +<p>No sooner were his obsequies over than the Baron de Ribaumont +set off with his wife and the little bridal pair for his castle of +Leurre, in Normandy, nor was he ever seen at court again.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER II. THE SEPARATION</h3> + +<p>Parted without the least regret,</p> + +<p>Except that they had ever met.</p> + +<p> * +* * *</p> + +<p>Misses, the tale that I relate,</p> + +<p>This lesson seems to carry:</p> + +<p>Choose not alone a proper mate,</p> + +<p>But proper time to marry!</p> + +<p> + +COWPER, PAIRING TIME ANTICIPATED</p> + +<p>'I will have it!'</p> + +<p>'Thou shalt not have it!'</p> + +<p>'Diane says it is mine.'</p> + +<p>'Diane knows nothing about it.'</p> + +<p>'Gentlemen always yield to ladies.'</p> + +<p>'Wives ought to mind their husbands.'</p> + +<p>'Then I will not be thy wife.'</p> + +<p>'Thou canst not help it.'</p> + +<p>'I will. I will tell my father what M. le Baron reads and +sings, and then I know he will.'</p> + +<p>'And welcome.'</p> + +<p>Eustacie put out her lip, and began to cry.</p> + +<p>The 'husband and wife,' now eight and seven years old, were in a +large room hung with tapestry, representing the history of +Tobit. A great state bed, curtained with piled velvet, stood +on a sort of <i>dais</i> at the further end; there was a +toilet-table adorned with curiously shaped boxes, and coloured +Venetian glasses, and filigree pouncet-boxes, and with a small +mirror whose frame was inlaid with gold and ivory. A large +coffer, likewise inlaid, stood against the wall, and near it a +cabinet, of Dutch workmanship, a combination of ebony, ivory, wood, +and looking-glass, the centre retreating, and so arranged that by +the help of most ingenious attention to perspective and reflection, +it appeared like the entrance to a magnificent miniature +cinque-cento palace, with steps up to a vestibule paved in black +and white lozenges, and with three endless corridors diverging from +it. So much for show; for use, this palace was a bewildering +complication of secret drawers and pigeon-holes, all depending +indeed upon one tiny gold key; but unless the use of that key were +well understood, all it led to was certain outer receptacles of +fragrant Spanish gloves, knots of ribbon, and kerchiefs strewn over +with rose leaves and lavender. However, Eustacie had secured +the key, and was now far beyond these mere superficial +matters. Her youthful lord had just discovered her mounted on +a chair, her small person decked out with a profusion of necklaces, +jewels, bracelets, chains, and rings; and her fingers, as well as +they could under their stiffening load, were opening the very +penetralia of the cabinet, the inner chamber of the hall, where lay +a case adorned with the Ribaumont arms and containing the far-famed +chaplet of pearls. It was almost beyond her reach, but she +had risen on tip-toe, and was stretching out her hand for it, when +he, springing behind her on the chair, availed himself of his +superior height and strength to shut the door of this Arcanum and +turn the key. His mortifying permission to his wife to absent +herself arose from pure love of teasing, but the next moment he +added, still holding his hand on the key--'As to telling what my +father reads, that would be treason. How shouldst thou know +what it is?'</p> + +<p>'Does thou think every one is an infant but thyself?'</p> + +<p>'But who told thee that to talk of my father's books would get +him into trouble?' continued the boy, as they still stood together +on the high heavy wooden chair.</p> + +<p>She tossed her pretty head, and pretended to pout.</p> + +<p>'Was it Diane? I will know. Didst thou tell Diane?'</p> + +<p>Instead of answering, now that his attention to the key was +relaxed, Eustacie made a sudden dart, like a little wild cat, at +the back of the chair and at the key. They chair +over-balanced;</p> + +<p>Beranger caught at the front drawer of the cabinet, which, +unlocked by Eustacie, came out in his hand, and chair, children, +drawer, and curiosities all went rolling over together on the floor +with a hubbub that brought all the household together, exclaiming +and scolding. Madame de Ribaumont's displeasure at the +rifling of her hoards knew no bounds; Eustacie, by way of defence, +shrieked 'like twenty demons;' Beranger, too honourable to accuse +her, underwent the same tempest; and at last both were soundly +rapped over the knuckles with the long handle of Madame's fan, and +consigned to two separate closets, to be dealt with on the return +of M. le Baron, while Madame returned to her embroidery, lamenting +the absence of that dear little Diane, whose late visit at the +chateau had been marked by such unusual tranquillity between the +children.</p> + +<p>Beranger, in his dark closet, comforted himself with the shrewd +suspicion that his father was so employed as not to be expected at +home till supper-time, and that his mother's wrath was by no means +likely to be so enduring as to lead her to make complaints of the +prisoners; and when he heard a trampling of horses in the court, he +anticipated a speedy release and summons to show himself to the +visitors. He waited long, however, before he heard the +pattering of little feet; then a stool scraped along the floor, the +button of his door was undone, the stool pushed back, and as he +emerged, Eustacie stood before him with her finger to her +lip. '<i>Chut</i>, Beranger! It is my father and uncle, and +Narcisse, and, oh! so many <i>gens d'armes</i>. They are come +to summon M. le Baron to go with them to disperse the <i>preche</i> +by the Bac de l'Oie. And oh, Beranger, is he not there?'</p> + +<p>'I do not know. He went out with his hawk, and I do not +think he could have gone anywhere else. Did they say so to my +mother?'</p> + +<p>'Yes; but she never knows. And oh, Beranger, Narcisse told +me--ah, was it to tease me?--that Diane has told them all they +wanted to know, for that they sent her here on purpose to see if we +were not all Huguenots.</p> + +<p>'Very likely, the little viper! Le me pass, Eustacie. I +must go and tell my father.'</p> + +<p>'Thou canst not get out that way; the court is full of +men-at-arms. Hark, there's Narcisse calling me. He will +come after me.'</p> + +<p>There was not a moment to lose. Berenger flew along a +corridor, and down a narrow winding stair, and across the kitchen; +then snatching at the arm of a boy of his own age whom he met at +the door, he gasped out, 'Come and help me catch Follet, Landry!' +and still running across an orchard, he pulled down a couple of +apples from the trees, and bounded into a paddock where a small +rough Breton pony was feeding among the little tawny Norman +cows. The animal knew his little master, and trotted towards +him at his call of 'Follet, Follet. Now be a wise Follet, and +play me no tricks. Thou and I, Follet, shall do good service, +if thou wilt be steady.'</p> + +<p>Follet made his advances, but with a coquettish eye and look, as +if ready to start away at any moment.</p> + +<p>'Soh, Follet. I have no bread for thee, only two apples; +but, Follet, listen. There's my <i>beau-pere</i> the Count, +and the Chevalier, all spite, and their whole troop of savage <i> +gens d'armes,</i> come out to fall upon the poor Huguenots, who are +doing no harm at all, only listening to a long dull sermon. +And I am much afraid my father is there, for he went out his hawk +on his wrist, and he never does take Ysonde for any real sport, as +thou and I would do, Follet. He says it is all vanity of +vanities. But thou know'st, if they caught him at the <i> +preche</i> they would call it heresy and treason, and all sorts of +horrors, and any way they would fall like demons on the poor +Huguenots, Jacques and all -- thine own Jacques, Follet. +Come, be a loyal pony, Follet. Be at least as good as +Eustacie.'</p> + +<p>Follet was evidently attentive to this peroration, turning round +his ear in a sensible attitude, and advancing his nose to the +apples. As Beranger held them out to him, the other boy +clutched his shaggy forelock so effectually that the start back did +not shake him off, and the next moment Beranger was on his +back.</p> + +<p>'And I, Monsieur, what shall I do?'</p> + +<p>'Thou, Landry? I know. Speed like a hare, lock the +avenue gate, and hide the key. That will delay them a long +time. Off now, Follet.'</p> + +<p>Beranger and Follet understood one another far too well to care +about such trifles as saddle and bridle, and off they went through +green grassy balks dividing the fields, or across the stubble, +till, about three miles from the castle, they came to a narrow +valley, dipping so suddenly between the hills that it could hardly +have been suspected by one unaware of its locality, and the sides +were dotted with copsewood, which entirely hid the bottom. +Beranger guided his pony to a winding path that led down the steep +side of the valley, already hearing the cadence of a loud, chanting +voice, throwing out its sounds over the assembly, whence arose +assenting hums over an undercurrent of sobs, as though the +excitable French assembly were strongly affected.</p> + +<p>The thicket was so close that Beranger was almost among the +congregation before he could see more than a passing glimpse of a +sea of heads. Stout, ruddy, Norman peasants, and high +white-capped women, mingled with a few soberly-clad townsfolk, +almost all with the grave, steadfast cast of countenance imparted +by unresisted persecution, stood gathered round the green mound +that served as a natural pulpit for a Calvinist minister, who more +the dress of a burgher, but entirely black. To Beranger's +despair, he was in the act of inviting his hearers to join with him +in singing one of Marot's psalms; and the boy, eager to lose not a +moment, grasped the skirt of the outermost of the crowd. The +man, an absorbed-looking stranger, merely said, 'Importune me not, +child.'</p> + +<p>'Listen!' said Beranger; 'it imports---'</p> + +<p>'Peace,' was the stern answer; but a Norman farmer looked round +at that moment, and Beranger exclaimed, 'Stop the singing! +The <i>gens d'armes</i>!' The psalm broke off; the whisper +circulated; the words 'from Leurre' were next conveyed from lip to +lip, and, as it were in a moment, the dense human mass had broken +up and vanished, stealing through the numerous paths in the +brushwood, or along the brook, as it descended through tall sedges +and bulrushes. The valley was soon as lonely as it had been +populous; the pulpit remained a mere mossy bank, more suggestive or +fairy dances than of Calvinist sermons, and no one remained on the +scene save Beranger with his pony, Jacques the groom, a stout +farmer, the preacher, and a tall thin figure in the plainest dark +cloth dress that could be worn by a gentleman, a hawk on his +wrist.</p> + +<p>'Thou here, my boy!' he exclaimed, as Beranger came to his side; +and as the little fellow replied in a few brief words, he took him +by the hand, and said to the minister, 'Good Master Isaac, let me +present my young son to you, who under Heaven hath been the means +of saving many lives this day.'</p> + +<p>Maitre Isaac Gardon, a noted preacher, looked kindly at the +boy's fair face, and said, 'Bless thee, young sir. As thou +hast been already a chosen instrument to save life, so mayest thou +be ever after a champion of the truth.'</p> + +<p>'Monsieur le Baron,' interposed Jacques, 'it were best to look +to yourself. I already hear sounds upon the wind.'</p> + +<p>'And you, good sir?' said the Baron.</p> + +<p>'I will see to him,' said the farmer, grasping him as a sort of +property. 'M. le Baron had best keep up the beck. Out +on the moor there he may fly the hawk, and that will best divert +suspicion.'</p> + +<p>'Farewell, then,' said the Baron, wringing the minister's hand, +and adding, almost to himself, 'Alas! I am weary of these shifts!' +and weary indeed he seemed, for as the ground became so steep that +the beck danced noisily down its channel, he could not keep up the +needful speed, but paused, gasping for breath, with his hand on his +side. 'Beranger was off his pony in an instant, assuring +Follet that it ought to be proud to be ridden by his father, and +exhaling his own exultant feelings in caresses to the animal as it +gallantly breasted the hill. The little boy had never been so +commended before! He loved his father exceedingly; but the +Baron, while ever just towards him, was grave and strict to a +degree that the ideas even of the sixteenth century regarded as +severe. Little Eustacie with her lovely face, her +irrepressible saucy grace and audacious coaxing, was the only +creature to whom he ever showed much indulgence and tenderness, and +even that seemed almost against his will and conscience. His +son was always under rule, often blamed, and scarcely ever praised; +but it was a hardy vigorous nature, and respectful love throve +under the system that would have crushed or alienated a different +disposition. It was not till the party had emerged from the +wood upon a stubble field, where a covey of partridges flew up, and +to Beranger's rapturous delight furnished a victim for Ysonde, that +M. de Ribaumont dismounted from the pony, and walking towards home, +called his son to his side, and asked him how he had learnt the +intentions of the Count and the Chevalier. Beranger explained +how Eustacie had come to warn him, and also told what she had said +of Diane de Ribaumont, who had lately, by her father's request, +spent a few weeks at the chateau with her cousins.</p> + +<p>'My son,' said the Baron, 'it is hard to ask of babes caution +and secrecy; but I must know from thee what thy cousin may have +heard of our doings?'</p> + +<p>'I cannot tell, father,' replied Beranger; 'we played more than +we talked. Yet, Monsieur, you will not be angry with Eustacie +if I tell you what she said to me to-day?'</p> + +<p>'Assuredly not, my son.'</p> + +<p>'She said that her father would take her away if he knew what M. +le Baron read, and what he sung.'</p> + +<p>'Thou hast done well to tell me, my son. Thinkest thou +that this comes from Diane, or from one of the servants?'</p> + +<p>'Oh, from Diane, my father; none of the servants would dare to +say such a thing.'</p> + +<p>'It is as I suspected then,' said the Baron. 'That child was +sent amongst us as a spy.' Tell me, Beranger, had she any +knowledge of our intended journey to England?'</p> + +<p>'To England! But no, father, I did not even know it was +intended. To England--to that Walwyn which my mother takes +such pains to make us speak rightly. Are we then, going?'</p> + +<p>'Listen, my son. Thou hast to-day proved thyself worthy of +trust, and thou shalt hear. My son, ere yet I knew the truth +I was a reckless disobedient youth, and I bore thy mother from her +parents in England without their consent. Since, by Heaven's +grace, I have come to a better mind, we have asked and obtained +their forgiveness, and it has long been their desire to see again +their daughter and her son. Moreover, since the accession of +the present Queen, it has been a land where the light is free to +shine forth; and though I verily believe what Maitre Gardon says, +that persecution is a blessed means of grace, yet it is grievous to +expose one's dearest thereto when they are in no state to count the +cost. Therefore would I thither convey you all, and there amid thy +mother's family would we openly abjure the errors in which we have +been nurture. I have already sent to Paris to obtain from the +Queen-mother the necessary permission to take my family to visit +thy grand-father, and it must now be our endeavour to start +immediately on the receipt of the reply, before the Chevalier's +information can lead to any hindrance or detention of +Eustacie.'</p> + +<p>'Then Eustacie will go with us, Monsieur?'</p> + +<p>'Certainly. Nothing is more important than that her faith +should be the same as yours! But discretion, my son: not a +word to the little one.'</p> + +<p>'And Landry, father? I had rather Landry went than +Eustacie. And Follet, dear father, pray take him.'</p> + +<p>After M. de Ribaumont's grave confidence to his son and heir, he +was a little scandalized at the comparative value that the boy's +voice indicated for wife, foster-brother, and pony, and therefore +received it in perfect silence, which silence continued until they +reached the chateau, where the lady met them at the door with a +burst of exclamations.</p> + +<p>'Ah, there you are, safe, my dear Baron. I have been in +despair. Here were the Count and his brother come to call on +you to join them in dispersing a meeting of those poor Huguenots +and they would not permit me to send out to call you in! I +verily think they suspected that you were aware of it.'</p> + +<p>M. de Ribaumont made no answer, but sat wearily down and asked +for his little Eustacie.</p> + +<p>'Little vixen!' exclaimed the Baroness, 'she is gone; her father +took her away with him.' And as her husband looked extremely +displeased, she added that Eustacie had been meddling with her +jewel cabinet and had been put in penitence. Her first impulse on +seeing her father had been to cling to him and poor out her +complaints, whereupon he had declared that he should take her away +with him at once, and had in effect caused her pony to be saddled, +and he had ridden away with her to his old tower, leaving his +brother, the Chevalier, to conduct the attack on the Huguenot +conventicle.</p> + +<p>'He had no power or right to remove her,' said the Baron. +'How could you let him do so in my absence? He had made over +her wardship to me, and has no right to resume it!'</p> + +<p>'Well, perhaps I might have insisted on his waiting till your +return; but, you see, the children have never done anything but +quarrel and fight, and always by Eustacie's fault; and if ever they +are to endure each other, it must be by being separated now.'</p> + +<p>'Madame,' said the Baron, gravely, 'you have done your utmost to +ruin your son's chances of happiness.'</p> + +<p>That same evening arrived the King's passport permitting the +Baron de Ribaumont and his family to pay a visit to his wife's +friends in England. The next morning the Baron was summoned to +speak to one of his farmers, a Huguenot, who had come to inform him +that, through the network of intelligence kept up by the members of +the persecuted faith, it had become known that the Chevalier de +Ribaumont had set off for court that night, and there was little +doubt that his interference would lead to an immediate revocation +of the sanction to the journey, if to no severer measures. At +best, the Baron knew that if his own absence were permitted, it +would be only on condition of leaving his son in the custody of +either the Queen-mother or the Count. It had become +impossible to reclaim Eustacie. Her father would at once have +pleaded that she was being bred up in Huguenot errors. All +that could be done was to hasten the departure ere the royal +mandate could arrive. A little Norman sailing vessel was +moored two evenings after in a lonely creek on the coast, and into +it stepped M. de Ribaumont, with his Bible, Marot's Psalter, and +Calvin's works, Beranger still tenderly kissing a lock of Follet's +mane, and Madame mourning for the pearls, which her husband deemed +too sacred an heirloom to carry away to a foreign land. Poor +little Eustacie, with her cousin Diane, was in the convent of +Bellaise in Anjou. If any one lamented her absence, it was +her father-in-law.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER III. THE FAMILY COUNCIL</h3> + +<p>He counsels a divorce</p> + +<p> Shakespeare, KING HENRY VIII.</p> + +<p>In the spring of the year 1572, a family council was assembled +in Hurst Walwyn Hall. The scene was a wainscoted oriel +chamber closed off by a screen from the great hall, and fitted on +two sides by presses of books, surmounted the one by a terrestrial, +the other by a celestial globe, the first 'with the addition of the +Indies' in very eccentric geography, the second with enormous stars +studding highly grotesque figures, regarded with great awe by most +beholders.</p> + +<p>A solid oaken table stood in the midst, laden with books and +papers, and in a corner, near the open hearth, a carved desk, +bearing on one slope the largest copy of the 'Bishops' Bible'; on +the other, one of the Prayer-book. The ornaments of the oaken +mantelpiece culminated in a shield bearing a cross <i> +boutonnee</i>, i.e. with trefoil terminations. It was +supported between a merman with a whelk shell and a mermaid with a +comb, and another like Siren curled her tail on the top of the +gaping baronial helmet above the shield, while two more upheld the +main weight of the chimney-piece on either side of the glowing +wood-fire.</p> + +<p>In the seat of honour was an old gentleman, white-haired, and +feeble of limb, but with noble features and a keen, acute +eye. This was Sir William, Baron of Hurst Walwyn, a valiant +knight at Guingate and Boulogne, a statesman of whom Wolsey had +been jealous, and a ripe scholar who had shared the friendship of +More and Erasmus. The lady who sat opposite to him was +several years younger, still upright, brisk and active, though her +hair was milk-white; but her eyes were of undimmed azure, and her +complexion still retained a beauteous pink and white. She was +highly educated, and had been the friend of Margaret Roper and her +sisters, often sharing their walks in the bright Chelsea +garden. Indeed, the musk-rose in her own favourite nook at +Hurst Walwyn was cherished as the gift of Sir Thomas himself.</p> + +<p>Near her sat sister, Cecily St. John, a professed nun at Romsey +till her twenty-eight year, when, in the dispersion of convents, +her sister's home had received her. There had she continued, +never exposed to tests of opinion, but pursuing her quiet course +according to her Benedictine rule, faithfully keeping her vows, and +following the guidance of the chaplain, a college friend of Bishop +Ridley, and rejoicing in the use of the vernacular prayers and +Scriptures. When Queen Mary had sent for her to consider of +the revival of convents, her views had been found to have so far +diverged from those of the Queen that Lord Walwyn was thankful to +have her safe at home again; and yet she fancied herself firm to +old Romsey doctrine. She was not learned, like Lady Walwyn, +but her knowledge in all needlework and confectionery was +consummate, so that half the ladies in Dorset and Wilts longed to +send their daughters to be educated at Hurst Walwyn. Her +small figure and soft cheeks had the gentle contour of a dove's +form, nor had she lost the conventual serenity of expression; +indeed it was curious that, let Lady Walwyn array her as she would, +whatever she wore bore a nunlike air. Her silken farthingales +hung like serge robes, her ruffs looked like mufflers, her coifs +like hoods, even necklaces seemed rosaries, and her scrupulous +neatness enhanced the pure unearthly air of all belonging to +her.</p> + +<p>Eager and lively, fair and handsome, sat the Baronne de +Ribaumont, or rather, since the higher title had been laid aside, +Dame Annora Thistlewood. The health of M. de Ribaumont had +been shattered at St. Quentin, and an inclement night of crossing +the Channel had brought on an attack on the lungs, from which he +only rallied enough to amaze his English friends at finding the gay +dissipated young Frenchman they remembered, infinitely more strict +and rigid than themselves. He was never able to leave the +house again after his first arrival at Hurst Walwyn, and sank under +the cold winds of the next spring, rejoicing to leave his wife and +son, not indeed among such strict Puritans as he preferred, but at +least where the pure faith could be openly avowed without +danger.</p> + +<p>Sir Marmaduke Thistlewood, the husband to whom Annora Walwyn had +been destined before M. de Ribaumont had crossed her path, was +about the same time left a widower with one son and daughter, and +as soon as a suitable interval had passed, she became a far happier +wife than she had been in either the Baron's gay or grave +days. Her son had continued under the roof of his +grandfather, to whose charge his father had specially committed +him, and thus had been scarcely separated from his mother, since +Combe Manor was not above three miles across the downs from Hurst +Walwyn, and there was almost daily intercourse between the +families. Lucy Thistlewood had been brought to Hurst Walwyn +to be something between a maid of honour and a pupil to the ladies +there, and her brother Philip, so soon as he was old enough, daily +rode thither to share with Berenger the instructions of the +chaplain, Mr. Adderley, who on the present occasion formed one of +the conclave, sitting a little apart as not quite familiar, though +highly esteemed.</p> + +<p>With an elbow on the table, and one hand toying with his long +riding-whip, sat, booted and spurred, the jovial figure of Sir +Marmaduke, who called out, in his hearty voice, 'A good riddance of +an outlandish Papist, say I! Read the letter, Berenger +lad. No, no, no! English it! I know nothing of +your mincing French! 'Tis the worst fault I know in you, boy, +to be half a Frenchman, and have a French name'--a fault that good +Sir Marmaduke did his best to remedy by always terming his step-son +Berenger or Berry Ribmount, and we will so far follow his example +as henceforth to give the youth the English form of his Christian +name. He was by this time a tall lad of eighteen, with +straight features, honest deep blue eyes, very fair hair cut short +and brushed up to a crest upon the middle of his head, a complexion +of red and white that all the air of the downs and the sea failed +to embrown, and that peculiar openness and candour of expression +which seems so much an English birthright, that the only trace of +his French origin was, that he betrayed no unbecoming awkwardness +in the somewhat embarrassing position in which he was placed, +literally standing, according to the respectful discipline of the +time, as the subject of discussion, before the circle of his +elders. His colour was indeed, deepened, but his attitude was +easy and graceful, and he used no stiff rigidity nor restless +movements to mask his anxiety. At Sir Marmaduke's desire, he +could not but redden a good deal more, but with a clear, +unhesitating voice, he translated, the letter that he had received +from the Chevalier de Ribaumont, who, by the Count's death, had +become Eustacie's guardian. It was a request in the name of +Eustacie and her deceased father, that Monsieur le Baron de +Ribaumont--who, it was understood, had embraced the English +heresy--would concur with his spouse in demanding from his Holiness +the Pope a decree annulling the childish marriage, which could +easily be declared void, both on account of the consanguinity of +the parties and the discrepancy of their faith; and which would +leave each of them free to marry again.</p> + +<p>'Nothing can be better,' exclaimed his mother. 'How I have +longed to free him from that little shrew, whose tricks were the +plague of my life! Now there is nothing between him and a +worthy match!'</p> + +<p>'We can make an Englishman of him now to the backbone,' added +Sir Marmaduke, 'and it is well that it should be the lady herself +who wants first to be off with it, so that none can say he has +played her a scurvy trick.'</p> + +<p>'What say you, Berenger?' said Lord Walwyn. 'Listen +to me, fair nephew. You know that all my remnant of hope is +fixed upon you, and that I have looked to setting you in the room +of the son of my own; and I think that under our good Queen you +will find it easier to lead a quiet God-fearing life than in your +father's vexed country, where the Reformed religion lies under +persecution. Natheless, being a born liegeman of the King of +France, and heir to estates in his kingdom, meseemeth that before +you are come to years of discretion it were well that you should +visit them, and become better able to judge for yourself how to +deal in this matter when you shall have attained full age, and may +be able to dispose of them by sale, thus freeing yourself from +allegiance to a foreign prince. And at the same time you can +take measures, in concert with this young lady, for loosing the +wedlock so unhappily contracted.'</p> + +<p>'O sir, sir!' cried Lady Thistlewood, 'send him not to France to +be burnt by the Papists!'</p> + +<p>'Peace, daughter,' returned her mother. 'Know you not that +there is friendship between the court party and the Huguenots, and +that the peace is to be sealed by the marriage of the King's sister +with the King of Navarre? This is the most suitable time at +which he could go.'</p> + +<p>'Then, madam,' proceeded the lady, 'he will be running about to +all the preachings on every bleak moor and wet morass he can find, +catching his death with rheums, like his poor father.'</p> + +<p>There was a general smile, and Sir Marmaduke laughed +outright.</p> + +<p>'Nay, dame,' he said, 'have you marked such a greed of sermons +in our Berry that you should fear his so untowardly running after +them?'</p> + +<p>'Tilly-vally, Sir Duke,' quoth Dame Annora, with a flirt of her +fan, learnt at the French court. 'Men will run after a +preacher in a marshy bog out of pure forwardness, when they will +nod at a godly homily on a well-stuffed bench between four +walls.'</p> + +<p>'I shall commit that matter to Mr. Adderley, who is good enough +to accompany him,' said Lord Walwyn, 'and by whose counsel I trust +that he will steer the middle course between the pope and +Calvin.'</p> + +<p>Mr. Adderley bowed in answer, saying he hoped that he should be +enable to keep his pupil's mind clear between the allurements of +Popery and the errors of the Reformed; but meanwhile Lady +Thistlewood's mind had taken a leap, and she exclaimed,--</p> + +<p>'And , son, whatever you do, bring home the chaplet of pearls! I +know they have set their minds upon it. They wanted me to +deck Eustacie with it on that unlucky bridal-day, but I would not +hear of trusting her with it, and now will it rarely become our +Lucy on your real wedding-day.'</p> + +<p>'You travel swiftly, daughter,' said Lord Walwyn. 'Nor +have we yet heard the thoughts of one who ever thinks wisely. +Sister,' he added, turning to Cecily St. John, 'hold not you with +us in this matter?'</p> + +<p>'I scarce comprehend it, my Lord,' was the gentle reply. +'I knew not that it was possible to dissolve the tie of +wedlock.'</p> + +<p>'The Pope's decree will suffice,' said Lord Walwyn.</p> + +<p>'Yet, sir,' still said the ex-nun, 'methought you had shown me +that the Holly Father exceeded his power in the annulling of +vows.'</p> + +<p>'Using mine own lessons against me, sweet sister?' said Lord +Walwyn, smiling; 'yet, remember, the contract was rashly made +between two ignorant babes; and, bred up as they have severally +been, it were surely best for them to be set free from vows made +without their true will or knowledge.'</p> + +<p>'And yet,' said Cecily, perplexed, 'when I saw my niece here +wedded to Sir Marmaduke, was it not with the words, "What God hath +joined let no man put asunder"?'</p> + +<p>'Good lack! aunt,' cried Lady Thistlewood, 'you would not have +that poor lad wedded to a pert, saucy, ill-tempered little moppet, +bred up that den of iniquity, Queen Catherine's court, where my +poor Baron never trusted me after he fell in with the religion, and +had heard of King Antony's calling me the Swan of England.'</p> + +<p>At that moment there was a loud shriek, half-laugh, half-fright, +coming through the window, and Lady Thistlewood, starting up, +exclaimed, 'The child will be drowned! Box their ears, +Berenger, and bring them in directly.'</p> + +<p>Berenger, at her bidding, hurried out of the room into the hall, +and thence down a flight of steps leading into a square walled +garden, with a couple of stone male and female marine divinities +accommodating their fishy extremities as best they might on the +corners of the wall. The square contained a bowling-green of +exquisitely-kept turf, that looked as if cut out of green velvet, +and was edged on its four sides by a raised broad-paved walk, with +a trimming of flower-beds, where the earliest blossoms were showing +themselves. In the centre of each side another paved path +intersected the green lawn, and the meeting of these two diameters +was at a circular stone basin, presided over by another merman, +blowing a conch on the top of a pile of rocks. On the +gravelled margin stood two distressed little damsels of seven and +six years old, remonstrating with all their might against the +proceedings of a roguish-looking boy of fourteen of fifteen, who +had perched their junior--a fat, fair, kitten-like element of +mischief, aged about five--<i>en croupe</i> on the merman, and was +about, according to her delighted request, to make her a bower of +water, by extracting the plug and setting the fountain to play; but +as the fountain had been still all the winter, the plug was hard of +extraction, especially to a young gentleman who stood insecurely, +with his feet wide apart upon pointed and slippery point of +rock-work; and Berenger had time to hurry up, exclaiming, 'Giddy +pate! Dolly would Berenger drenched to the skin.'</p> + +<p>'And she has on her best blue, made out of mother's French +farthingale,' cried the discreet Annora.</p> + +<p>'Do you know, Dolly, I've orders to box your ears, and send you +in?' added Berenger, as he lifted his half-sister from her perilous +position, speaking, as he did so, without a shade of foreign +accent, though with much more rapid utterance than was usual in +England. She clung to him without much alarm, and retaliated +by an endeavour to box his ears, while Philip, slowly making his +way back to the mainland, exclaimed, 'Ah there's no chance +now! Here comes demure Mistress Lucy, and she is the worst +mar-sport of all.'</p> + +<p>A gentle girl of seventeen was drawing near, her fair +delicately-tinted complexion suiting well with her pale golden +hair. It was a sweet face, and was well set off by the +sky-blue of the farthingale, which, with her white lace coif and +white ruff, gave her something the air of a speedwell flower, more +especially as her expression seemed to have caught much of Cecily's +air of self-restrained contentment. She held a basketful of +the orange pistils of crocuses, and at once seeing that some riot +had taken place, she said to the eldest little girl, 'Ah, Nan, you +had been safer gathering saffron with me.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, brother Berry came and made all well,' said Annora; 'and +he had been shut up so long in the library that he must have been +very glad to get out.'</p> + +<p>'And what came of it?' cried Philip. 'Are you to go and +get yourself unmarried?'</p> + +<p>'Unmarried!' burst out the sisters Annora and Elizabeth.</p> + +<p>'What, laughed Philip, 'you knew not that this is an ancient +husband, married years before your father and mother?'</p> + +<p>'But, why? said Elizabeth, rather inclined to cry. +'What has poor Lucy done that you should get yourself unmarried +from her?'</p> + +<p>There was a laugh from both brothers; but Berenger, seeing +Lucy's blushes, restrained himself, and said. 'Mine was not such +good luck, Bess, but they gave me a little French wife, younger +than Dolly, and saucier still; and as she seems to wish to be quit +of me, why, I shall be rid of her.'</p> + +<p>'See there, Dolly,' said Philip, in a warning voice, 'that is +the way you'll be served if you do not mend your ways.'</p> + +<p>'But I thought,' said Annora gravely, 'that people were married +once for all, and it could not be undone.'</p> + +<p>'So said Aunt Cecily, but my Lord was proving to her out of all +law that a contract between such a couple of babes went for +nought,' said Berenger.</p> + +<p>'And shall you, indeed, see Paris, and all the braveries there?' +asked Philip. 'I thought my Lord would never have trusted you +out of his sight.'</p> + +<p>'And now it is to be only with Mr. Adderley,' said Berenger; +'but there will be rare doings to be seen at this royal wedding, +and maybe I shall break a lance there in your honour, Lucy.'</p> + +<p>'And you'll bring me a French fan?' cried Bess.</p> + +<p>'And me a pouncet-box?' added Annora.</p> + +<p>'And me a French puppet dressed Paris fashion?' said Dolly.</p> + +<p>'And what shall he bring Lucy?' added Bess.</p> + +<p>'I know,' said Annora; 'the pearls that mother is always talking +about! I heard her say that Lucy should wear them on her +wedding-day.'</p> + +<p>'Hush!' interposed Lucy, 'don't you see my father yonder on the +step, beckoning to you?'</p> + +<p>The children flew towards Sir Marmaduke, leaving Berenger and +Lucy together.</p> + +<p>'Not a word to wish me good speed, Lucy, now I have my wish?' +said Berenger.</p> + +<p>'Oh, yes,' said Lucy, 'I am glad you should see all those brave +French gentlemen of whom you used to tell me.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, they will be all at court, and the good Admiral is said to +be in high favour. He will surely remember my father.'</p> + +<p>'And shall you see the lady?' asked Lucy, under her breath.</p> + +<p>'Eustacie? Probably; but that will make no change. I +have heard too much of <i>l'escadron de la Reine-mere</i> to endure +the thought of a wife from thence, were she the Queen of Beauty +herself. And my mother says that Eustacie would lose all her +beauty as she grew up--like black-eyed Sue on the down; nor did I +ever think her brown skin and fierce black eyes to compare with +you, Lucy. I could be well content never to see her more; +but,' and here he lowered his voice to a tone of confidence, 'my +father, when near his death, called me, and told me that he feared +my marriage would be a cause of trouble and temptation to me, and +that I must deal with it after my conscience when I was able to +judge in the matter. Something, too, he said of the treaty of +marriage being a burthen on his soul, but I know not what he +meant. If ever I saw Eustacie again, I was to give her his +own copy of Clement Marot's Psalter, and to tell her that he had +ever loved and prayed for her as a daughter; and moreover, my +father added,' said Berenger, much moved at the remembrance it +brought across him, 'that if this matter proved a burthen and +perplexity to me, I was to pardon him as one who repented of it as +a thing done ere he had learnt to weigh the whole world against a +soul.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, you must see her,' said Lucy.</p> + +<p>'Well, what more were you going to say, Lucy?'</p> + +<p>'I was only thinking,' said Lucy, as she raised her eyes to him, +'how sorry she will be that she let them write that letter.'</p> + +<p>Berenger laughed, pleased with the simplicity of Lucy's +admiration, but with modesty and common sense enough to answer, 'No +fear of that, Lucy, for an heiress, with all the court gallants of +France at her feet.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, but you!'</p> + +<p>'I am all very well here, when you have never seen anybody but +lubberly Dorset squires that never went to London, nor Oxford, nor +beyond their own furrows,' said Berenger; 'but depend upon it, she +has been bred up to care for all the airs and graces that are all +the fashion at Paris now, and will be as glad to be rid of an +honest man and a Protestant as I shall to be quit of a court puppet +and a Papist. Shall you have finished my point-cuffs next +week, Lucy? Depend upon it, no gentleman of them all will +wear such dainty lace of such a fancy as those will be.'</p> + +<p>And Lucy smiled, well pleased.</p> + +<p>Coming from the companionship of Eustacie to that of gentle Lucy +had been to Berenger a change from perpetual warfare to perfect +supremacy, and his preference to his little sister, as he had been +taught to call her from the first, had been loudly expressed. +Brother and sister they had ever since considered themselves, and +only within the last few months had possibilities been discussed +among the elders of the family, which oozing out in some mysterious +manner, had become felt rather than known among the young people, +yet without altering the habitual terms that existed between +them. Both were so young that love was the merest, vaguest +dream to them; and Lucy, in her quiet faith that Berenger was the +most beautiful, excellent, and accomplished cavalier the earth +could afford, was little troubled about her own future share in +him. She seemed to be promoted to belong to him just as she +had grown up to curl her hair and wear ruffs and +farthingales. And to Berenger Lucy was a very pleasant +feature in that English home, where he had been far happier than in +the uncertainties of Chateau Leurre, between his naughty +playfellow, his capricious mother, and morose father. If in +England his lot was to be cast, Lucy was acquiesced in willingly as +a portion of that lot.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER IV. TITHONUS</h3> + +<p>A youth came riding towards a palace gate,</p> + +<p>And from the palace came a child of sin</p> + +<p>And took him by the curls and led him in! </p> + +<p>Where sat a company with heated eyes.</p> + +<p>Tennyson, A VISION OF SIN</p> + +<p>It was in the month of June that Berenger de Ribaumont first +came in sight of Paris. His grandfather had himself begun by +taking him to London and presenting him to Queen Elizabeth, from +whom the lad's good mien procured him a most favourable +reception. She willingly promised that on which Lord Walwyn's +heart was set, namely, that his title and rank should be continued +to his grandson; and an ample store of letter of recommendation to +Sir Francis Walsingham, the Ambassador, and all others who could be +of service in the French court, were to do their utmost to provide +him with a favourable reception there.</p> + +<p>Then, with Mr. Adderley and four or five servants, he had +crossed the Channel, and had gone first to Chateau Leurre, where he +was rapturously welcomed by the old steward Osbert. The old +man had trained up his son Landry, Berenger's foster-brother, to +become his valet, and had him taught all the arts of hair-dressing +and surgery that were part of the profession of a gentleman's +body-servant; and the youth, a smart, acuter young Norman, became a +valuable addition to the suite, the guidance of which, through a +foreign country, their young master did not find very easy. +Mr. Adderley thought he knew French very well, through books, but +the language he spoke was not available, and he soon fell into a +state of bewilderment rather hard on his pupil, who, though a very +good boy, and crammed very full of learning, was still nothing more +than a lad of eighteen in all matters of prudence and +discretion.</p> + +<p>Lord Walwyn was, as we have seen, one of those whose Church +principles had altered very little and very gradually; and in the +utter diversity of practice that prevailed in the early years of +Queen Elizabeth, his chaplain as well as the rector of the parish +had altered no more than was absolutely enjoined of the old +ceremonial. If the poor Baron de Ribaumont had ever been well +enough to go to church on a Sunday, he would perhaps have thought +himself still in the realms of what he considered as darkness; but +as he had never openly broken with the Gallic Church, Berenger had +gone at once from mass at Leurre to the Combe Walwyn service. +Therefore when he spent a Sunday at Rouen, and attended a Calvinist +service in the building that the Huguenots were permitted outside +the town, he was much disappointed in it; he thought its very +fervour familiar and irreverent, and felt himself much more at home +in the cathedral into which he strayed in the afternoon. And, +on the Sunday he was at Leurre, he went, as a part of his old +home-habits, to mass at the old round-arched church, where he and +Eustacie had played each other so many teasing tricks at his +mother's feet, and had received so many admonitory nips and strokes +of her fan. All he saw there was not congenial to him, but he +liked it vastly better than the Huguenot meeting, and was not +prepared to understand or enter into Mr. Adderley's vexation, when +the tutor assured him that the reverent gestures that came +naturally to him were regarded by the Protestants as idolatry, and +that he would be viewed as a recreants from his faith. All +Mr. Adderley hoped was that no one would hear of it: and in +this he felt himself disappointed, when, in the midst of his +lecture, there walked into the room a little, withered, brown, +dark-eyed man, in a gorgeous dress of green and gold, who doffing a +hat with an umbrageous plume, precipitated himself, as far as he +could reach, towards Berenger's neck, calling him fair cousin and +dear baron. The lad stood taken by surprise for a moment, +thinking that Tithonus must have looked just like this, and skipped +like this, just as he became a grasshopper; then he recollected +that this must be the Chevalier de Ribaumont, and tried to make up +for his want of cordiality. The old man had, it appeared, +come out of Picardy, where he lived on <i>soupe maigre</i> in a +corner of the ancestral castle, while his son and daughter were at +court, the one in Monsieur's suite, the other in that of the +Queen-mother. He had come purely to meet his dear young +cousin, and render him all the assistance is his power, conduct him +to Paris, and give him introductions.</p> + +<p>Berenger, who had begun to find six Englishmen a troublesome +charge in France, was rather relieved at not being the only French +scholar of the party, and the Chevalier also hinted to him that he +spoke with a dreadful Norman accent that would never be tolerated +at court, even if it were understood by the way. Moreover, +the Chevalier studied him all over, and talked of Paris tailors and +posture-masters, and, though the pink of politeness, made it +evident that there was immensely too much of him. 'It might +be the custom in England to be so tall; here no one was of anything +like such a height, but the Duke of Guise. He, in his +position, with his air, could carry it off, but we must adapt +ourselves as best we can.'</p> + +<p>And his shrug and look of concern made Berenger for a moment +almost ashamed of that superfluous height of which they were all so +proud at home. Then he recollected himself, and asked, 'And +why should not I be tall as well as M. de Guise?'</p> + +<p>'We shall see, fair cousin,' he answered, with an odd satirical +bow; 'we are as Heaven made us. All lies in the management +and if you had the advantages of training, PERHAPS you could even +turn your height into a grace.'</p> + +<p>'Am I such a great lubber?' wondered Berenger; 'they did not +think so at home. No; nor did the Queen. She said I was +a proper stripling! Well, it matters the less, as I shall not +stay long to need their favour; and I'll show them there is some +use in my inches in the tilt-yard. But if they think me such +a lout, what would they say to honest Philip?'</p> + +<p>The Chevalier seemed willing to take on him the whole management +of his 'fair cousin.' He inquired into the amount of the +rents and dues which old Osbert had collected and held ready to +meet the young Baron's exigencies; and which would, it seemed, be +all needed to make his dress any way presentable at court. +The pearls, too, were inquired for, and handed over by Osbert to +his young Lord's keeping, with the significant intimation that they +had been demanded when the young Madame la Baronne went to court; +but that he had buried them in the orchard, and made answer that +they were not in the chateau. The contract of marriage, which +Berenger could just remember signing, and seeing signed by his +father, the King, and the Count, was not forthcoming; and the +Chevalier explained that it was in the hands of a notary at +Paris. For this Berenger was not sorry. His grandfather +had desired him to master the contents, and he thought he had thus +escaped a very dry and useless study.</p> + +<p>He did not exactly dislike the old Chevalier de Ribaumont. +The system on which he had been brought up had not been indulgent, +so that compliments and admiration were an agreeable surprise to +him; and rebuffs and rebukes from his elders had been so common, +that hints, in the delicate dressing of the old knight, came on him +almost like gracious civilities. There was no love lost +between the Chevalier and the chaplain, that was plain; but how +could there be between an ancient French courtier and a sober +English divine? However, to Mr. Adderley's great relief, no +attempts were made on Berenger's faith, his kinsman even was +disposed to promote his attendance at such Calvinist places of +worship as they passed on the road, and treated him in all things +as a mere guest, to be patronized indeed, but as much an alien as +if he had been born in England. And yet there was a certain +deference to him as head of the family, and a friendliness of +manner that made the boy feel him a real relation, and all through +the journey it came naturally that he should be the entire manager, +and Berenger the paymaster on a liberal scale.</p> + +<p>Thus had the travellers reached the neighbourhood of Paris, when +a jingling of chains and a trampling of horses announced the +advance of riders, and several gentlemen with a troop of servants +came in sight.</p> + +<p>All were gaily dressed, with feathered hats, and short Spanish +cloaks jauntily disposed over one shoulder; and their horses were +trapped with bright silvered ornaments. As they advanced, the +Chevalier exclaimed: 'Ah! It is my son! I knew he would come +to meet me.' And, simultaneously, father and son leapt from +their horses, and rushed into each other's arms. Berenger +felt it only courteous to dismount and exchange embraces with his +cousin, but with a certain sense of repulsion at the cloud of +perfume that seemed to surround the younger Chevalier de Ribaumont; +the ear-rings in his ears; the general air of delicate research +about his riding-dress, and the elaborate attention paid to a +small, dark, sallow face and figure, in which the only tolerable +feature was an intensely black and piercing pair of eyes.</p> + +<p>'Cousin, I am enchanted to welcome you.'</p> + +<p>'Cousin, I thank you.'</p> + +<p>'Allow me to present you.' And Berenger bowed low in +succession several times in reply to salutations, as his cousin +Narcisse named M. d'O, M. de la Valette, M. de Pibrac, M. l'Abbe de +Mericour, who had done him the honour to accompany him in coming +out to meet his father and M. le Baron. Then the two cousins +remounted, something was said to the Chevalier of the devoirs of +the demoiselles, and they rode on together bandying news and +repartee so fast, that Berenger felt that his ears had become too +much accustomed to the more deliberate English speech to enter at +once into what caused so much excitement, gesture, and wit. +The royal marriage seemed doubtful--the Pope refused his sanction; +nay, but means would be found--the King would not be impeded by the +Pope; Spanish influence--nay, the King had thrown himself at the +head of the Reformed--he was bewitched with the grim old +Coligny--if order were not soon taken, the Louvre itself would +become a temple.</p> + +<p>Then one of the party turned suddenly and said, 'But I forget, +Monsieur is a Huguenot?'</p> + +<p>'I am a Protestant of the English Church,' said Berenger, rather +stiffly, in the formula of his day.</p> + +<p>'Well, you have come at the right moment, 'Tis all for the +sermon now. If the little Abbe there wished to sail with a +fair wind, he should throw away his breviary and study his +Calvin.'</p> + +<p>Berenger's attention was thus attracted to the Abbe de Mericour, +a young man of about twenty, whose dress was darker than that of +the rest, and his hat of a clerical cut, though in other respects +he was equipped with the same point-device elegance.</p> + +<p>'Calvin would never give him the rich abbey of Selicy,' said +another; 'the breviary is the safer speculation.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! M. de Ribaumont can tell you that abbeys are no such +securities in these days. Let yonder Admiral get the upper +hand, and we shall see Mericour, the happy cadet of eight brothers +and sisters, turned adrift from their convents. What a +fatherly spectacle M. le Marquis will present!'</p> + +<p>Here the Chevalier beckoned to Berenger, who, riding forward, +learnt that Narcisse had engaged lodgings for him and his suite at +one of the great inns, and Berenger returned his thanks, and a +proposal to the Chevalier to become his guest. They were by +this time entering the city, where the extreme narrowness and dirt +of the streets contrasted with the grandeur of the palatial courts +that could be partly seen through their archways. At the +hostel they rode under such an arch, and found themselves in a +paved yard that would have been grand had it been clean. +Privacy had scarcely been invented, and the party were not at all +surprised to find that the apartment prepared for them was to serve +both day and night for Berenger, the Chevalier, and Mr. Adderley, +besides having a truckle-bed on the floor for Osbert. Meals +were taken in public, and it was now one o'clock--just dinner-time; +so after a hasty toilette the three gentlemen descended, the rest +of the party having ridden off to their quarters, either as +attendants of Monsieur or to their families. It was a +sumptuous meal, at which a great number of gentlemen were present, +coming in from rooms hired over shops, &c--all, as it seemed, +assembled at Paris for the marriage festivities; but Berenger began +to gather that they were for the most part adherents of the Guise +party, and far from friendly to the Huguenot interest. Some +of them appeared hardly to tolerate Mr. Adderley's presence at the +table; and Berenger, though his kinsman's patronage secured civil +treatment, felt much out of his element, confused, unable to take +part in the conversation, and sure that he was where those at home +did not wish to see him.</p> + +<p>No sooner was the dinner over than he rose and expressed his +intention of delivering his letters of introduction in person to +the English ambassador and to the Admiral de Coligny, whom, as his +father's old friend and the hero of his boyhood, he was most +anxious to see. The Chevalier demurred to this. Were it +not better to take measures at once for making himself presentable, +and Narcisse had already supplied him with directions to the +fashionable hair-cutter, &c. It would be taken amiss if +he went to the Admiral before going to present himself to the +King.</p> + +<p>'And I cannot see my cousins till I go to court?' asked +Berenger.</p> + +<p>'Most emphatically No. Have I not told you that the one is +in the suite of the young Queen, the other in that of the +Queen-mother? I will myself present you, if only you will +give me the honour of your guidance.'</p> + +<p>'With all thanks, Monsieur,' said Berenger; 'my grandfather's +desire was that I should lose no time in going to his friend Sir +Francis Walsingham, and I had best submit myself to his judgment as +to my appearance at court.'</p> + +<p>On this point Berenger was resolute, though the Chevalier +recurred to the danger of any proceeding that might be unacceptable +at court. Berenger, harassed and impatient, repeated that he +did not care about the court, and wished merely to fulfil his +purpose and return, at which his kinsman shook his head and +shrugged his shoulders, and muttered to himself, 'Ah, what does he +know! He will regret it when too late; but I have done my +best.'</p> + +<p>Berenger paid little attention to this, but calling Landry +Osbert, and a couple of his men, he bade them take their swords and +bucklers, and escort him in his walk through Paris. He set +off with a sense of escape, but before he had made many steps, he +was obliged to turn and warn Humfrey and Jack that they were not to +walk swaggering along the streets, with hand on sword, as if every +Frenchman they saw was the natural foe of their master.</p> + +<p>Very tall were the houses, very close and extremely filthy the +streets, very miserable the beggars; and yet here and there was to +be seen the open front of a most brilliant shop, and the +thoroughfares were crowded with richly-dressed gallants. Even +the wider streets gave little space for the career of the gay +horsemen who rode along them, still less for the great, cumbrous, +though gaily-decked coaches, in which ladies appeared glittering +with jewels and fan in hand, with tiny white dogs on their +knees.</p> + +<p>The persons of whom Berenger inquired the way all uncapped most +respectfully, and replied with much courtesy; but when the hotel of +the English ambassador had been pointed out to him, he hardly +believed it, so foul and squalid was the street, where a large +nail-studded door occupied a wide archway. Here was a heavy +iron knocker, to which Osbert applied himself. A little door +was at once opened by a large, powerful John Bull of a porter, +whose looks expanded into friendly welcome when he heard the +English tongue of the visitor. Inside, the scene was very +unlike that without. The hotel was built round a paved court, +adorned with statues and stone vases, with yews and cypresses in +them, and a grand flight of steps led up to the grand centre of the +house, around which were collected a number of attendants, wearing +the Walsingham colours. Among these Berenger left his two +Englishmen, well content to have fallen into an English +colony. Landry followed him to announce the visitor, Berenger +waiting to know whether the Ambassador would be at liberty to see +him.</p> + +<p>Almost immediately the door was re-opened, and a keen-looking +gentleman, about six-and-thirty years of age, rather short in +stature, but nevertheless very dignified-looking, came forward with +out-stretched hands--'Greet you well, my Lord de Ribaumont. +We expected your coming. Welcome, mine honoured friend's +grandson.'</p> + +<p>And as Berenger bent low in reverent greeting, Sir Francis took +his hand and kissed his brow, saying, 'Come in, my young friend; we +are but sitting over our wine and comfits after dinner. Have +you dined?'</p> + +<p>Berenger explained that he had dined at the inn, where he had +taken lodgings.</p> + +<p>'Nay, but that must not be. My Lord Walwyn's grandson +here, and not my guest! You do me wrong, sir, in not having +ridden hither at once.'</p> + +<p>'Truly, my Lord, I ventured not. They sent me forth with +quite a company--my tutor and six grooms.'</p> + +<p>'Our chaplain will gladly welcome his reverend brother,' said +Sir Francis; and as to the grooms, one of my fellows shall go and +bring them and their horses up. What!' rather gravely, as +Berenger still hesitated. 'I have letters for you here, which +methinks will make your grandfather's wish clear to you.'</p> + +<p>Berenger saw the Ambassador was displeased with his reluctance, +and answered quickly, 'In sooth, my Lord, I would esteem myself +only too happy to be thus honoured, but in sooth----' he repeated +himself, and faltered.</p> + +<p>'In sooth, you expected more freedom than in my grave house,' +said Walsingham, displeased.</p> + +<p>'Not so, my Lord: it would be all that I could desire; but I +have done hastily. A kinsman of mine has come up to Paris +with me, and I have made him my guest. I know not how to +break with him--the Chevalier de Ribaumont.'</p> + +<p>'What, the young ruffler in Monsieur's suite?'</p> + +<p>'No, my Lord; his father. He comes on my business. +He is an old man, and can ill bear the cost, and I could scarce +throw him over.'</p> + +<p>Berenger spoke with such earnest, bright, open simplicity, and +look so boyish and confiding, that Sir Francis's heart was won, and +he smiled as he said, 'Right, lad, you are a considerate +youth. It were not well to cast off your kinsman; but when +you have read your letters, you may well plead your grandfather's +desires, to say nothing of a hint from her Grace to have an eye to +you. And for the rest, you can acquit yourself gracefully to +the gentleman, by asking him to occupy the lodging that you had +taken.'</p> + +<p>Berenger's face brightened up in a manner that spoke for his +sincerity; and Sir Francis added, 'And where be these +lodgings?'</p> + +<p>'At the Croix de Lorraine.'</p> + +<p>'Ha! Your kinsman has taken you into a nest of Guisards. +But come, let me present you to my wife and my other guests, then +will I give you your letters, and you shall return and make your +excuses to Monsieur le Chevalier.'</p> + +<p>Berenger seemed to himself to be on familiar ground again as his +host thus assumed the direction of him and ushered him into a large +dining-hall, where the table had been forsaken in favour of a +lesser table placed in the ample window, round which sat assembled +some six or eight persons, with fruit, wine, and conserves before +them, a few little dogs at their feet or on their laps, and a lute +lying on the knee of one of the young gentlemen. Sir Francis +presented the young Lord de Ribaumont, their expected guest, to +Lady Walsingham, from whom he received a cordial welcome, and her +two little daughter, Frances and Elizabeth, and likewise to the +gentleman with the lute, a youth about a year older than Berenger, +and of very striking and prepossessing countenance, who was named +as Mr. Sidney, the son of the Lord Deputy of Ireland. A +couple of gentlemen who would in these times have been termed <i> +attaches</i>, a couple of lady attendants upon Lady Walsingham, and +the chaplain made up the party, which on this day chanced only to +include, besides the household, the young traveller, Sidney. +Berenger was at once seated, and accepted a welcoming-cup of wine +(i.e. a long slender glass with a beautifully twisted stem), +responded to friendly inquiries about his relatives at home, and +acknowledged the healths that were drunk in honour of their names; +after which Lady Walsingham begged that Mr. Sidney would sing the +madrigal he had before promised: afterwards a glee was sung by +Sidney, one of the gentlemen, and Lady Walsingham; and it was +discovered that Mr. de Ribaumont had a trained ear, and the +very voice that was wanting to the Italian song they were +practising. And so sped a happy hour, till a booted and +spurred messenger came in with letters for his Excellency, who +being thus roused from his dreamy enjoyment of the music, carried +young Ribaumont off with him to his cabinet, and there made over to +him a packet, with good news from home, and orders that made it +clear that he could do no other than accept the hospitality of the +Embassy. Thus armed with authority, he returned to the Croix +de Lorraine, where Mr. Adderley could not contain his joy at the +change to quarters not only so much more congenial, buts so much +safer; and the Chevalier, after some polite demur, consented to +remain in possession of the rooms, being in fact well satisfied +with the arrangement.</p> + +<p>'Let him steep himself up to the lips among the English,' said +Tithonus to his son. 'Thus will he peaceably relinquish to +you all that should have been yours from the first, and at court +will only be looked on as an overgrown English page.'</p> + +<p>The change to the Ambassador's made Berenger happy at +once. He was not French enough in breeding, or even +constitution, to feel the society of the Croix de Lorraine +congenial; and, kind as the Chevalier showed himself, it was with a +wonderful sense of relief that Berenger shook himself free from +both his fawning and his patronizing. There was a constant +sense of not understanding the old gentleman's aims, whereas in +Walsingham's house all was as clear, easy, and open as at home.</p> + +<p>And though Berenger had been educated in the country, it had +been in the same tone as that of his new friends. He was +greatly approved by Sir Francis as a stripling of parts and +modesty. Mr. Sidney made him a companion, and the young +matron, Lady Walsingham, treated him as neither lout nor +lubber. Yet he could not be at ease in his state between +curiosity and repulsion towards the wife who was to be discarded by +mutual consent. The sight of the scenes of his early +childhood had stirred up warmer recollections of the pretty little +playful torment, who through the vista of years assumed the air of +a tricksy elf rather than the little vixen he used to think +her. His curiosity had been further stimulated by the sight +of his rival, Narcisse, whose effeminate ornaments, small stature, +and seat on horseback filled Sir Marmaduke's pupil with inquisitive +disdain as to the woman who could prefer anything so unmanly.</p> + +<p>Sidney was to be presented at the after-dinner reception at the +Louvre the next day, and Sir Francis proposed to take young +Ribaumont with him. Berenger coloured, and spoke of his +equipment, and Sidney good-naturedly offered to come and +inspect. That young gentleman was one of the daintiest in +apparel of his day; but he was amazed that the suit in which +Berenger had paid his devoir to Queen Elizabeth should have been +set aside--it was of pearl-grey velvet, slashed with rose-coloured +satin, and in shape and fashion point-device--unless, as the +Ambassador said good-humouredly, 'my young Lord Ribaumont wished to +be one of Monsieur's clique.' Thus arrayed, then, and with +the chaplet of pearls bound round the small cap, with a heron-plume +that sat jauntily on one side of his fair curled head, Berenger +took his seat beside the hazel-eyed, brown-haired Sidney, in his +white satin and crimson, and with the Ambassador and his attendants +were rolled off in the great state-coach drawn by eight horses, +which had no sinecure in dragging the ponderous machine through the +unsavoury <i>debris</i> of the streets.</p> + +<p>Royalty fed in public. The sumptuous banqueting-room +contained a barrier, partitioning off a space where Charles IX. sat +alone at his table, as a State spectacle. He was a sallow, +unhealthy-looking youth, with large prominent dark eyes and a +melancholy dreaminess of expression, as if the whole ceremony, not +to say the world itself, were distasteful. Now and then, as +though endeavouring to cast off the mood, he would call to some +gentleman and exchange a rough jest, generally fortified with a +tremendous oath, that startled Berenger's innocent ears. He +scarcely tasted what was put on his plate, but drank largely of +sherbet, and seemed to be trying to linger through the space +allotted for the ceremony.</p> + +<p>Silence was observed, but not so absolute that Walsingham could +not point out to his young companions the notabilities +present. The lofty figure of Henri, Duke of Guise, towered +high above all around him, and his grand features, proud lip, and +stern eye claimed such natural superiority that Berenger for a +moment felt a glow on his cheek as he remembered his challenge of +his right to rival that splendid stature. And yet Guise was +very little older than himself; but he walked, a prince of men, +among a crowd of gentlemen, attendants on him rather than on the +King. The elegant but indolent-looking Duke de Montmorency +had a much more attractive air, and seemed to hold a kind of +neutral ground between Guise on the one hand, and the Reformed, who +mustered at the other end of the apartment. Almost by +intuition, Berenger knew the fine calm features of the gray-haired +Admiral de Coligny before he heard him so addressed by the King's +loud, rough voice. When the King rose from table the +presentations took place, but as Charles heard the name of the +Baron de Ribaumont, he exclaimed, 'What, Monsieur, are you +presented here by our good sister's representative?'</p> + +<p>Walsingham answered for him, alluding to the negotiations for +Queen Elizabeth's marriage with one of the French princes--'Sire, +in the present happy conjuncture, it needs not be a less loyal +Frenchman to have an inheritance in the lands of my royal +mistress.'</p> + +<p>'What say you, Monsieur?' sharply demanded the King: 'are you +come here to renounce your country, religion--and love, as I have +been told?'</p> + +<p>'I hope, Sire, never to be unfaithful where I owe faith,' said +Berenger, heated, startled, and driven to extremity.</p> + +<p>'Not ill answered for the English giant,' said Charles aside to +an attendant: then turning eagerly to Sidney, whose transcendent +accomplishments had already become renowned, Charles welcomed him +to court, and began to discuss Ronsard's last sonnet, showing no +small taste and knowledge of poetry. Greatly attracted by +Sidney, the King detained the whole English party by an invitation +to Walsingham to hear music in the Queen-mother's apartments; and +Berenger, following in the wake of his friends, found himself in a +spacious hall, with a raised gallery at one end for the musicians, +the walls decorated with the glorious paintings collected by +Francois I., Greek and Roman statues clustered at the angles, and +cabinets with gems and antiques disposed at intervals. Not +that Berenger beheld much of this: he was absolutely dazzled with +the brilliant assembly into which he was admitted. There +moved the most beautiful women in France, in every lovely-coloured +tint that dress could assume: their bosoms, arms, and hair +sparkling with jewels; their gossamer ruffs surrounding their necks +like fairy wings; their light laugh mingling with the music, as +they sat, stood, or walked in graceful attitudes conversing with +one another or with the cavaliers, whose brilliant velvet and +jewels fifty mixed with their bright array. These were the +sirens he had heard of, the 'squadron of the Queen-mother,' the +dangerous beings against whom he was to steel himself. And +which of them was the child he had played with, to whom his vows +had been plighted? It was like some of the enchanting dreams +of romance merely to look at these fair creatures; and he stood as +if gazing into a magic-glass till Sir Francis Walsingham, looking +round for him, said, 'Come, then, my young friend, you must do your +devoirs to the Queens. Sidney, I see, is as usual in his +element; the King has seized upon him.'</p> + +<p>Catherine de Medicis was seated on a large velvet chair, +conversing with the German ambassador. Never beautiful, she +appeared to more advantage in her mature years than in her +girlhood, and there was all the dignity of a lifetime of rule in +demeanour and gestures, the bearing of her head, and motion of her +exquisite hands. Her eyes were like her son's, prominent, and +gave the sense of seeing all round at once, and her smile was to +the highest degree engaging. She received the young Baron de +Ribaumont far more graciously than Charles has done, held out her +hand to be kissed, and observed 'that the young gentleman was like +Madame <i>sa mere</i> whom she well remembered as much +admired. Was it true that she was married in England?'</p> + +<p>Berenger bowed assent.</p> + +<p>'Ah! You English make good spouses,' she said, with a +smile. 'Ever satisfied with home! But, your +Excellency,' added she, turning to Walsingham, 'what stones would +best please my good sister for the setting of the jewel my son +would send her with his portrait? He is all for emeralds, for +the hue of hope; but I call it the colour of jealousy.'</p> + +<p>Walsingham made a sign that Berenger had better retreat from +hearing the solemn coquetting carried on by the maiden Queen +through her gravest ambassadors. He fell back, and remained +watching the brilliant throng, trying in vain to discover the +bright merry eyes and velvet cheek he remembered of old. +Presently a kind salutation interrupted him, and a gentleman who +perceived him to be a stranger began to try to set him at ease, +pointed out to him the handsome, foppishly-dressed Duke of Anjou, +and his ugly, spiteful little brother of Alengon, then designated +as Queen Elizabeth's future husband, who was saying something to a +lady that made her colour and bite her lips. 'Is that the +younger Queen?' asked Berenger, as his eye fell on a sallow, +dark-complexioned, sad-looking little creature in deep mourning, +and with three or four such stately-looking, black-robed, +Spanish-looking duennas round her as to prove her to be a person of +high consequence.</p> + +<p>'That? Oh no; that is Madame Catherine of Navarre, who has +resided here ever since her mother's death, awaiting her brother, +our royal bridegroom. See, here is the bride, Madame +Marguerite, conversing with M. de Guise.'</p> + +<p>Berenger paid but little heed to Marguerite's showy but already +rather coarse beauty, and still asked where was the young Queen +Elizabeth of Austria. She was unwell, and not in +presence. 'Ah! then,' he said, 'her ladies will not be +here.'</p> + +<p>'That is not certain. Are you wishing to see any one of +them?'</p> + +<p>'I would like to see----' He could not help colouring till his +cheeks rivaled the colour of his sword-knot. 'I want just to +know if she is here. I know not if she be called Madame or +Mademoiselle de Ribaumont.'</p> + +<p>'The fair Ribaumont! Assuredly; see, she is looking at +you. Shall I present you?'</p> + +<p>A pair of exceedingly brilliant dark eyes were fixed on Berenger +with a sort of haughty curiosity and half-recognition. The +face was handsome and brilliant, but he felt indignant at not +perceiving a particle of a blush at encountering him, indeed rather +a look of amusement at the deep glow which his fair complexion +rendered so apparent. He would fain have escaped from so +public an interview, but her eye was upon him, and there was no +avoiding the meeting. As he moved nearer he saw what a +beautiful person she was, her rich primrose-coloured dress setting +off her brunette complexion and her stately presence. She +looked older than he had expected; but this was a hotbed where +every one grew up early, and the expression and manner made him +feel that an old intimacy was here renewed, and that they were no +strangers.</p> + +<p>'We need no introduction, cousin,' she said, giving a hand to be +saluted. 'I knew you instantly. It is the old face of +Chateau Leurre, only gone up so high and become so handsome.'</p> + +<p>'Cousins,' thought he. 'Well, it makes things easier! but +what audacity to be so much at her ease, when Lucy would have sunk +into the earth with shame.' His bow had saved him the +necessity of answering in words, and the lady continued:</p> + +<p>'And Madame <i>votre mere</i>. Is she well? She was +very good to me.'</p> + +<p>Berenger did not think that kindness to Eustacie had been her +chief perfection, but he answered that she was well and sent her +commendations, which the young lady acknowledged by a magnificent +curtsey. 'And as beautiful as ever?' she asked.</p> + +<p>'Quite as beautiful,' he said, 'only somewhat more <i> +embonpoint</i>.'</p> + +<p>'Ah!' she said, smiling graciously, and raising her splendid +eyes to his face, 'I understand better what that famous beauty was +now, and the fairness that caused her to be called the Swan.'</p> + +<p>It was so personal that the colour rushed again into his +cheek. No one had ever so presumed to admire him; and with a +degree gratified and surprised, and sensible more and more of the +extreme beauty of the lady, there was a sort of alarm about him as +if this were the very fascination he had been warned against, and +as if she were casting a net about him, which, wife as she was, it +would be impossible to him to break.</p> + +<p>'Nay, Monsieur,' she laughed, 'is a word from one so near too +much for your modesty? Is it possible that no one has yet +told you of your good mien? Or do they not appreciate Greek +noses and blue eyes in the land of fat Englishmen? How have +you ever lived <i>en province?</i> Our princes are +ready to hang themselves at the thought of being in such +banishment, even at court--indeed, Monsieur has contrived to +transfer the noose to M. d'Alengon. Have you been at court, +cousin?'</p> + +<p>'I have been presented to the Queen.'</p> + +<p>She then proceeded to ask questions about the chief personages +with a rapid intelligence that surprised him as well as alarmed +him, for he felt more and more in the power of a very clever as +well as beautiful woman, and the attraction she exercised made him +long the more to escape; but she smiled and signed away several +cavaliers who would have gained her attention. She spoke of +Queen Mary of Scotland, then in the fifth years of her captivity, +and asked if he did not feel bound to her service by having been +once her partner. Did not he remember that dance?</p> + +<p>'I have heard my mother speak of it far too often to forget it,' +said Berenger, glowing again for her who could speak of that +occasion without a blush.</p> + +<p>'You wish to gloss over your first inconstancy, sir,' she said, +archly; but he was spared from further reply by Philip Sidney's +coming to tell him that the Ambassador was ready to return +home. He took leave with an alacrity that redoubled his +courtesy so much that he desired to be commended to his cousin +Diane, whom he had not seen.</p> + +<p>'To Diane?' said the lady, inquiringly.</p> + +<p>'To Mademoiselle Diane de Ribaumont,' he corrected himself, +ashamed of his English rusticity. 'I beg pardon if I spoke +too familiarly of her.'</p> + +<p>'She should be flattered by M. le Baron's slightest +recollection,' said the lady, with an ironical tone that there was +no time to analyze, and with a mutual gesture of courtesy he +followed Sidney to where Sir Francis awaited them.</p> + +<p>'Well, what think you of the French court?' asked Sidney, so +soon as the young men were in private.</p> + +<p>'I only know that you may bless your good fortune that you stand +in no danger from a wife from thence.'</p> + +<p>'Ha!' cried Sidney, laughing, 'you found your lawful +owner. Why did you not present me?'</p> + +<p>'I was ashamed of her bold visage.'</p> + +<p>'What!--was she the beauteous demoiselle I found you +gallanting,' said Philip Sidney, a good deal entertained, 'who was +gazing at you with such visible admiration in her languishing black +eyes?'</p> + +<p>'The foul fiend seize their impudence!'</p> + +<p>'Fie! for shame! thus to speak of your own wife,' said the +mischievous Sidney, 'and the fairest----'</p> + +<p>'Go to, Sidney. Were she fairer than Venus, with a kingdom +to her dower, I would none of a woman without a blush.'</p> + +<p>'What, in converse with her wedded husband,' said Sidney. +'Were not that over-shamefastness?'</p> + +<p>'Nay, now, Sidney, in good sooth give me your opinion. +Should she set her fancy on me, even in this hour, am I bound in +honour to hold by this accursed wedlock--lock, as it may well be +called?'</p> + +<p>'I know no remedy,' said Sidney, gravely, 'save the two +enchanted founts of love and hate. They cannot be far away, +since it was at the siege of Paris that Rinaldo and Orlando drank +thereof.'</p> + +<p>Another question that Berenger would fain have asked Sidney, but +could not for very shame and dread of mockery, was, whether he +himself were so dangerously handsome as the lady had given him to +understand. With a sense of shame, he caught up the little +mirror in his casket, and could not but allow to himself that the +features he there saw were symmetrical--the eyes azure, the +complexion of a delicate fairness, such as he had not seen +equalled, except in those splendid Lorraine princes; nor could he +judge of the further effect of his open-faced frank simplicity and +sweetness of expression-- contemptible, perhaps, to the astute, but +most winning to the world-weary. He shook his head at the +fair reflection, smiled as he saw the colour rising at his own +sensation of being a fool, and then threw it aside, vexed with +himself for being unable not to feel attracted by the first woman +who had shown herself struck by his personal graces, and yet aware +that this was the very thing he had been warned against, and +determined to make all the resistance in his power to a creature +whose very beauty and enchantment gave him a sense of +discomfort.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER V. THE CONVENT BIRD</h3> + +<p>Young knight, whatever that dost armes professe,</p> + +<p>And through long labours huntest after fame,</p> + +<p>Beware of fraud, beware of ficklenesse,</p> + +<p>In choice and change of thy beloved dame.</p> + +<p>Spenser, FAERY QUEENE</p> + +<p>Berenger's mind was relieved, even while his vanity was +mortified, when the Chevalier and his son came the next day to +bring him the formal letter requesting the Pope's annulment of his +marriage. After he had signed it, it was to be taken to +Eustacie, and so soon as he should attain his twenty-first year he +was to dispose of Chateau Leurre, as well as of his claim to the +ancestral castle in Picardy, to his cousin Narcisse, and thus +become entirely free to transfer his allegiance to the Queen of +England.</p> + +<p>It was a very good thing--that he well knew; and he had a strong +sense of virtue and obedience, as he formed with his pen the words +in all their fullness, Henri Beranger Eustache, Baron de Ribaumont +et Seigneur de Leurre. He could not help wondering whether +the lady who looked at him so admiringly really preferred such a +mean-looking little fop as Narcisse, whether she were afraid of his +English home and breeding, or whether all this open coquetry were +really the court manners of ladies towards gentlemen, and he had +been an absolute simpleton to be flattered. Any way, she +would have been a most undesirable wife, and he was well quit of +her; but he did feel a certain lurking desire that, since the bonds +were cut and he was no longer in danger from her, he might see her +again, carry home a mental inventory of the splendid beauties he +had renounced, and decide what was the motive that actuated her in +rejecting his own handsome self. Meantime, he proceeded to +enjoy the amusements and advantage of his sojourn at Paris, of +which by no means the least was the society of Philip Sidney, and +the charm his brilliant genius imparted to every pursuit they +shared. Books at the University, fencing and dancing from the +best professors, Italian poetry, French sonnets, Latin epigrams; +nothing came amiss to Sidney, the flower of English youth: and +Berenger had taste, intelligence, and cultivation enough to enter +into all in which Sidney led the way. The good tutor, after +all his miseries on the journey, was delighted to write to Lord +Walwyn, that, far from being a risk and temptation, this visit was +a school in all that was virtuous and comely.</p> + +<p>If the good man had any cause of dissatisfaction, it was with +the Calvinistic tendencies of the Ambassador's household. +Walsingham was always on the Puritanical side of Elizabeth's court, +and such an atmosphere as that of Paris, where the Roman Catholic +system was at that time showing more corruption than it has ever +done before or since in any other place, naturally threw him into +sympathy with the Reformed. The reaction that half a century +later filled the Gallican Church with saintliness had not set in; +her ecclesiastics were the tools of a wicked and bloodthirsty +court, who hated virtue as much as schism in the men whom they +persecuted. The Huguenots were for the most part men whose +instincts for truth and virtue had recoiled from the popular +system, and thus it was indeed as if piety and morality were +arrayed on one side, and superstition and debauchery on the +other. Mr. Adderley thus found the tone of the Ambassador's +chaplain that of far more complete fellowship with the Reformed +pastors than he himself was disposed to admit. There were a +large number of these gathered at Paris ; for the lull in +persecution that had followed the battle of Moncontour had given +hopes of a final accommodation between the two parties, and many +had come up to consult with the numerous lay nobility who had +congregated to witness the King of Navarre's wedding. Among +them, Berenger met his father's old friend Isaac Gardon, who had +come to Paris for the purpose of giving his only surviving son in +marriage to the daughter of a watchmaker to whom he had for many +years been betrothed. By him the youth, with his innocent +face and gracious respectful manners, was watched with delight, as +fulfilling the fairest hopes of the poor Baron, but the old +minister would have been sorely disappointed had he known how +little Berenger felt inclined towards his party.</p> + +<p>The royal one of course Berenger could not love, but the rigid +bareness, and, as he thought, irreverence of the Calvinist, and the +want of all forms, jarred upon one used to a ritual which retained +much of the ancient form. In the early years of Elizabeth, +every possible diversity prevailed in parish churches, according to +the predilections of rector and squire; from forms scarcely altered +from those of old times, down to the baldest, rudest neglect of all +rites ; and Berenger, in his country home, had been used to the +first extreme. He could not believe that what he heard and +saw among the <i>Sacrementaires</i>, as they were called, was what +his father had prized; and he greatly scandalized Sidney, the pupil +of Hubert Languet, by openly expressing his distaste and dismay +when he found their worship viewed by both Walsingham and Sidney as +a model to which the English Protestants ought to be brought.</p> + +<p>However, Sidney excused all this as more boyish distaste to +sermons and love of externals, and Berenger himself reflected +little on the subject. The aspect of the venerable Coligny, +his father's friend, did far more towards making him a Huguenot +than any discussion of doctrine. The good old Admiral +received him affectionately, and talked to him warmly of his +father, and the grave, noble countenance and kind manner won his +heart. Great projects were on foot, and were much relished by +the young King, for raising an army and striking a blow at Spain by +aiding the Reformed in the Netherlands; and Coligny was as ardent +as a youth in the cause, hoping at once to aid his brethren, to +free the young King from evil influences, and to strike one good +stroke against the old national enemy. He talked eagerly to +Sidney of alliances with England, and then lamented over the loss +of so promising a youth as young Ribaumont to the Reformed cause in +France. If the marriage with the heiress could have taken effect, +he would have obtained estates near enough to some of the main +Huguenot strongholds to be very important, and these would now +remain under the power of Narcisse de Ribaumont, a determined ally +of the Guise faction. It was a pity, but the Admiral could +not blame the youth for obeying the wish of his guardian +grandfather; and he owned, with a sigh, that England was a more +peaceful land than his own beloved country. Berenger was a +little nettled at this implication, and began to talk of joining +the French standard in a campaign in their present home and +described the conversation, Walsingham said, --</p> + +<p>'The Admiral's favourite project! He would do wisely not +to brag of it so openly. The King of Spain has too many in +his interest in this place not to be warned, and to be thus further +egged on to compass the ruin of Coligny.'</p> + +<p>'I should have thought.' Said Sidney. 'that nothing could add to +his hatred of the Reformed.'</p> + +<p>'Scarcely,' said Walsingham; 'save that it is they who hinder +the Duke of Guise from being a good Frenchman, and a foe to +Spain.'</p> + +<p>Politics had not developed themselves in Berenger's mind, and he +listened inattentively while Walsingham talked over with Sidney the +state of parties in France, where natural national enmity to Spain +was balanced by the need felt by the Queen-mother of the support of +that great Roman Catholic power against the Huguenots; whom +Walsingham believed her to dread and hate less for their own sake +than from the fear of loss of influence over her son. He +believed Charles IX. himself to have much leaning towards the +Reformed, but the late victories has thrown the whole court +entirely into the power of the Guises, the truly unscrupulous +partisans of Rome. They were further inflamed against the +Huguenots by the assassination of the last Duke of Guise, and by +the violences that had been committed by some of the Reformed +party, in especial a massacre of prisoners at <i>Nerac</i>.</p> + +<p>Sidney exclaimed that the Huguenots had suffered far worse +cruelties.</p> + +<p>'That is true,' replied Sir Francis, 'but, my young friend, you +will find, in all matters of reprisals, that a party has no memory +for what it may commit, only for what it may receive.'</p> + +<p>The conversation was interrupted by an invitation to the +Ambassador's family and guests to a tilting-match and subsequent +ball at the Louvre. In the first Berenger did his part with +credit; to the second he went feeling full of that strange +attraction of repulsion. He knew gentlemen enough in +Coligny's suite for it to be likely that he might remain +unperceived among them, and he knew this would be prudent, but he +found himself unexpectedly near the ranks of ladies, and smile and +gesture absolutely drew him towards his semi-spouse, so that he had +no alternative but to lead her out to dance.</p> + +<p>The stately measure was trod in silence as usual, but he felt +the dark eyes studying him all the time. However, he could +bear it better now that the deed was done, and she had voluntarily +made him less to her than any gallant parading or mincing about the +room.</p> + +<p>'So you bear the pearls, sir?' she said, as the dance +finished.</p> + +<p>'The only heirloom I shall take with me,' he said.</p> + +<p>'Is a look at them too great a favour to ask from their jealous +guardian?' she asked.</p> + +<p>He smiled, half ashamed of his own annoyance at being obliged to +place them in her hands. He was sure she would try to cajole +him out of them, and by way of asserting his property in them he +did not detach them from the band of his black velvet cap, but gave +it with them into her hand. She looked at each one, and +counted them wistfully.</p> + +<p>'Seventeen!' she said;' and how beautiful! I never saw +them so near before. They are so becoming to that fair cheek +that I suppose no offer from my--my uncle, on our behalf, would +induce you to part with them?'</p> + +<p>An impulse of open-handed gallantry would have made him answer, +'No offer from your uncle, but a simple request from you;' but he +thought in time of the absurdity of returning without them, and +merely answered, 'I have no right to yield them, fair lady. +They are the witness to my forefather's fame and prowess.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir, and to those of mine also,' she replied. 'And you +would take them over to the enemy from whom that prowess extorted +them?'</p> + +<p>'The country which honoured and rewarded that prowess!' replied +Berenger.</p> + +<p>She looked at him with an interrogative glance of surprise at +the readiness of his answer; then, with half a sigh, said, 'There +are your pearls, sir; I cannot establish our right, though I verily +believe it was the cause of our last quarrel;' and she smiled +archly.</p> + +<p>'I believe it was,' he said, gravely; but added, in the moment +of relief at recovering the precious heirloom, 'though it was Diane +who inspired you to seize upon them.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! poor Diane! you sometimes recollect her then? If I +remember right, you used to agree with her better than with your +little spouse, cousin!'</p> + +<p>'If I quarrelled with her less, I liked her less,' answered +Berenger--who, since the act of separation, had not been so guarded +in his demeanour, and began to give way to his natural +frankness.</p> + +<p>'Indeed! Diane would be less gratified than I ought to +be. And why, may I ask?'</p> + +<p>'Diane was more caressing, but she had no truth.'</p> + +<p>'Truth! that was what <i>feu</i> M. le Baron ever talked of; +what Huguenots weary one with.'</p> + +<p>'And the only thing worth seeking, the real pearl,' said +Berenger, 'without which all else is worthless.'</p> + +<p>'Ah!' she said, 'who would have thought that soft, youthful face +could be so severe! You would never forgive a deceit?'</p> + +<p>'Never,' he said, with the crystal hardness of youth; 'or rather +I might forgive; I could never esteem.'</p> + +<p>'What a bare, rude world yours must be,' she said, shivering. +'And no weak ones in it! Only the strong can dare to be +true.'</p> + +<p>'Truth is strength!' said Berenger. 'For example: I see yonder a +face without bodily strength, perhaps, but with perfect +candour.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! some Huguenot girl of Madame Catherine's, no doubt--from +the depths of Languedoc, and dressed like a fright.'</p> + +<p>'No, no; the young girl behind the pale, yellow-haired +lady.'</p> + +<p>'<i>Comment</i>, Monsieur. Do you not yet know the young +Queen?'</p> + +<p>'But who is the young demoiselle!--she with the superb black +eyes, and the ruby rose in her black hair?'</p> + +<p>'Take care, sir, do you not know I have still a right to be +jealous?' she said, blushing, bridling, and laughing.</p> + +<p>But this pull on the cords made him the more resolved; he would +not be turned from his purpose. 'Who is she?' he repeated; 'have I +ever seen her before? I am sure I remember that innocent look of +<i>espieglerie</i>.'</p> + +<p>'You may see it on any child's face fresh out of the convent; it +does not last a month!' was the still displeased, rather jealous +answer. 'That little thing--I believe they call her +Nid-de-Merle-- she has only just been brought from her nunnery to +wait on the young Queen. Ah! your gaze was perilous, it is +bringing on you one of the jests of Madame Marguerite.'</p> + +<p>With laughter and gaiety, a troop of gentlemen descended on M. +de Ribaumont, and told him that Madame Marguerite desired that he +should be presented to her. The princess was standing by her +pale sister-in-law, Elizabeth of Austria, who looked grave and +annoyed at the mischievous mirth flashing in Marguerite's dark +eyes.</p> + +<p>'M. de Ribaumont,' said the latter, her very neck heaving with +suppressed fun, 'I see I cannot do you a greater favour than by +giving you Mademoiselle de Nid-de-Merle for your partner.'</p> + +<p>Berenger was covered with confusion to find that he had been +guilty of such a fixed stare as to bring all this upon the poor +girl. He feared that his vague sense of recognition had made his +gaze more open than he knew, and he was really and deeply ashamed +of this as his worst act of provincial ill-breeding.</p> + +<p>Poor little convent maid, with crimson cheeks, flashing eyes, +panting bosom, and a neck evidently aching with proud dignity and +passion, she received his low bow with a sweeping curtsey, as lofty +as her little person would permit.</p> + +<p>His cheeks burnt like fire, and he would have found words to +apologize, but she cut him short by saying, hastily and low, 'Not a +word, Monsieur! Let us go through it at once. No one +shall make game of us.'</p> + +<p>He hardly durst look at her again; but as he went through his +own elaborate paces he knew that the little creature opposite was +swimming, bending, turning, bounding with the fluttering fierceness +of an angry little bird, and that the superb eyes were casting +flashes on him that seemed to carry him back to days of early +boyhood.</p> + +<p>Once he caught a mortified, pleading, wistful glance that made +him feel as if he had inflicted a cruel injury by his thoughtless +gaze, and he resolved to plead the sense of recognition in excuse; +but no sooner was the performance over than she prevented all +conversation by saying, 'Lead me back at once to the Queen, sir; +she is about to retire.' They were already so near that there +was no time to say anything; he could only hold as lightly as +possible the tiny fingers that he felt burning and quivering in his +hand, and then, after bringing her to the side of the chair of +state, he was forced to release her with the mere whisper of +'Pardon, Mademoiselle;' and the request was not replied to, save by +the additional stateliness of her curtsey.</p> + +<p>It was already late, and the party was breaking up; but his head +and heart were still in a whirl when he found himself seated in the +ambassadorial coach, hearing Lady Walsingham's well-pleased +rehearsal of all the compliments she had received on the +distinguished appearance of both her young guests. Sidney, as the +betrothed of her daughter, was property of her own; but she also +exulted in the praises of the young Lord de Ribaumont, as proving +the excellence of the masters whom she had recommended to remove +the rustic clownishness of which he had been accused.</p> + +<p>'Nay,' said Sir Francis; 'whoever called him too clownish for +court spake with design.'</p> + +<p>The brief sentence added to Berenger's confused sense of being +in a mist of false play. Could his kinsman be bent on keeping +him from court? Could Narcisse be jealous of him? +Mademoiselle de Ribaumont was evidently inclined to seek him, and +her cousin might easily think her lands safer in his absence. He +would have been willing to hold aloof as much as his uncle and +cousin could wish, save for an angry dislike to being duped and +cajoled; and, moreover, a strong curiosity to hear and see more of +that little passionate bird, fresh from the convent cage. Her +gesture and her eyes irresistibly carried him back to old times, +though whether to an angry blackbird in the yew-tree alleys at +Leurre, or to the eager face that had warned him to save his +father, he could not remember with any distinctness. At any rate, +he was surprised to find himself thinking so little in comparison +about the splendid beauty and winning manners of his discarded +spouse, though he quite believed that, now her captive was beyond +her grasp, she was disposed to catch at him again, and try to +retain him, or, as his titillated vanity might whisper, his +personal graces might make her regret the family resolution which +she had obeyed.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER VI. FOULLY COZENED</h3> + +<p>I was the more deceived.--HAMLET</p> + +<p>The unhappy Charles IX. had a disposition that in good hands +might have achieved great nobleness; and though cruelly bound and +trained to evil, was no sooner allowed to follow its natural bent +than it reached out eagerly towards excellence. At this +moment, it was his mother's policy to appear to leave the +ascendancy to the Huguenot party, and he was therefore allowed to +contract friendships which deceived the intended victims the more +completely, because his admiration and attachment were spontaneous +and sincere. Philip Sidney's varied accomplishment and pure +lofty character greatly attracted the young King, who had leant on +his arm conversing during great part of the ball, and the next +morning sent a royal messenger to invite the two young gentlemen to +a part at pall-mall in the Tuilleries gardens.</p> + +<p>Pall-mall was either croquet or its nearest relative, and was so +much the fashion that games were given in order to keep up +political influence, perhaps, because the freedom of a garden +pastime among groves and bowers afforded opportunities for those +seductive arts on which Queen Catherine placed so much +dependence. The formal gardens, with their squares of level +turf and clipped alleys, afforded excellent scope both for players +and spectators, and numerous games had been set on foot, from all +of which, however, Berenger contrived to exclude himself, in his +restless determination to find out the little Demoiselle de +Nid-de-Merle, or, at least, to discover whether any intercourse in +early youth accounted for his undefined sense of remembrance.</p> + +<p>He interrogated the first disengaged person he could find, but +it was only the young Abbe de Mericour, who had been newly brought +up from Dauphine by his elder brother to solicit a benefice, and +who knew nobody. To him ladies were only bright phantoms such +as his books had taught him to regard like the temptations of St. +Anthony, but whom he actually saw treated with as free admiration +by the ecclesiastic as by the layman.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a clamour of voices arose on the other side of the +closely-clipped wall of limes by which the two youths were +walking. There were the clear tones of a young maiden +expostulating in indignant distress, and the bantering, indolent +determination of a male annoyer.</p> + +<p>'Hark!' exclaimed Berenger; 'this must be seen to.'</p> + +<p>'Have a care,' returned Mericour; 'I have heard that a man needs +look twice are meddling.'</p> + +<p>Scarcely hearing, Berenger strode on as he had done at the last +village wake, when he had rescued Cis of the Down from the +impertinence of a Dorchester scrivener. It was a like case, +he saw, when breaking through the arch of clipped limed he beheld +the little Demoiselle de Nid-de-Merle, driven into a corner and +standing at bay, with glowing cheeks, flashing eyes, and hands +clasped over her breast, while a young man, dressed in the extreme +of foppery, was assuring her that she was the only lady who had not +granted him a token--that he could not allow such <i> +pensionnaire</i> airs, and that now he had caught her he would have +his revenge, and win her rose-coloured break-knot. Another +gentleman stood by, laughing, and keeping guard in the walk that +led to the more frequented part of the gardens.</p> + +<p>'Hold!' thundered Berenger.</p> + +<p>The assailant had just mastered the poor girl's hand, but she +took advantage of his surprise to wrench it away and gather herself +up as for a spring, but the Abbe in dismay, the attendant in anger, +cried out, 'Stay--it is Monsieur.'</p> + +<p>'Monsieur; be he who he may,' exclaimed Berenger, 'no honest man +can see a lady insulted.'</p> + +<p>'Are you mad? It is Monsieur the Duke of Anjou,' said +Mericour, pouncing on his arm.</p> + +<p>'Shall we have him to the guardhouse?' added the attendant, +coming up on the other side; but Henri de Valois waved them both +back, and burst into a derisive laugh. 'No, no; do you not +see who it is? Monsieur the English Baron still holds the end +of the halter. His sale is not yet made. Come away, +D'O, he will soon have enough on his hands without us. +Farewell, fair lady, another time you will be free of your jealous +giant.'</p> + +<p>So saying, the Duke of Anjou strolled off, feigning indifference +and contempt, and scarcely heeding that he had been traversed in +one of the malicious adventures which he delighted to recount in +public before the discomfited victim herself, often with shameful +exaggeration.</p> + +<p>The girl clasped her hands over her brow with a gesture of +dismay, and cried, 'Oh! if you have only not touched your +sword.'</p> + +<p>'Let me have the honour of reconducting you, Mademoiselle,' said +Berenger, offering his hand; but after the first sigh of relief, a +tempestuous access seized her. She seemed about to dash away +his hand, her bosom swelled with resentment, and with a voice +striving for dignity, though choked with strangled tears, she +exclaimed, 'No, indeed! Had not M. le Baron forsaken me, I +had never been thus treated!' and her eyes flashed through their +moisture.</p> + +<p>'Eustacie! You are Eustacie!'</p> + +<p>'Whom would you have me to be otherwise? I have the honour +to wish M. le Baron a good morning.'</p> + +<p>'Eustacie! Stay! Hear me! It concerns my +honour. I see it is you--but whom have I seen? Who was +she?' he cried, half wild with dismay and confusion. 'Was it +Diane?'</p> + +<p>'You have seen and danced with Diane de Ribaumont,' answered +Eustacie, still coldly; 'but what of that? Let me go, +Monsieur; you have cast me off already.'</p> + +<p>'I! when all this has been of your own seeking?'</p> + +<p>'Mine?' cried Eustacie, panting with the struggle between her +dignity and her passionate tears. 'I meddled not. I +heard that M. le Baron was gone to a strange land, and had +written to break off old ties.' Her face was in a flame, and +her efforts for composure absolute pain.</p> + +<p>'I!' again exclaimed Berenger. 'The first letter came from +your uncle, declaring that it was your wish!' And as her face +changed rapidly, 'Then it was not true! He has not had your +consent?'</p> + +<p>'What! would I hold to one who despised me--who came here and +never even asked to see this hated spouse!'</p> + +<p>I did! I entreated to see you. I would not sign the +application till--Oh, there has been treachery! And have they +made you too sign it!'</p> + +<p>When they showed me your name they were welcome to mine.'</p> + +<p>Berenger struck his forehead with wrath and perplexity, then +cried, joyfully, 'It will not stand for moment. So foul a +cheat can be at once exposed. Eustacie, you know--you understand, +that it was not you but Diane whom I saw and detested; and no +wonder, when she was acting such a cruel treason!'</p> + +<p>'Oh no, Diane would never so treat me,' cried Eustacie. 'I +see how it was! You did not know that my father was latterly +called Marquis de Nid-de-Merle, and when they brought me here, they +WOULD call me after him: they said a maid of honour must be +Demoiselle, and my uncle said there was only one way in which I +could remain Madame de Ribaumont! And the name must have deceived +you. Thou wast always a great dull boy,' she added, with a +sudden assumption of childish intimacy that annihilated the nine +years since their parting.</p> + +<p>'Had I seen thee, I had not mistaken for an instant. This +little face stirred my heart; hers repelled me. And she +deceived me wittingly, Eustacie, for I asked after her by +name.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, she wished to spare my embarrassment. And then her +brother must have dealt with her.'</p> + +<p>'I see,' exclaimed Berenger, 'I am to be palmed off thus that +thou mayest be reserved for Narcisse. Tell me, Eustacie, wast +thou willing?'</p> + +<p>'I hate Narcisse!' she cried. 'But oh, I am lingering too +long. Monsieur will make some hateful tale! I never +fell into his way before, my Queen and Madame la Comtesse are so +careful. Only to-day, as I was attending her alone, the King +came and gave her his arm, and I had to drop behind. I must +find her; I shall be missed,' she added, in sudden alarm. +'Oh, what will they say?'</p> + +<p>'No blame for being with thy husband,' he answered, clasping her +hand. 'Thou art mine henceforth. I will soon cut our way out +of the web thy treacherous kindred have woven. Meantime---'</p> + +<p>'Hush! There are voices,' cried Eustacie in terror, and, guided +by something he could not discern, she fled with the swiftness of a +bird down the alley. Following, with the utmost speed that +might not bear the appearance of pursuit, he found that on coming +to the turn she had moderated her pace, and was more tranquilly +advancing to a bevy of ladies, who sat perched on the stone steps +like great butterflies sunning themselves, watching the game, and +receiving the attentions of their cavaliers. He saw her +absorbed into the group, and then began to prowl round it, in the +alleys, in a tumult of amazement and indignation. He had been +shamefully deceived and cheated, and justice he would have! +He had been deprived of a thing of his own, and he would assert his +right. He had been made to injure and disown the creature he +was bound to protect, and he must console her and compensate to +her, were it only to redeem his honour. He never even thought +whether he loved her; he merely felt furious at the wrong he had +suffered and been made to commit, and hotly bent on recovering what +belonged to him. He might even have plunged down among the +ladies and claimed her as his wife, if the young Abbe de Mericour, +who was two years older than he, and far less of a boy for his +years, had not joined him in his agitated walk. He then +learnt that all the court knew that the daughter of the late +Marquis de Nid-de-Merle, Comte de Ribaumont, was called by his +chief title, but that her marriage to himself had been forgotten by +some and unknown to others, and thus that the first error between +the cousins had not been wonderful in a stranger, since the +Chevalier's daughter had always been Mdlle. de Ribaumont. The +error once made, Berenger's distaste to Diane had been so +convenient that it had been carefully encouraged, and the desire to +keep him at a distance from court and throw him into the background +was accounted for. The Abbe was almost as indignant as +Berenger, and assured him both of his sympathy and his +discretion.</p> + +<p>'I see no need for discretion,' said Berenger. 'I shall +claim my wife in the face of the sun.'</p> + +<p>'Take counsel first, I entreat,' exclaimed Mericour. 'The +Ribaumonts have much influence with the Guise family, and now you +have offended Monsieur.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! Where are those traitorous kinsmen?' cried Berenger.</p> + +<p>'Fortunately all are gone on an expedition with the Queen- +mother. You will have time to think. I have heard my +brother say no one ever prospered who offended the meanest follower +of the house of Lorraine.'</p> + +<p>'I do not want prosperity, I only want my wife. I hope I +shall never see Paris and its deceivers again.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! But is it true that you have applied to have the marriage +annulled at Rome?'</p> + +<p>'We were both shamefully deceivers. That can be +nothing.'</p> + +<p>'A decree of his Holiness: you a Huguenot; she an heiress. +All is against you. My friend, be cautions, exclaimed the +young ecclesiastic, alarmed by his passionate gestures. 'To +break forth now and be accused of brawling in the palace precincts +would be fatal--fatal--most fatal!'</p> + +<p>'I am as calm as possible,' returned Berenger. 'I mean to +act most reasonably. I shall stand before the King and tell +him openly how I have been tampered with, demanding my wife before +the whole court.'</p> + +<p>'Long before you could get so far the ushers would have dragged +you away for brawling, or for maligning an honour-able +gentlemen. You would have to finish your speech in the +Bastille, and it would be well if even your English friends could +get you out alive.'</p> + +<p>'Why, what a place is this!' began Berenger; but again Mericour +entreated him to curb himself; and his English education had taught +him to credit the house of Guide with so much mysterious power and +wickedness, that he allowed himself to be silenced, and promised to +take no open measures till he had consulted the Ambassador.</p> + +<p>'He could not obtain another glimpse of Eustacie, and the hours +passed tardily till the break up of the party. Charles could +scarcely release Sidney from his side, and only let him go on +condition that he should join the next day in an expedition to the +hunting chateau of Montpipeau, to which the King seemed to look +forward as a great holiday and breathing time.</p> + +<p>When at length the two youths did return, Sir Francis Walsingham +was completely surprised by the usually tractable, well-behaved +stripling, whose praises he had been writing to his old friend, +bursting in on him with the outcry, 'Sir, sir, I entreat your +counsel! I have been foully cozened.'</p> + +<p>'Of how much?' said Sir Francis, in a tone of reprobation.</p> + +<p>'Of my wife. Of mine honour. Sir, your Excellency, I +crave pardon, if I spoke too hotly,' said Berenger, collecting +himself;</p> + +<p>'but it is enough to drive a man to frenzy.'</p> + +<p>'Sit down, my Lord de Ribaumont. Take breath, and let me +know what is this coil. What hath thus moved him, Mr. +Sidney?'</p> + +<p>'It is as he says, sir,' replied Sidney, who had beard all as +they returned; 'he has been greatly wronged. The Chevalier de +Ribaumont not only writ to propose the separation without the +lady's knowledge, but imposed his own daughter on our friend as the +wife he had not seen since infancy.'</p> + +<p>'There, sir,' broke forth Berenger; 'surely if I claim mine own +in the face of day, no man can withhold her from me!'</p> + +<p>'Hold!' said Sir Francis. 'What mean this passion, young +sir? Methought you came hither convinced that both the +religion and the habits in which the young lady had been bred up +rendered your infantine contract most unsuitable. What hath +fallen out to make this change in your mind?'</p> + +<p>'That I was cheated, sir. The lady who palmed herself off +on me as my wife was a mere impostor, the Chevalier's own +daughter!'</p> + +<p>'That may be; but what known you of this other lady? Has +she been bred up in faith or manners such as your parents would +have your wife?'</p> + +<p>'She is my wife,' reiterated Berenger. 'My faith is +plighted to her. That is enough for me.'</p> + +<p>Sir Francis made a gesture of despair. 'He has seen her, I +suppose,' said he to Sidney.</p> + +<p>'Yes truly, sir,' answered Berenger; 'and found that she had +been as greatly deceived as myself.'</p> + +<p>'Then mutual consent is wanting,' said the statesman, gravely +musing.</p> + +<p>'That is even as I say,' began Berenger, but Walsingham help up +his hand, and desired that he would make his full statement in the +presence of his tutor. Then sounding a little whistle, the +Ambassador despatched a page to request the attendance of Mr. +Adderley, and recommended young Ribaumont in the meantime to +compose himself.</p> + +<p>Used to being under authority as Berenger was, the somewhat +severe tone did much to allay his excitement, and remind him that +right and reason were so entirely on his side, that he had only to +be cool and rational to make them prevail. He was thus able +to give a collected and coherent account of his discovery that the +part of his wife had been assumed by her cousin Diane, and that the +signature of both the young pair to the application to the Pope had +been obtained on false pretences. That he had, as Sidney +said, been foully cozened, in both senses of the word, was as clear +as daylight; but he was much angered and disappointed to find that +neither the Ambassador nor his tutor could see that Eustacie's +worthiness was proved by the iniquity of her relation, or that any +one of the weighty reasons for the expediency of dissolving the +marriage was remove. The whole affair had been in such good +train a little before, that Mr. Adderley was much distressed that +it should thus have been crossed, and thought the new phase of +affairs would be far from acceptable at Combe Walwyn.</p> + +<p>'Whatever is just and honourable must be acceptable to my +grandfather,' said Berenger.</p> + +<p>'Even so,' said Walsingham; 'but it were well to consider +whether justice and honour require you to overthrow the purpose +wherewith he sent you hither.'</p> + +<p>'Surely, sir, justice and require me to fulfil a contract to +which the other party is constant,' said Berenger, feeling very +wise and prudent for calling that wistful, indignant creature the +other party.</p> + +<p>'That is also true,' said the Ambassador, 'provided she be +constant; but you own that she signed the requisition for the +dissolution.'</p> + +<p>'She did so, but under the same deception as myself, and further +mortified and aggrieved at my seeming faithlessness.'</p> + +<p>'So it may easily be represented,' muttered Walsingham.</p> + +<p>'How, sir?' cried Berenger, impetuously; 'do you doubt her +truth?'</p> + +<p>'Heaven forefend,' said Sir Francis, 'that I should discuss any +fair lady's sincerity! The question is how far you are +bound. Have I understood you that you are veritably wedded, +not by a mere contract of espousal?'</p> + +<p>'Berenger could produce no documents, for they had been left at +Chateau Leurre, and on his father's death the Chevalier had claimed +the custody of them; but he remembered enough of the ceremonial to +prove that the wedding had been a veritable one, and that only the +papal intervention could annul it.</p> + +<p>Indeed an Englishman, going by English law, would own no power +in the Pope, nor any one on earth, to sever the sacred tie of +wedlock; but French courts of law would probably ignore the mode of +application, and would certainly endeavour to separate between a +Catholic and a heretic.</p> + +<p>'I am English, sir, in heart and faith,' said Berenger, +earnestly. 'Look upon me as such, and tell me, am I married +or single at this moment?'</p> + +<p>'Married assuredly. More's the pity,' said Sir +Francis.</p> + +<p>'And no law of God or man divides us without our own +consent.' There was no denying that the mutual consent of the +young pair at their present age was all that was wanting to +complete the inviolability of their marriage contract.</p> + +<p>Berenger was indeed only eighteen, and Eustacie more than a year +younger, but there was nothing in their present age to invalidate +their marriage, for persons of their rank were usually wedded quite +as young or younger. Walsingham was only concerned at his old +friend's disappointment, and at the danger of the young man running +headlong into a connection probably no more suitable than that with +Diane de Ribaumont would have been. But it was not convenient +to argue against the expediency of a man's loving his own wife; and +when Berenger boldly declared he was not talking of love but of +justice, it was only possible to insist that he should pause and +see where true justice lay.</p> + +<p>And thus the much-perplexed Ambassador broke up the conference +with his hot and angry young guest.</p> + +<p>'And Mistress Lucy---?' sighed Mr. Adderley, in rather an <i> +inapropos</i> fashion it must be owned; but then he had been +fretted beyond endurance by his pupil striding up and down his +room, reviling Diane, and describing Eustacie, while he was trying +to write these uncomfortable tidings to Lord Walwyn.</p> + +<p>'Lucy! What makes you bring her up to me?' exclaimed +Berenger. </p> + +<p>'Little Dolly would be as much to the purpose!'</p> + +<p>'Only, sir, no resident at Hurst Walwyn could fail to know that +has been planned and desired.'</p> + +<p>'Pshaw!' cries Berenger; 'have you not heard that it was a mere +figment, and that I could scarce have wedded Lucy safely, even had +this matter gone as you wish? This is the luckiest chance +that could have befallen her.'</p> + +<p>'That may be,' said Mr. Adderley; 'I wish she may think +so--sweet young lady!'</p> + +<p>'I tell you, Mr. Adderley, you should know better! Lucy +has more sense. My aunt, whom she follows more than any other +creature, ever silenced the very sport or semblance of love +passages between us even as children, by calling them unseemly in +one wedded as I am. Brother and sister we have ever been, and +have loved as such--ay, and shall! I know of late some +schemes have crossed my mother's mind---'</p> + +<p>'Yea, and that of others.'</p> + +<p>'But they have not ruffled Lucy's quiet nature--trust me! And +for the rest? What doth she need me in comparison of this +poor child? She--like a bit of her own gray lavender in the +shadiest nook of the walled garden, tranquil there--sure not to be +taken there, save to company with fine linen in some trim scented +coffer, whilst this fresh glowing rosebud has grown up pure and +precious in the very midst of the foulest corruption Christendom +can show, and if I snatch her not from it, I, the innocence and +sweetness, what is to be her fate? The very pity of a +Christian, the honour of a gentleman, would urge me, even if it +were not my most urgent duty!'</p> + +<p>'Mr. Adderley argued no more. When Berenger came to his +duty in the matter he was invincible, and moreover all the more +provoking, because he mentioned it with a sort of fiery sound of +relish, and looked so very boyish all the time. Poor Mr. +Adderley!' feeling as if his trust were betrayed, loathing the very +idea of a French court lady, saw that his pupil had been allured +into a headlong passion to his own misery, and that of all whose +hopes were set on him, yet preached to by this stripling scholar +about duties and sacred obligations! Well might he rue the +day he ever set foot in Paris.</p> + +<p>Then, to his further annoyance, came a royal messenger to invite +the Baron de Ribaumont to join the expedition to Montpipeau. +Of course he must go, and his tutor must be left behind, and who +could tell into what mischief he might not be tempted!</p> + +<p>Here, however, Sidney gave the poor chaplain some comfort. +He believed that no ladies were to be of the party, and that the +gentlemen were chiefly of the King's new friends among the +Huguenots, such as Coligny, his son-in-law Teligny, Rochefoucauld, +and the like, among whom the young gentleman could not fall into +any very serious harm, and might very possibly be influenced +against a Roman Catholic wife. At any rate, he would be out +of the way, and unable to take any dangerous steps.</p> + +<p>This same consideration so annoyed Berenger that he would have +declined the invitation, if royal invitations could have been +declined. And in the morning, before setting out, he dressed +himself point device, and with Osbert behind him marched down to +the Croix de Larraine, to call upon the Chevalier de +Ribaumont. He had a very fine speech at his tongue's end when +he set out, but a good deal of it had evaporated when he reached +the hotel, and perhaps he was not very sorry not to find the old +gentleman within.</p> + +<p>On his return, he indited a note to the Chevalier, explaining +that he had now seen his wife, Madame la Baronne de Ribaumont, and +had come to an understanding with her, by which he found that it +was under a mistake that the application to the Pope had been +signed, and that they should, therefore, follow it up with a +protest, and act as if no such letter had been sent.</p> + +<p>Berenger showed this letter to Walsingham, who, though much +concerned, could not forbid his sending it. 'Poor lad,' he +said to the tutor; ''tis an excellently writ billet for one so +young. I would it were in a wiser cause. But he has +fairly the bit between his teeth, and there is no checking him +while he has this show of right on his side.'</p> + +<p>And poor Mr. Adderley could only beseech Mr. Sidney to take care +of him.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER VII. THE QUEEN'S PASTORAL</h3> + +<p>Either very gravely gay,</p> + +<p>Or very gaily grave,--W. M. PRAED</p> + +<p>Montpipeau, though in the present day a suburb of Paris, was in +the sixteenth century far enough from the city to form a sylvan +retreat, where Charles IX, could snatch a short respite from the +intrigues of his court, under pretext of enjoying his favourite +sport. Surrounded with his favoured associates of the +Huguenot party, he seemed to breathe a purer atmosphere, and to +yield himself up to enjoyment greater than perhaps his sad life had +ever known.</p> + +<p>He rode among his gentlemen, and the brilliant cavalcade passed +through poplar-shaded roads, clattered through villages, and +threaded their way through bits of forest still left for the royal +chase. The people thronged out of their houses, and shouted +not only 'Vive le Roy,' but 'Vive l'Amiral,' and more than once the +cry was added, 'Spanish war, or civil war!' The heart of +France was, if not with the Reformed, at least against Spain and +the Lorrainers, and Sidney perceived, from the conversation of the +gentlemen round him, that the present expedition had been devised +less for the sake of the sport, than to enable the King to take +measures for emancipating himself from the thraldom of his mother, +and engaging the country in a war against Philip II. Sidney +listened, but Berenger chafed, feeling only that he was being +further carried out of reach of his explanation with his +kindred. And thus they arrived at Montpipeau, a tower, tall +and narrow, like all French designs, but expanded on the ground +floor by wooden buildings capable of containing the numerous train +of a royal hunter, and surrounded by an extent of waste land, +without fine trees, though with covert for deer, boars, and wolves +sufficient for sport to royalty and death to peasantry. Charles +seemed to sit more erect in his saddle, and to drink in joy with +every breath of the thyme-scented breeze, from the moment his horse +bounded on the hollow-sounding turf; and when he leapt to the +ground, with the elastic spring of youth, he held out his hands to +Sidney and to Teligny, crying 'Welcome, my friends. Here I am +indeed a king!'</p> + +<p>It was a lovely summer evening, early in August, and Charles +bade the supper to be spread under the elms that shaded a green +lawn in front of the chateau. Etiquette was here so far +relaxed as to permit the sovereign to dine with his suite, and +tables, chairs, and benches were brought out, drapery festooned in +the trees to keep off sun and wind, the King lay down in the fern +and let his happy dogs fondle him, and as a hers-girl passed along +a vista in the distance, driving her goats before her, Philip +Sidney marvelled whether it was not even thus in Arcadia.</p> + +<p>Presently there was a sound of horses trampling, wheels moving, +a party of gaily gilded archers of the guard jingled up, and in +their midst was a coach. Berenger's heart seemed to leap at +once to his lips, as a glimpse of ruffs, hats, and silks dawned on +him through the windows.</p> + +<p>The king rose from his lair among the fern, the Admiral stood +forward, all heads were bared, and from the coach-door alighted the +young Queen; no longer pale, subdued, and indifferent, but with a +face shining with girlish delight, as she held out her hand to the +Admiral. 'Ah! This is well, this is beautiful,' she +exclaimed; 'it is like our happy chases in the Tyrol. Ah, +Sire!' to the King, 'how I thank you for letting me be with +you.'</p> + +<p>After her Majesty descended her gentleman-usher. Then came +the lady-in-waiting, Madame de Sauve, the wife of the state +secretary in attendance on Charles, and a triumphant, coquettish +beauty, than a fat, good-humoured Austrian dame, always called +Madame la Comtesse, because her German name was unpronounceable, +and without whom the Queen never stirred, and lastly a little +figure, rounded yet slight, slender yet soft and plump, with a +kitten-like alertness and grace of motion, as she sprang out, +collected the Queen's properties of fan, kerchief, pouncet-box, +mantle, &c., and disappeared in to the chateau, without +Berenger's being sure of anything but that her little black hat had +a rose-coloured feather in it.</p> + +<p>The Queen was led to a chair placed under one of the largest +trees, and there Charles presented to her such of his gentlemen as +she was not yet acquainted with, the Baron de Ribaumont among the +rest.</p> + +<p>'I have heard of M. de Ribaumont,' she said, in a tone that made +the colour mantle in his fair cheek; and with a sign of her hand +she detained him at her side till the King had strolled away with +Madame la Sauve, and no one remained near but her German +countess. Then changing her tone to one of confidence, which +the high-bred homeliness of her Austrian manner rendered +inexpressibly engaging, she said, 'I must apologize, Monsieur, for +the giddiness of my sister-in-law, which I fear caused you some +embarrassment.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, Madame,' said Berenger, kneeling on one knee as she +addressed him, and his heart bounding with wild, undefined hope, 'I +cannot be grateful enough. It was that which led to my being +undeceived.'</p> + +<p>'It was true, then, that you were mistaken?' said the Queen.</p> + +<p>'Treacherously deceived, Madame, by those whose interest it is +to keep us apart,' said Berenger, colouring with indignation; 'they +imposed my other cousin on me as my wife, and caused her to think +me cruelly neglectful.'</p> + +<p>'I know,' said the Queen. 'Yet Mdlle. de Ribaumont is far +more admired than my little blackbird.'</p> + +<p>'That may be, Madame, but not by me.'</p> + +<p>'Yet is it true that you came to break off the marriage?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, Madame,' said Berenger, honestly, 'but I had not seen +her.'</p> + +<p>'And now?' said the Queen, smiling.</p> + +<p>'I would rather die than give her up,' said Berenger. 'Oh, +Madame, help us of your grace. Every one is trying to part +us, every one is arguing against us, but she is my own true wedded +wife, and if you will but give her to me, all will be well.'</p> + +<p>'I like you, M. de Ribaumont,' said the Queen, looking him full +in the face. 'You are like our own honest Germans at my home, +and I think you mean all you say. I had much rather my dear +little Nid de Merle were with you than left here, to become like +all the others. She is a good little <i>Liegling</i>,--how do +you call it in French? She has told me all, and truly I would help +you with all my heart, but it is not as if I were the +Queen-mother. You must have recourse to the King, who loves +you well, and at my request included you in the hunting-party.'</p> + +<p>Berenger could only kiss her hand in token of earnest thanks +before the repast was announced, and the King came to lead her to +the table spread beneath the trees. The whole party supped +together, but Berenger could have only a distant view of his little +wife, looking very demure and grave by the side of the Admiral.</p> + +<p>But when the meal was ended, there was a loitering in the +woodland paths, amid healthy openings or glades trimmed into +discreet wildness fit for royal rusticity; the sun set in parting +glory on one horizon, the moon rising in crimson majesty on the +other. A musician at intervals touched the guitar, and sang +Spanish or Italian airs, whose soft or quaint melody came dreamily +through the trees. Then it was that with beating heart +Berenger stole up to the maiden as she stood behind the Queen, and +ventured to whisper her name and clasp her hand.</p> + +<p>She turned, their eyes met, and she let him lead her apart into +the wood. It was not like a lover's tryst, it was more like +the continuation of their old childish terms, only that he treated +her as a thing of his own, that he was bound to secure and to +guard, and she received him as her own lawful but tardy protector, +to be treated with perfect reliance but with a certain playful +resentment.</p> + +<p>'You will not run away from me now,' he said, making full prize +of her hand and arm.</p> + +<p>'Ah! is not she the dearest and best of queens?' and the large +eyes were lifted up to him in such frank seeking of sympathy that +he could see into the depths of their clear darkness.</p> + +<p>'It is her doing then. Though, Eustacie, when I knew the +truth, not flood nor fire should keep me long from you, my heart, +my love, my wife.'</p> + +<p>'What! wife in spite of those villainous letter?' she said, +trying to pout.</p> + +<p>'Wife for ever, inseparably! Only you must be able to swear that +you knew nothing of the one that brought me here.'</p> + +<p>'Poor me! No, indeed! There was Celine carried off +at fourteen, Madame de Blanchet a bride at fifteen; all marrying +hither and thither; and I--' she pulled a face irresistibly droll-- +'I growing old enough to dress St. Catherine's hair, and wondering +where was M. le Baron.'</p> + +<p>'They thought me too young,' said Berenger, 'to take on me the +cares of life.'</p> + +<p>'So they were left to me?'</p> + +<p>'Cares! What cares have you but finding the Queen's fan?'</p> + +<p>'Little you know!' she said, half contemptuous, half +mortified.</p> + +<p>'Nay, pardon me, <i>ma mie</i>. Who has troubled you?'</p> + +<p>'Ah! you would call it nothing to be beset by Narcisse; to be +told one's husband is faithless, till one half believes it; to be +looked at by ugly eyes; to be liable to be teased any day by +Monsieur, or worse, by that mocking ape, M. d'Alecon, and to have +nobody who can or will hinder it.'</p> + +<p>She was sobbing by this time, and he exclaimed, 'Ah, would that +I could revenge all! Never, never shall it be again! +What blessed grace has guarded you through all?'</p> + +<p>'Did I not belong to you?' she said exultingly. 'And had +not Sister Monique, yes, and M. le Baron, striven hard to make me +good? Ah, how kind he was!'</p> + +<p>'My father? Yes, Eustacie, he loved you to the last. +He bade me, on his deathbed, give you his own Book of Psalms, and +tell you he had always loved and prayed for you.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! his Psalms! I shall love them! Even at +Bellaise, when first we came there, we used to sing them, but the +Mother Abbess went out visiting, and when she came back she said +they were heretical. And Soeur Monique would not let me say +the texts he taught me, but I WOULD not forget them. I say +them often in my heart.'</p> + +<p>'Then,' he cried joyfully, 'you will willingly embrace my +religion?'</p> + +<p>'Be a Huguenot?' she said distastefully.</p> + +<p>'I am not precisely a Huguenot; I do not love them,' he answered +hastily; 'but all shall be made clear to you at my home in +England.'</p> + +<p>'England!' she said. 'Must we live in England? Away +from every one?'</p> + +<p>'Ah, they will love so much! I shall make you so happy there,' +he answered. 'There you will see what it is to be true and +trustworthy.'</p> + +<p>'I had rather live at Chateau Leurre, or my own Nid de Merle,' +she replied. 'There I should see Soeur Monique, and my aunt, +the Abbess, and we would have the peasants to dance in the castle +court. Oh! if you could but see the orchards at Le Bocage, +you would never want to go away. And we could come now and +then to see my dear Queen.</p> + +<p>'I am glad at least you would not live at court.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, no, I have been more unhappy here than ever I knew could be +borne.'</p> + +<p>And a very few words from him drew out all that had happened to +her since they parted. Her father had sent her to Bellaise, a +convent founded by the first of the Angevin branch, which was +presided over by his sister, and where Diane was also +educated. The good sister Monique had been mistress of the +<i>pensionnaires</i>, and had evidently taken much pains to keep +her charge innocent and devout. Diane had been taken to court +about two years before, but Eustacie had remained at the convent +till some three months since, when she had been appointed maid of +honour to the recently-married Queen; and her uncle had fetched her +from Anjou, and had informed her at the same time that her young +husband had turned Englishman and heretic, and that after a few +formalities had been complied with, she would become the wife of +her cousin Narcisse. Now there was no person whom she so much +dreaded as Narcisse, and when Berenger spoke of him as a feeble +fop, she shuddered as though she knew him to have something of the +tiger.</p> + +<p>'Do you remember Benoit?' she said; 'poor Benoit, who came to +Normandy as my <i>laquais</i>? When I went back to Anjou he +married a girl from Leurre, and went to aid his father at the +farm. The poor fellow had imbibed the Baron's doctrine--he +spread it. It was reported that there was a nest of Huguenots +on the estate. My cousin came to break it up with his <i>gens +d'armes</i> O Berenger, he would hear no entreaties, he had no +mercy; he let them assemble on Sunday, that they might be all +together. He fired the house; shot down those who escaped; if +a prisoner were made, gave him up to the Bishop's Court. +Benoit, my poor good Benoit, who used to lead my palfrey, was first +wounded, then tried, and burnt--burnt in the PLACE at Lucon! +I heard Narcisse laugh--laugh as he talked of the cries of the poor +creatures in the conventicler. My own people, who loved +me! I was but twelve years old, but even then the wretch +would pay me a half-mocking courtesy, as one destined to him; and +the more I disdained him and said I belonged to you, the more both +he and my aunt, the Abbess, smiled, as though they had their bird +in a cage; but they left me in peace till my uncle brought me to +court, and then all began again: and when they said you gave me up, +I had no hope, not even of a convent. But ah, it is all over +now, and I am so happy! You are grown so gentle and so +beautiful, Berenger, and so much taller than I ever figured you to +myself, and you look as if you could take me up in your arms, and +let no harm happen to me.'</p> + +<p>'Never, never shall it!' said Berenger, felling all manhood, +strength, and love stir within him, and growing many years in heart +in that happy moment. 'My sweet little faithful wife, never +fear again now you are mine.'</p> + +<p>Alas! poor children. They were a good way from the +security they had begun to fancy for themselves. Early the +next morning, Berenger went in his straightforward way to the King, +thanked him, and requested his sanction for at once producing +themselves to the court as Monsieur le Baron and Madame la Baronne +de Ribaumont.</p> + +<p>At this Charles swore a great oath, as one in perplexity, and +bade him not go so fast.</p> + +<p>'See here,' said he, with the rude expletives only too habitual +with him; 'she is a pretty little girl, and she and her lands are +much better with an honest man like you than with that <i> +pendard</i> of a cousin; but you see he is bent on having her, and +he belongs to a cut-throat crew that halt at nothing. I would +not answer for your life, if you tempted him so strongly to rid +himself of you.'</p> + +<p>'My own sword, Sire, can guard my life.'</p> + +<p>'Plague upon your sword! What does the foolish youth think +it would do against half-a-dozen poniards and pistols in a lane +black as hell's mouth?'</p> + +<p>The foolish young WAS thinking how could a king so full of fiery +words and strange oaths bear to make such an avowal respecting his +own capital and his own courtiers. All he could do was to bow +and reply, 'Nevertheless, Sire, at whatever risk, I cannot +relinquish my wife; I would take her at one to the +Ambassador's.'</p> + +<p>'How, sir!' interrupted Charles, haughtily and angrily, 'if you +forget that you are a French nobleman still, I should remember +it! The Ambassador may protect his own countrymen-none +else.'</p> + +<p>'I entreat your Majesty's pardon,' said Berenger, anxious to +retract his false step. 'It was your goodness and the +gracious Queen's that made me hope for your sanction.'</p> + +<p>'All the sanction Charles de Valois can give is yours, and +welcome,' said the King, hastily. 'The sanction of the King +of France is another matter! To say the truth, I see no way +out of the affair but an elopement.'</p> + +<p>'Sire!' exclaimed the astonished Berenger, whose +strictly-disciplined education had little prepared him for such +counsel.</p> + +<p>'Look you! if I made you known as a wedded pair, the +Chevalier and his son would not only assassinate you, but down on +me would come my brother, and my mother, and M. de Guise and all +their crew, veritably for giving the prize out of the mouth of +their satellite, but nominally for disregarding the Pope, favouring +a heretical marriage, and I know not what, but, as things go here, +I should assuredly get the worst of it; and if you made safely off +with your prize, no one could gainsay you--I need know nothing +about it--and lady and lands would be your without dispute. +You might ride off from the skirts of the forest; I would lead the +hunt that way, and the three days' riding would bring you to +Normady, for you had best cross to England immediately. When +she is one there, owned by your kindred, Monsieur le cousin may +gnash his teeth as he will, he must make the best of it for the +sake of the honour of his house, and you can safely come back and +raise her people and yours to follow the Oriflamme when it takes +the field against Spain. What! you are still discontented? +Speak out! Plain speaking is a treat not often reserved for +me.'</p> + +<p>'Sire, I am most grateful for your kindness, but I should +greatly prefer going straightforward.'</p> + +<p>'Peste! Well is it said that a blundering Englishman goes +always right before him! There, then! As your King on +the one hand, as the friend who has brought you and your wife +together, sir, it is my command that you do not compromise me and +embroil greater matters than you can understand by publicly +claiming this girl. Privately I will aid you to the best of +my ability; publicly, I command you, for my sake, if you heed not +your own, to be silent!'</p> + +<p>Berenger sought out Sidney, who smiled at his surprise.</p> + +<p>'Do you not see,' he said, 'that the King is your friend, and +would be very glad to save the lady's lands from the Guisards, but +that he cannot say so; he can only befriend a Huguenot by +stealth.'</p> + +<p>'I would not be such a king for worlds!'</p> + +<p>However, Eustacie was enchanted. It was like a prince and +princess in Mere Perinne's fairy tales. Could they go like a +shepherd and shepherdess? She had no fears-no scruples. +Would she not be with her husband? It was the most charming +frolic in the world. So the King seemed to think it, though +he was determined to call it all the Queen's doing-- the first +intrigue of her own, making her like all the rest of us--the +Queen's little comedy. He undertook to lead the chase as far +as possible in the direction of Normandy, when the young pair might +ride on to an inn, meet fresh horses, and proceed to Chateau +Leurre, and thence to England. He would himself provide a +safe-conduct, which, as Berenger suggested, would represent them as +a young Englishman taking home his young wife. Eustacie +wanted at least to masquerade as an Englishwoman, and played off +all the fragments of the language she had caught as a child, but +Berenger only laughed at her, and said they just fitted the French +bride. It was very pretty to laugh at Eustacie; she made such +a droll pretence at pouting with her rosebud lips, and her merry +velvety eyes belied them so drolly.</p> + +<p>Such was to be the Queen's pastoral; but when Elisabeth found +the responsibility so entirely thrown on her, she began to look +grave and frightened. It was no doubt much more than she had +intended when she brought about the meeting between the young +people, and the King, who had planned the elopement, seemed still +resolved to make all appear her affair. She looked all day +more like the grave, spiritless being she was at court than like +the bright young rural queen of the evening before, and she was +long in her little oratory chapel in the evening. Berenger, +who was waiting in the hall with the other Huguenot gentlemen, +thought her devotions interminable since they delayed all her +ladies. At length, however, a page came up to him, and said +in a low voice, 'The Queen desires the presence of M. le Baron de +Ribaumont.'</p> + +<p>He followed the messenger, and found himself in the little +chapel, before a gaily-adorned altar, and numerous little shrines +and niches round. Sidney would have dreaded a surreptitious +attempt to make him conform, but Berenger had no notion of such +perils,--he only saw that Eustacie was standing by the Queen's +chair, and a kindly-looking Austrian priest, the Queen's confessor, +held a book in his hand.</p> + +<p>The Queen came to meet him. 'For my sake,' she said, with +all her sweetness, 'to ease my mind, I should like to see my little +Eustacie made entirely your own ere you go. Father Meinhard +tells me it is safer that, when the parties were under twelve years +old, the troth should be again exchanged. No other ceremony +is needed.'</p> + +<p>'I desire nothing but to have her made indissolubly my own,' +said Berenger, bowing.</p> + +<p>'And the King permits,' added Elisabeth.</p> + +<p>The King growled out, 'It is your comedy, Madame; I meddle +not.'</p> + +<p>The Austrian priest had no common language with Berenger but +Latin. He asked a few questions, and on hearing the answers, +declared that the sacrament of marriage had been complete, but +that--as was often done in such cases--he would once more hear the +troth-plight of the young pair. The brief formula was +therefore at once exchanged--the King, when the Queen looked +entreatingly at him, rousing himself to make the bride over to +Berenger. As soon as the vows had been made, in the briefest +manner, the King broke in boisterously:</p> + +<p>'There, you are twice marred, to please Madame there; but hold +your tongues all of you about this scene in the play.'</p> + +<p>Then almost pushing Eustacie over to Berenger, he added, 'There +she is! Take your wife, sir; but mind, she was as much yours before +as she is now.'</p> + +<p>But for all Berenger had said about 'his wife,' it was only now +that he really FELT her his own, and became husband rather than +lover-man instead of boy. She was entirely his own now, and +he only desired to be away with her; but some days' delay was +necessary. A chase on the scale of the one that was to favour +their evasion could not be got up without some notice; and, +moreover, it was necessary to procure money, for neither Sidney nor +Ribaumont had more than enough with them for the needful +liberalities to the King's servants and huntsmen. Indeed +Berenger had spent all that remained in his purse upon the wares of +an Italian pedlar whom he and Eustacie met in the woods, and whose +gloves 'as sweet as fragrant posies,' fans, scent-boxes, pocket +mirrors, Genoa wire, Venice chains, and other toys, afforded him +the mean of making up the gifts that he wished to carry home to his +sisters; and Eustacie's counsel was merrily given in the +choice. And when the vendor began with a meaning smile to +recommend to the young pair themselves a little silver-netted heart +as a love-token, and it turned out that all Berenger's money was +gone, so that it could not be bought without giving up the scented +casket destined for Lucy, Eustacie turned with her sweetest, +proudest smile, and said, 'No, no; I will not have it; what do we +two want with love-tokens now?'</p> + +<p>Sidney had taken the youthful and romantic view of the case, and +considered himself to be taking the best possible bare of is young +friend, by enabling him to deal honourably with so charming a +little wife as Eustacie. Ambassador and tutor would doubtless +be very angry; but Sidney could judge for himself of the lady, and +he therefore threw himself into her interests, and sent his servant +back to Paris to procure the necessary sum for the journey of +Master Henry Berenger and Mistress Mary, his wife. Sidney +was, on his return alone to Paris, to explain all to the elders, +and pacify them as best he could; and his servant was already the +bearer of a letter from Berenger that was to be sent at once to +England with Walsingham's dispatches, to prepare Lord Walwyn for +the arrival of the runaways. The poor boy laboured to be +impressively calm and reasonable in his explanation of the +misrepresentation, and of his strong grounds for assuming his +rights, with his persuasion that his wife would readily join the +English church--a consideration that he knew would greatly smooth +the way for her. Indeed, his own position was impregnable: +nobody could blame him for taking his own wife to himself, and he +was so sure of her charms, that he troubled himself very little +about the impression she might make on his kindred. If they +loved her, it was all right; if not, he could take her back to his +own castle, and win fame and honour under the banner of France in +the Low Countries. As the Lucy Thistlewood, she was far too +discreet to feel any disappointment or displeasure; or if she +should, it was her own fault and that of his mother, for all her +life she had known him to be married. So he finished his +letter with a message that the bells should be ready to ring, and +that when Philip heard three guns fired on the coast, he might +light the big beacon pile above the Combe.</p> + +<p>Meantime 'the Queen's Pastoral' was much relished by all the +spectators. The state of things was only avowed to Charles, +Elisabeth, and Philip Sidney, and even the last did not know of the +renewed troth which the King chose to treat as such a secret; but +no one had any doubt of the mutual relations of M. de Ribaumont and +Mdlle. de Nid de Merle, and their dream of bliss was like a +pastoral for the special diversion of the holiday of +Montpipeau. The transparency of their indifference in +company, their meeting eyes, their trysts with the secrecy of an +ostrich, were the subjects of constant amusement to the elders, +more especially as the shyness, blushes, and caution were much more +on the side of the young husband than on that of the lady. +Fresh from her convent, simple with childishness and innocence, it +was to her only the natural completion of her life to be altogether +Berenger's, and the brief concealment of their full union added a +certain romantic enchantment, which added to her exultation in her +victory over her cruel kindred. She had been upon her own +mind, poor child, for her few weeks of court life. She had +been upon her own mind, poor child, for her few weeks of court +life, but not long enough to make her grow older, though just so +long as to make the sense of her having her own protector with her +doubly precious. He, on the other hand, though full of +happiness, did also feel constantly deepening on him the sense of +the charge and responsibility he had assumed, hardly knowing +how. The more dear Eustacie became to him, the more she +rested on him and became entirely his, the more his boyhood and +INSOUCIANCE drifted away behind him; and while he could hardly bear +to heave his darling a moment out of his sight, the less he could +endure any remark or jest upon his affection for her. His +home had been a refined one, where Cecile's convent purity seemed +to diffuse an atmosphere of modest reserve such as did not prevail +in the court of the Maiden Queen herself, and the lad of eighteen +had not seem enough of the outer world to have rubbed off any of +that grace. His seniority to his little wife seemed to show itself +chiefly in his being put out of countenance for her, when she was +too innocent and too proud of her secret matronhood to understand +or resent the wit.</p> + +<p>Little did he know that this was the ballet-like interlude in a +great and terrible tragedy, whose first act was being played out on +the stage where they schemed and sported, like their own little +drama, which was all the world to them, and noting to the +others. Berenger knew indeed that the Admiral was greatly +rejoiced that the Nid de Merle estates should go into Protestant +hands, and that the old gentleman lost no opportunity of impressing +on him that they were a heavy trust, to be used for the benefit of +'the Religion,' and for the support of the King in his better +mind. But it may be feared that he did not give a very +attentive ear to all this. He did not like to think of those +estates; he would gladly have left them all the Narcisse, so that +he might have their lady, and though quite willing to win his spurs +under Charles and Coligny against the Spaniard, his heart and head +were far too full to take in the web of politics. Sooth to +say, the elopement in prospect seemed to him infinitely more +important than Pope or Spaniard, Guise or Huguenot, and Coligny +observed with a sigh to Teligny that he was a good boy, but nothing +but the merest boy, with eyes open only to himself.</p> + +<p>When Charles undertook to rehearse their escape with them, and +the Queen drove out in a little high-wheeled litter with Mme. la +Comtesse, while Mme. De Sauve and Eustacie were mounted on gay +palfreys with the pommelled side-saddle lately invented by the +Queen-mother, Berenger, as he watched the fearless horsemanship and +graceful bearing of his newly-won wife, had no speculations to +spend on the thoughtful face of the Admiral. And when at the +outskirts of the wood the King's bewildering hunting-horn--sounding +as it were now here, now there, now low, now high--called every +attendant to hasten to its summons, leaving the young squire and +damsel errant with a long winding high-banked lane before them, +they reckoned the dispersion to be all for their sakes, and did not +note, as did Sidney's clear eye, that when the entire company had +come straggling him, it was the King who came up with Mme. De Sauve +almost the last; and a short space after, as if not to appear to +have been with him, appeared the Admiral and his son-in-law.</p> + +<p>Sidney also missed one of the Admiral's most trusted attendants, +and from this and other symptoms he formed his conclusions that the +King had scattered his followers as much for the sake of an +unobserved conference with Coligny as for the convenience of the +lovers, and that letters had been dispatched in consequence of that +meeting.</p> + +<p>Those letters were indeed of a kind to change the face of +affairs in France. Marshal Strozzi, then commanding in the +south-west, was bidden to embark at La Rochelle in the last week of +August, to hasten to the succour of the Prince of Orange against +Spain, and letters were dispatched by Coligny to all the Huguenot +partisans bidding them assemble at Melun on the third of September, +when they would be in the immediate neighbourhood of the court, +which was bound for Fontainebleau. Was the star of the Guises +indeed waning? Was Charles about to escape from their hands, +and commit himself to an honest, high-minded policy, in which he +might have been able to purify his national Church, and wind back +to her those whom her corruptions had driven to seek truth and +morality beyond her pale?</p> + +<p>Alas! there was a bright pair of eyes that saw more than Philip +Sidney's, a pair of ears that heard more, a tongue and pen less +faithful to guard a secret.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER VIII<i>. 'LE BROUILON'</i></h3> + +<p>But never more the same two sister pearls</p> + +<p>Ran down the silken thread to kiss each other.--Tennyson</p> + +<p>Berenger was obliged to crave permission from the King to spend +some hours in riding with Osbert to the first hostel on their way, +to make arrangements for the relay of horses that was to meet them +there, and for the reception of Veronique, Eustacie's maid, who was +to be sent off very early in the morning on a pillion behind +Osbert, taking with her the articles of dress that would be wanted +to change her mistress from the huntress maid of honour to the +English dame.</p> + +<p>It was not long after he had been gone that a sound of wheels +and trampling horses was heard in one of the forest drives. +Charles, who was amusing himself with shooting at a mark together +with Sidney and Teligny, handed his weapon to an attendant, and +came up with looks of restless anxiety to his Queen, who was placed +in her chair under the tree, with the Admiral and her ladies round +her, as judges of the prize.</p> + +<p>'Here is <i>le brouillon</i>,' he muttered. 'I thought we +had been left in peace too long.'</p> + +<p>Elisabeth, who Brantome says was water, while her husband was +fire, tried to murmur some hopeful suggestion; and poor little +Eustacie, clasping her hands, could scarcely refrain from uttering +the cry, 'Oh, it is my uncle! Do not let him take me!'</p> + +<p>The next minute there appeared four horses greatly heated and +jaded, drawing one of the court coaches; and as it stopped at the +castle gate, two ladies became visible within it--the portly form +of Queen Catherine, and on the back seat the graceful figure of +Diane de Ribaumont.</p> + +<p>Charles swore a great oath under his breath. He made a +step forward, but then his glance falling on Eustacie's face, which +had flushed to the rosiest hue of the carnation, he put his finger +upon his lip with a menacing air, and then advanced to greet his +mother, followed by his gentlemen.</p> + +<p>'Fear not, my dear child,' said the young Queen, taking +Eustacie's arm as she rose for the same purpose. 'Obey the +King, and he will take care that all goes well.'</p> + +<p>The gentle Elisabeth was, however, the least regarded member of +the royal family. Her mother-in-law had not even waited to +greet her, but had hurried the King into his cabinet, with a +precipitation that made the young Queen's tender heart conclude +that some dreadful disaster had occurred, and before Mademoiselle +de Ribaumont had had time to make her reverence, she exclaimed, +breathlessly, 'Oh, is it ill news? Not from Vienna?'</p> + +<p>'No, no, Madame; reassure yourself,' replied Diane; 'it is +merely that her Majesty, being on the way to Monceaux with +Mesdames, turned out of her road to make a flying visit to your +graces, and endeavour to persuade you to make her party +complete.'</p> + +<p>Elisabeth looked as if questioning with herself if this would +possibly be the whole explanation. Monceaux was a castle +belonging to the Queen Dowager at no great distance from +Montpipeau, but there had been no intention of leaving Paris before +the wedding, which was fixed for the seventeenth of August, and the +bridegroom was daily expected. She asked who was the party at +Monceaux, and was told that Madame de Nemours had gone thither the +evening before, with her son, M. de Guise, to make ready; and that +Monsieur was escorting thither his two sisters, Madame de Lorraine +and Madame Marguerite. The Queen-mother had set out before +them very early in the morning.</p> + +<p>'You must have made great speed,' said Elisabeth; 'it is +scarcely two o'clock.'</p> + +<p>'Truly we did, Madame; two of our horses even died upon the +road; but the Queen was anxious to find the King ere he should set +off on one of his long chases.'</p> + +<p>Diane, at every spare moment, kept her eyes interrogatively +fixed on her cousin, and evidently expected that the taciturn +Queen, to whom a long conversation, in any language but Spanish, +was always a grievance, would soon dismiss them both; and Eustacie +did not know whether to be thankful or impatient, as Elisabeth, +with tardy, hesitating, mentally-translated speech, inquired into +every circumstance of the death of the poor horses, and then into +all the court gossip, which she was currently supposed neither to +hear nor understand; and then bethought herself that this good +Mademoiselle de Ribaumont could teach her that embroidery stitch +she had so long wished to learn. Taking her arm, she entered +the hall, and produced her work, so as effectually to prevent any +communication between the cousins; Eustacie, meanwhile her heart +clinging to her friend, felt her eyes filling with tears at the +thoughts of how unkind her morrow's flight would seem without one +word of farewell or of confidence, and was already devising tokens +of tenderness to be left behind for Diane's consolation, when the +door of the cabinet opened, and Catherine sailed down the stairs, +with her peculiar gliding step and sweep of dignity. The King +followed her with a face of irresolution and distress. He was +evidently under her displeasure; but she advanced to the young +Queen with much graciousness, and an air of matronly +solicitude.</p> + +<p>'My daughter,' she said, 'I have just assured the King that I +cannot leave you in these damp forests. I could not be +responsible for the results of the exposure any longer. It is +for him to make his own arrangements, but I brought my coach empty +on purpose to transport you and your ladies to Monceaux.</p> + +<p>The women may follow with the mails. You can be ready as +soon as the horses are harnessed.'</p> + +<p>Elisabeth was used to passiveness. She turned one +inquiring look to her husband, but he looked sullen, and, evidently +cowed by his mother, uttered not a word. She could only submit, and +Catherine herself add that there was room for Madame de Sauve and +Mademoiselle de Nid de Merle. Madame la Comtesse should +follow! It was self-evident that propriety would not admit of +the only demoiselle being left behind among the gentlemen. +Poor Eustacie, she looked mutely round as if she hoped to +escape! What was the other unkindness to this? And ever +under the eyes of Diane too, who followed her to their chamber, +when she went to prepare, so that she could not even leave a token +for him where he would have been most certain to find it. Moments +were few; but at the very last, while the queens were being handed +in the carriage, she caught the eye of Philip Sidney. He saw +the appealing look, and came near. She tried to laugh. +'Here is my gage, Monsieur Sidney,' she said, and held out a +rose-coloured knot of ribbon; then, as he came near enough, she +whispered imploringly three of her few English words--</p> + +<p>'Give to HIM.'</p> + +<p>'I take the gage as it is meant,' said Sidney, putting a knee to +the ground, and kissing the trembling fingers, ere he handed her +into the carriage. He smiled and waved his hand as he met her +earnest eyes. One bow contained a scrap of paper pricked with +needle-holes. Sidney would not have made out those pricks for +the whole world, even had he been able to do more than hastily +secure the token, before the unhappy King, with a paroxysm of +violent interjections, demanded of him whether the Queen of +England, woman though she were, ever were so beset, and never +allowed a moment to herself; then, without giving time for an +answer, he flung away to his cabinet, and might be heard pacing up +and down there in a tempest of perplexity. He came forth only +to order his horse, and desire M. de Sauve and a few grooms to be +ready instantly to ride with him. His face was full of +pitiable perplexity--the smallest obstacle was met with a savage +oath; and he was evidently in all the misery of a weak yet +passionate nature, struggling with impotent violence against a yoke +that evidently mastered it.</p> + +<p>He flung a word to his guests that he should return ere night, +and they thus perceived that he did not intend their dismissal.</p> + +<p>'Poor youth,' said Coligny, mildly, 'he will be another being +when we have him in our camp with the King of Navarre for his +companion.'</p> + +<p>And then the Admiral repaired to his chamber to write one of his +many fond letters to the young wife of his old age; while his +son-in-law and Philip Sidney agreed to ride on, so as to met poor +young Ribaumont, and prepare him for the blow that had befallen him +personally, while they anxiously debated what this sudden descent +of the Queen-mother might portend. Teligny was ready to +believe in any evil intention on her part, but he thought himself +certain of the King's real sentiments, and in truth Charles had +never treated any man with such confidence as this young Huguenot +noble, to whom he had told his opinion of each of his counsellors, +and his complete distrust of all. That pitying affection +which clings to those who cling to it, as well as a true French +loyalty of heart, made Teligny fully believe that however Catherine +might struggle to regain her ascendancy, and whatever apparent +relapses might be caused by Charles's habitual subjection to her, +yet the high aspirations and strong sense of justice inherent in +the King were asserting themselves as his youth was passing into +manhood; and that the much-desired war would enable him to develop +all his higher qualities. Sidney listened, partially agreed, +talked of caution, and mused within himself whether violence might +not sometimes be mistaken for vigour.</p> + +<p>Ere long, the merry cadence of an old English song fell with a +homelike sound upon Sidney's ear, and in another moment they were +in sight of Berenger, trotting joyously along, with a bouquet of +crimson and white heather-blossoms in his hand, and his bright +young face full of exultation in his arrangements. He shouted +gaily as he saw them, calling out, 'I thought I should meet +you! but I wondered not to have heard the King's +bugle-horn. Where are the rest of the hunters?'</p> + +<p>'Unfortunately we have had another sort of hunt to-day,' said +Sidney, who had ridden forward to meet him; 'and one that I fear, +will disquiet you greatly.'</p> + +<p>'How! Not her uncle?' exclaimed Berenger.</p> + +<p>'No, cheer up, my friend, it was not she who was the object of +the chase; it was this unlucky King,' he added, speaking English, +'who has been run to earth by his mother.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, but what is that to me?' said Berenger, with impatient +superiority to the affairs of the nation. 'How does it touch +us?'</p> + +<p>Sidney related the abstraction of the young Queen and her +ladies, and then handed over the rose-coloured token, which +Berenger took with vehement ardour; then his features quivered as +he read the needle-pricked words-two that he had playfully insisted +on her speaking and spelling after him in his adopted tongue, then +not vulgarized, but the tenderest in the language, 'Sweet +heart.' That was all, but to him they conveyed constancy to +him and his, whatever might betide, and an entreaty not to leave +her to her fate.</p> + +<p>'My dearest! never!' he muttered; then turning hastily as he put +the precious token into his bosom, he exclaimed, 'Are their women +yet gone?' and being assured that they were not departed when the +two friends had set out, he pushed his horse on at speed, so as to +be able to send a reply by Veronique. He was barely in time: +the clumsy wagon-like conveyance of the waiting-women stood at the +door of the castle, in course of being packed with the Queen's +wardrobe, amid the janglings of lackeys, and expostulating cries of +<i>femmes de chambre</i>, all in the worst possible humour at being +crowded up with their natural enemies, the household of the +Queen-mother.</p> + +<p>Veronique, a round-faced Angevin girl--who, like her lady, had +not parted with all her rustic simplicity and honesty, and who had +been necessarily taken into their confidence--was standing apart +from the whirl of confusion, holding the leashes of two or three +little dogs that had been confided to her care, that their keepers +might with more ease throw themselves into the <i>melee</i>. +Her face lighted up as she saw the Baron de Ribaumont arrive.</p> + +<p>'Ah, sir, Madame will be so happy that I have seen Monsieur once +more,' she exclaimed under her breath, as he approached her.</p> + +<p>'Alas! there is not a moment to write,' he said, looking at the +vehicle, already fast filling, 'but give her these flowers; they +were gathered for her; give her ten thousand thanks for her +token. Tell her to hold firm, and that neither king nor +queen, bolt nor bar, shall keep me from her. Tell her, our +watchword is HOPE.'</p> + +<p>The sharp eyes of the duenna of the Queen's household, a rigid +Spanish dame, were already searching for stray members of her +flock, and Veronique had to hurry to her place, while Berenger +remained to hatch new plans, each wilder than the last, and torment +himself with guesses whether his project had been discovered. +Indeed, there were moments when he fancied the frustration of his +purpose the special object of Queen Catherine's journey, but he had +the wisdom to keep any such suggestion to himself.</p> + +<p>The King came back by supper-time, looking no longer in a state +of indecision, but pale and morose. He spoke to no one as he +entered, and afterwards took his place at the head of the +supper-table in silence, which he did not break till the meal was +nearly over. Then he said abruptly, 'Gentlemen, our party has +been broken up, and I imagine that after our great hunt tomorrow, +no one will have any objection to return to Paris. We shall +have merrier sport at Fontainebleau when this most troublesome of +weddings is over.'</p> + +<p>There was nothing to be done but to bow acquiescence, and the +King again became grimly silent. After supper he challenged +Coligny to a game of chess, and not a word passed during the +protracted contest, either from the combatants or any other person +in the hall. It was as if the light had suddenly gone out to +others besides the disappointed and anxious Berenger, and a dull +shadow had fallen on the place only yesterday so lively, joyous, +and hopeful.</p> + +<p>Berenger, chained by the etiquette of the royal presence, sat +like a statue, his back against the wall, his arms crossed on his +breast, his eyes fixed, chewing the cud of the memories of his +dream of bliss, or striving to frame the future to his will, and to +decide what was the next reasonable step he could take, or whether +his irrepressible longing to ride straight off to Monceaux, claim +his wife, and take her on horseback behind him, were a mere +impracticable vision.</p> + +<p>The King, having been checkmated twice out of three times by the +Admiral, too honest a man not truly to accept his declaration of +not wanting courtly play, pushed away the board, and was attended +by them all to his <i>coucher</i>, which was usually made in +public; and the Queen being absent, the gentlemen were required to +stand around him till he was ready to fall asleep. He did not +seem disposed to talk, but begged Sidney to fetch his lute, and +sing to him some English airs that had taken his fancy much when +sung by Sidney and Berenger together.</p> + +<p>Berenger felt as if they would choke him in his present turbid +state of resentful uncertainty; but even as the unhappy young King +spoke, it was with a heavy, restless groan, as he added, 'If you +know any lullaby that will give rest to a wretch tormented beyond +bearing, let us have it.'</p> + +<p>'Alas, Sire!' said the Admiral, seeing that no perilous ears +remained in the room; 'there are better and more soothing words +than any mundane melody.'</p> + +<p>'<i>Peste</i>! My good father,' said the King, petulantly, +'has not old Philpot, my nurse, rocked me to the sound of your +Marot's Psalms, and crooned her texts over me? I tell you I do not +want to think. </p> + +<p>I want what will drive thought away--to dull---'</p> + +<p>'Alas! what dulls slays,' said the Admiral.</p> + +<p>'Let it. Nothing can be worse than the present,' said the +wretched Charles; then, as if wishing to break away from Coligny, +he threw himself round towards Berenger, and said, 'Here; stoop +down, Ribaumont; a word with you. Your matters have gone up +the mountains, as the Italians say, with mine. But never +fear. Keep silence, and you shall have the bird in your hand, +only you must be patient. Hold! I will make you and Monsieur +Sidney gentlemen of my bed-chamber, which will give you the <i> +entree</i> of the Louvre; and if you cannot get her out of it +without an <i>eclat</i>, then you must be a much duller fellow than +half my court. Only that it is not their own wives that they +abstract.</p> + +<p>With this Berenger must needs content himself; and the certainty +of the poor King's good-will did enable him to do his part with +Sidney in the songs that endeavoured to soothe the torments of the +evil spirit which had on that day effected a fresh lodgement in +that weak, unwilling heart.</p> + +<p>It was not till the memoirs of the secret actors in this tragedy +were brought to light that the key to these doings was +discovered. M. de Sauve, Charles's secretary, had disclosed +his proceedings to his wife; she, flattered by the attentions of +the Duke of Anjou, betrayed them to him; and the Queen-mother, +terrified at the change of policy, and the loss of the power she +had enjoyed for so many years, had hurried to the spot.</p> + +<p>Her influence over her son resembled the fascination of a +snake:</p> + +<p>once within her reach he was unable to resist her; and when in +their <i>tete-a-tete</i> she reproached him with ill-faith towards +her, prophesied the overthrow of the Church, the desertion of his +allies, the ruin of his throne, and finally announced her intention +of hiding her head in her own hereditary estates in Auvergne, +begging, as a last favour, that he would give his brother time to +quit France instead of involving him in his own ruin, the poor +young man's whole soul was in commotion. His mother knew her +strength, left the poison to work, and withdrew in displeasure to +Monceaux, sure that, as in effect happened, he would not be long in +following her, imploring her not to abandon him, and making an +unconditional surrender of himself, his conscience, and his friends +into her hands. Duplicity was so entirely the element of the +court, that, even while thus yielding himself, it was as one +checked, but continuing the game; he still continued his connection +with the Huguenots, hoping to succeed in his aims by some future +counter-intrigue; and his real hatred of the court policy, and the +genuine desire to make common cause with them, served his mother's +purpose completely, since his cajolery thus became sincere. +Her purpose was, probably, not yet formed. It was power that +she loved, and hoped to secure by the intrigues she had played off +all her life; but she herself was in the hands of an infinitely +more bloodthirsty and zealous faction, who could easily accomplish +their ends by working on the womanly terrors of an unscrupulous +mind.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER IX. THE WEDDING WITH CRIMSON FAVOURS</h3> + +<p>And trust me not at all or all in all.--TENNYSON</p> + +<p>So extensive was the Louvre, so widely separated the different +suites of apartments, that Diane and Eustacie had not met after the +pall-mall party till they sat opposite to their several queens in +the coach driving through the woods, the elder cousin curiously +watching the eyes of the younger, so wistfully gazing at the +window, and now and then rapidly winking as though to force back a +rebellious tear.</p> + +<p>The cousins had been bred up together in the convent at +Bellaise, and had only been separated by Diane's having been +brought to court two years sooner than Eustacie. They had +always been on very kindly, affectionate terms; Diane treating her +little cousin with the patronage of an elder sister, and greatly +contributing to shield her from the temptations of the court. +The elder cousin was so much the more handsome, brilliant, and +admired, that no notion of rivalry had crossed her mind; and +Eustacie's inheritance was regarded by her as reserved for her +brother, and the means of aggrandizement an prosperity for herself +and her father. She looked upon the child as a sort of piece +of property of the family, to be guarded and watched over for her +brother; and when she had first discovered the error that the young +baron was making between the two daughters of the house, it was +partly in kindness to Eustacie, partly to carry out her father's +plans, and partly from her own pleasure in conversing with anything +so candid and fresh as Berenger, that she had maintained the +delusion. Her father believed himself to have placed Berenger +so entirely in the background, that he would hardly be at court +long enough to discover the imposition; and Diane was not devoid of +a strong hope of winning his affection and bending his will so as +to induce him to become her husband, and become a French courtier +for her sake--a wild dream, but a better castle in the air than she +had ever yet indulged in.</p> + +<p>This arrangement was, however, disconcerted by the King's +passion for Sidney's society, which brought young Ribaumont also to +court; and at the time of the mischievous introduction by Madame +Marguerite, Diane had perceived that the mistake would soon be +found out, and that she should no longer be able to amuse herself +with the fresh-coloured, open-faced boy who was unlike all her +former acquaintance; but the magnetism that shows a woman when she +produces an effect had been experienced by her, and she had been +sure that a few efforts more would warm and mould the wax in her +fingers. That he should prefer a little brown thing, whose +beauty was so inferior to her own, had never crossed her mind; she +did not even know that he was invited to the pall-mall party, and +was greatly taken by surprise when her father sought an interview +with her, accused her of betraying their interests, and told her +that this foolish young fellow declared that he had been mistaken, +and having now discovered his veritable wife, protested against +resigning her.</p> + +<p>By that time the whole party were gone to Montpipeau, but that +the Baron was among them was not known at the Louvre until Queen +Catherine, who had always treated Diane as rather a favoured, +quick-witted <i>protegee</i>, commanded her attendance, and on her +way let her know that Madame de Sauve had reported that, among all +the follies that were being perpetrated at the hunting-seat, the +young Queen was absolutely throwing the little Nid-de-Merle into +the arms of her Huguenot husband, and that if measures were not +promptly taken all the great estates in the Bocage would be lost to +the young Chevalier, and be carried over to the Huguenot +interest.</p> + +<p>Still Diane could not believe that it was so much a matter of +love as that the young had begun to relish court favour and to +value the inheritance, and she could quite believe her little +cousin had been flattered by a few attentions that had no meaning +in them. She was not prepared to find that Eustacie shrank +from her, and tried to avoid a private interview. In truth, +the poor child had received such injunctions from the Queen, and so +stern a warning look from the King, that she durst not utter a +syllable of the evening that had sealed her lot, and was so happy +with her secret, so used to tell everything to Diane, so longing to +talk of her husband, that she was afraid of betraying herself if +once they were alone together. Yet Diane, knowing that her +father trusted to her to learn how far things had gone, and piqued +at seeing the transparent little creature, now glowing and smiling +with inward bliss, now pale, pensive, sighing, and anxious, and +scorning her as too childish for the love that she seemed to +affect, was resolved on obtaining confidence from her.</p> + +<p>And when the whole female court had sat down to the silk +embroidery in which Catherine de Medicis excelled, Diane seated +herself in the recess of a window and beckoned her cousin to her +side, so that it was not possible to disobey.</p> + +<p>'Little one,' she said, 'why have you cast off your poor +cousin? There, sit down'--for Eustacie stood, with her silk +in her hand, as if meaning instantly to return to her former place; +and now, her cheeks in a flame, she answered in an indignant +whisper, 'You know, Diane! How could you try to keep him from +me?'</p> + +<p>'Because it was better for thee, my child, than to be pestered +with an adventurer,' she said, smiling, though bitterly.</p> + +<p>'My husband!' returned Eustacie proudly.</p> + +<p>'Bah! You know better than that!' Then, as Eustacie +was about to speak, but checked herself, Diane added, 'Yes, my poor +friend, he has a something engaging about him, and we all would +have hindered you from the pain and embarrassment of a meeting with +him.'</p> + +<p>Eustacie smiled a little saucy smile, as though infinitely +superior to them all.</p> + +<p>'<i>Pauvre petite</i>,' said Diane, nettled; 'she actually +believes in his love.'</p> + +<p>'I will not hear a word against my husband!' said Eustacie, +stepping back, as if to return to her place, but Diane rose and +laid her hand on hers. 'My dear,' she said, 'we must not part +thus. I only wish to know what touches my darling so +nearly. I thought she loved and clung to us; why should she +have turned from me for the sake of one who forgot her for half his +life? What can he have done to master this silly little +heart?'</p> + +<p>'I cannot tell you, Diane,' said Eustacie, simply; and though +she looked down, the colour on her face was more of a happy glow +than a conscious blush. 'I love him too much; only we +understand each other now, and it is of no use to try to separate +us.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, poor little thing, so she thinks,' said Diane; and as +Eustacie again smiled as one incapable of being shaken in her +conviction, she added, 'And how do you know that he loves you?'</p> + +<p>Diane was startled by the bright eyes that flashed on her and +the bright colour that made Eustacie perfectly beautiful, as she +answered, 'Because I am his wife! That is enough!' +Then, before her cousin could speak again, 'But, Diane, I promised +not to speak of it. I know he would despise me if I broke my +word, so I will not talk to you till I have leave to tell you all, +and I am going back to help Gabrielle de Limeuil with her +shepherdess.'</p> + +<p>Mademoiselle de Ribaumont felt her attempt most unsatisfactory, +but she knew of old that Eustacie was very determined--all Bellaise +know that to oppose the tiny Baronne was to make her headstrong in +her resolution; and if she suspected that she was coaxed, she only +became more obstinate. To make any discoveries, Diane must +take the line of most cautious caresses, such as to throw her +cousin off her guard; and this she was forced to confess to her +father when he sought an interview with her on the day of her +return to Paris. He shook his head. She must be on the +watch, he said, and get quickly into the silly girl's +confidence. What! had she not found out that the young +villain had been on the point of eloping with her? If such a +thing as that should succeed, the whole family was lost, and she +was the only person who could prevent it. He trusted to +her.</p> + +<p>The Chevalier had evidently come to regard his niece as his +son's lawful property, and the Baron as the troublesome meddler; +and Diane had much the same feeling, enhanced by sore jealousy at +Eustacie's triumph over her, and curiosity as to whether it could +be indeed well founded. She had an opportunity of judging the +same evening--mere habit always caused Eustacie to keep under her +wing, if she could not be near the Queen, whenever there was a +reception, and to that reception of course Berenger came, armed +with his right as gentleman of the bedchamber. Eustacie was +colouring and fluttering, as if by the instinct of his presence, +even before the tall fair head became visible, moving forward as +well as the crowd would permit, and seeking about with anxious +eyes. The glances of the blue and the black eyes met at last, +and a satisfied radiance illuminated each young face; then the +young man steered his way through the throng, but was caught midway +by Coligny, and led up to be presented to a hook-nosed, +dark-haired, lively-looking young man, in a suit of black richly +laced with silver. It was the King of Navarre, the royal +bridegroom, who had entered Paris in state that afternoon. +Eustacie tried to be proud of the preferment, but oh! she thought +it mistimed, and was gratified to mark certain wandering of the eye +even while the gracious King was speaking. Then the Admiral +said something that brought the girlish rosy flush up to the very +roots of the short curls of flaxen hair, and made the young King's +white teeth flash out in a mirthful, good-natured laugh, and +thereupon the way opened, and Berenger was beside the two ladies, +kissing Eustacie's hand, but merely bowing to Diane.</p> + +<p>She was ready to take the initiative.</p> + +<p>'My cousins deem me unpardonable,' she said; 'yet I am going to +purchase their pardon. See this cabinet of porcelain <i>a le +Reine</i>, and Italian vases and gems, behind this curtain. +There is all the siege of Troy, which M. le Baron will not doubt +explain to Mademoiselle, while I shall sit on this cushion, and +endure the siege of St. Quentin from the <i>bon</i> Sieur de +Selinville.'</p> + +<p>Monsieur de Selinville was the court bore, who had been in every +battle from Pavia to Montcontour, and gave as full memoirs of each +as did Blaise de Monluc, only <i>viva voce</i> instead of in +writing. Diane was rather a favourite of his; she knew her +way through all his adventures. So soon as she had heard the +description of the King of Navarre's entry into Paris that +afternoon, and the old gentleman's lamentation that his own two +nephews were among the three hundred Huguenot gentleman who had +formed the escort, she had only to observe whether his +reminiscences had gone to Italy or to Flanders in order to be able +to put in the appropriate remarks at each pause, while she listened +all the while to the murmurs behind the curtain. Yet it was +not easy, with all her court breeding, to appear indifferent, and +solely absorbed in hearing of the bad lodgings that had fallen to +the share of the royal troops at Brescia, when such sounds were +reaching her. It was not so much the actual words she heard, +though these were the phrases--'-<i>mon ange</i>, my heart, my +love;' those were common, and Diane had lived in the Queen-mother's +squadron long enough to despise those who uttered them only less +than those who believed them. It was the full depth of +tenderness and earnestness, in the subdued tones of the voice, that +gave her a sense of quiet force and reality beyond all she had ever +known. She had heard and overheard men pour out frantic +ravings of passion, but never had listened to anything like the +sweet protecting tenderness of voice that seemed to embrace and +shelter its object. Diane had no doubts now; he had never so +spoken to her; nay, perhaps he had had no such cadences in his +voice before. It was quite certain that Eustacie was +everything to him, she herself nothing; she who might have had any +gallant in the court at her feet, but had never seen one whom she +could believe in, whose sense of esteem had been first awakened by +this stranger lad who despised her. Surely he was loving this +foolish child simply as his duty; his belonging, as his right he +might struggle hard for her, and if he gained her, be greatly +disappointed; for how could Eustacie appreciate him, little +empty-headed, silly thing, who would be amused and satisfied by any +court flatterer?</p> + +<p>However, Diane held out and played her part, caught scraps of +the conversation, and pieced them together, yet avoided all +appearance of inattention to M. de Selinville, and finally +dismissed him, and manoeuvred first Eustacie, and after a safe +interval Berenger, out of the cabinet. The latter bowed as he +bade her good night, and said, with the most open and cordial of +smiles, 'Cousin, I thank you with all my heart.'</p> + +<p>The bright look seemed to her another shaft. 'What +happiness!' said she to herself. 'Can I overthrow it? +Bah! it will crumble of its own accord, even if I did +nothing! And my father and brother!'</p> + +<p>Communication with her father and brother was not always easy to +Diane, for she lived among the Queen-mother's ladies. Her +brother was quartered in a sort of barrack among the gentlemen of +Monsieur's suite, and the old Chevalier was living in the room +Berenger had taken for him at the Croix de Lorraine, and it was +only on the most public days that they attended at the +palace. Such a day, however, there was on the ensuing Sunday, +when Henry of Navarre and Marguerite of France were to be +wedded. Their dispensation was come, but, to the great relief +of Eustacie, there was no answer with it to the application for the +CASSATION of her marriage. In fact, this dispensation had +never emanated from the Pope at all. Rome would not sanction +the union of a daughter of France with a Huguenot prince; and +Charles had forged the document, probably with his mother's +knowledge, in the hope of spreading her toils more completely round +her prey, while he trusted that the victims might prove too strong +for her, and destroy her web, and in breaking forth might release +himself.</p> + +<p>Strange was the pageant of that wedding on Sunday, the +17<sup>th</sup> of August, 1572. The outward seeming was +magnificent, when all that was princely in France stood on the +splendidly decked platform in front of Notre-Dame, around the +bridegroom in the bright promise of his kingly endowments, and the +bride in her peerless beauty. Brave, noble-hearted, and +devoted were the gallant following of the one, splendid and highly +gifted the attendants of the other; and their union seemed to +promise peace to a long distracted kingdom.</p> + +<p>Yet what an abyss lay beneath those trappings! The +bridegroom and his comrades were as lions in the toils of the +hunter, and the lure that had enticed them thither was the bride, +herself so unwilling a victim that her lips refused to utter the +espousal vows, and her head as force forward by her brother into a +sign of consent; while the favoured lover of her whole lifetime +agreed to the sacrifice in order to purchase the vengeance for +which he thirsted, and her mother, the corrupter of her own +children, looked complacently on at her ready-dug pit of treachery +and bloodshed.</p> + +<p>Among the many who played unconscious on the surface of that +gulf of destruction, were the young creatures whose chief thought +in the pageant was the glance and smile from the gallery of the +Queen's ladies to the long procession of the English ambassador's +train, as they tried to remember their own marriage there; Berenger +with clear recollection of his father's grave, anxious face, and +Eustacie chiefly remembering her own white satin and turquoise +dress, which indeed she had seen on every great festival-day as the +best raiment of the image of Notre Dame de Bellaise. She +remained in the choir during mass, but Berenger accompanied the +rest of the Protestants with the bridegroom at their head into the +nave, where Coligny beguiled the time with walking about, looking +at the banners that had been taken from himself and Conde at +Montcontour and Jarnac, saying that he hoped soon to see them taken +down and replaced by Spanish banners. Berenger had followed +because he felt the need of doing as Walsingham and Sidney thought +right, but he had not been in London long enough to become hardened +to the desecration of churches by frequenting 'Paul's Walk.' +He remained bareheaded, and stood as near as he could to the choir, +listening to the notes that floated from the priests and acolytes +at the high altar, longing from the time when he and Eustacie +should be one in their prayers, and lost in a reverie, till a grave +old nobleman passing near him reproved him for dallying with the +worship of Rimmon. But his listening attitude had not passed +unobserved by others besides Huguenot observers.</p> + +<p>The wedding was followed by a ball at the Louvre, from which, +however, all the stricter Huguenots absented themselves out of +respect to Sunday, and among them the family and guests of the +English Ambassador, who were in the meantime attending the divine +service that had been postponed on account of the morning's +ceremony. Neither was the Duke of Guise present at the +entertainment; for though he had some months previously been piqued +and entrapped into a marriage with Catherine of Cleves, yet his +passion for Marguerite was still so strong that he could not bear +to join in the festivities of her wedding with another. The +absence of so many distinguished persons caused the admission of +many less constantly privileged, and thus it was that Diane there +met both her father and brother, who eagerly drew her into a +window, and demanded what she had to tell them, laughing too at the +simplicity of the youth, who had left for the Chevalier a formal +announcement that he had dispatched his protest to Rome, and +considered himself as free to obtain his wife by any means in his +power.</p> + +<p>'Where is <i>la petite</i>?' Narcisse demanded. Behind her +Queen, as usual?'</p> + +<p>'The young Queen keeps her room to-night,' returned Diane. +'Nor do I advise you, brother, to thrust yourself in the way +of <i>la petite entetee</i> just at present.'</p> + +<p>'What, is she so besotted with the peach face? He shall +pay for it!'</p> + +<p>'Brother, no duel. Father, remind him that she would never +forgive him.'</p> + +<p>'Fear not, daughter,' said the Chevalier; 'this folly can be +ended by much quieter modes, only you must first give us +information.'</p> + +<p>'She tells me nothing,' said Diane; 'she is in one of her own +humours--high and mighty.'</p> + +<p>'<i>Peste</i>! where is your vaunt of winding the little one +round your finger?'</p> + +<p>'With time, I said,' replied Diane. Curiously enough, she +had no compunction in worming secrets from Eustacie and betraying +them, but she could not bear to think of the trap she had set for +the unsuspecting youth, and how ingenuously he had thanked her, +little knowing how she had listened to his inmost secrets.</p> + +<p>'Time is everything,' said her father; 'delay will be our +ruin. Your inheritance will slip through your fingers, my +son. The youth will soon win favour by abjuring his heresy; +he will play the same game with the King as his father did with +King Henri. You will have nothing but your sword, and for +you, my poor girl, there is nothing but to throw yourself on the +kindness of your aunt at Bellaise, if she can receive the vows of a +dowerless maiden.'</p> + +<p>'It will never be,' said Narcisse. 'My rapier will soon +dispose of a big rustic like that, who knows just enough of fencing +to make him an easy prey. What! I verily believe the great of +entreaty. 'And yet the fine fellow was willing enough to +break the marriage when he took her for the bride.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, my son,' argued the Chevalier, will apparently to spare +his daughter from the sting of mortification, 'as I said, all can +be done without danger of bloodshed on either side, were we but +aware of any renewed project of elopement. The pretty pair +would be easily waylaid, the girl safely lodged at Bellaise, the +boy sent off to digest his pride in England.'</p> + +<p>'Unhurt?' murmured Diane.</p> + +<p>Her father checked Narcisse's mockery at her solicitude, as he +added, 'Unhurt? Yes. He is a liberal-hearted, gracious, fine +young man, whom I should much grieve to harm; but if you know of +any plan of elopement and conceal it, my daughter, then upon you +will lie either the ruin and disgrace of your family, or the death +of one or both of the youths.'</p> + +<p>Diane saw that her question had betrayed her knowledge. +She spoke faintly. 'Something I did overhear, but I know not +how to utter a treason.'</p> + +<p>'There is no treason where there is no trust, daughter,' said +the Chevalier, in the tone of a moral sage. 'Speak!'</p> + +<p>Diane never disobeyed her father, and faltered, "Wednesday; it +is for Wednesday. They mean to leave the palace in the midst +of the masque; there is a market-boat from Leurre to meet them on +the river; his servants will be in it.'</p> + +<p>'On Wednesday!' Father and son looked at each other.</p> + +<p>'That shall be remedied,' said Narcisse.</p> + +<p>'Child,' added her father, turning kindly to Diane, 'you have +saved our fortunes. There is put one thing more that you must +do. Make her obtain the pearls from him.'</p> + +<p>'Ah!' sighed Diane, half shocked, half revengeful, as she +thought how he had withheld them from her.</p> + +<p>'It is necessary,' said the Chevalier. 'The heirloom of +our house must not be risked. Secure the pearls, child, and +you will have done good service, and earned the marriage that shall +reward you.'</p> + +<p>When he was gone, Diane pressed her hands together with a +strange sense of misery. He, who had shrunk from the memory +of little Diane's untruthfulness, what would he think of the +present Diane's treachery? Yet it was to save his life and +that of her brother-- and for the assertion of her victory over the +little robber, Eustacie.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER X. MONSIEUR'S BALLET.</h3> + +<p>The Styx had fast bound her</p> + +<p>Nine times around her.</p> + +<p> + +POPE, ODE ON ST. CECILIA'S DAY</p> + +<p>Early on Monday morning came a message to Mademoiselle Nid de +Merle that she was to prepare to act the part of a nymph of +Paradise in the King's masque on Wednesday night, and must dress at +once to rehearse her part in the ballet specially designed by +Monsieur.</p> + +<p>Her first impulse was to hurry to her own Queen, whom she +entreated to find some mode of exempting her. But Elisabeth, +who was still in bed, looked distressed and frightened, made signs +of caution, and when the weeping girl was on the point of telling +her of the project that would thus be ruined, silenced her by +saying, 'Hush! my poor child, I have but meddled too much +already. Our Lady grant that I have not done you more harm +than good! Tell me no more.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! Madame, I will be discreet, I will tell you nothing; +but if you would only interfere to spare me from this ballet! +It is Monsieur's contrivance! Ah! Madame, could you but +speak to the King!'</p> + +<p>'Impossible, child,' said the Queen. 'Things are not her +as they were at happy Montpipeau.'</p> + +<p>And the poor young Queen turned her face in to her pillow, and +wept.</p> + +<p>Every one who was not in a dream of bliss like poor little +Eustacie knew that the King had been in so savage a mood ever since +his return that no one durst ask anything from him. a little +while since, he had laughed at his gentle wife for letting herself, +and Emperor's daughter, be trampled on where his brother Francis's +Queen, from her trumpery, beggarly realm, had held up her head, and +put down <i>la belle Mere</i>; he had amused himself with +Elisabeth's pretty little patronage of the young Ribaumonts as a +promising commencement in intriguing like other people; but now he +was absolutely violent at any endeavour to make him withstand his +mother, and had driven his wife back into that cold, listless, +indifferent shell of apathy from which affection and hope had begun +to rouse her. She knew it would only make it the worse for +her little Nid de Merle for her to interpose when Monsieur had made +the choice.</p> + +<p>And Eustacie was more afraid of Monsieur than even of Narcisse, +and her Berenger could not be there to protect her. However, +there was protection in numbers. With twelve nymphs, and +cavaliers to match, even the Duke of Anjou could not accomplish the +being very insulting. Eustacie--light, agile, and +fairy-like--gained considerable credit for ready comprehension and +graceful evolutions. She had never been so much complimented +before, and was much cheered by praise. Diane showed herself +highly pleased with her little cousin's success, embraced her, and +told her she was finding her true level at court. She would +be the prettiest of all the nymphs, who were all small, since +fairies rather than Amazons were wanted in their position. +'And, Eustacie,' she added, 'you should wear the pearls.'</p> + +<p>'The pearls!' said Eustacie. 'Ah! but HE always wears +them. I like to see them on his bonnet--they are hardly +whiter than his forehead.'</p> + +<p>'Foolish little thing!' said Diane, 'I shall think little of his +love if he cares to see himself in them more than you.'</p> + +<p>The shaft seemed carelessly shot, but Diane knew that it would +work, and so it did. Eustacie wanted to prove her husband's +love, not to herself, but to her cousin.</p> + +<p>He made his way to her in the gardens of the Louvre that +evening, greatly dismayed at the report that had reached him that +she was to figure as a nymph of Elysium. She would thus be in +sight as a prominent figure the whole evening, even till an hour so +late that the market boat which Osbert had arranged for their +escape could not wait for them without exciting suspicion, and +besides, his delicate English feelings were revolted at the notion +of her forming a part of such a spectacle. She could not +understand his displeasure. If they could not go on +Wednesday, they could go on Saturday; and as to her acting, half +the noblest ladies in the court would be in piece, and if English +husbands did not like it, they must be the tyrants she had always +heard of.</p> + +<p>'To be a gazing-stock---' began Berenger.</p> + +<p>'Hush! Monsieur, I will hear no more, or I shall take care how I +put myself in your power.'</p> + +<p>'That has been done for you, sweetheart,' he said, smiling with +perhaps a shade too much superiority; 'you are mine entirely +now.'</p> + +<p>'that is not kind,' she pouted, almost crying--for between +flattery, excitement, and disappointment she was not like herself +that day, and she was too proud to like to be reminded that she was +in any one's power.</p> + +<p>'I thought,' said Berenger, with the gentleness that always made +him manly in dealing with her, 'I thought you like to own yourself +mine.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir, when you are good, and do not try to hector me for +what I cannot avoid.'</p> + +<p>Berenger was candid enough to recollect that royal commands did +not brook disobedience, and, being thoroughly enamoured besides of +his little wife, he hastened to make his peace by saying, 'True, +<i>ma mie</i>, this cannot be helped. I was a wretch to find +fault. Think of it no more.'</p> + +<p>'You forgive me?' she said, softened instantly.</p> + +<p>'Forgive you? What for, pretty one? For my +forgetting that you are still a slave to a hateful Court?'</p> + +<p>'Ah! then, if you forgive me, let me wear the pearls.'</p> + +<p>'The poor pearls,' said Berenger, taken aback for a moment, 'the +meed of our forefather's valour, to form part of the pageant and +mummery? But never mind, sweetheart,' for he could not bear +to vex her again: 'you shall have them to-night: only take care of +them. My mother would look back on me if she knew I had let +them out of my care, but you and I are one after all.'</p> + +<p>Berenger could not bear to leave his wife near the Duke of Anjou +and Narcisse, and he offered himself to the King as an actor in the +masque, much as he detested all he heard of its subject. The +King nodded comprehension, and told him it was open to him either +to be a demon in a tight suit of black cloth, with cloven-hoof +shoes, a long tail, and a trident; or one of the Huguenots who were +to be repulsed from Paradise for the edification of the +spectators. As these last were to wear suits of knightly +armour, Berenger much preferred making one of them in spite of +their doom.</p> + +<p>The masque was given at the hall of the Hotel de Bourbon, where +a noble gallery accommodated the audience, and left full space +beneath for the actors. Down the centre of the stage flowed a +stream, broad enough to contain a boat, which was plied by the Abbe +de Mericour--transformed by a gray beard and hair and dismal mask +into Charon.</p> + +<p>But so unused to navigation was he, so crazy and ill-trimmed his +craft, that his first performance would have been his submersion in +the Styx had not Berenger, better accustomed to boats than any of +the <i>dramatis personae</i>, caught him by the arms as he was +about to step in, pointed out the perils, weighted the frail +vessel, and given him a lesson in paddling it to and fro, with such +a masterly hand, that, had there been time for a change of dress, +the part of Charon would have been unanimously transferred to him; +but the delay could not be suffered, and poor Mericour, in fear of +a ducking, or worse, of ridicule, balanced himself, pole in hand, +in the midst of the river. To the right of the river was +Elysium--a circular island revolving on a wheel which was an +absolute orrery, representing in concentric circles the skies, with +the sun, moon, the seven planets, twelve signs, and the fixed +stars, all illuminated with small lamps. The island itself +was covered with verdure, in which, among bowers woven of gay +flowers, reposed twelve nymphs of Paradise, of whom Eustacie was +one.</p> + +<p>On the other side of the stream was another wheel, whose grisly +emblems were reminders of Dante's infernal circles, and were +lighted by lurid flames, while little bells were hung round so as +to make a harsh jangling sound, and all of the court who had any +turn for buffoonery were leaping and dancing about as demons +beneath it, and uttering wild shouts.</p> + +<p>King Charles and his two brothers stood on the margin of the +Elysian lake. King Henry, the Prince of Conde, and a +selection of the younger and gayer Huguenots, were the +assailants,--storming Paradise to gain possession of the +nymphs. It was a very illusive armour that they wore, thin +scales of gold or silver as cuirasses over their satin doublets, +and the swords and lances of festive combat in that court had been +of the bluntest foil ever since the father of these princes had +died beneath Montgomery's spear. And when the King and his +brothers, one of them a puny crooked boy, were the champions, the +battle must needs be the merest show, though there were lookers-on +who thought that, judging by appearances, the assailants ought to +have the best chance of victory, both literal and allegorical.</p> + +<p>However, these three guardian angels had choice allies in the +shape of the infernal company, who, as fast as the Huguenots +crossed swords or shivered lances with their royal opponents, +encircled them with their long black arms, and dragged them +struggling away to Tartarus. Henry of Navarre yielded himself +with a good-will to the horse-play with which this was performed, +resisting just enough to give his demoniacal captors a good deal of +trouble, while yielding all the time, and taking them by surprise +by agile efforts, that showed that if he were excluded from +Paradise it was only by his own consent, and that he heartily +enjoyed the merriment. Most of his comrades, in especial the +young Count de Rochefoucauld, entered into the sport with the same +heartiness, but the Prince of Conde submitted to his fate with a +gloomy, disgusted countenance, that added much to the general +mirth; and Berenger, with Eustacie before his eyes, looking pale, +distressed, and ill at ease, was a great deal too much in +earnest. He had so veritable an impulse to leap forward and +snatch her from that giddy revolving prison, that he struck against +the sword of Monsieur with a hearty good-will. His silvered +lath snapped in his hand, and at that moment he was seized round +the waist, and, when his furious struggle was felt to be in +earnest, he was pulled over on his back, while yells and shouts of +discordant laughter rang round him, as demons pinioned him hand and +foot.</p> + +<p>He thought he heard a faint cry from Eustacie, and, with a +sudden, unexpected struggle, started into a sitting posture; but a +derisive voice, that well he knew, cried, 'Ha, the deadly sin of +pride! Monsieur thinks his painted face pleases the +ladies. To the depths with him--' and therewith one imp +pulled him backwards again, while others danced a war-dance round +him, pointing their forks at him; and the prime tormentor, whom he +perfectly recognized, not only leapt over him, but spurned at his +face with a cloven foot, giving a blow, not of gay French malice, +but of malignity. It was too much for the boy's forbearance. +He struggled free, dashing his adversaries aside fiercely, and as +they again gathered about him, with the leader shouting, 'Rage, +too, rage! To the prey, imps--' he clenched his fist, and +dealt the foremost foe such a blow in the chest as to level him at +once with the ground.</p> + +<p>'Monsieur forgets,' said a voice, friendly yet reproachful, +'that this is but sport.</p> + +<p>It was Henry of Navarre himself who spoke, and bent to give a +hand to the fallen imp. A flush of shame rushed over +Berenger's face, already red with passion. He felt that he +had done wrong to use his strength at such a moment, and that, +though there had been spite in is assailant, he had not been +therefore justified. He was glad to see Narcisse rise lightly +to his feet, evidently unhurt, and, with the frankness with which +he had often made it up with Philip Thistlewood or his other +English comrades after a sharp tussle, he held out his hand, +saying, 'Good demon, your pardon. You roused my spirit, and I +forgot myself.'</p> + +<p>'Demons forget not,' was the reply. 'At him, imps!' +And a whole circle of hobgoblins closed upon with their tridents, +forks, and other horrible implements, to drive him back within two +tall barred gates, which, illuminated by red flames, were to form +the ghastly prison of the vanquished. Perhaps fresh +indignities would have been attempted, had not the King of Navarre +thrown himself on his side, shared with him the brunt of all the +grotesque weapons, and battled them off with infinite spirit and +address, shielding him as it were from their rude insults by his +own dexterity and inviolability, though retreating all the time +till the infernal gates were closed on both.</p> + +<p>Then Henry of Navarre, who never forgot a face, held out his +hand, saying, 'Tartarus is no region of good omen for friendships, +M. de Ribaumont, but, for lack of yonder devil's claw, here is +mine. I like to meet a comrade who can strike a hearty blow, +and ask a hearty pardon.'</p> + +<p>'I was too hot, Sire,' confessed Berenger, with one of his +ingenuous blushes, 'but he enraged me.'</p> + +<p>'He means mischief.' said Henry. 'Remember, if you are +molested respecting this matter, that you have here a witness that +you did the part of a gentleman.'</p> + +<p>Berenger bowed his thanks, and began something about the honour, +but his eye anxiously followed the circuit on which Eustacie was +carried and the glance was quickly remarked.</p> + +<p>'How? Your heart is spinning in that Mahometan paradise, +and that is what put such force into your fists. Which of the +houris is it? The little one with the wistful eyes, who +looked so deadly white, and shrieked out when the devilry +overturned you? Eh! Monsieur, you are a happy man.'</p> + +<p>'I should be, Sire;' and Berenger was on the point of confiding +the situation of his affairs to this most engaging of princes, when +a fresh supply of prisoners, chased with wild antics and fiendish +yells by the devils, came headlong in on them; and immediately, +completing, as Henry said, the galimatias of mythology, a +pasteboard cloud was propelled on the stage, and disclosed the +deities Mercury and Cupid, who made a complimentary address to the +three princely brothers, inciting them to claim the nymphs whom +their valour had defended, and lead them through the mazes of a +choric celestial dance.</p> + +<p>This dance had been the special device of Monsieur and the +ballet-master, and during the last three days the houris had been +almost danced off their legs with rehearsing it morning, noon, and +night, but one at least of them was scarcely in a condition for its +performance. Eustacie, dizzied at the first minute by the +whirl of her Elysian merry-go-round, had immediately after become +conscious of that which she had been too childish to estimate +merely in prospect, the exposure to universal gaze. Strange +staring eyes, glaring lights, frightful imps seemed to wheel round +her in an intolerable delirious succession. Her only refuge +was in closing her eyes, but even this could not long be persevered +in, so necessary a part of the pageant was she; and besides, she +had Berenger to look for, Berenger, whom she had foolishly laughed +at for knowing how dreadful it would be. But of course the +endeavour to seek for one object with her eyes made the dizziness +even more dreadful; and when, at length, she beheld him dragged +down by the demoniacal creatures, whose horrors were magnified by +her confused senses, and the next moment she was twirled out of +sight, her cry of distracted alarm was irrepressible. Carried +round again and again, on a wheel that to her was far more like +Ixion's than that of the spheres, she never cleared her perceptions +as to where he was, and only was half-maddened by the fantastic +whirl of incongruous imagery, while she barely sat out Mercury's +lengthy harangue; and when her wheel stood still, and she was +released, she could not stand, and was indebted to Charon and one +of her fellow-nymphs for supporting her to a chair in the back of +the scene. Kind Charon hurried to bring her wine, the lady +revived her with essences, and the ballet-master clamoured for his +performers.</p> + +<p>Ill or well, royal ballets must be danced. One long sob, +one gaze round at the refreshing sight of a room no longer in +motion, one wistful look at the gates of Tartarus, and the misery +of the throbbing, aching head must be disregarded. The +ballet-master touched the white cheeks with rouge, and she stepped +forward just in time, for Monsieur himself was coming angrily +forward to learn the cause of the delay.</p> + +<p>Spectators said the windings of that dance were exquisitely +graceful. It was well that Eustacie's drilling had been so +complete, for she moved through it blindly, senselessly, and when +it was over was led back between the two Demoiselles de Limeuil to +the apartment that served as a green-room, drooping and almost +fainting. They seated her in a chair, and consulted round +her, and her cousin Narcisse was among the first to approach; but +no sooner had she caught sight of his devilish trim than with a +little shriek she shut her eyes, and flung herself to the other +side of the chair.</p> + +<p>'My fair cousin,' he said, opening his black vizard, 'do you not +see me? I am no demon, remember! I am your cousin.'</p> + +<p>'That makes it no better,' said Eustacie, too much disordered +and confused to be on her guard, and hiding her face with her +hands. 'Go, go, I entreat.'</p> + +<p>In fact he had already done this, and the ladies added their +counsel; for indeed the poor child could scarcely hold up her head, +but she said, 'I should like to stay, if I could: a little, a +little longer. Will they not open those dreadful bars?' she +added, presently.</p> + +<p>'They are even now opening them,' said Mdlle. de Limeuil. +'Hark! they are going to fight <i>en melle</i>. Mdlle. +de Nid de Merle is better now?'</p> + +<p>'Oh yes; let not detain you.'</p> + +<p>Eustacie would have risen, but the two sisters had fluttered +back, impatient to lose nothing of the sports; and her cousin in +his grim disguise stood full before her. 'No haste, cousin,' +he said; 'you are not fit to move.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, then go,' said Eustacie, suffering too much not to be +petulant. 'You make me worse.'</p> + +<p>'And why? It was not always thus,' began Narcisse, so eager to +seize an opportunity as to have little consideration for her +condition; but she was unable to bear any more, and broke +out: </p> + +<p>'Yes, it was; I always detested you more than ever, since you +deceived me so cruelly. Oh, do but leave me!'</p> + +<p>'You scorn me, then! You prefer to me--who have loved you +so long--that childish new-comer, who was ready enough to cast you +off.'</p> + +<p>'Prefer! He is my husband! It is an insult for any +one else to speak to me thus!' said Eustacie, drawing herself up, +and rising to her feet; but she was forced to hold by the back of +her chair, and Diane and her father appearing at that moment, she +tottered towards the former, and becoming quite passive under the +influence of violent dizziness and headache, made no objection to +being half led, half carried, through galleries that connected the +Hotel de Bourbon with the Louvre.</p> + +<p>And thus it was that when Berenger had fought out his part in +the <i>melle</i> of the prisoners released, and had maintained the +honours of the rose-coloured token in his helmet, he found that his +lady-love had been obliged by indisposition to return home; and +while he stood, folding his arms to restrain their strong +inclination to take Narcisse by the throat and demand whether this +were another of his deceptions, a train of fireworks suddenly +exploded in the middle of the Styx--a last surprise, especially +contrived by King Charles, and so effectual that half the ladies +were shrieking, and imagining that they and the whole hall had +blown up together.</p> + +<p>A long supper, full of revelry, succeeded, and at length Sidney +ad Ribaumont walked home together in the midst of their armed +servants bearing torches. All the way home Berenger was +bitter in vituperation of the hateful pageant and all its +details.</p> + +<p>'Yea, truly,' replied Sidney; 'methought that it betokens +disease in the mind of a nation when their festive revelry is thus +ghastly, rendering the most awful secrets made known by our God in +order to warm man from sin into a mere antic laughing-stock. +Laughter should be moved by what is fair and laughter-worthy--even +like such sports as our own "Midsummer Night's Dream." I have +read that the bloody temper of Rome fed itself in gladiator shows, +and verily, what we beheld to-night betokens something at once +grisly and light-minded in the mood of this country.'</p> + +<p>Sidney thought so the more when on the second ensuing morning +the Admiral de Coligny was shot through both hands by an assassin +generally known to have been posted by the Duke of Guise, yet often +called by the sinister sobriquet of <i>Le Tueur de Roi</i>.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XI. THE KING'S TRAGEDY.</h3> + +<p>The night is come, no fears disturb</p> + +<p> The sleep of innocence</p> + +<p>They trust in kingly faith, and kingly oath.</p> + +<p> They sleep, alas! they sleep</p> + +<p>Go to the palace, wouldst thou know</p> + +<p> How hideous night can be;</p> + +<p>Eye is not closed in those accursed walls,</p> + +<p> Nor heart is quiet there!</p> + +<p> + +--Southey, BARTHOLOMEW'S EVE</p> + +<p>'Young gentlemen,' said Sir Francis Walsingham, as he rose from +dinner on the Saturday, 'are you bound for the palace this +evening?' </p> + +<p>'I am, so please your Excellency,' returned Berenger.</p> + +<p>'I would have you both to understand that you must have a care +of yourselves,' said the Ambassador. 'The Admiral's wound has +justly caused much alarm, and I hear that the Protestants are going +vapouring about in so noisy and incautious a manner, crying out for +justice, that it is but too likely that the party of the +Queen-mother and the Guise will be moved to strong measures.'</p> + +<p>'They will never dare lay a finger upon us!' said Sidney.</p> + +<p>'In a terror-stricken fray men are no respecters of persons,' +replied Sir Francis. 'This house is, of course, inviolable; +and, whatever the madness of the people, we have stout hearts +enough here to enforce respect thereto; but I cannot answer even +for an Englishman's life beyond its precincts; and you, Ribaumont, +whom I cannot even claim as my Queen's subject--I greatly fear to +trust you beyond its bounds.'</p> + +<p>'I cannot help it, sir. Nay, with the most grateful thanks +for all your goodness to me, I must pray you not to take either +alarm or offence if I return not this night.'</p> + +<p>'No more, my friend,' said Walsingham, quickly; 'let me know +nothing of your purposes, but take care of yourself. I would +you were safe at home again, though the desire may seem +inhospitable. The sooner the better with whatever you have to +do.'</p> + +<p>'Is the danger so imminent?' asked Sidney.</p> + +<p>'I know nothing, Philip. All I can tell is that, as I have +read that dogs and cattle scent an earthquake in the air, so man +and women seem to breathe a sense of danger in this city. And +to me the graciousness with which the Huguenots have been of late +treated wears a strangely suspicious air. Sudden and secret +is the blow like to be, and we cannot be too much on our +guard. Therefore remember, my young friends both, that your +danger or death would fall heavily on those ye love and honour at +home.'</p> + +<p>So saying, he left the two youths, unwilling to seek further +confidence, and Berenger held his last consultation with Sidney, to +whom he gave directions for making full explanation to Walsingham +in his absence, and expediting Mr. Adderley's return to +England. Osbert alone was to go to the Louvre with him, after +having seen the five English grooms on board the little decked +market-vessel on the Seine, which was to await the fugitives. +Berenger was to present himself in the palace as in his ordinary +court attendance, and, contriving to elude notice among the throng +who were there lodged, was to take up his station at the foot of +the stairs leading to the apartments of ladies, whence Eustacie was +to descend at about eleven o'clock, with her maid Veronique. +Landry Osbert was to join them from the lackey's hall below, where +he had a friend, and the connivance of the porter at the postern +opening towards the Seine had been secured.</p> + +<p>Sidney wished much to accompany him to the palace, if his +presence could be any aid or protection, but on consideration it +was decided that his being at the Louvre was likely to attract +notice to Ribaumont's delaying there. The two young men +therefore shook hands and parted, as youths who trusted that they +had begun a lifelong friendship, with mutual promises to write to +one another-- the one, the adventures of his flight; the other, the +astonishment it would excite. And auguries were exchanged of +merry meetings in London, and of the admiration the lovely little +wife would excite at Queen Elizabeth's court.</p> + +<p>Then, with an embrace such as English friends then gave, they +separated at the gate; and Sidney stood watching, as Berenger +walked free and bold down the street, his sword at his side, his +cloak over one shoulder, his feathered cap on one side, showing his +bright curling hair, a sunshiny picture of a victorious +bridegroom--such a picture as sent Philip Sidney's wits back to +Arcadia.</p> + +<p>It was not a day of special state, but the palace was greatly +crowded. The Huguenots were in an excited mood, inclined to +rally round Henry of Navarre, whose royal title made him be looked +on as is a manner their monarch, though his kingdom had been +swallowed by Spain, and he was no more than a French duke distantly +related to royalty in the male line, and more nearly through his +grandmother and bride. The eight hundred gentlemen he had +brought with him swarmed about his apartments, making their lodging +on staircases and in passages; and to Berenger it seemed as if the +King's guards and Monsieur's gentlemen must have come in in equal +numbers to balance them. Narcisse was there, and Berenger +kept cautiously amid his Huguenot acquaintance, resolved not to +have a quarrel thrust on him which he could not honourably +desert. It was late before he could work his way to the young +Queen's reception-room, where he found Eustacie. She looked +almost as white as at the masque; but there was a graver, less +childish expression in her face than he had ever seen before, and +her eyes glanced confidence when they met his.</p> + +<p>Behind the Queen's chair a few words could be spoken.</p> + +<p><i>'Ma mie,</i> art thou well again? Canst bear this +journey now?'</p> + +<p>'Quite well, now! quite ready. Oh that we may never have +masques in England!'</p> + +<p>He smiled--'Never such as this!'</p> + +<p>'Ah! thou knowest best. I am glad I am thine already; I am +so silly, thou wouldest never have chosen me! But thou wilt +teach me, and I will strive to be very good! And oh! let me +but give one farewell to Diane.'</p> + +<p>'It is too hard to deny thee aught to-night, sweetheart, but +judge for thyself. Think of the perils, and decide.'</p> + +<p>Before Eustacie could answer, a rough voice came near, the King +making noisy sport with the Count de Rochefoucauld and +others. He was louder and ruder than Berenger had ever yet +seen him, almost giving the notion of intoxication; but neither he +nor his brother Henry ever tasted wine, though both had a strange +pleasure in being present at the orgies of their companions: the +King, it was generally said, from love of the self-forgetfulness of +excitement-- the Duke of Anjou, because his cool brain there +collected men's secrets to serve afterwards for his spiteful +diversion.</p> + +<p>Berenger would willingly have escaped notice, but his bright +face and sunny hair always made him conspicuous, and the King +suddenly strode up to him: 'You here, sir? I thought you +would have managed your affairs so as to be gone long ago!' then +before Berenger could reply, 'However, since here you are, come +along with me to my bedchamber! We are to have a carouse +there to-night that will ring through all Paris! Yes, and +shake Rochefoucauld out of his bed at midnight! You will be +one of us, Ribaumont? I command it!'</p> + +<p>And without waiting for reply he turned away with an arm round +Rochefoucauld's neck, and boisterously addressed another of the +company, almost as wildly as if he were in the mood that Scots call +'fey.'</p> + +<p>'Royalty seems determined to frustrate our plans,' said +Berenger, as soon as the King was out of hearing.</p> + +<p>'But you will not go! His comrades drink till--oh! two, +three in the morning. We should never get away.'</p> + +<p>'No, I must risk his displeasure. We shall soon be beyond +his reach. But at least I may make his invitation a reason +for remaining in the Louvre. People are departing! Soon +wilt thou be my own.'</p> + +<p>'As soon as the Queen's <i>coucher</i> is over! I have but +to change to a traveling dress.'</p> + +<p>'At the foot of the winding stair. Sweetest be brave!'</p> + +<p>'I fear nothing with thee to guard me. See, the Queen is +rising.'</p> + +<p>Elizabeth was in effect rising to make her respectful progress +to the rooms of the Queen-mother, to bid her good night; and +Eustacie must follow. Would Diane be there? Oh that the +command to judge between her heart and her caution had not been +given! Cruel kindness!</p> + +<p>Diane was there, straight as a poplar, cold as marble, with +fixed eyes. Eustacie stole up to her, and touched her. +She turned with a start. 'Cousin, you have been very good to +me!' Diane started again, as if stung. You will love me +still, whatever you hear?'</p> + +<p>'Is this meant for farewell?' said Diane, grasping her +wrist.</p> + +<p>'Do not ask me, Diane. I may not.'</p> + +<p>'Where there is no trust there is no treason,' said Diane, +dreamily. 'No, answer me not, little one, there will be time +for that another day. Where is he?'</p> + +<p>'In the <i>oeil-de-boeuf</i>, between the King's and Queen's +suites of rooms. I must go. There is the Queen +going. Diane, one loving word.'</p> + +<p>'Silly child, you shall have plenty another time,' said Diane, +breaking away. 'Follow thy Queen now!'</p> + +<p>Catherine, who sat between her daughters Claude and Marguerite, +looked pre-occupied, and summarily dismissed her daughter-in-law, +Elizabeth, whom Eustacie was obliged to follow to her own +state-room. There all the forms of the <i>coucher</i> were +tediously gone through; every pin had its own ceremony, and even +when her Majesty was safely deposited under her blue satin coverlet +the ladies still stood round till she felt disposed to fall +asleep. Elisabeth was both a sleepy and a considerate person, +so that this was not so protracted a vigil as was sometimes exacted +by the more wakeful princesses; but Eustacie could not escape from +it till it was already almost midnight, the period for her +tryst.</p> + +<p>Her heart was very full. It was not the usual flutter and +terror of an eloping girl. Eustacie was a fearless little +being, and her conscience had no alarms; her affections were wholly +with Berenger, and her transient glimpses of him had been as of +something come out of a region higher, tenderer, stronger, purer, +more trustworthy than that where she had dwelt. She was proud +of belonging to him. She had felt upheld by the consciousness +through years of waiting, and now he more than realized her hopes, +and she could have wept for exulting joy. Yet it was a +strange, stealthy break with all she had to leave behind. The +light to which he belonged seemed strange, chill, dazzling light, +and she shivered at the thought of it, as if the new world, new +ideas, and new requirements could only be endured with him to +shield her and help her on. And withal, there seemed to her a +shudder over the whole place on that night. The King's eyes +looked wild and startled, the Queen-mother's calm was strained, the +Duchess of Lorraine was evidently in a state of strong nervous +excitement; there were strange sounds, strange people moving about, +a weight on everything, as if they were under the shadow of a +thunder-cloud. 'Could it be only her own fancy?' she said to +herself, because this was to be the great event of her life, for +surely all these great people could not know or heed that little +Eustacie de Ribaumont was to make her escape that night!</p> + +<p>The trains of royalty were not sumptuously lodged. France +never has cared so much for comfort as for display. The +waiting-lady of the bedchamber slept in the ante-room of her +mistress; the others, however high their rank, were closely herded +together up a winding stair leading to a small passage, with tiny, +cell-like recesses, wherein the demoiselles slept, often with their +maids, and then dressed themselves in the space afforded by the +passage. Eustacie's cell was nearly at the end of the +gallery, and exchanging 'good-nights' with her companions, she +proceeded to her recess, where she expected to find Veronique ready +to adjust her dress. Veronique, however, was missing; but +anxious to lose no time, she had taken off her delicate white satin +farthingale to change it for an unobtrusive dark woollen kirtle, +when, to her surprise and dismay, a loud creaking, growling sound +made itself heard outside the door at the other end. +Half-a-dozen heads came out of their cells; half-a-dozen voices +asked and answered the question, 'What is it?' 'They are +bolting our door outside.' But only Eustacie sped like +lightning along the passage, pulled at the door, and cried, +'Open! Open, I say!' No answer, but the other bolt +creaked.</p> + +<p>'You mistake, CONCIERGE! We are never bolted in! My +maid is shut out.'</p> + +<p>No answer, but the step retreated. Eustacie clasped her +hands with a cry that she could hardly have repressed, but which +she regretted the next moment.</p> + +<p>Gabrielle de Limeuil laughed. 'What, Mademoiselle, are you +afraid they will not let us out to-morrow?'</p> + +<p>'My maid!' murmured Eustacie, recollecting that she must give a +colour to her distress.</p> + +<p>'Ah! perhaps she will summon old Pierre to open for us.'</p> + +<p>This suggestion somewhat consoled Eustacie, and she stood +intently listening for Veronique's step, wishing that her +companions would hold their peace; but the adventure amused them, +and they discussed whether it were a blunder of the CONCIERGE, or a +piece of prudery of Madame la Comtesse, or, after all, a +precaution. The palace so full of strange people, who could +say what might happen? And there was a talk of a conspiracy +of the Huguenots. At any rate, every one was too much +frightened to go to sleep, and, some sitting on the floor, some on +a chest, some on a bed, the girls huddled together in Gabrielle de +Limeuil's recess, the nearest to the door, and one after another +related horrible tales of blood, murder, and vengeance--then, alas! +Only too frequent occurrences in their unhappy land--each bringing +some frightful contribution from her own province, each enhancing +upon the last-told story, and ever and anon pausing with bated +breath at some fancied sound, or supposed start of one of the +others; then clinging close together, and renewing the ghastly +anecdote, at first in a hushed voice that grew louder with the +interest of the story. Eustacie alone would not join the +cluster. Her cloak round her shoulders, she stood with her +back against the door, ready to profit by the slightest indication +outside of a step that might lead to her release, or at least +enable her to communicate with Veronique; longing ardently that her +companions would go to bed, yet unable to avoid listening with the +like dreadful fascination to each of the terrible histories, which +added each moment to the nervous horror of the whole party. +Only one, a dull and composed girl, felt the influence of +weariness, and dozed with her head in her companion's lap; but she +was awakened by one general shudder and suppressed cry when the +hoarse clang of a bell struck on the ears of the already terrified, +excited maidens.</p> + +<p>'The tocsin! The bell of St. Germain! Fire! +No, a Huguenot rising! Fire! Oh, let us out! Let +us out! The window! Where is the fire? +Nowhere! See the lights! Hark, that was a shot! +It was in the palace! A heretic rising! Ah! there +was to be a slaughter of the heretics! I heard it +whispered. Oh, let us out! Open the door!'</p> + +<p>But nobody heard: nobody opened. There was one who +stood without word or cry, close to the door--her eyes dilated, her +cheek colourless, her whole person, soul and body alike, +concentrated in that one impulse to spring forward the first moment +the bolt should be drawn. But still the door remained fast +shut!</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XII. THE PALACE OF SLAUGHTER</h3> + +<p>A human shambles with blood-reeking floor.</p> + +<p> + +MISS SWANWICK, Esch. Agamemnon</p> + +<p>The door was opened at last, but not till full daylight. + It found Eustacie as ready to rush forth, past all +resistance, as she had been the night before, and she was already +in the doorway when her maid Veronique, her face swollen with +weeping, caught her by the hands and implored her to turn back and +listen.</p> + +<p>And words about a rising of the Huguenots, a general +destruction, corpses lying in the court, were already passing +between the other maidens and the concierge. Eustacie turned +upon her servant:</p> + +<p>'Veronique, what means it? Where is he?'</p> + +<p>'Alas! alas! Ah! Mademoiselle, do but lie +down! Woe is me! I saw it all! Lie down, and I +will tell you.'</p> + +<p>'Tell! I will not move till you have told me where my +husband is,' said Eustacie, gazing with eyes that seemed to +Veronique turned to stone.</p> + +<p>'Ah! my lady--my dear lady! I was on the turn of the +stairs, and saw all. The traitor--the Chevalier +Narcisse--came on him, cloaked like you--and--shot him dead--with, +oh, such cruel words of mockery! Oh! woe the day! +Stay, stay, dear lady, the place is all blood--they are slaying +them all--all the Huguenots! Will no one stop +her?--Mademoiselle--ma'm'selle!--'</p> + +<p>For Eustacie no sooner gathered the sense of Veronique's words +than she darted suddenly forwards, and was in a few seconds more at +the foot of the stairs. There, indeed, lay a pool of dark +gore, and almost in it Berenger's black velvet cap, with the heron +plume. Eustacie, with a low cry, snatched it up, continued +her headlong course along the corridor, swiftly as a bird, +Veronique following, and vainly shrieking to her to stop. +Diane, appearing at the other end of the gallery, saw but for a +moment the little figure, with the cloak gathered round her neck, +and floating behind her, understood Veronique's cry and joined in +the chase across hall and gallery, where more stains were to be +seen, even down to the marble stairs, every step slippery with +blood. Others there were who saw and stood aghast, not +understanding the apparition that flitted on so swiftly, never +pausing till at the great door at the foot of the stairs she +encountered a gigantic Scottish archer, armed to the teeth. +She touched his arm, and standing with folder arms, looked up and +said, 'Good soldier, kill me! I am a Huguenots!'</p> + +<p>'Stop her! bring her back!' cried Diane from behind. 'It +is Mdlle. De Nil-de-Merle!'</p> + +<p>'No, no! My husband is Huguenot! I am a +Huguenot! Let them kill me, I say!'--struggling with Diane, +who had now come up with her, and was trying to draw her back.</p> + +<p>'Puir lassie!' muttered the stout Scotsman to himself, 'this +fearsome night has driven her demented.'</p> + +<p>But, like a true sentinel, he moved neither hand nor foot to +interfere, as shaking herself loose from Diane, she was springing +down the steps into the court, when at that moment the young Abbe +de Mericour was seen advancing, pale, breathless, horrorstruck, and +to him Diane shrieked to arrest the headlong course. He +obeyed, seeing the wild distraction of the white face and widely +glaring eyes, took her by both hands, and held her in a firm grasp, +saying, 'Alas, lady, you cannot go out. It is no sight for +any one.'</p> + +<p>'They are killing the Protestants,' she said; 'I am one! +Let me find them and die.'</p> + +<p>A strong effort to free herself ensued, but it was so suddenly +succeeded by a swoon that the Abbe could scarcely save her from +dropping on the steps. Diane begged him to carry her in, +since they were in full view of men-at-arms in the court, and, +frightful to say, of some of the ladies of the palace, who, in the +frenzy of that dreadful time, had actually come down to examine the +half-stripped corpses of the men with whom they had jested not +twelve hours before.</p> + +<p>'Ah! it is no wonder,' said the youthful Abbe, as he tenderly +lifted the inanimate figure. 'This has been a night of +horrors. I was coming in haste to know whether the King knows +of this frightful plot of M. de Guise, and the bloody work that is +passing in Paris.'</p> + +<p>'The King!' exclaimed Diane. 'M. l'Abbe, do you know where +he is now? In the balcony overlooking the river, taking aim +at the fugitives! Take care! Even your <i>soutane</i> +would not save you if M. d'O and his crew heard you. But I +must pray you to aid me with this poor child! I dread that +her wild cries should be heard.'</p> + +<p>The Abbe, struck dumb with horror, silently obeyed Mdlle. De +Ribaumont, and brought the still insensible Eustacie to the +chamber, now deserted by all the young ladies. He laid her on +her bed, and finding he could do no more, left her to her cousin +and her maid.</p> + +<p>The poor child had been unwell and feverish ever since the +masque, and the suspense of these few days with the tension of that +horrible night had prostrated her. She only awoke from her +swoon to turn her head from the light and refuse to be spoken +to.</p> + +<p>'But, Eustacie, child, listen; this is all in vain--he lives,' +said Diane.</p> + +<p>'Weary me not with falsehoods,' faintly said Eustacie.</p> + +<p>'No! no! no! They meant to hinder your flight, but---'</p> + +<p>'They knew of it?' cried Eustacie, sitting up suddenly. +'Then you told them. Go--go; let me never see you more! +You have been his death!'</p> + +<p>'Listen! I am sure he lives! What! would they injure +one whom my father loved? I heard my father say he would not +have him hurt. Depend upon it, he is safe on his way to +England.'</p> + +<p>Eustacie gave a short but frightful hysterical laugh, and +pointed to Veronique. 'She saw it,' she said; 'ask her.'</p> + +<p>'Saw what?' said Diane, turning fiercely on Veronique. +'What vile deceit have you half killed your lady with?'</p> + +<p>'Alas! Mademoiselle, I did but tell her what I had seen,' +sighed Veronique, trembling.</p> + +<p>'Tell me!' said Diane, passionately.</p> + +<p>'Yes, everything,' said Eustacie, sitting up.</p> + +<p>'Ah! Mademoiselle, it will make you ill again.'</p> + +<p>'I WILL be ill--I WILL die! Heaven's slaying is better +than man's. </p> + +<p>Tell her how you saw Narcisse.'</p> + +<p>'False girl!' burst out Diane.</p> + +<p>'No, no,' cried Veronique. 'Oh, pardon me, Mademoiselle, I +could not help it.'</p> + +<p>In spite of her reluctance, she was forced to tell that she had +found herself locked out of her mistress's room, and after losing +much time in searching for the concierge, learnt that the ladies +were locked up by order of the Queen-mother, and was strongly +advised not to be running about the passages. After a time, +however, while sitting with the concierge's wife, she heard such +frightful whispers from men with white badges, who were admitted +one by one by the porter, and all led silently to a small lower +room, that she resolved on seeking out the Baron's servant, and +sending him to warn his master, while she would take up her station +at her lady's door. She found Osbert, and with him was +ascending a narrow spiral leading from the offices--she, +unfortunately, the foremost. As she came to the top, a +scuffle was going on--four men had thrown themselves upon one, and +a torch distinctly showed her the younger Chevalier holding a +pistol to the cheek of the fallen man, and she heard the worlds, +<i>'Le baiser d'Eustacie!</i> <i>Jet e barbouillerai ce chien +de visage,'</i> and at the same moment the pistol was +discharged. She sprang back, oversetting, as she believed, +Osbert, and fled shrieking to the room of the concierge, who shut +her in till morning.</p> + +<p>'And how--how,' stammered Diane, 'should you know it was the +Baron?'</p> + +<p>Eustacie, with a death-like look, showed for a moment what even +in her swoon she had held clenched to her bosom, the velvet cap +soaked with blood.</p> + +<p>'Besides,' added Veronique, resolved to defend her assertion, +'whom else would the words suit? Besides, are not all the +heretic gentlemen dead? Why, as I sat there in the porter's +room, I heard M. d'O call each one of them by name, one after the +other, into the court, and there the white-sleeves cut them down or +pistolled them like sheep for the slaughter. They lie all out +there on the terrace like so many carcases at market ready for +winter salting.'</p> + +<p>'All slain?' said Eustacie, dreamily.</p> + +<p>'All, except those that the King called into his own <i>garde +robe</i>.'</p> + +<p>'Then, I slew him!' Eustacie sank back.</p> + +<p>'I tell you, child,' said Diane, almost angrily, 'he +lives. Not a hair of his head was to be hurt! The girl +deceives you.'</p> + +<p>But Eustacie had again become insensible, and awoke delirious, +entreating to have the door opened, and fancying herself still on +the revolving elysium, 'Oh, demons, have pity!' was her cry.</p> + +<p>Diane's soothings were like speaking to the winds; and at last +she saw the necessity of calling in further aid; but afraid of the +scandal that the poor girl's raving accusations might create, she +would not send for the Huguenots surgeon, Ambroise Pare, whom the +King had carefully secured in his own apartments, but employed one +of the barber valets of the Queen-mother's household. Poor +Eustacie was well pleased to see her blood flowing, and sank back +on her pillow murmuring that she had confessed her husband's faith, +and would soon be one with him, and Diane feared for a moment lest +the swoon should indeed be death.</p> + +<p>The bleeding was so far effectual that it diminished the fever, +and Eustacie became rational again when she had dozed and wakened, +but she was little able or willing to speak, and would not so much +as listen to Diane's asseverations that Veronique had made a +frightful error, and that the Baron would prove to be alive. +Whether it were that the admission that Diane had known of the +project for preventing the elopement that invalidated her words, or +whether the sufferer's instinct made her believe Veronique's +testimony rather than her cousin's assurances, it was all 'cramming +words into her ear against the stomach of her sense,' and she +turned away from them with a piteous, petulant hopelessness: 'Could +they not even let her alone to die in peace!'</p> + +<p>Diane was almost angered at this little silly child being in +such an agony of sorrow--she, who could never have known how to +love him. And after all this persistent grief was wilfully +thrown away. For Diane spoke in perfect sincerity when she +taxed Veronique with an injurious, barbarous mistake. She +knew her father's strong aversion to violence, and the real +predilection that Berenger's good mien, respectful manners, and +liberal usage had won from him, and she believed he had much rather +the youth lived, provided he were inoffensive. No doubt a +little force had been necessary to kidnap one so tall, active, and +determined, and Veronique had made up her horrible tale after the +usual custom of waiting-maids.</p> + +<p>Nothing else SHOULD be true. Did she think otherwise, she +should be even more frantic than Eustacie! Why, it would be +her own doing! She had betrayed the day of the escape--she +had held aloof from warning. There was pleasure in securing +Nid-de-Merle for her brother, pleasure in balking the foolish child +who had won the heart that disregarded her. Nay, there might +have been even pleasure in the destruction of the scorner of her +charms--the foe of her house--there might have been pride in +receiving Queen Catherine's dexterous hint that she had been an apt +pupil, if the young Baron had only been something +different--something less fair, gracious, bright, and pure. +One bright angel seemed to have flitted across her path, and +nothing should induce her to believe she had destroyed him.</p> + +<p>The stripped corpses of the murdered Huguenots of the palace had +been laid in a line on the terrace, and the ladies who had laughed +with them the night before went to inspect them in death. A +few remnants of Soeur Monique's influence would have withheld +Diane, but that a frenzy of suspense was growing on her. She +must see for herself. If it were so, she must secure a +fragment of the shining flaxen hair, if only as a token that +anything so pure and bright had walked the earth.</p> + +<p>She went on the horrible quest, shrinking where others +stared. For it was a pitiless time, and the squadron of the +Queen-mother were as lost to womanhood as the fishwomen of two +centuries later. But Diane saw no corpse at once so tall, so +young, and so fair, though blond Normans and blue-blooded Franks, +lads scarce sixteen and stalwart warriors, lay in one melancholy +rank. She at least bore away the certainly that the English +Ribaumont was not there; and if not, he MUST be safe! She +could obtain no further certainty, for she knew that she must not +expect to see either her father or brother. There was a panic +throughout the city. All Paris imagined that the Huguenots +were on the point of rising and slaying all the Catholics, and, +with the savagery of alarmed cowardice, the citizens and the mob +were assisting the armed bands of the Dukes of Anjou and Guise to +complete the slaughter, dragging their lodgers from their +hiding-places, and denouncing all whom they suspected of reluctance +to mass and confession. But on the Monday, Diane was able to +send an urgent message to her father that he must come to speak +with her, for Mdlle. De Nid-de-Merle was extremely ill. She +would meet him in the garden after morning mass.</p> + +<p>There accordingly, when she stepped forth pale, rigid, but +stately, with her large fan in her hand to serve as a parasol, she +met both him and her brother. She was for a moment sorry, for +she had much power over her father, while she was afraid of her +brother's sarcastic tongue and eye; she knew he never scrupled to +sting her wherever she was most sensitive, and she would have been +able to extract much more from her father in his absence. +France has never been without a tendency to produce the +tiger-monkey, or ferocious fop; and the GENUS was in its full +ascendancy under the sons of Catherine de Medicis, when the dregs +of Francois the First's PSEUDO-chivalry were not extinct--when +horrible, retaliating civil wars of extermination had made life +cheap; nefarious persecutions had hardened the heart and steeled +the eye, and the licentiousness promoted by the shifty Queen as one +of her instruments of government had darkened the whole +understanding. The most hateful heights of perfidy, +effeminacy, and hypocrisy were not reached till poor Charles IX., +who only committed crimes on compulsion, was in his grave, and +Henry III. on the throne; but Narcisse de Ribaumont was one of the +choice companions of the latter, and after the night and day of +murder now stood before his sister with scented hair and +handkerchief--the last, laced, delicately held by a hand in an +embroidered glove--emerald pendants in his ears, a moustache +twisted into sharp points and turned up like an eternal sardonic +smile, and he led a little white poodle by a rose-coloured +ribbon.</p> + +<p>'Well, sister,' he said, as he went, through the motions of +kissing her hand, and she embraced her father; 'so you don't know +how to deal with megrims and transports?'</p> + +<p>'Father,' said Diane, not vouchsafing any attention, 'unless you +can send her some assurance of his life, I will not answer for the +consequences.'</p> + +<p>Narcisse laughed: 'Take her this dog, with my compliments. +That is the way to deal with such a child as that.'</p> + +<p>'You do not know what you say, brother,' answered Diane with +dignity. 'It goes deeper than that.'</p> + +<p>'The deeper it goes, child,' said the elder Chevalier, 'the +better it is that she should be undeceived as soon as +possible. She will recover, and be amenable the sooner.'</p> + +<p>'Then he lives, father?' exclaimed Diane. 'He lives, +though she is not to hear it--say----'</p> + +<p>'What know I?' said the old man, evasively. 'On a night of +confusion many mischances are sure to occur! Lurking in the +palace at the very moment when there was a search for the +conspirators, it would have been a miracle had the poor young man +escaped.'</p> + +<p>Diane turned still whiter. 'Then,' she said, 'that was why +you made Monsieur put Eustacie into the ballet, that they might not +go on Wednesday!'</p> + +<p>"It was well hinted by you, daughter. We could not have +effectually stopped them on Wednesday without making a +scandal.'</p> + +<p>'Once more,' said Diane, gasping, though still resolute; 'is not +the story told by Eustacie's woman false--that she saw him-- +pistolled--by you, brother?'</p> + +<p>'<i>Peste</i>!' cried Narcisse. 'Was the prying wench +there? I thought the little one might be satisfied that he +had neighbour's fare. No matter; what is done for one's <i> +beaux yeux</i> is easily pardoned--and if not, why, I have her all +the same!'</p> + +<p>'Nevertheless, daughter,' said the Chevalier, gravely, 'the +woman must be silenced. Either she must be sent home, or +taught so to swear to having been mistaken, that <i>la petite</i> +may acquit your brother! But what now, my daughter?'</p> + +<p>'She is livid!' exclaimed Narcisse, with his sneer. +'What, sir, did not you know she was smitten with the peach on the +top of a pole?'</p> + +<p>'Enough, brother,' said Diane, recovering herself enough to +speak hoarsely, but with hard dignity. 'You have slain--you +need not insult, one whom you have lost the power of +understanding!'</p> + +<p>'Shallow schoolboys certainly form no part of my study, save to +kick them down-stairs when they grow impudent,' said Narcisse, +coolly. 'It is only women who think what is long must be +grand.'</p> + +<p>'Come, children, no disputes,' said the Chevalier. 'Of +course we regret that so fine a youth mixed himself up with the +enemies of the kingdom, like the stork among the sparrows. +Both Diane and I are sorry for the necessity; but remember, child, +that when he was interfering between your brother and his just +right of inheritance and destined wife, he could not but draw such +a fate on himself. Now all is smooth, the estates will be +united in their true head, and you--you too, my child, will be +provided for as suits your name. All that is needed is to +soothe the little one, so as to hinder her from making an +outcry--and silence the maid; my child will do her best for her +father's sake, and that of her family.'</p> + +<p>Diane was less demonstrative than most of her +countrywomen. She had had time to recollect the uselessness +of giving vent to her indignant anguish, and her brother's derisive +look held her back. The family tactics, from force of habit, +recurred to her; she made no further objection to her father's +commands; but when her father and brother parted with her, she +tottered into the now empty chapel, threw herself down, with her +burning forehead on the stone step, and so lay for hours. It +was not in prayer. It was because it was the only place where +she could be alone. To her, heaven above and earth below +seemed alike full of despair, darkness, and cruel habitations, and +she lay like one sick with misery and repugnance to the life and +world that lay before her--the hard world that had quenched that +one fair light and mocked her pity. It was a misery of +solitude, and yet no thought crossed her of going to weep and +sympathize with the other sufferer. No; rivalry and jealousy +came in there! Eustacie viewed herself as his wife, and the +very thought that she had been deliberately preferred and had +enjoyed her triumph hardened Diane's heart against her. Nay, +the open violence and abandonment of her grief seemed to the more +restrained and concentrated nature of her elder a sign of +shallowness and want of durability; and in a certain contemptuous +envy at her professing a right to mourn, Diane never even +reconsidered her own resolution to play out her father's game, +consign Eustacie to her husband's murdered, and leave her to +console herself with bridal splendours and a choice of admirers +from all the court.</p> + +<p>However, for the present Diane would rather stay away as much as +possible from the sick-bed of the poor girl; and when an +approaching step forced her to rouse herself and hurry away by the +other door of the chapel, she did indeed mount to the ladies' +bed-chamber, but only to beckon Veronique out of hearing and ask +for her mistress.</p> + +<p>Just the same still, only sleeping to have feverish dreams of +the revolving wheel or the demons grappling her husband, refusing +all food but a little drink, and lying silent except for a few +moans, heedless who spoke or looked at her.</p> + +<p>Diane explained that in that case it was needless to come to +her, but added, with the <i>vraisemblance</i> of falsehood in which +she had graduated in Catherine's school, 'Veronique, as I told you, +you were mistaken.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, Mademoiselle, if M. le Baron lives, she will be cured at +once.'</p> + +<p>'Silly girl,' said Diane, giving relief to her pent-up feeling +by asperity of manner, 'how could he live when you and your +intrigues got him into the palace on such a night? Dead he +is, OF COURSE; but it was your own treacherous, mischievous fancy +that laid it on my brother. He was far away with M. de Guise +at the attack on the Admiral. It was some of Monsieur's +grooms you saw. You remember she had brought him into a +scrape with Monsieur, and it was sure to be remembered. And +look you, if you repeat the other tale, and do not drive it out of +her head, you need not look to be long with her--no, nor at +home. My father will have no one there to cause a scandal by +an evil tongue.'</p> + +<p>That threat convinced Veronique that she had been right; but +she, too, had learnt lessons at the Louvre, and she was too +diplomatic not to ask pardon for her blunder, promise to contradict +it when her mistress could listen, and express her satisfaction +that it was not the Chevalier Narcisse--for such things were not +pleasant, as she justly observed, in families.</p> + +<p>About noon on the Tuesday the Louvre was unusually +tranquil. All the world had gone forth to a procession to +Notre Dame, headed by the King and all the royal family, to offer +thanksgiving for the deliverance of the country from the atrocious +conspiracy of the Huguenots. Eustacie's chamber was freed +from the bustle of all the maids of honour arraying themselves, and +adjusting curls, feathers, ruffs and jewels; and such relief as she +was capable of experiencing she felt in the quiet.</p> + +<p>Veronique hoped she would sleep, and watched like a dragon to +guard against any disturbance, springing out with upraised finger +when a soft gliding step and rustling of brocade was heard. +'Does she sleep?' said a low voice; and Veronique, in the pale thin +face with tear-swollen eyes and light yellow hair, recognized the +young Queen. 'My good girl,' said Elisabeth, with almost a +beseeching gesture, 'let me see her. I do not know when again +I may be able.'</p> + +<p>Veronique stood aside, with the lowest possible of curtseys, +just as her mistress with a feeble, weary voice murmured, 'Oh, make +them let me alone!'</p> + +<p>'My poor, poor child,' said the Queen, bending over Eustacie, +while her brimming eyes let the tears fall fast, 'I will not +disturb you long, but I could not help it.'</p> + +<p>'Her Majesty!' exclaimed Eustacie, opening wide her eyes in +amazement.</p> + +<p>'My dear, suffer me here a little moment,' said the meek +Elisabeth, seating herself so as to bring her face near to +Eustacie's; 'I could not rest till I had seen how it was with you +and wept with you.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, Madame, you can weep,' said Eustacie slowly, looking at the +Queen's heavy tearful eyes almost with wonder; 'but I do not weep +because I am dying, and that is better.'</p> + +<p>'My dear, my dear, do not so speak!' exclaimed the gentle but +rather dull Queen.</p> + +<p>'Is it wrong? Nay, so much the better--then I shall be +with HIM,' said Eustacie in the same feeble dreamy manner, as if +she did not understand herself, but a little roused by seeing she +had shocked her visitor. 'I would not be wicked. He was +all bright goodness and truth: but his does not seem to be +goodness that brings to heaven, and I do not want to be in the +heaven of these cruel false men--I think it would go round and +round.' She shut her eyes as if to steady herself, and that +moment seemed to give her more self-recollection, for looking at +the weeping, troubled visitor, she exclaimed, with more energy, +'Oh! Madame, it must be a dreadful fancy! Good men like +him cannot be shut into those fiery gates with the torturing +devils.'</p> + +<p>'Heaven forbid!' exclaimed the Queen. 'My poor, poor +child, grieve not yourself thus. At my home, my Austrian +home, we do not speak in this dreadful way. My father loves +and honours his loyal Protestants, and he trusts that the good God +accepts their holy lives in His unseen Church, even though +outwardly they are separate from us. My German confessor ever +said so. Oh! Child, it would be too frightful if we deemed +that all those souls as well as bodies perished in these frightful +days. Myself, I believe that they have their reward for their +truth and constancy.'</p> + +<p>Eustacie caught the Queen's hand, and fondled it with delight, +as though those words had veritably opened the gates of heaven to +her husband. The Queen went on in her slow gentle manner, the +very tone of which was inexpressibly soothing and sympathetic: +'Yes, and all will be clear there. No more violence. At +home our good men think so, and the King will think the same when +these cruel counsellors will leave him to himself; and I pray, I +pray day and night, that God will not lay this sin to his account, +but open his eyes to repent. Forgive him, Eustacie, and pray +for him too.'</p> + +<p>'The King would have saved my husband, Madame,' returned +Eustacie. 'He bade him to his room. It was I, unhappy +I, who detained him, lest our flight should have been +hindered.'</p> + +<p>The Queen in her turn kissed Eustacie's forehead with eager +gratitude. 'Oh, little one, you have brought a drop of +comfort to a heavy heart. Alas! I could sometimes feel +you to be a happier wife than I, with your perfect trust in the +brave pure-spirited youth, unwarped by these wicked cruel +advisers. I loved to look at his open brow; it was so like +our bravest German Junkers. And, child, we thought, both of +us, to have brought about your happiness; but, ah! it has but +caused all this misery.'</p> + +<p>'No, no, dearest Queen,' said Eustacie, 'this month with all its +woe has been joy--life! Oh! I had rather lie here and +die for his loss than be as I was before he came. And +NOW--now, you have given him to me for all eternity--if but I am +fit to be with him!'</p> + +<p>Eustacie had revived so much during the interview that the Queen +could not believe her to be in a dying state; but she continued +very ill, the low fever still hanging about her, and the faintness +continual. The close room, the turmoil of its many +inhabitants, and the impossibility of quiet also harassed her +greatly, and Elisabeth had little or no power of making any other +arrangements for her in the palace. Ladies when ill were +taken home, and this poor child had no home. The other maids +of honour were a gentler, simpler set than Catherine's squadron, +and were far from unkind; but between them and her, who had so +lately been the brightest child of them all, there now lay that +great gulf<i>. 'Ich habe gelebt und +geliebet.'</i> That the little blackbird, as they used +to call her, should have been on the verge of running away with her +own husband was a half understood, amusing mystery discussed in +exaggerating prattle. This was hushed, indeed, in the +presence of that crushed, prostrate, silent sorrow; but there was +still an utter incapacity of true sympathy, that made the very +presence of so many oppressive, even when they were not in murmurs +discussing the ghastly tidings of massacres in other cities, and +the fate of acquaintances.</p> + +<p>On that same day, the Queen sent for Diane to consult her about +the sufferer. Elisabeth longed to place her in her own +cabinet and attend on her herself; but she was afraid to do this, +as the unhappy King was in such a frenzied mood, and so constantly +excited by his brother and Guise, that it was possible that some +half-delirious complaint from poor Eustacie might lead to serious +consequences. Indeed, Elisabeth, though in no state to bear +agitation, was absorbed in her endeavour to prevent him from adding +blood to blood, and a few days later actually saved the lives +of the King of Navarre and Prince of Conde, by throwing herself +before him half-dressed, and tearing his weapon from his +hand. Her only hope was that if she should give him a son, +her influence for mercy would revive with his joy. Meantime +she was powerless, and she could only devise the sending the poor +little sufferer to a convent, where the nuns might tend her till +she was restored to health and composure. Diane acquiesced, +but proposed sending for her father, and he was accordingly +summoned. Diane saw him first alone, and both agreed that he +had better take Eustacie to Bellaise, where her aunt would take +good care of her, and in a few months she would no doubt be weary +enough of the country to be in raptures to return to Paris on any +terms.</p> + +<p>Yet even as Diane said this, a sort of longing for the solitude +of the woods of Nid-de-Merle came over her, a recollection of the +good Sister Monique, at whose knee she had breathed somewhat of the +free pure air that her murdered cousin had brought with him; a +sense that there she could pour forth her sorrow. She offered +herself at once to go with Eustacie.</p> + +<p>'No, no, my daughter,' said the Chevalier, 'that is +unnecessary. There is pleasanter employment for you. I +told you that your position was secured. Here is a brilliant +offer--M. de Selinville,'</p> + +<p><i>'Le bonhomme de Selinville!'</i> exclaimed Diane, +feeling rather as if the compensation were like the little dog +offered to Eustacie.</p> + +<p>'Know ye not that his two heretic nephews perished the other +night. He is now the head of his name, the Marquis, the only +one left of his house.'</p> + +<p>'He begins early,' said Diane.</p> + +<p>'An old soldier, my daughter, scarce stays to count the +fallen. He has no time to lose. He is sixty, with a +damaged constitution. It will be but the affair of a few +years, and then will my beautiful Marquise be free to choose for +herself. I shall go from the young Queen to obtain permission +from the Queen-mother.'</p> + +<p>No question was asked. Diane never even thought objection +possible. It was a close to that present life which she had +begun to loathe; it gave comparative liberty. It would dull +and confuse her heart-sick pain, and give her a certain superiority +to her brother. Moreover, it would satisfy the old father, +whom she really loved. Marriage with a worn-out old man was a +simple step to full display for young ladies without fortune.</p> + +<p>The Chevalier told Queen Elisabeth his purpose of placing his +niece in the family convent, under the care of her aunt, the +Abbess, in a foundation endowed by her own family on the borders of +her own estate. Elisabeth would have liked to keep her +nearer, but could not but own that the change to the scenes of her +childhood might be more beneficial than a residence in a nunnery at +Paris, and the Chevalier spoke of his niece with a tender +solicitude that gained the Queen's heart. She consented, only +stipulating that Eustacie's real wishes should be ascertained, and +herself again made the exertion of visiting the patient for the +purpose.</p> + +<p>Eustacie had been partly dressed, and was lying as near as she +could to the narrow window. The Queen would not let her move, +but took her damp languid hand, and detailed her uncle's +proposal. It was plain that it was not utterly +distasteful. 'Soeur Monique,' she said, 'Soeur Monique +would sing hymns to me, and then I should not see the imps at +night.'</p> + +<p>'Poor child! And you would like to go? You could +bear the journey?'</p> + +<p>'It would be in the air! And then I should not smell +blood-- blood!' And her cheeks became whiter again, if +possible.</p> + +<p>'Then you would not rather be at the Carmelites, or Maubuisson, +near me?'</p> + +<p>'Ah! Madame, there would not be Soeur Monique. If +the journey would only make me die, as soon as I came, with Soeur +Monique to hush me, and keep off dreadful images!'</p> + +<p>'Dear child, you should put away the thought of dying. +Maybe you are to live, that your prayers may win salvation for the +soul of him you love.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, then! I should like to go into a convent so +strict--so strict, cried Eustacie, with renewed vigour. +'Bellaise is nothing like strict enough. Does your Majesty +indeed think that my prayers will aid him?'</p> + +<p>'Alas! what hope could we have but in praying?' said +Elisabeth, with tears in her eyes. 'Little one, we will be +joined at least in our prayers and intercessions: thou wilt not +forget in thine one who yet lives, unhappier than all!'</p> + +<p>'And, oh, my good, my holy Queen, will you indeed pray for +him--my husband? He was so good, his faith can surely not +long be reckoned against him. He did not believe in +Purgatory! Perhaps----' Then frowning with a difficulty +far beyond a fever-clouded brain, she concluded--'At least, orisons +may aid him! It is doing something for him! Oh, where +are my beads?--I can begin at once.'</p> + +<p>The Queen put her arm round her, and together they said the <i> +De profundis</i>,--the Queen understood every word far more for the +living than the dead. Again Elisabeth had given new life to +Eustacie. The intercession for her husband was something to +live for, and the severest convent was coveted, until she was +assured that she would not be allowed to enter on any rule till she +had time to recover her health, and show the constancy of her +purpose by a residence at Bellaise.</p> + +<p>Ere parting, however, the Queen bent over her, and colouring, as +if much ashamed of what she said, whispered--'Child, not a word of +the ceremony at Montpipeau!--you understand? The King +was always averse; it would bring him and me into dreadful trouble +with THOSE OTHERS, and alas! It makes no difference now. You +will be silent?'</p> + +<p>And Eustacie signed her acquiescence, as indeed no difficulty +was made in her being regarded as the widow of the Baron de +Ribaumont, when she further insisted on procuring a widow's dress +before she quitted her room, and declared, with much dignity, that +she should esteem no person her friend who called her Mademoiselle +de Nid-de-Merle. To this the Chevalier de Ribaumont was +willing to give way; he did not care whether Narcisse married her +as Berenger's widow or as the separated maiden wife, and he thought +her vehement opposition and dislike would die away the faster the +fewer impediments were placed in her way. Both he and Diane +strongly discouraged any attempt on Narcisse's widow part at a +farewell interview; and thus unmolested, and under the constant +soothing influence of reciting her prayers, in the trust that they +were availing her husband, Eustacie rallied so much that about ten +day after the dreadful St. Bartholomew, in the early morning, she +was half-led half-carried down the stairs between her uncle and +Veronique. Her face was close muffled in her thick black veil, but +when she came to the foot of the first stairs where she had found +Berenger's cap, a terrible shuddering came on her; she again +murmured something about the smell of blood, and fell into a +swoon.</p> + +<p>'Carry her on at once,' said Diane, who was following,--'there +will be not end to it if you do not remove her immediately.'</p> + +<p>And thus shielded from the sight of Narcisse's intended +passionate gesture of farewell at the palace-door, Eustacie was +laid at full length on the seat of the great ponderous family +coach, where Veronique hardly wished to revive her till the eight +horses should have dragged her beyond the streets of Paris, with +their terrible associations, and the gibbets still hung with the +limbs of the murdered.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XIII. THE BRIDEGROOM'S ARRIVAL</h3> + +<p>The starling flew to his mother's window stane,</p> + +<p> It whistled and it sang,</p> + +<p> And aye, the ower word of the tune</p> + +<p> Was 'Johnnie tarries lang.'--JOHNNIE OF BREDISLEE</p> + +<p>There had been distrust and dissatisfaction at home for many a +day past. Berenger could hardly be censured for loving his +own wife, and yet his family were by not means gratified by the +prospect of his bringing home a little French Papist, of whom Lady +Thistlewood remembered nothing good.</p> + +<p>Lucy was indignantly fetched home by her stepmother, who +insisted on treating her with extreme pity as a deserted maiden, +and thus counteracting Aunt Cecily's wise representations, that +there never should, and therefore never could, have been anything +save fraternal affection between the young people, and that pity +was almost an insult to Lucy. The good girl herself was made +very uncomfortable by there demonstrations, and avoided them as +much as possible, chiefly striving in her own gentle way to prepare +her little sisters to expect numerous charms in brother Berenger's +wife, and heartily agreeing with Philip that Berenger knew his own +mind best.</p> + +<p>'And at any rate,' quoth Philip, 'we'll have the best bonfire +that ever was seen in the country! Lucy, you'll coax my father to +give us a tar-barrel!'</p> + +<p>The tar-barrel presided over a monstrous pile of fagots, and the +fisher-boys were promised a tester to whoever should first bring +word to Master Philip that the young lord and lady were in the +creek.</p> + +<p>Philip gave his pony no rest, between the lock-out on the downs +and the borders of the creek; but day after day passed, and still +the smacks from Jersey held no person worth mentioning; and still +the sense of expectation kept Lucy starting at every sound, and +hating herself for her own folly.</p> + +<p>At last Philip burst into Combe Manor, fiery red with riding and +consternation. 'Oh! father, father, Paul Duval's boat is come +in, and he says that the villain Papists have butchered every +Protestant in France.'</p> + +<p>Sir Marmaduke's asseveration was of the strongest, that he did +not believe a word of it. Nevertheless, he took his horse and +rode down to interrogate Paul Duval, and charge him not to spread +the report was in the air. He went to the Hall, and the +butler met him with a grave face, and took him to the study, where +Lord Walwyn was sitting over letter newly received from London, +giving hints from the Low Countries of bloody work in France. +And when he returned to his home, his wife burst out upon him in +despair. Here had they been certainly killing her poor +buy. Not a doubt that he was dead. All from this +miserable going to France, that had been quite against her +will.</p> + +<p>Stoutly did Sir Marmaduke persevere in his disbelief; but every +day some fresh wave of tidings floated in. Murder wholesale +had surely been perpetrated. Now came stories of death-bells +at Rouen from the fishermen on the coast; now markets and petty +sessions discussed the foul slaughter of the Ambassador and his +household; truly related how the Queen had put on mourning, and +falsely that she had hung the French Ambassador, La Mothe +Feneon. And Burleigh wrote to his old friend from London, +that some horrible carnage had assuredly taken place, and that no +news had yet been received of Sir Francis Walsingham or of his +suite.</p> + +<p>All these days seems so many years taken from the vital power of +Lord Walwyn. Not only had his hopes and affections would +themselves closely around his grandson, but he reproached himself +severely with having trusted him in his youth and inexperience +among the seductive perils of Paris. The old man grieved over +the promising young life cut off, and charged on himself the loss +and grief to the women, whose stay he had trusted Berenger would +have been. He said little, but his hand and head grew more +trembling; he scarcely ate or slept, and seemed to waste from a +vigorous elder to a feeble being in the extremity of old age, till +Lady Walwyn had almost ceased to think of her grandson in her +anxiety for her husband.</p> + +<p>Letters came at last. The messenger despatched by Sir +Francis Walsingham had not been able to proceed till the ways had +become safe, and he had then been delayed; but on his arrival his +tidings were sent down. There were letters both from Sir +Francis Walsingham and from heart-broken Mr. Adderley, both to the +same effect, with all possible praises of the young Baron de +Ribaumont, all possible reproach to themselves for having let him +be betrayed, without even a possibility of recovering his remains +for honourable burial. Poor Mr. Adderley further said that +Mr. Sidney, who was inconsolable for the loss of his friend, had +offered to escort him to the Low Countries, whence he would make +his way to England, and would present himself at Hurst Walwyn, if +his Lordship could endure the sight of his creature who had so +miserably failed in his trust.</p> + +<p>Lord Walwyn read both letters twice through before he +spoke. Then he took off his spectacles, laid them down, and +said calmly, 'God's will be done. I thank God that my boy was +blameless. Better they slew him than sent him home tainted +with their vices.'</p> + +<p>The certainty, such as it was, seemed like repose after the +suspense. They knew to what to resign themselves, and even +Lady Thistlewood's tempestuous grief had so spent itself that late +in the evening the family sat round the fire in the hall, the old +lord dozing as one worn out with sorrow, the others talking in +hushed tones of that bright boyhood, that joyous light quenched in +the night of carnage.</p> + +<p>The butler slowly entered the hall, and approached Sir +Marmaduke, cautiously. 'Can I speak with you, sir?'</p> + +<p>'What is it, Davy?' demanded the lady, who first caught the +words. </p> + +<p>'What did you say?'</p> + +<p>'Madam, it is Humfrey Holt!'</p> + +<p>Humfrey Holt was the head of the grooms who had gone with +Berenger; and there was a general start and suppressed +exclamation. 'Humfrey Hold!' said Lord Walwyn, feebly drawing +himself to sit upright, 'hath he, then, escaped?'</p> + +<p>'Yea, my Lord,' said Davy, 'and he brings news of my young +Lord'</p> + +<p>'Alack! Davy,' said Lady Walwyn, 'such news had been precious a +while ago.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, so please your Ladyship, it is better than you deem. +Humfrey says my young Lord is yet living.'</p> + +<p>'Living! shrieked Lady Thistlewood, starting up. +'Living! My son! and where?'</p> + +<p>'They are bearing him home, my Lady,' said the butler; 'but I +fear me, by what Humfrey says, that it is but in woeful case.'</p> + +<p>'Bringing him home! Which way?' Philip darted off +like an arrow from the bow. Sir Marmaduke hastily demanded if +aid were wanted; and Lady Walwyn, interpreting the almost inaudible +voice of her husband, bade that Humfrey should be called in to tell +his own story.</p> + +<p>Hands were held out in greeting, and blessings murmured, as the +groom entered, looking battered and worn, and bowing low in +confusion at being thus unusually conspicuous, and having to tell +his story to the head and body, and slashed about the face so as it +is a shame to see. Nor hath he done aught these three weary +weeks but moan from time to time so as it is enough to break one's +heart to hear him; and I fear me 'tis but bringing him home to +die.'</p> + +<p>'Even so, God be thanked; and you too, honest Humfrey,' said +Lady Walwyn.' 'Let us hear when and how this deed was +done.'</p> + +<p>'Why, that, my Lord, I can't so well say, being that I was not +with him; more's the pity, or I'd have known the reason why, or +even they laid a finger on him. But when Master Landry, his +French foster-brother, comes, he will resolve you in his own +tongue. I can't parleyvoo with him, but he's an honest rogue +for a Frenchman, and 'twas he brought off my young Lord. You see we +were all told to be abroad the little French craft.</p> + +<p>Master Landry took me down and settled it all with the master, a +French farmer fellow that came a horse-dealing to Paris. I +knew what my young Lord was after, but none of the other varlets +did; and I went down and made as decent a place as I could between +decks. My Lord and Master Landry were gone down to the court +meantime, and we were to lie off till we heard a whistle like a +mavis on the bank, then come and take them aboard. Well, we +waited and waited, and all the lights were out, and not a sound did +we hear till just an hour after midnight. Then a big bell +rang out, not like a decent Christianable bell, but a great clash, +then another, and a lot of strokes enough to take away one's +breath. Then half the windows were lighted up, and we heard +shots, and screeches, and splashes, till, as I said to Jack +Smithers, 'twas as if one half the place was murthering the +other. The farmer got frightened, and would have been off; +but when I saw what he was at, "No," says I, "not an inch do we +budge without news of my Lord." So Jack stood by the rope, +and let them see that 'twas as much as their life was worth to try +to unmoor. Mercy, what a night it was! Shrieks and +shouts, and shots and howls, here, there, and everywhere, and +splashes into the rive; and by and by we saw the poor murthered +creatures come floating by. The farmer, he had some words +with one of the boats near, and I heard somewhat of Huguenot and +Hereteek, and I knew that was what they called good +Protestants. Then up comes the farmer with his sons looking +mighty ugly at us, and signing that unless we let them be off +'twould be set ashore for us; and we began to think as how we had +best be set ashore, and go down the five of us to see if we could +stand by my young Lord in some strait, or give notice to my Lord +Ambassador.'</p> + +<p>'God reward you!' exclaimed Lady Walwyn.</p> + +<p>'Twas only our duty, my Lady,' gruffly answered Humfrey; 'but +just as Hal had got on the quay, what should I see but Master +Landry coming down the street with my young Lord in his back! +I can tell you he was well-nigh spent; and just then half a dozen +butcherly villains came out on him, bawling, "Tu-y! tu-y!" +which it seems means "kill, kill." He turned about and showed +them that he had got a white sleeve and white cross in his bonnet, +like them, the rascals, giving them to understand that he was only +going to throw the corpse into the river. I doubted him then +myself; but he caught sight of us, and in his fashion of talk with +us, called out to us to help, for there was life still. So +two of us took my Lord, and the other three gave the beggarly +French cut-throats as good as they meant for us; while Landry +shouted to the farmer to wait, and we got aboard, and made right +away down the river. But never a word has the poor young +gentleman spoken, though Master Landry has done all a barber or a +sick-nurse could do; and he got us past the cities by showing the +papers in my Lord's pocket, so that we got safe to the farmer's +place. There we lay till we could get a boat to Jersey, and +thence again home; and maybe my young Lord will mend now Mistress +Cecily will have the handing of him.'</p> + +<p>'That is it the wisest Hands, good Humfrey,' said Lord Walwyn, +as the tears of feeble age flowed down his cheeks. 'May He +who hath brought the lad safely so far spare him yet, and raise him +up. But whether he live or die, you son and daughter +Thistlewood will look that the faithfulness of Humfrey Holt and his +comrades be never forgotten or unrewarded.'</p> + +<p>Humfrey again muttered something about no more than his duty; +but by this time sounds were heard betokening the approach of the +melancholy procession, who, having been relieved by a relay of +servants sent at once from the house, were bearing home the wounded +youth. Philip first of all dashed in hurrying and +stumbling. He had been unprepared by hearing Humfrey's +account, and, impetuous and affectionate as he was, was entirely +unrestrained, and flinging himself on his knees with the +half-audible words, 'Oh! Lucy! Lucy! He is as good as +dead!' hid his face between his arms on his sister's lap, and +sobbed with the abandonment of a child, and with all his youthful +strength; so much adding to the consternation and confusion, that, +finding all Lucy's gentle entreaties vain, his father at last +roughly pulled up his face by main force, and said, 'Philip, hold +your tongue! Are we to have you on our hands as well as my +Lady? I shall send you home this moment! Let your +sister go.'</p> + +<p>This threat reduced the boy to silence. Lucy, who was +wanted to assist in preparing Berenger's room, disengaged herself; +but he remained in the same posture, his head buried on the seat of +the chair, and the loud weeping only forcibly stifled by forcing +his handkerchief into his mouth, as if he had been in violent +bodily pain. Nor did he venture again to look up as the cause +of all his distress was slowly carried into the hall, corpse-like +indeed. The bearers had changed several times, all but a +tall, fair Norman youth, who through the whole transit had +supported the head, endeavouring to guard it from shocks. +When the mother and the rest came forward, he made a gesture to +conceal the face, saying in French, 'Ah! Mesdames; this is no sight +for you.'</p> + +<p>Indeed the head and face were almost entirely hidden by +bandages, and it was not till Berenger had been safely deposited on +a large carved bed that the anxious relatives were permitted to +perceive the number and extent of his hurts; and truly it was only +by the breath, the vital warmth, and the heavy moans when he was +disturbed, or the dressings of the wounds were touched, that showed +him still to be a living man. There proved to be no less than +four wounds--a shot through the right shoulder, the right arm also +broken with a terrible blow with a sword, a broad gash from the +left temple to the right ear, and worse than all, <i>'le baiser +d'Eustacie</i>,' a bullet wound where the muzzle of the pistol had +absolutely been so close as to have burnt and blackened the cheek; +so that his life was, as Osbert averred, chiefly owing to the +assassin's jealousy of his personal beauty, which had directed his +shot to the cheek rather than the head; and thus, though the bullet +had terribly shattered the upper jaw and roof of the mouth, and had +passed out through the back of the head, there was a hope that it +had not penetrated the seat of life or reason. The other gash +on the face was but a sword-wound, and though frightful to look at, +was unimportant, compared with the first wound with the pistol-shot +in the shoulder, with the arm broken and further injured by having +served to suspend him round Osbert's neck; but it was altogether so +appalling a sight, that it was no wonder that Sis Marmaduke +muttered low but deep curses on the cowardly ruffians; while his +wife wept in grief as violent, though more silent, than her +stepson's, and only Cecily gathered the faintest ray of hope. +The wounds had been well cared for, the arm had been set, the hair +cut away, and lint and bandages applied with a skill that surprised +her, till she remembered that Landry Osbert had been bred up in +preparation to be Berenger's valet, and thus to practise those +minor arts of surgery then required in a superior +body-servant. For his part, though his eyes looked red, and +his whole person exhausted by unceasing watching, he seemed unable +to relinquish the care of his master for a moment, and her nunnery +French would not have perceived her tender touch and ready +skill. These were what made him consent to leave his post +even for a short meal, and so soon as he had eaten it he was called +to Lord Walwyn to supply the further account which Humfrey had been +unable to give. He had waited, he explained, with a lackey, a +friend of his in the palace, till he became alarmed by the influx +of armed men, wearing white crosses and shirt-sleeves on their left +arms, but his friend had assured him that his master had been +summoned to the royal bedchamber, where he would be as safe as in +church; and obtaining from Landry Osbert himself a perfectly true +assurance of being a good Catholic, had supplied him with the +badges that were needful for security. It was just then that +Madame's maid crept down to his waiting-place with the intelligence +that her mistress had been bolted in, and after a short +consultation they agreed to go and see whether M. le Baron were +indeed waiting, and, if he were, to warn him of the suspicious +state of the lower regions of the palace.</p> + +<p>They were just in time to see, but not to prevent the attack +upon their young master; and while Veronique fled, screaming, +Landry Osbert, who had been thrown back on the stairs in her sudden +flight, recovered himself and hastened to his master. The +murderers, after their blows had been struck, had hurried along the +corridor to join the body of assassins, whose work they had in +effect somewhat anticipated. Landry, full of rage and +despair, was resolved at least to save his foster-brother's corpse +from further insult, and bore it down-stairs in his arms. On +the way, he perceived that life was not yet extinct, and resolving +to become doubly cautious, he sought in the pocket for the purse +that had been well filled for the flight, and by the persuasive +argument of gold crowns, obtained egress from the door-keeper of +the postern, where Berenger hoped to have emerged in a far +different manner. It was a favourable moment, for the main +body of the murderers were at that time being poster in the court +by the captain of the guard, ready to massacre the gentlemen of the +King of Navarre's suite, and he was therefore unmolested by any +claimant of the plunders of the apparent corpse he bore on his +shoulders. The citizens of Paris who had been engaged in +their share of the murders for more than an hour before the tragedy +began in the Louvre, frequently beset him on his way to the quay, +and but for the timely aid of his English comrades, he would hardly +have brought off his foster-brother safely.</p> + +<p>The pass with which King Charles had provided Berenger for +himself and his followers when his elopement was first planned, +enabled Osbert to carry his whole crew safely past all the stations +where passports were demanded. He had much wished to procure +surgical aid at Rouen, but learning from the boatmen on the river +that the like bloody scenes were there being enacted, he had decide +on going on to his master's English home as soon as possible, +merely trusting to his own skill by the way; and though it was the +slightest possible hope, yet the healthy state of the wounds, and +the mere fact of life continuing, had given him some faint trust +that there might be a partial recovery.</p> + +<p>Lord Walwyn repeated his agitated thanks and praises for such +devotion to his grandson.</p> + +<p>Osbert bower, laid his hand on his heart, and +replied--'Monseigneur is good, but what say I? Monsieur le +Baron is my foster-brother! Say that, and all is said in one +word.'</p> + +<p>He was then dismissed, with orders to take some rest, but he +obstinately refused all commands in French or English to go to bed, +and was found some time after fast asleep.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XIV. SWEET HEART</h3> + +<p>Ye hae marred a bonnier face than your ain.</p> + +<p>DYING WORDS OF THE BONNIE EARL OF MORAY</p> + +<p>One room at Hurst Walwyn, though large, wainscoted, and well +furnished, bore as pertinaciously the air of a cell as the +appearance of Sister Cecily St. John continued like that of a +nun. There was a large sunny oriel, in which a thrush sang +merrily in a wicker cage; and yet the very central point and +leading feature of the room was the altar-like table, covered with +rich needlework, with a carved ebony crucifix placed on it, and on +the wall above, quaint and stiff, but lovely-featured, delicately +tinted pictures of Our Lady in the centre, and of St. Anne and St. +Cecilia on either side, with skies behind of most ethereal blue, +and robes tenderly trimmed with gold. A little shrine of +purple spar, with a crystal front, contained a fragment of sacred +bone; a silver shell help holy water, perpetuated from some blessed +by Bishop Ridley.</p> + +<p>'With velvet bound and broidered o'er, Her breviary book' +Lay open at 'Sext,' and there, too, lay with its three marks at the +Daily Lessons, the Bishop's Bible, and the Common Prayer beside +it.</p> + +<p>The elder Baron de Ribaumont had never pardoned Cecily his +single glance at that table, and had seriously remonstrated with +his father-in-law for permitting its existence, quoting Rachel, +Achan, and Maachah. Yet he never knew of the hair-cloth +smock, the discipline, the cord and sack-cloth that lay stored in +the large carved awmry, and were secretly in use on every fast or +vigil, not with any notion of merit, but of simple obedience, and +with even deeper comprehension and enjoyment of their spiritual +significance, of which, in her cloister life, she had comprehended +little.</p> + +<p>It was not she, however, who knelt with bowed head and clasped +hands before the altar-table, the winter sunbeams making the +shadows of the ivy sprays dance upon the deep mourning dress and +pale cheek. The eyelashes were heavy with tear-drops, and +veiled eyes that had not yet attained to the region of calm, like +the light quivering of the lips showed that here was the beginning +of the course of trial through which serenity might be won, and for +ever.</p> + +<p>By and by the latch was raise, and Cecily came forward. +Lucy rose quickly to her feet, and while giving and returning a +fond embrace, asked with her eyes the question that Cecily +answered, 'Still in the same lethargy. The only shade of +sense that I have seen is an unclosing of the eyes, a wistful look +whenever the door opened, and a shiver through all his frame +whenever the great bell rings, till my Lord forbade it to be +sounded.'</p> + +<p>'That frightful bell that the men told us of,' said Lucy, +shuddering; 'oh, what a heart that murderess must have had!'</p> + +<p>'Hold, Lucy! How should we judge her, who may at this +moment be weeping in desolation?'</p> + +<p>Lucy looked up astonished. 'Aunt,' she said, 'you have +been so long shut up with him that you hardly can have heard +all-how she played fast and loose, and for the sake of a mere +pageant put off the flight from the time when it would have been +secure even until that dreadful eve!'</p> + +<p>'I know it,' said Cecily. 'I fear me much that her sin has +been great; yet, Lucy, it were better to pray for her than to talk +wildly against her.'</p> + +<p>'Alas!' murmured Lucy, 'I could bear it and glory in it when it +seemed death for the faith's sake, but,' and the tears burst out, +'to find he was only trapped and slain for the sake of a faithless +girl--and that he should love her still.'</p> + +<p>'She is his wife,' said Cecily. 'Child, from my soul I +grieve for you, but none the less must I, if no other will, keep +before your eyes that our Berenger's faith belongs solely to +her.'</p> + +<p>'You--you never would have let me forget it,' said Lucy. 'Indeed +I am more maidenly when not alone with you! I know verily +that he is loyal, and that my hatred to her is more than is +meet. I will--I will pray for her, but I would that you were +in your convent still, and that I could hide me there.'</p> + +<p>'That were scarce enough,' said Cecily. 'One sister we had +who had fled to our house to hide her sorrows for her betrothed had +wedded another. She took her sorrows for her vocation, strove +to hurry on her vows, and when they were taken, she chafed and +fretted under them. It was she who wrote to the commissioner +the letter that led to the visitation of our house, and, moreover, +she was the only one of us who married.'</p> + +<p>'To her own lover?'</p> + +<p>'No, to a brewer at Winchester! I say not that you could +ever be like poor sister Bridget, but only that the cloister has no +charm to still the heart--prayer and duty can do as much without as +within.'</p> + +<p>'When we deemed her worthy, I was glad of his happiness,' said +Lucy, thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>'You did, my dear, and I rejoiced. Think now how grievous +it must be with her, if she, as I fear she may, yielded her heart +to those who told her that to ensnare him was her duty, or if +indeed she were as much deceived as he.'</p> + +<p>'Then she will soon be comforted,' said Lucy, still with some +bitterness in her voice; bitterness of which she herself was +perhaps conscious, for suddenly dropping in her knees, she hid her +face, and cried. 'Oh, help me to pray for her, Aunt Cecily, and +that I may do her wrong no more!'</p> + +<p>And Cecily, in her low conventual chant, sang, almost under her +breath, the noonday Latin hymn, the words of which, long familiar +to Lucy, had never as yet so come home to her.</p> + +<p> 'Quench Thou the fires of heat and +strife,</p> + +<p> The wasting fever of the heart;</p> + +<p> From perils guard our feeble life,</p> + +<p> And to our souls Thy help impart.'</p> + +<p>Cecily's judgment would have been thought weakly charitable by +all the rest of the family. Mr. Adderley had been forwarded by Sir +Francis Walsingham like a bale of goods, and arriving in a mood of +such self-reproach as would be deemed abject, by persons used to +the modern relations between noblemen and their chaplains, was +exhilarated by the unlooked-for comfort of finding his young charge +at least living, and in his grandfather's house. From his +narrative, Walsingham's letter, and Osbert's account, Lord Walwyn +saw no reason to doubt that the Black Ribaumonts had thought that +massacre a favourable moment for sweeping the only survivor of the +White or elder branch away, and that not only had royalty lent +itself to the cruel project, but that as Diane de Ribaumont had +failed as a bait, the young espoused wife had herself been employed +to draw him into the snare, and secure his presence at the +slaughter-house, away from his safe asylum at the Ambassador's or +even in the King's garde-robe. It was an unspeakably +frightful view to take of the case, yet scarcely worse than the +reality of many of the dealings of those with whom the poor young +girl had been associated: certainly not worse than the crimes, the +suspicion of which was resting on the last dowager Queen of France; +and all that could be felt by the sorrowing family, was comfort +that at least corruption of mind had either not been part of the +game, or had been unsuccessful, and, by all testimony, the victim +was still the same innocent boy. This was all their relief, +while for days, for weeks, Berenger de Ribaumont lay in a trance or +torpor between life and death. Sometimes, as Cecily had said, +his eyes turned with a startled wistfulness towards the door, and +the sound of a bell seemed to thrill him with a start of agony; but +for the most part he neither appeared to see or hear, and a few +moans were the only sounds that escaped him. The Queen, in +her affection for her old friend, and her strong feeling for the +victims of the massacre, sent down the court physician, who turned +him about, and elicited sundry heavy groans, but could do no more +than enjoin patient waiting on the beneficent powers of nature in +early youth. His visit produced one benefit, namely, the +strengthening of Cecily St. John's hands against the charms, +elixirs, and nostrums with which Lady Thistlewood's friends +supplied her,--plasters from the cunning women of Lyme Regis, made +of powder of giant's bones, and snakes prayed into stone by St. +Aldhelm, pills of live woodlice, and fomentations of living +earthworms and spiders. Great was the censure incurred by +Lady Walwyn for refusing to let such remedies be tried on HER +grandson. And he was so much more her child than his +mother's, that Dame Annora durst do no more than maunder.</p> + +<p>In this perfect rest, it seemed as if after a time 'the powers +of nature' did begin to rally, there were appearances of healing +about the wounds, the difference between sleeping and waking became +more evident, the eyes lost the painful, half-closed, vacant look, +but were either shut or opened with languid recognition. The +injuries were such as to exclude him from almost every means of +expression, the wound in his mouth made speech impossible, and his +right arm was not available for signs. It was only the +clearness of his eyes, and their response to what was said, that +showed that his mind was recovering tone, and then he seemed only +alive to the present, and to perceive nothing but what related to +his suffering and its alleviations. The wistfulness that had +shown itself at first was gone, and even when he improved enough to +establish a language of signs with eye, lip, or left hand, Cecily +became convinced that he has little or no memory of recent +occurrences, and that finding himself at home among familiar faces, +his still dormant perceptions demanded no further explanation.</p> + +<p>This blank was the most favourable state for his peace and for +his recovery, and it was of long duration, lasting even till he had +made so much progress that he could leave his bed, and even speak a +few words, though his weakness was much prolonged by the great +difficulty with which he could take nourishment. About two +winters before, Cecily had successfully nursed him through a severe +attack of small-pox, and she thought that he confounded his present +state with the former illness, when he had had nearly the same +attendants and surroundings as at present; and that his faculties +were not yet roused enough to perceive the incongruity.</p> + +<p>Once or twice he showed surprise at visits from his mother or +Philip, who had then been entirely kept away from him, and about +Christmas he brightened so much, and awoke to things about him so +much more fully, that Cecily thought the time of recollection could +not be much longer deferred. Any noise, however, seemed so +painful to him, that the Christmas festivities were held at Combe +Manor instead of Hurst Walwyn; only after church, Sir Marmaduke and +Lady Thistlewood came in to make him a visit, as he sat in a large +easy-chair by his bedroom-fire, resting after having gone through +as much of the rites of the day as he was able for, with Mr. +Adderlay. The room looked very cheerful with the bright +wood-fire on the open hearth, shining on the gay tapestry hangings, +and the dark wood of the carved bed. The evergreen-decked +window shimmered with sun shine, and even the patient, leaning back +among crimson cushions, though his face and head were ghastly +enough wherever they were not covered with patches and bandages, +still had a pleasant smile with lip and eye to thank his stepfather +for his cheery wishes of 'a merry Christmas, at least one better in +health.'</p> + +<p>'I did not bring the little wenches, Berenger, lest they should +weary you,' said his mother.</p> + +<p>Berenger looked alarmed, and said with the indistinctness with +which he always spoke, 'Have they caught it? Are they +marked?'</p> + +<p>'No, no, not like you, may boy,' said Sir Marmaduke, +sufficiently aware of Berenger's belief to be glad to keep it up, +and yet obliged to walk to the window to hide his diversion at the +notion of his little girls catching the contagion of sword-gashes +and bullet-wounds. Dame Annora prattled on, 'But they have +sent you their Christmas gifts by me. Poor children, they have long +been busied with them, and I fancy Lucy did half herself. +See, this kerchief is hemmed by little Dolly, and here are a pair +of bands and cuffs to match, that Nanny and Bessy have been +broidering with their choicest stitchery.'</p> + +<p>Berenger smile, took, expressed admiration by gesture, and then +said in a dreamy, uncertain manner, 'Methought I had some gifts for +them;' then looking round the room, his eye fell on a small +brass-bound casket which had travelled with him to hold his +valuables; he pointed to it with a pleased look, as Sir Marmaduke +lifted it and placed it on a chair by his side. The key, a +small ornamental brass one, was in his purse, not far off, and Lady +Thistlewood was full of exceeding satisfaction at the unpacking not +only of foreign gifts, but, as she hoped, of the pearls; Cecily +meantime stole quietly in, to watch that her patient was not +over-wearied.</p> + +<p>He was resuming the use of his right arm, though it was still +weak and stiff, and he evidently had an instinct against letting +any one deal with that box but himself; he tried himself to unlock +it, and though forced to leave this to Sir Marmaduke, still leant +over it when opened, as if to prevent his mother's curious glances +from penetrating its recesses, and allowed no hands near it but his +own. He first brought out a pretty feather fan, saying as he +held it to his mother, 'For Nan, I promised it. It was bought +at the Halles,' he added, more dreamily.</p> + +<p>Then again he dived, and brought out a wax medallion of Our Lady +guarded by angels, and made the sign that always brought Cecily to +him. He held it up to her with a puzzled smile, saying, 'They +thought me a mere Papist for buying it--M. de Teligny, I think it +was.'</p> + +<p>They had heard how the good and beloved Teligny had been shot +down on the roof of his father-in-law's house, by rabid assassins, +strangers to his person, when all who knew him had spared him, from +love to his gentle nature; and the name gave a strange thrill.</p> + +<p>He muttered something about 'Pedlar,--Montpipeau,'--and still +continued. Then came a small silver casket, diffusing an +odour of attar of roses--he leant back in his chair--and his mother +would have taken it from him, supposing him overcome by the scent, +but he held it fast and shook his head, saying, "For Lucy,--but she +must give it herself. She gave up any gift for herself for +it--she said we needed no love-tokens.' And he closed his +eyes. Dame Annora plunged into the unpacking, and brought out +a pocket-mirror with enamelled cupids in the corner, addressed to +herself; and then came upon Berenger's own.</p> + +<p>Again came a fringed pair of gloves among the personal jewellery +such as gentlemen were wont to wear, the rings, clasps and brooches +he had carried from home. Dame Angora's impatience at last +found vent in the exclamation, 'The pearls, son; I do not see the +chaplet of pearls.'</p> + +<p>'She had them, 'answered Berenger, in a matter-of-fact tone, 'to +wear at the masque.'</p> + +<p>'She----'</p> + +<p>Sir Marmaduke's great hand choked, as it were, the query on his +wife's lips, unseen by her son, who, as if the words had touched +some chord, was more eagerly seeking in the box, and presently drew +out a bow of carnation ribbon with a small piece of paper full of +pin-holes attached to it. At once he carried it to his lips, +kissed it fervently, and then, sinking back in his chair, seemed to +be trying to gather up the memory that had prompted the impulse, +knitted his brows together, and then suddenly exclaimed, 'Where is +she?'</p> + +<p>His mother tried the last antecedent. 'Lucy? She shall +come and thank you to-morrow.'</p> + +<p>He shook his head with a vehement negative, beckoned Cecily +impatiently, and said earnestly, 'Is it the contagion? Is she +sick? I will go to her.'</p> + +<p>Cecily and Sir Marmaduke both replied with a 'No, no!' and were +thankful, though in much suspense at the momentary pause, while +again he leant back on the cushions, looked steadily at the +pin-holes, that formed themselves into the word 'Sweet heart,' then +suddenly began to draw up the loose sleeve of his wrapping-gown and +unbutton the wristband of his right sleeve. His mother tried +to help him, asking if he had hurt or tired his arm. They +would have been almost glad to hear that it was so, but he shook +her off impatiently, and the next moment had a view of the freshly +skinned over, but still wide and gaping gash on his arm. He +looked for a brief space, and said, 'It is a sword-cut,'</p> + +<p>'Truly it is, lad,' said Sir Marmaduke, 'and a very bad one, +happily whole! Is this the first time you have seen it?'</p> + +<p>He did not answer, but covered his eyes with his hand, and +presently burst out again, 'Then it is no dream? Sir--have I +been to France?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, my son, you have,' said Sir Marmaduke, gently, and with +more tenderness than could have been looked for; 'but what passed +there is much better viewed as a dream, and cast behind your back,' +Berenger had, while he spoke, taken up the same little mirror where +he had once admired himself; and as he beheld the scar and plaster +that disfigured his face, with a fresh start of recollection, +muttered over, <i>'"Barbouiller ce chien de visage"</i> --ay, so he +said. I felt the pistol's muzzle touch! Narcisse! +Has God had mercy on me? I prayed Him. Ah! <i>"le +baiser d'Eustacie"</i> --so he said. I was waiting in the +dark. Why did he come instead of her? Oh! father, where +is she?'</p> + +<p>It was a sore task, but Sir Marmaduke went bravely and bluntly, +though far from unkindly, to the point: 'She remains with her +friends in France.'</p> + +<p>There the youth's look of utter horror and misery shocked and +startled them all, and he groaned rather than said, 'Left +there! Left to them! What have I done to leave her +there?'</p> + +<p>'Come, Berenger, this will not serve,' said his mother, trying +to rouse and cheer him. 'You should rather be thankful that +when you had been so foully ensnared by their wiles, good Osbert +brought you off with your life away from those bloody doings. +Yes, you may thank Heaven and Osbert, for you are the only one of +them living now.'</p> + +<p>'Of whom, mother?'</p> + +<p>'Of all the poor Protestants that like you were deluded by the +pack of murderers over there. What,'--fancying it would +exhilarate him to hear of his own escape--'you knew not that the +bloody Guise and the Paris cut-throats rose and slew every Huguenot +they could lay hands on? Why, did not the false wench put off +your foolish runaway project for the very purpose of getting you +into the trap on the night of the massacre?'</p> + +<p>He looked with a piteous, appealing glance from her to Cecily +and Sir Marmaduke, as if in hopes that they would contradict.</p> + +<p>'Too true, my lad,' said Sir Marmaduke. 'It is Heaven's +good mercy that Osbert carried you out alive. No other +Protestant left the palace alive but the King of Navarre and his +cousin, who turned renegades.'</p> + +<p>'And she is left there?' he repeated.</p> + +<p>'Heed her not, my dear boy,' began his mother; 'you are safe, +and must forget her ill-faith and----'</p> + +<p>Berenger seemed scarcely to hear this speech--he held out his +hands as if stunned and dizzied, and only said, or rather +indicated, 'Let me lie down.'</p> + +<p>His stepfather almost carried him across the room, and laid him +on his bed, where he turned away from the light and shut his eyes; +but the knot of ribbon and the pin-pricked word was still in his +hand, and his mother longed to take away the token of this false +love, as she believed it. The great clock struck the hour for +her to go. 'Leave him quiet,' said Cecily, gently; 'he can +bear no more now. </p> + +<p>I will send over in the evening to let you know how he +fares.'</p> + +<p>'But that he should be so set on the little bloodthirsty +baggage,' sighed Lady Thistlewood; and then going up to her son, +she poured out her explanation of being unable to stay, as her +parents were already at the Manor, with no better entertainers than +Lucy, Philip, and the children. She thanked him for the +gifts, which she would take to them with his love. All this passed +by him as though he heard it not, but when leaning down, she kissed +his forehead, and at the same time tried to withdraw the knot of +ribbon: his fingers closed on it with a grasp like steel, so cold +were they, yet so fast.</p> + +<p>Sir Marmaduke lingered a few moments behind her, and Berenger +opening his eyes, as if to see whether solitude had been achieved, +found the kind-hearted knight gazing at him with eyes full of +tears. 'Berry, my lad,' he said, 'bear it like a man. I +know how hard it is. There's not a woman of them all that an +honest, plain Englishman has a chance with, when a smooth-tongued +Frenchman comes round her! But a man may live a true and +honest life however sore his heart may be, and God Almighty makes +it up to him if he faces it out manfully.'</p> + +<p>Good Sir Marmaduke in his sympathy had utterly forgotten both +Berenger's French blood, and that he was the son of the very +smooth-tongued interloper who had robbed his life of its first +bloom. Berenger was altogether unequal to do more than +murmur, as he held out his hand in response to the kindness, 'You +do not know her.'</p> + +<p>"Ah! Poor lad.' Sir Marmaduke shook his head and left him +to Cecily.</p> + +<p>After the first shock, Berenger never rested till he had made +Osbert, Mr. Adderley, and Cecily tell him all they knew, and asked +by name after those whom he had known best at Paris. Alas! of +all those, save such as had been in the Ambassador's house, there +was but one account to give. Venerable warrior, noble-hearted +youth, devoted pastor, all alike had perished!</p> + +<p>This frightful part of the story was altogether new to +him. He had been probably the earliest victim in the Louvre, +as being the special object of private malice, which had contrived +to involve him in the general catastrophe; and his own +recollections carried him only to the flitting of lights and +ringing of bells, that has made him imagine that an alarm of fire +would afford a good opportunity of escape if SHE would but +come. A cloaked figure had approached, --he had held out his +arms--met that deadly stroke-- heard the words hissed in his +ear.</p> + +<p>He owned that for some time past strange recollections had been +flitting though his mind--a perpetual unsatisfied longing for and +expectation of his wife, and confused impressions of scenes and +people had harassed him perpetually, even when he could not discern +between dreams and reality; but knowing that he had been very ill, +he had endeavoured to account for everything as delirious fancies, +but had become increasingly distressed by their vividness, +confusion, and want of outward confirmation. At last these +solid tokens and pledges from that time had brought certainty back, +and with it the harmony and clearness of his memory: and the strong +affection, that even his oblivion had not extinguished, now +recurred in all its warmth to its object.</p> + +<p>Four months had passed, as he now discovered, since that night +when he had hoped to have met Eustacie, and she must be believing +him dead. His first measure on the following day when he had +been dressed and seated in his chair was to send for his casket, +and with his slow stiff arm write thus:--</p> + +<p>'Mon Coeur, My own sweetheart,--Hast thou thought me dead, and +thyself deserted? Osbert will tell thee all, and why I can +scarce write. Trust thyself to him to bring to me. I +shall be whole seeing thee. Or if thou canst not come with +him, write or send me the least token by him, and I will come and +bear thee home so soon as I can put foot in stirrup. Would +that I could write all that is in my heart!</p> + +<p>'Thy Husband.'</p> + +<p>It was all that either head or hand would enable him to say, but +he had the fullest confidence in Landry Osbert, who was one of the +few who understood him at half a word. He desired Osbert to +seek the lady out wherever she might be, whether still at court or +in a convent, convey the letter to her if possible, and, if she +could by any means escape, obtain from Chateau Leurre such an +escort as she could come to England with. If, as was too much +to be feared, she was under too close restraint, Osbert should send +intelligence home, as he could readily do through the Ambassador's +household, and Berenger trusted by that time to be able to take +measures for claiming her in person.</p> + +<p>Osbert readily undertook everything, but supplies for his +journey were needed, and there was an absolute commotion in the +house when it was known that Berenger had been writing to his +faithless spouse, and wishing to send for her. Lord Walwyn +came up to visit his grandson, and explain to him with much pity +and consideration that he considered such a step as vain, and only +likely to lead to further insult. Berenger's respect forced +him to listen without interruption, and though he panted to answer, +it was a matter of much difficulty, for the old lord was becoming +deaf, and could not catch the indistinct, agitated words--</p> + +<p>'My Lord, she is innocent as day.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! Anan, boy.'</p> + +<p>'I pledge my life on her love and innocence.'</p> + +<p>'Love! Yes, my poor boy; but if she be unworthy?--Eh? Cecily, +what says he?'</p> + +<p>'He is sure of her innocence, sir?'</p> + +<p>'That is of course. But, my dear lad, you will soon learn +that even a gentle, good woman who has a conscience-keeper is too +apt to think her very sense of right ought to be sacrificed to what +she calls her religion.--What is it, what is he telling you, +Cecily?'</p> + +<p>'She was ready to be one of us,' Berenger said, with a great +effort to make it clear.</p> + +<p>'Ah, a further snare. Poor child! The very softest +of them become the worst deceivers, and the kindred who have had +the charge of her all their life could no doubt bend her will.'</p> + +<p>'Sir,' said Berenger, finding argument impossible, 'if you will +but let me dispatch Osbert, her answer will prove to you what she +is.'</p> + +<p>'There is something in that,' said Lord Walwyn, when he had +heard it repeated by Cecily. 'It is, of course, needful that +both she and her relations should be aware of Berenger's life, and +I trow nothing but the reply will convince him.'</p> + +<p>'Convince him!' muttered Berenger. 'Oh that I could make +him understand. What a wretch I am to have no voice to defend +her!'</p> + +<p>'What?' said the old lord again.</p> + +<p>'Only that I could speak, sir; you should know why it is +sacrilege to doubt her.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! well, we will not wound you, my son, while talk is +vain. You shall have the means of sending your groom, if thus +you will set your mind at rest, though I had rather have trusted to +Walsingham's dealing. I will myself give him a letter to Sir +Francis, to forward him on his way; and should the young lady prove +willing to hold to her contract and come to you here, I will pray +him to do everything to aid her that may be consistent with his +duty in his post.'</p> + +<p>This was a great and wonderful concession for Lord Walwyn, and +Berenger was forced to be contented with it, though it galled him +terribly to have Eustacie distrusted, and be unable to make his +vindication even heard or understood, as well as to be forced to +leave her rescue, and even his own explanation to her, to a mere +servant.</p> + +<p>This revival of his memory had not at all conduced to his +progress in recovery. His brain was in no state for +excitement or agitation, and pain and confusion were the +consequence, and were counteracted, after the practice of the time, +by profuse bleedings, which prolonged his weakness. The +splintered state of the jaw and roof of the moth likewise produced +effects that made him suffer severely, and deprived him at times +even of the small power of speech that he usually possessed; and +though he had set his heart upon being able to start for Paris so +soon as Osbert's answer should arrive, each little imprudence he +committed, in order to convince himself of his progress, threw him +back so seriously, that he was barely able to walk down-stairs to +the hall, and sit watching--watching, so that it was piteous to see +him--the gates of the courtyard, but the time that, on a cold March +day, a booted and spurred courier (not Osbert) entered by them.</p> + +<p>He sprang up, and faster than he had yet attempted to move, met +the man in the hall, and demanded the packet. It was a large +one, done up in canvas, and addressed to the Right Honourable and +Worshipful Sir William, Baron Walwyn of Hurst Walwyn, and he had +further to endure the delay of carrying it to his grandfather's +library, which he entered with far less delay and ceremony than was +his wont. 'Sit down, Berenger,' said the old man, while +addressing himself to the fastenings; and the permission was +needed, for he could hardly have stood another minute. The +covering contained a letter to Lord Walwyn himself, and a packet +addressed to the Baron de Ribaumont which his trembling fingers +could scarcely succeed in cutting and tearing open.</p> + +<p>How shall it be told what the contents of the packet were? +Lord Walwyn reading on with much concern, but little surprise, was +nevertheless startled by the fierce shout with which Berenger broke +out:</p> + +<p>'A lie! A lie forged in hell!' And then seizing the +parchment, was about to rend it with all the force of passion, when +his grandfather, seizing his hand, said, in his calm, authoritative +voice, 'Patience, my poor son.'</p> + +<p>'How, how should I have patience when they send me such poisoned +lies as these of my wife, and she is in the power of the +villains? </p> + +<p>Grandfather, I must go instantly---'</p> + +<p>'Let me know what you have heard,' said Lord Walwyn, holding him +feebly indeed, but with all the impressive power and gravity of his +years.</p> + +<p>'Falsehoods,' said Berenger, pushing the whole mass of papers +over to him, and then hiding his head between his arms on the +table.</p> + +<p>Lord Walwyn finished his own letter first. Walsingham +wrote with much kind compassion, but quite decisively. He had +no doubt that the Ribaumont family had acted as one wheel in the +great plot that had destroyed all the heads of Protestant families +and swept away among others, as they had hoped, the only scion of +the rival house. The old Chevalier de Ribaumont had, he said, +begun by expressing sorrow for the mischance that had exposed his +brave young cousin to be lost in the general catastrophe, and he +had professed proportionate satisfaction on hearing of the young +man's safety. But the Ambassador believed him to have been +privy to his son's designs; and whether Mdlle. de Nid de Merle +herself had been a willing agent or not, she certainly had remained +in the hands of the family. The decree annulling the marriage +had been published, the lady was in a convent in Anjou, and +Narcisse de Ribaumont had just been permitted to assume the title +of Marquis de Nid de Merle, and was gone into Anjou to espouse her. +Sir Francis added a message of commiseration for the young Baron, +but could not help congratulating his old friend on having his +grandson safe and free from these inconvenient ties.</p> + +<p>Berenger's own packet contained, in the first place, a copy of +the cassation of the marriage, on the ground of its having been +contracted when the parties were of too tender age to give their +legal consent, and its having been unsatisfied since they had +reached ecclesiastical years for lawful contraction of wedlock.</p> + +<p>The second was one of the old Chevalier's polite +productions. He was perfectly able to ignore Berenger's +revocation of his application for the separation, since the first +letter had remained unanswered, and the King's peremptory commands +had prevented Berenger from taking any open measures after his +return from Montpipeau. Thus the old gentleman, after +expressing due rejoicing at his dear young cousin's recovery, and +regret at the unfortunate mischance that had led to his confounded +with the many suspected Huguenots, proceeded as if matters stood +exactly as they had been before the pall-mall party, and as if the +decree that he enclosed were obtained in accordance with the young +Baron's intentions. He had caused it to be duly registered, +and both parties were at liberty to enter upon other contracts of +matrimony. The further arrangements which Berenger had +undertaken to sell his lands in Normandy, and his claim on the +ancestral castle in Picardy, should be carried out, and deeds sent +for his signature so soon as he should be of age. In the +meantime, the Chevalier courteously imparted to his fair cousin the +marriage of his daughter, Mademoiselle Diane de Ribaumont with M. +le Comte de Selinville, which had taken place on the last St. +Martin's day, and of his niece, Mademoiselle Eustacie de Ribaumont +de Nid de Merle with his son, who had received permission to take +her father's title of Marquis de Nid de Merle. The wedding +was to take place at Bellaise before the end of the Cardinal, and +would be concluded before this letter came to hand.</p> + +<p>Lastly, there was an ill written and spelt letter, running +somewhat thus--</p> + +<p>'Monseigneur,--Your faithful servant hopes that Monsieur le +Baron will forgive him for not returning, since I have been assured +by good priests that it is not possible to save my soul in a +country of heretics. I have done everything as Monsieur +commanded, I have gone down into Anjou, and have had the honour to +see the young lady to whom Monsieur le Baron charged me with a +commission, and I delivered to her his letter, whereupon the lady +replied that she thanked M. le Baron for the honour he had done +her, but that being on the point of marriage to M. le Marquis de +Nid de Merle, she did not deem it fitting to write to him, nor had +she any tokens to send him, save what he had received on the St. +Barthelemy midnight; they might further his suit elsewhere. +These, Monsieur, were her words, and she laughed as she said them, +so gaily that I thought her fairer than ever. I have +prevailed with her to take me into her service as intendant of the +Chateau de Nid de Merle, knowing as she does my fidelity to the +name of Ribaumont. And so, trusting Monseigneur will pardon +me for what I do solely for the good of my soul, I will ever pray +for his welfare, and remain,</p> + +<p> + +'His faithful menial and valet,</p> + +<p> + +'LANDRY OSBERT.'</p> + +<p>The result was only what Lord Walwyn had anticipated, but he was +nevertheless shocked at the crushing weight of the blow. His +heart was full of compassion for the youth so cruelly treated in +these his first years of life, and as much torn in his affections +as mangled in person. After a pause, while he gathered up the +sense of the letters, he laid his hand kindly on his grandson's +arm, and said, 'This is a woeful budget, my poor son; we will do +our best to help you to bear it.'</p> + +<p>'The only way to bear it,' said Berenger, lifting up his face, +'is for me to take horse and make for Anjou instantly. She +will hold out bravely, and I may yet save her.'</p> + +<p>'Madness,' said his grandfather; 'you have then not read your +fellow's letter?'</p> + +<p>'I read no letter from fellow of mine. Yonder is a vile +forgery. Narcisse's own, most likely. No one else would +have so profaned her as to put such words into her mouth! My +dear faithful foster-brother--have they murdered him?'</p> + +<p>'Can you point to any proof that it is forged?' said Lord +Walwyn, aware that handwriting was too difficult an art, and far +too crabbed, among persons of Osbert's class, for there to be any +individuality of penmanship.</p> + +<p>'It is all forged,' said Berenger. 'It is as false that +she could frame such a message as that poor Osbert would leave +me.'</p> + +<p>'These priests have much power over the conscience,' began Lord +Walwyn; but Berenger, interrupting his grandfather for the first +time in his life, cried, 'No priest could change her whole +nature. Oh! my wife! my darling! what may they not be +inflicting on her now! Sir, I must go. She may be +saved! The deadly sin may be prevented!'</p> + +<p>'This is mere raving, Berenger,' said Lord Walwyn, not catching +half what he said, and understanding little more than his +resolution to hasten in quest of the lady. 'You, who have not +mounted a horse, nor walked across the pleasance yet!'</p> + +<p>'My limbs should serve me to rescue her, or they are worth +nothing to me.'</p> + +<p>Lord Walwyn would have argued that he need not regret his +incapacity to move, since it was no doubt already too late, but +Berenger burst forth--'She will resist; she will resist to the +utmost, even if she deems me dead. Tortures will not shake her when +she knows I live. I must prepare.' And he started to +his feet.</p> + +<p>'Grandson,' said Lord Walwyn, laying a hand on his arm, 'listen +to me. You are in not state to judge for yourself. I +therefore command you to desist from this mad purpose.'</p> + +<p>He spoke gravely, but Berenger was disobedient for the first +time. </p> + +<p>'My Lord,' he said, 'you are but my grandfather. She is my +wife. My duty is to her.'</p> + +<p>He had plucked his sleeve away and was gone, before Lord Walwyn +had been able to reason with him that there was no wife in the +case, a conclusion at which the old statesman would not have +arrived had he known of the ceremony at Montpipeau, and all that +had there passed; but not only did Berenger deem himself bound to +respect the King's secret, but conversation was so difficult to him +that he had told very little of his adventures, and less to Lord +Walwyn than any one else. In effect, his grandfather +considered this resolution of going to France as mere frenzy, and +so it almost was, not only on the score of health and danger, but +because as a ward, he was still so entirely under subjection, that +his journey could have been hindered by absolutely forcible +detention; and to this Lord Walwyn intended to resort, unless the +poor youth either came to a more rational mind, or became +absolutely unable to travel.</p> + +<p>The last--as he had apprehended--came to pass only too +surely. The very attempt to argue and to defend Eustacie was +too much for the injured head; and long before night Berenger full +believed himself on the journey, acted over its incidents, and +struggled wildly with difficulties, all the time lying on his bed, +with the old servants holding him down, and Cecily listening +tearfully to his ravings.</p> + +<p>For weeks longer he was to lie there in greater danger than +ever. He only seemed soothed into quiet when Cecily chanted +those old Latin hymns of her Benedictine rule, and then--when he +could speak at all--he showed himself to be in imagination praying +in Eustacie's convent chapel, sure to speak to her when the service +should be over.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XV. NOTRE-DAME DE BELLAISE*</h3> + +<p>There came a man by middle day,</p> + +<p>He spied his sport and went away,</p> + +<p>And brought the king that very night,</p> + +<p>And brake my bower and slew my knight.</p> + +<p> The Border Widow's Lament</p> + +<p>*[footnote: Bellaise is not meant for a type of all nunneries, +but of the condition to which many of the lesser ones had come +before the general reaction and purification of the seventeenth +century.]</p> + +<p>That same Latin hymn which Cecily St. John daily chanted in her +own chamber was due from the choir of Cistercian sisters in the +chapel of the Convent of Our Lady at Bellaise, in the Bocage of +Anjou; but there was a convenient practice of lumping together the +entire night and forenoon hours at nine o'clock in the morning, and +all the evening ones at Compline, so that the sisters might have +undisturbed sleep at night and entertainment by day. Bellaise +was a very comfortable little nunnery, which only received richly +dowered inmates, and was therefore able to maintain them in much +ease, though without giving occasion to a breath of scandal. +Founded by a daughter of the first Angevin Ribaumont, it had become +a sort of appendage for the superfluous daughters of the house, and +nothing would more have amazed its present head, Eustacie Barbe de +Ribaumont,--conventually known as La Mere Marie Seraphine de +St.-Louis, and to the world as Madame de Bellaise,--than to be +accused of not fulfilling the intentions of the Bienheureuse Barbe, +the foundress, or of her patron St. Bernard.</p> + +<p>Madame de Bellaise was a fine-looking woman of forty, in a high +state of preservation, owing to the healthy life she had led. +Her eyes were of brilliant, beautiful black her complexion had a +glow, her hair--for she wore it visibly--formed crisp rolls of +jetty ringlets on her temples, almost hiding her close white +cap. The heavy thick veil was tucked back beneath the furred +purple silk hood that fastened under her chin. The white +robes of her order were not of serge, but of the finest cloth, and +were almost hidden by a short purple cloak with sleeves, likewise +lined and edged with fur, and fastened on the bosom with a gold +brooch. Her fingers, bearing more rings than the signet of +her house, were concealed in embroidered gauntlets of Spanish +leather. One of them held an ivory-handled riding-rod, the +other the reins of the well-fed jennet, on which the lady, on a +fine afternoon, late in the Carnival, was cantering home through +the lanes of the Bocage, after a successful morning's hawking among +the wheat-ears. She was attended by a pair of sisters, +arrayed somewhat in the same style, and by a pair of mounted +grooms, the falconer with his charge having gone home by a +footway.</p> + +<p>The sound of horses' feet approaching made her look towards a +long lane that came down at right angles to that along which she +was riding, and slacken her pace before coming to its +opening. And as she arrived at the intersection, she beheld +advancing, mounted on a little rough pony, the spare figure of her +brother the Chevalier, in his home suit, so greasy and frayed, that +only his plumed hat (and a rusty plume it was) and the old sword at +his side showed his high degree.</p> + +<p>He waved his hand to her as a sign to halt, and rode quickly up, +scarcely giving time for a greeting ere he said, 'Sister the little +one is not out with you.'</p> + +<p>'No, truly, the little mad thing, she is stricter and more +head-strong than ever was her preceptress. Poor +Monique! I had hoped that we should be at rest when that <i> +cass-tete</i> had carried off her scruples to Ste.-Claire, at +Lucon, but here is this little droll far beyond her, without being +even a nun!'</p> + +<p>'Assuredly not. The business must be concluded at +once. She must be married before Lent.'</p> + +<p>'That will scarce be--in her present frame.'</p> + +<p>'It must be. Listen, sister. Here is this miserable +alive!'</p> + +<p>'Her spouse!'</p> + +<p>'Folly about her spouse! The decree from Rome has annulled +the foolish mummery of her infancy. It came a week after the +Protestant conspiracy, and was registered when the Norman peasants +at Chateau Leurre showed contumacy. It was well; for, behold, +our gallant is among his English friends, recovering, and even +writing a billet. Anon he will be upon our hands in +person. By the best fortune, Gillot fell in with his +messenger this morning, prowling about on his way to the convent, +and brought him to me to be examined. I laid him fat in ward, +and sent Gillot off to ride day and night to bring my son down to +secure the girl at once.'</p> + +<p>'You will never obtain her consent. She is distractedly in +love with his memory! Let her guess at his life, and---'</p> + +<p>'Precisely. Therefore must we be speedy. All Paris +knows it by this time, for the fellow went straight to the English +Ambassador; and I trust my son has been wise enough to set off +already; for should we wait till after Lent, Monsieur le Baron +himself might be upon us.'</p> + +<p>'Poor child! You men little heed how you make a woman +suffer.'</p> + +<p>'How, Reverend Mother! you pleading for a heretic marriage, that +would give our rights to a Huguenot--what say I?--an English +renegade!'</p> + +<p>'I plead not, brother. The injustice towards you must be +repaired; but I have a certain love for my niece, and I fear she +will be heartbroken when she learns the truth, the poor child.'</p> + +<p>'Bah! The Abbess should rejoice in thus saving her +soul! How if her heretic treated Bellaise like the convents +of England?'</p> + +<p>'No threats, brother. As a daughter of Ribaumont and a +mother of the Church will I stand by you,' said the Abbess with +dignity.</p> + +<p>'And now tell me how it has been with the child. I have +not seen her since we agreed that the request did but aggravate +her. You said her health was better since her nurse had been +so often with her, and that she had ceased from her +austerities.'</p> + +<p>'Not entirely; for when first she came, in her transports of +despair and grief on finding Soeur Monique removed, she extorted +from Father Bonami a sort of hope that she might yet save her +husband's, I mean the Baron's soul. Then, truly, it was a +frenzy of fasts and prayers. Father Bonami has made his +profit, and so have the fathers of Chollet--all her money has gone +in masses, and in alms to purchase the prayers of the poor, and she +herself fasting on bread and water, kneeling barefooted in the +chapel till she was transfixed with cold. No <i> +chaufferette</i>, not she! Obstinate to the last +degree! Tell her she would die--it was the best news one +could bring; all her desire, to be in a more rigid house with Soeur +Monique at Lucon. At length, Mere Perrine and Veronique found +her actually fainting and powerless with cold on the chapel-floor; +and since that time she has been more reasonable. There are +prayers as much as ever; but the fancy to kill herself with fasting +has passed. She begins to recover her looks, nay, sometimes I +have thought she had an air of hope in her eyes and lips; but what +know I? I have much to occupy me, and she persists in +shutting herself up with her woman.'</p> + +<p>'You have not allowed her any communication from without?'</p> + +<p>'Mere Perrine has come and gone freely; but she is +nothing. No, the child could have no correspondence. +She did, indeed, write a letter to the Queen, as you know, brother, +six weeks ago; but that has never been answered, nor could any +letters have harmed you, since it is only now that this young man +is known to be living.'</p> + +<p>'You are right, sister. No harm can have been done. +All will go well. The child must be wearied with her frenzy +of grief and devotion! She will catch gladly at an excuse for +change. A scene or two, and she will readily yield!'</p> + +<p>'It is true,' said the Abbess, thoughtfully, 'that she has +walked and ridden out lately. She has asked questions about +her Chateaux, and their garrisons. I have heard nothing of +the stricter convent for many weeks; but still, brother, you must +go warily to work.'</p> + +<p>'And you, sister, must show no relenting. Let her not +fancy she can work upon you.'</p> + +<p>By this time the brother and sister were at the gateway of the +convent; a lay sister presided there, but there was no <i> +cloture</i>, as the strict seclusion of a nunnery was called, and +the Chevalier rode into the cloistered quadrangle as naturally as +if he had been entering a secular Chateau, dismounted at the porch +of the hall, and followed Madame de Bellaise to the parlour, while +she dispatched a request that her niece would attend her there.</p> + +<p>The parlour had no grating to divide it, but was merely a large +room furnished with tapestry, carved chests, chairs, and cushions, +much like other reception-rooms. A large, cheerful wood-fire blazed +upon the hearth, and there was a certain air of preparation, as +indeed an ecclesiastical dignity from Saumur was expected to sup +with the ladies that evening.</p> + +<p>After some interval, spent by the Chevalier in warming himself, +a low voice at the door was heard, saying, <i>'Deus +vobiscum</i>.' The Abbess answered, <i>'Et cum spiritu +tuo</i>;' and on this monastic substitute for a knock and 'come +in,' there appeared a figure draped and veiled from head to foot in +heavy black, so as to look almost like a sable moving cone. +She made an obeisance as she entered, saying, 'You commanded my +presence, Madame?'</p> + +<p>'Your uncle would speak to you, daughter, on affairs of +moment.'</p> + +<p>'At his service. I, too, would speak to him.'</p> + +<p>'First, then, my dear friend,' said the Chevalier, 'let me see +you. That face must not be muffled any longer from those who +love you.'</p> + +<p>She made no movement of obedience, until her aunt peremptorily +bade her turn back her veil. She did so, and disclosed the +little face, so well known to her uncle, but less childish in its +form, and the dark eyes sparkling, though at once softer and more +resolute.</p> + +<p>'Ah! my fair niece,' said the Chevalier, 'this is no visage to +be hidden! I am glad to see it re-embellished, and it will be +lovelier than ever when you have cast off this disguised.'</p> + +<p>'That will never be,' said Eustacie.</p> + +<p>'Ah! we know better! My daughter is sending down a +counterpart of her own wedding-dress for your bride of the <i> +Mardi-Gras</i>.'</p> + +<p>'And who may that bride be?' said Eustacie, endeavouring to +speak as though it were nothing to her.</p> + +<p>'Nay, <i>ma petite</i>! it is too long to play the ignorant when +the bridegroom is on his way from Paris.'</p> + +<p>'Madame,' said Eustacie, turning to her aunt, 'you cannot suffer +this scandal. The meanest peasant may weep her first year of +widowhood in peace.'</p> + +<p>'Listen, child. There are weighty reasons. The Duke +of Anjou is a candidate for the throne of Poland, and my son is to +accompany him thither. He must go as Marquis de Nid de Merle, +in full possession of your estates.'</p> + +<p>'Let him take them,' began Eustacie, 'who first commits a +cowardly murder, and then forces himself on the widow he has +made?'</p> + +<p>'Folly, child, folly,' said the Chevalier, who supposed her +ignorant of the circumstances of her husband's assassination; and +the Abbess, who was really ignorant, exclaimed--<i>'Fid donc</i> +niece; you know not what you say.'</p> + +<p>'I know, Madame--I know from an eye-witness,' said Eustacie, +firmly. 'I know the brutal words that embittered my husband's +death; and were there no other cause, they would render wedlock +with him who spoke them sacrilege.' Resolutely and steadily +did the young wife speak, looking at them with the dry fixed eye to +which tears had been denied ever since that eventful night.'</p> + +<p>'Poor child,' said the Chevalier to his sister. 'She is +under the delusion still. Husband! There is none in the +case.' Then waving his hand as Eustacie's face grew crimson, +and her eyes flashed indignation, while her lips parted, 'It was +her own folly that rendered it needful to put an end to the boy's +presumption. Had she been less wilful and more obedient, +instead of turning the poor lad's head by playing at madame, we +could have let him return to his island fogs; but when SHE +encouraged him in contemplating the carrying her away, and +alienating her and her lands from the true faith, there was but one +remedy--to let him perish with the rest. My son is willing to +forgive her childish pleasure in a boy's passing homage, and has +obtained the King's sanction to an immediate marriage.'</p> + +<p>'Which, to spare you, my dear,' added the aunt, 'shall take +place in our chapel.'</p> + +<p>'It shall never take place anywhere,' said Eustacie, quietly, +though with a quiver in her voice; 'no priest will wed me when he +has heard me.'</p> + +<p>'The dispensation will overcome all scruples,' said the Abbess. + 'Hear me, niece. I am sorry for you, but it is best +that you should know at once that there is nothing in heaven or +earth to aid you in resisting your duty.'</p> + +<p>Eustacie made no answer, but there was a strange half-smile on +her lip, and a light in her eye which gave her an air not so much +of entreaty as of defiance. She glanced from one to the +other, as if considering, but then slightly shook her head. +'What does she mean?' asked the Chevalier and the Abbess one of +another, as, with a dignified gesture, she moved to leave the +room.</p> + +<p>'Follow her. Convince her that she has no hope,' said the +uncle; and the Abbess, moving faster than her wont, came up with +her at the archway whence one corridor led to the chapel, another +to her own apartments. Her veil was down again, but her aunt +roughly withdrew it, saying, 'Look at me, Eustacie. I come to +warn you that you need not look to tamper with the sisters. +Not one will aid you in your headstrong folly. If you cast +not off ere supper-time this mockery of mourning, you shall taste +of that discipline you used to sigh for. We have borne with +your fancy long enough-- you, who are no more a widow than I--nor +wife.'</p> + +<p>'Wife and widow am I in the sight of Him who will protect me,' +said Eustacie, standing her ground.</p> + +<p>'Insolent! Why, did I not excuse this as a childish +delusion, should I not spurn one who durst love--what say I--not a +heretic merely, but the foe of her father's house?'</p> + +<p>'He!' cried Eustacie; 'what had he ever done?'</p> + +<p>'He inherited the blood of the traitor Baron,' returned her +aunt. 'Ever have that recreant line injured us! My +nephew's sword avenged the wrongs of many generations.'</p> + +<p>'Then,' said Eustacie, looking at her with a steady, fixed look +of inquire, 'you, Madame l'Abbesse, would have neither mercy nor +pity for the most innocent offspring of the elder line?'</p> + +<p>'Girl, what folly is this to talk to me of innocence. That +is not the question. The question is--obey willingly as my +dear daughter, or compulsion must be used.'</p> + +<p>'My question is answered,' said Eustacie, on her side. 'I +see that there is neither pity nor hope from you.'</p> + +<p>And with another obeisance, she turned to ascend the +stairs. </p> + +<p>Madame paced back to her brother.</p> + +<p>'What,' he said; 'you have not yet dealt with her?'</p> + +<p>'No, brother, I never saw a like mood. She seems neither +to fear nor to struggle. I knew she was too true a Ribaumont +for weak tears and entreaties; but, fiery little being as once she +was, I looked to see her force spend itself in passion, and that +then the victory would have been easy; but no, she ever looks as if +she had some inward resource--some security--and therefore could be +calm. I should deem it some Huguenot fanaticism, but she is a +very saint as to the prayers of the Church, the very torment of our +lives.'</p> + +<p>'Could she escape?' exclaimed the Chevalier, who had been +considering while his sister was speaking.</p> + +<p>'Impossible! Besides, where could she go? But the +gates shall be closed. I will warn the portress to let none +pass out without my permission.'</p> + +<p>'The Chevalier took a turn up and down the room; then exclaimed, +'It was very ill-advised to let her women have access to her! +Let us have Veronique summoned instantly.'</p> + +<p>At that moment, however, the ponderous carriage of Monseigneur, +with out-riders, both lay and clerical, came trampling up to the +archway, and the Abbess hurried off to her own apartment to divest +herself of her hunting-gear ere she received her guest; and the +orders to one of the nuns to keep a watch on her niece were oddly +mixed with those to the cook, confectioner, and butterer.</p> + +<p>La Mere Marie Seraphine was not a cruel or an unkind +woman. She had been very fond of her pretty little niece in +her childhood, but had deeply resented the arrangement which had +removed her from her own superintendence to that of the +Englishwoman, besides the uniting to the young Baron one whom she +deemed the absolute right of Narcisse. She had received +Eustacie on her first return with great joy, and had always treated +her with much indulgence, and when the drooping, broken-hearted +girl came back once more to the shelter of her convent, the +good-humoured Abbess only wished to make her happy again.</p> + +<p>But Eustacie's misery was far beyond the ken of her aunt, and +the jovial turn of these consolations did but deepen her +agony. To be congratulated on her release from the heretic, +assured of future happiness with her cousin, and, above all, to +hear Berenger abused with all the bitterness of rival family and +rival religion, tore up the lacerated spirit. Ill, dejected, +and broken down, too subdued to fire up in defence, and only +longing for the power of indulging in silent grief, Eustacie had +shrunk from her, and wrapped herself up in the ceaseless round of +masses and prayers, in which she was allowed to perceive a +glimmering of hope for her husband's soul. The Abbess, ever +busy with affairs of her convent or matters of pleasure, soon +relinquished the vain attempt to console where she could not +sympathize, trusted that the fever of devotion would wear itself +out, and left her niece to herself. Of the seven nuns, two +were decorously gay, like their Mother Abbess; one was a prodigious +worker of tapestry, two were unrivalled save by one another as +confectioners. Eustacie had been their pet in her younger +days; now she was out of their reach, they tried in turn to comfort +her; and when she would not be comforted, they, too, felt aggrieved +by the presence of one whose austerity reproached their own laxity; +they resented her disappointment at Soeur Monique's having been +transferred to Lucon, and they, too, left her to the only persons +whose presence she had ever seemed to relish,--namely, her maid +Veronique, and Veronique's mother, her old nurse Perrine, wife of a +farmer about two miles off. The woman had been Eustacie's +foster-mother, and continued to exert over her much of the +caressing care of a nurse.</p> + +<p>After parting with her aunt, Eustacie for a moment looked +towards the chapel, then, clasping her hands, murmured to herself, +'No! no! speed is my best hope;' and at once mounted the +stairs, and entered a room, where the large stone crucifix, a waxen +Madonna, and the holy water font gave a cell-like aspect to the +room; and a straw pallet covered with sackcloth was on the floor, a +richly curtained couch driven into the rear, as unused.</p> + +<p>She knelt for a moment before the Madonna; 'Ave Maria, be with +me and mine. Oh! blessed Lady, thou hadst to fly with thy +Holy One from cruel men. Have thou pity on the +fatherless!'</p> + +<p>Then going to the door, she clapped her hands; and, as Veronique +entered, she bade her shut and bolt the door, and at the same +moment began in nervous haste to throw off her veil and unfasten +her dress.</p> + +<p>'Make haste, Veronique. A dress of thine---'</p> + +<p>'All is known, then!' cried Veronique, throwing up her arms.</p> + +<p>'No, but he is coming--Narcisse--to marry me at +once--<i>Marde-Gras</i>---'</p> + +<p><i>'Et quoi</i>? Madame has but to speak the word, and it +is impossible.'</p> + +<p>'And after what my aunt has said, I would die a thousand deaths +ere speaking that word. I asked her, Veronique! She +would have vengeance on the most guiltless--the most guiltless--do +you hear?-- of the Norman house. Never, never shall she have +the chance! Come, thy striped petticoat!'</p> + +<p>'But, oh! what will Madame do? Where would she go? +Oh! it is impossible.'</p> + +<p>'First to thy father's. Yes, I know. He has once +called it a madness to think of rallying my vassals to protect +their lady. That was when he heard of it from thee--thou +faint of heart--and thy mother. I shall speak to him in +person now. Make haste, I tell thee, girl. I must be +out of this place before I am watched or guarded,' she added +breathlessly. 'I feel as if each moment I lost might have +death upon it;' and she looked about her like a startled deer.</p> + +<p>'To my father's. Ah! there it is not so ill! But the +twilights, the length of way,' sobbed Veronique, in grievous +distress and perplexity. 'Oh! Madame, I cannot see you +go. The Mother Abbess is good. She must have +pity. Oh, trust to her!'</p> + +<p>'Trust! Did I not trust to my cousin Diane? +Never! Nothing will kill me but remaining in their +hands.'</p> + +<p>Veronique argued and implored in vain. Ever since, in the +height of those vehement austerities by which the bereaved and +shattered sufferer strove to appease her wretchedness by the utmost +endeavour to save her husband's soul, the old foster-mother had +made known to her that she might thus sacrifice another than +herself. Eustacie's elastic heart had begun to revive, with +all its dauntless strength of will. What to her women seemed +only a fear, was to her only a hope.</p> + +<p>Frank and confiding as was her nature, however, the cruel +deceptions already practiced on her by her own kindred, together +with the harsh words with which the Abbess spoke of Berenger, had +made her aware that no comfort must be looked for in that +quarter. It was, after all, perhaps her won instinct, and the +aunt's want of sympathy, that withheld her from seeking counsel of +any save Perrine and her daughter, at any rate till she could +communicate with the kind young Queen. To her, then, Eustacie +had written, entreating that a royal mandate would recall her in +time to bestow herself in some trustworthy hands, or even in her +husband's won Norman castle, where his heir would be both safe and +welcome. But time has passed--the whole space that she had +reckoned as needful for the going and coming of her +messenger--allowing for all the obstructions of winter roads--nay, +he had come back; she knew letter was delivered, but answer there +was none. It might yet come--perhaps a royal carriage and +escort--and day after day had she waited and hoped, only tardily +admitting the conviction that Elisabeth of Austria was as powerless +as Eustacie de Ribaumont, and meantime revolving and proposing many +a scheme that could only have entered the brain of a brave-spirited +child as she was. To appeal to her vassals, garrison with +them a ruinous old tower in the woods, and thence send for aid to +the Montmorencys; to ride to Saumur, and claim the protection of +the governor of the province; to make her way to the coast and sail +for England; to start for Paris, and throw herself in person on the +Queen's protection,--all had occurred to her, and been discussed +with her two <i>confidantes</i>; but the hope of the Queen's +interference, together with the exceeding difficulty of acting, had +hitherto prevented her from taking any steps, since no suspicion +had arisen in the minds of those about her. Veronique, caring +infinitely more for her mistress's health and well-being than for +the object of Eustacie's anxieties, had always secretly trusted +that delay would last till action was impossible, and that the +discovery would be made, only without her being accused of +treason. In the present stress of danger, she could but +lament and entreat, for Eustacie's resolution bore her down; and +besides, as she said to herself, her Lady was after all going to +her foster-father and mother, who would make her hear reason, and +bring her back at once, and then there would be no anger nor +disgrace incurred. The dark muddy length of walk would be the +worst of it--and, bah! most likely Madame would be convinced by it, +and return of her own accord.</p> + +<p>So Veronique, though not intermitting her protests, adjusted her +own dress upon her mistress,--short striped petticoat, black +bodice, winged turban-like white cap, and a great muffling gray +cloth cloak and hook over the head and shoulders--the costume in +which Veronique was wont to run to her home in the twilight on +various errands, chiefly to carry her mistress's linen; for +starching Eustacie's plain bands and cuffs was Mere Perrine's +special pride. The wonted bundle, therefore, now contained a +few garments, and the money and jewels, especially the chaplet of +pearls, which Eustacie regarded as a trust.</p> + +<p>Sobbing, and still protesting, Veronique, however, engaged that +if her Lady succeeded in safely crossing the kitchen in the +twilight, and in leaving the convent, she would keep the secret of +her escape as long as possible, reporting her refusal to appear at +supper, and making such excuses as might very probably prevent the +discovery of her flight till next day.</p> + +<p>'And then,' said Eustacie, 'I will send for thee, either to +Saumur or to the old tower! Adieu, dear Veronique, do not be +frightened. Thou dost not know how glad I am that the time +for doing something is come! To-morrow!'</p> + +<p>'To-morrow!' thought Veronique, as she shut the door; 'before +that you will be back here again, my poor little Lady, trembling, +weeping, in dire need of being comforted. But I will make up +a good fire, and shake out the bed. I'll let her have no more +of that villainous palliasse. No, no, let her try her own +way, and repent of it; then, when this matter is over, she will +turn her mind to Chevalier Narcisse, and there will be no more +languishing in this miserable hole.'</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XVI. THE HEARTHS AND THICKETS OF THE BOCAGE.</h3> + +<p>I winna spare for his tender age,</p> + +<p> Nor yet for his hie kin;</p> + +<p> But soon as ever he born is,</p> + +<p>He shall mount the gallow's pin. --Fause Foodrage.</p> + +<p>Dusk was closing in, but lamps had not yet been lighted, when +with a trembling, yet almost a bounding heart, Eustacie stole down +the stone staircase, leading to a back-door--an utterly uncanonical +appendage to a nunnery, but one much used among the domestic +establishment of Bellaise.</p> + +<p>A gleam of red light spread across the passage from the +half-open kitchen door, whence issued the savoury steam of the +supper preparing for Monseigneur. Eustacie had just +cautiously traversed it, when the voice of the presiding lay-sister +called out, 'Veronique, is that you?'</p> + +<p>'Sister!' returned Eustacie, with as much of the Angevin twang +as she could assume.</p> + +<p>'Where are you going?'</p> + +<p>'To the Orchard Farm with this linen.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! it must be. But there are strict orders come from +Madame about nobody going out unreported, and you may chance to +find the door locked if you do not come back in good time. +Oh! and I had well-night forgot; tell your mother to be here +early to-morrow, Madame would speak with her.'</p> + +<p>Eustacie assented, half stifled by the great throb of her +fluttering heart at the sense that she had indeed seized the last +moment. Forth then she stepped. How dark, waste, and +lonely the open field looked! But her heart did not fail her; +she could only feel that a captivity was over, and the most vague +and terrible of her anxieties soothed, as she made her way into one +of the long shady lanes of the Bocage. It was nearly dark, +and very muddy, but she had all the familiarity of a native with +the way, and the farm, where she had trotted about in her infancy +like a peasant's child, always seemed like home to her. It +had been a prime treat to visit it during her time of education at +the convent, and there was an association of pleasure in treading +the path that seemed to bear her up, and give her enjoyment in the +mere adventure and feeling of escape and liberty. She had no +fear of the dark, nor of the distant barking of dogs, but the mire +was deep, and it was plodding work in those heavy <i>sabots</i>, up +the lane that led from the convent; and the poor child was sorely +weary long before she came to the top of the low hill that she used +scarcely to know to be rising round at all. The stars had +come out; and as she sat for a few moments to rest on a large +stone, she saw the lights of the cottage fires in the village +below, and looking round could also see the many gleams in the +convent windows, the read fire-light in her own room among +them. She shivered a little as she thought of its glowing +comfort, but turned her back resolutely, tightened her cloak over +her head, looked up to a glimmer in the watch-tower of her own +castle far above her on the hill and closed against her; and then +smiled to herself with hope at the sparkle of a window in a lonely +farmhouse among the fields.</p> + +<p>With fresh vigour she rose, and found her way through lane and +field-path to the paddock where she had so often played. Here +a couple of huge dogs dashed forward with an explosion of barks, +dying away into low growls as she spoke to them by their names, and +called aloud on 'Blaise!' and 'Mere Perrine!' The cottage +door was opened, the light streamed forth, and a man's head in a +broad had appeared. 'Veronique, girl, is this an hour to be +gadding abroad?'</p> + +<p>'Blaise, do you not know me?'</p> + +<p>"It is our Lady. Ah!'</p> + +<p>The next moment the wanderer was seated in the ample wooden +chair of the head of the family, the farmer and his two stout sons +standing before her as their liege Lady, and Mere Perrine hanging +over her, in great anxiety, not wholly dispelled by her low girlish +laugh, partly of exultation at her successful evasion, partly of +amusement at their wonder, and partly, too, because it was so +natural to her to enjoy herself at that hearth that she could not +help it. A savoury mess from the great caldron that was for +ever stewing over the fire was at once fished out for her, before +she was allowed to explain herself; and as she ate with the carved +spoon and from the earthenware crock that had been called +Mademoiselle's ever since her baby-days, Perrine chafed and warmed +her feet, fondled her, and assured her, as if she were still their +spoiled child, that they would do all she wished.</p> + +<p>Pierre and Tiennot, the two sons, were sent out to fodder the +cattle, and keep careful watch for any sounds of pursuers from the +convent; and Blaise, in the plenitude of his respects and +deference, would have followed them, but Eustacie desired him to +remain to give her counsel.</p> + +<p>Her first inquire was after the watch-tower. She did not +care for any discomfort if her vassals would be faithful, and hold +it out for her, till she could send for help to the allies of her +husband's house, and her eyes glanced as she spoke.</p> + +<p>But Blaise shook his head. He had looked at the tower as +Madame bade, but it was all in ruins, crumbling away, and, +moreover, M. le Chevalier had put a forester there--a grim, bad +subject, who had been in the Italian wars, and cared neither for +saint nor devil, except Chevalier Narcisse. Indeed, even if +he had not been there, the place was untenable, it would only be +getting into a trap.</p> + +<p>'Count Hebert held it out for twelve days against the English!' +said Eustacie, proudly.</p> + +<p>'Ah! ah! but there were none of your falconets, or what call you +those cannons then. No; if Madame would present herself as a +choice morsel for Monsieur le Chevalier to snap up, that is the +place.'</p> + +<p>Then came the other plan of getting an escort of the peasants +together, and riding with them towards the Huguenot territories +around La Rochelle, where, for her husband's sake, Eustacie could +hardly fail to obtain friends. It was the more practicable +expedient, but Blaise groaned over it, wondered how many of the +farmers could be trusted, or brought together, and finally +expressed his intention of going to consult Martin, his staunch +friend, at the next farm. Meantime, Madame had better lie +down and sleep. And Madame did sleep, in Perrine's huge +box-bedstead, with a sweet, calm, childlike slumber, whilst her +nurse sat watching her with eyes full of tears of pity and +distress; the poor young thing's buoyant hopefulness and absence of +all fear seemed to the old woman especially sad, and like a sort of +want of comprehension of the full peril in which she stood.</p> + +<p>Not till near dawn was Eustacie startled from her rest by +approaching steps. 'Nurse, is all ready?' she cried. +'Can we set off? Are the horses there?'</p> + +<p>'No, my child; it is but my good man and Martin who would speak +with you. Do not hasten. There is nothing amiss as +yet.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, nurse,' cried Eustacie, as she quickly arranged the dress +in which she had lain down, 'the dear old farm always makes me +sleep well. This is the first time I have had no dream of the +whirling wheel and fiery gates! Oh, is it a token that HE is +indeed at rest? I am so well, so strong. I can ride +anywhere now. Let them come in and tell me.'</p> + +<p>Martin was a younger, brisker, cleverer man than Blaise, and +besides being a vassal of the young Lady, was a sort of agent to +whom the Abbess instructed many of the matters of husbandry +regarding the convent lands. He stood, like Blaise, +bareheaded as he talked to little Lady, and heard her somewhat +peremptorily demand why they had not brought the horses and men for +her escort.</p> + +<p>It was impossible that night, explained Martin. Time was +needed to bring in the farm-horses, and summon the other peasants, +without whom the roads were unsafe in these times of +disorder. He and Blaise must go round and warn them to be +ready. A man could not be ready in a wink of the eye, as +Madame seemed to think, and the two peasants looked impenetrable in +stolidity.</p> + +<p>'Laggards that you are!' cried Eustacie, petulantly, clasping +her hands; 'and meantime all will be lost. They will be upon +me!'</p> + +<p>'Not so, Madame. It is therefore that I came here,' said +Martin, deferentially, to the little fuming impatient creature; +'Madame will be far safer close at hand while the pursuit and +search are going on. But she must not stay here. This +farm is the first place they will come to, while they will never +suspect mine, and my good woman Lucette will be proud to keep watch +for her. Madame knows that the place is full of shrubs and +thickets, where one half of an army might spend a fine day in +looking for the other.'</p> + +<p>'And at night you will get together the men and convoy me?' +asked Eustacie, eagerly.</p> + +<p>'All in good time, Madame. Now she must be off, ere the +holy mothers be astir. I have brought an ass for her to +ride.'</p> + +<p>Eustacie had no choice but compliance. None of the Orchard +family could go with her, as it was needful that they should stay +at home and appear as unconcerned as possible; but they promised to +meet her at the hour and place to be appointed, ad if possible to +bring Veronique.</p> + +<p>Eating a piece of rye-bread as she went, Eustacie, in her gray +cloak, rode under Martin's guardianship along the deep lanes, just +budding with spring, in the chill dewiness before sunrise. +She was silent, and just a little sullen, for she had found stout +shrewd Martin less easy to talk over than the admiring Blaise, and +her spirit was excessively chafed by the tardiness of her +retainers. But the sun rose and cleared away all clouds of +temper, the cocks crew, the sheep bleated, and fresh morning sounds +met her ear, and seemed to cheer and fill her with hope; and in +some compunction for her want of graciousness, she thanked Martin, +and praised his ass with a pretty cordiality that would have fully +compensated for her displeasure, even if the honest man had been +sensible of it.</p> + +<p>He halted under the lee of a barn, and gave a low whistle. +At the sound, Lucette, a brown, sturdy young woman with a red +handkerchief over her head, and another over her shoulders, came +running round the corner of the barn, and whispered eagerly under +her breath, 'Ah! Madame, Madame, what an honour!' kissing +Eustacie's hand with all her might as she spoke; 'but, alas! I fear +Madame cannot come into the house. The questing Brother +Francois--plague upon him!-- has taken it into his head to drop in +to breakfast. I longed to give him the cold shoulder, but it +might have brought suspicion down.'</p> + +<p>'Right, good woman,' said Martin; 'but what shall Madame +do? It is broad way, and no longer safe to run the +lanes!'</p> + +<p>'Give me a distaff,' said Eustacie, rising to the occasion; 'I +will go to that bushy field, and herd the cows.'</p> + +<p>Madame was right, the husband and wife unwillingly agreed. +There, in her peasant dress, in the remote field, sloping up into a +thick wood, she was unlikely to attract attention; and though the +field was bordered on one side by the lane leading to the road to +Paris, it was separated from it by a steep bank, crowned by one of +the thick hedgerows characteristic of the Bocage.</p> + +<p>Here, then, they were forced to leave her, seated on a stone +beneath a thorn-bush, distaff in hand, with bread, cheese, and a +pitcher of milk for her provisions, and three or four cows grazing +before her. From the higher ground below the wood of ash and +hazel, she could see the undulating fields and orchards, a few +houses, and that inhospitable castle of her own.</p> + +<p>She had spent many a drearier day in the convent than this, in +the free sun and air, with the feeling of liberty, and unbounded +hopes founded on this first success. She told her beads +diligently, trusting that the tale of devotions for her husband's +spirit would be equally made up in the field as in the church, and +intently all day were her ears and eyes on the alert. Once +Lucette visited her, to bring her a basin of porridge, and to tell +her that all the world at the convent was in confusion, that +messengers had been sent out in all directions, and that M. le +Chevalier had ridden out himself in pursuit; but they should soon +hear all about it, for Martin was pretending to be amongst the +busiest, and he would know how to turn them away. Again, much +later in the day, Martin came striding across the field, and had +just reached her, as she sat in the hedgerow, when the great dog +who followed him pricked his ears, and a tramping and jingling was +audible in the distance in the lane. Eustacie held up her +finger, her eyes dilating.</p> + +<p>'It must be M. le Chevalier returning. Madame must wait a +little longer. I must be at home, or they may send out to +seek me here, and that would be ruin. I will return as soon +as it is safe, if Madame will hide herself in the hedgerow.'</p> + +<p>Into the hedgerow accordingly crept Eustacie, cowering close to +a holly-tree at the very summit of the bank, and led by a strange +fascination to choose a spot where, unseen herself, she could gaze +down on the party who came clanking along the hollow road +beneath. Nearer, nearer, they came; and she shuddered with +more of passion than of fear, as she beheld, not only her uncle in +his best well-preserved green suit, but Narcisse, muddy with +riding, though in his court braveries. Suddenly they came to +a halt close beneath her! Was she detected? Ah! just +below was the spot where the road to the convent parted from +the road to the farm; and, as Martin had apprehended, they were +stopping for him. The Chevalier ordered one of the armed men +behind him to ride up to the farm and summon Martin to speak with +him; and then he and his son, while waiting under the holly-bush, +continued their conversation.</p> + +<p>'So that is the state of things! A fine overthrow!' quoth +Narcisse.</p> + +<p>'Bah! not at all. She will soon be in our hands +again. I have spoken with, or written to, every governor of +the cities she must pass through, and not one will abet the little +runaway. At the first barrier she is ours.'</p> + +<p><i>'Et puis</i>?'</p> + +<p>'Oh, we shall have her mild as a sheep.' (Eustacie set her +teeth.) 'Every one will be in the same story, that her marriage was +a nullity; she cannot choose but believe, and can only be thankful +that we overlook the escapade and rehabilitate her.'</p> + +<p>'Thank you, my good uncle,' almost uttered his unseen +auditor.</p> + +<p>'Well! There is too much land down here to throw away; but +the affair has become horribly complicated and distasteful.'</p> + +<p>'No such thing. All the easier. She can no longer +play the spotless saint--get weak-minded priests on her side--be +all for strict convents. No, no; her time for that is +past! Shut her up with trustworthy persons from whom she will +hear nothing from without, and she will understand her case. +The child? It will scarce be born alive, or at any rate she +need not know whether it is. Then, with no resource, no hope, +what can she do but be too thankful for pardon, and as glad to +conceal the past as we could wish?'</p> + +<p>Eustacie clenched her fist. Had a pistol been within her +reach, the speaker's tenure of life had been short! She was +no chastened, self-restrained, forgiving saint, the poor little +thing, only a hot-tempered, generous, keenly-sensitive being, +well-nigh a child in years and in impulses, though with the +instincts of a mother awakening within her, and of a mother who +heard the life of her unborn babe plotted against. She was +absolutely forced to hold her lips together, to repress the sobbing +scream of fury that came to her throat; and the struggles with her +gasping breath, the surging of the blood in her ears, hindered her +from hearing or seeing anything for some seconds, though she kept +her station. By the time her perceptions had cleared +themselves, Martin, cap in hand, was in the lane below, listening +deferentially to the two gentlemen, who were assuring him that +inquiry had been made, and a guard carefully set at the fugitive +could have passed those, or be able to do so. She must +certainly be hidden somewhere near home, and Martin had better warn +all his friends against hiding her, unless they wished to be hung +up on the thresholds of their burning farmsteads. Martin +bowed, and thought the fellows would know their own interest and +Mademoiselle's better.</p> + +<p>'Well,' said the Chevalier, 'we must begin without loss of +time. My son has brought down a set of fellows here, who are +trained to ferret out heretics. Not a runaway weasel cold +escape them! We will set them on as soon as ever they have +taken a bit of supper up there at the Chateau; and do you come up +with us just to show them the way across to Leonard's. That's +no unlikely place for her to lurk in, as you said this morning, +good fellow.'</p> + +<p>It was the most remote farm from that of Martin, and Eustacie +felt how great were his services, even while she flushed with anger +to hear him speaking of her as Mademoiselle. He was promising +to follow immediately to the castle, to meet <i>ces Messieurs</i> +there almost as soon as they could arrive, but excusing himself +from accompanying them, by the need of driving home the big bull, +whom no one else could manage.</p> + +<p>They consented, and rode on. Martin watched them out of +sight, then sprang up by some stepping-stones in the bank, a little +below where Eustacie sat, and came crackling through the boughs to +where she was crouching down, with fierce glittering eyes and +panting breath, like a wild animal ready to spring.</p> + +<p>'Madame has heard,' said Martin, under his breath.</p> + +<p>'If I have heard! Oh that I were a man, to slay them where +they stood! Martin, Martin! you will not betray me. +Some day WE will reward you.'</p> + +<p>'Madame need not have said THAT to me,' said Martin, rather +hurt. 'I am only thinking what she can do. Alas! +I fear that she must remain in this covert till it is dark, for +these men's eyes are all on the alert. At dark, I or Lucette +will come and find a shelter for her for the night.'</p> + +<p>Long, long, then, did Eustacie sit, muffled in her gray cloak, +shrinking together to shelter herself from the sunset chill of +early spring, but shuddering more with horror than with cold as the +cruel cold-blooded words she had heard recurred to her, and feeling +as if she were fast within a net, every outlet guarded against her, +and search everywhere; yet still with the indomitable determination +to dare and suffer to the utmost ere that which was dearer than her +own life should come into peril from her enemies.</p> + +<p>The twilight closed in, the stars came out, sounds of life died +away, and still she sat on, becoming almost torpid in the cold +darkness, until at length she heard the low call of Lucette, +'MADAME! AH! <i>la pauvre Madame</i>.' She started up, +so stiff that she could hardly more, and only guided by the voice +to feel her way through the hedgerow in the right direction. +Another moment, and Lucette's warn arms had received her; and she +was guided, scarce knowing how or where, in cautious silence to the +farmyard, and into the house, where a most welcome sight, a huge +fire, blazed cheerfully on the hearth, and Martin himself held open +the door for her. The other occupants of the kitchen were the +sleeping child in its wooden cradle, some cocks and hens upon the +rafters, and a big sheep-dog before the fire.</p> + +<p>The warmth, and the chicken that Lucette had killed and dressed, +brought the colour back to the exhausted wanderer's cheek, and +enabled her again to hold council for her safety. It was +plain, as Martin had found in conversation with the men-at-arms, +that precautions had been taken against her escaping in any of the +directions where she might hope to have reached friends. +Alone she could not go, and any escort sufficient to protect her +would assuredly be stopped at the first town; besides which, +collecting it in secret was impossible under present circumstances, +and it would be sure to be at once overtaken and demolished by the +Chevalier Narcisse's well-armed followers. Martin, therefore, +saw no alternative but for her to lurk about in such hiding-places +as her faithful vassals could afford her, until the search should +blow over, and the vigilance of her uncle and cousin relax. +Hope, the high-spirited hope of early youth, looked beyond to +indefinite but infinite possibility. Anything was better than +the shame and horror of yielding, and Eustacie trusted herself with +all her heart for the present, fancying, she knew not what, the +future.</p> + +<p>Indeed, the Vendean fidelity has often been tested, and she made +full proof of it among the lanes, copses, and homesteads of her own +broad lands. The whole country was a network of deep lanes, +sunk between impenetrable hedgerows, inclosing small fields, +orchards, and thickets, and gently undulating in low hills and +shallow valleys, interspersed with tall wasp-waisted windmills +airily waving their arms on the top of lofty masts. It was +partitioned into small farms, inhabited by a simple-hearted +peasantry, religious and diligent, with a fair amount of rural +wealth and comfort. Their love for their lords was loyally +warm, and Eustacie monopolized it, from their detestation of her +uncle's exactions; they would risk any of the savage punishments +with which they were threatened for concealing her; and as one by +one it was needful to take them into the secret, so as to disarm +suspicion, and she was passed from one farm to another, each proved +his faithful attachment, and though himself repaid by her thankful +smile and confiding manner.</p> + +<p>The Chevalier and his son searched vigorously. On the +slightest suspicion, they came down to the farm, closed up the +outlets, threatened the owners, turned out the house, and the very +place they had last searched would become her quarters on the next +night! Messages always had warned her in time. +Intelligence was obtained by Martin, who contrived to remain a +confidential agent, and warnings were dispatched to her by many a +strange messenger--by little children, by old women, or even by the +village innocent.</p> + +<p>The most alarming days were those when she was not the avowed +object of the chase, but when the pursuit of game rendered the +coverts in the woods and fields unsafe, and the hounds might lead +to her discovery. On one of these occasions Martin locked her +up in the great hayloft of the convent, where she could actually +hear the chants in the chapel, and distinguish the chatter of the +lay-sisters in the yard. Another time, in conjunction with +the sacristan, he bestowed her in the great seigneurial tribune (or +squire's pew) in the village church, a tall carved box, where she +was completely hidden; and the only time when she had failed to +obtain warning beforehand, she stood kneading bread at a tub in +Martin's cottage, while the hunt passed by, and a man-at-arms +looked in and questioned the master on the last traces of the +runaway.</p> + +<p>It was seldom possible to see Mere Perrine, who was carefully +watched, under the conviction that she must know where her nursling +was; but one evening Veronique ventured up to Martin's farm, +trusting to tidings that the gentlemen had been Eustacie's only +secure harbour; and when, in a bright evening gleam of the setting +sun from beneath the clouds, Veronique came in sight of her Lady, +the Queen's favourite, it was to see her leading by a string a +little shaggy cow, with a bell round its neck, her gray cloak +huddled round her, though dank with wet, a long lock of black hair +streaming over her brow, her garments clinging with damp, her bare +ankles scratched with thorns, her heavy SABOTS covered with mire, +her cheeks pale with cold and wet.</p> + +<p>The contrast overwhelmed poor Veronique. She dropped on +her knees, sobbing as if her heart would break, and declaring that +this was what the Abbess had feared; her Lady was fast killing +herself.</p> + +<p>'Hush! Veronique,' said Eustacie; 'that is all +folly. I am wet and weary now, but oh! if you knew how much +sweeter to me life is now than it was, shut up down there, with my +fears. See,' and she held up a bunch of purple pasque-flowers +and wood-sorrel, 'this is what I found in the wood, growing out of +a rugged old dead root; and just by, sheltered by the threefold +leaves of the alleluia-flower, was a bird's nest, the mother-bird +on her eggs, watching me with the wise black eye that saw I would +not hurt her. And it brought back the words I had heard long +ago, of the good God caring for the sparrows; and I knew He would +care the more for me and mine, because I have not where to lay my +head.'</p> + +<p>'Alas!' sobbed Veronique, 'now she is getting to be a saint +outright. She will be sure to die! Ah, Madame--dear +Madame! do but listen to me. If you did but know how Madame +de Bellaise is afflicting herself on your account! She sent +for me--ah! do not be angry, dear Lady?'</p> + +<p>'I wish to hear nothing about her,' said Eustacie.</p> + +<p>'Nay, listen, <i>de grace</i>--one moment, Madame! She has +wept, she has feared for you, all the lay-sisters say so. She +takes no pleasure in hawking, nor in visiting; and she did not eat +more than six of Soeur Bernardino's best conserves. She does +nothing but watch for tidings of Madame. And she sent for me, +as I told you, and conjured me, if I knew where you were, or had +any means of finding out, to implore you to trust to her. She +will swear on all the relics in the chapel never to give a hint to +Messieurs les Chevaliers if only you would trust her, and not slay +yourself with all this dreadful wandering.'</p> + +<p>'Never!' said Eustacie; 'she said too much!'</p> + +<p>'Ah! but she declares that, had she known the truth, she never +would have said that. Ah, yes, Madame, the Abbess is +good!' And Veronique, holding her mistress's cloak to secure +a hearing, detailed the Abbess' plan for lodging her niece in +secret apartments within the thickness of the convent walls, where +Mere Perrine could be with her, and every sacred pledge should be +given that could remove her fears.</p> + +<p>'And could they make me believe them, so that the doubt and +dread would not kill me in themselves?' said Eustacie.</p> + +<p>'But it is death--certain death, as it is. Oh, if Madame +would hear reason!--but she is headstrong! She will grieve +when it is too late!'</p> + +<p>'Listen, Veronique. I have a far better plan. The +sacristan has a sister who weaves red handkerchiefs at +Chollet. She will receive me, and keep me as long as there is +need. Martin is to take me in his cart when he carries the +hay to the garrison. I shall be well hidden, and within reach +of your mother. And then, when my son is once come--then all +will be well! The peasants will rise in behalf of their young +Lord, though not for a poor helpless woman. No one will dare +to dispute his claim, when I have appealed to the King; and then, +Veronique, you shall come back to me, and all will be well!'</p> + +<p>Veronique only began to wail aloud at her mistress' +obstinacy. Martin came up, and rudely silenced her, and said +afterwards to his wife, 'Have a care! That girl has--I verily +believe--betrayed her Lady once; and if she do not do so again, +from pure pity and faintness of heart, I shall be much +surprised.'</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XVII. THE GHOSTS OF THE TEMPLARS</h3> + +<p>'Tis said, as through the aisles they passed,</p> + +<p>They heard strange voices on the blast,</p> + +<p>And through the cloister galleries small,</p> + +<p>Which at mid-height thread the chancel wall,</p> + +<p> Loud sobs and laughter louder ran,</p> + +<p> And voices unlike the voice of man,</p> + +<p> As if the fiends kept holiday.</p> + +<p> Scott, LAY OF THE LAST MINSTREL</p> + +<p>'Ill news, Martin, I see by your look!' cried Eustacie, starting +to her feet from the heap of straw on which she was sitting in his +cowhouse, one early April day, about seven weeks since her evasion +from the convent.</p> + +<p>'Not so, I hope, Madame, but I do not feel at ease. +Monsieur has not sent for me, nor told me his plans for the morrow, +and I much doubt me whether that bode not a search here. Now +I see a plan, provided Madame would trust herself to a +Huguenot.'</p> + +<p>'They would guard me for my husband's sake.'</p> + +<p>'And could Madame walk half a league, as far as the Grange du +Temple? There live Matthieu Rotrou and his wife, who have, +they say, baffled a hundred times the gendarmes who sought their +ministers. No one ever found a pastor, they say, when Rotrou +had been of the congregation; and if they can do so much for an old +preacher with a long tongue, surely they can for a sweet young +lady; and if they could shelter her just for tomorrow, till the +suspicion is over, then would I come for Madame with my cart, and +carry her into Chollet among the trusses of hay, as we had +fixed.'</p> + +<p>Eustacie was already tying her cloak, and asking for Lucette; +but she was grieved to hear that Martin had sent her to vespers to +disarm suspicion, and moreover that he meant not to tell her of his +new device. 'The creature is honest enough,' he said, 'but +the way to be safe with women is not to let them know.'</p> + +<p>He cut short all messages and expressions of gratitude, and +leading Eustacie to a small stream, he made her creep along its +course, with her feet in the water so as to be sheltered by the +boughs that hung over the banks, while he used his ling strides to +enable him to double back and enter into conversation with +passers-by, quite of the track of the Grange du Temple, but always +telling her where he should join her again, and leaving with her +the great dog, whom she had come to regard as a friend and +protector. Leaving the brook, he conducted her beneath hedges +and by lonely woodland paths beyond the confines of her own +property, to a secluded valley, so shut in by wooded hills that she +had not been aware of its existence. Through an extensive +orchard, she at length, when nearly spent with the walk, beheld the +cluster of stone buildings, substantial as the erections of +religious orders were wont to be.</p> + +<p>Martin found a seat for her, where she might wait while he went +on alone to the house, and presently returned with both the good +people of the farm. They were more offhand and less +deferential than were her own people, but were full of +kindliness. They were middle-aged folk, most neatly clad, and +with a grave, thoughtful look about them, as if life were a much +heavier charge to them than to their light-hearted neighbours.</p> + +<p>'A fair day to you, Madame,' said the farmer, doffing his +wide-flapped hat. 'I am glad to serve a sufferer for the +truth's sake.'</p> + +<p>'My husband was,' faltered Eustacie.</p> + +<p>'AH! <i>la pauvre</i>,' cried the good woman, pressing forward +as she saw how faint, heated, and exhausted was the wanderer. +'Come in, <i>ma pauvrette</i>. Only a bride at the +Bartholomew! Alas! There, lean on me, my dear.'</p> + +<p>To be <i>tutoyee</i> by the Fermiere Rotrou was a shock; yet the +kind manner was comfortable, and Eustacie suffered herself to be +led into the farm-house, where, as the dame observed, she need not +fear chance-comers, for they lived much to themselves, and no one +would be about till their boy Robinet came in with the cows. +She might rest and eat there in security, and after that they would +find a hiding-place for her--safe as the horns of the altar--for a +night or two; only for two nights at most.</p> + +<p>'Nor do I ask more,' said Eustacie. 'Then Martin will come +for me.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, I or Blaise, or whichever of us can do it with least +suspicion.'</p> + +<p>'She shall meet you here,' added Rotrou.</p> + +<p>'All right, good man; I understand; it is best I should not know +where you hide her. Those rogues have tricks that make it as +well to know nothing. Farewell, Madame, I commend you to all +the saints till I come for you on Monday morning.'</p> + +<p>Eustacie gave him her hand to kiss, and tried to thank him, but +somehow her heart sank, and she felt more lonely than ever, when +entirely cast loose among these absolute strangers, than amongst +her own vassals. Even the farm-kitchen, large, stone-built, +and scrupulously clean, seemed strange and dreary after the little, +smoky, earth-built living-rooms in which her peasantry were content +to live, and she never had seemed to herself so completely +desolate; but all the time she was so wearied out with her long and +painful walk, that she had no sooner taken some food than she began +to doze in her chair.</p> + +<p>'Father,' said the good wife, 'we had better take <i>la +pauvrette</i> to her rest at once.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! must I go any farther?' sighed Eustacie.</p> + +<p>'It is but a few fields beyond the yard, <i>ma petite</i>,' said +the good woman consolingly; 'and it will be safer to take you there +ere we need a light.'</p> + +<p>The sun had just set on a beautiful evening of a spring that +happily for Eustacie had been unusually warm and mild, when they +set forth, the dame having loaded her husband with a roll of +bedding, and herself taking a pitcher of mild and a loaf of bread, +whilst Eustacie, as usual, carried her own small parcel of clothes +and jewels. The way was certainly not long to any one less +exhausted than she; it was along a couple of fields, and then +through a piece of thicket, where Rotrou held back the boughs and +his wife almost dragged her on with kind encouraging words, till +they came up to a stone ivy-covered wall, and coasting along it to +a tower, evidently a staircase turret. Here Rotrou, holding +aside an enormous bush of ivy, showed the foot of a winding +staircase, and his wife assured her that she would not have far to +climb.</p> + +<p>She knew where she was now. She had heard of the old +Refectory of the Knights Templars. Partly demolished by the +hatred of the people upon the abolition of the Order, it had ever +since lain waste, and had become the centre of all the ghostly +traditions of the country; the locality of all the most horrid +tales of REVENANTS told under the breath at Dame Perrine's hearth +or at recreation hour at Bellaise. Her courage was not proof +against spiritual terrors. She panted and leant against the +wall, as she faintly exclaimed, 'The Temple--there--and alone!'</p> + +<p>'Nay, Lady, methought as <i>Monsieur votre mari</i> knew the +true light, you would fear no vain terror nor power of +darkness.'</p> + +<p>Should these peasants--these villeins--be bold, and see the +descendant of the 'bravest of knights,' the daughter of the house +of Ribaumont, afraid? She rallied herself, and replied +manfully, 'I FEAR not, no!' but then, womanfully, 'But it is the +Temple! It is haunted! Tell me what I must expect.'</p> + +<p>'I tell you truly, Madame,' said Rotrou; 'none whom I have +sheltered here have seen aught. On the faith of a Christian, +no evil spirit--no ghost--has ever alarmed them; but they were +fortified by prayer and psalm.'</p> + +<p>'I do pray! I have a psalm-book,' said Eustacie, and she +added to herself, 'No, they shall never see that I fear. +After all, REVENANTS can do nothing worse than scare one; they +cannot touch one; the saints and angels will not let them--and my +uncle would do much worse.'</p> + +<p>But to climb those winding stairs, and resign herself to be left +alone with the Templars for the night, was by far the severest +trial that had yet befallen the poor young fugitive. As her +tire feet dragged up the crumbling steps, her memory reverted to +the many tales of the sounds heard by night within those +walls--church chants turning into diabolical songs, and bewildered +travellers into thickets and morasses, where they had been found in +the morning, shuddering as they told of a huge white monk, with +clanking weapons, and a burning cross of fire printed on his +shoulder and breast, who stood on the walls and hurled a shrieking +babe into the abyss. Were such spectacles awaiting her? +Must she bear them? And could her endurance hold out? Our +Lady be her aid, and spare her in her need!</p> + +<p>At the top of the stairs she found Rotrou's hand, ready to help +her out on a stone floor, quite dark, but thickly covered, as she +felt and smelt, with trusses of hay, between which a glimmering +light showed a narrow passage. A few steps, guided by +Rotrou's hand, brought her out into light again, and she found +herself in a large chamber, with the stone floor broken away in +some places, and with a circular window, thickly veiled with ivy, +but still admitting a good deal of evening light.</p> + +<p>It was in fact a chamber over the vaulted refectory of the +knights. The walls and vaults still standing in their massive +solidity, must have tempted some peasant, or mayhap some +adventurer, rudely to cover in the roof (which had of course been +stripped of its leading), and thus in the unsuspected space to +secure a hiding-place, often for less innocent commodities than the +salt, which the iniquitous and oppressive <i>gabelle</i> had always +led the French peasant to smuggle, ever since the days of the first +Valois. The room had a certain appearance of comfort; there +was a partition across it, a hearth with some remains of +wood-ashes, a shelf, holding a plate, cup, lamp, and a few other +necessaries; and altogether the aspect of the place was so unlike +what Eustacie had expected, that she almost forgot the Templar as +she saw the dame begin to arrange a comfortable-looking couch for +her wearied limbs. Yet she felt very unwilling to let them +depart, and even ventured on faltering out the inquiry whether the +good woman could not stay with her,--she would reward her +largely.</p> + +<p>'It is for the love of Heaven, Madame, not for gain,' said Nanon +Rotrou, rather stiffly. 'If you were ill, or needed me, all +must then give way; but for me to be absent this evening would soon +be reported around the village down there, for there are many who +would find occasion against us.' But, by way of consolation, +they gave her a whistle, and showed her that the window of their +cottage was much nearer to a loophole-slit looking towards the east +than she had fancied. The whistle perpetrated a mist +unearthly screech, a good deal like that of an owl, but more +discordant, and Nanon assured her that the sound would assuredly +break her slumbers, and bring her in a few minutes at any moment of +need. In fact, the noise was so like the best authenticated +accounts of the shrieks indulged in by the spirits of the Temple, +that Eustacie had wit enough to suspect that it might be the +foundation of some of the stories; and with that solace to her +alarms, she endured the departure of her hosts, Nanon promising a +visit in the early morning.</p> + +<p>The poor child was too weary to indulge in many terrors, the +beneficent torpor of excessive fatigue was upon her, happily +bringing slumberous oblivion instead of feverish +restlessness. She strove to repeat her accustomed orisons; +but sleep was too strong for her, and she was soon lying +dreamlessly upon the clean homely couch prepared for her.</p> + +<p>When she awoke, it was with a start. The moon was shining +in through the circular window, making strange white shapes on the +floor, all quivering with the shadows of the ivy sprays. It +looked strange and eerie enough at the moment, but she understood +it the next, and would have been reassured if she had not become +aware that there was a low sound, a tramp, tramp, below +her. 'Gracious saints! The Templar! Have mercy on +me! Oh! I was too sleepy to pray! Guard me from being +driven wild by fright!' She sat upright, with wide-spread +eyes, and, finding that she herself was in the moonlight, through +some opening in the roof, she took refuge in the darkest corner, +though aware as she crouched there, that if this were indeed the +Templar, concealment would be vain, and remembering suddenly that +she was out of reach of the loophole-window.</p> + +<p>And therewith there was a tired sound in the tread, as if the +Templar found his weird a very length one; then a long heavy +breath, with something so essentially human in its sound that the +fluttering heart beat more steadily. If reason told her that +the living were more perilous to her than the dead, yet feeling +infinitely preferred them! It might be Nanon Rotrou after +all; then how foolish to be crouching there in a fright! It +was rustling through the hay. No-no Nanon; it is a male +figure, it has a long cloak on. Ah! it is in the +moonlight-silver hair--silver beard. The Templar! +Fascinated with dismay, yet calling to mind that no ghost has power +unless addressed, she sat still, crossing herself in silence, but +unable to call to mind any prayer or invocation save a continuous +'Ave Mary,' and trying to restrain her gasping breath, lest, if he +were not the Templar after all, he might discover her presence.</p> + +<p>He moved about, took off his cloak, laid it down near the hay, +then his cap, not a helmet after all, and there was no fiery +cross.</p> + +<p>He was in the gloom again, and she heard him moving much as +though he were pulling down the hay to form a bed. Did ghosts +ever do anything so sensible? If he were an embodied spirit, +would it be possible to creep past him and escape while he lay +asleep? She was almost becoming familiarized with the +presence, and the supernatural terror was passing off into a +consideration of resources, when, behold, he was beginning to +sing. To sing was the very way the ghosts began ere they came +to their devilish outcries. 'Our Lady keep it from bringing +frenzy. But hark! hark!' It was not one of the chants, +it was a tune and words heard in older times of her life; it was +the evening hymn, that the little husband and wife had been wont to +sing to the Baron in the Chateau de Leurre--</p> + +<p>Marot's version of the 4<sup>th</sup> Psalm.</p> + +<p> <i>'Plus de joie m'est donnee</i></p> + +<p> <i>Par ce moyen, O Dieu Tres-Haut,</i></p> + +<p> <i>Que n'ont ceux qui ont grand +annee</i></p> + +<p> <i>De froment et bonne vinee,</i></p> + +<p> <i>D'huile et tout ce qu'il leur +faut.'</i></p> + +<p>If it had indeed been the ghostly chant, perhaps Eustacie would +not have been able to help joining it. As it was, the +familiar home words irresistibly impelled her to mingle her voice, +scarce knowing what she did, in the verse--</p> + +<p> <i>'Si qu'en paix et surete bonne</i></p> + +<p> <i>Coucherai et reposerai ;</i></p> + +<p> <i>Car, Seigneur, ta bonte tout +ordonne</i></p> + +<p> <i>Et elle seule espoir me donne</i></p> + +<p> <i>Que sur et seul regnant +serai.' </i></p> + +<p>The hymn died away in its low cadence, and then, ere Eustacie +had had time to think of the consequences of thus raising her +voice, the new-comer demanded:</p> + +<p>'Is there then another wanderer here?'</p> + +<p>'Ah! sir, pardon me!' she exclaimed. 'I will not long +importune you, but only till morning light--only till the Fermiere +Rotrou comes.'</p> + +<p>'If Matthieu and Anne Rotrou placed you here, then all is well,' +replied the stranger. 'Fear not, daughter, but tell me. +Are you one of my scattered flock, or one whose parents are known +to me?' Then, as she hesitated, 'I am Isaac Gardon--escaped, +alas! alone, from the slaughter of the Barthelemy.'</p> + +<p>'Master Gardon!' cried Eustacie. 'Oh, I know! O sir, +my husband loved and honoured you.'</p> + +<p>'Your husband?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir, le Baron de Ribaumont.'</p> + +<p>'That fair and godly youth! My dear old patron's +son! You--you! But--' with a shade of doubt, almost of +dismay, 'the boy was wedded--wedded to the heiress---'</p> + +<p>'Yes, yes, I am that unhappy one! We were to have fled +together on that dreadful night. He came to meet me to the +Louvre--to his doom!' she gasped out, nearer to tears than she had +ever been since that time, such a novelty was it to her to hear +Berenger spoken of in kind or tender terms; and in her warmth of +feeling, she came out of her corner, and held our her hand to +him.</p> + +<p>'Alas! poor thing!' said the minister, compassionately, 'Heaven +has tried you sorely. Had I known of your presence here, I +would not have entered; but I have been absent long, and stole into +my lair here without disturbing the good people below. +Forgive the intrusion, Madame.'</p> + +<p>The minister replied warmly that surely persecution was a +brotherhood, even had she not been the window of one he had loved +and lamented.</p> + +<p>'Ah! sir, it does me good to hear you say so.'</p> + +<p>And therewith Eustacie remembered the hospitalities of her +loft. She perceived by the tones of the old man's voice that +he was tired, and probably fasting, and she felt about for the milk +and bread with which she had been supplied. It was a most +welcome refreshment, though he only partook sparingly; and while he +ate, the two, so strangely met, came to a fuller knowledge of one +another's circumstances.</p> + +<p>Master Isaac Gardon had, it appeared, been residing at Paris, in +the house of the watchmaker whose daughter had been newly married +to his son; but on the fatal eve of St. Bartholomew, he had been +sent for to pray with a sick person in another quarter of the +city. The Catholic friends of the invalid were humane, and +when the horrors began, not only concealed their kinsman, but +almost forcibly shut up the minister in the same cellar with +him. And thus, most reluctantly, had he been spared from the +fate that overtook his son and daughter-in-law. A lone and +well-night broken-hearted man, he had been smuggled out of the +city, and had since that time been wandering from one to another of +the many scattered settlements of Huguenots in the northern part of +France, who, being left pastorless, welcomed visits from the +minister of their religion, and passed him on from one place to +another, as his stay in each began to be suspected by the +authorities. He was now on his way along the west side of +France, with no fixed purpose, except so far as, since Heaven had +spared his life when all that made it dear had been taken from him, +he resigned himself to believe that there was yet some duty left +for him to fulfil.</p> + +<p>Meantime the old man was wearied out; and after due courtesies +had passed between him and the lady in the dark, he prayed long and +fervently, as Eustacie could judge from the intensity of the low +murmurs she heard; and then she heard him, with a heavy +irrepressible sigh, lie down on the couch of hay he had already +prepared for himself, and soon his regular breathings announced his +sound slumbers. She was already on the bed she had so +precipitately quitted, and not a thought more did she give to the +Templars, living or dead, even though she heard an extraordinary +snapping and hissing, and in the dawn of the morning saw a white +weird thing, like a huge moth, flit in through the circular window, +take up its station on a beam above the hay, and look down with the +brightest, roundest eyes she had ever beheld. Let owls and +bats come where they would, she was happier than she had been for +months. Compassion for herself was plentiful enough, but to +have heard Berenger spoken of with love and admiration seemed to +quiet the worst ache of her lonely heart.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XVIII. THE MOONBEAM</h3> + +<p>She wandered east, she wandered west,</p> + +<p> She wandered out and in;</p> + +<p>And at last into the very swine's stythe</p> + +<p> The queen brought forth a son.--Fause +Foodrage</p> + +<p>The morrow was Sunday, and in the old refectory, in the late +afternoon, a few Huguenots, warned by messages from the farm, met +to profit by one of their scanty secret opportunities for public +worship. The hum of the prayer, and discourse of the pastor, +rose up through the broken vaulting to Eustacie, still lying on her +bed; for she had been much shaken by the fatigues of the day and +alarm of the night, and bitterly grieved, too, by a message which +Nanon conveyed to her, that poor Martin was in no state to come for +her in the next day; but he and his wife having been seized upon by +Narcisse and his men, and so savagely beaten in order to force from +them a confession of her hiding-place, that both were lying +helpless on their bed; and could only send an entreaty by the +trustworthy fool, that Rotrou would find means of conveying Madame +into Chollet in some cart of hay or corn, in which she could be +taken past the barriers.</p> + +<p>But this was not to be. Good Nanon had sacrificed the +sermon to creep up to Eustacie, and when the congregation were +dispersing in the dusk, she stole down the stairs to her husband; +and a few seconds after he was hurrying as fast as <i>detours</i> +would allow him to Blaise's farm. An hour and a half later, +Dame Perrine, closely blindfolded for the last mile, was dragged up +the spiral staircase, and ere the bandage was removed heard +Eustacie's voice, with a certain cheeriness, say, 'Oh! nurse; my +son will soon come!'</p> + +<p>The full moon gave her light, and the woman durst not have any +other, save from the wood-fire that Nanon had cautiously lighted +and screened. The moonshine was still supreme, when some time +later a certain ominous silence and half-whisper between the two +women at the hearth made Eustacie, with a low cry of terror, +exclaim, 'Nurse, nurse, what means this? Oh! He +lives! I know he lives! Perrine, I command you tell +me!'</p> + +<p>'Living! Oh, yes, my love, my Lady,' answered Perrine, +returning towards her; 'fair and perfect as the day. Be not +disquieted for a moment.'</p> + +<p>'I will--I will disquiet myself,' panted Eustacie, 'unless you +tell me what is amiss.'</p> + +<p>'Nothing amiss,' said Nanon, gruffly. 'Madame will give +thanks for this fair gift of a daughter.'</p> + +<p>It must be owned the words felt chill. She had never +thought of this! It was as if the being for whom she had +dared and suffered so much, in the trust that he would be +Berenger's representative and avenger, had failed her and +disappointed her. No defender, no paladin, no so to be proud +of! Her heart and courage sank down in her weakness as they +had never done before; and, without speaking, she turned her head +away towards the darkness, feeling as if had been for nothing, and +she might as well sink away in her exhaustion. Mere Perrine was +more angry with Nanon than conscious of her Lady's weakness. +'Woman, you speak as if you knew not the blow to this family, and +to all who hoped for better days. What, that my Lady, the +heiress, who ought to be in a bed of state, with velvet curtains, +lace pillows, gold caudle-cups, should be here in a vile ruin, +among owls and bats, like any beggar, and all for the sake, not of +a young Lord to raise up the family, but of a miserable little +girl! Had I known how it would turn out, I had never meddled +in this mad scheme.'</p> + +<p>Before Nanon could express her indignation, Eustacie had turned +her head opened her eyes, and called out, 'Miserable! Oh! +what do you mean? Oh, it is true, Nanon? is it well with +her?</p> + +<p>'As well as heart could wish,' answered Nanon, cheerily. +'Small, but a perfect little piece of sugar. There, Lady, she +shall speak for herself.'</p> + +<p>And as Nanon laid the babe on the young mother's bosom, the +thrilling touch at once put an end to all the repinings of the +heiress, and awoke far other instincts.</p> + +<p>'My child! my little one, my poor little orphan--all cruel to +her! Oh, no welcome even from thy mother! Babe, babe, +pardon me, I will make it up to thee; indeed I will! Oh! let +me see her! Do not take her away, dear good woman, only hold +her in the moonlight!'</p> + +<p>The full rays of the moon, shining through the gable window, +streamed down very near where Eustacie lay, and by a slight +movement Dame Rotrou was able to render the little face as +distinctly visible to her as if it had been daylight, save that the +blanching light was somewhat embellishing to the new-born +complexion, and increased that curious resemblance so often borne +for the first few hours of life to the future self. +Eustacie's cry at once was, 'Himself, himself--his very face! +Let me have her, my own moonbeam--his child--my joy!'</p> + +<p>The tears, so long denied, rushed down like summer rain as she +clasped the child in her arms. Dame Perrine wandered to and +fro, like one beside herself, not only at her Lady's wretched +accommodations, but at the ill omens of the moonlight illumination, +of the owls who snapped and hissed incessantly over the hay, and +above all the tears over the babe's face. She tried to +remonstrate with Eustacie, but was answered only, 'Let me +weep! Oh, let me weep! It eases my heart! It +cannot hurt my little one! She cannot weep for her father +herself, so I must weep for her.'</p> + +<p>The weeping was gentle, not violent; and Dame Rotrou thought it +did good rather than harm. She was chiefly anxious to be quit +of Perrine, who, however faithful to the Lady of Ribaumont, must +not be trusted to learn the way to this Huguenot asylum, and must +be escorted back by Rotrou ere peep of dawn. The old woman +knew that her own absence from home would be suspicious, and with +many grumblings submitted; but first she took the child from +Eustacie's reluctant arms, promising to restore her in a few +moments, after finishing dressing her in the lace-edged swaddling +bands so carefully preserved ever since Eustacie's own baby +hood. In these moments she had taken them all by surprise by, +without asking any questions, sprinkling the babe with water, and +baptizing her by the hereditary name of Berangere, the feminine of +the only name Eustacie had always declared her son should +bear. Such baptisms were not unfrequently performed by French +nurses, but Eustacie exclaimed with a sound half dismay, half +indignation.</p> + +<p><i>'Eh quoi</i>!' said Perrine, 'it is only <i> +ondoyee</i>. You can have all the ceremonies if ever time +shall fit; but do you think I could leave my Lady's child--mere +girl though it be--alone with owls, and <i>follets</i>, and <i> +revenents</i>, and heretics, and she unbaptized? She would be +a changeling long ere morning, I trow.'</p> + +<p>'Come, good woman,' said Rotrou, from between the trusses of hay +at the entrance; 'you and I must begin our Colin-Mail-lard again, +or it may be the worse for us both.'</p> + +<p>And with the promise of being conducted to Eustacie again in +three nights' time, if she would meet her guide at the cross-roads +after dark, Perrine was forced to take her leave. She had +never suspected that all this time Maitre Gardon had been hidden in +the refectory below, and still less did she guess that soon after +her departure the old man was installed as her Lady's chief +attendant. It was impossible that Nanon should stay with +Eustacie; she had her day's work to attend to, and her absence +would have excited suspicion. He, therefore, came partly up +the stairs, and calling to Nanon, proffered himself to sit with <i> +'cette pauvre</i>,' and make a signal in case Nanon should be +wanted. The good woman was thus relieved of a great +care. She would not have dared to ask it of him, but with a +low reverence, she owned that it was an act of great charity +towards the poor lady, who, she hoped, was falling into a tranquil +sleep, but who she would hardly have dared to leave. The +pastor, though hardships, battles, and persecutions had left him +childless, had been the father of a large family; and perhaps he +was drawn the more strongly towards the mother and child, because +he almost felt as if, in fulfilling the part of a father towards +the widow of Berenger de Ribaumont, he was taking her in the stead +of the widow of his own Theodore.</p> + +<p>Had the little Baronne de Ribaumont been lodged in a tapes-tried +chamber, between curtains of velvet and gold, with a <i> +beauffet</i> by her side glistening with gold and silver plate, as +would have befitted her station, instead of lying on a bed of +straw, with no hangings to the walls save cobwebs and hay, and +wallflowers, no <i>beauffet</i> but the old rickety table, no +attendants but Nanon and M. Gardon, no visitors but the two white +owls, no provisions save the homely fare that rustic mothers lived +upon--neither she nor her babe could have thriven better, and +probably not half so well. She had been used to a hardy, +out-of-door life, like the peasant women; and she was young and +strong, so that she recovered as they did. If the April +shower beat in at the window, or the hole in the roof, they made a +screen of canvas, covered her with cloaks, and heaped them with +hay, and she took no harm; and the pure open air that blew in was +soft with all the southern sweetness of early spring-tide, and the +little one throve in it like the puff-ball owlets in the hayloft, +or the little ring-doves in the ivy, whose parent's cooing voice +was Eustacie's favourite music. Almost as good as these her +fellow-nestlings was the little Moonbeam, <i>la petite +Rayonette</i>, as Eustacie fondly called this light that had come +back to her from the sunshine she had lost. Had she cried or been +heard, the sounds would probably have passed for the wailings of +the ghostly victims of the Templars, but she exercised an exemplary +forbearance in that respect, for which Eustacie thought she could +not be sufficiently admired.</p> + +<p>Like the child she was, Eustacie seemed to have put care from +her, and to be solely taken up with the baby, and the amusement of +watching the owl family.</p> + +<p>There was a lull in the search at this moment, for the Chevalier +had been recalled to Paris by the fatal illness of his son-in-law, +M. de Selinvine. The old soldier, after living half his life +on bread and salad, that he might keep up a grand appearance at +Paris, had, on coming into the wealth of the family, and marrying a +beautiful wife, returned to the luxuries he had been wont only to +enjoy for a few weeks at a time, with in military occupation of +some Italian town. Three months of festivities had been +enough to cause his death; and the Chevalier was summoned to assist +his daughter in providing for his obsequies, and in taking +possession of the huge endowments which, as the last of his race, +he had been able to bequeath to her. Such was the news +brought by the old nurse Perrine, who took advantage of the +slackening vigilance of the enemy to come to see Eustacie. +The old woman was highly satisfied; for one of the peasants' wives +had--as if on purpose to oblige her Lady--given birth to twins, one +of whom had died almost immediately; and the parents had consented +to conceal their loss, and at once take the little Demoiselle de +Ribaumont as their own-- guarding the secret till her mother should +be able to claim her. It was so entirely the practice, under +the most favourable circumstances, for French mothers to send their +infants to be nursed in cottages, that Perrine was amazed by the +cry of angry refusal that burst from Eustacie: "Part with my +child! leave her to her enemies!--never! never! Hold +your tongue, Perrine! I will not hear of such a thing!'</p> + +<p>'But, Madame, hear reason. She will pass for one of +Simonette's!'</p> + +<p>'She shall pass for none but mine!--I part with thee, +indeed! All that is left me of thy father!--the poor little +orphaned innocent, that no one loves but her mother!'</p> + +<p>'Madame--Mademoiselle, this is not common sense! Why, how +can you hide yourself? how travel with a baby on your neck, whose +crying may betray you?'</p> + +<p>'She never cries--never, never! And better I were betrayed +than she.'</p> + +<p>'If it were a boy---' began Perrine.</p> + +<p>'If it were a boy, there would be plenty to care for it. I +should not care for it half so much. As for my poor little lonely +girl, whom every one wishes away but her mother--ah! yes, baby, thy +mother will go through fire and water for thee yet. Never +fear, thou shalt not leave her!'</p> + +<p>'No nurse can go with Madame. Simonette could not leave +her home.'</p> + +<p>'What needs a nurse when she has me?'</p> + +<p>'But, Madame,' proceeded the old woman, out of patience, 'you +are beside yourself! What noble lady ever nursed her +babe?'</p> + +<p>'I don't care noble ladies--I care for my child,' said the +vehement, petulant little thing.</p> + +<p>'And how--what good will Madame's caring for it do? What +knows she of infants? How can she take care of it?'</p> + +<p>'Our Lady will teach me,' said Eustacie, still pressing the +child passionately to her heart; 'and see--the owl--the +ring-dove--can take care of their little ones; the good God shows +them how--He will tell me how!'</p> + +<p>Perrine regarded her Lady much as if she were in a naughty fit, +refusing unreasonably to part with a new toy, and Nanon Rotrou was +much of the same mind; but it was evident that if at the moment +they attempted to carry off the babe, the other would put herself +into an agony of passion, that they durst not call forth; and they +found it needful to do their best to soothe her out of the deluge +of agitated tears that fell from her eyes, as she grasped the child +so convulsively that she might almost have stifled it at +once. They assured her that they would not take it away +now--not now, at any rate; and when the latent meaning made her +fiercely insist that it was to leave her neither now nor ever, +Perrine made pacifying declarations that it should be just as she +pleased--promises that she knew well, when in that coaxing voice, +meant nothing at all. Nothing calmed her till Perrine had +been conducted away; and even then Nanon could not hush her into +anything like repose, and at last called in the minister, in +despair.</p> + +<p>'Ah! sir, you are a wise man; can you find how to quiet the poor +little thing? Her nurse has nearly driven her distracted with +talking of the foster-parents she has found for the child.'</p> + +<p>'Not found!' cried Eustacie. 'No, for she shall never +go!'</p> + +<p>'There!' lamented Nanon--'so she agitates herself, when it is +but spoken of. And surely she had better make up her mind, +for there is no other choice.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, Nanon,' said M. Gardon, 'wherefore should she part with +the charge that God has laid on her?'</p> + +<p>Eustacie gave a little cry of grateful joy. 'Oh, sir, come +nearer! Do you, indeed, say that they have no right to tear +her from me?'</p> + +<p>'Surely not, Lady. It is you whose duty it is to shield +and guard her.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, sir, tell me again! Yours is the right +religion. Oh, you are the minister for me! If you will +tell me I ought to keep my child, then I will believe everything +else. I will do just as you tell me.' And she stretched +out both hands to him, with vehement eagerness.</p> + +<p>'Poor thing! This is no matter of one religion or +another,' said the minister; 'it is rather the duty that the +Almighty hath imposed, and that He hath made an eternal joy.'</p> + +<p>'Truly,' said Nanon, ashamed at having taken the other side: +'the good <i>pasteur</i> says what is according to nature. It +would have gone hard with me if any one had wished to part me from +Robin or Sara; but these fine ladies, and, for that matter, <i> +bourgeoisies</i> too, always do put out their babes; and it seemed +to me that Madame would find it hard to contrive for herself--let +alone the little one.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! but what would be the use of contriving for myself, without +her?' said Eustacie.</p> + +<p>If all had gone well and prosperously with Madame de Ribaumont, +probably she would have surrendered an infant born in purple and in +pall to the ordinary lot of its contemporaries; but the exertions +and suffering she had undergone on behalf of her child, its +orphanhood, her own loneliness, and even the general disappointment +in its sex, had given it a hold on her vehement, determined heart, +that intensified to the utmost the instincts of motherhood; and she +listened as if to an angle's voice as Maitre Gardon replied to +Nanon--</p> + +<p>'I say not that it is not the custom; nay, that my blessed wife +and myself have not followed it; but we have so oft had cause to +repent the necessity, that far be it from me ever to bid a woman +forsake her sucking child.'</p> + +<p>'Is that Scripture?' asked Eustacie. 'Ah! sir, sir, tell +me more! You are giving me all--all--my child! I will +be--I am--a Huguenot like her father! and, when my vassals come, I +will make them ride with you to La Rochelle, and fight in your +cause!'</p> + +<p>'Nay,' said Maitre Gardon, taken by surprise; 'but, Lady, your +vassals are Catholic.'</p> + +<p>'What matters it? In my cause they shall fight!' said the +feudal Lady, 'for me and my daughter!'</p> + +<p>And as the pastor uttered a sound of interrogative astonishment, +she continued--</p> + +<p>'As soon as I am well enough, Blaise will send out messages, and +they will meet me at midnight at the cross-roads, Martin and all, +for dear good Martin is quite well now, and we shall ride across +country, avoiding towns, wherever I choose to lead them. I +had thought of Chantilly, for I know M. de Montmorency would stand +my friend against a Guisard; but now, now I know you, sir, let me +escort you to La Rochelle, and do your cause service worthy of Nid +de Merle and Ribaumont!' And as she sat up on her bed, she +held up her little proud head, and waved her right hand with the +grace and dignity of a queen offering an alliance of her realm.</p> + +<p>Maitre Gardon, who had hitherto seen her as a childish though +cheerful and patient sufferer, was greatly amazed, but he could not +regard her project as practicable, or in his conscience approve it; +and after a moment's consideration he answered, 'I am a man of +peace, Lady, and seldom side with armed men, nor would I lightly +make one of those who enroll themselves against the King.'</p> + +<p>'Not after all the Queen-mother had done!' cried Eustacie.</p> + +<p>'Martyrdom is better than rebellion,' quietly answered the old +man, folding his hands. Then he added 'Far be it from me to +blame those who have drawn the sword for the faith; yet, Lady, it +would not be even thus with your peasants; they might not follow +you.'</p> + +<p>'Then,' said Eustacie, with flashing eyes, 'they would be +traitors.'</p> + +<p>'Not to the King,' said the pastor, gently. 'Also, Lady, +how will it be with their homes and families--the hearths that have +given you such faithful shelter?'</p> + +<p>'The women would take to the woods,' readily answered she; 'it +is summer-time, and they should be willing to bear something for my +sake. I should grieve indeed,' she added, 'if my uncle +misused them. They have been very good to me, but then they +belong to me.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! Lady, put from you that hardening belief of +seigneurs. Think what their fidelity deserves from their +Lady.'</p> + +<p>'I will be good to them! I do love them! I will be +their very good mistress,' said Eustacie, her eyes filling.</p> + +<p>'The question is rather of forbearing than of doing,' said the +minister.</p> + +<p>'But what would you have me do?' asked Eustacie, petulantly.</p> + +<p>'This, Lady. I gather that you would not return to your +relations.'</p> + +<p>'Never! never! They would rend my babe from me; they would +kill her, or at least hide her for ever in a convent--they would +force me into this abhorrent marriage. No--no--no--my child +and I would die a hundred deaths together rather than fall into the +hands of Narcisse.'</p> + +<p>'Calm yourself, Lady; there is no present fear, but I deem that +the safest course for the little one would be to place her in +England. She must be heiress to lands and estates there; is +she not?'</p> + +<p>'Yes; and in Normandy.'</p> + +<p>'And your husband's mother lives? Wherefore then should +you not take me for your guide, and make your way--more secretly +than would be possible with a peasant escort--to one of your +Huguenot towns on the coast, whence you could escape with the child +to England?'</p> + +<p>'My <i>belle-mere</i> has re-married! She has +children! I would not bring the daughter of Ribaumont as a +suppliant to be scorned!' said Eustacie, pouting. 'She has +lands enough of her own.'</p> + +<p>'There is no need to discuss the question now,' said M. Gardon, +gravely; for a most kind offer, involving much peril and +inconvenience to himself, was thus petulantly flouted. +'Madame will think at her leisure of what would have been the +wishes of Monsieur le Baron for his child.'</p> + +<p>He then held himself aloof, knowing that it was not well for her +health, mental or bodily, to talk any more, and a good deal +perplexed himself by the moods of his strange little impetuous +convert, if convert she could be termed. He himself was a +deeply learned scholar, who had studied all the bearings of the +controversy; and, though bound to the French Reformers who would +gladly have come to terms with the Catholics at the Conference of +Plassy, and regretted the more decided Calvinism that his party had +since professed, and in which the Day of St. Bartholomew confirmed +them. He had a strong sense of the grievous losses they +suffered by their disunion from the Church. The Reformed were +less and less what his ardent youthful hopes had trusted to see +them; and in his old age he was a sorrow-stricken man, as much for +the cause of religion as for personal bereavements. He had +little desire to win proselytes, but rather laid his hand to build +up true religion where he found it suffering shocks in these +unsettled, neglected times; and his present wish was rather to form +and guide this little wilful warm-hearted mother--whom he could not +help regarding with as much affection as pity--to find a home in +the Church that had been her husband's, than to gain her to his own +party. And most assuredly he would never let her involve +herself, as she was ready to do, in the civil war, without even +knowing the doctrine which grave and earnest men had preferred to +their loyalty.</p> + +<p>He could hear her murmuring to her baby, 'No, no, little one, we +are not fallen so low as to beg our bread among strangers.' +To live upon her own vassals had seemed to her only claiming her +just rights, but it galled her to think of being beholden to +stranger Huguenots; and England and her mother-in-law, without +Berenger, were utterly foreign and distasteful to her.</p> + +<p>Her mood was variable. Messages from Blaise and Martin +came and went, and it became known that her intended shelter at +Chollet, together with all the adjacent houses, had been closely +searched by the younger Ribaumont in conjunction with the governor; +so that it was plain that some treachery must exist, and that she +only owed her present freedom to her detention in the ruined +temple; and it would be necessary to leave that as soon as it was +possible for her to attempt the journey.</p> + +<p>The plan that seemed most feasible to the vassals was, that +Rotrou should convey her in a cart of fagots as far as possible on +the road to Paris; that there his men should meet her by different +roads, riding their farm-horses--and Martin even hoped to be able +to convey her own palfrey to her from the monastery stable, and +thence, taking a long stretch across country, they trusted to be +able to reach the lands of a dependant of the house of Montmorency, +who would not readily yield her up to a Guise's man. But, +whether instigated by Perrine, or by their own judgment, the +vassals declared that, though Madame should be conducted wherever +she desired, it was impossible to encumber themselves with the +infant. Concealment would be impossible; rough, hasty rides +would be retarded, her difficulties would be tenfold increased, and +the little one would become a means of tracing her. There was +no choice but to leave it with Simonette.</p> + +<p>Angrily and haughtily did Eustacie always reject this +alternative, and send fresh commands back by her messenger, to meet +the same reply in another form. The strong will and practical +resolution of the stout farmers, who were about to make a terrible +venture for her, and might reasonably think they had a right to +prescribe the terms that they thought best. All this time +Maitre Gardon felt it impossible to leave her, still weak and +convalescent, alone in the desolate ruin with her young child; +though still her pride would not bend again to seek the counsel +that she had so much detested, nor to ask for the instruction that +was to make her 'believe like her husband.' If she might not +fight for the Reformed, it seemed as if she would none of their +doctrine!</p> + +<p>But, true lady that she was, she sunk the differences in her +intercourse with him. She was always prettily and +affectionately grateful for every service that he rendered her, and +as graciously polite as though she had been keeping house in the +halls of Ribaumont. Then her intense love for her child was +so beautiful, and there was so much sweetness in the cheerful +patience with which she endured the many hardships of her +situation, that he could not help being strongly interested in the +wilful, spirited little being.</p> + +<p>And thus time passed, until one night, when Martin ventured over +the farm with a report so serious that Rotrou, at all risks, +brought him up to communicate his own tidings. Some one had +given information, Veronique he suspected, and the two Chevaliers +were certainly coming the next day to search with fire the old +buildings of the temple. It was already dawning towards +morning, and it would be impossible to do more at present than to +let Rotrou build up the lady in a vault, some little way off, +whence, after the search was over, she could be released, and join +her vassals the next night according to the original design. +As to the child, her presence in the vault was impossible, and +Martin had actually brought her intended nurse, Simonette, to +Rotrou's cottage to receive her.</p> + +<p>'Never!' was all Eustacie answered. 'Save both of us, or +neither.'</p> + +<p>'Lady,' said M. Gardon as she looked towards him, 'I go my way +with my staff.'</p> + +<p>'And you--you more faithful than her vassals--will let me take +her?'</p> + +<p>'Assuredly.'</p> + +<p>'Then, sir, even to the world's end will I go with you'</p> + +<p>Martin would have argued, have asked, but she would not listen +to him. It was Maitre Gardon who made him understand the +project. There was what in later times has been termed an +underground railway amid the persecuted Calvinists, and M. Gardon +knew his ground well enough to have little doubt of being able to +conduct the lady safely to some town on the coast, whence she might +reach her friends in England. The plan highly satisfied +Martin. It relieved him and his neighbours from the necessity +of provoking perilous wrath, and it was far safer for her herself +than endeavouring to force her way with an escort too large not to +attract notice, yet not warlike enough for efficient defence. +He offered no further opposition, but augured that after all she +would come back a fine lady, and right them all.</p> + +<p>Eustacie, recovering from her anger, and recollecting his +services, gave him her hand to kiss, and bade him farewell with a +sudden effusion of gratitude and affection that warmed the honest +fellow's heart. Rewards could not be given, lest they should +become a clue for her uncle; and perhaps they would have wounded +both him and their kind hosts, who did their best to assist her in +their departure. A hasty meal was provided by Nanon, and a +basket so stored as to obviate the need of entering a village, on +that day at least, to purchase provisions; Eustacie's money and +jewels again formed the nucleus of the bundle of clothes and spare +swaddling-banks of her babe; her peasant dress was carefully +arranged--a stout striped cloth skit and black bodice, the latter +covered by a scarlet Chollet kerchief. The winged white cap +entirely hid her hair; a gray cloak with a hood could either fold +round her and her child or be strapped on her shoulders. Her +<i>sabots</i> were hung on her shoulder, for she had learnt to go +barefoot, and walked much more lightly thus; and her little bundle +was slung on a staff on the back of Maitre Gardon, who in his great +peasant's hat and coat looked so like a picture of St. Joseph, that +Eustacie, as the light of the rising sun fell on his white beard +and hair, was reminded of the Flight into Egypt, and came close to +him, saying shyly, 'Our Blessed Lady will bless and feel for my +baby. She knows what this journey is.'</p> + +<p>'The Son of the Blessed Mary assuredly knows and blesses,' he +answered.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XIX. LA RUE DES TROIS FEES</h3> + +<p>And round the baby fast and close</p> + +<p> Her trembling grasp she folds.</p> + +<p>And with a strong convulsive grasp</p> + +<p> The little infant holds.--SOUTHEY.</p> + +<p>A wild storm had raged all the afternoon, hail and rain had +careered on the wings of the wind along the narrow street of the +Three Fairies, at the little Huguenot bourg of La Sablerie; +torrents of rain had poached the unpaved soil into a depth of mud, +and thunder had reverberated over the chimney-tops, and growled far +away over the Atlantic, whose angry waves were tossing on the low +sandy coast about two miles from the town.</p> + +<p>The evening had closed in with a chill, misty drizzle, and, +almost May though it were, the Widow Noemi Laurent gladly closed +the shutters of her unglazed window, where small cakes and other +delicate confections were displayed, and felt the genial warmth of +the little fire with which she heated her tiny oven. She was +the widow of a pastor who had suffered for his faith in the last +open persecution, and being the daughter of a baker, the +authorities of the town had permitted her to support herself and +her son by carrying on a trade in the more delicate 'subtilties' of +the art, which were greatly relished at the civic feasts. +Noemi was a grave, sad woman, very lonely ever since she had saved +enough to send her son to study for the ministry in Switzerland, +and with an aching heart that longed to be at rest from the toil +that she looked on as a steep ladder on her way to a better +home. She occupied two tiny rooms on the ground-floor of a +tall house; and she had just arranged her few articles of furniture +with the utmost neatness, when there was a low knock at her door, a +knock that the persecuted well understood, and as she lifted the +latch, a voice she had known of old spoke the scriptural +salutation, 'Peace be with this house.'</p> + +<p><i>'Eh quoi</i>, Master Isaac, is it thou? Come in--in a +good hour-- ah!'</p> + +<p>As, dripping all round his broad hat and from every thread of +his gray mantle, the aged traveller drew into the house a female +figure whom he had been supporting on his other arm, muffled head +and shoulders in a soaked cloak, with a petticoat streaming with +wet, and feet and ankles covered with mire, 'Here we are, my +child,' he said tenderly, as he almost carried her to Noemi's +chair. Noemi, with kind exclamations of '<i>La pauvre</i>! +<i>la pauvre</i>!' helped the trembling cold hand to open the wet +cloak, and then cried out with fresh surprise and pity at the sight +of the fresh little infant face, nestled warm and snug under all +the wrappings in those weary arms.</p> + +<p>'See,' said the poor wanderer, looking up to the old man, with a +faint smile; 'she is well--she is warm--it hurts her +not.' </p> + +<p>'Can you take us in?' added M. Gardon, hastily; 'have you +room?'</p> + +<p>'Oh yes; if you can sleep on the floor here, I will take this +poor dear to my own bed directly,' said Noemi. '<i>Tenez</i>' +opening a chest; 'you will find dry clothes there, of my +husband's. And thou,' helping Eustacie up with her strong +arm, and trying to take the little one, 'let me warm and dry thee +within.'</p> + +<p>Too much worn out to make resistance, almost past speaking, +knowing merely that she had reached the goal that had been promised +her throughout these weary days, feeling warmth, and hearing kind +tones, Eustacie submitted to be led into the inner room; and when +the good widow returned again, it was in haste to fetch some of the +warm <i>potage</i> she had already been cooking over the fire, and +hastily bade M. Gardon help himself to the rest. She came +back again with the babe, to wash and dress it in the warmth of her +oven fire. Maitre Gardon, in the black suit of a Calvinist +pastor, had eaten his <i>potage</i>, and was anxiously awaiting her +report. 'Ah! <i>la pauvre</i>, with His blessing she +will sleep! she will do well. </p> + +<p>But how far did you come to-day?'</p> + +<p>'From Sainte Lucie. From the Grange du Temple since +Monday.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! is it possible? The poor child! And this little +one--sure, it is scarce four weeks old?'</p> + +<p>'Four weeks this coming Sunday.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! the poor thing. The blessing of Heaven must have been +with you to bear her through. And what a lovely infant--how +white--what beauteous little limbs! Truly, she has sped +well. Little did I think, good friend, that you had this +comfort left, or that our poor Theodore's young wife had +escaped.'</p> + +<p>'Alas! no, Noemi; this is no child of Theodore's. His wife +shared his martyrdom. It is I who am escaped alone to tell +thee. But, nevertheless, this babe is an orphan of that same +day. Her father was the son of the pious Baron de Ribaumont, +the patron of your husband, and of myself in earlier days.'</p> + +<p>'Ah!' exclaimed Noemi, startled. 'Then the poor young +mother--is she--can she be the lost Demoiselle de Nid de +Merle?'</p> + +<p>'Is the thing known here? The will of Heaven be done; but +she can send to her husband's kindred in England.'</p> + +<p>'She might rest safely enough, if others beside myself believed +in her being your son's widow,' said Noemi. 'Wherefore should +she not be thought so?'</p> + +<p>'Poor Esperance! She would willingly have lent her name to +guard another,' said Master Gardon, thoughtfully; 'and, for the +sake of the child, my little lady may endure it. Ah! there is +the making of a faithful and noble woman in that poor young +thing. Bravely, patiently, cheerfully, hath she plodded this +weary way; and, verily, she hath grown like my own daughter to +me--as I never thought to love earthly thing again; and had this +been indeed my Theodore's child, I could hardly care for it +more.'</p> + +<p>And as he related how he had fallen in with the forlorn Lady of +Ribaumont, and all that she had dared, done, and left undone for +the sake of her little daughter, good Noemi Laurent wept, and +agreed with him that a special providence must have directed them +to his care, and that some good work must await one who had been +carried through so much. His project was to remain here for a short +time, to visit the flock who had lost their pastor on the day of +the massacre, and to recruit his own strength; for he, too, had +suffered severely from the long travelling, and the exposure during +many nights, especially since all that was warm and sheltered had +been devoted to Eustacie. And after this he proposed to go to +La Rochelle, and make inquiries for a trusty messenger who could be +sent to England to seek out the family of the Baron de Ribaumont, +or, mayhap, a sufficient escort with whom the lady could travel; +though he had nearly made up his mind that he would not relinquish +the care of her until he had safely delivered her to her husband's +mother.</p> + +<p>Health and life were very vigorous in Eustacie; and though at +first she had been completely worn out, a few days of comfort, +entire rest, and good nursing restored her. Noemi dressed her +much like herself, in a black gown, prim little white starched +ruff, and white cap,--a thorough Calvinist dress, and befitting a +minister's widow. Eustacie winced a little at hearing of the +character that had been fastened upon her; she disliked for her +child, still more than for herself, to take this <i>bourgeois</i> +name of Gardon; but there was no help for it, since, though he +chief personages of the town were Huguenot, there could be no +safety for her if the report were once allowed to arise that the +Baronne de Ribaumont had taken refuge there.</p> + +<p>It was best that she should be as little noticed as possible; +nor, indeed, had good Noemi many visitors. The sad and +sorrowful woman had always shut herself up with her Bible and her +meditations, and sought no sympathy from her neighbours, nor +encourage gossip in her shop. In the first days, when +purchasers lingered to ask if it were true that Maitre Gardon had +brought his daughter-in-law and grandchild, her stern-faced, almost +grim answer, that <i>'la pauvre</i> was ill at ease,' silenced +them, and forced them to carry off their curiosity unsatisfied; but +it became less easy to arrange when Eustacie herself was on foot +again--refreshed, active, and with an irrepressible spring of +energy and eagerness that could hardly be caged down in the Widow +Laurent's tiny rooms. Poor child, had she not been ill and +prostrate at first, and fastened herself on the tender side of the +good woman's heart by the sweetness of an unselfish and buoyant +nature in illness, Noemi could hardly have endured such an inmate, +not even half a Huguenot, full of little Catholic observances like +second nature to her; listening indeed to the Bible for the short +time, but always, when it was expounded, either asleep, or finding +some amusement indispensable for her baby; eager for the least +variety, and above all spoilt by Maitre Gardon to a degree +absolutely perplexing to the grave woman.</p> + +<p>He would not bid her lay aside the observances that, to Noemi, +seemed almost worship of the beast. He rather reverted to the +piety which originated them; and argued with his old friend that it +was better to build than to destroy, and that, before the fabric of +truth, superstition would crumble away of itself. The little +he taught her sounded to Noemi's puzzled ears mere Christianity +instead of controversial Calvinism. And, moreover, he never +blamed her for wicked worldliness when she yawned; but even devised +opportunities for taking her out for a walk, to see as much life as +might be on a market-day. He could certainly not forget--as +much as would have been prudent--that she was a high-born lady; and +even seemed taken aback when he found her with her sleeves turned +up over her shapely-delicate arms, and a thick apron before her, +with her hands in Veuve Laurent's flour, showing her some of those +special mysterious arts of confectionery in which she had been +initiated by Soeur Bernardine, when, not three years ago, she had +been the pet of the convent at Bellaise. At first it was half +sport and the desire of occupation, but the produce of her +manipulations was so excellent as to excite quite a sensation in La +Sablerie, and the echevins and baillis sent in quite considerable +orders for the cakes and patties of Maitre Gardon's Paris-bred +daughter-in-law.</p> + +<p>Maitre Gardon hesitated. Noemi Laurent told him she cared +little for the gain--Heaven knew it was nothing to her--but that +she thought it wrong and inconsistent in him to wish to spare the +poor child's pride, which was unchristian enough already. +'Nay,' he said sadly, 'mortifications from without do little to +tame pride; nor did I mean to bring her here that she should turn +cook and confectioner to pamper the appetite of Baillis La +Grasse.'</p> + +<p>But Eustacie's first view was a bright pleasure in the triumph +of her skill; and when her considerate guardian endeavoured to +impress on her that there was no necessity for vexing herself with +the task, she turned round on him with the exclamation, 'Nay, dear +father, do you not see it is my great satisfaction to be able to do +something for our good hostess, so that my daughter and I be not a +burden to her?'</p> + +<p>'Well spoken, my Lady,' said the pastor; 'there is real nobility +in that way of thinking. Yet, remember, Noemi is not without +means; she feels not the burden. And the flock contribute +enough for the shepherd's support, and yours likewise.'</p> + +<p>'Then let her give it to the poor creatures who so often come in +begging, and saying they have been burned out of house and home by +one party or the other,' said Eustacie. 'Let me have my way, +dear sir; Soeur Bernadine always said I should be a prime <i> +menagere</i>. I like it so much.'</p> + +<p>And Madame de Ribaumont mixed sugar and dough, and twisted +quaint shapes, and felt important and almost light-hearted, and +sang over her work and over her child songs that were not always +Marot's psalms; and that gave the more umbrage to Noemi, because +she feared that Maitre Gardon actually like to hear them, though, +should their echo reach the street, why it would be a peril, and +still worse, a horrible scandal that out of that sober, afflicted +household should proceed profane tunes such as court ladies +sang.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XX. THE ABBE.</h3> + +<p>By the day and night her sorrows fall</p> + +<p> Where miscreant hands and rude</p> + +<p>Have stained her pure, ethereal pall</p> + +<p> With many a martyr's blood.</p> + +<p>And yearns not her maternal heart</p> + +<p> To hear their secret sighs,</p> + +<p>Upon whose doubting way apart</p> + +<p> Bewildering shadows rise?--KEBLE</p> + +<p>It was in the summer twilight that Eustacie, sitting on the +doorstep between the two rooms, with her baby on her knees, was +dreamily humming to her a tune, without even words, but one that +she loved, because she had first learnt to sing it with Berenger +and his friend Sidney to the lute of the latter; and its notes +always brought before her eyes the woods of Montpipeau. Then +it was that, low and soft as was the voice, that befell which Noemi +had feared: a worn, ragged-looking young man, who had been +bargaining at the door for a morsel of bread in exchange for a +handkerchief, started at the sound, and moved so as to like into +the house.</p> + +<p>Noemi was at the moment not attending, being absorbed in the +study of the handkerchief, which was of such fine, delicate texture +that an idea of its having been stolen possessed her; and she +sought the corner where, as she expected, a coat-of-arms was +embroidered. Just as she was looking up to demand +explanation, the stranger, with a sudden cry of 'Good heavens, it +is she!' pushed past her into the house, and falling on his knee +before Eustacie, exclaimed, 'O Lady, Lady, is it thus that I see +you?'</p> + +<p>Eustacie had started up in dismay, crying out, 'Ah! M. l'Abbe, +as you are a gentleman, betray me not. Oh! have they sent you +to find me? Have pity on us! You loved my husband!'</p> + +<p>'You have nothing to fear from me, Lady,' said the young man, +still kneeling; 'if you are indeed a distressed fugitive--so am +I. If you have shelter and friends--I have none.'</p> + +<p>'Is it indeed so?' said Eustacie, wistfully, yet scarce +reassured. 'You are truly not come from my uncle. +Indeed, Monsieur, I would not doubt you, but you see I have so much +at stake. I have my little one here, and they mean so cruelly +by her.'</p> + +<p>'Madame, I swear by the honour of a nobleman--nay, by all that +is sacred--that I know nothing of your uncle. I have been a +wanderer for many weeks past; proscribed and hunted down because I +wished to seek into the truth.'</p> + +<p>'Ah!' said Eustacie, with a sound of relief, and of apology, +'pardon me, sir; indeed, I know you were good. You loved my +husband;' and she reached out her hand to raise him, when he kissed +it reverently. Little <i>bourgeoise</i> and worn mendicant as +they were in dress, the air of the Louvre breathed round +them; and there was all its grace and dignity as the lady +turned round to her astonished hosts, saying, 'Good sir, kind +mother, this gentleman is, indeed, what you took me for, a fugitive +for the truth. Permit me to present to you, Monsieur l'Abbe +de Mericour--at least, so he was, when last I had the honour to see +him.'</p> + +<p>The last time HE had seen her, poor Eustacie had been incapable +of seeing anything save that bloody pool at the foot of the +stairs.</p> + +<p>Mericour now turned and explained. 'Good friends,' he said +courteously, but with the <i>fierete</i> of the noble not quite out +of his tone, 'I beg your grace. I would not have used so +little ceremony, if I had not been out of myself at recognizing a +voice and a tune that could belong to none but Madame---'</p> + +<p>'Sit down, sir,' said Noemi, a little coldly and stiffly--for +Mericour was a terrible name to Huguenots ears; 'a true friend to +this lady must needs be welcome, above all if he comes in Heaven's +name.'</p> + +<p>'Sit down and eat, sir,' added Gardon, much more heartily; 'and +forgive us for not having been more hospitable--but the times have +taught us to be cautious, and in that lady we have a precious +charge. Rest; for you look both weary and hungry.'</p> + +<p>Eustacie added an invitation, understanding that he would not +sit without her permission, and then, as he dropped into a chair, +she exclaimed, 'Ah! sir, you are faint, but you are famished.'</p> + +<p>'It will pass,' he said; 'I have not eaten to-day.'</p> + +<p>Instantly a meal was set before him, and ere long he revived; +and as the shutters were closed, and shelter for the night promised +to him by a Huguenot family lodging in the same house, he began to +answer Eustacie's anxious questions, as well as to learn from her +in return what had brought her into her present situation.</p> + +<p>Then it was that she recollected that it had been he who, at her +cousin Diane's call, had seized her when she was rushing out of the +palace in her first frenzy of grief, and had carried her back to +the women's apartments.</p> + +<p>'It was that day which brought me here,' he said.</p> + +<p>And he told how, bred up in his own distant province, by a pious +and excellent tutor, he had devoutly believed in the extreme +wickedness of the Reformers; but in his seclusion he had been +trained to such purity of faith and morals, that, when his brother +summoned him to court to solicit a benefice, he had been appalled +at the aspect of vice, and had, at the same time, been struck by +the pure lives of the Huguenots; for truly, as things then were at +the French court, crime seemed to have arrayed itself on the side +of the orthodox party, all virtue on that of the schismatics.</p> + +<p>De Mericour consulted spiritual advisers, who told him that none +but Catholics could be truly holy, and that what he admired were +merely heathen virtues that the devil permitted the Huguenots to +display in order to delude the unwary. With this explanation +he had striven to be satisfied, though eyes unblended by guilt and +a pure heart continued to be revolted at the practices which his +Church, scared at the evil times, and forgetful of her own true +strength, left undenounced in her partisans. And the more +that the Huguenot gentlemen thronged the court, and the young Abbe +was thrown into intercourse with them, and the more he perplexed +himself how the truth, the faith, the uprightness, the forbearance, +the purity that they evinced could indeed be wanting in the zeal +that made them acceptable. Then came the frightful morning +when carnage reigned in every street, and the men who had been +treated as favourite boon companions were hunted down like wild +beasts in every street. He had endeavoured to save life, but +would have speedily been slaughtered himself except for his +soutane; and in all good faith he had hurried to the Louvre, to +inform royalty of the horrors that, as he thought, a fanatic +passion was causing the populace to commit.</p> + +<p>He found the palace become shambles--the King himself, wrought +up to frenzy, firing on the fugitives. And the next day, +while his brain still seemed frozen with horror, he was called on +to join in the procession of thanksgiving for the King's +deliverance from a dangerous plot. Surely, if the plot were +genuine, he thought, the procession should have savoured of penance +and humiliation rather than of barbarous exultation! Yet +these might be only the individual crimes of the Queen-mother, and +of the Guises seeking to mask themselves under the semblance of +zeal; and the infallible head of the visible Church would disown +the slaughter, and cast it from the Church with loathing as a +blood-stained garment. Behold, Rome was full of rejoicing, +and sent sanction and commendation of the pious zeal of the +King! Had the voice of Holy Church become indeed as the voice +of the bloodhound? Was this indeed her call?</p> + +<p>The young man, whose life from infancy had been marked out for +the service of the Church--so destined by his parents as securing a +wealthy provision for a younger son, but educated by his good tutor +with more real sense of his obligations--felt the question in its +full import. He was under no vows; he had, indeed, received +the tonsure, but was otherwise unpledged, and he was bent on +proving all things. The gaieties in which he had at first +mingled had become abhorrent to him, and he studied with the +earnestness of a newly-awakened mind in search of true light. +The very face of study and inquiry, in one of such a family as that +of his brother the Duke de Mericour, was enough to excite suspicion +of Huguenot inclinations. The elder brother tried to quash +the folly of the younger, by insisting on his sharing the +debaucheries which, whether as priest or monk, or simply as +Christian man, it would be his duty to abjure; and at length, by +way of bringing things to a test, insisted on his making one of a +party who were about to break up and destroy a Huguenot +assembly. Unable, in his present mood, to endure the thought +of further cruelty, the young Abbe fled, gave secret warning to the +endangered congregation, and hastened to the old castle in +Brittany, where he had been brought up, to pour out his +perplexities, and seek the counsel of the good old chaplain who had +educated him. Whether the kind, learned, simple-hearted tutor +could have settled his mind, he had no time to discover, for he had +scarcely unfolded his troubles before warnings came down that he +had better secure himself--his brother, as head of the family, had +obtained the royal assent to the imprisonment of the rebellious +junior, so as to bring him to a better mind, and cure him of the +Huguenot inclinations, which in the poor lad were simply +undeveloped. But in all the Catholic eyes he was a tainted +man, and his almost inevitable course was to take refuge with some +Huguenot relations. There he was eagerly welcome; instruction +was poured in on him; but as he showed a disposition to inquire and +examine, and needed time to look into what they taught him, as one +who feared to break his link with the Church, and still longed to +find her blameless and glorious, the righteous nation that keepeth +the truth, they turned on him and regarded him as a traitor and a +spy, who had come among them on false pretences.</p> + +<p>All the poor lad wanted was time to think, time to examine, time +to consult authorities, living and dead. The Catholics called +this treason to the Church, the Huguenots called it halting between +two opinions; and between them he was a proscribed, distrusted +vagabond, branded on one side as a recreant, and on the other as a +traitor. He had asked for a few months of quiet, and where +could they be had? His grand-mother had been the daughter of +a Scottish nobleman in the French service, and he had once seen a +nephew of hers who had come to Paris during the time of Queen +Mary's residence there. He imagined that if he were once out +of this distracted land of France, he might find respite for study, +for which he longed; and utterly ignorant of the real state of +Scotland, he had determined to make his way to his kindred there; +and he had struggled on the way to La Rochelle, cheated out of the +small remains of his money, selling his last jewels and all the +clothing that was not indispensable, and becoming so utterly unable +to pay his passage to England, that he could only trust to +Providence to find him some means of reaching his present goal.</p> + +<p>He had been listened to with kindness, and a sympathy such as M. +Gardon's large mind enable him to bestow, where his brethren had +been incapable of comprehending that a man could sincerely doubt +between them and Rome. When the history was finished, +Eustacie exclaimed, turning to Maitre Gardon, 'Ah! sir, is not this +just what we sought? If this gentleman would but convey a +letter to my mother-in-law---'</p> + +<p>M. Gardon smiled. 'Scotland and England are by no means +the same place, Lady,' he said.</p> + +<p>'Whatever this lady would command, wherever she would send me, I +am at her service,' cried the Abbe, fervently.</p> + +<p>And, after a little further debate, it was decided that it might +really be the best course, for him as for Madame de Ribaumont, to +become the bearer of a letter and token from her, entreating her +mother-in-law to notify her pleasure whether she should bring her +child to England. She had means enough to advance a +sufficient sum to pay Mericour's passage, and he accepted it most +punctiliously as a loan, intending, so soon as her despatches were +ready, to go on to La Rochelle, and make inquiry for a ship.</p> + +<p>Chance, however, seemed unusually propitious, for the next day +there was an apparition in the streets of La Sablerie of four or +five weather-beaten, rollicking-looking men, their dress profusely +adorned with ribbons, and their language full of strange +oaths. They were well known at La Sablerie as sailors +belonging to a ship of the fleet of the Count de Montgomery, the +unfortunate knight whose lance had caused the death of King Henry +II., and who, proscribed by the mortal hatred of Catherine de +Medicis, had become the admiral of a piratical fleet in the +Calvinist interest, so far winked at the Queen Elizabeth that it +had its head-quarters in the Channel Islands, and thence was a most +formidable foe to merchant vessels on the northern and eastern +coasts of France; and often indulged in descents on the coast, when +the sailors--being in general the scum of the nation--were apt to +comport themselves more like American buccaneers than like +champions of any form of religion.</p> + +<p>La Sablerie was a Huguenot town, so they used no violence, but +only swaggered about, demanding from Bailli La Grasse, in the name +of their gallant Captain Latouche, contributions and provisions, +and giving him to understand that if he did not comply to the +uttermost it should be the worse for him. Their ship, it +appeared, had been forced to put into the harbour, about two miles +off, and Maitre Gardon and the young Abbe decided on walking +thither to see it, and to have an interview with the captain, so as +to secure a passage for Mericour at least. Indeed Maitre +Gardon had, in consultation with Eustacie, resolved, if he found +things suitable, to arrange for their all going together. She +would be far safer out of France; and, although the Abbe alone +could not have escorted her, yet Maitre Gardon would gladly have +secured for her the additional protection of a young, strong, and +spirited man; and Eustacie, who was no scribe, was absolutely +relieved to have the voyage set before her as an alternative to the +dreadful operation of composing a letter to the <i>belle-mere</i>, +whom she had not seen since she had been seven years old, and of +whose present English name she had the most indistinct ideas.</p> + +<p>However, the first sight of the ship overthrew all such +ideas. It was a wretched single-decked vessel, carrying far +more sail than experienced nautical eyes would have deemed safe, +and with no accommodation fit for a woman and child, even had the +aspect of captain or crew been more satisfactory--for the ruffianly +appearance and language of the former fully rivaled that of his +sailors. It would have been mere madness to think of trusting +the lady in such hands; and, without a word to each other, Gardon +and Mericour resolved to give no hint even that she and her jewels +were in La Sablerie. Mericour, however, made his bargain with +the captain, who understood to transport him as far as Guernsey, +whence he might easily make his way to Dorsetshire, where M. Gardon +knew that Berenger's English home had been.</p> + +<p>So Eustacie, with no small trouble and consideration, indited +her letter--telling of her escape, the birth of her daughter, the +dangers that threatened her child--and begging that its +grand-mother would give it a safe home in England, and love it for +the sake of its father. An answer would find her at the Widow +Noemi Laurent's, Rue des Trois Fees, La Sablerie. She could +not bring herself to speak of the name of Eserance Gardon which had +been saddled upon her; and even M. de Mericour remained in +ignorance of her bearing this disguise. She recommended him +to the kindness of her mother-in-law; and M. Gardon added another +letter to the lady, on behalf of the charge to whom he promised to +devote himself until he should see them safe in friendly +hands. Both letters were addressed, as best they might be, +between Eustacie's dim comprehension of the word Thistlewood, and +M. Gardon's notion of spelling. 'Jadis, Baronne de Ribaumont' +was the securest part of the direction.</p> + +<p>And for a token, Eustacie looked over her jewels to find one +that would serve for a token; but the only ones she knew would be +recognized, were the brooch that had fastened the plume in +Berenger's bloody cap, and the chaplet of pearls. To part +with the first, or to risk the second in the pirate-ship, was +impossible, but Eustacie at last decided upon detaching the +pear-shaped pearl which was nearest the clasp, and which was so +remarkable in form and tint that there was no doubt of its being +well known.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXI. UNDER THE WALNUT-TREE</h3> + +<p>Mistress Jean was making the elder-flower wine--</p> + +<p>'And what brings the Laird at sic a like time?'</p> + +<p> LADY NAIRN, THE LAIRD OF COCKPEN</p> + +<p>Summer was nearly ended, and Lucy Thistlewood was presiding in +the great kitchen of the Manor-house, standing under the latticed +window near the large oak-table, a white apron over her dress, +presiding over the collecting of elder-berries for the brew of +household-wine for the winter. The maids stood round her with +an array of beechen bowls or red and yellow crocks, while +barefooted, bareheaded children came thronging in with rush or +wicker baskets of the crimson fruit, which the maids poured in +sanguine cascades into their earthenware; and Lucy requited with +substantial slices of bread and cheese, and stout homely garment +mostly of her own sewing.</p> + +<p>Lucy was altogether an inmate of her father's house. She +had not even been at Hurst Walwyn for many months; for her +step-mother's reiterated hopes that Berenger would make her his +consolation for all he had suffered from his French spouse rendered +it impossible to her to meet him with sisterly unconsciousness; and +she therefore kept out of the way, and made herself so useful at +home, that Dame Annora only wondered how it had been possible to +spare her so long, and always wound up her praises by saying, that +Berenger would learn in time how lucky he had been to lose the +French puppet, and win the good English housewife.</p> + +<p>If only tidings would have come that the puppet was safe +married. That was the crisis which all the family desired yet +feared for Berenger, since nothing else they saw would so detach +his thoughts from the past as the leave him free to begin life +again. The relapse brought on by the cruel reply to Osbert's +message had been very formidable: he was long insensible or +delirious and then came a state of annihilated thought, then of +frightfully sensitive organs, when light, sound, movement, or scent +were alike agony; and when he slowly revived, it was with such +sunken spirits, that his silence was as much from depression as +from difficulty of speech. His brain was weak, his limbs +feeble, the wound in his mouth never painless; and all this +necessarily added to his listless indifference and weariness, as +though all youthful hope and pleasure were extinct in him. He +had ceased to refer to the past. Perhaps he had thought it +over, and seen that the deferred escape, the request for the +pearls, the tryst at the palace, and detention from the king's +chamber, made an uglier case against Eustacie than he could endure +to own even to himself. If his heart trusted, his mind could +not argue out her defence, and his tongue would not serve him for +discussion with his grandfather, the only person who could act for +him. Perhaps the stunned condition of his mind made the +suspense just within the bounds of endurance, while trust in his +wife's innocence rendered his inability to come to her aid +well-nigh intolerable; and doubt of her seemed both profanity and +misery unspeakable. He could do nothing. He had shot +his only shaft by sending Landry Osbert, and had found that to +endeavour to induce his grandfather to use further measures was +worse than useless, and was treated as mere infatuation. He +knew that all he had to do was to endeavour for what patience he +could win from Cecily's sweet influence and guidance, and to wait +till either certainty should come--that dreadful, miserable +certainty that all looked for, and his very helplessness might be +bringing about--or till he should regain strength to be again +effective.</p> + +<p>And miserably slow work was this recovery. No one had +surgical skill to deal with so severe a wound as that which +Narcisse had inflicted; and the daily pain and inconvenience it +caused led to innumerable drawbacks that often--even after he had +come as far as the garden--brought him back to his bed in a dark +room, to blood-letting, and to speechlessness. No one knew +much of his mind--</p> + +<p>Cecily perhaps the most; and next to her, Philip--who, from the +time he had been admitted to his step-brother's presence, had been +most assiduous in tending him--seemed to understand his least sign, +and to lay aside all his boisterous roughness in his eager desire +to do him service. The lads had loved each other from the +moment they had met as children, but never so apparently as now, +when all the rude horse-play of healthy youths was over--and one +was dependent, the other considerate. And if Berenger had +made on one else believe in Eustacie, he had taught Philip to view +her as the 'Queen's men' viewed Mary of Scotland. Philip had +told Lucy the rough but wholesome truth, that 'Mother talks mere +folly. Eustacie is no more to be spoken of with you than a +pheasant with old brown Partlet; and Berry waits but to be well to +bring her off from all her foes. And I'll go with him.'</p> + +<p>It was on Philip's arm that Berenger first crept round the +bowling-green, and with Philip at his rein that he first endured to +ride along the avenue on Lord Walwyn's smooth-paced palfrey; and it +was Philip who interrupted Lucy's household cares by rushing in and +shouting, 'Sister, here! I have wiled him to ride over the down, +and he is sitting under the walnut-tree quite spent, and the three +little wenches are standing in a row, weeping like so many little +mermaids. Come, I say!'</p> + +<p>Lucy at once followed him through the house, through the deep +porch to the court, which was shaded by a noble walnut-tree, where +Sir Marmaduke loved to sit among his dogs. There not sat +Berenger, resting against the trunk, overcome by the heat and +exertion of his ride. His cloak and hat lay on the ground; +the dogs fawned round him, eager for the wonted caress, and his +three little sisters stood a little aloof, clinging to one another +and crying piteously.</p> + +<p>It was their first sight of him; and it seemed to them as if he +were behind a frightful mask. Even Lucy was not without a +sensation of the kind, of this effect in the change from the +girlish, rosy complexion to extreme paleness, on which was visible, +in ghastly red and purple, the great scar left by Narcisse, from +the temple on the one side to the ear on the other.</p> + +<p>The far more serious would on the cheek was covered with a black +patch, and the hair had almost entirely disappeared from the head, +only a few light brown locks still hanging round the neck and +temples, so that the bald brow gave a strange look of age; and the +disfigurement was terrible, enhanced as it was by the wasting +effect of nearly a year of sickness. Lucy was so much +shocked, that she could hardly steady her voice to chide the +children for not giving a better welcome to their brother. +They would have clung round her, but she shook them off, and sent +Annora in haste for her mother's fan; while Philip arriving with a +slice of diet-bread and a cup of sack, the one fanned him, and the +other fed him with morsels of the cake soaked in the wine, till he +revived, looked up with eyes that were unchanged, and thanked them +with a few faltering words, scarcely intelligible to Lucy. +The little girls came nearer, and curiously regarded him but when +he held out his hand to his favourite Dolly, she shrank back in +reluctance.</p> + +<p>'Do not chide her,' he said wearily. 'May she never become +used to such marks!'</p> + +<p>'What, would you have her live among cowards?' exclaimed +Philip; but Berenger, instead of answering, looked up at the front +of the house, one of those fine Tudor facades that seem all carved +timber and glass lattice, and asked, so abruptly that Lucy doubted +whether she heard him alright,--'How many windows are there in this +front?'</p> + +<p>'I never counted,' said Philip.</p> + +<p>'I have,' said Annora; 'there are seven and thirty, besides the +two little ones in the porch.'</p> + +<p>'None shall make them afraid,' he muttered. 'Who would +dare build such a defenceless house over yonder?'--pointing +south.</p> + +<p>'Our hearts are guarded now,' said Philip, proudly. +Berenger half smiled, as he was wont to do when he meant more than +he could conveniently utter, and presently he asked, in the same +languid, musing tone, 'Lucy, were you ever really affrighted?'</p> + +<p>Lucy questioned whether he could be really in his right mind, as +if the bewilderment of his brain was again returning; and while she +paused, Annora exclaimed, 'Yes, when we were gathering cowslips, +and the brindled cow ran at us, and Lucy could not run because she +had Dolly in her arm. Oh! we were frightened then, till you +came, brother.'</p> + +<p>'Yes,' added Bessie; 'and last winter too, when the owl shrieked +at the window---'</p> + +<p>'And,' added Berenger, 'sister, what was your greatest time of +revelry?'</p> + +<p>Annora again put in her word. 'I know, brother; you +remember the fair-day, when my Lady Grandame was angered because +you and Lucy went on dancing when we and all then gentry had +ceased. And when Lucy said she had not seen that you were +left alone, Aunt Cecily said it was because the eyes of discretion +were lacking.'</p> + +<p>'Oh, the Christmas feast was far grander,' said Bessie. 'Then +Lucy had her first satin farthingale, and three gallants, besides +my brother, wanted to dance with her.'</p> + +<p>Blushing deeply, Lucy tried to hush the little ones, much +perplexed by the questions, and confused by the answers. +Could he be contrasting the life where a vicious cow had been the +most alarming object, a greensward dance with a step-brother the +greatest gaiety, dye of the elder juice the deepest stain, with the +temptations and perils that had beset one equally young? +Resting his head on his hand, his elbow on his knee, he seemed to +be musing in a reverie that he could hardly brook, as his young +brow was knitted by care and despondency.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, the sounds in the village rose from the quiet sleepy +summer hum into a fierce yell of derisive vituperation, causing +Philip at once to leap up, and run across the court to the +entrance-gate, while Lucy called after him some vain sisterly +warning against mingling in a fray.</p> + +<p>It seemed as if his interposition had a good effect, for the +uproar lulled almost as soon as he had hurried to the scene of +action; and presently he reappeared, eager and breathless. 'I +told them to bring him up here,' he said; 'they would have flogged +him at the cart's-tail, the rogues, just because my father is out +of the way. I could not make out his jargon, but you can, +brother; and make that rascal Spinks let him go.'</p> + +<p>'What should I have to do with it?' said Berenger, shrinking +from the sudden exposure of his scarred face and maimed +speech. 'I am no magistrate.'</p> + +<p>'But you can understand him; he is French, the poor rogue +something abut a letter, and wanting to ask his way. Ah! I +thought that would touch you, and it will cost you little pains, +and slouching it over his face, rose, and, leaning upon Annora's +shoulder, stepped forward, just as the big burly +blacksmith-constable and small shrivelled cobbler advanced, +dragging along, by a cord round the wrists, a slight figure with a +red woollen sailor's shirt, ragged black hosen, bare head, and +almost bare feet.</p> + +<p>Doffing their caps, the men began an awkward salutation to the +young Lord on his recovery, but he only touched his beaver in +return, and demanded, 'How now! what have you bound him for?'</p> + +<p>'You see, my Lord,' began the constable, 'there have been a sort +of vagrants of late, and I'll be bound' twas no four-legged fox as +took Gaffer Shepherd's lamb.'</p> + +<p>The peroration was broken off, for with a start as if he had +been shot, Berenger cried aloud, 'Mericour! the Abbe!'</p> + +<p>'Ah, Monsieur, if you know me,' cried the young man, raising his +head, 'free me from this shame--aid me in my mission!'</p> + +<p>'Loose him, fellows,' shouted Berenger; 'Philip, a knife--Lucy, +those scissors.'</p> + +<p>'Tis my duty, my Lord,' said Spinks, gruffly. 'All +vagabonds to be apprehended and flogged at the cart's-tail, by her +Grace's special commands. How is it to be answered to his +Honour, Sir Marmaduke?'</p> + +<p>'Oaf!' cried Philip, 'you durst not have used such violence had +my father been at home! Don't you see my brother knows +him?'</p> + +<p>With hands trembling with haste, Berenger had seized the +scissors that, house-wife like, hung at Lucy's waist, and was +cutting the rope, exclaiming in French, 'Pardon, pardon, friend, +for so shameful a reception.'</p> + +<p>'Sir,' was the reply, without a sign of recognition, 'if, +indeed, you know my name, I entreat you to direct me to the chateau +of Le Sieur Tistefote, whose lady was once Baronne de +Ribaumont.'</p> + +<p>'My mother! Ah, my friend, my friend! what would you?' he +cried in a tone of tremulous hope and fear, laying one hand on +Mericour's shoulder, and about to embrace him.</p> + +<p>Mericour retreated from him; but the high-spirited young man +crossed his arms on his breast, and gazing at the group with +indignant scorn, made answer, 'My message is from her who deems +herself a widow, to the mother of the husband whom she little +imagines to be not only alive, but consoled.'</p> + +<p>'Faithful! Faithful!' burst out Berenger, with a wild, exultant, +strangely-ringing shout. 'Woe, woe to those who would have +had me doubt her! Philip--Lucy--hear! Her truth is +clear to all the world!' Then changing back again to French, +'Ten thousand blessings on you, Mericour! You have seen +her! Where--how?'</p> + +<p>Mericour still spoke with frigid politeness. 'I had the +honour to part with Madame la Baronne de Ribaumont in the town of +La Sablerie, among humble, Huguenot guardians, to whom she had +fled, to save her infant's life--when no aid came.'</p> + +<p>He was obliged to break off, for Berenger, stunned by the sudden +rush of emotion, reeled as he stood, and would have fallen but for +the prompt support of Lucy, who was near enough to guide him back +to rest upon the bench, saying resentfully in French as she did so, +'My brother is still very ill. I pray you, sir, have a +care.'</p> + +<p>She had not half understood the rapid words of the two young +men, Philip comprehended them far less, and the constable and his +crew of course not at all; and Spinks pushed forward among the +group as he saw Berenger sink back on the bench; and once more +collaring his prisoner, exclaimed almost angrily to Philip, 'There +now, sir, you've had enough of the vagabond. We'll keep him +tight ere he bewitches any more of you.'</p> + +<p>This rude interference proved an instant restorative. +Berenger sprang up at once, and seizing Spink's arm, exclaimed, +'Hands off, fellow! This is my friend--a gentleman. He +brings me tidings of infinite gladness. Who insults him, +insults me.'</p> + +<p>Spinks scarcely withdrew his hand from Mericour's neck; and +scowling, said, 'Very odd gentleman--very queer tidings, Master +Berenger, to fell you like an ox. I must be answerable for +the fellow till his Honour comes.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! <i>Eh quoi</i>, wherefore not show the <i> +canaille</i> your sword?' said Mericour, impatiently.</p> + +<p>'It may not be here, in England,' said Berenger (who fortunately +was not wearing his weapon). 'And in good time here comes my +step-father,' as the gate swung back, and Sir Marmaduke and Lady +Thistlewood rode through it, the former sending his voice far +before him to demand the meaning of the hurly-burly that filled his +court.</p> + +<p>Philip was the first to spring to his rein, exclaiming, 'Father, +it is a Frenchman whom Spinks would have flogged at the +cart's-tail; but it seems he is a friend of Berenger's, and has +brought him tidings. I know not what--about his wife, I +believe--any way he is beside himself with joy.'</p> + +<p>'Sir, your Honour,' shouted Spinks, again seizing Mericour, and +striving to drag him forward, 'I would know whether the law is to +be hindered from taking its course because my young Lord there is a +Frenchman and bewitched.'</p> + +<p>'Ah,' shrieked Lady Thistlewood, 'I knew it. They will +have sent secret poison to finish him. Keep the fellow +safe. He will cast it in the air.'</p> + +<p>'Ay, ay, my Lady,' said Spinks, 'there are plenty of us to +testify that he made my young Lord fall back as in a swoon, and +reel like one distraught. Pray Heaven it have not gone +further.'</p> + +<p>'Sir,' exclaimed Berenger, who on the other side held his +friend's hand tight, 'this is a noble gentleman--the brother of the +Duke de Mericour. He has come at great risk to bring me +tidings of my dear and true wife. And not one word will these +demented rascals let me hear with their senseless clamour.'</p> + +<p>'Berenger! You here, my boy!' exclaimed Sir Marmaduke, +more amazed by this than all the rest.</p> + +<p>'He touches him--he holds him! Ah! will no one tear him +away?' screamed Lady Thistlewood. Nor would Spinks have been +slow in obeying her if Sir Marmaduke had not swung his substantial +form to the ground, and stepping up to the prisoner, rudely clawed +on one side by Spinks, and affectionately grasped on the other side +by Berenger, shouted--</p> + +<p>'Let go, both!' does he speak English? Peace, +dame! If the lad be bewitched, it is the right way. He +looks like the other man. Eh, lad, what does your friend say +for himself?'</p> + +<p>'Sir,' said Berenger, interpreting Mericour's words as they were +spoken, 'he has been robbed and misused at sea by Montgomery's +pirate crews. He fled from court for the religion's sake; he +met her--my wife' (the voice was scarcely intelligible, so +tremulously was it spoken), 'in hiding among the Huguenots--he +brings a letter and a token from her to my mother.'</p> + +<p>'Ha! And you know him? You avouch him to be what he +represents himself?'</p> + +<p>'I knew him at court. I know him well. Father, make +these fellows cease their insults! I have heard nothing +yet. See here!' holding out what Mericour had put into his +hand; 'this you cannot doubt, mother.'</p> + +<p>'Parted the pearls! Ah, the little minx!' cried the lady, +as she recognized the jewels.</p> + +<p>'I thought he had been robbed?' added Sir Marmaduke.</p> + +<p>'The gentleman doubts?' said Mericour, catching some of the +words. 'He should know that what is confided in a French +gentleman is only taken from him with his life. Much did I +lose; but the pearl I kept hidden in my mouth.'</p> + +<p>Therewith he produced the letter. Lady Thistlewood +pronounced that no power on earth should induce her to open it, and +drew off herself and her little girls to a safe distance from the +secret poison she fancied it contained; while Sir Marmaduke was +rating the constables for taking advantage of his absence to +interpret the Queen's Vagrant Act in their own violent fashion; +ending, however, by sending them round to the buttery-hatch to +drink the young Lord's health. For the messenger, the good +knight heartily grasped his hand, welcoming him and thanking him +for having 'brought comfort to you poor lad's heart.'</p> + +<p>But there Sir Marmaduke paused, doubting whether the letter had +indeed brought comfort; for Berenger, who had seized on it, when it +was refused by his mother, was sitting under the tree--turning away +indeed, but not able to conceal that his tears were gushing down +like rain. The anxious exclamation of his step-father roused +him at length, but he scarce found power or voice to utter, as he +thrust the letter into the knight's hand, 'Ah! see what has she not +suffered for me! me, whom you would have had believed her +faithless!'</p> + +<p>He then grasped his friend's arm, and with him disappeared into +the house, leaving Sir Marmaduke holding the letter in a state of +the utmost bewilderment, and calling by turns on his wife and +daughter to read and explain it to him.</p> + +<p>And as Lucy read the letter, with her mother could not yet +prevail on herself to touch, she felt at each word more grateful to +the good Aunt Cecily, whose influence had taught her always to view +Berenger as a brother, and not to condemn unheard the poor young +wife. If she had not been thus guarded, what distress might +not this day of joy to Berenger have brought to Lucy! Indeed, +Lady Thistlewood was vexed enough as it was, and ready to carry her +incredulity to the most inconsistent lengths. 'It was all a +trick for getting the poor boy back, that they might make an end of +him altogether. Tell her they thought him +dead.--'Tilley-valley! It was a mere attempt on her own +good-nature, to get a little French impostor on her hands. +Let Sir Duke look well to it, and take care that her poor boy was +not decoyed among them. The Frenchman might be cutting his +throat at that moment! Where was he? Had Sir Duke been +so lost as to let them out of sight together? No one had +either pity or prudence now that her poor father was gone;' and she +began to weep.</p> + +<p>'No great fear on that score, dame,' laughed the knight. +'Did you not hear the lad shouting for "Phil, Phil!" almost in a +voice like old times? It does one good to hear it.'</p> + +<p>Just at twilight, Berenger came down the steps, conducting a +graceful gentleman in black, to whom Lady Thistlewood's instinct +impelled her to make a low courtesy, before Berenger had said, +'Madam, allow me to present to you my friend, the Abbe de +Mericour.'</p> + +<p>'Is it the same?' whispered Bessie to Annora. 'Surely he +is translated!'</p> + +<p>'Only into Philip's old mourning suit. I know it by the +stain on the knee.</p> + +<p>'Then it is translated too. Never did it look so well on +Philip! See, our mother is quite gracious to him; she speaks +to him as though he were some noble visitor to my Lord.'</p> + +<p>Therewith Sir Marmaduke came forward, shook Mericour with all +his might by the hand, shouted to him his hearty thanks for the +good he had done his poor lad and assured him of a welcome from the +very bottom of his heart. The good knight would fain have +kept both Berenger and his friend at the Manor, but Berenger was +far too impatient to carry home his joy, and only begged the loan +of a horse for Mericour. For himself, he felt as if fatigue +or dejection would never touch him again, and he kissed his mother +and his sisters, including Lucy, all round, with an effusion of +delight.</p> + +<p>'Is that indeed your step-father?' said Mericour, as they rode +away together. 'And the young man, is he your +half-brother?'</p> + +<p>'Brother wholly in dear love,' said Berenger; 'no blood +relation. The little girls are my mother's children.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! so large a family all one? All at home? None in +convents?'</p> + +<p>'We have no convents.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, no. but all at home! All at peace! This is a +strange place, your England.'</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXII. DEPARTURE</h3> + +<p>It is my mistress!</p> + +<p>Since she is living, let the time run on</p> + +<p>To good or bad.--CYMBELINE</p> + +<p>Mericour found the welcome at Hurst Walwyn kindly and more +polished than that at Combe Manor. He was more readily +understood, and found himself at his natural element. Lord +Walwyn, in especial, took much notice of him, and conversed with +him long and earnestly; while Berenger, too happy and too weary to +exert himself to say many words, sat as near Cecily as he could, +treating her as though she, who had never contradicted in his trust +in Eustacie, were the only person who could worthily share his +infinite relief, peace, and thankfulness.</p> + +<p>Lord Walwyn said scarcely anything to his grandson that night, +only when Berenger, as usual, bent his knee to ask his blessing on +parting for the night, he said, gravely, 'Son, I am glad of your +joy; I fear me you have somewhat to pardon your grandsire. +Come to my library so soon as morning prayers be over; we will +speak then. Not now, my dear lad,' he added, as Berenger, +with tears in his eyes, kissed his hand, and would have begun; 'you +are too much worn and spent to make my dear ears hear. Sleep, +and take my blessing with you.'</p> + +<p>It was a delight to see the young face freed from the haggard, +dejected expression that had been sadder than the outward wound; +and yet it was so questionable how far the French connection was +acceptable to the family, that when Berenger requested Mr. Adderley +to make mention of the mercy vouchsafed to him in the morning +devotions, the chaplain bowed, indeed, but took care to ascertain +that his so doing would be agreeable to my Lord and my Lady.</p> + +<p>He found that if Lady Walwyn was still inclined to regret that +the Frenchwoman was so entirely a wife, and thought Berenger had +been very hasty and imprudent, yet that the old Lord was chiefly +distressed at the cruel injustice he had so long been doing this +poor youth thing. A strong sense of justice, and long habit +of dignified self-restraint, alone prevented Lord Walwyn from +severely censuring Mr. Adderley for misrepresentations; but the old +nobleman recollected that Walsingham had been in the same story, +and was too upright to visit his own vexation on the +honestly-mistaken tutor.</p> + +<p>However, when Berenger made his appearance in the study, looking +as if not one right, but weeks, had been spent in recovering health +and spirit, the old man's first word was a gentle rebuke for his +having been left unaware of how far matters had gone; but he cut +short the attempted reply, but saying he knew it was chiefly owing +to his own over-hasty conclusion, and fear of letting his grandson +injure himself by vainly discussing the subject. Now, +however, he examined Berenger closely on all the proceedings Paris +and at Montpipeau, and soon understood that the ceremony had been +renewed, ratifying the vows taken in infancy. The old +statesman's face cleared up at once; for, as he explained, he had +now no anxieties as to the validity of the marriage by English law, +at least, in spite of the decree from Rome, which, as he pointed +out to his grandson, was wholly contingent on the absence of +subsequent consent, since the parties had come to an age for +free-will. Had he known of this, the re-marriage, he said, he +should certainly have been less supine. Why had Berenger been +silent?</p> + +<p>'I was commanded, sir. I fear I have transgressed the +command by mentioning it now. I must pray you to be +secret.'</p> + +<p>'Secret, foolish lad. Know you not that the rights of your +wife and your children rest upon it?' and as the change in +Berenger's looks showed that he had not comprehended the full +importance of the second ceremony as nullifying the papal sentence, +which could only quash the first on the ground of want of mutual +consent, he proceeded, 'Command, quotha? Who there had any +right to command you, boy?'</p> + +<p>'Only one, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Come, this no moment for lover's folly. It was not the +girl, then? Then it could no other than the miserable +King--was it so?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir,' said Berenger. 'He bade me as king, and +requested me as the friend who gave her to me. I could do no +otherwise, and I thought it would be but a matter of a few days, +and that our original marriage was the only important one.'</p> + +<p>'Have you any parchment to prove it?'</p> + +<p>'No, sir. It passed but as a ceremony to satisfy the +Queen's scruples ere she gave my wife to me to take home. I +even think the King was displeased at her requiring it.'</p> + +<p>'Was Mr. Sidney a witness?'</p> + +<p>'No, sir. None was present, save the King and Queen, her +German countess, and the German priest.'</p> + +<p>'The day?'</p> + +<p>'Lammas-day.'</p> + +<p>'The 1<sup>st</sup> of August of the year of grace 1572. I +will write to Walsingham to obtain the testimony, if possible, of +king or of priest; but belike they will deny it all. It was +part of the trick. Shame upon it that a king should dig pits +for so small a game as you, my poor lad!'</p> + +<p>'Verily, my Lord,' said Berenger, 'I think the King meant us +kindly, and would gladly have sped us well away. Methought he +felt his bondage bitterly, and would fain have dared to be a true +king. Even at the last, he bade me to his <i>garde-robe</i>, +and all there were unhurt.'</p> + +<p>'And wherefore obeyed you not?'</p> + +<p>'The carouse would have kept me too late for our flight.'</p> + +<p>'King's behests may not lightly be disregarded,' said the old +courtier, with a smile. 'However, since he showed such +seeming favour to you, surely you might send a petition to him +privately, through Sir Francis Walsingham, to let the priest +testify to your renewal of contract, engaging not to use it to his +detriment in France.'</p> + +<p>'I will do so, sir. Meanwhile,' he added, as one who felt +he had earned a right to be heard in his turn, 'I have your +permission to hasten to bring home my wife?'</p> + +<p>Lord Walwyn was startled at this demand from one still so far +from recovered as Berenger. Even this talk, eager as the +youth was, had not been carried on without much difficulty, +repetitions, and altered phrases, when he could not pronounce +distinctly enough to be understood and the effort brought lines of +pain into his brow. He could take little solid food, had +hardly any strength for walking or riding; and, though all his +wounds were whole, except that one unmanageable shot in the mouth, +he looked entirely unfit to venture on a long journey in the very +country that had sent him home a year before scarcely alive. +Lord Walwyn had already devised what he thought a far more +practicable arrangement; namely, to send Mr. Adderley and some of +my Lady's women by sea, under the charge of Master Hobbs, a +shipmaster at Weymouth, who traded with Bordeaux for wine, and +could easily put in near La Sablerie, and bring off the lady and +child, and, if she wished it, the pastor to whom such a debt of +gratitude was owing.</p> + +<p>Berenger was delighted with the notion of the sea rather than +the land journey; but he pointed out at once that this would remove +all objection to his going in person. He had often been out +whole nights with the fishermen, and knew that a sea-voyage would +be better for his health than anything,--certainly better than +pining and languishing at home, as he had done for months. He +could not bear to think of separation from Eustacie an hour longer +than needful; nay, she had been cruelly entreated enough already; +and as long as he could keep his feet, it was absolutely due to her +that he should not let others, instead of himself, go in search of +her. It would be almost death to him to stay at home.</p> + +<p>Lord Walwyn looked at the pallid, wasted face, with all its +marks of suffering and intense eagerness of expression, increased +by the difficulty of utterance and need of subduing +agitation. He felt that the long-misunderstood patience and +endurance had earned something; and he knew, too, that for all his +grandson's submission and respect, the boy, as a husband and +father, had rights and duties that would assert themselves manfully +if opposed. It was true that the sea-voyage obviated many +difficulties, and it was better to consent with a good grace than +drive one hitherto so dutiful to rebellion. He did then +consent, and was rewarded by the lightning flash of joy and +gratitude in the bright blue eyes, and the fervent pressure and +kiss of his hand, as Berenger exclaimed, 'Ah! sir, Eustacie will be +such a daughter to you. You should have seen how the Admiral +liked her!'</p> + +<p>The news of Lord Walwyn's consent raised much commotion in the +family. Dame Annora was sure her poor son would be murdered +outright this time, and that nobody cared because he was only HER +son; and she strove hard to stir up Sir Marmaduke to remonstrate +with her father; but the good knight had never disputed a judgment +of 'my Lord's' in his whole life, and had even received his first +wife from his hands, when forsaken by the gay Annora. So she +could only ride over the Combe, be silenced by her father, as +effectually as if Jupiter had nodded, and bewail and murmur to her +mother till she lashed Lady Walwyn up into finding every possible +reason why Berenger should and must sail. Then she went home, +was very sharp with Lucy, and was reckoned by saucy little Nan to +have nineteen times exclaimed 'Tilley-valley' in the course of one +day.</p> + +<p>The effect upon Philip was a vehement insistence on going with +his brother. He was sure no one else would see to Berry half +as well; and as to letting Berry go to be murdered again without +him, he would not hear of it; he must go, he would not stay at +home; he should not study; no, no, he should be ready to hang +himself for vexation, and thinking what they were doing to his +brother. And thus he extorted from his kind-hearted father an +avowal that he should be easier a bout the lad if Phil were there, +and that he might go, provided Berry would have him, and my Lord +saw no objection. The first point was soon settled; and as to +the second, there was no reason at all that Philip should not go +where his brother did. In fact, excepting for Berenger's +state of health, there was hardly any risk about the matter. +Master Hobbs, to whom Philip rode down ecstatically to request him +to come and speak to my Lord, was a stout, honest, experienced +seaman, who was perfectly at home in the Bay of Biscay, and had so +strong a feudal feeling for the house of Walwyn, that he placed +himself and his best ship, the THROSTLE, entirely at his +disposal. The THROSTLE was a capital sailor, and carried arms +quite sufficient in English hands to protect her against Algerine +corsairs or Spanish pirates. He only asked for a week to make +her cabin ready for the reception of a lady, and this time was +spent in sending a post to London, to obtain for Berenger the +permit from the Queen, and the passport from the French Ambassador, +without which he could not safely have gone; and, as a further +precaution, letters were requested from some of the secret agents +of the Huguenots to facilitate his admission into La Sablerie.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, poor Mr. Adderley had submitted meekly to the +decree that sentenced him to weeks of misery on board the THROSTLE, +but to his infinite relief, an inspection of the cabins proved the +space so small, that Berenger represented to him grandfather that +the excellent tutor would be only an encumbrance to himself and +every one else, and that with Philip he should need no one. +Indeed, he had made such a start into vigour and alertness during +the last few days that there was far less anxiety about him, though +with several sighs for poor Osbert. Cecily initiated Philip +into her simple rules for her patient's treatment in case of the +return of his more painful symptoms. The notion of sending +female attendants for Eustacie was also abandoned: her husband's +presence rendered them unnecessary, or they might be procured at La +Sablerie; and thus it happened that the only servants whom Berenger +was to take with him were Humfrey Holt and John Smithers, the same +honest fellows whose steadiness had so much conduced to his rescue +at Paris.</p> + +<p>Claude de Mericour had in the meantime been treated as an +honoured guest at Combe Walwyn, and was in good esteem with its +master. He would have set forth at once on his journey to +Scotland, but that Lord Walwyn advised him to wait and ascertain +the condition of his relatives there before throwing himself on +them. Berenger had, accordingly, when writing to Sidney by +the messenger above mentioned, begged him to find out from Sir +Robert Melville, the Scottish Envoy, all he could about the family +whose designation he wrote down at a venture from Mericour's +lips.</p> + +<p>Sidney returned a most affectionate answer, saying that he had +never been able to believe the little shepherdess a traitor and was +charmed that she had proved herself a heroine; he should endeavour +to greet her with all his best powers as a poet, when she should +brighten the English court; but his friend, Master Spenser, alone +was fit to celebrate such constancy. As to M. l'Abbe de +Mericour's friends, Sir Robert Melville had recognized their name +at once, and had pronounced them to be fierce Catholics and +Queensmen, so sorely pressed by the Douglases, that it was believed +they would soon fly the country altogether; and Sidney added, what +Lord Walwyn had already said, that to seek Scotland rather than +France as a resting-place in which to weigh between Calvinism and +Catholicism, was only trebly hot and fanatical. His counsel +was that M. de Mericour should so far conform himself to the +English Church as to obtain admission to one of the universities, +and, through his uncle of Leicester, he could obtain for him an +opening at Oxford, where he might fully study the subject.</p> + +<p>There was much to incline Mericour to accept this counsel. +He had had much conversation with Mr. Adderley, and had attended +his ministrations in the chapel, and both satisfied him far better +than what he had seen among the French Calvinists; and the peace +and family affection of the two houses were like a new world to +him. But he had not yet made up his mind to that absolute +disavowal of his own branch of the Church, which alone could have +rendered him eligible for any foundation at Oxford. His +attainments in classics would, Mr. Adderley thought, reach such a +standard as to gain one of the very few scholarships open to +foreigners; and his noble blood revolted at becoming a pensioner of +Leicester's, or of any other nobleman.</p> + +<p>Lord Walwyn, upon this, made an earnest offer of his +hospitality, and entreated the young man to remain at Hurst Walwyn +till the return of Berenger and Philip, during which time he might +study under the directions of Mr. Adderley, and come to a decision +whether to seek reconciliation with his native Church and his +brother, or to remain in England. In this latter case, he +might perhaps accompany both the youths to Oxford, for, in spite of +Berenger's marriage, his education was still not supposed to be +complete. And when Mericour still demurred with reluctance to +become a burden on the bounty of the noble house, he was reminded +gracefully of the debt of gratitude that the family owed to him for +the relief he had brought to Berenger; and, moreover, Dame Annora +giggled out that, 'if he would teach Nan and Bess to speak and read +French and Italian, it would be worth something to them.' The +others of the family would have hushed up this uncalled-for +proposal; but Mericour caught at it as the most congenial mode of +returning the obligation. Every morning he undertook to walk +or ride over to the Manor, and there gave his lessons to the young +ladies, with whom he was extremely popular. He was a far more +brilliant teacher than Lucy, and ten thousand times preferable to +Mr. Adderley, who had once begun to teach Annora her accidence with +lamentable want of success.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXIII. THE EMPTY CRADLE</h3> + +<p>Eager to know</p> + +<p>The worst, and with that fatal certainty</p> + +<p>To terminate intolerable dread,</p> + +<p>He spurred his courser forward--all his fears</p> + +<p>Too surely are fulfilled.--SOUTHEY</p> + +<p>Contrary winds made the voyage of the THROSTLE much more tardy +than had been reckoned on by Berenger's impatience; but hope was +before him, and he often remembered his days in the little vessel +as much happier than he had known them to be at the time.</p> + +<p>It was in the calm days of right October that Captain Hobbs at +length was putting into the little harbour nearest to La +Sablerie. Berenger, on that morning, had for the first time +been seized by a fit of anxiety as to the impression his face would +make, with its terrible purple scar, great patch, and bald +forehead, and had brought out a little black velvet mask, called a +<i>tour de nez</i>, often used in riding to protect the complexion, +intending to prepare Eustacie for his disfigurement. He had +fastened on a carnation-coloured sword-knot, would a scarf of the +same colour across his shoulder, clasped a long ostrich plume into +his broad Spanish hat, and looked out his deeply-fringed Spanish +gloves; and Philip was laughing merrily, not to say rudely, at him, +for trying to deck himself out so bravely.</p> + +<p>'See, Master Hobbs,' cried the boy in his high spirits, as he +followed his brother on deck, 'you did not know you had so fine a +gallant on board. Here be braveries for my Lady.'</p> + +<p>'Hush, Phil,' broke in Berenger, who had hitherto taken all the +raillery in perfect good part. 'What is amiss, Master +Hobbs?'</p> + +<p>'I cannot justly say, sir,' returned Master Hobbs, without +taking his gaze off the coast, 'but by yonder banks and creeks this +should be the Sables d'Olonne; and I do not see the steeple of La +Sablerie, which has always been the landmark for the harbour of +St. Julien.'</p> + +<p>'What do you understand by that?' asked Berenger, more struck by +his manner than his words.</p> + +<p>'Well, sir, if I am right, a steeple that has stood three or +four hundred years does not vanish out of sight like a cloud of +smoke for nothing. I may be lightning, to be sure; or the +Protestants may have had it down for Popery; but methinks they +would have too much Christian regard for poor mariners than to +knock down the only landmark on this coast till you come to Nissard +spire.' Then he hailed the man at the mast-head, +demanding if he saw the steeple of La Sablerie. 'No, no, +sir.' But as other portions of the land became clearer, there +was no doubt that the THROSTLE was right in her bearings; so the +skipper gave orders to cast anchor and lower a boat. The +passengers would have pressed him with inquiries as to what he +thought the absence of his landmark could portend; but he hurried +about, and shouted orders, with the deaf despotism of a nautical +commander; and only when all was made ready, turned round and said, +'Now, sir, maybe you had best let me go ashore first, and find out +how the land lies.'</p> + +<p>'Never!' said Berenger, in an agony of impatience.</p> + +<p>'I thought so,' said the captain. 'Well, then, sir, are your +fellows ready? Armed? All right.'</p> + +<p>So Berenger descended to the boat, followed by Philip; next came +the captain, and then the two serving-men. Six of the crew +were ready to row them to the shore, and were bidden by their +captain to return at once to the vessel, and only return on a +signal from him. the surging rush of intense anxiety, sure to +precede the destined moment of the consummation of hope long +deferred, kept Berenger silent, choked by something between fear +and prayer; but Philip, less engrossed, asked Master Hobbs if it +were not strange that none of the inhabitants of the squalid little +huts on the shore had not put out to greet them in some of the +boats that were drawn up on the beach.</p> + +<p>'Poor wretches,' said Hobbs; 'they scarce know friend from foe, +and are slow to run their heads into the lion's mouth. +Strange fellows have the impudence to sail under our flag at +times.'</p> + +<p>However, as they neared the low, flat, sandy shore, a few red +caps peeped out at the cottage-doors, and then, apparently gaining +confidence from the survey, some wiry, active figures appeared, and +were hailed by Hobbs. His Bordeax trade had rendered him +master of the coast language; and a few incomprehensible shouts +between him and the natives resulted in a line being thrown to +them, and the boat dragged as near as possible to the +landing-place, when half a dozen ran up, splashing with their bare +legs, to offer their shoulders for the transport of the passengers, +both of whom were seized upon before they were aware, Philip +struggling with all his might, till a call from Captain Hobbs +warned him to resign himself; and then he became almost helpless +with laughter at the figure cut by the long-legged Berenger upon a +small fisherman's back.</p> + +<p>They were landed. Could it be that Berenger was only two +miles-- only half an hour's walk form Eustacie? The bound his +heart gave as he touched the shore seemed to stifle him. He +could not believe it. Yet he knew how fully he had believed +it, the next moment, when he listened to what the fishermen were +saying to Captain Hobbs.</p> + +<p>'Did Monsieur wish to go to La Sablerie? Ah! then he did +not know what had happened. The soldiers had been there; +there had been a great burning. They had been out in their +boats at sea, but they had seen the sky red--red as a furnace, all +night; and the steeple was down. Surely, Monsieur had missed +the steeple that was a guide to all poor seafarers; and now they +had to go all the way to Brancour to sell their fish.'</p> + +<p>'And the townspeople?' Hobbs asked.</p> + +<p>'Ah! poor things; 'twas pity of them, for they were honest folk +to deal with, even if they were heretics. They loved fish at +other seasons if not in Lent; and it seemed but a fair return to go +up and bury as many of them as were not burnt to nothing in their +church; and Dom Colombeau, the good priest of Nissard, has said it +was a pious work; and he was a saint, if any one was.'</p> + +<p>'Alack, sir,' said Hobbs, laying his hand on the arm of +Berenger, who seemed neither to have breathed nor moved while the +man was speaking: 'I feared that there had been some such bloody +work when I missed the steeple. But take heart yet: your lady +is very like to have been out of the way. We might make for +La Rochelle, and there learn!' Then, again to the fisherman, 'None +escaped, fellow?'</p> + +<p>'Not one,' replied the man. 'they say that one of the +great folks was in a special rage with them for sheltering the lady +he should have wedded, but who had broken convent and turned +heretic; and they had victualled Montgomery's pirates too.'</p> + +<p>'And the lady?' continued Hobbs, ever trying to get a more +supporting hold of his young charge, in case the rigid tension of +his limbs should suddenly relax.'</p> + +<p>'I cannot tell, sir. I am a poor fisher; but I could guide +you to the place where old Gillot is always poking about. He +listened to their preachings, and knows more than we do.'</p> + +<p>'Let us go,' said Berenger, at once beginning to stride along in +his heavy boots through the deep sand. Philip, who had hardly +understood a word of the <i>patois</i>, caught hold of him, and +begged to be told what had happened; but Master Hobbs drew the boy +off, and explained to him and to the two men what were the dreadful +tidings that had wrought such a change in Berenger's +demeanour. The way over the shifting sands was toilsome +enough to all the rest of the party; but Berenger scarcely seemed +to feel the deep plunge at every step as they almost ploughed their +way along for the weary two miles, before a few green bushes and +half-choked trees showed that they were reaching the confines of +the sandy waste. Berenger had not uttered a word the whole +time, and his silence hushed the others. The ground began to +rise, grass was seen still struggling to grow, and presently a +large straggling mass of black and gray ruins revealed themselves, +with the remains of a once well-trodden road leading to them. +But the road led to a gate-way choked by a fallen jamb and barred +door, and the guide led them round the ruins of the wall to the +opening where the breach had been. The sand was already +blowing in, and no doubt veiled much; for the streets were scarcely +traceable through remnants of houses more or less dilapidated, with +shreds of broken or burnt household furniture within them.</p> + +<p>'Ask him for <i>la rue des Trois Fees</i>,' hoarsely whispered +Berenger.</p> + +<p>The fisherman nodded, but soon seemed at fault; and an old man, +followed by a few children, soon appearing, laden with piece of +fuel, he appealed to him as Father Gillot, and asked whether he +could find the street. The old man seemed at home in the +ruins, and led the way readily. 'Did he know the Widow +Laurent's house?'</p> + +<p>'Mademoiselle [footnote: This was the title of <i>bourgeoise</i> +wives, for many years, in France.] Laurent! Full well he knew +her; a good pious soul was she, always ready to die for the truth,' +he added, as he read sympathy in the faces round; 'and no doubt she +had witnessed a good confession.'</p> + +<p>'Knew he aught of the lady she had lodged?'</p> + +<p>'He knew nothing of ladies. Something he had heard of the +good widow having sheltered that shining light, Isaac Gardon, +quenched, no doubt, in the same destruction; but for his part, he +had a daughter in one of the isles out there, who always sent for +him if she suspected danger here on the mainland, and he had only +returned to his poor farm a day or two after Michaelmas.' So +saying, he led them to the threshold of a ruinous building, in the +very centre, as it were, of the desolation, and said, 'That, +gentlemen, is where the poor honest widow kept her little +shop.'</p> + +<p>Black, burnt, dreary, lay the hospitable abode. The +building had fallen, but the beams of the upper floor had fallen +aslant, so as to shelter a portion of the lower room, where the +red-tile pavement, the hearth with the gray ashes of the harmless +home-fire, some unbroken crocks, a chain, and a <i>sabot</i>, were +still visible, making the contrast of dreariness doubly +mournful.</p> + +<p>Berenger had stepped over the threshold, with his hat in his +hand, as if the ruin were a sacred place to him, and stood gazing +in a transfixed, deadened way. The captain asked where the +remains were.</p> + +<p>'Our people,' said the old man and the fisher, 'laid them by +night in the earth near the church.'</p> + +<p>Just then Berenger's gaze fell on something half hidden under +the fallen timbers. He instantly sprang forward, and used all +his strength to drag it out in so headlong a manner that all the +rest hurried to prevent his reckless proceedings from bringing the +heavy beams down on his head. When brought to light, the +object proved to be one of the dark, heavy, wooden cradles used by +the French peasantry, shining with age, but untouched by fire.</p> + +<p>'Look in,' Berenger signed to Philip, his own eyes averted, his +mouth set.</p> + +<p>The cradle was empty, totally empty, save for a woollen +covering, a little mattress, and a string of small yellow shells +threaded.</p> + +<p>Berenger held out his hand, grasped the baby-play thing +convulsively, then dropped upon his knees, clasping his hands over +his ashy face, the string of shells still wound among his +fingers. Perhaps he had hitherto hardly realized the +existence of his child, and was solely wrapped up in the thought of +his wife; but the wooden cradle, the homely toy, stirred up fresh +depths of feelings; he saw Eustacie wither tender sweetness as a +mother, he beheld the little likeness of her in the cradle; and oh! +that this should have been the end! Unable to repress a moan +of anguish from a bursting heart, he laid his face against the +senseless wood, and kissed it again and again, then lay motionless +against it save for the long-drawn gasps and sobs that shook his +frame. Philip, torn to the heart, would have almost forcibly +drawn him away; but Master Hobbs, with tears running down his +honest cheeks, withheld the boy. 'Don't ye, Master +Thistlewood, 'twill do him good. Poor young gentleman! +I know how it was when I came home and found our first little lad, +that we had thought so much on, had been take. But then he +was safe laid in his own churchyard, and his mother was there to +meet me; while your poor brother---Ah! God comfort him!'</p> + +<p><i>'Le pauvre Monsieur</i>!' exclaimed the old peasant, struck +at the sight of his grief, 'was it then his child? And he, no +doubt, lying wounded elsewhere while God's hand was heavy on this +place. Yet he might hear more. They said the priest +came down and carried off the little ones to be bred up in +convents.'</p> + +<p>'Who?--where?' asked Berenger, raising his head as if catching +at a straw in this drowning of all his hopes.</p> + +<p>''Tis true,' added the fisherman. 'It was the holy priest of +Nissard, for he send down to St. Julien for a woman to nurse the +babes.'</p> + +<p>'To Nissard, then,' said Berenger, rising.</p> + +<p>'It is but a chance,' said the old Huguenot; 'many of the +innocents were with their mothers in yonder church. Better +for them to perish like the babes of Bethlehem than to be bred up +in the house of Baal; but perhaps Monsieur is English, and if so he +might yet obtain the child. Yet he must not hope too +much.'</p> + +<p>'No, for there was many a little corpse among those we buried,' +said the fisher. 'Will the gentleman see the place?'</p> + +<p>'Oh, no!' exclaimed Philip, understanding the actions, and +indeed many of the words; 'this place will kill him.'</p> + +<p>'To the grave,' said Berenger, as if he heard nothing.</p> + +<p>'See,' added Philip, 'there are better things than graves,' and +he pointed to a young green sucker of a vine, which, stimulated by +the burnt soil, had shot up between the tiles of the floor. +'Look, there is hope to meet you even here.'</p> + +<p>Berenger merely answered by gathering a leaf from the vine and +putting it into his bosom; and Philip, whom only extreme need could +have thus inspired, perceived that he accepted it as the augury of +hope.</p> + +<p>Berenger turned to bid the two men bear the cradle with them, +and then followed the old man out into the PLACE, once a pleasant +open paved square, now grass-grown and forlorn. On one side +lay the remains of the church. The Huguenots had been so +predominant at La Sablerie as to have engrossed the building, and +it had therefore shared the general destruction, and lay in utter, +desolate ruin, a mere shell, and the once noble spire, the +mariner's guiding star, blown up with gun-cruel that ever desolated +the country. Beyond lay the burial-ground, in unspeakable +dreariness. The crossed of the Catholic dead had been +levelled by the fanaticism of the Huguenots, and though a great +dominant stone cross raised on steps had been re-erected, it stood +uneven, tottering and desolate among nettles, weeds, and +briers. There seemed to have been a few deep trenches dug to +receive the bodies of the many victims of the siege, and only +rudely and slightly filled in with loose earth, on which Philippe +treading had nearly sunk in, so much to his horror that he could +hardly endure the long contemplation in which his brother stood +gazing on the dismal scene, as if to bear it away with him. +Did the fair being he had left in a king's palace sleep her last +sleep her last sleep amid the tangled grass, the thistles and +briers that grew so close that it was hardly possible to keep from +stumbling over them, where all memorials of friend or foe were +alike obliterated? Was a resting-place among these nameless +graves the best he could hope for the wife whose eyes he had hoped +by this time would be answering his own--was this her shelter from +foe, from sword, famine, and fire?</p> + +<p>A great sea-bird, swooping along with broad wings and wild +wailing cry, completed the weird dismay that had seized on Philip, +and clutching at his brother's cloak, he exclaimed, 'Berry, Berry, +let us be gone, or we shall both be distraught!'</p> + +<p>Berenger yielded passively, but when the ruins of the town had +been again crossed, and the sad little party, after amply rewarding +the old man, were about to return to St. Julien, he stood still, +saying, 'Which is the way to Nissard?' and, as the men pointed to +the south, he added, 'Show me the way thither.'</p> + +<p>Captain Hobbs now interfered. He knew the position of +Nissard, among dangerous sandbanks, between which a boat could only +venture at the higher tides, and by daylight. To go the six +miles thither at present would make it almost impossible to return +to the THROSTLE that night, and it was absolutely necessary that he +at least should do this. He therefore wished the young +gentleman to return with him on board, sleep there, and be put +ashore at Nissard as soon as it should be possible in the morning. +But Berenger shook his head. He could not rest for a moment +till he had ascertained the fate of Eustacie's child. Action +alone could quench the horror of what he had recognized as her own +lot, and the very pursuit of this one thread of hope seemed needful +to him to make it substantial. He would hear of nothing but +walking at once to Nissard; and Captain Hobbs, finding it +impossible to debate the point with one so dazed and crushed with +grief, and learning from the fishermen that not only was the priest +one of the kindest and most hospitable men living, but that there +was a tolerable <i>caberet</i> not far from the house, selected +from the loiterers who had accompanied them from St. Julien a +trustworthy-looking, active lad as a guide, and agreed with the +high tide on the morrow, either to concert measures for obtaining +possession of the lost infant, or, if all were in vain, to fetch +them off. Then he, with the mass of stragglers from St. +Julien, went off direct for the coast, while the two young +brothers, their two attendants, and the fishermen, turned +southwards along the summit of the dreary sandbanks.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXIV. THE GOOD PRIEST OF NISSARD</h3> + +<p>Till at the set of sun all tracks and ways</p> + +<p>In darkness lay enshrouded. And e'en thus</p> + +<p>The utmost limit of the great profound</p> + +<p>At length we reach'd, where in dark gloom and mist</p> + +<p>Cimmeria's people and their city lie</p> + +<p>Enveloped ever.--ODYSSEY (MUSGROVE)</p> + +<p>The October afternoon had set in before the brothers were the +way to Nissard; and in spite of Berenger's excited mood, the walk +through the soft, sinking sand could not be speedily +performed. It was that peculiar sand-drift which is the curse +of so many coasts, slowly, silently, irresistibly flowing, blowing, +creeping in, and gradually choking all vegetation and +habitation. Soft and almost impalpable, it lay heaped in +banks yielding as air, and yet far more than deep enough to swallow +up man and horse. Nay, tops of trees, summits of chimneys, +told what it had already swallowed. The whole scene far and +wide presented nothing but the lone, tame undulations, liable to be +changed by every wind, and solitary beyond expression--a few +rabbits scudding hither and thither, or a sea-gull floating with +white, ghostly wings in the air, being the only living things +visible. On the one hand a dim, purple horizon showed that +the inhabited country lay miles inland; on the other lay the pale, +gray, misty expanse of sea, on which Philip's eyes could lovingly +discern the THROSTLE'S masts.</p> + +<p>That view was Philip's chief comfort. The boy was feeling +more eerie and uncomfortable than ever he had been before as he +plodded along, sinking deep with every step almost up to his ankles +in the sand, on which the bare-footed guide ran lightly, and +Berenger, though sinking no less deeply, seemed insensible to all +inconveniences. This desolateness was well-nigh unbearable; +no one dared to speak while Berenger thus moved on in the +unapproachableness of his great grief, and Philip presently began +to feel a dreamy sense that they had all thus been moving for +years, that this was the world's end, the land of shadows, and that +his brother was a ghost already. Besides vague alarms like +these, there was the dismal English and Protestant prejudice in +full force in Philip's mind, which regarded the resent ground as +necessarily hostile, and all Frenchmen, above all French priests, +as in league to cut off every Englishman and Protestant. He +believed himself in a country full of murderers, and was walking on +with the one determination that his brother should not rush on +danger without him, and that the Popish rogues should be kept in +mind that there was an English ship in sight. Alas! that +consolation was soon lost, for a dense gray mist was slowly +creeping in from the sea, and blotted out the vessel, then gathered +in closer, and obliterated all landmarks. Gradually it turned +to a heavy rain, and about the same time the ground on which they +walked became no longer loose sand-hills, but smooth and +level. It was harder likewise from the wet, and this afforded +better walking, but there lay upon it fragments of weed and shell, +as though it were liable to be covered by the sea, and there was a +low, languid plash of the tide, which could not be seen. +Twilight began to deepen the mist. The guide was evidently +uneasy; he sidled up to Philip, and began to ask what he--hitherto +obstinately deaf and contemptuous to French--was very slow to +comprehend. At last he found it was a question how near it +was to All Soul's day; and then came an equally amazing query +whether the gentlemen's babe had been baptized; for it appeared +that on All Soul's day the spirits of unchristened infants had the +power of rising from the sands in a bewildering mist, and leading +wayfarers into the sea. And the poor guide, white and +drenched, vowed he never would have undertaken this walk if he had +only thought of this. These slaughters of heretics must so +much have augmented the number of the poor little spirits; and no +doubt Monsieur would be specially bewildered by one so nearly +concerned with him. Philip, half frightened, could not help +stepping forward and pulling Berenger by the cloak to make him +aware of this strange peril; but he did not get much comfort. +'Baptized? Yes; you know she was, by the old nurse. Let +me alone, I say. I would follow her wherever she called me, +the innocent, and glad--the sooner the better.'</p> + +<p>And he shook his brother off with a sadness and impatience so +utterly unapproachable, that Philip, poor boy, could only watch his +tall figure in the wide cloak and slouched hat, stalking on ever +more indistinct in the gloom, while his much confused mind tried to +settle the theological point whether the old nurse's baptism were +valid enough to prevent poor little Berangere from becoming one of +these mischievous deluders; and all this was varied by the notion +of Captain Hobbs picking up their corpses on the beach, and of Sir +Marmaduke bewailing his only son.</p> + +<p>At last a strange muffled sound made him start in the dead +silence, but the guide hailed the sound with a joyful cry---</p> + +<p>'Hola! Blessings on Notre-Dame and holy Father Colombeau, now +are we saved!' and on Philip's hasty interrogation, he +explained that it was from the bells of Nissard, which the good +priest always caused to be rung during these sea-fogs, to disperse +all evil beings, and guide the wanderers.</p> + +<p>The guide strode on manfully, as the sound became clearer and +nearer, and Philip was infinitely relived to be free from all +supernatural anxieties, and to have merely to guard against the +wiles of a Polish priest, a being almost as fabulously endowed in +his imagination as poor little Beranger's soul could be in that of +the fisherman.</p> + +<p>The drenching Atlantic mist had wetted them all to the skin, and +closed round them so like a solid wall, that they had almost lost +sight of each other, and had nothing but the bells' voices to +comfort them, till quite suddenly there was a light upon the mist, +a hazy reddish gleam--a window seemed close to them. The +guide, heartily thanking Our Lady and St. Julian, knocked at a +door, which opened at once into a warm, bright, superior sort of +kitchen, where a neatly-dressed elderly peasant woman exclaimed, +'Welcome, poor souls! Enter, then. Here, good Father, +are some bewildered creatures. Eh! wrecked are you, good +folks, or lost in the fog?'</p> + +<p>At the same moment there came from behind the screen that shut +off the fire from the door, a benignant-looking, hale old man in a +cassock, with long white hair on his shoulders, and a cheerful +face, ruddy from sea-wind.</p> + +<p>'Welcome, my friends,' he said. 'Thanks to the saints who +have guided you safely. You are drenched. Come to the +fire at once.'</p> + +<p>And as they moved on into the full light of the fire and the +rude iron lamp by which he had been reading, and he saw the +draggled plumes and other appurtenances that marked the two youths +as gentlemen, he added, 'Are you wrecked, Messieurs? We will +do our poor best for your accommodation;' and while both +mechanically murmured a word of thanks, and removed their soaked +hats, the good man exclaimed, as he beheld Berenger's ashy face, +with the sunken eyes and deep scars, 'Monsieur should come to bed +at once. He is apparently recovering from a severe +wound. This way, sir; Jolitte shall make you some hot +tisane.'</p> + +<p>'Wait, sir,' said Berenger, very slowly, and his voice sounding +hollow from exhaustion; 'they say that you can tell me of my +child. Let me hear.'</p> + +<p>'Monsieur's child!' exclaimed the bewildered curate, looking +from him to Philip, and then to the guide, who poured out a whole +stream of explanation before Philip had arranged three words of +French.</p> + +<p>'You hear, sir,' said Berenger, as the man finished: 'I +came hither to seek my wife, the Lady of Ribaumont.'</p> + +<p>'Eh!' exclaimed the <i>cure</i>, 'do I then see M. le Marquis de +Nid de Merle?'</p> + +<p>'No!' cried Berenger; 'no, I am not that <i>scelerat</i>! +I am her true husband, the Baron de Ribaumont.'</p> + +<p>'The Baron de Ribaumont perished at the St. Bartholomew,' said +the <i>cure</i>, fixing his eyes on him, as though to confute an +impostor.</p> + +<p>'Ah, would that I had!' said Berenger. 'I was barely saved +with the life that is but misery now. I came to seek her--I +found what you know. They told me that you saved the +children. Ah, tell me where mine is!--all that is left +me.'</p> + +<p>'A few poor babes I was permitted to rescue, but very few. +But let me understand to whom I speak,' he added, much +perplexed. 'You, sir---'</p> + +<p>'I am her husband, married at five years old--contract renewed +last year. It was he whom you call Nid de Merle who fell on +me, and left me for dead. A faithful servant saved my life, +but I have lain sick in England till now, when her letter to my +mother brought me to La Sablerie, to find--to find THIS. Oh, +sir, have pity on me! Tell me if you know anything of her, or +if you can give me her child.'</p> + +<p>'The orphans I was able to save are--the boys at nurse here, the +girls with the good nuns at Lucon,' said the priest, with infinite +pity in his look. 'Should you know it, sir?'</p> + +<p>'I would--I should,' said Berenger. 'But it is a +girl. Ah, would that it were here! But you--you, +sir--you know more than these fellows. Is there no--no hope +of herself?'</p> + +<p>'Alas! I fear I can give you none,' said the priest; 'but I will +tell all I know; only I would fain see you eat, rest, and be +dried.'</p> + +<p>'How can I?' gasped he, allowing himself, however, to sink into +a chair; and the priest spoke:</p> + +<p>'Perhaps you know, sir, that the poor lady fled from her +friends, and threw herself upon the Huguenots. All trace had +been lost, when, at a banquet given by the mayor of Lucon, there +appeared some <i>patisseries</i>, which some ecclesiastic, who had +enjoyed the hospitality of Bellaise, recognized as peculiar to the +convent there, where she had been brought up. They were +presented to the mayor by his friend, Bailli la Grasse, who had +boasted of the excellent <i>confitures</i> of the heretic pastor's +daughter that lodged in the town of La Sablerie. The place +was in disgrace for having afforded shelter and supplies to +Montgomery's pirate crews, and there were narrations of outrages +committed on Catholics. The army were enraged by their +failure before La Rochelle; in effect, it was resolved to make an +example, when, on M. de Nid de Merle's summons, all knowledge of +the lady was denied. Is it possible that she was indeed not +there?'</p> + +<p>Berenger shook his head. 'She was indeed there,' he said, +with an irrepressible groan. 'Was there no mercy--none?'</p> + +<p>'Ask not, sir,' said the compassionate priest; 'the flesh +shrinks, though there may be righteous justice. A pillaged +town, when men are enraged, is like a place of devils +unchained. I reached it only after it had been taken by +assault, when all was flame and blood. Ask me no more; it +would be worse for you to hear than me to tell,' he concluded, +shuddering, but laying his hand kindly on Berenger's arm. 'At +least it is ended now and God is more merciful than men. Many +died by the bombs cast into to city, and she for whom you ask +certainly fell not alive into the hands of those who sought +her. Take comfort, sir; there is One who watches and takes +count of our griefs. Sir, turning to Philip, 'this gentleman +is too much spent with sorrow to bear this cold and damp. Aid +me, I entreat, to persuade him to lie down.'</p> + +<p>Philip understood the priest's French far better than that of +the peasants, and added persuasions that Berenger was far too much +exhausted and stunned to resist. To spend a night in a Popish +priest's house would once have seemed to Philip a shocking +alternative, yet here he was, heartily assisting in removing the +wet garments in which his brother had sat only too long, and was +heartily relieved to lay him down in the priest's own bed, even +though there was an image over the head, which, indeed, the boy +never saw. He only saw his brother turn away from the light +with a low, heavy moan, as if he would fain be left alone with his +sorrow and his crushed hopes.</p> + +<p>Nothing could be kinder than Dome Colombeau, the priest of +Nissard. He saw to the whole of his guests being put into +some sort of dry habiliments before they sat round his table to eat +of the savoury mess in the great <i>pot-au-feu</i>, which had, +since their arrival, received additional ingredients, and moreover +sundry villagers had crept into the house. Whenever the good +Father supped at home, any of his flock were welcome to drop in to +enjoy his hospitability. After a cup of hot cider round, they +carried off the fisherman to ledge in one of their cottages. +Shake-downs were found for the others, and Philip, wondering what +was to become of the good host himself, gathered that he meant to +spend such part of the night on the kitchen floor as he did not +pass in prayer in the church for the poor young gentleman, who was +in such affliction. Philip was not certain whether to resent +this as an impertinence or an attack on their Protestant +principles; but he was not sure, either, that the priest was aware +what was their religion, and was still less certain of his own +comprehension of these pious intentions: he decided that, any way, +it was better not to make a fool of himself. Still, the +notion of the mischievousness of priests was so rooted in his head, +that he consulted Humfrey on the expedience of keeping watch all +night, but was sagaciously answered that 'these French rogues don't +do any hurt unless they be brought up to it, and the place was as +safe as old Hurst.'</p> + +<p>In fact, Philip's vigilance would have been strongly against +nature. He never awoke till full daylight and morning sun +were streaming through the vine-leaves round the window, and then, +to his dismay, he saw that Berenger had left his bed, and was +gone. Suspicions of foul play coming over him in full force +as he gazed round on much that he considered as "Popish furniture," +he threw on his clothes, and hastened to open the door, when, to +his great relief, he saw Berenger hastily writing at a table under +the window, and Smithers standing by waiting for the billet.</p> + +<p>'I am sending Smithers on board, to ask Hobbs to bring our cloak +bags,' said Berenger, as his brother entered. 'We must go on +to Lucon.'</p> + +<p>He spoke briefly and decidedly, and Philip was satisfied to see +him quite calm and collected--white indeed, and with the old +haggard look, and the great scar very purple instead of red, which +was always a bad sign with him. He was not disposed to answer +questions; he shortly said, 'He had slept not less than usual,' +which Philip knew meant very little; and he had evidently made up +his mind, and was resolved not to let himself give way. If +his beacon of hope had been so suddenly, frightfully quenched, he +still was kept from utter darkness by straining his eyes and +forcing his steps to follow the tiny, flickering spark that +remained.</p> + +<p>The priest was at his morning mass; and so soon as Berenger had +given his note to Smithers, and sent him off with a fisherman to +the THROSTLE, he took up his hat, and went out upon the beach, that +lay glistening in the morning sun, then turned straight towards the +tall spire of the church, with had been their last night's +guide. Philip caught his cloak.</p> + +<p>'You are never going there, Berenger?'</p> + +<p>'Vex me not now,' was all the reply he got. 'There the +dead and living meet together.'</p> + +<p>'But, brother, they will take you for one of their own +sort.'</p> + +<p>'Let them.'</p> + +<p>Philip was right that it was neither a prudent nor consistent +proceeding, but Berenger had little power of reflection, and his +impulse at present bore him into the church belonging to his native +faith and land, without any defined felling, save that it was peace +to kneel there among the scattered worshippers, who came and went +with their fish-baskets in their hands, and to hear the low chant +of the priest and his assistant from within the screen.</p> + +<p>Philip meantime marched up and down outside in much annoyance, +until the priest and his brother came out, when the first thing he +heard the good Colombeau say was, 'I would have called upon you +before, my son, but that I feared you were a Huguenot.'</p> + +<p>'I am an English Protestant,' said Berenger; 'but, ah! sir, I +needed comfort too much to stay away from prayer.'</p> + +<p>Pere Colombeau looked at him in perplexity, thinking perhaps +that here might be a promising convert, if there were only time to +work on him; but Berenger quitted the subject at once, asking the +distance to Lucon.</p> + +<p>'A full day's journey,' answered Pere Colombeau, and added, 'I +am sorry you are indeed a Huguenot. It was what I feared last +night, but I feared to add to your grief. The nuns are not +permitted to deliver up children to Huguenot relations.'</p> + +<p>'I am her father!' exclaimed Berenger, indignantly.</p> + +<p>'That goes for nothing, according to the rules of the Church,' +said the priest. 'The Church cannot yield her children to +heresy.'</p> + +<p>'But we in England and not Calvinists,' cried Berenger. +'We are not like your Huguenots.'</p> + +<p>'The Church would make no difference,' said the priest. +'Stay, sir,' as Berenger stuck his own forehead, and was about to +utter a fierce invective. 'Remember that if your child lives, +it is owing to the pity of the good nuns. You seem not far +from the bosom of the Church. Did you but return---'</p> + +<p>'It is vain to speak of that,' said Berenger, quickly. +'Say, sir, would an order from the King avail to open these +doors?'</p> + +<p>'Of course it would, if you have the influence to obtain +one.'</p> + +<p>'I have, I have,' cried Berenger, eagerly. 'The King has +been my good friend already. Moreover, my English grandfather +will deal with the Queen. The heiress of our house cannot be +left in a foreign nunnery. Say, sir,' he added, turning to +the priest, 'if I went to Lucon at once know your name, and refuse +all dealings with you.'</p> + +<p>'She could not do so, if I brought an order from the King.'</p> + +<p>'Certainly not.'</p> + +<p>'Then to Paris!' And laying his hand on Philip's shoulder, +he asked the boy whether he had understood, ad explained that he +must go at once to Paris--riding post--and obtain the order from +the King.</p> + +<p>'To Paris--to be murdered again!' said Philip, in dismay.</p> + +<p>'They do not spend their time there in murder,' said +Berenger. 'And now is the time, while the savage villain +Narcisse is with his master in Poland. I cannot but go, +Philip; we both waste words. You shall take home a letter to +my Lord.'</p> + +<p>'I--I go not home without you,' said Philip, doggedly.</p> + +<p>'I cannot take you, Phil; I have no warrant.'</p> + +<p>'I have warrant for going, though. My father said he was +easier about you with me at your side. Where you go, I +go.'</p> + +<p>The brothers understood each other's ways so well, that Berenger +knew the intonation in Philip's voice that meant that nothing +should make him give way. He persuaded no more, only took +measures for the journey, in which the kind priest gave him +friendly advice. There was no doubt that the good man pitied +him sincerely, and wished him success more than perhaps he strictly +ought to have done, unless as a possible convert. Of money +for the journey there was no lack, for Berenger had brought a +considerable sum, intending to reward all who had befriended +Eustacie, as well as to fit her out for the voyage; and this, +perhaps, with his papers, he had brought ashore to facilitate his +entrance into La Sablerie,--that entrance which, alas! he had found +only too easy. He had therefore only to obtain horses and a +guide, and this could be done at la Motte-Achard, where the party +could easily be guided on foot, or conveyed in a boat if the fog +should not set in again, but all the coast-line of Nissard was +dangerous in autumn and winter; nay, even this very August an old +man, with his daughter, her infant, and a donkey, had been found +bewildered between the creeks on a sandbank, where they stood still +and patient, like a picture of the Flight into Egypt, when an old +fisherman found them, and brought them to the beneficent shelter of +the Presbytere.</p> + +<p>Stories of this kind were told at the meal that was something +partaking of the nature of both breakfast and early dinner, but +where Berenger ate little and spoke less. Philip watched him +anxiously; the boy thought the journey a perilous experiment every +way, but, boyishly, was resolved neither to own his fears of it nor +to leave his brother. External perils he was quite ready to +face, and he fancied that his English birth would give him some +power of protecting Berenger, but he was more reasonably in dread +of the present shock bringing on such an illness as the last +relapse; and if Berenger lost his senses again, what should they +do? He even ventured to hint at this danger, but Berenger +answered, 'That will scarce happen again. My head is stronger +now. Besides, it was doing nothing, and hearing her truth +profaned, that crazed me. No one at least will do that +again. But if you wish to drive me frantic again, the way +would be to let Hobbs carry me home without seeking her child.'</p> + +<p>Philip bore this in mind, when, with flood-tide, Master Hobbs +landed, and showed himself utterly dismayed at the turn affairs had +taken. He saw the needlessness of going to Lucon without +royal authority; indeed, he thought it possible that the very +application there might give the alarm, and cause all tokens of the +child's identity to be destroyed, in order to save her from her +heretic relations. But he did not at all approve of the young +gentlemen going off to Paris at once. It was against his +orders. He felt bound to take them home as he has brought +them, and they might then make a fresh start if it so pleased them; +but how could he return to my Lord and Sir Duke without them? +'Mr. Ribaumont might be right--it was not for him to say a father +ought not to look after his child--yet he was but a stripling +himself, and my Lord had said, "Master Hobbs, I trust him to +you."' He would clearly have liked to have called in a boat's +crew, mastered the young gentlemen, and carried them on board as +captives; but as this was out of his power, he was obliged to yield +the point. He disconsolately accepted the letters in which +Berenger had explained all, and in which he promised to go at once +to Sir Francis Walsingham's at Paris, to run into no needless +danger, and to watch carefully over Philip; and craved pardon, in a +respectful but yet manly and determined tone, for placing his duty +to his lost, deserted child above his submission to his +grandfather. Then engaging to look out for a signal on the coast if +he should said to Bordeaux in January, to touch and take the +passengers off, Captain Hobbs took leave, and the brothers were +left to their own resources.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXV. THE VELVET COACH</h3> + +<p>No, my good Lord, Diana--</p> + +<p> ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL</p> + +<p>A late autumn journey from the west coast to Paris was a more +serious undertaking in the sixteenth century than the good seaman +Master Hobbs was aware of, or he would have used stronger +dissuasive measures against such an undertaking by the two youths, +when the elder was in so frail a state of health; but there had +been a certain deceptive strength and vigour about young Ribaumont +while under strong excitement and determination, and the whole +party fancied him far fitter to meet the hardships than was really +the case. Philip Thistlewood always recollected that journey +as the most distressing period of his life.</p> + +<p>They were out of the ordinary highways, and therefore found the +hiring of horses often extremely difficult. They had intended +to purchase, but found no animals that, as Philip said, they would +have accepted as a gift, though at every wretched inn where they +had to wait while the country was scoured for the miserable jades, +their proposed requirements fell lower and lower. Dens of +smoke, dirt, and boorishness were the great proportion of those +inns, where they were compelled to take refuge by the breaking down +of one or other of the beasts, or by stress of weather. Snow, +rain, thaw and frost alternated, each variety rendering the roads +impassable; and at the best, the beasts could seldom be urged +beyond a walk, fetlock-deep in mire or water. Worse than all, +Berenger, far from recovered, and under the heavy oppression of a +heartrending grief, could hardly fail to lose the ground that he +had gained under the influence of hope. The cold seemed to +fix itself on the wound on his cheek, terrible pain and swelling +set in, depriving him entirely of sleep, permitting him to take no +nourishment but fragments of soft crumbs soaked in wine or broth-- +when the inns afforded any such fare--and rendering speech +excessively painful, and at last unintelligible.</p> + +<p>Happily this was not until Philip and Humfrey both had picked up +all the most indispensable words to serve their needs, and storming +could be done in any language. Besides, they had fallen in at +La Motte-Achard with a sharp fellow named Guibert, who had been at +sea, and knew a little English, was a Norman by birth, knew who the +Baron de Ribaumont was, and was able to make himself generally +useful, though ill supplying the place of poor Osbert, who would +have been invaluable in the present predicament. Nothing was +so much dreaded by any of the party as that their chief should +become utterly unable to proceed. Once let him be laid up at +one of these little <i>auberges</i>, and Philip felt as if all +would be over with him; and he himself was always the most +restlessly eager to push on, and seemed to suffer less even in the +biting wind and sleet than on the dirty pallets or in the smoky, +noisy kitchens of the inns. That there was no wavering of +consciousness was the only comfort, and Philip trusted to prevent +this by bleeding him whenever his head seemed aching or heated; and +under this well-meant surgery it was no wonder that he grew weaker +every day, in spite of the most affectionate and assiduous watching +on his brother's part.</p> + +<p>Nearly six weeks had been spent in struggling along the +cross-roads, or rather in endless delays; and when at last they +came on more frequented ways, with better inns, well-paved <i> +chaussees</i>, and horses more fit for use, Berenger was almost +beyond feeling the improvement. At their last halt, even +Philip was for waiting and sending on to Paris to inform Sir +Francis Walsingham of their situation; but Berenger only shook his +head, dressed himself, and imperatively signed to go on. It +was a bright morning, with a clear frost, and the towers and +steeples of Paris presently began to appear above the poplars that +bordered the way; but by this time Berenger was reeling in his +saddle, and he presently became so faint and dizzy, that Philip and +Humfrey were obliged to lift him from his horse, and lay him under +an elm-tree that stood a little back from the road.</p> + +<p>'Look up, sir, it is but a league further,' quoth Humfrey; 'I +can see the roof of the big church they call Notre-Dame.'</p> + +<p>'He does not open his eyes, he is swooning,' said Philip. +'He must have some cordial, ere he can sit his horse. Can you +think of no lace where we could get a drop of wine or strong +waters?'</p> + +<p>'Not I, Master Philip. We passed a convent wall but now, but +'twas a nunnery, as good as a grave against poor travellers. +I would ride on, and get some of Sir Francis's folk to bring a +litter or coach, but I doubt me if I could get past the barrier +without my young Lord's safe-conduct.'</p> + +<p>Berenger, hearing all, here made an effort to raise himself, but +sank back against Philip's shoulder. Just then, a trampling +and lumbering became audible, and on the road behind appeared first +three horsemen riding abreast, streaming with black and white +ribbons; then eight pair of black horses, a man walking at the +crested heads of each couple, and behind these a coach, shaped like +an urn reversed, and with a coronet on the top, silvered, while the +vehicle itself was, melon-like, fluted, alternately black, with +silver figures, and white with black landscapes; and with white +draperies, embroidered with black and silver, floating from the +windows. Four lacqueys, in the same magpie-colouring, stood +behind, and outriders followed; but as the cavalcade approached the +group by the road-side, one of the horsemen paused, saying lightly, +'Over near the walls from an affair of honour! Has he caught +it badly? Who was the other?'</p> + +<p>Ere Guibert could answer, the curtains were thrust aside, the +coach stopped, a lady's head and hand appeared, and a female voice +exclaimed, in much alarm, 'Halt! Ho, you there, in our +colours, come here. What is it? My brother here? +Is he wounded?'</p> + +<p>'It is no wound, Madame,' said Guibert, shoved forward by his +English comrades, 'it is M. le Baron de Ribaumont who is taken ill, +and--ah! here is Monsieur Philippe.'</p> + +<p>For Philip, seeing a thick black veil put back from the face of +the most beautiful lady who had ever appeared to him, stepped +forward, hat in hand, as she exclaimed, 'Le Baron de +Ribaumont! Can it be true? What means this? What +ails him?'</p> + +<p>'It is his wound, Madame,' said Philip, in his best French; 'it +has broken out again, and he has almost dropped from his horse from +<i>defaillance</i>.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, bring him here--lay him on the cushions, we will have the +honour of transporting him,' cried the lady; and, regardless of the +wet road, she sprang out of the coach, with her essences in her +hand, followed by at least three women, two pages, and two little +white dogs which ran barking towards the prostrate figure, but were +caught up by their pages. 'Ah, cousin, how dreadful,' she +cried, as she knelt down beside him, and held her essences towards +him. Voice and scent revived him, and with a bewildered look +and gesture half of thanks, half of refusal, he gazed round him, +then rose to his feet without assistance, bent his head, and making +a sign that he was unable to speak, turned towards his horse.</p> + +<p>'Cousin, cousin,' exclaimed the lady, in whose fine black eyes +tears were standing, 'you will let me take you into the city--you +cannot refuse.'</p> + +<p>'Berry, indeed you cannot ride,' entreated Philip; 'you must +take her offer. Are you getting crazed at last?'</p> + +<p>Berenger hesitated for a moment, but he felt himself again +dizzy; the exertion of springing into his saddle was quite beyond +him, and bending his head he submitted passively to be helped into +the black and white coach. Humfrey, however, clutched +Philip's arm, and said impressively, 'Have a care, sir; this is no +other than the fine lady, sister to the murderous villain that set +upon him. If you would save his life, don't quit him, nor let +her take him elsewhere than to our Ambassador's. I'll not +leave the coach-door, and as soon as we are past the barriers, I'll +send Jack Smithers to make known we are coming.'</p> + +<p>Philip, without further ceremony, followed the lady into the +coach, where he found her insisting that Berenger, who had sunk +back in a corner, should lay his length of limb, muddy boots and +all, upon the white velvet cushions richly worked in black and +silver, with devices and mottoes, in which the crescent moon, and +eclipsed or setting suns, made a great figure. The original +inmates seemed to have disposed of themselves in various nooks of +the ample conveyance, and Philip, rather at a loss to explain his +intrusion, perched himself awkwardly on the edge of the cushions in +front of his brother, thinking that Humfrey was an officious, +suspicious fellow, to distrust this lovely lady, who seemed so +exceedingly shocked and grieved at Berenger's condition. 'Ah! +I never guessed it had been so frightful as this. I should +not have known him. Ah! had I imagined---' She leant +back, covered her face, and wept, as one overpowered; then, after a +few seconds, she bent forward, and would have taken the hand that +hung listlessly down, but it was at once withdrawn, and folded with +the other on his breast.</p> + +<p>'Can you be more at ease? Do you suffer much?' she asked, +with sympathy and tenderness that went to Philip's heart, and he +explained. 'He cannot speak, Madame; the shot in his cheek' +(the lady shuddered, and put her handkerchief to her eyes) 'from +time to time cases this horrible swelling and torture. After +that he will be better.'</p> + +<p>'Frightful, frightful,' she sighed, 'but we will do our best to +make up. You, sir, must be his <i>trucheman</i>.'</p> + +<p>Philip, not catching the last word, and wondering what kind of +man that might be, made answer, 'I am his brother, Madame.'</p> + +<p>'<i>Eh! Monsieur son frere</i>. Had <i>Madame sa mere</i> +a son so old?'</p> + +<p>'I am Philip Thistlewood, her husband's son, at your service, +Madame,' said Philip, colouring up to the ears; 'I came with him +for he is too weak to be alone.'</p> + +<p>'Great confidence must be reposed in you, sir,' she said, with a +not unflattering surprise. 'But whence are you come? I +little looked to see Monsieur here.'</p> + +<p>'We came from Anjou, Madame. We went to La Sablerie,' and +he broke off.</p> + +<p>'I understand. Ah! let us say no more! It rends the +heart;' and</p> + +<p>again she wiped away tear. 'And now---'</p> + +<p>'We are coming to the Ambassador's to obtain'--he stopped, for +Berenger gave him a touch of peremptory warning, but the lady saved +his embarrassment by exclaiming that she could not let her dear +cousin go to the Ambassador's when he was among his own +kindred. Perhaps Monsieur did not know her; she must present +herself as Madame de Selinville, <i>nee</i> de Ribaumont, a poor +cousin of <i>ce cher Baron</i>, 'and even a little to you, <i>M. le +frere</i>, if you will own me,' and she held out a hand, which he +ought to have kissed, but not knowing how, he only shook it. +She further explained that her brother was at Cracow with Monsieur, +now King of Poland, but that her father lived with her at her +hotel, and would be enchanted to see his dear cousin, only that he, +like herself, would be desolated at the effects of that most +miserable of errors. She had been returning from her Advent +retreat at a convent, where she had been praying for the soul of +the late M. de Selinville, when a true Providence had made her +remark the colours of her family. And now, nothing would +serve her, but that this dear Baron should be carried at once to +their hotel, which was much nearer than that of the Ambassador, and +where every comfort should await him. She clasped her hands +in earnest entreaty, and Philip, greatly touched by her kindness +and perceiving that every jolt of the splendid by springless +vehicle caused Berenger's head a shoot of anguish, was almost +acceding to her offer, when he was checked by one of the most +imperative of those silent negatives. Hitherto, Master +Thistlewood had been rather proud of his bad French, and as long as +he could be understood, considered trampling on genders, tenses, +and moods as a manful assertion of Englishry, but he would just now +have given a great deal for the command of any language but a +horseboy's, to use to this beautiful gracious personage. <i> +'Merci, Madame, nous ne fallons pas, nous avons passe notre parole +d'aller droit a l'Ambassadeur's et pas ou else</i>,' did not sound +very right to his ears ; he coloured up to the roots of his hair, +and knew that if Berry had had a smile left in him, poor fellow, he +would have smiled now. But this most charming and polite of +ladies never betrayed it, if it were ever such bad French; she only +bowed her head, and said something very pretty--if only he could +make it out --of being the slave of one's word, and went on +persuading. Nor did it make the conversation easier, that she +inquired after Berenger, and mourned over his injuries as if he +were unconscious, while Philip knew, nay, was reminded every +instant, that he was aware of all that was passing, most anxious +that as little as possible should be said, and determined against +being taken to her hotel. So unreasonable a prejudice did +this seem to Philip, that had it not been for Humfrey's words, he +would have doubted whether, in spite of all his bleeding, his +brother's brain were not wandering.</p> + +<p>However, what with Humfrey without, and Berenger within, the +turn to the Ambassador's hotel was duly taken, and in process of +time a hearty greeting passed between Humfrey and the porter; and +by the time the carriage drew up, half the household were assembled +on the steps, including Sir Francis himself, who had already heard +more than a fortnight back from Lord Walwyn, and had become uneasy +at the non-arrival of his two young guests. On Smithers's +appearance, all had been made ready; and as Berenger, with feeble, +tardy movements, made courteous gestures of thanks to the lady, and +alighted form the coach, he was absolutely received into the +dignified arms of the Ambassador. 'Welcome, my poor lad, I am +glad to see you here again, though in such different guise. +Your chamber is ready for you, and I have sent my secretary to see +if Maitre Par be at home, so we will, with God's help, have you +better at ease anon.'</p> + +<p>Even Philip's fascination by Madame de Selinville could not hold +out against the comfort of hearing English voices all round him, +and of seeing his brother's anxious brow expand, and his hand and +eyes return no constrained thanks. Civilities were exchanged +on both sides; the Ambassador thanked the lady for the assistance +she had rendered to his young friend and guest; she answered with a +shade of stiffness, that she left her kinsman in good hands, and +said she should send to inquire that evening, and her father would +call on the morrow; then, as Lady Walsingham did not ask her in, +the black and white coach drove away.</p> + +<p>The lady threw herself back in one corner, covered her face, and +spoke no word. Her coach pursued its way through the streets, +and turned at length into another great courtyard, surrounded with +buildings, where she alighted, and stepped across a wide but dirty +hall, where ranks of servants stoop up and bowed as she passed; +then she ascended a wide carved staircase, opened a small private +door, and entered a tiny wainscoted room hardly large enough for +her farthingale to turn round in. 'You, Veronique, come +in--only you,' she said, at the door; and a waiting-woman, who had +been in the carriage, obeyed, no longer clad in the Angevin +costume, but in the richer and less characteristic dress of the +ordinary Parisian <i>femme de chambre</i>.</p> + +<p>'Undo my mantle in haste!' gasped Madame de Selinville. 'O +Veronique--you saw--what destruction!'</p> + +<p>'Ah! if my sweet young lady only known how frightful he had +become, she had never sacrificed herself,' sighed Veronique.</p> + +<p>'Frightful! What, with the grave blue eyes that seem like +the steady avenging judgment of St. Michael in his triumph in the +picture at the Louvre?' murmured Madame de Selinville; then she +added quickly, 'Yes, yes, it is well. She and you, Veronique, +may see him frightful and welcome. There are other eyes--make +haste, girl. There--another handkerchief. Follow me +not.'</p> + +<p>And Madame de Selinville moved out of the room, past the great +state bedroom and the <i>salle</i> beyond, to another chamber where +more servants waited and rose at her entrance.</p> + +<p>'Is any one with my father?'</p> + +<p>'No, Madame;' and a page knocking, opened the door and +announced, 'Madame la Comtesse.'</p> + +<p>The Chevalier, in easy <i>deshabille</i>, with a flask of good +wine, iced water, and delicate cakes and <i>confitures</i> before +him, a witty and licentious epigrammatic poem close under his hand, +sat lazily enjoying the luxuries that it had been his daughter's +satisfaction to procure for him ever since her marriage. He +sprang up to meet her with a grace and deference that showed how +different a person was the Comtesse de Selinville from Diane de +Ribaumont.</p> + +<p>'Ah! <i>ma belle</i>, my sweet,' as there was a mutual kissing +of hands, 'thou art returned. Had I known thine hour, I had +gone down for thy first embrace. But thou lookest fair, my +child; the convent has made thee lovelier than ever.'</p> + +<p>'Father, who think you is here? It is he--the Baron.'</p> + +<p>'The Baron? Eh, father!' she cried impetuously. 'Who +could it be but one?'</p> + +<p>'My child, you are mistaken! That young hot-head can never +be thrusting himself here again.'</p> + +<p>'But he is, father; I brought him into Paris in my coach! +I left him at the Ambassador's.'</p> + +<p>'Thou shouldest have brought him here. There will be ten +thousand fresh imbroglios.'</p> + +<p>'I could not; he is as immovable as ever, though unable to +speak! Oh, father, he is very ill, he suffers terribly. +Oh, Narcisse! Ah! may I never see him again!'</p> + +<p>'But what brings him blundering her again?' exclaimed the +Chevalier. 'Speak intelligibly, child! I thought we had +guarded against that! He knows nothing of the +survivance.'</p> + +<p>'I cannot tell much. He could not open his mouth, and his +half-brother, a big dull English boy, stammered out a few words of +shocking French against his will. But I believe they had +heard of <i>la pauvre petite</i> at La Sablerie, came over for her, +and finding the ruin my brother makes wherever he goes, are +returning seeking intelligence and succour for HIM.'</p> + +<p>'That may be,' said the Chevalier, thoughtfully. 'It is well thy +brother is in Poland. I would not see him suffer any more; +and we may get him back to England ere my son learns that he is +here.'</p> + +<p>'Father, there is a better way! Give him my hand.'</p> + +<p><i>'Eh quoi</i>, child; if thou art tired of devotion, there are +a thousand better marriages.'</p> + +<p>'No, father, none so good for this family. See, I bring +him all-- all that I was sold for. As the price of that, he +resigns for ever all his claims to the ancestral castle--to La +Leurre, and above all, that claim to Nid de Merle as Eustacie's +widower, which, should he ever discover the original contract, will +lead to endless warfare.'</p> + +<p>'His marriage with Eustacie was annulled. Yet--yet there +might be doubts. There was the protest; and who knows whether +they formally renewed their vows when so much went wrong at +Montpipeau. Child, it is a horrible perplexity. I often +could wish we had had no warning, and the poor things had made off +together. We could have cried shame till we forced out a +provision for thy brother; and my poor little Eustacie---' He had +tears in his eyes as he broke off.</p> + +<p>Diane made an impatient gesture. 'She would have died of +tedium in England, or broken forth so as to have a true +scandal. That is all over, father, now; weigh my +proposal! Nothing else will save my brother from all that his +cruel hand merits! You will win infinite credit at +court. The King loved him more than you thought safe.'</p> + +<p>'The King has not a year to live, child, and he has personally +offended the King of Poland. Besides, this youth is +heretic.'</p> + +<p>'Only by education. Have I not heard you say that he had +by an abjuration. And as to Monsieur's enmity, if it be not +forgotten, the glory of bringing about a conversion would end that +at once.'</p> + +<p>'Then, daughter, thou shouldst not have let him bury himself +among the English.'</p> + +<p>'It was unavoidable, father, and perhaps if he were here he +would live in an untamable state of distrust, whereas we may now +win him gradually. You will go and see him to-morrow, my dear +father.'</p> + +<p>'I must have time to think of this thy sudden device.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, he is in no condition to hear of it at present. I +did but speak now, that you might not regard it as sudden when the +fit moment comes. It is the fixed purpose of my mind. I +am no girl now, and I could act for myself if I would; but as it is +for your interest and that of my brother thus to dispose of me, it +is better that you should act for me.'</p> + +<p>'Child, headstrong child, thou wilt make no scandal,' said the +Chevalier, looking up at his daughter's handsome head drawn up +proudly with determination.</p> + +<p>'Certainly not, sir, if you will act for me.' And Diane +sailed away in her sweeping folds of black brocade.</p> + +<p>In a few moments more she was kneeling with hands locked +together before a much-gilded little waxen figure of St. Eustacie +with his cross-bearing stag by his side, which stood in a curtained +recess in the alcove where her stately bed was placed.</p> + +<p>'Monseigneur St. Eustache, ten wax candles everyday to your +shrine at Bellaise, so he recovers; ten more if he listen +favourably and loves me. Nay, all--all the Selinville jewels +to make you a shrine. All--all, so he will only let me love +him;' and then, while taking up the beads, and pronouncing the +repeated devotions attached to each, her mind darted back to the +day when, as young children, she had played unfairly, defrauded +Landry Osbert, and denied it; how Berenger, though himself +uninjured, had refused to speak to her all that day--how she had +hated him then--how she had thought she had hated him throughout +their brief intercourse in the previous year; how she had played +into her brother's hands; and when she thought to triumph over the +man who had scorned her, found her soul all blank desolation, and +light gone out from the earth! Reckless and weary, she had +let herself be united to M. de Selinville, and in her bridal +honours and amusements had tried to crowd out the sense of +dreariness and lose herself in excitement. Then came the +illness and death of her husband, and almost at the same time the +knowledge of Berenger's existence. She sought excitement +again that feverish form of devotion then in vogue at Paris, and +which resulted in the League. She had hitherto stunned +herself as it were with penances, processions, and sermons, for +which the host of religious orders then at Paris had given ample +scope; and she was constantly devising new extravagances. +Even at this moment she wore sackcloth beneath her brocade, and her +rosary was of death's heads. She was living on the outward husk of +the Roman Church not penetrating into its living power, and the +phase of religion which fostered Henry III. and the League offered +her no more.</p> + +<p>All, all had melted away beneath the sad but steadfast glance of +those two eyes, the only feature still unchanged in the marred, +wrecked countenance. That honest, quiet refusal, that look +which came from a higher atmosphere, had filled her heart with +passionate beatings and aspirations once more, and more consciously +than ever. Womanly feeling for suffering, and a deep longing +to compensate to him, and earn his love, nay wrest it from him by +the benefits she would heap upon him, were all at work; but the +primary sense was the longing to rest on the only perfect truth she +had ever known in man, and thus with passionate ardour she poured +forth her entreaties to St. Eustache, a married saint, who had +known love, and could feel for her, and could surely not object to +the affection to which she completely gave way for one whose hand +was now as free as her own.</p> + +<p>But St. Eustache was not Diane's only hope. That evening +she sent Veronique to Rene of Milan, the court-perfumer, but also +called by the malicious, <i>l'empoisonneur de le Reine</i>, to +obtain from him the most infallible charm and love potion in his +whole repertory.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXVI. THE CHEVALIER'S EXPIATION</h3> + +<p>Next, Sirs, did he marry? </p> + +<p>And whom, Sirs, did he marry? </p> + +<p>One like himself,</p> + +<p>Though doubtless graced with many virtues, young,</p> + +<p>And erring, and in nothing more astray</p> + +<p>Than in this marriage.--TAYLOR, EDWIN THE FAIR.</p> + +<p>Nothing could be kinder than the Ambassador's family, and Philip +found himself at once at home there, at least in his brother's +room, which was all the world to him. fortunately, Ambroise +Pare, the most skillful surgeon of his day, had stolen a day from +his attendance of King Charles, at St. Germain, to visit his Paris +patients, and, though unwilling to add to the list of cases, when +he heard from Walsingham's secretary who the suffer was, and when +injured, he came at once to afford his aid.</p> + +<p>He found, however, that there was little scope for present +treatment, he could only set his chief assistant to watch the +patient and to inform him when the crisis should be nearer; but +remarking the uneasy, anxious expression in Berenger's eyes, he +desired to know whether any care on his mind might be interfering +with his recovery. A Huguenot, and perfectly trustworthy, he +was one who Walsingham knew might safely hear the whole, and after +hearing all, he at once returned to his patient, and leaning over +him, said, 'Vex not yourself, sir; your illness is probably serving +you better than health could do.'</p> + +<p>Sir Francis thought this quite probable, since Charles was so +unwell and so beset with his mother's creatures that no open +audience could be obtained from him, and Pare, who always had +access to him, might act when no one else could reach him. +Meantime the Ambassador rejoiced to hear of the instinctive caution +that had made Berenger silence Philip on the object of the journey +to Paris, since if the hostile family guessed at the residence of +the poor infant, they would have full opportunity for obliterating +all the scanty traces of her. Poor persecuted little thing! +the uncertain hope of her existence seemed really the only thread +that still bound Berenger to life. He had spent eighteen +months in hope deferred, and constant bodily pain; and when the +frightful disappointment met him at La Sablerie, it was not wonder +that his heart and hope seemed buried in the black scorched ruins +where all he cared for had perished. He was scarcely +nineteen, but the life before him seemed full of nothing but one +ghastly recollection, and, as he said in the short sad little +letter which he wrote to his grandfather from his bed, he only +desired to live long enough to save Eustacie's child from being a +nameless orphan maintained for charity in a convent, and to see her +safe in Aunt Cecily's care; and then he should be content to have +done with this world for ever.</p> + +<p>The thought that no one except himself could save the child, +seemed to give him the resolution to battle for life that often +bears the patient through illness, though now he as suffering more +severely and consciously than ever he had done before; and Lady +Walsingham often gave up hopes of him. He was tenderly cared +for by her and her women; but Philip was the most constant nurse, +and his unfailing assiduity and readiness amazed the household, who +had begun by thinking him ungainly, loutish, and fit for nothing +but country sports.</p> + +<p>The Chevalier de Ribaumont came daily to inquire; and the first +time he was admitted actually burst into tears at the sight of the +swollen disfigured face, and the long mark on the arm which lay +half-uncovered. Presents of delicacies, ointments, and +cooling drinks were frequently sent from him and from the Countess +de Selinville; but Lady Walsingham distrusted these, and kept her +guest strictly to the regimen appointed by Pare. Now and +then, billets would likewise come. The first brought a vivid +crimson into Berenger's face, and both it and all its successors he +instantly tore into the smallest fragments, without letting any one +see them.</p> + +<p>On the day of the Carnival, the young men of the household had +asked Master Thistlewood to come out with them and see the +procession of the <i>Boeuf Gras</i>; but before it could take +place, reports were flying about that put the city in commotion, +caused the Ambassador to forbid all going out, and made Philip +expect another Huguenot massacre. The Duke of Alencon and the +King of Navarre had been detected, it was said, in a conspiracy for +overthrowing the power of the Queen-mother, bringing in the +Huguenots, and securing the crown to Alencon on the King's +death. Down-stairs, the Ambassador and his secretaries sat +anxiously striving to sift the various contradictory reports; +up-stairs, Philip and Lady Walsingham were anxiously watching +Berenger in what seemed the long-expected crisis, and Philip was +feeling as if all the French court were welcome to murder one +another so that they would only let Ambroise Pare come to his +brother's relief. And it was impossible even to send!</p> + +<p>At last, however, when Ash-Wednesday was half over, there was a +quiet movement, and a small pale man in black was at the bedside, +without Philip's having ever seen his entrance. He looked at +his exhausted patient, and said, 'It is well; I could not have done +you any good before.'</p> + +<p>And when he had set Berenger more at ease, he told how great had +been the confusion at St. Germain when the plot had become known to +the Queen-mother. The poor King had been wakened at two +o'clock in the morning, and carried to his litter, when Pare and +his old nurse had tended him. He only said, 'Can they not let +me die in peace?' and his weakness had been so great on arriving, +that the surgeon could hardly have left him for M. de Ribaumont, +save by his own desire. 'Yes, sir,' added Pare, seeing +Berenger attending to him, 'we must have you well quickly; his +Majesty knows all about you, and is anxious to see you.'</p> + +<p>In spite of these good wishes, the recovery was very slow; for, +as the surgeon had suspected, the want of skill in those who had +had the charge of Berenger at the first had been the cause of much +of his protracted suffering. Pare, the inventor of +trephining, was, perhaps, the only man in Europe who could have +dealt with the fracture in the back of the head, and he likewise +extracted the remaining splinters of the jaw, though at the cost of +much severe handling and almost intolerable pain: but by Easter, +Berenger found the good surgeon's encouragement verified, and +himself on the way to a far more effectual cure than he had +hitherto thought possible. Sleep had come back to him, he +experienced the luxury of being free from all pain, he could eat +without difficulty; and Pare, always an enemy to wine, assured him +that half the severe headaches for which he had been almost bled to +death, were the consequence of his living on bread soaked in sack +instead of solid food; and he was forbidden henceforth to inflame +his brain with anything stronger than sherbet. His speech, +too, was much improved; he still could not utter all the consonants +perfectly, and could not speak distinctly without articulating very +slowly, but all the discomfort and pain were gone; and though still +very weak, he told Philip that now all his course seemed clear +towards his child, instead of being like a dull, distraught +dream. His plan was to write to have a vessel sent from +Weymouth, to lie off the coast till his signal should be seen from +la Motte-Achard, and then to take in the whole party and the little +yearling daughter, whom he declared he should trust to no one but +himself. Lady Walsingham remonstrated a little at the +wonderful plans hatched by the two lads together, and yet she was +too glad to see a beginning of brightening on his face to make many +objections. It was only too sand to think how likely he was +again to be disappointed.</p> + +<p>He was dressed, but had not left his room, and was lying on +cushions in the ample window overlooking the garden, while Frances +and Elizabeth Walsingham in charge of their mother tried to amuse +him by their childish airs and sports, when a message was brought +that M. le Chevalier de Ribaumont prayed to be admitted to see him +privily.</p> + +<p>'What bodes that?' he languidly said.</p> + +<p>'Mischief, no doubt,' said Philip Walsingham. 'Send him +word that you are seriously employed.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, that could scarce be, when he must have heard the +children's voices,' said Lady Walsingham. 'Come away, little +ones.'</p> + +<p>The ladies took the hint and vanished, but Philip remained till +the Chevalier had entered, more resplendent than ever, in a brown +velvet suit slashed with green satin, and sparkling with gold +lace--</p> + +<p>-a contrast to the deep mourning habit in which Berenger was +dressed. After inquiries for his health, the Chevalier looked +at Philip, and expressed his desire of speaking with his cousin +alone.</p> + +<p>'If it be of business,' said Berenger, much on his guard, 'my +head is still weak, and I would wish to have the presence of the +Ambassador or one of his secretaries.'</p> + +<p>'This is not so much a matte of business as of family,' said the +Chevalier, still looking so uneasily at Philip that Berenger felt +constrained to advise him to join the young ladies in the garden; +but instead of doing this, the boy paced the corridors like a +restless dog waiting for his master, and no sooner heard the old +gentleman bow himself out than he hurried back again, to find +Berenger heated, panting, agitated as by a sharp encounter.</p> + +<p>'Brother, what is it--what has the old rogue done to you?'</p> + +<p>'Nothing,' said Berenger, tardily and wearily; and for some +minutes he did not attempt to speak, while Philip devoured his +curiosity as best he might. At last he said, 'He was always +beyond me. What think you? Now he wants me to turn +French courtier and marry his daughter.'</p> + +<p>'His daughter!' exclaimed Philip, 'that beautiful lady I saw in +the coach?'</p> + +<p>A nod of assent.</p> + +<p>'I only wish it were I.'</p> + +<p>'Philip,' half angrily, 'how can you be such a fool?'</p> + +<p>'Of course, I know it can't be,' said Philip sheepishly, but a +little offended. 'But she's the fairest woman my eyes ever +beheld.'</p> + +<p>'And the falsest.'</p> + +<p>'My father says all women are false; only they can't help it, +and don't mean it.'</p> + +<p>'Only some do mean it,' said Berenger, dryly.</p> + +<p>'Brother!' cried Philip, fiercely, as if ready to break a lance, +'what right have you to accuse that kindly, lovely dame of +falsehood?'</p> + +<p>'It skills not going through all,' said Berenger, wearily. +'I know her of old. She began by passing herself off on me as +my wife.'</p> + +<p>'And you were not transported?'</p> + +<p>'I am not such a gull as you.'</p> + +<p>'How very beautiful your wife must have been!' said Philip, with +gruff amazement overpowering his consideration.</p> + +<p>'Much you know about it,' returned Berenger, turning his face +away.</p> + +<p>There was a long silence, first broken by Philip, asking more +cautiously, 'And what did you say to him?'</p> + +<p>'I said whatever could show it was most impossible. Even I +said the brother's handwriting was too plain on my face for me to +offer myself to the sister. But it seems all that is to be +passed over as an unlucky mistake. I wish I could guess what +the old fellow is aiming at.'</p> + +<p>'I am sure the lady looked at you as if she loved you.'</p> + +<p>'Simpleton! She looked to see how she could beguile +me. Love! They do nothing for love here, you foolish +boy, save <i>par amour</i>. If she loved me, her father was +the last person she would have sent me. No, no; 'tis a new +stratagem, if I could only seen my way into it. Perhaps Sir +Francis will when he can spend an hour on me.'</p> + +<p>Though full of occupation, Sir Francis never failed daily to +look in upon his convalescent guest, and when he heard of the +Chevalier's interview, he took care that Berenger should have full +time to consult him; and, of course, he inquired a good deal more +into the particulars of the proposal than Philip had done. +When he learnt that the Chevalier had offered all the very +considerable riches and lands that Diane enjoyed in right of her +late husband as an equivalent for Berenger's resignation of all +claims upon the Nid-de-Merle property, he noted it on his tables, +and desired to know what these claims might be. 'I cannot +tell,' said Berenger. 'You may remember, sir, the parchments +with our contract of marriage had been taken away from Chateau +Leurre, and I have never seen them.'</p> + +<p>'Then,' said the Ambassador, 'you may hold it as certain that +those parchments give you some advantage which he hears, since he +is willing to purchase it at so heavy a price. Otherwise he +himself would be the natural heir of those lands.'</p> + +<p>'After my child,' said Berenger, hastily.</p> + +<p>'Were you on your guard against mentioning your trust in your +child's life?' said Sir Francis.</p> + +<p>The long scar turned deeper purple than ever. 'Only so far +as that I said there still be rights I had no power to resign,' +said Berenger. 'And then he began to prove to me---what I had +no mind to hear' (and his voice trembled) '---all that I know but +too well.'</p> + +<p>'Hum! you must not be left alone again to cope with him,' said +Walsingham. 'Did he make any question of the validity of your +marriage?'</p> + +<p>'No, sir, it was never touched on. I would not let him +take her name into his lips.'</p> + +<p>Walsingham considered for some minutes, and then said, 'It is +clear, then, that he believes that the marriage can be sufficiently +established to enable you to disturb him in his possession of some +part, at least, of the Angevin inheritance, or he would not +endeavour to purchase your renunciation of it by the hand of a +daughter so richly endowed.'</p> + +<p>'I would willingly renounce it if that were all! I never +sought it; only I cannot give up her child's rights.'</p> + +<p>'And that you almost declared,' proceeded Walsingham; 'so that +the Chevalier has by his negotiation gathered from you that you +have not given up hope that the infant lives. Do your men +know where you believe she is?'</p> + +<p>'My Englishmen know it, of course,' said Berenger; 'but there is +no fear of them. The Chevalier speaks no English, and they +scarcely any French; and, besides, I believe they deem him equally +my butcher with his son. The other fellow I only picked up +after I was on my way to Paris, and I doubt his knowing my +purpose.'</p> + +<p>'The Chevalier must have had speech with him, though,' said +Philip; 'for it was he who brought word that the old rogue wished +to speak with you.'</p> + +<p>'It would be well to be quit yourself of the fellow ere leaving +Paris,' said Walsingham.</p> + +<p>'Then, sir,' said Berenger, with an anxious voice, 'do you +indeed think I have betrayed aught that can peril the poor little +one?'</p> + +<p>Sir Francis smiled. 'We do not set lads of your age to +cope with old foxes,' he answered; 'and it seems to me that you +used far discretion in the encounter. The mere belief that +the child lives does not show him where she may be. In +effect, it would seem likely to most that the babe would be nursed +in some cottage, and thus not be in the city of La Sablerie at +all. He might, mayhap, thus be put on a false scent.'</p> + +<p>'Oh no,' exclaimed Berenger, startled; 'that might bring the +death of some other person's child on my soul.'</p> + +<p>'That shall be guarded against,' said Sir Francis. 'In the +meantime, my fair youth, keep your matters as silent as may be +---do not admit the Chevalier again in my absence; and, as to this +man Guibert, I will confer with my steward whether he knows too +much, and whether it be safer to keep of dismiss him!'</p> + +<p>'If only I could see the King, and leave Paris,' sighed +Berenger.</p> + +<p>And Walsingham, though unwilling to grieve the poor youth +further, bethought himself that this was the most difficult and +hopeless matter of all. As young Ribaumont grew better, the +King grew worse; he himself only saw Charles on rare occasions, +surrounded by a host of watchful eyes and ears, and every time he +marked the progress of disease; and though such a hint could be +given by an Ambassador, he thought that by far the best chance of +recovery of the child lay in the confusion that might probably +follow the death of Charles IX. in the absence of his next +heir.</p> + +<p>Berenger reckoned on the influence of Elisabeth of Austria, who +had been the real worker in his union with Eustacie; but he was +told that it was vain to expect assistance from her. In the +first year of her marriage, she had fondly hoped to enjoy her +husband's confidence, and take her natural place in his court; but +she was of no mould to struggle with Catherine de Medicis, and +after a time had totally desisted. Even at the time of the +St. Bartholomew, she had endeavoured to uplift her voice on the +side of mercy, and had actually saved the lives of the King of +Navarre and Prince of Conde; and her father, the good Maximilian +II., had written in the strongest terms to Charles IX. expressing +his horror of the massacre. Six weeks later, the first hour +after the birth of her first and only child, she had interceded +with her husband for the lives of two Huguenots who had been taken +alive, and failing then either through his want of will or want of +power, she had collapsed and yielded up the endeavour. She +ceased to listen to petitions from those who had hoped for her +assistance, as if to save both them and herself useless pain, and +seemed to lapse into a sort of apathy to all public +interests. She hardly spoke, mechanically fulfilled her few +offices in the court, and seemed to have turned her entire hope and +trust into prayer for her husband. Her German confessor had +been sent home, and a Jesuit given her in his stead, but she had +made no resistance; she seemed to the outer world a dull, weary +stranger, obstinate in leading a conventual life; but those who +knew her best--and of these few was the Huguenot surgeon Pare--knew +that her heart had been broken two guilty lives, or to make her +husband free himself from his bondage to bloody counsels. To +pray for him was all that remained to her--and unwearied had been +those prayers. Since his health had declined, she had been +equally indefatigable in attending on him, and did not seem to have +a single interest beyond his sick chamber.</p> + +<p>As to the King of Navarre, for whose help Berenger had hoped, he +had been all these months in the dishonourable thraldom of +Catherine de Medicis, and was more powerless than ever at this +juncture, having been implicated in Alencon's plot, and imprisoned +at Vincennes.</p> + +<p>And thus, the more Berenger heard of the state of things, the +less hopeful did his cause appear, till he could almost have +believed his best chance lay in Philip's plan of persuading the +Huguenots to storm the convent.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXVII. THE DYING KING</h3> + +<p> Die in terror of thy guiltiness,</p> + +<p>Dream on, dream on of bloody deeds and death,</p> + +<p>Fainting, despair, despairing yield thy breath</p> + +<p> KING RICHARD III.</p> + +<p>A few days later, when Berenger had sent out Philip, under the +keeping of the secretaries, to see the Queen-mother represent +Royalty in one of the grand processions of Rogation-tide, the +gentle knock came to his door that always announced the arrival of +his good surgeon.</p> + +<p>'You look stronger, M. le Baron; have you yet left your +room?'</p> + +<p>'I have walked round the gallery above the hall,' said +Berenger. 'I have not gone down-stairs; that is for +to-morrow.'</p> + +<p>'What would M. le Baron say if his chirurgeon took him not +merely down-stairs, but up on flight at the Louvre?'</p> + +<p>'Ha!' cried Berenger; 'to the King?'</p> + +<p>'It is well-nigh the last chance, Monsieur; the Queen-mother and +all her suite are occupied with services and sermons this week; and +next week private access to the King will be far more +difficult. I have waited as long as I could that you might +gain strength to support the fatigue.'</p> + +<p>'Hope cancels fatigue,' said Berenger, already at the other end +of the room searching for his long-disused cloak, sword, gloves, +hat, and mask.</p> + +<p>'Not the sword,' said Pare, 'so please you. M. le Baron +must condescend to obtain entrance as my assistant--the plain black +doublet--yes, that is admirable; but I did not know that Monsieur +was so tall,' he added, in some consternation, as, for the first +time, he saw his patient standing up at his full height--unusual +even in England, and more so in France. Indeed, Berenger had +grown during his year of illness, and being, of course, extremely +thin, looked all the taller, so as to be a very inconvenient +subject to smuggle into to palace unobserved.</p> + +<p>However, Ambroise had made up his mind to the risk, and merely +assisted Berenger in assuming his few equipments, then gave him his +arm to go down the stairs. Meeting Guibert on the way, +Berenger left word with him that he was going out to take the air +with Maitre Pare; and on the man's offering to attend him, refused +the proposal.</p> + +<p>Pare carriage waited in the court, and Berenger, seated in its +depths, rolled unseen through the streets, till he found himself at +the little postern of the Louvre, the very door whence he was to +have led off his poor Eustacie. Here Ambroise made him take +off his small black mask, in spite of all danger of his scars being +remarked, since masks were not etiquette in the palace, and, +putting into his arms a small brass-bound case of instruments, +asked his pardon for preceding him, and alighted from the +carriage.</p> + +<p>This was Ambroise's usual entrance, and it was merely guarded by +a Scottish archer, who probably observed nothing. They then +mounted the stone stair, the same where Osbert had dragged down his +insensible master; and as, at the summit, the window appeared where +Berenger had waited those weary hours, and heard the first notes of +the bell of St.-Germain-l'Auxerrois, his breath came in such +hurried sobs, that Pare would fain have given him time to recover +himself, but he gasped, 'Not here--not here;' and Pare, seeing that +he could still move on, turned, not to the corridor leading to the +King's old apartments, now too full of dreadful associations for +poor Charles, but towards those of the young Queen. Avoiding +the ante-room, where no doubt waited pages, users, and attendants, +Pare presently knocked at a small door, so hidden in the +wainscoting of the passage that only a <i>habitue</i> could have +found it without strict search. It was at once opened, and +the withered, motherly face of an old woman, with keen black eyes +under a formal tight white cap, looked out.</p> + +<p>'Eh! Maitre Pare,' she said, 'you have brought the poor +young gentleman? On my faith, he looks scarcely able to +walk! Come in, sir, and rest a while in my chamber while +Maitre Ambroise goes on to announce you to the King. He is +more at ease to-day, the poor child, and will relish some fresh +talk.'</p> + +<p>Berenger knew this to be Philippe, the old Huguenot nurse, whom +Charles IX. loved most fondly, and in whom he found his greatest +comfort. He was very glad to sink into the seat she placed +for him, the only one is her small, bare room and recover breath +there while Pare passed on to the King, and she talked as one +delighted to have a hearer.</p> + +<p>'Ah, yes, rest yourself--stay; I will give you a few spoonfuls +of the cordial potage I have here for the King; it will comfort +your heart. Ah! you have been cruelly mauled--but he would +have saved you if he could.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, good mother, I know that; the King has been my very good +lord.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! blessings on you if you say so from your heart, Monsieur; +you know me for one of your poor Reformed. And I tell you--I +who saw him born, who nursed him from his birth--that, suffer as +you may, you can never suffer as he does. Maitre Ambroise may +talk of his illness coming from blowing too much on his horn; I +know better. But, ah! to be here at night would make a stone +shed tears of blood. The Queen and I know it; but we say +nothing, we only pray.'</p> + +<p>The sight of a Huguenot was so great a treat to the old woman in +her isolated life, that her tongue ran thus freely while Berenger +sat, scarce daring to speak or breathe in the strange boding +atmosphere of the palace, where the nurse and surgeon moved as +tolerated, privileged persons, in virtue of the necessity of the +one to the King--of the other to all the world. After all +brief interval Pare returned and beckoned to Berenger, who followed +him across a large state-bedroom to a much smaller one, which he +entered from under a heavy blue velvet curtain, and found himself +in an atmosphere heavy with warmth and perfume, and strangely +oppressed besides. On one side of the large fire sat the +young Queen, faded, wan, and with all animation or energy departed, +only gazing with a silent, wistful intentness at her husband. +he was opposite to her in a pillowed chair, his feet on a stool, +with a deadly white, padded, puffy cheek, and his great black eyes, +always prominent, now with a glassy look, and strained wide, as +though always gazing after some horrible sight. 'Madame la +Comtesse' stood in her old, wooden, automaton fashion behind the +Queen; otherwise, no one was present save Pare, who, as he held up +the curtain, stood back to let M. de Ribaumont advance. He +stood still, however, merely bowing low, awaiting an invitation to +come forward, and trying to repress the startled tear called up by +the very shock of pity at the mournful aspect of the young King and +Queen.</p> + +<p>Elisabeth, absorbed in her husband, and indifferent to all +besides, did not even turn her head as he entered; but Charles +signed to him to approach, holding out a yellow, dropsical-looking +hand; and as he dropped on one knew and kissed it fervently, the +King said, 'Here he is, Madame, the Baron de Ribaumont, the same +whose little pleasure-boat was sucked down in our whirlpool.'</p> + +<p>All Elisabeth's memories seemed to have been blotted out in that +whirlpool, for she only bowed her head formally, and gave no look +of recognition, though she, too, allowed Berenger to salute her +listless, dejected hand. 'One would hardly have known him +again,' continued the King, in a low husky voice; 'but I hope, sir, +I see you recovering.'</p> + +<p>'Thanks, Sire, to Heaven's goodness, and to your goodness in +sparing to me the services of Maitre Pare.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! there is none like Pare for curing a wound OUTSIDE,' said +Charles, then leant back silent; and Berenger, still kneeling, was +considering whether he ought to proffer his petition, when the King +continued, 'How fares your friend Sidney, M. le Baron?'</p> + +<p>'Right well, Sire. The Queen has made him one of her +gentlemen.'</p> + +<p>'Not after this fashion,' said Charles, as with his finger he +traced the long scar on Berenger's face. 'Our sister of +England has different badges of merit from ours for her good +subjects. Ha! what say they of us in England, +Baron?'</p> + +<p>'I have lain sick at home, Sire, and have neither seen nor +heard,' said Berenger.</p> + +<p>'Ah! one day more at Montpipeau had served your turn,' said the +King; 'but you are one who has floated up again. One--one at +least whose blood is not on my head.'</p> + +<p>The Queen looked up uneasy and imploring, as Charles +continued:</p> + +<p>'Would that more of you would come in this way! They have +scored you deep, but know you what is gashed deeper still? +Your King's heart! Ah! you will not come, as Coligny does, +from his gibbet, with his two bleeding hands. My father was +haunted to his dying day by the face of one Huguenot tailor. +Why, I see a score, night by night! You are solid; let me +feel you, man.'</p> + +<p>'M. Pare,' exclaimed the poor Queen, 'take him away.'</p> + +<p>'No, Madame,' said the King, holding tight in his hot grasp +Berenger's hand, which was as pale as his own, long, thin, and +wasted, but cold from strong emotion; 'take not away the only +welcome sight I have seen for well-nigh two years.' He +coughed, and the handkerchief he put to his lips had blood on it; +but he did not quit his hold of his visitor, and presently said in +a feeble whisper, 'Tell me, how did you escape?'</p> + +<p>Pare, over the King's head, signed to him to make his narrative +take time; and indeed his speech was of necessity so slow, that by +the time he had related how Osbert had brought him safely to +England, the King had recovered himself so as to say, 'See what it +is to have a faithful servant. Which of those they have left +me would do as much for me? And now, being once away with +your life, what brings you back to this realm of ours, after your +last welcome?'</p> + +<p>'I left my wife here, Sire.'</p> + +<p>'Ha! and the cousin would have married her--obtained permission +to call himself Nid de Merle--but she slipped through his clumsy +fingers; did she not? Did you know anything of her, +Madame?'</p> + +<p>'No,' said the Queen, looking up. 'She wrote to me once +from her convent; but I knew I could do nothing for her but bring +her enemies' notice on her; so I made no answer.'</p> + +<p>Berenger could hardly conceal his start of indignation--less at +the absolute omission, than at the weary indifference of the +Queen's confession. Perhaps the King saw it, for he added, +'So it is, Ribaumont; the kindest service we can do our friends is +to let them alone; and, after all, it was not the worse for +her. She did evade her enemies?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, Sire,' said Berenger, commanding and steadying his voice +with great difficulty, 'she escaped in time to give birth to our +child in the ruined loft of an old grange of the Templars, under +the care of a Huguenot farmer, and a pastor who had known my +father. Then she took refuge in La Sablerie, and wrote to my +mother, deeming me dead. I was just well enough to go in +quest of her. I came--ah! Sire, I found only charred +ruins. Your Majesty knows how Huguenot bourgs are dealt +with.'</p> + +<p>'And she---?'</p> + +<p>Berenger answered but by a look.</p> + +<p>'Why did you come to tell me this?' said the King, +passionately. 'Do you not know that they have killed me +already? I thought you came because there was still some one +I could aid.'</p> + +<p>'There is, there is, Sire,' said Berenger, for once interrupting +royalty. 'None save you can give me my child. It is +almost certain that a good priest saved it; but it is in a convent, +and only with a royal order can one of my religion either obtain +it, or even have my questions answered.'</p> + +<p>'Nor with one in Paris,' said the King dryly; 'but in the +country the good mothers may still honour their King's hand. +Here, Ambroise, take pen and ink, and write the order. To +whom?'</p> + +<p>'To the Mother Prioress of the Ursulines at Lucon, so please our +Majesty,' said Berenger, 'to let me have possession of my +daughter.'</p> + +<p>'Eh! is it only a little girl?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, Sire; but my heart yearns for her all the more,' said +Berenger, with glistening eyes.</p> + +<p>'You are right,' said the poor King. 'Mine, too, is a +little girl; and I bless God daily that she is no son--to be the +most wretched thing the France. Let her come in, +Madame. She is little older than my friend's daughter. +I would show her to him.'</p> + +<p>The Queen signed to Madame la Comtesse to fetch the child, and +Berenger added, 'Sire, you could do a further benefit to my poor +little one. One more signature of yours would attest that +ratification of my marriage which took place in your Majesty's +presence.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! I remember,' said Charles. 'You may have any name of +mine that can help you to oust that villain Narcisse; only wait to +use it--spare me any more storms. It will serve your turn as +well when I am beyond they, and you will make your claim +good. What,' seeing Berenger's interrogative look, 'do you +not know that by the marriage-contract the lands of each were +settled on the survivor?'</p> + +<p>'No, Sire; I have never seen the marriage-contract.'</p> + +<p>'Your kinsman knew it well,' said Charles.</p> + +<p>Just then, Madame la Comtesse returned, leading the little +Princess by the long ribbons at her waist; Charles bent forward, +calling, 'Here, <i>ma petite</i>, come here. Here is one who +loves thy father. Look well at him, that thou mayest know +him.'</p> + +<p>The little Madame Elisabeth so far understood, that, with a +certain lofty condescension, she extended her hand for the stranger +to kiss, and thus drew from the King the first smile that Berenger +had seen. She was more than half a year older than the +Berangere on whom his hopes were set, and whom he trusted to find +not such a pale, feeble, tottering little creature as this poor +young daughter of France, whose round black eyes gazed wonderingly +at his scar; but she was very precocious, and even already too much +of a royal lady to indulge in any awkward personal observation.</p> + +<p>By the time she had been rewarded for her good behaviour by one +of the dried plums in her father's comfit-box, the order had been +written by Pare, and Berenger had prepared the certificate for the +King's signature, according to the form given him by his +grandfather.</p> + +<p>'Your writing shakes nearly as much as mine,' said the poor +King, as he wrote his name to this latter. 'Now, Madame, you +had better sign it also; and tell this gentleman where to find +Father Meinhard in Austria. He was a little too true for us, +do you see--would not give thanks for shedding innocent +blood. Ah!'--and with a gasp of mournful longing, the King +sank back, while Elisabeth, at his bidding, added her name to the +certificate, and murmured the name of a convent in Vienna, where +her late confessor could be found.</p> + +<p>'I cannot thank you Majesty enough,' said Berenger; 'My child's +rights are now secure in England at least, and this'--as he held +the other paper for the King--'will give her to me.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! take it for what it is worth,' said the King, as he +scrawled his 'CHARLES' upon it. 'This order must be used +promptly, or it will avail you nothing. Write to Ambroise how +you speed; that is, if it will bring me one breath of good +news.' And as Berenger kissed his hand with tearful, +inarticulate thanks, he proceeded, 'Save for that cause, I would +ask you to come to me again. It does me good. It is +like a breath from Montpipeau--the last days of hope--before the +frenzy--the misery.'</p> + +<p>'Whenever your Majesty does me the honour---' began Berenger, +forgetting all except the dying man.</p> + +<p>'I am not so senseless,' interrupted the King sharply; 'it would +be losing the only chance of undoing one wrong. Only, +Ribaumont,' he added fervently, 'for once let me hear that one man +has pardoned me.'</p> + +<p>'Sire, Sire,' sobbed Berenger, totally overcome, 'how can I +speak the word? How feel aught but love, loyalty, +gratitude?'</p> + +<p>Charles half smiled again as he said in sad meditation--'Ah! it +was in me to have been a good king if they had let me. Think +of me, bid your friend Sidney think of me, as I would have +been--not as I have been--and pray, pray for me.' Then hiding +his face in his handkerchief, in a paroxysm of grief and horror, he +murmured in a stifled tone, 'Blood, blood, deliver me, good +Lord!'</p> + +<p>In effect, there was so sudden a gush of blood from mouth and +nose that Berenger sprang to his feet in dismay, and was <i>bona +fide</i> performing the part of assistant to the surgeon, when, at +the Queen's cry, not only the nurse Philippe hurried in, but with +her a very dark, keen-looking man, who at once began applying +strong essences to the King's face, as Berenger supported his +head. In a few moments Pare looked up at Berenger, and +setting him free, intimated to him, between sign and whisper, to go +into Philippe's room and wait there; and it was high time, for +though the youth had felt nothing in the stress of the moment, he +was almost swooning when he reached the little chamber, and lay +back in the nurse's chair, with closed eyes, scarcely conscious how +time went, or even where he was, till he was partly aroused by +hearing steps returning.</p> + +<p>'The poor young man,' said Philippe's kind voice, 'he is +fainting. </p> + +<p>Ah! no wonder it overcame any kind heart.'</p> + +<p>'How is the King?' Berenger tried to say, but his own voice +still sounded unnatural and far away.</p> + +<p>'He is better for the time, and will sleep,' said Pare, +administering to his other patient some cordial drops as he +spoke. 'There, sir; you will soon be able to return to the +carriage. This has been a sore trial to your strength.'</p> + +<p>'But I have gained all--all I could hope,' said Berenger, +looking at his precious papers. 'But, alas! the poor +King!'</p> + +<p>'You will never, never let a word of blame pass against him,' +cried Philippe earnestly. 'It is well that one of our people +should have seen how it really is with him. All I regret is +that Maitre Rene thrust himself in and saw you.'</p> + +<p>'Who?' said Berenger, who had been too much engrossed to +perceive any one.</p> + +<p>'Maitre Rene of Milan, the Queen-mother's perfume. He came +with some plea of bringing a pouncet-box from her, but I wager it +was as a spy. I was doing my best to walk him gently off, +when the Queen's cry called me, and he must needs come in after +me.'</p> + +<p>'I saw him not,' said Berenger; 'perhaps he marked not me in the +confusion.'</p> + +<p>'I fear,' said Pare gravely, 'he was more likely to have his +senses about him than you. M. le Baron; these bleedings of +the King's are not so new to us familiars to the palace. The +best thing now to be done is to have you to the carriage, if you +can move.'</p> + +<p>Berenger, now quite recovered, stood up, and gave his warm +thanks to the old nurse for her kindness to him.</p> + +<p>'Ah! sir,' she said, 'you are one of us. Pray, pray that +God will have mercy on my poor child! He has the truth in his +heart. Pray that it may save him at the last.'</p> + +<p>Ambroise, knowing that she would never cease speaking while +there was any one to hear her, almost dragged Berenger out at the +little secret door, conveyed him safely down the stairs, and placed +him again in the carriage. Neither spoke till the surgeon +said, 'You have seen a sad sight, Monsieur le Baron: I need not bid +you be discreet.'</p> + +<p>'There are some things that go too deep for speech,' sighed the +almost English Berenger; then, after a pause, 'Is there no hope for +him? Is he indeed dying?'</p> + +<p>'Without a miracle, he cannot live a month. He is as truly +slain by the St. Bartholomew as ever its martyrs were,' said Pare, +moved out of his usual cautious reserve towards one who had seen so +much and felt so truly. 'I tell you, sir, that his mother +hath as truly slain her sons, as if she had sent Rene there to them +with his drugs. According as they have consciences and +hearts, so they pine and perish under her rule.'</p> + +<p>Berenger shuddered, and almost sobbed, 'And hath he no better +hope, no comforter?' he asked.</p> + +<p>'None save good old Flipote. As you heard, the +Queen-mother will not suffer his own Church to speak to him in her +true voice. No confessor but one chosen by the Cardinal of +Lorraine may come near him; and with him all is mere +ceremony. But if at the last he opens his ear and heart to +take in the true hope of salvation, it will be from the voice of +poor old Philippe.'</p> + +<p>And so it was! It was Philippe, who heard him in the night +sobbing over the piteous words, 'My God, what horrors, what blood!' +and, as she took from his tear-drenched handkerchief, spoke to him +of the Blood that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel; +and it was she who, in the final agony, heard and treasured these +last words, 'If the Lord Jesus will indeed receive me into the +company of the blest!' Surely, never was repentance deeper +than that of Charles IX.--and these, his parting words, were such +as to inspire the trust that it was not remorse.</p> + +<p>All-important as Berenger's expedition had been, he still could +think of little but the poor King; and, wearied out as he was, he +made very little reply to the astonished friends who gathered round +him on his return. He merely told Philip that he had +succeeded, and then lay almost without speaking on his bed till the +Ambassador made his evening visit, when he showed him the two +papers. Sir Francis could hardly believe his good fortune in +having obtained this full attestation of the marriage, and promised +to send to the English Ambassador in Germany, to obtain the like +from Father Meinhard. The document itself he advised Berenger +not to expose to the dangers of the French journey, but to leave it +with him to be forwarded direct to Lord Walwyn. It was most +important, both as obviating any dispute on the legitimacy of the +child, if she lived; or, if not, it would establish those rights of +Berenger to the Nid de Merle estates, of which he had heard from +the King. This information explained what were the claims +that the Chevalier was so anxious to hush up by a marriage with +Madame de Selinville. Berenger, as his wife's heir, was by +this contract the true owner of the estates seized by the Chevalier +and his son, and could only be ousted, either by his enemies +proving his contract to Eustacie invalid and to be unfulfilled, or +by his own voluntary resignation. The whole scheme was clear +to Walsingham, and he wasted advice upon unheeding ears, as to how +Berenger should act to obtain restitution so soon as he should be +of age, and how he should try to find out the notary who had drawn +up the contract. If Berenger cared at all, it was rather for +the sake of punishing and balking Narcisse, than with any desire of +the inheritance; and even for righteous indignation he was just now +too weary and too sad. He could not discuss his rights to Nid +de Merle, if they passed over the rights of Eustacie's child, round +whom his affection were winding themselves as his sole hope.</p> + +<p>The next evening Pare came in quest of Berenger, and after a +calm, refreshing, hopeful Ascension-day, which had been a real balm +to the weary spirit, found him enjoying the sweet May sunshine +under a tree in the garden. 'I am glad to find you out of +doors,' he said;</p> + +<p>'I fear I must hasten your departure.'</p> + +<p>'I burn to lose no time,' cried Berenger. 'Prithee tell +them I may safely go! They all call it madness to think of +setting out.'</p> + +<p>'Ordinarily it would be,' said Pare; 'but Rene of Milan has sent +his underlings to see who is my new, tall assistant. He will +report all to the Queen-mother; and though in this house you could +scarcely suffer personal harm, yet the purpose of your journey +might be frustrated, and the King might have to undergo another of +those <i>bourrasques</i> which he may well dread.'</p> + +<p>'I will go this very night,' said Berenger, starting up; 'where +is Philip?--where is Sir Francis?'</p> + +<p>Even that very night Pare thought not too soon, and the +Ascension-tide illuminations brought so many persons abroad that it +would be easy to go unnoticed; and in the general festivity, when +every one was coming and going from the country to gaze or worship +at the shrines and the images decked in every church, it would be +easy for the barriers to be passed without observation. Then +the brothers would sleep at a large hostel, the first on the road +to England, where Walsingham's couriers and guest always baited, +and the next morning he would send out to them their attendants, +with houses for their further journey back into Anjou. If any +enemies were on the watch, this would probably put them off the +scent, and it only remained further to be debated, whether the +Norman Guibert had better be dismissed at once or taken with +them. There was always soft place in Berenger's heart for a +Norman, and the man was really useful; moreover, he would certainly +be safer employed and in their company, than turned loose to tell +the Chevalier all he might have picked up in the Hotel +d'Angleterre. It was therefore decided that he should be the +attendant of the two young men, and he received immediate orders +that night to pack up their garments, and hold himself ready.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, before the hour of departure, Guibert had stolen +out, had an interview with the Chevalier de Ribaumont at the Hotel +de Selinville, and came back with more than one good French crown +in his pocket, and hopes of more.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXVIII. THE ORPHANS OF LA SABLERIE</h3> + +<p>The cream tarts with pepper in them.--ARABIAN NIGHTS.</p> + +<p>Hope, spring, and recovery carried the young Baronde Ribaumont +on his journey infinitely better than his companions had dared to +expect. He dreaded nothing so much as being overtaken by +those tidings which would make King Charles's order mere waste +paper; and therefore pressed on with little regard to his own +fatigue, although happily with increasing strength, which carried +him a further stage every day.</p> + +<p>Lucon was a closely-guarded, thoroughly Catholic city, and his +safe-conduct was jealously demanded; but the name of Ribaumont +silenced all doubt. 'A relation, apparently, of M. de Nid de +Merle,' said the officer on guard, and politely invited him to +dinner and bed at the castle; but these he thought it prudent to +decline, explaining that he brought a letter from the King to the +Mother Prioress.</p> + +<p>The convent walls were pointed out to him, and he only delayed +at the inn long enough to arrange his dress as might appear to the +Abbess most respectful, and, poor boy, be least likely to startle +the babe on whom his heart was set. At almost every inn, the +little children had shrieked and run from his white and gashed +face, and his tall, lank figure in deep black; and it was very +sadly that he said to Philip, 'You must come with me. If she +turns from me as an ogre, your bright ruddy face will win her.'</p> + +<p>The men were left at the inn with charge to let Guibert speak +for them, and to avoid showing their nationality. The three +months of Paris, and the tailors there, had rendered Philip much +less conspicuous than formerly; but still people looked at him +narrowly as he followed his brother along the street. The two +lads had made up their minds to encumber themselves with no nurses, +or womanfolk. The child should be carried, fondled, and fed +by her boy-father alone. He believed that, when he once held +her in his arms, he should scarcely even wish to give her up to any +one else; and, in his concentration of mind, had hardly thought of +all the inconveniences and absurdities that would arise; but, +really, was chiefly occupied by the fear that she would not at +first let him take her in his arms, and hold her to his heart.</p> + +<p>Philip, a little more alive to the probabilities, nevertheless +was disposed to regard them as 'fun and pastime.' He had had +many a frolic with his baby-sisters, and this would be only a +prolonged one; besides, it was 'Berry's' one hope, and to rescue +any creature from a convent was a good work, in his Protestant +eyes, which had not become a whit less prejudiced at Paris. +So he was quite prepared to take his full share of his niece, or +more, if she should object to her father's looks, and he only +suggested halting at an old woman's stall to buy some sweetmeats by +way of propitiation--a proceeding which much amazed the gazing +population of Lucon. Two reports were going about, one that +the King had vowed a silver image of himself to St. Ursula, if her +Prioress would obtain his recovery by their prayers; the other that +he was going to translate her to the royal Abbey of Fontevrault to +take charge of his daughter, Madame Elisabeth. Any way, high +honour by a royal messenger must be intended to the Prioress, Mere +Monique, and the Luconnais were proud of her sanctity.</p> + +<p>The portress had already heard the report, and opened her wicket +even before the bell could be rung, then eagerly ushered him into +the parlour, the barest and most ascetic-looking of rooms, with a +boarded partition across, unenlivened except by a grated hollow, +and the outer portion empty, save of a table, three chairs, and a +rugged woodcut of a very tall St. Ursula, with a crowd of pigmy +virgins, not reaching higher than the ample hem of her +petticoat.</p> + +<p>'Did Aunt Cecily live in such a place as this?' exclaimed +Philip, gazing round; 'or do they live on the fat among down +cushions inside there?'</p> + +<p>'Hush--sh,' said Berenger, frowning with anxiety; for a rustling +was heard behind the screen, and presently a black veil and white +scapulary appeared, and a sweet calm voice said, 'Peace be with +you, sir; what are your commands?'</p> + +<p>Berenger bowed low, and replied, 'Thanks, reverend Lady; I bring +a letter from the King, to request your aid in a matter that +touches me nearly.'</p> + +<p>'His Majesty shall be obeyed. Come you from him?'</p> + +<p>He was forced to reply to her inquiries after the poor King's +health before she opened the letter, taking it under her veil to +read it; so that as he stood, trembling, almost sickening with +anxiety, and scarcely able to breathe, he could see nothing but the +black folds; and at her low murmured exclamation he started as if +at a cannon-shot.</p> + +<p>'De Ribaumont!' she said; 'can it be--the child--of--of--out +poor dear little <i>pensionnaire</i> at Bellaise?'</p> + +<p>'It is--it is!' cried Berenger. 'O Madame, you knew her at +Bellaise?'</p> + +<p>'Even so,' replied the Prioress, who was in fact the Soeur +Monique so loved and regretted by Eustacie. 'I loved and +prayed for her with all my heart when she was claimed by the +world. Heaven's will be done; but the poor little thing loved +me, and I have often thought that had I been still at Bellaise when +she returned she would not have fled. But of this child I +have no knowledge.'</p> + +<p>'You took charge of the babes of La Sablerie, Madame,' said +Berenger, almost under his breath.</p> + +<p>'Her infant among those poor orphans!' exclaimed the Prioress, +more and more startled and amazed.</p> + +<p>'If it be anywhere in this life, it is in your good keeping, +Madame,' said Berenger, with tears in his eyes. 'Oh! I +entreat, withhold her no longer.'</p> + +<p>'But,' exclaimed the bewildered nun, 'who would you then be, +sir?'</p> + +<p>'I--her husband--widower of Eustacie--father of her orphan!' +cried Berenger. 'She cannot be detained from me, either by +right or law.'</p> + +<p>'Her husband,' still hesitated Monique. 'But he is +dead. The poor little one--Heaven have mercy on her +soul--wrote me a piteous entreaty, and gave large alms for prayers +and masses for his soul.'</p> + +<p>The sob in his throat almost strangled his speech. 'She +mourned me to the last as dead. I was borne away senseless +and desperately wounded; and when I recovered power to seek her it +was too late! O Madame! have pity--let me see all she has +left to me.'</p> + +<p>'Is it possible?' said the nun. 'We would not learn the +parentage of our nurslings since all alike become children of +Mother Church.' Then, suddenly bethinking herself, 'But, +surely, Monsieur cannot be a Huguenot.'</p> + +<p>It was no doubt the first time she had been brought in contact +with a schismatic, and she could not believe that such respectful +courtesy could come from one. He saw he must curb himself, +and explain. 'I am neither Calvinist nor Sacrementaire, +Madame. I was bred in England, where we love our own +Church. My aunt is a Benedictine Sister, who keeps her rule +strictly, though her convent is destroyed; and it is to her that I +shall carry my daughter. Ah, Lady, did you but know my +heart's hunger for her!'</p> + +<p>The Prioress, better read in the lives of the saints than in the +sects of heretics, did not know whether this meant that he was of +her own faith or not; and her woman's heart being much moved by his +pleadings, she said, 'I will heartily give your daughter to you, +sir, as indeed I must, if she be here; but you have never seen +her?'</p> + +<p>'No; only her empty cradle in the burnt house. But I MUST +know her. She is a year old.'</p> + +<p>'We have two babes of that age; but I fear me you will scarce +see much likeness in either of them to any one you knew,' said the +Prioress, thoughtfully. 'However, there are two girls old +enough to remember the parentage of their companions, though we +forbade them to mention it. Would you see them, sir?'</p> + +<p>'And the infants, so please you, reverend Mother,' exclaimed +Berenger.</p> + +<p>She desired him to wait, and after an interval of suspense there +was a pattering of little <i>sabots</i> behind the partition, and +through the grating he beheld six little girls in blue serge frocks +and tight white caps. Of the two infants, one with a puny, +wizen, pinched face was in the arms of the Prioress; the other, a +big, stout, coarse child, with hard brown cheeks and staring +black-eyes, was on its own feet, but with a great basket-work frame +round its head to save it from falls. There were two much +more prepossessing children of three or four, and two +intelligent-looking girls of perhaps eight and ten, to the elder of +whom the Prioress turned, saying, 'Agathe, I release you from my +command not to speak of your former life, and desire you to tell +this gentleman if you know who were the parents of these two little +ones.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, reverend Mother,' said Agathe, readily; 'the old name of +Claire' (touching the larger baby) 'was Salome Potier: her mother +was the washerwoman; and Nannonciade, I don't know what her name +was, but her father worked for Maitre Brassier who made the +kettles.'</p> + +<p>Philip felt relieved to be free from all doubt about these very +uninviting little ones, but Berenger, though sighing heavily, asked +quickly, 'Permit me, Madame, a few questions.--Little maid, did you +ever hear of Isaac Gardon?'</p> + +<p>'Maitre Isaac! Oh yes, sir. We used to hear him +preach at the church, and sometimes he catechized us,' she said, +and her lip quivered.</p> + +<p>'He was a heretic, and I abjure him,' added the other girl, +perking up her head.</p> + +<p>'Was he in the town? What became of him?' exclaimed +Berenger.</p> + +<p>'He would not be in the town,' said the elder girl. 'My +poor father had sent him word to go away.'</p> + +<p>'<i>Eh quoi</i>?'</p> + +<p>'Our father was Bailli la Grasse,' interposed the younger girl, +consequentially. 'Our names were Marthe and Lucie la Grasse, +but Agathe and Eulalie are much prettier.'</p> + +<p>'But Maitre Gardon?' still asked Berenger.</p> + +<p>'He ought to be take and burnt,' said the new Eulalie; 'he +brought it all on us.'</p> + +<p>'How was it? Was my wife with him--Madame de +Ribaumont? Speak, my child.'</p> + +<p>'That was the name,' said one girl.</p> + +<p>'But Maitre Gardon had no great lady with him,' said the other, +'only his son's widow and her baby, and they lodged with Noemi +Laurent, who made the <i>patisserie</i>.'</p> + +<p>'Ah!' cried Berenger, lighting up with the new ray of +hope. 'Tell me, my dear, that they fled with him, and +where.'</p> + +<p>'I do not know of their going,' said Agathe, confused and +overborne by his eagerness.</p> + +<p>'Curb yourself, sir,' said the Prioress, 'they will recollect +themselves and tell you what they can.'</p> + +<p>'It was the little cakes with lemoned sugar,' suggested the +younger girl. 'Maitre Tressan always said there would be a +judgment on us for our daintiness. Ah! he was very cross +about them, and after all it was the Maitre of Lucon who ate +fifteen of them all at once; but then he is not a heretic.'</p> + +<p>Happily for Berenger, Agathe unravelled this speech.</p> + +<p>'Mademoiselle Gardon made the sugar-lemoned cakes, and the Mayor +of Lucon, one day when he supped with us, was so delighted with +them that he carried one away to show his wife, and afterwards he +sent over to order some more. Then, after a time, he sent +secretly to my father to ask him if Maitre Gardon was there; for +there was a great outcry about the lemon cakes, and the Duke of +Alencon's army were coming to demand his daughter-in-law; because +it seems she was a great lady, and the only person who could make +the cakes.'</p> + +<p>'Agathe!' exclaimed the Prioress.</p> + +<p>'I understand,' said Berenger. 'The Cure of Nissard told +me that she was traced through cakes, the secret of which was only +known at Bellaise.'</p> + +<p>'That might be,' said Mere Monique. 'I remember there was +something of pride in the cakes of Bellaise, though I always tried +to know nothing of them.'</p> + +<p>'Well, little one, continue,' entreated Berenger. 'You are +giving me life and hope.'</p> + +<p>'I heard my father and mother talk about it,' said Agathe, +gaining courage. 'He said he knew nothing of great people, +and would give nobody up to the Catholics, but as to Maitre Isaac, +he should let him know that the Catholic army were coming, and that +it would be the better for us if we had no pastor within our walls; +and that there was a cry that his daughter's lemon cakes were made +by the lady that was lost.'</p> + +<p>'And they escaped! Ah! would that I could thank the good +man!'</p> + +<p>'Surely yes, sir, I never saw them again. Maitre Tressan +the elder prayed with us. And when the cruel soldiers came +and demanded the lady and Maitre Isaac, and all obstinate +Calvinists, our mayor and my father and the rest made answer that +they had no knowledge of the lady, and did not know where Maitre +Gardon was; and as to Huguenots, we were all one as obstinate as +the other, but that we would pay any fine within our means so they +would spare our lives. Then the man in the fine coat said, it +was the lady they wanted, not the fine; and a great deal he said +besides, I know not what but my father said, "It is our life's +blood that they want," and he put on his breastplate and kissed us +all, and went away. Then came horrible noises and firing of +cannon, and the neighbours ran in and said that the enemy were +battering down the old crumbly bit of wall where the monastery was +burnt; and just then our man Joseph ran back all pale, and staring +, to tell us my father was lying badly hurt in the street. My +mother hurried out, and locked the door to keep us from +following.'</p> + +<p>The poor child broke down in tears, and her sister went +on. 'Oh, we were so frightened--such frightful sounds came +close, and people ran by all blood and shrieking--and there was a +glare in the sky-- and nobody came home--till at last it grew so +dreadful that we hid in the cellar to hear and see nothing. +Only it grew hotter and hotter, and the light through the little +grating was red. And at last there was a noise louder than +thunder, and, oh, such a shaking--for it was the house falling +down. But we did not know that; we tried to open the door, +and could not; then we cried and called for father and mother--and +no one heard--and we sat still for fear, till we slept--and then it +was all dark, and we were very hungry. I don't know how time +went, but at last, when I was daylight again, there was a talking +above, a little baby crying, and a kind voice too; and then we +called out, "Oh, take us out and give us bread." Then a face +looked down the grating. Oh, it was like the face of an angel +to us, with all the white hair flying round. It was the holy +priest of Nissard; and when one of the cruel men said we were only +little heretics who ought to die like rats in a hole, he said we +were but innocents who did not know the difference.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! we did,' said the elder girl. 'You are younger, +sister, you forget more;' and then, holding out her hands to +Berenger, she exclaimed, 'Ah! sir, take us away with you.'</p> + +<p>'My child!' exclaimed the Prioress, 'you told me you were happy +to be in the good course.'</p> + +<p>'Oh yes!' cried the poor child; 'but I don't want to be +happy! I am forgetting all my poor father and mother used to +say. I can't help it, and they would be so grieved. Oh, +take me away, sir!'</p> + +<p>'Take care, Agathe, you will be a relapsed heretic,' said her +sister, solemnly. 'For me, I am a true Catholic. I love +the beautiful images and the processions.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! but what would our mother have said!' cried poor Agathe, +weeping more bitterly.</p> + +<p>'Poor child, her old recollections have been renewed,' said the +Prioress, with unchanged sweetness; 'but it will pass. My +dear, the gentleman will tell you that it is as impossible for him +to take you as it is for me to let you go.'</p> + +<p>'It is so, truly, little one,' said Berenger. 'The only +little girl I cold have taken with me would have been my own;' and +as her eyes looked at him wistfully, he added, 'No doubt, if your +poor mother could, she would thank this good Mother-prioress for +teaching you to serve God and be a good child.'</p> + +<p>'Monsieur speaks well and kindly,' said the Prioress; 'and now, +Agathe, make your curtsey, and take away the little ones.'</p> + +<p>'Let me ask one question more, reverend Mother,' said +Berenger. 'Ah! children, did you ever see her whom you call +Isaac Gardon's daughter-in-law?'</p> + +<p>'No, sir,' said the children; 'but mother did, and she promised +one day to take us to see the baby, for it was so pretty--so white, +that she had never seen the like.'</p> + +<p>'So white!' repeated Berenger to himself; and the Prioress, +struck, perhaps, by the almost flaxen locks that sparsely waved on +his temples, and the hue of the ungloved hand that rested on the +edge of the <i>grille</i>, said, smiling, 'You come of a fair +family, Monsieur.'</p> + +<p>'The White Ribaumonts,' said Berenger, 'and, moreover, my mother +was called the Swan of England; my little sisters have skins like +snow. Ah! Madame, though I have failed, I go away far happier +than if I had succeeded.'</p> + +<p>'And reveal the true faith,' began the nun; but Philip in the +meantime was nudging his brother, and whispering in English, 'No +Popish prayers, I say! Stay, give these poor little prisoners +one feast of the sweetmeats we brought.'</p> + +<p>Of this last hint Berenger was glad, and the Prioress readily +consented to a distribution of the dainties among the +orphans. He wished to leave a more lasting token of his +gratitude to the little maiden whose father had perhaps saved +Eustacie's life, and recollecting that he had about him a great +gold coin, bearing the heads of Philip and Mary, he begged leave to +offer it to Agathe, and found that it was received by good Mere +Monique almost in the light of a relic, as bearing the head of so +pious a queen.</p> + +<p>Then, to complete Philip's disgust he said, 'I took with me my +aunt's blessing when I set out; let me take yours with me also, +reverend Mother.'</p> + +<p>When they were in the street again, Philip railed at him as +though he had subjected himself to a spell.</p> + +<p>'She is almost a saint,' answered Berenger.</p> + +<p>'And have we not saints enough of our own, without running after +Popish ones behind grates? Brother, if ever the good old days come +back of invading France, I'll march straight hither, and deliver +the poor little wretches so scandalously mewed up here, and true +Protestants all the time!'</p> + +<p>'Hush! People are noticing the sound of your English.'</p> + +<p>'Let them! I never thanked Heaven properly before that I +have not a drop of French---' Here Berenger almost shook him +by the shoulder, as men turned at his broad tones and foreign +words, and he walked on in silence, while Berenger at his side felt +as one treading on air, so infinite was the burden taken off his +mind. Though for the present absolutely at sea as to where to +seek Eustacie, the relief from acquiescence in the horrible fate +that had seemed to be hers was such, that a flood of unspeakable +happiness seemed to rush in on him, and bear him up with a new +infusion of life, buoyancy, and thankfulness.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXIX. IN THE KING'S NAME</h3> + +<p> 'Under which king, Bezonian? speak or die.'</p> + +<p>'Under King Harry.'</p> + +<p> + +--KING HENRY IV.</p> + +<p>'One bird in the hand is not always worth two in the bush, +assuredly,' said Philip, when Berenger was calm enough to hold +council on what he called this most blessed discovery; 'but where +to seek them?'</p> + +<p>'I have no fears now,' returned Berenger. 'We have not +been bore through so much not to be brought together at last. +Soon, soon shall we have her! A minister so distinguished as +Isaac Gardon is sure to be heard of either at La Rochelle, +Montauban, or Nimes, their great gathering places.'</p> + +<p>'For Rochelle, then?' said Philip.</p> + +<p>'Even so. We will be off early to-morrow, and from thence, +if we do not find her there, as I expected, we shall be able to +write the thrice happy news to those at home.'</p> + +<p>Accordingly, the little cavalcade started in good time, in the +cool of the morning of the bright long day of early June, while +apple petal floated down on them in the lanes like snow, and +nightingales in every hedge seemed to give voice and tune to +Berenger's eager, yearning hopes.</p> + +<p>Suddenly there was a sound of horse's feet in the road before +them, and as they drew aside to make way, a little troop of +gendarmes filled the narrow lane. The officer, a rough, +harsh-looking man, laid his hand on Berenger's bridle, with the +words, 'In the name of the King!'</p> + +<p>Philip began to draw his sword with one hand, and with the other +to urge his horse between the officer and his brother, but Berenger +called out, 'Back! This gentleman mistakes my person. I +am the Baron de Ribaumont, and have a safe-conduct from the +King.'</p> + +<p>'What king?' demanded the officer.</p> + +<p>'From King Charles.'</p> + +<p>'I arrest you,' said the officer, 'in the name of King Henry +III, and of the Queen Regent Catherine.'</p> + +<p>'The King dead?' Exclaimed Berenger.</p> + +<p>'On the 30<sup>th</sup> of May. Now, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Your warrant--your cause?' still demanded Berenger.</p> + +<p>'There will be time enough for that when you are safely lodged,' +said the captain, roughly pulling at the rein, which he had held +all the time.</p> + +<p>'What, no warrant?' shouted Philip, 'he is a mere robber!' and +with drawn sword he was precipitating himself on the captain, when +another gendarme, who had been on the watch, grappled with him, and +dragged him off his horse before he could strike a blow. The +other two English, Humfrey Holt and John Smithers, strong +full-grown men, rode in fiercely to the rescue, and Berenger +himself struggled furiously to loose himself from the captain, and +deliver his brother. Suddenly there was the report of a +pistol: poor Smithers fell, there was a moment of standing aghast, +and in that moment the one man and the two youths were each pounced +on by three or four gendarmes, thrown down and pinioned.</p> + +<p>'Is this usage for gentlemen?' exclaimed Berenger, as he was +roughly raised to his feet.</p> + +<p>'The King's power has been resisted,' was all the answer; and +when he would have been to see how it was with poor Smithers, one +of the men-at-arms kicked over the body with sickening brutality, +saying, 'Dead enough, heretic and English carrion!'</p> + +<p>Philip uttered a cry of loathing horror, and turned white; +Berenger, above all else, felt a sort of frenzied despair as he +thought of the peril of the boy who had been trusted to him.</p> + +<p>'Have you had enough, sir?' said the captain. 'Mount and +come.'</p> + +<p>They could only let themselves be lifted to their horses, and +their hands were then set free to use their bridles, each being +guarded by a soldier on each side of him. Philip attempted +but once to speak, and that in English: 'Next time I shall take my +pistol.'</p> + +<p>He was rudely silenced, and rode on with wide-open stolid eyes +and dogged face, steadfastly resolved that no Frenchman should see +him flinch, and vexed that Berenger had his riding mask on so that +his face could not be studied; while he, on his side, was revolving +all causes possible for his arrest, and all means of enforcing he +liberation, if not of himself at least of Philip and Humfrey. +He looked round for Guibert, but could not see him.</p> + +<p>They rode on through the intricate lanes till the sun was high +and scorching, and Berenger felt how far he was from perfect +recovery. At last, however, some little time past noon, the +gendarmes halted at a stone fountain, outside a village, and +disposing a sufficient guard around his captives, the officer +permitted them to dismount and rest, while he, with the rest of the +troop and the horses, went to the village CABARET. Philip +would have asked his brother what it meant, and what was to be +done, but Berenger shook his head, and intimated that silence was +safest as present, since they might be listened to; and Philip, who +so much imagined treachery and iniquity to be the order of the day +in France that he was scarcely surprised at the present disaster, +resigned himself to the same sullen endurance. Provisions and +liquor were presently sent up from the inn, but Berenger could +taste nothing but the cold water of the fountain, which trickled +out cool and fresh beneath an arch surmounted by a figure of Our +Lady. He bathed his face and head in the refreshing spring, +and lay down on a cloak in the shade, Philip keeping a constant +change of drenched kerchiefs on his brow, and hoping that he slept, +till at the end to two or three hours the captain returned, gave +the word to horse, and the party rode on through intricate lanes, +blossoming with hawthorn, and ringing with songs of birds that +spoke a very different language now to Berenger's heart from what +they had said in the hopeful morning.</p> + +<p>A convent bell was ringing to evensong, when passing its +gateway; the escort turned up a low hill, on the summit of which +stood a chateau, covering a considerable extent of ground, with a +circuit of wall, whitewashed so as perfectly to glare in the +evening sun; at every angle a round, slim turret, crowned by a +brilliant red-tiled extinguisher-like cap; and the whole surmounted +by a tall old keep in the centre. There was a square +projection containing an arched gateway, with heavy doorways, which +were thrown open as the party approached. Philip looked up as +he rode in, and over the doorway beheld the familiar fretted +shield, with the leopard in the corner, and <i>'A moi +Ribaumont'</i> round it. Could it then be Berenger's own +castle, and was it thus that he was approaching it? He +himself had not looked up; he was utterly spent with fatigue, +dejection, and the severe headache brought on by the heat of the +sun, and was only intent on rallying his powers for the crisis of +fate that was probably approaching; and thus scarcely took note of +the court into which he rode, lying between the gateway and the <i> +corps de logis</i>, a building erected when comfort demanded more +space than was afforded by the old keep, against which one end +leant; but still, though inclosed in a court, the lower windows +were small and iron-barred, and all air of luxury was reserved for +the mullioned casements of the upper storey. The court was +flagged, but grass shot up between the stones, and the trim air of +ease and inhabited comfort to which the brothers were used at home +was utterly wanting. Berenger was hustled off his horse, and +roughly pushed through a deep porch, where the first thing he heard +was the Chevalier de Ribaumont's voice in displeasure.</p> + +<p>'How now, sir; hands off! Is this the way you conduct my +nephew?'</p> + +<p>'He resisted, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Sir,' said Berenger, advancing into the hall, 'I know not the +meaning of this. I am peacefully travelling with a passport +from the King, when I am set upon, no warrant shown me, my faithful +servant slain, myself and my brother, an English subject, +shamefully handled.'</p> + +<p>'The violence shall be visited on whatever rascal durst insult a +gentleman and my nephew,' said the Chevalier. 'For release, +it shall be looked to; but unfortunately it is too true that there +are orders from the Queen in Council for your apprehension, and it +was only on my special entreaty for the honour of the family, and +the affection I bear you, that I was allowed to receive you here +instead of your being sent to an ordinary prison.'</p> + +<p>'On what pretext?' demanded Berenger.</p> + +<p>'It is known that you have letters in your possession from +escaped traitors now in England, to La Noue, Duplessis Mornay, and +other heretics.'</p> + +<p>'That is easily explained,' said Berenger. 'You know well, +sir, that they were to facilitate my search at La Sablerie. +You shall see them yourself, sir.'</p> + +<p>'That I must assuredly do,' replied the Chevalier, 'for it is +the order of her Majesty, I regret to say, that your person and +baggage be searched;' then, as indignant colour rushed into +Berenger's face, and an angry exclamation was beginning, he added, +'Nay, I understand, my dear cousin, it is very painful, but we +would spare you as much as possible. It will be quite enough +if the search is made by myself in the presence of this gentleman, +who will only stand by for form's sake. I have no doubt it +will enable us quickly to clear up matters, and set you free +again. Do me the honour to follow me to the chamber destined +for you.'</p> + +<p>'Let me see the order for my arrest,' said Berenger, holding his +head high.</p> + +<p>'The English scruple must be gratified,' said the +Chevalier. And accordingly the gendarme captain unfolded +before him a paper, which was evidently a distinct order to arrest +and examine the person of Henri Beranger Eustache, Baron de +Ribaumont and Sieur de Leurre, suspected of treasonable +practices--and it bore the signature of Catherine.</p> + +<p>'There is nothing here said of my step-father's son, Philip +Thistlewood, nor of my servant, Humfrey Holt,' said Berenger, +gathering the sense with his dizzy eyes as best he could. +'They cannot be detained, being born subjects of the Queen of +England.'</p> + +<p>'They intercepted the justice of the King,' said the captain, +laying his hand on Philip's shoulder. 'I shall have them off +with me to the garrison of Lugon, and deal with them there.'</p> + +<p>'Wait!' said the Chevalier, interposing before Berenger's +fierce, horror-struck expostulation could break forth; 'this is an +honourable young gentleman, son of a chevalier of good reputation +in England, and he need not be so harshly dealt with. You +will not separate either him or the poor groom from my nephew, so +the Queen's authority be now rightly acknowledged.'</p> + +<p>The captain shrugged his shoulders, as if displeased; and the +Chevalier, turning to Berenger, said, 'You understand, nephew, the +lot of you all depends on your not giving umbrage to these officers +of her Majesty. I will do my poor best for you; but +submission is first needed.'</p> + +<p>Berenger knew enough of his native country to be aware that <i> +la justice du Roi</i> was a terrible thing, and that Philip's +resistance had really put him in so much danger that it was needful +to be most careful not further to offend the functionary of +Government; and abhorrent as the proposed search was to him, he +made no further objection, but taking Philip's arm, lest they +should he separated, he prepared to follow wherever he was to be +conducted. The Chevalier led the way along a narrow stone +passage, with loophole-windows here and there; and Philip, for all +his proud, indifferent bearing, felt his flesh creep as he looked +for a stair descending into the bowels of the earth. A stair +there was, but it went up instead of down, and after mounting this, +and going through a sort of ante-room, a door was opened into a +tolerably spacious apartment, evidently in the old keep; for the +two windows on opposite sides were in an immensely massive wall, +and the floor above and vaulting below were of stone; but otherwise +there was nothing repulsive in the appearance of the room. +There was a wood fire on the hearth; the sun, setting far to the +north, peeped in aslant at one window; a mat was on the floor, +tapestry on the lower part of the walls; a table and chairs, and a +walnut chest, with a chess-board and a few books on it, were as +much furniture as was to be seen in almost any living-room of the +day. Humfrey and Guibert, too, were already there, with the +small riding valises they and poor Smithers had had in +charge. These were at one opened, but contained merely +clothes and linen, nothing else that was noticed, except three +books, at which the captain looked with a stupid air; and the +Chevalier did not seem capable of discovering more than that all +three were Latin--one, he believed, the Bible.</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir, the Vulgate--a copy older than the Reformation, so +not liable to be called an heretical version,' said Berenger, to +whom a copy had been given by Lady Walwyn, as more likely to be +saved if his baggage were searched. 'The other is the Office +and Psalter after our English rite; and this last is not mine, but +Mr. Sidney's--a copy of Virgilius Maro, which he had left +behind at Paris.'</p> + +<p>The Chevalier, not willing to confess that he had taken the +English Prayer-book for Latin, hastily said, 'Nothing wrong +there--no, no, nothing that will hurt the State; may it only be so +with what you carry on your person, fair cousin. Stand back, +gentleman, this is gear for myself alone. Now, fair nephew,' +he added, 'not a hand shall be laid on you, if you will give me +your honourable word, as a nobleman, that you are laying before me +all that you carry about you.'</p> + +<p>An instant's thought convinced Berenger that resistance would +save nothing, and merely lead to indignity to himself and danger to +Philip; and therefore he gave the promise to show everything about +him, without compulsion. Accordingly, he produced his purse +for current expenses, poor King Charles's safe-conduct, and other +articles of no consequence, from his pockets; then reluctantly +opened his doublet, and took off the belt containing his store of +gold, which had been replenished at Walsingham's. This was +greedily eyed by the captain, but the Chevalier at once made it +over to Philip's keeping, graciously saying, 'We do no more than +duty requires;' but at the same time he made a gesture towards +another small purse that hung round Berenger's neck by a black +ribbon.</p> + +<p>'On my sacred word and honour,' said Berenger, 'it contains +nothing important to any save myself.'</p> + +<p>'Alas! my bounden duty,' urged the Chevalier.</p> + +<p>An angry reply died on Berenger's lip. At the thought of +Philip, he opened the purse, and held out the contents on his palm: +a tiny gold ring, a tress of black hair, a fragment of +carnation-ribbon pricked with pin-holes, a string of small +worthless yellow shells, and, threaded with them, a large +pear-shaped pearl of countless price. Even the Chevalier was +touched at the sight of this treasury, resting on the blanched palm +of the thin, trembling hand, and jealously watched by eyes +glistening with sudden moisture, though the lips were firm +set. 'Alas! my poor young cousin,' he said, 'you loved her +well.'</p> + +<p>'Not loved, but love,' muttered Berenger to himself, as if +having recourse to the only cordial that could support him through +the present suffering; and he was closing his fingers again over +his precious hoard, when the Chevalier added, 'Stay! Nephew--that +pearl?'</p> + +<p>'Is one of the chaplet; the token she sent to England,' he +answered.</p> + +<p>'<i>Pauvre petite! </i> Then, at least a fragment remains +of the reward of our ancestor's courage,' said the Chevalier.</p> + +<p>And Berenger did not feel it needful to yield up that still +better possession, stored within his heart, that <i>la petite</i> +and her pearls were safe together. It was less unendurable to +produce the leather case from a secret pocket within his doublet, +since, unwilling as he was that any eye should scan the letters it +contained, there was nothing in them that could give any clue +towards tracing her. Nothing had been written or received +since his interview with the children at Lucon. There was, +indeed, Eustacie's letter to his mother, a few received at Paris +from Lord Walwyn, reluctantly consenting to his journey in quest of +his child, his English passport, the unfortunate letters to La +Noue; and what evidently startled the Chevalier more than all the +rest, the copy of the certificate of the ratification of the +marriage; but his consternation was so arranged as to appear to be +all on behalf of his young kinsman. 'This is serious!' he +said, striking his forehead; 'you will be accused of forging the +late King's name.'</p> + +<p>'This is but a copy,' said Berenger, pointing to the heading; +'the original has been sent with our Ambassador's dispatches to +England.'</p> + +<p>'It is a pity,' said the Chevalier, looking thoroughly vexed, +'that you should have brought fresh difficulties on yourself for a +mere piece of waste paper to be affected by the validity of your +marriage. Dear cousin,'--he glanced at the officer and +lowered his voice,--'let me tear this paper; it would only do you +harm, and the Papal decree annuls it.'</p> + +<p>'I have given my word,' said Berenger, 'that all that could do +me harm should be delivered up! Besides,' he added, 'even had +I the feeling for my own honour and that of my wife and child, +living or dead, the harm, it seems to me, would be to those who +withhold her lands from me.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, fair nephew! you have fallen among designing persons who +have filled your head with absurd claims; but I will not argue the +point now, since it becomes a family, not a State matter. +These papers'--and he took them into his hand--'must be examined, +and to-morrow Captain Delarue will take them to Paris, with any +explanation you may desire to offer. Meantime you and your +companions remain my guest, at full liberty, provided you will give +me your parole to attempt no escape.'</p> + +<p>'No, sir,' said Berenger, hotly, 'we will not become our own +jailers, nor acquiesce in this unjust detention. I warn you +that I am a naturalized Englishman, acknowledged by the Queen as my +grandfather's heir, and the English Ambassador will inform the +court what Queen Elizabeth thinks of such dealings with her +subjects.'</p> + +<p>'Well said,' exclaimed Philip, and drawing himself up, he added, +'I refuse my parole, and warn you that it is at your peril that you +imprison an Englishman.'</p> + +<p>'Very well, gentlemen,' said the Chevalier; 'the difference will +be that I shall unwillingly be forced to let Captain Delarue post +guards at the outlets of this tower. A room beneath is +prepared for your grooms, and the court is likewise free to +you. I will endeavour to make your detention as little +irksome as you will permit, and meantime allow me to show you your +sleeping chamber.' He then politely, as if he had been +ushering a prince to his apartment, led the way, pointing to the +door through which they had entered the keep, and saying, 'This is +the only present communication with the dwelling-house. Two +gendarmes will always be on the outside.' He conducted the +young men up a stone spiral stair to another room, over that which +they had already seen, and furnished as fairly as ordinary sleeping +chambers were wont to be.</p> + +<p>Here, said their compulsory host, he would leave them to prepare +for supper, when they would do him the honour to join him in the +eating-hall on their summons by the steward.</p> + +<p>His departing bow was duly returned by Berenger, but no sooner +did his steps die away on the stairs than the young man threw +himself down on his bed, in a paroxysm of suffering both mental and +bodily.</p> + +<p>'Berry, Berry, what is this? Speak to me. What does +it all mean?' cried Philip.</p> + +<p>'How can I tell?' said Berenger, showing his face for a moment, +covered with tears; 'only that my only friend is dead, and some +villainous trick has seized me, just--just as I might have found +her. And I've been the death of my poor groom, and got you +into the power of these vile dastards! Oh, would that I had +come alone! Would that they had had the sense to aim +direct!'</p> + +<p>'Brother, brother, anything but this!' cried Philip. 'The +rogues are not worth it. Sir Francis will have us out in no +time, or know the reason why. I'd scorn to let them wring a +tear from me.'</p> + +<p>'I hope they never may, dear Phil, nor anything worse.'</p> + +<p>'Now,' continued Philip, 'the way will be to go down to supper, +since they will have it so, and sit and eat at one's ease as if one +cared for them no more than cat and dog. Hark! there's the +steward speaking to Guibert. Come, Berry, wash your face and +come.'</p> + +<p>'I--my head aches far too much, were there nothing else.'</p> + +<p>'What! it is nothing but the sun,' said Philip. 'Put a +bold face on it, man, and show them how little you heed.'</p> + +<p>'How LITTLE I heed!' bitterly repeated Berenger, turning his +face away, utterly unnerved between disappointment, fatigue, and +pain; and Philip at that moment had little mercy. Dismayed +and vaguely terrified, yet too resolute in national pride to betray +his own feelings, he gave vent to his vexation by impatience with a +temperament more visibly sensitive than his own: 'I never +thought you so mere a Frenchman,' he said contemptuously. 'If +you weep and wail so like a sick wench, they will soon have their +will of you! I'd have let them kill me before they searched +me.'</p> + +<p>''Tis bad enough without this from you, Phil,' said Berenger, +faintly, for he was far too much spent for resentment or +self-defence, and had only kept up before the Chevalier by dint of +strong effort. Philip was somewhat aghast, both at the +involuntary gesture of pain, and at finding there was not even +spirit to be angry with him: but his very dismay served at the +moment only to feed his displeasure; and he tramped off in his +heavy boots, which he chose to wear as a proof of disdain for his +companions. He explained that M. de Ribaumont was too much +fatigued to come to supper, and he was accordingly marched along +the corridor, with the steward before him bearing a lighted torch, +and two gendarmes with halberds behind him. And in his walk +he had ample time for, first, the resolution that illness, and not +dejection, should have all the credit of Berenger's absence; then +for recollecting of how short standing had been his brother's +convalescence; and lastly, for a fury of self-execration for his +own unkindness, rude taunts, and neglect of the recurring +illness. He would have turned about and gone back at once, +but the two gendarmes were close behind, and he knew Humfrey would +attend to his brother; so he walked on to the hall--a handsome +chamber, hung with armour and spoils of hunting, with a few +pictures on the panels, and a great carved music-gallery at one +end. The table was laid out somewhat luxuriously for four, +according to the innovation which was beginning to separate the +meals of the grandees from those of their household.</p> + +<p>Great concern was expressed by the Chevalier, as Philip, in +French, much improved since the time of his conversation with +Madame de Selinville, spoke of his brother's indisposition, saying +with emphasis, as he glared at Captain Delarue, that Maitre Pare +had forbidden all exposure to mid-day heat, and that all their +journeys had been made in morning or evening coolness. 'My +young friend,' as his host called him, 'should, he was assured, +have mentioned this, since Captain Delarue had no desire but to +make his situation as little painful as possible.' And the +Chevalier sent his steward at once to offer everything the house +contained that his prisoner could relish for supper; and then +anxiously questioned Philip on his health and diet, obtaining very +short and glum answers. The Chevalier and the captain glanced +at each other with little shrugs; and Philip, becoming conscious of +his shock hair, splashed doublet, and dirty boots, had vague doubts +whether his English dignity were not being regarded as English +lubberliness; but, of course, he hated the two Frenchmen all the +more, and received their civility with greater gruffness. +They asked him the present object of his journey--though, probably, +the Chevalier knew it before, and he told of the hope that they had +of finding the child at Lucon.</p> + +<p>'Vain, of course?' said the Chevalier. 'Poor infant! +It is well for itself, as for the rest of us, that its troubles +were ended long ago.'</p> + +<p>Philip started indignantly.</p> + +<p>'Does your brother still nurture any vain hope?' said the +Chevalier.</p> + +<p>'Not vain, I trust,' said Philip.</p> + +<p>'Indeed! Who can foolishly have so inspired him with a +hope that merely wears out his youth, and leads him into +danger?'</p> + +<p>Philip held his tongue, resolved to be impenetrable; and he was +so far successful, that the Chevalier merely became convinced that +the brothers were not simply riding to La Rochelle to embark for +England, but had some hope and purpose in view; though as to what +that might be, Philip's bluff replies and stubborn silence were +baffling.</p> + +<p>After the meal, the Chevalier insisted on coming to see how his +guest fared; and Philip could not prevent him. They found +Berenger sitting on the side of his bed, having evidently just +started up on hearing their approach. Otherwise he did not +seem to have moved since Philip left him; he had not attempted to +undress; and Humfrey told Philip that not a word had been extracted +from him, but commands to let him alone.</p> + +<p>However, he had rallied his forces to meet the Chevalier, and +answered manfully to his excuses for the broiling ride to which he +had been exposed, that it mattered not, the effect would pass, it +was a mere chance; and refused all offers of medicaments, potions, +and TISANES, till his host at length left the room with a most +correct exchange of good nights.</p> + +<p>'Berry, Berry, what a brute I have been!' cried Philip.</p> + +<p>'Foolish lad!' and Berenger half smiled. 'Now help me to +bed, for the room turns round!'</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXX. CAGED IN THE BLACKBIRD'S NEST</h3> + +<p> Let him shun castles;</p> + +<p>Safer shall he be on the sandy plain</p> + +<p>Than where castles mounted stand.--KING HENRY VI.</p> + +<p>While Berenger slept a heavy morning's sleep after a restless +night, Philip explored the narrow domain above and below. The +keep and its little court had evidently been the original castle, +built when the oddly-nicknamed Fulkes and Geoffreys of Anjou had +been at daggers drawn with the Dukes of Normandy and Brittany, but +it had since, like most other such ancient feudal fortresses, +become the nucleus of walls and buildings for use, defence, or +ornament, that lay beneath him like a spider's web, when he had +gained the roof of the keep, garnished with pepper-box turrets at +each of the four angles. Beyond lay the green copses and +orchards of the Bocage, for it was true, as he had at first +suspected, that this was the chateau de Nid de Merle, and that +Berenger was a captive in his wife's own castle.</p> + +<p>Chances of escape were the lad's chief thought, but the building +on which he stood went sheer down for a considerable way. +Then on the north side there came out the sharp, high-pitched, +tiled roof of the <i>corps du logis</i>; on the south, another +roof, surmounted by a cross at the gable, and evidently belonging +to the chapel; on the other two sides lay courts--that to the east, +a stable-yard; that to the west, a small narrow, chilly-looking, +paved inclosure, with enormously-massive walls, the doorway walled +up, and looking like a true prison-yard. Beyond this +wall--indeed, on every side-- extended offices, servants' houses, +stables, untidy desolate-looking gardens, and the whole was +inclosed by the white wall with flanking red-tiled turrets, whose +gaudy appearance had last night made Philip regard the whole as a +flimsy, Frenchchified erection, but he now saw it to be of +extremely solid stone and lime, and with no entrance but the great +barbican gateway they had entered by; moreover, with a yawning dry +moat all round. Wherever he looked he saw these tall, pointed +red caps, resembling, he thought, those worn by the victims of an +<i>auto-de-fe</i>, as one of Walsingham's secretaries had described +them to him; and he ground his teeth at them, as thought they +grinned at him like emissaries of the Inquisition.</p> + +<p>Descending, he found Berenger dressing in haste to avoid +receiving an invalid visit from the Chevalier, looking indeed +greatly shaken, but hardly so as would have been detected by eyes +that had not seen him during his weeks of hope and recovery. +He was as resolved as Philip could wish against any sign of +weakness before his enemy, and altogether disclaimed illness, +refusing the stock of cooling drinks, cordials, and febrifuges, +which the Chevalier said had been sent by his sister the Abbess of +Bellaise. He put the subject of his health aside, only asking +if this were the day that the gendarme-captain would return to +Paris, and then begging to see that officer, so as to have a +distinct understanding of the grounds of his imprisonment. +The captain had, however, been a mere instrument; and when Philip +clamoured to be taken before the next justice of the peace, even +Berenger smiled at him for thinking that such a being existed in +France. The only cause alleged was the vague but dangerous +suspicion of conveying correspondence between England and the +heretics, and this might become extremely perilous to one +undeniably half English, regarded as whole Huguenot, caught on the +way to La Rochelle with a letter to La Noue in his pocket; and, +moreover, to one who had had a personal affray with a king famous +for storing up petty offences, whom the last poor king had +favoured, and who, in fine, had claims to estates that could not +spared to the Huguenot interest.</p> + +<p>He was really not sure that there was not some truth in the +professions of the Chevalier being anxious to protect him from the +Queen-mother and the Guises; he had never been able to divest +himself of a certain trust in his old kinsman's friendliness, and +he was obliged to be beholden to him for the forms in which to +couch his defence. At the same time he wrote to Sir Francis +Walsingham, and to his grandfather, but with great caution, lest +his letters should be inspected by his enemies, and with the less +hope of their availing him because it was probable that the +Ambassador would return home on the king's death. No answer +could be expected for at least a fortnight, and even then it was +possible that the Queen-mother might choose to refer the cause to +King Henry, who was then in Poland.</p> + +<p>Berenger wrote these letters with much thought and care, but +when they were once sealed, he collapsed again into despair and +impatience, and frantically paced the little court as if he would +dash himself against the walls that detained him from Eustacie; +then threw himself moodily into a chair, hid his face in his +crossed arms, and fell a prey to all the wretched visions called up +by an excited brain.</p> + +<p>However, he was equally alive with Philip to the high-spirited +resolution that his enemies should not perceive or triumph in his +dejection. He showed himself at the noon-day dinner, before +Captain Delarue departed, grave and silent, but betraying no +agitation; and he roused himself from his sad musings at the +supper-hour, to arrange his hair, and assume the ordinary dress of +gentlemen in the evening; though Philip laughed at the roses +adorning his shoes, and his fresh ruff, as needless attentions to +an old ruffian like the Chevalier. However, Philip started +when he entered the hall, and beheld, not the Chevalier alone, but +with him the beautiful lady of the velvet coach, and another +stately, extremely handsome dame, no longer in her first youth, and +in costly black and white garments. When the Chevalier called +her his sister, Madame de Bellaise, Philip had no notion that she +was anything but a widow, living a secular life; and though a +couple of nuns attended her, their dress was so much less +conventual than Cecily's that he did not at first find them +out. It was explained that Madame de Selinville was residing +with her aunt, and that, having come to visit her father, he had +detained the ladies to supper, hoping to enliven the sojourn of his +<i>beaux cousins</i>.</p> + +<p>Madame de Selinville, looking anxiously at Berenger, hoped she +saw him in better health. He replied, stiffly, that he was +perfectly well; and then, by way of safety, repaired to the society +of the Abbess, who immediately began plying him with questions +about England, its court, and especially the secret marriage of +Queen Elisabeth and '<i>ce</i> Comte de Dudley,' on which she was +so minutely informed as to put him to the blush. Then she was +very curious about the dispersed convents, and how many of the nuns +had married; and she seemed altogether delighted to have secured +the attention of a youth from the outer world. His soul at +first recoiled from her as one of Eustacie's oppressors, and from +her unconvent-like talk; and yet he could not but think her a +good-natured person, and wonder if she could rally have been hard +upon his poor little wife. And she, who had told Eustacie she +would strangle with her own hands the scion of the rival +house!--she, like most women, was much more bitter against an +unseen being out of reach, than towards a courteously-mannered, +pale, suffering-looking youth close beside her. She had +enough affection for Eustacie to have grieved much at her +wanderings and at her fate; and now the sorrow-stricken look that +by no effort could be concealed really moved her towards the youth +bereaved husband. Besides, were not all feuds on the point of being +made up by the excellent device concocted between her brother and +her niece?</p> + +<p>Meantime, Philip was in raptures with the kindness of the +beautiful Madame de Selinville. He, whom the Mistresses +Walsingham treated as a mere clumsy boy, was promoted by her manner +to be a man and a cavalier. He blushed up to the roots of his +hair and looked sheepish whenever one of her entrancing smiles lit +upon him; but then she inquired after his brother so cordially, she +told him so openly how brilliant had been Berenger's career at the +court, she regretted so heartily their present danger and +detention, and promised so warmly to use her interest with Queen +Catherine, that in the delight of being so talked to, he forgot his +awkwardness and spoke freely and confidentially, maybe too +confidentially, for he caught Berenger frowning at him, and made a +sudden halt in his narrative, disconcerted but very angry with his +brother for his distrust.</p> + +<p>When the ladies had ridden away to the convent in the summer +evening, and the two brothers had returned to their prison, Philip +would have begun to rave about Madame de Selinville, but his mouth +was stopped at once with 'Don't be such a fool, Phil!' and when +Perrine shut his eyes, leant back, and folded his arms together, +there was no more use in talking to him.</p> + +<p>This exceeding defection continued for a day or two, while +Berenger's whole spirit chafed in agony at his helplessness, and +like demons there ever haunted him the thoughts of what might +betide Eustacie, young, fair, forsaken, and believing herself a +widow. Proudly defiant as he showed himself to all eyes +beyond his tower, he seemed to be fast gnawing and pining himself +away in the anguish he suffered through these long days of +captivity. </p> + +<p>Perhaps it was Philip's excitement about any chance of meeting +Madame de Selinville that first roused him from the contemplation +of his own misery. It struck him that if he did not rouse +himself to exert his influence, the boy, left to no companionship +save what he could make for himself, might be led away by +intercourse with the gendarmes, or by the blandishments of Diane, +whatever might be her game. He must be watched over, and +returned to Sir Marmaduke the same true-hearted honest lad who had +left home. Nor had Berenger lain so long under Cecily St. +John's tender watching without bearing away some notes of patience, +trust, and dutifulness that returned upon him as his mind recovered +tone after the first shock. The whispers that had bidden him +tarry the Lord's leisure, be strong, and commit his way to Him who +could bring it to pass, and could save Eustacie as she had already +been saved, returned to him once more: he chid himself for his +faintness of heart, rallied his powers, and determined that +cheerfulness, dutifulness, and care for Philip should no longer +fail.</p> + +<p>So he reviewed his resources, and in the first place arranged +for a brief daily worship with his two English fellow-prisoners, +corresponding to the home hours of chapel service. Then he +proposed to Philip to spend an hour every day over the study of the +Latin Bible; and when Philip showed himself reluctant to give up +his habit of staring over the battlements, he represented that an +attack on their faith was not so improbable but that they ought to +be prepared for it.</p> + +<p>'I'm quite prepared,' quoth Philip; 'I shall not listen to a +word they say.'</p> + +<p>However, he submitted to this, but was more contumacious as to +Berenger's other proposal of profiting by Sidney's copy of +Virgil. Here at least he was away from Mr. Adderley and +study, and it passed endurance to have Latin and captivity both at +once. He was more obliged for Berenger's offer to impart to +him the instruction in fencing he had received during his first +visit to Paris; the Chevalier made no difficulty about lending them +foils, and their little court became the scene of numerous +encounters, as well as of other games and exercises. More +sedentary sports were at their service, chess, tables, dice, or +cards, but Philip detested these, and they were only played in the +evening, or on a rainy afternoon, by Berenger and the +Chevalier.</p> + +<p>It was clearly no part of the old gentleman's plan to break +their health or spirits. He insisted on taking them out +riding frequently, though always with four gendarmes with loaded +arquebuses, so as to preclude all attempt at escape, or +conversation with the peasants. The rides were hateful to both +youths, but Berenger knew that so many hours of tedium were thus +disposed of, and hoped also to acquire some knowledge of the +country; indeed, he looked at every cottage and every peasant with +affectionate eyes, as probably having sheltered Eustacie; and +Philip, after one visit paid to the convent at Bellaise, was always +in hopes of making such another. His boyish admiration of +Madame de Selinville was his chief distraction, coming on in +accesses whenever there was a hope of seeing her, and often +diverting Berenger by its absurdities, even though at other times +he feared that the lad might be led away by it, or dissension sown +between them. Meetings were rare--now and then Madame de +Selinville would appear at dinner or at supper as her father's +guest; and more rarely, the Chevalier would turn his horse's head +in the direction of Bellaise, and the three gentlemen would be +received in the unpartitioned parlour, and there treated to such +lemon cakes as had been the ruin of La Sablerie; but in general the +castle and the convent had little intercourse, or only just enough +to whet the appetite of the prisoners for what constituted their +only variety.</p> + +<p>Six weeks had lagged by before any answer from Paris was +received, and then there was no reply from Walsingham, who had, it +appeared, returned home immediately after King Charles's +funeral. The letter from the Council bore that the +Queen-mother was ready to accept the Baron de Ribaumont's excuses +in good part, and to consider his youth; and she had no doubt of +his being treated with the like indulgence by the King, provided he +would prove himself a loyal subject, by embracing the Catholic +faith, renouncing all his illegitimate claims to the estates of Nid +de Merle, and, in pledge of his sincerity, wedding his cousin, the +Countess de Selinville, so soon as a dispensation should have been +procured. On no other consideration could he be pardoned or +set at liberty.</p> + +<p>'Then,' said Berenger, slowly, 'a prisoner I must remain until +it be the will of Heaven to open the doors.'</p> + +<p>'Fair nephew!' exclaimed the Chevalier, 'make no rash +replies. Bethink you to what you expose yourself by +obstinacy; I may no longer be able to protect you when the King +returns. And he further went on to represent that, by +renouncing voluntarily all possible claims on the Nid de Merle +estates, the Baron would save the honour of poor Eustacie (which +indeed equally concerned the rest of the family), since they then +would gladly drop all dispute of the validity of the marriage; and +the lands of Selinville would be an ample equivalent for these, as +well as for all expectations in England.</p> + +<p>'Sir, it is impossible!' said Berenger. 'My wife +lives.'</p> + +<p><i>'Comment!</i> when you wear mourning for her.'</p> + +<p>'I wear black because I have been able to procure nothing else +since I have been convinced that she did not perish at La +Sablerie. I was on my way to seek her when I was seized and +detained here.'</p> + +<p>'Where would you have sought her, my poor cousin?' +compassionately asked the Chevalier.</p> + +<p>'That I know not. She may be in England by this time; but +that she escaped from La Sablerie, I am well assured.'</p> + +<p>'Alas! my poor friend, you feed on delusion. I have surer +evidence--you shall see the man yourself--one of my son's people, +who was actually at the assault, and had strict orders to seek and +save her. Would that I could feel the least hope left!'</p> + +<p>'Is the man here? Let me see him,' said Berenger, +hastily.</p> + +<p>He was at once sent for, and proved to be one of the stable +servants, a rough, soldierly-looking man, who made no difficulty in +telling that M. de Nid de Merle had bidden his own troop to use +every effort to reach the Widow Laurent's house, and secure the +lady. They had made for it, but missed the way, and met with +various obstacles; and when they reached it, it was already in +flames, and he had seen for a moment Mademoiselle de Nid de Merle, +whom he well knew by sight, with an infant in her arms at an upper +window. He had called to her by name, and was about to send +for a ladder, when recognizing the Ribaumont colours, she had +turned back, and thrown herself and her child into the +flames. M. de Nid de Merle was frantic when he heard of it, +and they had searched for the remains among the ruins; but, bah! it +was like a lime-kiln, nothing was to be found--all was +calcined.</p> + +<p>'No fragment left?' said Berenger; 'not a corner of tile or +beam?'</p> + +<p>'Not so much wood as you could boil an egg with; I will swear it +on the Mass.'</p> + +<p>'That is needless,' said Berenger. 'I have seen the spot +myself. That is all I desired to ask.'</p> + +<p>The Chevalier would have taken his hand and condoled with him +over the horrible story; but he drew back, repeating that he had +seen Widow Laurent's house, and that he saw that some parts of the +man's story were so much falsified that he could not believe the +rest. Moreover, he knew that Eustacie had not been in the +town at the time of the siege.</p> + +<p>Now the Chevalier <i>bona fide</i> believed the man's story, so +far as that he never doubted that Eustacie had perished, and he +looked on Berenger's refusal to accept the tale as the mournful +last clinging to a vain hope. In his eyes, the actual sight +of Eustacie, and the total destruction of the house, were mere +matters of embellishment, possibly untrue, but not invalidating the +main fact. He only said, 'Well, my friend, I will not press +you while the pain of this narration is still fresh.'</p> + +<p>'Thank you, sir; but this is not pain, for I believe not a word +of it; therefore it is impossible for me to entertain the proposal, +even if I could forsake my faith or my English kindred. You +remember, sir, that I returned this same answer at Paris, when I +had no hope that my wife survived.'</p> + +<p>'True, my fair cousin, but I fear time will convince you that +this constancy is unhappily misplaced. You shall have time to +consider; and when it is proved to you that my poor niece is out of +the reach of your fidelity, and when you have become better +acquainted with the claims of the Church to your allegiance, then +may it only prove that your conversion does not come too +late. I have the honour to take my leave.'</p> + +<p>'One moment more, sir. Is there no answer as to my +brother?'</p> + +<p>'None, cousin. As I told you, your country has at present +no Ambassador; but, of course, on your fulfilment of the +conditions, he would be released with you.'</p> + +<p>'So,' said Philip, when the old knight had quitted the room, 'of +course you cannot marry while Eustacie lives; but if---'</p> + +<p>'Not another word, profane boy!' angrily cried Berenger.</p> + +<p>'I was only going to say, it is a pity of one so goodly not to +bring her over to the true faith, and take her to England.'</p> + +<p>'Much would she be beholden to you!' said Berenger. 'So!' +he added, sighing, 'I had little hope but that it would be +thus. I believe it is all a web of this old plotter's +weaving, and that the Queen-mother acts in it at his request. +He wants only to buy me off with his daughter's estates from +asserting my claim to this castle and lands; and I trow he will +never rise up here till--till---'</p> + +<p>'Till when, Berry?'</p> + +<p>'Till mayhap my grandfather can move the Queen to do something +for us; or till Madame de Selinville sees a face she likes better +than her brother's carving; or, what can I tell? till malice is +tired out, and Heaven's will sets us free. May Eustacie only +have reached home! But I'm sorry for you, my poor Phil.'</p> + +<p>'Never heed, brother,' said Philip; 'what is prison to me, so +that I can now and then see those lovely eyes?'</p> + +<p>And the languishing air of the clumsy lad was so comical as to +beguile Berenger into a laugh. Yet Berenger's own feeling +would go back to his first meeting with Diane; and as he thought of +the eyes then fixed on him, he felt that he was under a trial that +might become more severe.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXXI. THE DARK POOL OF THE FUTURE</h3> + +<p>Triumph, triumph, only she</p> + +<p>That knit his bonds can set him free.--SOUTHEY</p> + +<p>No change was made in the life of the captives of Nid de Merle +after the answer from Paris, except that Pere Bonami, who had +already once or twice dined at the Chevalier's table, was requested +to make formal exposition of the errors of the Reformers and of the +tenets of his own Church to the Baron de Ribaumont.</p> + +<p>Philip took such good care not to be deluded that, though he sat +by to see fair play, yet it was always with his elbows on the table +and his fingers in his ears, regardless of appearing to the priest +in the character of the deaf adder. After all, he was not the +object, and good Pere Bonami at first thought the day his own, when +he found that almost all his arguments against Calvinism were +equally impressed upon Berenger's mind, but the differences soon +revealed themselves; and the priest, though a good man, was not a +very happily-chosen champion, for he was one of the old-fashioned, +scantily-instructed country priests, who were more numerous before +the Jesuit revival of learning, and knew nothing of controversy +save that adapted to the doctrines of Calvin; so that in dealing +with an Anglican of the school of Ridley and Hooker, it was like +bow ad arrow against sword. And tin those days of change, +controversial reading was one of the primary studies even of young +laymen, and Lord Walwyn, with a view to his grandson's peculiar +position, had taken care that he should be well instructed, so that +he was not at all unequal to the contest. Moreover, apart +from argument, he clung as a point of honour to the Church as to +the wife that he had accepted in his childhood; and often tried to +recall the sketch that Philip Sidney had once given him of a tale +that a friend of his designed to turn into a poem, like Ariosto's, +in <i>terza rima</i>, of a Red Cross knight separated from his Una +as the true faith, and tempted by a treacherous Duessa, who +impersonated at once Falsehood and Rome. And he knew so well +that the last relaxation of his almost terrified resistance would +make him so entirely succumb to Diane's beauty and brilliancy, that +he kept himself stiffly frigid and reserved.</p> + +<p>Diane never openly alluded to the terms on which he stood, but +he often found gifts from unknown hands placed in his room. +The books which he had found there were changed when he had had +time to study them; and marks were placed in some of the most +striking passages. They were of the class that turned the +brain of the Knight of La Mancha, but with a predominance of the +pastoral, such as Diane of George of Montemayor and his numerous +imitators--which Philip thought horrible stuff--enduring nothing +but a few of the combats of Amadis de Gaul or Palmerin of England, +until he found that Madame de Selinville prodigiously admired the +'silly swains more silly than their sheep,' and was very anxious +that M. le Baron should be touched by their beauties; whereupon +honest Philip made desperate efforts to swallow them in his +brother's stead, but was always found fast asleep in the very +middle of arguments between Damon and Thyrsis upon the <i> +devoirs</i> of love, or the mournings of some disconsolate nymph +over her jealousies of a favoured rival.</p> + +<p>One day, a beautiful ivory box, exhaling sweet perfume, appeared +in the prison chamber, and therewith a sealed letter in verse, +containing an affecting description of how Corydon had been cruelly +torn by the lions in endeavouring to bear away Sylvie from her +cavern, how Sylvie had been rent from him and lost, and how vainly +he continued to bewail her, and disregard the loving lament of +Daphne, who had ever mourned and pined for him as she kept her +flock, made the rivulets, the brooks, the mountains re-echo with +her sighs and plaints, and had wandered through the hills and +valleys, gathering simples wherewith she had compounded a balsam +that might do away with the scars that the claws of the lions had +left, so that he might again appear with the glowing cheeks and +radiant locks that had excited the envy of the god of day.</p> + +<p>Berenger burst out laughing over the practical part of this +poetical performance, and laughed the more at Philip's hurt, +injured air at his mirth. Philip, who would have been the +first to see the absurdity in any other Daphne, thought this a +passing pleasant device, and considered it very unkind in his +brother not even to make experiment of the balsam of simples, but +to declare that he had much rather keep his scars for Eustacie's +sake than wear a smooth face to please Diane.</p> + +<p>Still Berenger's natural courtesy stood in his way. He +could not help being respectful and attentive to the old Chevalier, +when their terms were, apparently at least, those of host and +guest; and to a lady he COULD not be rude and repellent, though he +could be reserved. So, when the kinsfolk met, no stranger +would have discovered that one was a prisoner and the others his +captors.</p> + +<p>One August day, when Madame de Selinville and her lady +attendants were supping at the castle at the early hour of six, a +servant brought in word that an Italian pedlar craved leave to +display his wares. He was welcome, both for need's sake and +for amusement, and was readily admitted. He was a handsome +olive-faced Italian, and was followed by a little boy with a skin +of almost Moorish dye--and great was the display at once made on +the tables, of</p> + +<p> 'Lawn as white as driven snow,</p> + +<p> Cyprus, black as e'er was crow;</p> + +<p> Gloves as sweet as fragrant posies,</p> + +<p> Masks for faces and for noses;'</p> + +<p>and there was a good deal of the eager, desultory bargaining +that naturally took place where purchasing was an unusual +excitement and novelty, and was to form a whole evening's +amusement. Berenger, while supplying the defects of his +scanty travelling wardrobe, was trying to make out whether he had +seen the man before, wondering if he were the same whom he had met +in the forest of Montipipeau, though a few differences in dress, +hair, and beard made him somewhat doubtful.</p> + +<p>'Perfumes? Yes, lady, I have store of perfumes: ambergris +and violet dew, and the Turkish essence distilled from roses; yea, +and the finest spirit of the Venus myrtle-tree, the secret known to +the Roman dames of old, whereby they secured perpetual beauty and +love --though truly Madame should need no such essence. That +which nature has bestowed on her secures to her all hearts--and one +valued more than all.'</p> + +<p>'Enough,' said Diane, blushing somewhat, though with an effort +at laughing off his words; 'these are the tricks of your +trade.'</p> + +<p>'Madame is incredulous; yet, lady, I have been in the +East. Yonder boy comes from the land where there are spells +that make known the secrets of lives.'</p> + +<p>The old Chevalier, who had hitherto been taken up with the +abstruse calculation--derived from his past days of economy--how +much ribbon would be needed to retrim his murrey <i> +just-au-corps</i>, here began to lend an ear, though saying +nothing. Philip looked on in open-eyed wonder, and nudged his +brother, who muttered in return, 'Jugglery!'</p> + +<p>'Ah, the fair company are all slow to believe,' said the +pedlar. 'Hola, Alessio!' and taking a glove that Philip had +left on the table, he held it to the boy. A few +unintelligible words passed between them; then the boy pointed +direct to Philip, and waved his hand northwards. 'He says the +gentleman who owns this glove comes from the North, from far away,' +interpreted the Italian; then as the boy made the gesture of +walking in chains, 'that he is a captive.'</p> + +<p>'Ay,' cried Philip, 'right, lad; and can he tell how long I +shall be so?'</p> + +<p>'Things yet to come,' said the mountebank, 'are only revealed +after long preparation. For them must he gaze into the dark +poor of the future. The present and the past he can divine by +the mere touch of what has belonged to the person.'</p> + +<p>'It is passing strange,' said Philip to Madame de +Selinville. 'You credit it, Madame?'</p> + +<p>'Ah, have we not seen the wonders come to pass that a like +diviner fortold to the Queen-mother?' said Diane: 'her sons should +be all kings--that was told her when the eldest was yet +Dauphin.'</p> + +<p>'And there is only one yet to come,' said Philip, +awe-struck. 'But see, what has he now?'</p> + +<p>'Veronique's kerchief,' returned Madame de Selinville, as the +Italian began to interpret the boy's gesture.</p> + +<p>'Pretty maidens, he says, serve fair ladies--bear tokens for +them. This damsel has once been the bearer of a bouquet of +heather of the pink and white, whose bells were to ring hope.'</p> + +<p>'Eh, eh, Madame, it is true?' cried Veronique, crimson with +surprise and alarm. 'M. le Baron knows it is true.'</p> + +<p>Berenger had started at this revelation, and uttered an +inarticulate exclamation; but at that moment the boy, in whose hand +his master had placed a crown from the money newly paid, began to +make vehement gestures, which the main interpreted. <i>'Le +Balafre</i>, he says, pardon me, gentlemen, <i>le Balafre</i> could +reveal even a deeper scar of the heart than of the visage'--and the +boy's brown hand was pressed on his heart--'yet truly there is yet +hope <i>(esperance</i>) to be found. Yes'--as the boy put his +hand to his neck--'he bears a pearl, parted from its sister +pearls. Where they are, there is hope. Who can miss +Hope, who has sought it at a royal death-bed?'</p> + +<p>'Ah, where is it?' Berenger could not help exclaiming.</p> + +<p>'Sir,' said the pedlar, 'as I told Messieurs and Mesdames +before, the spirits that cast the lights of the future on the dark +pool need invocation. Ere he can answer M. le Baron's +demands, he and I must have time and seclusion. If Monsieur +le Chevalier will grant us an empty room, there will we answer all +queries on which the spirits will throw light.'</p> + +<p>'And how am I to know that you will not bring the devil to +shatter the castle, my friend?' demanded the Chevalier. 'Or +more likely still, that you are not laughing all the time at these +credulous boys and ladies?'</p> + +<p>'Of that, sir, you may here convince yourself,' said the +mountebank, putting into his hand a sort of credential in Italian, +signed by Renato di Milano, the Queen's perfumer, testifying to the +skill of his compatriot Ercole Stizzito both in perfumery, +cosmetics, and in the secrets of occult sciences.</p> + +<p>The Chevalier was no Italian scholar, and his daughter +interpreted the scroll to him, in a rapid low voice, adding, 'I +have had many dealings with Rene of Milan, father. I know he +speaks sooth. There can be no harm in letting the poor man +play out his play--all the castle servants will be frantic to have +their fortunes told.'</p> + +<p>'I must speak with the fellow first, daughter,' said the +Chevalier. 'He must satisfy me that he has no unlawful +dealings that could bring the Church down on us.' And he +looked meaningly at the mountebank, who replied by a whole +muster-roll of ecclesiastics, male and female, who had heard and +approved his predictions.</p> + +<p>'A few more words with thee, fellow,' said the Chevalier, +pointing the way to one of the rooms opening out of the hall. +'As master of the house I must be convinced of his honesty,' he +added. 'If I am satisfied, then who will may seek to hear +their fortune.'</p> + +<p>Chevalier, man and boy disappeared, and Philip was the first to +exclaim, 'A strange fellow! What will he tell us? +Madame, shall you hear him?'</p> + +<p>'That depends on my father's report,' she said. 'And yet,' +sadly and pensively, 'my future is dark and void enough. Why +should I vex myself with hearing it?'</p> + +<p>'Nay, it may brighten,' said Philip.</p> + +<p>'Scarcely, while hearts are hard,' she murmured with a slight +shake of the head, that Philip thought indescribably touching; but +Berenger was gathering his purchases together, and did not +see. 'And you, brother,' said Philip, 'you mean to prove +him?'</p> + +<p>'No,' said Berenger. 'Have you forgotten, Phil, the anger +we met with, when we dealt with the gipsy at Hurst Fair?'</p> + +<p>'Pshaw, Berry, we are past flogging now.'</p> + +<p>'Out of reach, Phil, of the rod, but scarce of the teaching it +struck into us.'</p> + +<p>'What?' said Philip, sulkily.</p> + +<p>'That divining is either cozening manor forsaking God, +Phil. Either it is falsehood, or it is a lying wonder of the +devil.'</p> + +<p>'But, Berry, this man is not cheat.'</p> + +<p>'Then he is worse.'</p> + +<p>'Only, turn not away, brother. How should he have known +things that even I know not?--the heather.'</p> + +<p>'No marvel in that,' said Berenger. 'This is the very man +I bought Annora's fan from; he was prowling round Montpipeau, and +my heather was given to Veronique with little secrecy. And as +to the royal deathbed, it was Rene, his master, who met me +there.'</p> + +<p>'Then you think it mere cozening? If so, we should find it +out.'</p> + +<p>'I don't reckon myself keener than an accomplished Italian +mountebank,' said Berenger, dryly.</p> + +<p>Further conference was cut short by the return of the Chevalier, +saying, in his paternal genial way, 'Well, children, I have +examined the fellow and his credentials, and for those who have +enough youth and hope to care to have the future made known to +them, bah! it is well.'</p> + +<p>'Is it sorcery, sir?' asked Philip, anxiously.</p> + +<p>The Chevalier shrugged his shoulders. 'What know I?' he +said. 'For those who have a fine nose for brimstone there may +be, but he assures me it is but the white magic practiced in Egypt, +and the boy is Christian!'</p> + +<p>'Did you try this secret, father?' inquired Madame de +Selinville.</p> + +<p>'I, my daughter? An old man's fortune is in his +children. What have I to ask?'</p> + +<p>'I--I scarcely like to be the first!' said the lady, eager but +hesitating. 'Veronique, you would have your fortune +told?'</p> + +<p>'I will be the first,' said Philip, stepping forward +manfully. 'I will prove him for you, lady, and tell you +whether he be a cozener or not, or if his magic be fit for you to +deal with.'</p> + +<p>And confident in the inherent intuition of a plain Englishman, +as well as satisfied to exercise his resolution for once in +opposition to Berenger's opinion, Master Thistlewood stepped +towards the closet where the Italian awaited his clients, and +Berenger knew that it would be worse than useless to endeavour to +withhold him. He only chafed at the smile which passed +between father and daughter at this doughty self-assertion.</p> + +<p>There was a long silence. Berenger sat with his eyes fixed +on the window where the twilight horizon was still soft and bright +with the pearly gold of the late sunset, thinking with an intensity +of yearning what it would be could he truly become certain of +Eustacie's present doings; questioning whether he would try to +satisfy that longing by the doubtful auguries of the diviner, and +then recollecting how he had heard from wrecked sailors that to +seek to delude their thirst with sea-water did but aggravate their +misery. He knew that whatever he might hear would be unworthy +of confidence. Either it merely framed to soothe and please +him--or, were it a genuine oracle, he had no faith in the instinct +that was to perceive it, but what he HAD faith in was the Divine +protection over his lost ones. 'No,' he thought to himself, +'I will not by a presumptuous sin, in my own impatience, risk +incurring woes on them that deal with familiar spirits and wizards +that peep and mutter. If ever I am to hear of Eustacie again, +it shall be by God's will, not the devil's.'</p> + +<p>Diane de Selinville had been watching his face all the time, and +now said, with that almost timid air of gaiety that she wore when +addressing him: 'You too, cousin, are awaiting Monsieur Philippe's +report to decide whether to look into the pool of mystery.'</p> + +<p>'Not at all, Madame,' said Berenger, gravely. 'I do not +understand white magic.'</p> + +<p>'Our good cousin has been too well bred among the Reformers to +condescend to our little wickednesses, daughter,' said the +Chevalier; and the sneer-much like that which would await a person +now who scrupled at joining in table-turning or any form of +spiritualism--purpled Berenger's scar, now his only manner of +blushing; but he instantly perceived that it was the Chevalier's +desire that he should consult the conjurer, and therefore became +the more resolved against running into a trap.</p> + +<p>'I am sure,' said Madame de Selinville, earnestly, though with +an affectation of lightness, 'a little wickedness is fair when +there is a great deal at stake. For my part, I would not +hesitate long, to find out how soon the King will relent towards my +fair cousin here!'</p> + +<p>'That, Madame,' said Berenger, with the same grave dryness, 'is +likely to be better known to other persons than this wandering +Greek boy.'</p> + +<p>Here Philip's step was heard returning hastily. He was +pale, and looked a good deal excited, so that Madame de Selinville +uttered a little cry, and exclaimed, 'Ah! is it so dreadful +then?'</p> + +<p>'No, no, Madame,' said Philip, turning round, with a fervour and +confidence he had never before shown. 'On my word, there is +nothing formidable. You see nothing--nothing but the Italia +and the boy. The boy gazes into a vessel of some black +liquid, and sees--sees there all you would have revealed. +Ah!'</p> + +<p>'Then you believe?' asked Madame de Selinville.</p> + +<p>'It cannot be false,' answered Philip; 'he told me +everything. Things he could not have known. My very +home, my father's house, passed in review before that strange +little blackamoor's eyes; where I--though I would have given worlds +to see it--beheld only the lamp mirrored in the dark pool.'</p> + +<p>'How do you know it was your father's house?' said +Berenger. </p> + +<p>'I could not doubt. Just to test the fellow, I bade him +ask for my native place. The little boy gazed, smiled, +babbled his gibberish, pointed. The man said he spoke of a +fair mansion among green fields and hills, "a grand <i>cavalier +embonpoint</i>,"--those were his very words,--at the door, with a +tankard in one hand. Ah! my dear father, why could not I see +him too? But who could mistake him or the Manor?'</p> + +<p>'And did he speak of future as well as past?' said Diane.</p> + +<p>'Yes, yes, yes,' said Philip, with more agitation. 'Lady, +that will you know for yourself.'</p> + +<p>'It was not dreadful?' she said, rising.</p> + +<p>'Oh no!' and Philip had become crimson, and hesitated; 'certes, +not dreadful. But---I must not say more.'</p> + +<p>'Save good night,' said Berenger, rising; 'See, our gendarmes +are again looking as if we had long exceeded their patience. +It is an hour later than we are wont to retire.'</p> + +<p>'If it be your desire to consult this mysterious fellow now you +have heard your brother's report, my dear Baron,' said the +Chevalier, 'the gendarmes may devour their impatience a little +longer.'</p> + +<p>'Thanks, sir,' said Berenger; 'but I am not tempted,' and he +gave the usual signal to the gendarmes, who, during meals, used to +stand as sentries at the great door of the hall.</p> + +<p>'It might settle your mind,' muttered Philip, hesitating. +'And yet--yet---'</p> + +<p>But he used no persuasions, and permitted himself to be escorted +with his brother along the passages to their own chamber, where he +threw himself into a chair with a long sigh, and did not +speak. Berenger meantime opened the Bible, glanced over the +few verses he meant to read, found the place in the Prayer-book, +and was going to the stairs to call Humfrey, when Philip broke +forth: 'Wait, Berry; don't be in such haste.'</p> + +<p>'What, you want time to lose the taste of your dealings with the +devil?' said Berenger, smiling.</p> + +<p>'Pshaw! No devil in the matter,' testily said Philip. 'No, +I was only wishing you had not had a Puritan fit, and seen and +heard for yourself. Then I should not have had to tell you,' +and he sighed.</p> + +<p>'I have no desire to be told,' said Berenger, who had become +more fixed in the conviction that it was an imposture.</p> + +<p>'No desire! Ah! I have none when I knew what it was. +But you ought to know.'</p> + +<p>'Well,' said Berenger, 'you will burst anon if I open not my +ears.'</p> + +<p>'Dear Berry, speak not thus. It will be the worse for you +when you do hear. Alack, Berenger, all ours have been vain +hopes. I asked for HER--and the boy fell well-nigh into +convulsions of terror as he gazed; spoke of flames and falling +houses. That was wherefore I pressed you not again--it would +have wrung your heart too much. The boy fairly wept and +writhed himself, crying out in his tongue for pity on the fair lady +and the little babe in the burning house. Alack! brother,' +said Philip, a little hurt that his brother had not changed +countenance.</p> + +<p>'This is the lying tale of the man-at-arms which our own eyes +contradicted,' said Berenger; 'and no doubt was likewise inspired +by the Chevalier.'</p> + +<p>'See the boy, brother! How should he have heard the +Chevalier? Nay, you might hug your own belief, but it is hard +that we should both be in durance for your mere dream that she +lives.'</p> + +<p>'Come, Phil, it will be the devil indeed that sows dissension +between us,' said Berenger. 'You know well enough that were +it indeed with my poor Eustacie as they would fain have us believe, +rather than give up her fair name I would not in prison for +life. Or would you have me renounce my faith, or wed Madame +de Selinville upon the witness of a pool of ink that I am a +widower?' he added, almost laughing.</p> + +<p>'For that matter,' muttered Philip, a good deal ashamed and half +affronted, 'you know I value the Protestant faith so that I never +heard a word from the will old priest. Nevertheless, the boy, +when I asked of our release, saw the gates set open by Love.'</p> + +<p>'What did Love look like in the pool? Had he wings like +the Cupids in the ballets at the Louvre?' asked Berenger +provokingly.</p> + +<p>'I tell you I saw nothing,' said Philip, tartly: 'this was the +Italian's interpretation of the boy's gesture. It was to be +by means of love, he said, and of a lady who---he made it plain +enough who she was,' added the boy, colouring.</p> + +<p>'No doubt, as the Chevalier have instructed him to say that +I--I--' he hesitated, 'that my--my love--I mean that he saw my +shield per pale with the field fretty and the sable leopard.'</p> + +<p>'Oh! it is to be my daughter, is it?' said Berenger, laughing; +'I am very happy to entertain your proposals for her.'</p> + +<p>'Berenger, what mocking fiend has possessed you?' cried Philip, +half angrily, half pitifully. 'How can you so speak of that +poor child?'</p> + +<p>'Because the more they try to force on me the story of her fate, +the plainer it is to me that they do not believe it. I shall +find her yet, and then, Phil, you shall have the first chance.'</p> + +<p>Philip growled.</p> + +<p>'Well, Phil,' said his brother, good-humouredly, 'any way, till +this Love comes that is to let us out, don't let Moor or fiend come +between us. Let me keep my credence for the honest Bailli's +daughters at Lucon; and remember I would give my life to free you, +but I cannot give away my faith.' Philip bent his head. +He was of too stubborn a mould to express contrition or affection, +but he mused for five minutes, then called Humfrey, and at the last +moment, as the heavy tread came up-stairs, he turned round and +said, 'You're in the right on't there, Berry. Hap what hap, +the foul fiend may carry off the conjurer before I murmur at you +again! Still I wish you had seen him. You would know +'tis sooth.'</p> + +<p>While Berenger, in his prison chamber, with the lamplight +beaming on his high white brow and clear eye, stood before his two +comrades in captivity, their true-hearted faces composed to +reverence, and as he read, 'I have hated them that hold of +superstitious vanities, and my trust hath been in the Lord. I +will be glad and rejoice in Thy mercy, for Thou hast considered my +trouble and hast known my soul in adversities,' feeling that here +was the oracle by which he was willing to abide--Diane de +Selinville was entering the cabinet where the secrets of the future +were to be unveiled.</p> + +<p>There she stood--the beautiful court lady--her lace coif (of the +Mary of Scotland type) well framed the beautiful oval of her face, +and set of the clear olive of her complexion, softened by short +jetty curls at the temples, and lighted splendid dark eyes, and by +the smiles of a perfect pair of lips. A transparent veil hung +back over the ruff like frostwork-formed fairy wings, and over the +white silk bodice and sleeves laced with violet, and the violet +skirt that fell in ample folds on the ground; only, however, in the +dim light revealing by an occasional gleam that it was not +black. It was a stately presence, yet withal there was a +tremor, a quiver of the downcast eyelids, and a trembling of the +fair hand, as though she were ill at ease; even though it was by no +means the first time she had trafficked with the dealers in +mysterious arts who swarmed around Catherine de Medicis. +There were words lately uttered that weighed with her in their +simplicity, and she could not forget them in that gloomy light, as +she gazed on the brown face of the Italian, Ercole, faultless in +outline as a classical mask, but the black depths of the eyes +sparkling with intensity of observation, as if they were everywhere +at once and gazed through and through. He wore his national +dress, with the short cloak over one shoulder; but the little boy, +who stood at the table, had been fantastically arrayed in a sort of +semi-Albanian garb, a red cap with a long tassel, a dark, +gold-embroidered velvet jacket sitting close to his body, and a +white kilt over his legs, bare except for buskins stiff with +gold. The poor little fellow looked pale in spite of his +tawny hue, his enormous black eyes were heavy and weary, and he +seemed to be trying to keep aloof from the small brazen vessel +formed by the coils of two serpents that held the inky liquid of +which Philip had spoken.</p> + +<p>No doubt of the veritable nature of the charm crossed Diane; her +doubt was of its lawfulness, her dread of the supernatural region +she was invading. She hesitated before she ventured on her +first question, and started as the Italian first spoke,--'What +would the Eccelentissima? Ladies often hesitate to speak the +question nearest their hearts. Yet is it ever the same. But +the lady must be pleased to form it herself in words, or the lad +will not see her vision.'</p> + +<p>'Where, then, is my brother?' said Diane, still reluctant to +come direct to the point.</p> + +<p>The boy gazed intently into the black pool, his great eyes +dilating till they seemed like black wells, and after a long time, +that Diane could have counted by the throbs of her heart, he began +to close his fingers, perform the action over the other arm of one +playing on the lute, throw his head back, close his eyes, and +appear to be singing a lullaby. Then he spoke a few words to +his master quickly.</p> + +<p>'He see,' said Ercole, 'a gentleman touching the lute, seated in +a bedroom, where lies, on a rich pillow, another gentleman,'--and +as the boy stroked his face, and pointed to his hands--'wearing a +mask and gloves. It is, he says, in my own land, in Italy,' +and as the boy made the action of rowing, 'in the territory of +Venice.'</p> + +<p>'It is well,' said Madame de Selinville, who knew that nothing +was more probable than that her brother should be playing the King +to his sleep in the medicated mask and gloves that cherished the +royal complexion, and, moreover, that Henry was lingering to take +his pastime in Italy to the great inconvenience of his kingdom.</p> + +<p>Her next question came nearer her heat--'You saw the gentleman +with a scar. Will he leave this castle?'</p> + +<p>The boy gazed, then made gestures of throwing his arms wide, and +of passing out; and as he added his few words, the master +explained:</p> + +<p>'He sees the gentleman leaving the castle, through open gate, in +full day, on horseback; and--and it is Madame who is with them,' he +added, as the lad pointed decidedly to her, 'it is Madame who opens +their prison.'</p> + +<p>Diane's face lighted with gladness for a moment; then she said, +faltering (most women of her day would not have been even thus +reserved), 'Then I shall marry again?'</p> + +<p>The boy gazed and knitted his brow; then, without any pantomime, +looked up and spoke. 'The Eccellentissima shall be a bride +once more, he says,' explained the man, 'but after a sort he cannot +understand. It is exhausting, lady, thus to gaze into the +invisible future; the boy becomes confused and exhausted ere +long.'</p> + +<p>'Once more--I will only ask of the past. My cousin, is he +married or a widower?'</p> + +<p>The boy clasped his hands and looked imploringly, shaking his +head at the dark pool, as he murmured an entreating word to his +master. </p> + +<p>'Ah! Madame,' said the Italian, 'that question hath already been +demanded by the young Inglese. The poor child has been so +terrified by the scene it called up, that he implored he may not +see it again. A sacked and burning town, a lady in a flaming +house---'</p> + +<p>'Enough, enough,' said de; 'I could as little bear to hear as he +to see. It is what we have ever known and feared. And +now'--she blushed as she spoke--'sir, you will leave me one of +those potions that Signor Renato is wont to compound.'</p> + +<p>'<i>Capisco</i>!' said Ercole; 'but the Eccellentissima shall he +obeyed if she will supply the means, for the expense will be +heavy.'</p> + +<p>The bargain was agreed upon, and a considerable sum advanced for +a philtre, compounded of strange Eastern plants and mystic jewels; +and then Diane, with a shudder of relief, passed into the full +light of the hall, bade her father good night, and was handed by +him into the litter that had long been awaiting her at the +door.</p> + +<p>The Chevalier, then, with care on his brow, bent his steps +towards the apartment where the Italian still remained counting the +money he had received.</p> + +<p>'So!' he said as he entered, 'so, fellow, I have not hindered +your gains, and you have been true to your agreement?'</p> + +<p>'Illustrissimo, yes. The pool of vision mirrored the +flames, but nothing beyond--nothing--nothing.'</p> + +<p>'They asked you then no more of those words you threw out of +Esperance?'</p> + +<p>'Only the English youth, sir; and there were plenty of other +hopes to dance before the eyes of such a lad! With M. le +Baron it will be needful to be more guarded.'</p> + +<p>'M. le Baron shall not have the opportunity,' said the +Chevalier. 'He may abide by his decision, and what the +younger one may tell him. Fear not, good man, it shall be +made good to you, if you obey my commands. I have other work +for you. But first repeat to me more fully what you told me +before. Where was it that you saw this unhappy girl under the +name of Esperance?'</p> + +<p>'At a hostel, sir, at Charente, where she was attending on an +old heretic teacher of the name of Gardon, who had fallen sick +there, being pinched by the fiend with rheumatic pains after his +deserts. She bore the name of Esperance Gardon, and passed +for his son's widow.'</p> + +<p>'And by what means did you know her not to be the mean creature +she pretended?' said the Chevalier, with a gesture of scornful +horror.</p> + +<p>'Illustrissimo, I never forget a face. I had seen this +lady with M. le Baron when they made purchases of various trinkets +at Montpipeau; and I saw her full again. I had the honour to +purchase from her certain jewels, that the Eccellenza will probably +redeem; and even--pardon, sir--I cut off and bought of her, her +hair.'</p> + +<p>'Her hair!' exclaimed the Chevalier, in horror. 'The +miserable girl to have fallen so low! Is it with you, +fellow?'</p> + +<p>'Surely, Illustrissimo. Such tresses--so shining, so +silky, so well kept,--I reserved to adorn the heads of Signor +Renato's most princely customers', said the man, unpacking from the +inmost recesses of one of his most ingeniously arranged packages, a +parcel which contained the rich mass of beautiful black +tresses. 'Ah! her head looked so noble,' he added, 'that I +felt it profane to let my scissors touch those locks; but she said +that she could never wear them openly more, and that they did but +take up her time, and were useless to her child and her father--as +she called him; and she much needed the medicaments for the old man +that I gave her in exchange.'</p> + +<p>'Heavens! A daughter of Ribaumont!' sighed the Chevalier, +clenching his hand. 'And now, man, let me see the jewels with +which the besotted child parted.'</p> + +<p>The jewels were not many, nor remarkable. No one but a +member of the family would have identified them, and not one of the +pearls was there; and the Chevalier refrained from inquiring after +them, lest, by putting the Italian on the scent of anything so +exceptionally valuable, he should defeat his own object, and lead +to the man's securing the pearls and running away with them. +But Ercole understood his glance, with the quickness of a man whose +trade forced him to read countenances. 'The Eccellenza is +looking for the pearls of Ribaumont? The lady made no offer +of them to me.'</p> + +<p>'Do you believe that she has them still?'</p> + +<p>'I am certain of it, sir. I know that she has +jewels--though she said not what they were--which she preserved at +the expense of her hair. It was thus. The old man had, +it seems, been for weeks on the rack with pains caught by a chill +when they fled from La Sablerie, and, though the fever had left +him, he was still so stiff in the joints as to be unable to +move. I prescribed for him unguents of balm and Indian spice, +which, as the Eccellenza knows, are worth far more than their +weight in gold; nor did these jewels make up the cost of these, +together with the warm cloak for him, and the linen for her child +that she had been purchasing. I tell you, sir, the babe must +have no linen but the finest fabric of Cambrai--yes, and even +carnation-coloured ribbons--though, for herself, I saw the homespun +she was sewing. As she mused over what she could throw back, +I asked if she had no other gauds to make up the price, and she +said, almost within herself, "They are my child's, not mine." +Then remembering that I had been buying the hair of the peasant +maidens, she suddenly offered me her tresses. But I could yet +secure the pearls, if Eccellenza would.'</p> + +<p>'Do you then believe her to be in any positive want or +distress?' said the Chevalier.</p> + +<p>'Signor, no. The heretical households among whom she +travels gladly support the families of their teachers, and at +Catholic inns they pay their way. I understood them to be on +their way to a synod of Satan at the nest of heretics, Montauban, +where doubtless the old miscreant would obtain an appointment to +some village.'</p> + +<p>'When did you thus full in with them?'</p> + +<p>'It was on one of the days of the week of Pentecost,' said +Ercole. 'It is at that time I frequent fairs in those parts, +to gather my little harvest on the maidens' heads.'</p> + +<p>'<i>Parbleu</i>! class not my niece with those sordid beings, +man,' said the Chevalier, angrily. 'Here is your +price'--tossing a heavy purse on the table--'and as much more shall +await you when you bring me sure intelligence where to find my +niece. You understand; and mark, not one word of the +gentleman you saw here. You say she believes him dead?'</p> + +<p>'The Illustrissimo must remember that she never dropped her +disguise with me, but I fully think that she supposed herself a +widow. And I understand the Eccellenza, she is still to think +so. I may be depended on.'</p> + +<p>'You understand,' repeated the Chevalier, 'this sum shall reward +you when you have informed me where to find her--as a man like you +can easily trace her from Montauban. If you have any +traffickings with her, it shall be made worth your while to secure +the pearls for the family; but, remember, the first object is +herself, and that she should be ignorant of the existence of him +whom she fancied her husband.'</p> + +<p>'I see, Signor; and not a word, of course, of my having come +from you. I will discover her, and leave her noble family to +deal with her. Has the Illustrissimo any further +commands?'</p> + +<p>'None,' began the Chevalier; then, suddenly, 'This unhappy +infant-- is it healthy? Did it need any of your +treatment?'</p> + +<p>'Signor, no. It was a fair, healthy bambina of a year old, +and I heard the mother boasting that it had never had a day's +illness.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, the less a child has to do in the world, the more is it +bent on living,' said the Chevalier with a sigh; and then, with a +parting greeting, he dismissed the Italian, but only to sup under +the careful surveillance of the steward, and then to be conveyed by +early morning light beyond the territory where the affairs of +Ribaumont were interesting.</p> + +<p>But the Chevalier went through a sleepless night. Long did +he pace up and down his chamber, grind his teeth, clench his fist +and point them at his head, and make gestures of tearing his thin +gray locks; and many a military oath did he swear under his breath +as he thought to what a pass things had come. His brother's +daughter waiting on an old Huguenot <i>bourgeois</i>, making +sugar-cakes, selling her hair! And what next? Here was +she alive after all, alive and disgracing herself; alive--yes, both +she and her husband--to perplex the Chevalier, and force him either +to new crimes or to beggar his son! Why could not the one +have really died on the St. Bartholomew, or the other at La +Sablerie, instead of putting the poor Chevalier in the wrong by +coming to live again?</p> + +<p>What had he done to be thus forced to peril his soul at his +age? Ah, had he but known what he should bring on himself +when he wrote the unlucky letter, pretending that the silly little +child wished to dissolve the marriage! How should he have +known that the lad would come meddling over? And then, when +he had dexterously brought about that each should be offended with +the other, and consent to the separation, why must royalty step in +and throw them together again? Yes, and he surely had a right +to feel ill-used, since it was in ignorance of the ratification of +the marriage that he had arranged the frustration of the elopement, +and that he had forced on the wedding with Narcisse, so as to drive +Eustacie to flight from the convent--in ignorance again of her life +that he had imprisoned Berenger, and tried to buy off his clams to +Nid de Merle with Diane's hand. Circumstances had used him +cruelly, and he shrank from fairly contemplating the next step.</p> + +<p>He knew well enough what it must be. Without loss of time +a letter must be sent to Rome, backed by strong interest, so as to +make it appear that the ceremony at Montpipeau, irregular, and +between a Huguenot and Catholic, had been a defiance of the Papal +decree, and must therefore be nullified. This would probably +be attainable, though he did not feel absolutely secure of +it. Pending this, Eustacie must be secluded in a convent; +and, while still believing herself a widow, must immediately on the +arrival of the decree and dispensation, be forced into the marriage +with Narcisse before she heard of Berenger's being still +alive. And then Berenger would have no longer any excuse for +holding out. His claims would be disposed of, and he might be +either sent to England, or he might be won upon by Madame de +Selinville's constancy.</p> + +<p>And this, as the Chevalier believed, was the only chance of +saving a life that he was unwilling to sacrifice, for his captive's +patience and courtesy had gained so much upon his heart that he was +resolved to do all that shuffling and temporizing could do to save +the lad from Narcisse's hatred and to secure him Diane's love.</p> + +<p>As to telling the truth and arranging his escape, that scarcely +ever crossed the old man's mind. It would have been to resign +the lands of Nid de Merle, to return to the makeshift life he knew +but too well, and, what was worse, to ruin and degrade his son, and +incur his resentment. It would probably be easy to obtain a +promise from Berenger, in his first joy and gratitude, of yielding +up all pretensions of his own or his wife's; but, however +honourably meant, such a promise would be worth very little, and +would be utterly scorned by Narcisse. Besides, how could he +thwart the love of his daughter and the ambition of his son both at +once?</p> + +<p>No; the only security for the possession of Nid de Merle lay in +either the death of the young baron and his child or else in his +acquiescence in the invalidity of his marriage, and therefore in +the illegitimacy of the child.</p> + +<p>And it was within the bounds of possibility that, in his +seclusion, he might at length learn to believe in the story of the +destruction at La Sablerie, and, wearying of captivity, might yield +at length to the persuasions of Diane and her father, and become so +far involved with them as to be unable to draw back, or else be so +stung by Eustacie's desertion as to accept her rival willingly.</p> + +<p>It was a forlorn hope, but it was the only medium that lay +between either the death or the release of the captive; and +therefore the old man clung to it as almost praiseworthy, and did +his best to bring it about by keeping his daughter ignorant that +Eustacie lived, and writing to his son that the Baron was on the +point of becoming a Catholic and marrying his sister: and thus that +all family danger and scandal would be avoided, provided the matter +were properly represented at Rome.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXXII. 'JAM SATIS'</h3> + +<p>You may go walk, and give me leave a while,</p> + +<p>My lessons make no music in three parts.</p> + +<p>TAMING OF THE SHREW</p> + +<p>Whether the dark pool really showed Sir Marmaduke Thistlewood or +not, at the moment that his son desired that his image should be +called up, the good knight was, in effect, sitting nodding over the +tankard of sack with which his supper was always concluded, while +the rest of the family, lured out of the sunny hall by the charms +of a fresh summer evening, had dispersed into the gardens or +hall.</p> + +<p>Presently a movement in the neighbourhood made him think it +incumbent on him to open his eyes wide, and exclaim, 'I'm not +asleep.'</p> + +<p>'Oh no! you never are asleep when there's anything you ought to +see!' returned Dame Annora, who was standing by him with her hand +on his chair.</p> + +<p>'How now? Any tidings of the lads?' he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>'Of the lads? No, indeed; but there will be bad tidings +for the lads if you do not see to it! Where do you think your +daughter is, Sir Duke?'</p> + +<p>'Where? How should I know? She went out to give her +sisters some strawberries, I thought.'</p> + +<p>'See here,' said Lady Thistlewood, leading the way to the north +end of the hall, where a door opened into what was called the +Yew-tree Grove. This consisted of five rows of yew-trees, +planted at regular intervals, and their natural mode of growth so +interfered with by constant cutting, that their ruddy trunks had +been obliged to rise branchless, till about twelve feet above +ground they had been allowed to spread out their limbs in the form +of ordinary forest trees; and, altogether, their foliage became a +thick, unbroken, dark, evergreen roof, impervious to sunshine, and +almost impervious to rain, while below their trunks were like +columns forming five arcades, floored only by that dark red crusty +earth and green lichen growth that seems peculiar to the shelter of +yew-trees. The depth of the shade and the stillness of the +place made it something peculiarly soothing and quiet, more +especially when, as now, the sunset light came below the branches, +richly tinted the russet pillars, cast long shadows, and gleamed +into all the recesses of the interlacing boughs and polished +leafage above.</p> + +<p>'Do you see, Sir Duke?' demanded his lady.</p> + +<p>'I see my little maids making a rare feast under the trees upon +their strawberries set out on leaves. Bless their little +hearts! what a pretty fairy feast they've made of it, with +the dogs looking on as grave as judges! It takes me young +again to get a smack of the haut-bois your mother brought from +Chelsea Gardens.'</p> + +<p>'Haut-bois! He'd never see if the house ere afire +overhead. </p> + +<p>What's that beyond?'</p> + +<p>'No fire, my dear, but the sky all aglow with sunset, and the +red cow standing up against the light, chewing her cud, and looking +as well pleased as though she knew there wasn't her match in +Dorset.'</p> + +<p>Lady Thistlewood fairly stamped, and pointed with her fan, like +a pistol, down a side aisle of the grove, where two figures were +slowly moving along.</p> + +<p>'Eh! what? Lucy with her apron full of rose-leaves, +letting them float away while she cons the children's lesson for +the morrow with Merrycourt? They be no great loss, when the +place is full of roses. Or why could you not call to the +wench to take better heed of them, instead of making all this +pother?'</p> + +<p>'A pretty sort of lesson it is like to be! A pretty sort of +return for my poor son, unless you take the better heed!'</p> + +<p>'Would that I saw any return at all for either of the poor dear +lads,' sighed the knight wearily; 'but what you may be driving at I +cannot perceive.'</p> + +<p>'What! When 'tis before your very eyes, how yonder +smooth-tongued French impostor, after luring him back to his ruin +beyond seas, is supplanting him even here, and your daughter giving +herself over to the wily viper!'</p> + +<p>'The man is a popish priest,' said Sir Marmaduke; 'no more given +to love than Mr. Adderley or Friar Rogers.'</p> + +<p>The dame gave a snort of derision:' Prithee, how many popish +priests be now wedded parsons? Nor, indeed, even if his story +be true, do I believe he is a priest at all. I have seen many +a young abbe, as they call themselves, clerk only in name, +loitering at court, free to throw off the cassock any moment they +chose, and as insolent as the rest. Why, the Abbe de +Lorraine, cardinal that is now, said of my complexion---'</p> + +<p>'No vows, quotha!' muttered Sir Marmaduke, well aware of the +Cardinal de Lorraine's opinion of his lady's complexion. 'So +much the better; he is too good a young fellow to be forced to mope +single, and yet I hate men's breaking their word.'</p> + +<p>'And that's all you have to say!' angrily cried her +ladyship. 'No one save myself ever thinks how it is to be +with my poor dear wounded, heart-broken son, when he comes home, to +find himself so scurvily used by that faithless girl of yours, +ready---'</p> + +<p>'Hold, madam,' said Sir Marmaduke, with real sternness; 'nothing +rash against my daughter. How should she be faithless to a +man who has been wedded ever since she knew him?'</p> + +<p>'He is free now,' said Lady Thistlewood, beginning to cry (for +the last letters received from Berenger had been those from Paris, +while he still believed Eustacie to have perished at La +Sablerie);</p> + +<p>'and I do say it is very hard that just when he is rid of +the French baggage, the bane of his life, and is coming home, maybe +with a child upon his hands, and all wounded, scarred, and blurred, +the only wench he would or should have married should throw herself +away on a French vagabond beggar, and you aiding and abetting.'</p> + +<p>'Come, come, Dame Nan,' said Sir Marmaduke, 'who told you I was +aiding and abetting?'</p> + +<p>'Tell me not, Sir Duke, you that see them a courting under your +very eyes, and will not stir a finger to hinder it. If you +like to see your daughter take up with a foreign adventurer, why, +she's no child of mine, thank Heaven! And I've nought to do with +it.'</p> + +<p>'Pshaw, dame, there's no taking up in the case; and if there +were, sure it is not you that should be hard on Lucy.'</p> + +<p>Whereupon Annora fell into such a flood of tears at the cruelty +of casting such things up to her, that Sir Marmaduke was fain in +his blundering way to declare that he only meant that an honest +Englishman had no chance where a Frenchman once came in, and then +very nearly to surrender at discretion. At any rate, he +escaped from her tears by going out at the door, and calling to +Lucy to mind her rose-leaves; then, as she gazed round, dismayed at +the pink track along the ground, he asked her what she had been +doing. Whereto she answered with bright face and honest eyes, +that Mr. Mericour had been going over with her the ode <i> +'Jam satis</i>,' of Horatius, wherewith to prepare little Nan for +him to-morrow, and then she ran hurriedly away to secure the +remainder of the rose-leaves, while her companion was already on +his knees picking up the petals she had dropped.</p> + +<p>'Master Merrycourt,' said Sir Marmaduke, a little gruffly, +'never heed the flower-leaves. I want a word with you.'</p> + +<p>Claude de Mericour rose hastily, as if somewhat struck by the +tone.</p> + +<p>'The matter is this,' said the knight, leading him from the +house, and signing back the little girls who had sprung towards +them--'it has been brought to my mind that you are but a youth, +and, pardon me, my young master, but when lads and lasses have +their heads together over one book, tongues wag.'</p> + +<p>The colour rushed hotly into young Mericour's face, and he +answered quickly, 'My rank--I mean my order--should answer +that.'</p> + +<p>'Stay, young man, we are not in France; your order, be it what +it may, has not hindered many a marriage in England; though, look +you, no man should ever wed with my consent who broke his word to +God in so doing; but they tell me your vows are not always made at +your age.'</p> + +<p>'Nor are they,' exclaimed Mericour, in a low voice, but with a +sudden light on his countenance. 'The tonsure was given me as +a child, but no vow of celibacy has passed my lips.'</p> + +<p>Sir Marmaduke exclaimed, 'Oh!--' with a prolongation of the +sound that lasted till Mericour began again.</p> + +<p>'But, sir, let tongues wag as they will, it is for nought. +Your fair daughter was but as ever preparing beforehand with me the +tasks with which she so kindly indoctrinates her little +sisters. I never thought of myself as aught but a religious, +and should never dream of human love.'</p> + +<p>'I thought so! I said so!' said Sir Marmaduke, highly +gratified. 'I knew you were an honourable man that would +never speak of love to my daughter by stealth, nor without means to +maintain her after her birth.'</p> + +<p>The word 'birth' brought the blood into the face of the son of +the peer of France, but he merely bowed with considerable stiffness +and pride, saying, 'You did me justice, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Come, don't be hurt, man,' said Sir Marmaduke, putting his hand +on his shoulder. 'I told you I knew you for an honourable +man! You'll be over here to-morrow to hear the little maids +their <i>Jam satis</i>, or whatever you call it, and dine with us +after to taste Lucy's handiwork in jam cranberry, a better thing as +I take it.'</p> + +<p>Mericour had recovered himself, smiled, shook the good Sir +Marmaduke proffered hand, and, begging to excuse himself from +bidding good night to the ladies on the score of lateness, he +walked away to cross the downs on his return to Combe Walwyn, where +he was still resident, according to the arrangement by which he was +there to await Berenger's return, now deferred so much beyond all +reasonable expectation.</p> + +<p>Sir Marmaduke, with a free heart, betook himself to the house, +dreading to find that Lucy had fallen under the objurgations of her +step-mother, but feeling impelled to stand her protector, and +guided to the spot by the high key of Dame Annora's voice.</p> + +<p>He found Lucy--who, on the race occasions when good-natured Lady +Thistlewood was really angry with her, usually cowered meekly--now +standing her ground, and while the dame was pausing for breath, he +heard her gentle voice answering steadily, 'No, madam, to him I +could never owe faith, nor troth, nor love, save such as I have for +Philip.'</p> + +<p>'Then it is very unfeeling and ungrateful of you. Nor did +you think so once, but it is all his scars and---'</p> + +<p>By this time Sir Marmaduke had come near enough to put his arm +round his daughter, and say, 'No such thing, dame. It had +been unseemly in the lass had it been otherwise. She is a +good girl and a discreet; and the Frenchman, if he has made none of +their vows, feels as bound as though he had. He's an honest +fellow, thinking of his studies and not of ladies or any such +trumpery. So give me a kiss, Lucy girl, and thou shalt study +<i>Jam satis</i>, or any other jam he pleases, without more to vex +thee.'</p> + +<p>Lucy, now that the warfare was over, had begun to weep so +profusely that so soon as her father released her, she turned, made +a mute gesture to ask permission to depart, and hurried away; while +Lady Thistlewood, who disliked above all that her husband should +think her harsh to her step-children, began to relate the exceeding +tenderness of the remonstrance which had been followed with such +disproportionate floods of tears.</p> + +<p>Poor Sir Marmaduke hoped at least that the veil of night had put +an end to the subject which harassed him at a time when he felt +less capable than usual of bearing vexation, for he was yearning +sadly after his only son. The youths had been absent ten +months, and had not been heard of for more than three, when they +were just leaving Paris in search of the infant. Sir Francis +Walsingham, whose embassy had ended with the death of Charles IX., +knew nothing of them, and great apprehensions respecting them were +beginning to prevail, and, to Sir Marmaduke especially, seemed to +be eating out the peace and joy of his life. Philip, always +at his father's side ever since he could run alone, was missed at +every visit to stable or kennel; the ring of his cheery voice was +wanting to the house; and the absence of his merry whistle seemed +to make Sir Marmaduke's heart sink like lead as he donned his heavy +boots, and went forth in the silver dew of the summer morning to +judge which of his cornfields would soonest be ready for the +sickle. Until this expedition of his sons he had, for more +than fourteen years never been alone in those morning rounds on his +farm; and much as he loved his daughters, they seemed to weigh very +light in the scale compared with the sturdy heir who loved every +acre with his own ancestral love. Indeed, perhaps, Sir +Marmaduke had deeper, fonder affection for the children of his +first marriage, because he had barely been able to give his full +heart to their mother before she was taken from him, and he had +felt almost double tenderness to be due to them, when he at length +obtained his first and only true love. Now, as he looked over +the shinning billows of the waving barley, his heart was very sore +with longing for Philip's gladsome shout at the harvest-field, and +he thought with surprise and compunction how he had seen Lucy leave +him struggling with a flood of tears. While he was still thus +gazing, a head appeared in the narrow path that led across the +fields, and presently he recognized the slender, upright form of +the young Frenchman.</p> + +<p>'A fair good morrow to you, Master Merrycourt! You come +right early to look after your ode?'</p> + +<p>'Sir,' said Mericour, gravely saluting him, 'I come to make you +my confession. I find that I did not deal truly with you last +night, but it was all unwittingly.'</p> + +<p>'How?' exclaimed Sir Marmaduke, recollecting Lucy's tears and +looking much startled. 'You have not---' and there he broke +off, seeing Mericour eager to speak.</p> + +<p>'Sir,' he said, 'I was bred as one set apart from love. I +had never learnt to think it possible to me,--I thought so even +when I replied to you last evening; but, sir, the words you then +spoke, the question you asked me set my heart burning, and my +senses whirling---' And between agitation and confusion he +stammered and clasped his hands passionately, trying to continue +what he was saying, but muttering nothing intelligible.</p> + +<p>Sir Marmaduke filled up the interval with a long whistle of +perplexity; but, too kind not to pity the youth's distress, he laid +his hand on his shoulder, saying, 'You found out you were but a +hot-blooded youth after all, but an honest one. For, as I +well trust, my lass knows nought of this.'</p> + +<p>'How should she know, sir, what I knew not myself?'</p> + +<p>'Ha! ha!' chuckled Sir Duke to himself, 'so 'twas all Dame Nan's +doing that the flame has been lighted! Ho! ho! But what +is to come next is the question?' and he eyed the French youth from +head to foot with the same considering look with which he was wont +to study a bullock.</p> + +<p>'Sir, sir,' cried Mericour, absolutely flinging himself on his +knee before him with national vehemence, 'do give me hope! +Oh! I will bless you, I will---'</p> + +<p>'Get up, man,' said the knight, hastily; 'no fooling of this +sort. The milkmaids will be coming. Hope--why, what +sort of hope can be given you in the matter?' he continued; 'you +are a very good lad, and I like you well enough, but you are not +the sort of stuff one gives one's daughter to. Ay, ay, I know +you are a great man in your own country, but what are you +here?'</p> + +<p>'A miserable fugitive and beggar, I know that,' said Mericour, +vehemently, 'but let me have but hope, and there is nothing I will +not be!'</p> + +<p>'Pish!' said Sir Marmaduke.</p> + +<p>'Hear me,' entreated the youth, recalled to common sense: 'you +know that I have lingered at the chateau yonder, partly to study +divinity and settle my mind, and partly because my friend Ribaumont +begged me to await his return. I will be no longer idle; my +mind is fixed. To France I cannot return, while she gives me +no choice between such doctrine and practice as I saw at court, and +such as the Huguenots would have imposed on me. I had already +chosen England as my country before--before this wild hope had +awakened in me. Here, I know my nobility counts for nothing, +though, truly, sir, few names in France are prouder. But it +shall be no hindrance. I will become one of your men of the +robe. I have heard that they can enrich themselves and +intermarry with your country <i>noblesse</i>.'</p> + +<p>'True, true,' said Sir Marmaduke, 'there is more sense in that +notion than there seemed to be in you at first. My poor +brother Phil was to have been a lawyer if he had lived, but it +seems to me you are a long way off from that yet! Why, our +Templars be mostly Oxford scholars.'</p> + +<p>'So it was explained to me,' said Mericour, 'but for some weeks +past the Lady Burnet, to whose sons, as you know, I have been +teaching French, has been praying me to take the charge of them at +Oxford, by which means I should at least be there maintained, and +perchance obtain the means for carrying on my studies at the +Temple.'</p> + +<p>'Not ill thought of,' said the knight; 'a fair course enough for +you; but look you, you must have good luck indeed to be in a state +to marry within ten or fifteen years,--very likely not then--having +nothing of your own, and my wench but little, for Lucy's portion +cannot be made equal to her sisters', her mother having been no +heiress like Dame Nan. And would you have me keep the maid +unwedded till she be thirty or thirty-five years old, waiting for +your fortune?'</p> + +<p>Mericour looked terribly disconcerted at this.</p> + +<p>'Moreover,' added the knight, 'they will all be at me, so soon +as those poor lads come home--Heaven grant they do--to give her to +Berenger.'</p> + +<p>'Sir,' said Mericour, looking up with a sudden smile, 'all that +I would ask is, what you are too good a father to do, that you +would not put any force on her inclinations.'</p> + +<p>'How now? you said you had never courted her!'</p> + +<p>'Nor have I, sir. But I see the force of your words. +Should she love another man, my dream were, of course, utterly +vain, but if not---' He broke off.</p> + +<p>'Well, well, I am no man to force a girl to a match against her +will; but never trust to that, man. I know what women are; +and let a fantastic stranger come across them, there's an end of +old friends. But yours is an honest purpose, and you are a +good youth; and if you had anything to keep her with, you should +have Lucy to-morrow, with all my heart.'</p> + +<p>Then came the further question whether Mericour should be +allowed an interview with Lucy. Sir Marmaduke was simple +enough to fancy that she need not be made aware of the cause of +Mericour's new arrangement, and decided against it. The young +man sorrowfully acquiesced, but whether such a secret could be kept +was another thing. To him it would have been impossible to +renew their former terms of intercourse without betraying his +feelings, and he therefore absented himself. Lady Thistlewood +triumphed openly in Sir Marmaduke's having found him out and +banished him from the house; Lucy looked white and shed silent +tears. Her father's soft heart was moved, and one Sunday +evening he whispered into her ear that Dame Nan was all wrong, and +Mericour only kept away because he was an honourable man. +Then Lucy smiled and brightened, and Sir Duke fondly asked her if +she were fool enough to fancy herself in love with the man.</p> + +<p>'Oh no, how should she, when he had never named love to +her? She was only glad her father esteemed him.'</p> + +<p>So then foolish, fond Sir Marmaduke told her all that had +passed, and if it had not been too late, he would have sent for +Mericour from Lady Burnet's; but his own story did almost as well +in bringing back Lucy's soft pink colour. She crept up into +Cecily's room one day, and found that she knew all about it, and +was as kind and sympathizing as she could be--when a vocation had +been given up, though no vows had been taken. She did not +quite understand it, but she would take it on trust.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXXIII. THE SCANDAL OF THE SYNOD OF +MONTAUBAN</h3> + +<p>O ye, wha are sae guid yourself,</p> + +<p> Sae pious and sae holy,</p> + +<p>Ye've naught to do but mark and tell</p> + +<p> Your neebour's fauts and folly.--BURNS</p> + +<p>The old city of Montauban, once famous as the home of Ariosto's +Rinaldo and his brethren, known to French romance as <i>'Les Quatre +Fils Aymon</i>,' acquired in later times a very diverse species of +fame,--that, namely, of being one of the chief strong-holds of the +Reformed. The Bishop Jean de Lettes, after leading a +scandalous life, had professed a sort of Calvinism, had married, +and retired to Geneva, and his successor had not found it possible +to live at Montauban from the enmity of the inhabitants. +Strongly situated, with a peculiar municipal constitution of its +own, and used to Provencal independence both of thought and deed, +the inhabitants had been so unanimous in their Calvinism, and had +offered such efficient resistance, as to have wrung from Government +reluctant sanction for the open observance of the Reformed worship, +and for the maintenance of a college for the education of their +ministry.</p> + +<p>There then was convoked the National Synod, answering to the +Scottish General Assembly, excepting that the persecuted French +Presbyterians met in a different place every year. Delegated +pastors there gathered from every quarter. From Northern +France came men used to live in constant hazard of their lives; +from Paris, confessors such as Merlin, the chaplain who, leaving +Coligny's bedside, had been hidden for three days in a hayloft, +feeding on the eggs that a hen daily laid beside him; +army-chaplains were there who had passionately led battle-psalms +ere their colleagues charged the foe, and had striven with vain +endeavours to render their soldiers saints; while other pastors +came from Pyrenean villages where their generation had never seen +flames lighted against heresy, nor knew what it was to disperse a +congregation in haste and secrecy for hear of the enemy.</p> + +<p>The audience was large and sympathizing. Montauban had +become the refuge of many Huguenot families who could nowhere else +profess their faith without constant danger; and a large proportion +of these were ladies, wives of gentlemen in the army kept up by La +Noue, or widows who feared that their children might be taken from +them to be brought up by their Catholic relations, elderly dames +who longed for tranquillity after having lost husbands or sons by +civil war. Thickly they lodged in the strangely named <i> +gasches</i> and <i>vertiers</i>, as the divisions and subdivisions +of the city were termed, occupying floors or apartments of the tall +old houses; walking abroad in the streets in grave attire, stiff +hat, crimped ruff, and huge fan, and forming a society in +themselves, close-packed, punctilious and dignified, rigidly devout +but strictly censorious, and altogether as unlike their typical +country folks of Paris as if they had belonged to a different +nation. And the sourest and most severe of all were such as +had lived farthest south, and personally suffered the least peril +and alarm.</p> + +<p>Dancing was unheard-of enormity; cards and dice were prohibited; +and stronger expletive than the elegant ones invented for the +special use of the King of Navarre was expiated either by the purse +or the skin; Marot's psalmody was the only music, black or sad +colour the only wear; and, a few years later, the wife of one of +the most distinguished statesmen and councillors of Henri of +Navarre was excommunicated for the enormity of wearing her hair +curled.</p> + +<p>To such a community it was a delightful festival to receive a +national assembly of ministers ready to regale them on daily +sermons for a whole month, and to retail in private the points of +discipline debated in the public assembly; and, apart from mere +eagerness for novelty, many a discreet heart beat with gladness at +the meeting with the hunted pastor of her native home, who had been +the first to strike the spiritual chord, and awake her mind to +religion.</p> + +<p>Every family had their honoured guest, every reception-room was +in turn the scene of some pious little assembly that drank <i>eau +sucree</i>, and rejoiced in its favourite pastor; and each little +congress indulged in gentle scandal against its rival +coterie. But there was one point on which all the ladies +agreed,--namely, that good Maitre Isaac Gardon had fallen into an +almost doting state of blindness to the vanities of his +daughter-in-law, and that she was a disgrace to the community, and +ought to be publicly reprimanded.</p> + +<p>Isaac Gardon, long reported to have been martyred--some said at +Paris, others averred at La Sablerie--had indeed been welcomed with +enthusiastic joy and veneration, when he made his appearance at +Montauban, pale, aged, bent, leaning on a staff, and showing the +dire effect of the rheumatic fever which had prostrated him after +the night of drenching and exposure during the escape from La +Sablerie. Crowded as the city was, there was a perfect +competition among the tradesfolk for the honour of entertaining him +and the young widow and child of a St. Bartholomew martyr. A +cordwainer of the street of the Soubirous Hauts obtained this +honour, and the wife, though speaking only the sweet Provencal +tongue, soon established the most friendly relations with M. +Gardon's daughter-in-law.</p> + +<p>Two or three more pastors likewise lodged in the same house, and +ready aid was given by Mademoiselle Gardon, as all called Eustacie, +in the domestic cares thus entailed, while her filial attention to +her father-in-law and her sweet tenderness to her child struck all +this home circle with admiration. Children of that age were +seldom seen at home among the better classes in towns. Then, +as now, they were universally consigned to country nurses, who only +brought them home at three or four years old, fresh from a squalid, +neglected cottage life: and Eustacie's little moonbeam, <i>la +petite Rayonette</i>, as she loved to call her, was quite an +unusual spectacle; and from having lived entirely with grown +people, and enjoyed the most tender and dainty care, she was +intelligent and brightly docile to a degree that appeared +marvellous to those who only saw children stupefied by a contrary +system. She was a lovely little thing, exquisitely fair, and her +plump white limbs small but perfectly moulded; she was always +happy, because always healthy, and living in an atmosphere of love; +and she was the pet and wonder of all the household, from the +grinning apprentice to the grave young candidate who hoped to be +elected pastor to the Duke de Quinet's village in the Cevennes.</p> + +<p>And yet it was <i>la petite Rayonette</i> who first brought her +mother into trouble. Since her emancipation from swaddling +clothes she had been equipped in a little gray woollen frock, such +as Eustacie had learnt to knit among the peasants, and varied with +broad while stripes which gave it something of the moonbeam effect; +but the mother had not been able to resist the pleasure of drawing +up the bosom and tying it with a knot of the very carnation colour +that Berenger used to call her own. That knot was discussed +all up and down the Rue Soubirous Hauts, and even through the +Carriera Major! The widow of an old friend of Maitre Gardon +had remonstrated on the improprieties of such gay vanities, and +Mdlle. Gardon had actually replied, reddening with insolences, that +her husband had loved to see her wear the colour.</p> + +<p>Now, if the brethren at Paris had indulged their daughters in +such backslidings, see what had come of it! But that poor +Theodore Gardon should have admired his bride in such unhallowed +adornments, was an evident calumny; and many a head was shaken over +it in grave and pious assembly.</p> + +<p>Worse still; when she had been invited to a supper at the +excellent Madame Fargeau's, the presumptuous little <i> +bourgeoise</i> had evidently not known her place, but had seated +herself as if she were a noble lady, a <i>fille de qualite</i>, +instead of a mere minister's widow and a watchmaker's +daughter. Pretend ignorance that precedence was to be here +observed! That was another Parisian piece of impudence, above +all in one who showed such ridiculous airs as to wipe her face with +her own handkerchief instead of the table-cloth, and to be +reluctant to help herself from the genera dish of <i>potage</i> +with her own spoon. Even that might have been overlooked if +she would have regaled them with a full and particular account of +her own rescue from the massacre at Paris; but she merely coloured +up, and said that she had been so ill as to know scarcely anything +about it; and when they pressed her further, she shortly said, +'They locked me up;' and, before she could be cross-examined as to +who was this 'they,' Maitre Gardon interfered, saying that she had +suffered so much that he requested the subject might never be +mentioned to her. Nor would he be more explicit, and there +was evidently some mystery, and he was becoming blindly indulgent +and besotted by the blandishments of an artful woman.</p> + +<p>Eustacie was saved from hearing the gossip by her ignorance of +the Provencal, which was the only languages of all but the highest +and most cultivated classes, the hostess had very little <i>langue +d'oui</i>, and never ventured on any complicated discourse; and +Isaac Gardon, who could speak both the <i>oc</i> and <i>oui</i>, +was not a person whom it was easy to beset with mere hearsay or +petty remonstrance, but enough reached him at last to make him one +day say mildly, 'My dear child, might not the little one dispense +with her ribbon while we are here?'</p> + +<p>'Eh, father? At the bidding of those impertinents?'</p> + +<p>'Take care, daughter; you were perfect with the tradesfolk and +peasants, but you cannot comport yourself as successfully with this +<i>petite noblesse</i>, or the pastors' wives.'</p> + +<p>'They are insolent, father. I, in my own true person, +would treat no one as these petty dames treat me,' said +Eustacie. 'I would not meddle between a peasant woman and her +child, nor ask questions that must needs wring her heart.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, child! humility is a bitter lesson; and even this world +needs it now from you. We shall have suspicions; and I heard +to-day that the King is in Dauphiny, and with him M. de Nid de +Merle. Be not alarmed; he has no force with him, and the +peace still subsists; but we must avoid suspicion. There is a +<i>preche</i> at the Moustier to-day, in French; it would be well +if you were to attend it.'</p> + +<p>'I understand as little of French sermons as of Provencal,' +murmured Eustacie; but it was only a murmur.</p> + +<p>Maitre Gardon had soon found out that his charge had not head +enough to be made a thorough-going controversial Calvinist. +Clever, intelligent, and full of resources as she was, she had no +capacity for argument, and could not enter into theoretical +religion. Circumstances had driven her from her original +Church and alienated her from those who had practiced such personal +cruelties on her and hers, but the mould of her mind remained what +it had been previously; she clung to the Huguenots because they +protected her from those who would have forced an abhorrent +marriage on her and snatched her child from her; and, personally, +she loved and venerated Isaac Gardon with ardent, self-sacrificing +filial love and gratitude, accepted as truth all that came from his +lips, read the Scriptures, sang and prayed with him, and obeyed him +as dutifully as ever the true Esperance could have done; but, +except the merest external objections against the grossest and most +palpable popular corruptions and fallacies, she really never +entered into the matter. She had been left too ignorant of +her own system to perceive its true clams upon her; and though she +could not help preferring High Mass to a Calvinist assembly, and +shrinking with instinctive pain and horror at the many profanations +she witnessed, the really spiritual leadings of her own individual +father-like leader had opened so much that was new and precious to +her, so full of truth, so full of comfort, giving so much moral +strength, that, unaware that all the foundations had been laid by +Mere Monique, the resolute, high-spirited little thing, out of +sheer constancy and constitutional courage, would have laid down +her life as a Calvinist martyr, in profound ignorance that she was +not in the least a Calvinist all the time.</p> + +<p>Hitherto, her wandering life amid the persecuted Huguenots of +the West had prevented her from hearing any preaching but good +Isaac's own, which had been rather in the way of comfort and +encouragement than of controversy, but in this great gathering it +was impossible that there should not be plenty of vehement +polemical oratory, such as was sue to fly over that weary little +head. After a specimen or two, the chances of the sermon +being in Provencal, and the necessity of attending to her child, +had been Eustacie's excuse for usually offering to attend to the +<i>menage</i>, and set her hostess free to be present at the +preachings.</p> + +<p>However, Rayonette was considered as no valid excuse; for did +not whole circles of black-eyed children sit on the floor in sleepy +stolidity at the feet of their mothers or nurses, and was it not a +mere worldly folly to pretend that a child of sixteen months could +not be brought to church? It was another instance of the +mother's frivolity and the grandfather's idolatry.</p> + +<p>The Moustier, or minster, the monastic church of Montauban, +built on Mont Auriol in honour of St. Theodore, had, twelve years +before, been plundered and sacked by the Calvinists, not only out +of zeal for iconoclasm, but from long-standing hatred and jealousy +against the monks. Catherine de Medicis had, in 1546, carried off +two of the jasper columns from its chief door-way to the Louvre; +and, after some years more, it was entirely destroyed. The +grounds of the Auriol Mountain Monastery have been desolate down to +the present day, when they have been formed into public +gardens. When Eustacie walked through them, carrying her +little girl in her arms, a rose in her bosom to console her for the +loss of her bright breast-knot, they were in raw fresh dreariness, +with tottering, blackened cloisters, garden flowers run wild, +images that she had never ceased to regard as sacred lying broken +and defiled among the grass and weeds.</p> + +<p>Up the broad path was pacing the municipal procession, headed by +the three Consuls, each with a serjeant bearing a white rod in +front and a scarlet mantle, and the Consuls themselves in long +robes with wide sleeves of quartered black and scarlet, followed by +six halberdiers, likewise in scarlet, blazoned with the shield of +the city--gules, a golden willow-tree, pollarded and shedding its +branches, a chief azure with the three <i>fleur-de-lys</i> of +royalty. As little Rayonette gleefully pointed at the +brilliant pageant, Eustacie could not help saying, rather bitterly, +that these <i>messieurs</i> seemed to wish to engross all the gay +colours from heaven and earth from themselves; and Maitre Isaac +could not help thinking she had some right on her side as he +entered the church once gorgeous with jasper, marbles, and mosaics, +glowing with painted glass, resplendent with gold and jewels, rich +with paintings and draperies of the most brilliant dyes; but now, +all that was, soiled, dulled, defaced; the whole building, even up +to the end of the chancel, was closely fitted with benches occupied +by the 'sad-coloured' congregation. Isaac was obliged by a +strenuous effort of memory to recall 'Ne-hushtan' and the golden +calves, before he could clear from his mind, 'Now they break down +all the carved work thereof with axes and with hammers.' But, +then, did not the thorough going Reformers think Master Isaac a +very weak and back-sliding brother?</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, in right of his age, his former reputation, and +his sufferings, his place was full in the midst of the +square-capped, black-robed ministers who sat herded on a sort of +platform together, to address the Almighty and the congregation in +prayers and discourses, interspersed with psalms sung by the whole +assembly. There was no want of piety, depth, force, or +fervour. These were men refined by persecution, who had +struggled to the light that had been darkened by the popular +system, and, having once been forced into foregoing their scruples +as to breaking the unity of the Church, regarded themselves even as +apostles of the truth. Listening to them, Isaac Gardon felt +himself rapt into the hopes of cleansing the aspirations of +universal re-integration that had shone before his early youth, ere +the Church had shown herself deaf, and the Reformers in losing +patience had lost purity, and disappointment had crushed him into +an aged man.</p> + +<p>He was recalled by the echo of a gay, little inarticulate cry-- +those baby tones that had become such music to his ears that he +hardly realized that they were not indeed from his +grandchild. In a moment's glance he saw how it was. A +little bird had flown in at one of the empty window, and was +fluttering over the heads of the congregation, and a small, plump, +white arm and hand was stretched out and pointing--a rosy, fair, +smiling face upturned; a little gray figure had scrambled up on the +knee of one of the still, black-hooded women; and the shout of +irrepressible delight was breaking on the decorum of the +congregation, in spite of hushes, in spite of the uplifted rod of a +scarlet serjeant on his way down the aisle to quell the +disturbance; nay, as the bird came nearer, the exulting voice, +proud of the achievement of a new word, shouted <i>'Moineau,</i> +<i>moineau.</i>.' Angered by defiance to authority, down came +the rod, not indeed with great force, but with enough to make the +arms clasp round the mother's neck, the face hide itself on in, a +loud, terrified wail ring through the church, and tempestuous +sobbing follow it up. Then uprose the black-hooded figure, +the child tightly clasped, and her mantle drawn round it, while the +other hand motioned the official aside, and down the aisle, even to +the door, she swept with the lofty carriage, high-drawn neck, and +swelling bosom of an offended princess.</p> + +<p>Maitre Gardon heard little more of the discourse, indeed he +would have followed at once had he not feared to increase the +sensation and the scandal. He came home to find Rayonette's +tears long ago dried, but her mother furious. She would leave +Montauban that minute, she would never set foot in a heretic +conventicle again, to have her fatherless child, daughter of all +the Ribaumonts, struck by base <i>canaille</i>. Even her +uncle could not have done worse; he at least would have respected +her blood.</p> + +<p>Maitre Gardon did not know that his charge could be in such a +passion, as, her eyes flashing through tears, she insisted on being +taken away at once. No, she would hear nothing. She +seemed to fell resentment due to the honour of all the Ribaumonts, +and he was obliged peremptorily to refuse to quit Montauban till +his business at the Synod should be completed, and then to leave +her in a flood of angry tears and reproaches for exposing her child +to such usage, and approving it.</p> + +<p>Poor little thing, he found her meek and penitent for her unjust +anger towards himself. Whatever he desired she would do, she +would stay or go with him anywhere except to a sermon at the +Moustier, and she did not think that in her heart her good father +desired little infants to be beaten--least of all Berenger's little +one. And with Rayonette already on his knee, stealing his +spectacles, peace was made.</p> + +<p>Peace with him, but not with the congregation! Were people +to stalk out of church in a rage, and make no reparation? Was +Maitre Isaac to talk of orphans, only children, and maternal love, +as if weak human affection did not need chastisement? Was +this saucy Parisienne to play the offended, and say that if the +child were not suffered at church she must stay at home with +it? The ladies agitated to have the obnoxious young widow +reprimanded in open Synod, but, to their still greater disgust, not +a pastor would consent to perform the office. Some said that Maitre +Gardon ought to rule his own household, others that they respected +him too much to interfere, and there were others abandoned enough +to assert that if any one needed a reprimand it was the +serjeant.</p> + +<p>Of these was the young candidate, Samuel Mace, who had been +educated at the expense of the Dowager Duchess de Quinet, and hoped +that her influence would obtain his election to the pastorate of a +certain peaceful little village deep in the Cevennes. She had +intimated that what he wanted was a wife to teach and improve the +wives of the peasant farmers, and where could a more eligible one +be found than Esperance Gardon? Her cookery he tasted, her +industry he saw, her tenderness to her child, her attention to her +father, were his daily admiration; and her soft velvet eyes and +sweet smile went so deep in his heart that he would have bought her +ells upon ells of pink ribbon, when once out of sight of the old +ladies; would have given a father's love to her little daughter, +and a son's duty and veneration to Isaac Gardon.</p> + +<p>His patroness did not deny her approval. The gossip had +indeed reached her, but she had a high esteem for Isaac Gardon, +believed in Samuel Mace's good sense, and heeded Montauban scandal +very little. Her <i>protege</i> would be much better married +to a spirited woman who had seen the world, than to a mere farmer's +daughter who had never looked beyond her cheese. Old Gardon +would be an admirable adviser, and if he were taken into the <i> +menage</i> she would add to the endowment another arable field, and +grass for two more cows. If she liked the young woman on +inspection, the marriage should take place in her own august +presence.</p> + +<p>What! had Maitre Gardon refused? Forbidden that the +subject should be mentioned to his daughter? +Impossible! Either Mace had managed matters foolishly, or the +old man had some doubt of him which she could remove, or else it +was foolish reluctance to part with his daughter-in-law. Or +the gossips were right after all, and he knew her to be too +light-minded, if not worse, to be the wife of any pious young +minister. Or there was some mystery. Any way, Madame la +Duchesse would see him, and bring him to his senses, make him give +the girl a good husband if she were worthy, or devote her to +condign punishment if she were unworthy.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXXIV. MADAME LA DUCHESSE</h3> + +<p>He found an ancient dame in dim brocade.---TENNYSON</p> + +<p>Madame la Duchesse de Quinet had been a great heiress and a +personal friend and favourite of Queen Jeanne d'Albret. She +had been left a widow after five years' marriage, and for forty +subsequent years had reigned despotically in her own name and that +of <i>mon fils</i>. Busied with the support of the Huguenot +cause, sometimes by arms, but more usually by politics, and +constantly occupied by the hereditary government of one of the +lesser counties of France, the Duke was all the better son for +relinquishing to her the home administration, as well as the +education of his two motherless boys; and their confidence and +affection were perfect, though he was almost as seldom at home as +she was abroad. At times, indeed, she had visited Queen +Jeanne at Nerac; but since the good Queen's death, she only left +the great chateau of Quinet to make a royal progress of inspection +through the family towns, castles, and estates, sometimes to winter +in her beautiful hereditary <i>hotel</i> at Montauban, and as at +present to attend any great assembly of the Reformed.</p> + +<p>Very seldom was her will not law. Strong sense and +judgment, backed by the learning that Queen Marguerite of Navarre +had introduced among the companions of her daughter, had rendered +her superior to most of those with whom she came in contact: and +the Huguenot ministers, who were much more dependent on their laity +than the Catholic priesthood, for the most part treated her as not +only a devout and honourable woman, an elect lady, but as a sort of +State authority. That she had the right-mindedness to respect +and esteem such men as Theodore Beza, Merlin, &c., who treated +her with great regard, but never cringed, had not become known to +the rest. Let her have once pronounced against poor little +Esperance Gardon, and public disgrace would be a matter of +certainty.</p> + +<p>There she sat in her wainscoted walnut cabinet, a small woman by +her inches, but stately enough to seem of majestic stature, and +with gray eyes, of inexpressible keenness, which she fixed upon the +halting, broken form of Isaac Gardon, and his grave, venerable +face, as she half rose and made a slight acknowledgment of his low +bow.</p> + +<p>'Sit, Maitre Gardon, you are lame,' she said, with a wave of her +hand. 'I gave you the incommodity of coming to see me not +openly discuss <i>en pleine sale</i>.'</p> + +<p>'Madame is considerate,' said Isaac, civilly, but with an +open-eyed look and air that at once showed her that she had not to +deal with one of the ministers who never forgot their low birth in +intercourse with her.</p> + +<p>'I understand,' said she, coming to the point at once, 'that you +decline the proposals of Samuel Mace for your +daughter-in-law. Now I wish you to know that Mace is a very +good youth, whom I have known from his birth'--and she went on in +his praise, Isaac bowing at each pause, until she had exhausted +both Mace's history and her own beneficent intentions for +him. Then he said, 'Madame is very good, and the young man +appeared to me excellent. Nevertheless, this thing may not +be. My daughter-in-law has resolved not to marry again.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, but this is mere folly,' said the Duchess. 'We hold +not Catholic tenets on merit in abstaining, but rather go by St. +Paul's advice that the younger widows should marry, rather than wax +wanton. And, to tell you the truth, Maitre Gardon, this +daughter of yours does seem to have set tongues in motion.'</p> + +<p>'Not by her own fault, Madame.'</p> + +<p>'Stay, my good friend; I never found a man--minister or lay--who +was a fair judge in these matters. You old men are no better +than the young--rather worse--because you do not distrust +yourselves. Now, I say no harm of the young woman, and I know +an angel would be abused at Montauban for not wearing sad-coloured +wings; but she needs a man's care--you are frail, you cannot live +for ever--and how is it to be with her and her child?'</p> + +<p>'I hope to bestow them among her kindred ere I die, Madame,' +said Isaac.</p> + +<p>'No kindred can serve a woman like a sensible husband! +Besides, I thought all perished at Paris. Listen, Isaac +Gardon: I tell you plainly that scandal is afloat. You are +blamed for culpable indifference to alleged levities--I say not +that it is true--but I see this, that unless you can bestow your +daughter-in-law on a good, honest man, able to silence the whispers +of malice, there will be measures taken that will do shame both to +your own gray hairs and to the memory of your dead son, as well as +expose the poor young woman herself. You are one who has a +true tongue, Isaac Gardon; and if you can assure me that she is a +faithful, good woman, as poor Mace thinks her, and will give her to +him in testimony thereof, then shall not a mouth open against +her. If not, in spite of all my esteem for you, the +discipline of the Reformed must take its course.'</p> + +<p>'And for what?' said Isaac, with a grave tone, almost of +reproof. 'What discipline can punish a woman for letting her +infant wear a coloured ribbon, and shielding it from a blow?'</p> + +<p>'That is not all, Master Isaac,' said the Duchess, +seriously. 'In spite of your much-respected name, evil and +censorious tongues will have it that matters ought to be +investigated; that there is some mystery; that the young woman does +not give a satisfactory account of herself, and that the child does +not resemble either her or your son--in short, that you may be +deceived by an impostor, perhaps a Catholic spy. Mind, I say +not that I credit all this, only I would show you what reports you +must guard against.'</p> + +<p><i>'La pauvre petite</i>!' said Isaac, under his breath, as if +appalled; then collecting himself, he said, 'Madame, these are +well-nigh threats. I had come hither nearly resolved to +confined in you without them.'</p> + +<p>'Then there is a mystery?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, Madame, but the deception is solely in the name. She +is, in very truth, a widow of a martyr of the St. Barthelemy, but +that martyr was not my son, whose wife was happy in dying with +him.'</p> + +<p>'And who, then, is she?'</p> + +<p>'Madame la Duchesse had heard of the family of Ribaumont.'</p> + +<p>'Ha! M. de Ribaumont! A gay comrade of King Henry II., but +who had his eyes opened to the truth by M. l'Amiral, though he +lacked courage for an open profession. Yes, the very last +pageant I beheld at court, was the wedding of his little son to the +Count de Ribaumont's daughter. It was said that the youth was +one of our victims at Paris.'</p> + +<p>'Even so, Madame; and this poor child is the little one whom you +saw wedded to him.' And then, in answer to the Duchess's +astonished inquiry, he proceeded to relate how Eustacie had been +forced to fly from her kindred, and how he had first encountered +her at his own lurking-placed, and had accepted her as a charge +imposed on him by Providence; then explained how, at La Sablerie, +she had been recognized by a young gentleman whom she had known at +Paris, but who professed to be fleeing to England, there to study +the Protestant controversy; and how she had confided to him a +letter to her husband's mother, who was married in England, begging +her to send for her and her daughter, the latter being heiress to +certain English estates, as well as French.</p> + +<p>'Madame,' added Gardon, 'Heaven forgive me, if I do the Youth +injustice by suspecting him, but no answer ever arrived to that +letter; and while we still expected one, a good and kindly citizen, +who I trust has long been received into glory, sent me notice that +a detachment of Monsieur's army was on its way from La Rochelle, +under command of M. de Nid de Merle, to search out this poor lady +in La Sablerie. He, good man, deemed that, were we gone, he +could make terms for the place, and we therefore quitted it. +Alas! Madame knows how it fared with the pious friend we +left. Little deeming how they would be dealt with, we took +our way along the Sables d'Olonne, where alone we could be safe, +since, as Madame knows, they are for miles impracticable for +troops. But we had another enemy there--the tide; and there +was a time when we truly deemed that the mercy granted us had been +that we had fallen into the hand of the Lord instead of the hand of +cruel man. Yes, Madame, and even for that did she give +thanks, as she stood, never even trembling, on the low sandbank, +with her babe in her bosom, and the sea creeping up on all +sides. She only turned to me with a smile, saying, 'She is +asleep, she will not feel it, or know anything till she wakes up in +Paradise, and sees her father.' Never saw I a woman, either +through nature or grace, so devoid of fear. We were rescued +at last, by the mercy of Heaven, which sent a fisherman, who bore +us to his boat when benumbed with cold, and scarce able to +move. He took us to a good priest's, Colombeau of Nissard, a +man who, as Madame may know, is one of those veritable saints who +still are sustained by the truth within their Church, and is full +of charity and mercy. He asked me no questions, but fed, +warmed, sheltered us, and sped us on our way. Perhaps, +however, I was over-confident in myself, as the guardian of the +poor child, for it was Heaven's will that the cold and wet of our +night on the sands--though those tender young frames did not suffer +therefrom--should bring on an illness which has made an old man of +me. I struggled on as long as I could, hoping to attain to a +safe resting-place for her, but the winter cold completed the work; +and then, Madame--oh that I could tell you the blessing she was to +me!--her patience, her watchfulness, her tenderness, through all +the long weeks that I lay helpless alike in mind and body at +Charente. Ah! Madame, had my own daughter lived, she +could not have been more to me than that noble lady; and her +cheerful love did even more for me than her tender care.'</p> + +<p>'I must see her,' ejaculated the Duchesse; then added, 'But was +it this illness that hindered you from placing her in safety in +England?'</p> + +<p>'In part, Madame; nay, I may say, wholly. We learnt that +the assembly was to take place here, and I had my poor testimony to +deliver, and to give notice of my intention to my brethren before +going to a foreign land, whence perhaps I may never return.'</p> + +<p>'She ought to be in England,' said Madame de Quinet; 'she will +never be safe from these kinsmen in this country.'</p> + +<p>'M. de Nid de Merle has been all the spring in Poland with the +King,' said the minister, 'and the poor lady is thought to have +perished at La Sablerie. Thus the danger has been less +pressing, but I would have taken her to England at once, if I could +have made sure of her reception, and besides---' be faltered.</p> + +<p>'The means?' demanded the Duchess, guessing at the meaning.</p> + +<p>'Madame is right. She had brought away some money and +jewels with her, but alas, Madame, during my illness, without my +knowledge, the dear child absolutely sold them to procure comforts +for me. Nay'-- his eyes filled with tears--'she whom they +blame for vanities sold the very hair from her head to purchase +unguents to ease the old man's pains; nor did I know it for many a +day after. From day to day we can live, for our own people +willingly support a pastor and his family; and in every house my +daughter has been loved,-- everywhere but in this harsh-judging +town. But for the expense of a voyage, even were we at +Bordeaux or La Rochelle, we have nothing, save by parting with the +only jewels that remain to her, and those--those, she says, are +heirlooms; and, poor child, she guards them almost as jealously as +her infant, around whom she has fastened them beneath her +clothes. She will not even as yet hear of leaving them in +pledge, to be redeemed by the family. She says they would +hardly know her without them. And truly, Madame, I scarce +venture to take her to England, ere I know what reception would +await her. Should her husband's family disown or cast her +off, I could take better care of her here than in a strange +land.'</p> + +<p>'You are right, Maitre Gardon,' said the Duchess; 'the risk +might be great. I would see this lady. She must be a +rare creature. Bear her my greetings, my friend, and pray her +to do me the honour of a visit this afternoon. Tell her I +would come myself to her, but that I understand she does not wish +to attract notice.'</p> + +<p>'Madame,' said Isaac, rising, and with a strange manner, between +a smile and a tear of earnestness, 'allow me to bespeak your +goodness for my daughter. The poor little thing is scarcely +more than a child. She is but eighteen even now, and it is +not always easy to tell whether she will be an angel of noble +goodness, or, pardon me, a half-petulant child.'</p> + +<p>'I understand:' Madame de Quinet laughed, and she probably did +understand more than reluctant, anxious Isaac Gardon thought she +did, of his winning, gracious, yet haughty, head-strong little +charge, so humbly helpful one moment, so self-asserting and +childish the next, so dear to him, yet so unlike anything in his +experience.</p> + +<p>'Child,' he said, as he found her in the sunny window engaged in +plaiting the deep folds of his starched ruffs, 'you have something +to forgive me.'</p> + +<p>'Fathers do not ask their children's pardon,' said Eustacie, +brightly, but then, with sudden dismay, 'Ah! you have not said I +should go to the Moustier again.'</p> + +<p>'No, daughter; but Madame de Quinet entreats--these are her +words-- that you will do her the honour of calling on her. +She would come to you, but that she fears to attract notice to +us.'</p> + +<p>'You have told her!' exclaimed Eustacie.</p> + +<p>'I was compelled, but I had already thought of asking your +consent, and she is a true and generous lady, with whom your secret +will be safe, and who can hush the idle tongues here. So, +daughter,' he added restlessly, 'don your hood; that ruff will +serve for another day.'</p> + +<p>'Another day, when the morrow is Sunday, and my father's ruff is +to put to shame all the other pastors',' said Eustacie, her quick +fingers still moving. 'No, he shall not go ill-starched for +any Duchess in France. Now am I in any haste to be lectured +by Madame de Quinet, as they say she lectured the Dame de Soubrera +the other day.'</p> + +<p>'My child, you will go; much depends on it.'</p> + +<p>'Oh yes, I am going; only if Madame de Quinet knows who I am, +she will not expect me to hurry at her beck and call the first +moment. Here, Rayonette, my bird, my beauty, thou must have a +clean cap; ay, and these flaxen curls combed.'</p> + +<p>'Would you take the child?'</p> + +<p>'Would I go without Mademoiselle de Rambouillet? She is +all her mother is, and more. There, now she is a true +rose-bud, ready to perch on my arm. No, no <i>bon +pere</i>. So great a girl is too much for you to carry. +Don't be afraid, my darling, we are not going to a sermon, no one +will beat her; oh no, and if the insolent retainers and pert +lacqueys laugh at her mother, no one will hurt her.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, child,' said Maitre Gardon; 'this is a well-ordered +household, where contempt and scorn are not suffered. Only, +dear, dear daughter, let me pray you to be your true self with the +Duchess.'</p> + +<p>Eustacie shrugged her shoulders, and had mischief enough in her +to enjoy keeping her good father in some doubt and dread as he went +halting wearily by her side along the much-decorated streets that +marked the grand Gasche of Tarn and Tarascon. The Hotel de +Quinet stretched out its broad stone steps, covered with vaultings, +absolutely across the street, affording a welcome shade, and no +obstruction where wheeled carriages never came.</p> + +<p>All was, as Maitre Isaac had said, decorum itself. A couple of +armed retainers, rigid as sentinels, waited on the steps; a grave +porter, maimed in the wars opened the great door; half a +dozen <i>laquais</i> in sober though rich liveries sat on a +bench in the hall, and had somewhat the air of having been set to +con a lesson. Two of them coming respectfully forward, +ushered Maitre Gardon and his companion to an ante-room, where +various gentlemen, or pastors, or candidates--among them Samuel +Mace--were awaiting a summons to the Duchess, or merely using it as +a place of assembly. A page of high birth, but well schooled +in steadiness of demeanour, went at once to announce the arrival; +and Gardon and his companion had not been many moments in +conversation with their acquaintance among the ministers, before +the grave gentleman returned, apparently from his audience and the +page, coming to Eustacie, intimated that she was to follow him to +Madame le Duchesse's presence.</p> + +<p>He conducted her across a great tapestry-hung saloon, where +twelve or fourteen ladies of all ages--from seventy to fifteen--sat +at work: some at tapestry, some spinning, some making coarse +garments for the poor. A great throne-like chair, with a +canopy over it, a footstool, a desk and a small table before it, +was vacant, and the work--a poor child's knitted cap--laid down; +but an elderly minister, seated at a carved desk, had not +discontinued reading from a great black book, and did not even +cease while the strangers crossed the room, merely making a slight +inclination with his head, while the ladies half rose, rustled a +slight reverence with their black, gray or russet skirts, but +hardly lifted their eyes. Eustacie thought the Louvre had +never been half so formidable or impressive.</p> + +<p>The page lifted a heavy green curtain behind the canopy, knocked +at a door, and, as it opened, Eustacie was conscious of a dignified +presence, that, in spite of her previous petulance, caused her +instinctively to bend in such a reverence as had formerly been +natural to her; but, at the same moment, a low and magnificent +curtsey was made to her, a hand was held out, a stately kiss was on +her brow, and a voice of dignified courtesy said, 'Pardon me, +Madame la Baronne, for giving you this trouble. I feared that +otherwise we could not safely meet.'</p> + +<p>'Madame is very good. My Rayonette, make thy reverence; +kiss thy hand to the lady, my lamb.' And the little one +obeyed, gazing with her blue eyes full opened, and clinging to her +mother.</p> + +<p>'Ah! Madame la Baronne makes herself obeyed,' said Madame +de Quinet, well pleased. 'Is it then a girl?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, Madame, I could scarcely forgive her at first; but she has +made herself all the dearer to me.'</p> + +<p>'It is a pity,' said Madame de Quinet, 'for yours is an ancient +stem.'</p> + +<p>'Did Madame know my parents?' asked Eustacie, drawn from her +spirit of defiance by the equality of the manner with which she was +treated.</p> + +<p>'Scarcely,' replied the Duchess; but, with a smile, 'I had the +honour to see you married.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, then,'--Eustacie glowed, almost smiled, though a tear was +in her eyes--'you can see how like my little one is to her +father,--a true White Ribaumont.'</p> + +<p>The Duchess had not the most distinct recollection of the +complexion of the little bridegroom; but Rayonette's fairness was +incontestable, and the old lady complimented it so as to draw on +the young mother into confidence on the pet moonbeam appellation +which she used in dread of exciting suspicion by using the true +name of Berangere, with all the why and wherefore.</p> + +<p>It was what the Duchess wanted. Imperious as some thought her, +she would on no account have appeared to cross-examine any one +whose essential nobleness of nature struck her as did little +Eustacie's at the first moment she saw her; and yet she had +decided, before the young woman arrived, that her own good opinion +and assistance should depend on the correspondence of Madame de +Ribaumont's history of herself with Maitre Gardon's.</p> + +<p>Eustacie had, for a year and a half, lived with peasants; and, +indeed, since the trials of her life had really begun, she had +never been with a woman of her own station to whom she could give +confidence, or from whom she could look for sympathy. And +thus a very few inquiries and tokens of interest from the old lady +drew out the whole story, and more than once filled Madame de +Quinet's eyes with tears.</p> + +<p>There was only one discrepancy; Eustacie could not believe that +the Abbe de Mericour had been a faithless messenger. Oh, +no! either those savage-looking sailors had played him false, +or else her <i>bele-mere</i> would not send for her. 'My +mother-in-law never loved me,' said Eustacie; 'I know she never +did. And now she has children by her second marriage, and no +doubt would not see my little one preferred to them. I will +not be HER suppliant.'</p> + +<p>'And what then would you do?' said Madame de Quinet, with a more +severe tone.</p> + +<p>'Never leave my dear father,' said Eustacie, with a flash of +eagerness; 'Maitre Isaac I mean. He has been more to me than +any--any one I ever knew--save----'</p> + +<p>'You have much cause for gratitude to him,' said Madame de +Quinet. 'I honour your filial love to him. Yet, you +have duties to this little one. You have no right to keep her +from her position. You ought to write to England again. +I am sure Maitre Isaac tells you so.'</p> + +<p>Eustacie would have pouted, but the grave, kind authority of the +manner prevented her from being childish, and she said, 'If I +wrote, it should be to my husband's grandfather, who brought him +up, designated him as his heir, and whom he loved with all his +heart. But, oh, Madame, he has one of those English +names! So dreadful! It sounds like Vol-au-vent, but it +is not that precisely.'</p> + +<p>Madame de Quinet smiled, but she was a woman of resources. +'See, my friend,' she said, 'the pursuivant of the consuls here has +the rolls of the herald's visitations throughout the +kingdom. The arms and name of the Baron de Ribaumont's +wife will there be entered; and from my house at Quinet you shall +write, and I, too, will write; my son shall take care that the +letters be forwarded safely, and you shall await their arrival +under my protection. That will be more fitting than running +the country with an old pastor, <i>hein</i>?'</p> + +<p>'Madame, nothing shall induce me to quit him!' exclaimed +Eustacie, vehemently.</p> + +<p>'Hear me out, child,' said the Duchess. 'He goes with us +to assist my chaplain; he is not much fitter for wandering than +you, or less so. And you, Madame, must, I fear me, still +remain his daughter-in-law in my household; or if you bore your own +name and rank, this uncle and cousin of yours might learn that you +were still living; and did they claim you---'</p> + +<p>'Oh, Madame, rather let me be your meanest kitchen-girl!'</p> + +<p>'To be--what do they call you?--Esperance Gardon will be quite +enough. I have various women here--widows, wives, daughters +or sufferers for the truth's sake, who either are glad of rest, or +are trained up to lead a godly life in the discipline of my +household. Among them you can live without suspicion, +provided,' the old lady added, smiling, 'you can abstain from +turning the heads of our poor young candidates.'</p> + +<p>'Madame,' said Eustacie, gravely, 'I shall never turn any one's +head. There was only one who was obliged to love me, and +happily I am nor fair enough to win any one else.'</p> + +<p>'<i>Tenez</i>, child. Is this true simplicity? Did +Gardon, truly, never tell you of poor Samuel Mace?'</p> + +<p>Eustacie's face expressed such genuine amazement and +consternation, that the Duchess could not help touching her on the +cheek, and saying, 'Ah! simple as a <i>pensionnaire</i>, as we used +to say when no one else was innocent. But it is true, my +dear, that to poor Samuel we owe our meeting. I will send him +off, the poor fellow, at once to Bourge-le-Roy to preach his three +sermons; and when they had driven you a little out of his head, he +shall have Mariette there--a good girl, who will make him an +excellent wife. She is ugly enough, but it will be all the +same to him just then! I will see him, and let him know that +I have reasons. He lodges in your house, does he? Then you +had better come to see me at once. So will evil tongues best +be silenced.</p> + +<p>'But hold,' the Duchess said, smiling. 'You will think me +a foolish old woman, but is it true that you have saved the Pearls +of Ribaumont, of which good Canon Froissart tells?'</p> + +<p>Eustacie lifted her child on her knee, untied the little gray +frock, and showed them fastened beneath, well out of sight. +'I thought my treasures should guard one another,' she said. +'One I sent as a token to my mother-in-law. For the rest, they are +not mine, but hers; her father lent them to me, not gave: so she +wears them thus; and anything but HER life should go rather than +THEY should.'</p> + +<p>'<i>Hein</i>, a fine guardian for them!' was all the Duchess +said in answer.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXXV. THE ITALIAN PEDLAR</h3> + +<p>This caitiff monk for gold did swear,</p> + +<p>That by his drugs my rival fair</p> + +<p> A saint in heaven should be.--SCOTT</p> + +<p>A grand cavalcade bore the house of Quinet from +Montauban--coaches, wagons, outriders, gendarmes--it was a perfect +court progress, and so low and cumbrous that it was a whole week in +reaching a grand old castle standing on a hill-side among chestnut +woods, with an avenue a mile long leading up to it; and +battlemented towers fit to stand a siege.</p> + +<p>Eustacie was ranked among the Duchess's gentlewomen. She +was so far acknowledged as a lady of birth, that she was usually +called Madame Esperance; and though no one was supposed to doubt +her being Theodore Gardon's widow, she was regarded as being a +person of rank who had made a misalliance by marrying him. +This Madame de Quinet had allowed the household to infer, thinking +that the whole bearing of her guest was too unlike that of a Paris +<i>bourgeoise</i> not to excite suspicion, but she deemed it wiser +to refrain from treating her with either intimacy or distinction +that might excite jealousy or suspicion. Even as it was, the +consciousness of a secret, or the remnants of Montauban gossip, +prevented any familiarity between Eustacie and the good ladies who +surrounded her; they were very civil to each other, but their only +connecting link was the delight that every one took in petting +pretty little Rayonette, and the wonder that was made of her signs +of intelligence and attempts at talking. Even when she +toddled fearlessly up to the stately Duchess on her canopied +throne, and held out her entreating hands, and lisped the word <i> +'nontre</i>,' Madame would pause in her avocations, take her on her +knee, and display that wonderful gold and enamel creature which +cried tic-tic, and still remained an unapproachable mystery to M. +le Marquis and M. le Vicomte, her grandsons.</p> + +<p>Pale, formal stiff boys they looked, twelve and ten years old, +and under the dominion of a very learned tutor, who taught them +Latin, Greek and Hebrew, alternately with an equally precise, stiff +old esquire, who trained them in martial exercises, which seemed to +be as much matters of rote with them as their tasks, and to be +quite as uninteresting. It did not seem as if they ever +played, or thought of playing; and if they were ever to be gay, +witty Frenchmen, a wonderful change must come over them.</p> + +<p>The elder was already betrothed to a Bearnese damsel, of an +unimpeachably ancient and Calvinistic family; and the whole +establishment had for the last three years been employed on +tapestry hangings for a whole suite of rooms, that were to be +fitted up and hung with the histories of Ruth, of Abigail, of the +Shunammite, and of Esther, which their diligent needles might hope +to complete by the time the marriage should take place, three years +later! The Duchess, who really was not unlike 'that great +woman' the Shunammite, in her dignified content with 'dwelling +among her own people,' and her desire to 'receive a prophet in the +name of a prophet,' generally sat presiding over the work while +some one, chaplain, grandson, or young maiden, read aloud from +carefully assorted books; religious treatises at certain hours, and +at others, history. Often, however, Madame was called away into her +cabinet, where she gave audience to intendants, notaries from her +estates, pastors from the villages, captains of little garrisons, +soldiers offering service, farmers, women, shepherds, foresters, +peasants, who came either on her business or with their own needs-- +for all of which she was ready with the beneficence and decision of +an autocrat.</p> + +<p>The chapel had been 'purified,' and made bare of all altar or +image. It was filled with benches and a desk, whence Isaac +Gardon, the chaplain, any pastor on a visit, or sometimes a +candidate for his promotion, would expound, and offer prayers, +shortly in the week, more at length on Sunday; and there, too, +classes were held for the instruction of the peasants.</p> + +<p>There was a great garden full of medicinal plants, and +decoctions and distilleries were the chief variety enjoyed by the +gentlewomen. The Duchess had studied much in quaint Latin and +French medical books, and, having great experience and good sense, +was probably as good a doctor as any one in the kingdom except +Ambroise Pare and his pupils; and she required her ladies to +practise under her upon the numerous ailments that the peasants +were continually bringing for her treatment. 'No one could +tell,' she said, 'how soon they might be dealing with gun-shot +wounds, and all ought to know how to sew up a gash, or cure an +argue.'</p> + +<p>This department suited Eustacie much better than the stitching, +and best of all she liked to be sent with Maitre Isaac to some +cottage where solace for soul and body were needed, and the inmate +was too ill to be brought to Madame la Duchess. She was +learning much and improving too in the orderly household, but her +wanderings had made her something of a little gipsy. She now +and then was intolerably weary, and felt as if she had been +entirely spoilt for her natural post. 'What would become of +her,' she said to Maitre Isaac, 'if she were too grand to dress +Rayonette?'</p> + +<p>She was not greatly distressed that the Montauban pursuivant +turned out to have only the records of the Provencal nobility, and +was forced to communicate with his brethren at Bordeaux before he +could bring down the Ribaumont genealogy to the actual generation; +and so slow was communication, so tardy the mode of doing +everything, that the chestnut leaves were falling and autumn +becoming winter before the blazoned letter showed Ribaumont, de +Picardie--'Gules, fretty or, a canton of the last, a leopard, +sable. Eustacie Berangere, m. Annora, daughter and +heiress of Villiam, Baron of Valvem, in the county of Dorisette, +England, who beareth, azure, a siren regardant in a mirror +proper.' The siren was drawn in all her propriety impaled +with the leopard, and she was so much more comprehensible than the +names, to both Madame de Quinet and Eustacie, that it was a pity +they could not direct their letters to her rather than to 'Le Baron +de Valvem,' whose cruel W's perplexed them so much. However, +the address was the least of Eustacie's troubles; she should be +only too glad when she got to that, and she was sitting in Maitre +Isaac's room, trying to make him dictate her sentences and asking +him how to spell every third word, when the dinner-bell rang, and +the whole household dropped down from <i>salon</i>, library, study, +or chamber to the huge hall, with its pavement of black and white +marble, and its long tables, for Madame de Quinet was no woman to +discard wholesome old practices.</p> + +<p>Then, as Eustacie, with Rayonette trotting at her side, and +Maitre Isaac leaning on her arm, slowly made her way to that high +table where dined Madame la Duchess, her grandsons, the ministers, +the gentlemen in waiting, and some three or four women besides +herself, she saw that the lower end of the great hall was full of +silks, cloths, and ribbons heaped together; and, passing by the +lengthy rank of retainers, she received a bow and look of +recognition from a dark, acute-looking visage which she remembered +to belong to the pedlar she had met at Charente.</p> + +<p>The Duchess, at the head of her table, was not in the best of +humours. Her son had sent home letters by a courier whom he +had picked up for himself and she never liked nor trusted, and he +required an immediate reply when she particularly resented being +hurried. It was a <i>galimafre</i>, literally a hash, she +said; for indeed most matters where she was not consulted did +become a <i>galimafre</i> with her. Moreover, under favour of +the courier, her porters had admitted this pedlar, and the Duchess +greatly disliked pedlars. All her household stores were +bought at shops of good repute in Montauban, and no one ought to be +so improvident as to require dealings with these mountebank +vagabonds, who dangled vanities before the eyes of silly girls, and +filled their heads with Paris fashion, if they did not do still +worse, and excite them to the purchase of cosmetics and +love-charms.</p> + +<p>Yet the excitement caused by the approach of a pedlar was +invincible, even by Madame la Duchess. It was inevitable that the +crying need of glove, kerchief, needle, or the like, should be +discovered as soon as he came within ken, and, once in the hall, +there was no being rid of him except by a flagrant act of +inhospitality. This time it was worst of all, for M. le +Marquis himself must needs be the first to spy him, bring him in, +and be in want of a silver chain for his hawk; and his brother the +Vicomte must follow him up with all manner of wants inspired by the +mere sight of the pack.</p> + +<p>Every one with the smallest sum of money must buy, every one +without inspect and assist in bargaining; and all dinner-time, +eyes, thoughts, and words were wandering to the gay pile in the +corner, or reckoning up needs and means. The pedlar, too, +knew what a Calvinist household was, and had been extremely +discreet, producing nothing that could reasonably be objected to; +and the Duchess, seeing that the stream was too strong for her, +wisely tried to steer her bark through it safely instead of +directly opposing it.</p> + +<p>As soon as grace was over, she called her maitre d'hotel, and +bade him look after that <i>galimafre</i>, and see that none of +these fools were unreasonably cheated, and that there was no +attempt at gulling the young ones with charms or fortune-telling, +as well as to conclude the matter so as to give no excuse for the +Italian fellow lingering to sup and sleep. She then retired +to her cabinet to prepare her dispatches, which were to include a +letter to Lord Walwyn. Though a nominal friendship subsisted +between Elisabeth and the French court, the Huguenot chiefs always +maintained a correspondence with England, and there was little +danger but that the Duke de Quinet would be able to get a letter, +sooner or later, conveyed to any man of mark. In the course +of her letter, Madame de Quinet found it necessary to refer to +Eustacie. She rang her little silver handbell for the +hall. There, of course, Master Page had been engulfed in the +<i>galimafre</i>, and not only forming one of the swarm around the +pedlar, but was actually aping courtly grimaces as he tried a +delicate lace ruffle on the hand of a silly little smirking maiden, +no older than himself! But this little episode was, like many +others, overlooked by Madame de Quinet, as her eye fell upon the +little figure of Rayonette standing on the table, with her mother +and two or three ladies besides coaxing her to open her mouth, and +show the swollen gums that had of late been troubling her, while +the pedlar was evidently expending his blandishments upon her.</p> + +<p>The maitre d'hotel was the first to perceive his mistress, and, +as he approached, received a sharp rebuke from her for allowing the +fellow to produce his quack medicines; and, at the same time, she +desired him to request Madame Esperance to come to her immediately +on business. Eustacie, who always had a certain self-willed +sense of opposition when the Duchess showed herself peremptory +towards her, at first began to make answer that she would come as +soon as her business was concluded; but the steward made a gesture +towards the great lady sailing up and down as she paced the <i> +dais</i> in stately impatience. 'Good fellow,' she said, 'I +will return quickly, and see you again, though I am now +interrupted. Stay there, little one, with good Mademoiselle +Perrot; mother will soon be back.'</p> + +<p>Rayonette, in her tooth-fretfulnes, was far from enduring to be +forsaken so near a strange man, and her cry made it necessary for +Eustacie to take her in arms, and carry her to the <i>dais</i> +where the Duchess was waiting.</p> + +<p>'So!' said the lady, 'I suspected that the fellow was a quack as +well as a cheat.'</p> + +<p>'Madame,' said Eustacie, with spirit, 'he sold me unguents that +greatly relieved my father last spring.'</p> + +<p>'And because rubbing relieved an old man's rheumatics, you would +let a vagabond cheat drug and sicken this poor child for what is +not ailment at all--and the teeth will relieve in a few days. +Or, if she were feverish, have not we decoctions brewed from +Heaven's own pure herbs in the garden, with no unknown +ingredient?'</p> + +<p>'Madame,' said Eustacie, ruffling into fierceness, 'you are very +good to me; but I must keep the management of my daughter to +myself.'</p> + +<p>The Duchess looked at her from head to foot. Perhaps it +was with an impulse to treat her impertinence as she would have +done that of a dependant; but the old lady never forgot herself: +she only shrugged her shoulders and said, with studied politeness, +'When I unfortunately interrupted your consultation with this +eminent physician, it was to ask you a question regarding this +English family. Will you do me the honour to enter my +cabinet?'</p> + +<p>And whereas no one was looking, the old lady showed her +displeasure by ushering Madame de Ribaumont into her cabinet like a +true noble stranger guest; so that Eustacie felt disconcerted.</p> + +<p>The Duchess then began to read aloud her own letter to Lord +Walwyn, pausing at every clause, so that Eustacie felt the delay +and discussion growing interminable, and the Duchess then requested +to have Madame de Ribaumont's own letter at once, as she wished to +inclose it, make up her packet, and send it without delay. +Opening a secret door in her cabinet, she showed Eustacie stair by +which she might reach Maitre Gardon's room without crossing the +hall. Eustacie hoped to find him there and tell him how +intolerable was the Duchess; but, though she found him, it was in +company with the tutor, who was spending an afternoon on Plato with +him. She could only take up her letter and retreat to +Madame's cabinet, where she had left her child. She finished +it as best she might, addressed it after the herald's spelling of +the title, bound it with some of the Duchess's black floss +silk--wondering meanwhile, but little guessing that the pedlar +knew, where was the tress that had bound her last attempt at +correspondence, guessing least of all that that tress lay on a +heart still living and throbbing for her. All this had made +her a little forget her haste to assert her liberty of action by +returning to the pedlar; but, behold, when she came back to the +hall, it had resumed its pristine soberness, and merely a few +lingering figures were to be seen, packing up their purchases.</p> + +<p>While she was still looking round in dismay, Mademoiselle Perrot +came up to her and said, 'Ah! Madame, you may well +wonder! I never saw Maitre Benoit there so cross; the poor +man did but offer to sell little Fanchon the elixir that secures a +good husband, and old Benoit descended on him like a griffin +enraged, would scarce give him time to compute his charges or pack +his wares, but hustled him forth like a mere thief! And I +missed my bargain for that muffler that had so taken my +fancy. But, Madame, he spoke to me apart, and said you were +an old customer of his, and that rather than the little angel +should suffer with her teeth, which surely threaten convulsions, he +would leave with you this sovereign remedy of sweet syrup--a +spoonful to be given each night.'</p> + +<p>Eustacie took the little flask. She was much inclined to +give the syrup by way of precaution, as well as to assure herself +that she was not under the Duchess's dominion; but some strong +instinct of the truth of the lady's words that the child was safer +and healthier undoctored, made her resolve at least to defer it +until the little one showed any perilous symptom. And as +happily Rayonette only showed two little white teeth, and much +greater good-humour, the syrup was nearly forgotten, when, a +fortnight after, the Duchess received a dispatch from her son which +filled her with the utmost indignation. The courier had +indeed arrived, but the packet had proved to be filled with hay and +waste-paper. And upon close examination, under the lash, the +courier had been forced to confess to having allowed himself to be +overtaken by the pedlar, and treated by him to a supper at a <i> +cabaret</i>. No doubt, while he was afterwards asleep, the +contents of his packet had been abstracted. There had been +important documents for the Duke besides Eustacie's letters, and +the affair greatly annoyed the Duchess, though she had the +compensation of having been proved perfectly right in her prejudice +against pedlars, and her dislike of her son's courier. She +sent for Eustacie to tell her privately of the loss, and of course +the young mother at once turned pale and exclaimed, 'The wicked +one! Ah! what a blessing that I gave my little darling none +of his dose!'</p> + +<p>'<i>Hein</i>? You had some from him then!' demanded the +Duchess with displeasure.</p> + +<p>'No, Madame, thanks, thanks to you. Oh! I never will +be self-willed and naughty again. Forgive me, Madame.' +And down she dropped on her knee, with clasped hands and glistening +eyes.</p> + +<p>'Forgive you, silly child, for what?' said Madame de Quinet, +nearly laughing.</p> + +<p>'Ah! for the angry, passionate thoughts I had! Ah! Madame, I was +all but giving the stuff to my little angel in very spite--and +then---' Eustacie's voice was drowned in passion of tears, +and she devoured the old lady's hand with her kisses.</p> + +<p>'Come, come,' said the Duchess, 'let us be reasonable. A man may +be a thief, but it does not follow that he is a poisoner.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, that will we see,' cried Eustacie. 'He was resolved +that the little lamb should not escape, and he left a flask for her +with Mademoiselle Perrot. I will fetch it, if Madame will +give me leave. Oh, the great mercy of Heaven that made her so +well that I gave her none!'</p> + +<p>Madame de Quinet's analytic powers did not go very far; and +would probably have decided against the syrup if it had been +nothing but virgin honey. She was one who fully believed that +her dear Queen Jeanne had been poisoned with a pair of gloves, and +she had unlimited faith in the powers of evil possessed by Rene of +Milan. Of course, she detected the presence of a slow poison, +whose effects would have been attributed to the ailment it was +meant to cure; and though her evidence was insufficient, she +probably did Ercole no injustice. She declined testing the +compound on any unfortunate dog or cat, but sealed it up in the +presence of Gardon, Eustacie, and Mademoiselle Perrot, to be +produced against the pedlar if ever he should be caught.</p> + +<p>Then she asked Eustacie if there was any reason to suspect that +he recognized her. Eustacie related the former dealings with +him, when she had sold him her jewels and her hair, but she had no +notion of his being the same person whom she had seen when at +Montpipeau. Indeed, he had altered his appearance so much +that he had been only discovered at Nid-de-Merle by eyes sharpened +by distrust of his pretensions to magic arts.</p> + +<p>Madame de Quinet, however, concluded that Eustacie had been +known, or else that her jewels had betrayed her, and that the man +must have been employed by her enemies. If it had not been +the depth of winter, she would have provided for the persecuted +lady's immediate transmission to England; but he storms of the Bay +of Biscay would have made this impossible in the state of French +navigation, even if Isaac Gardon had been in a condition to move; +for the first return of cold had brought back severe rheumatic +pains, and with them came a shortness of breath which even the +Duchess did not know to be the token of heart complaint. He +was confined to his room, and it was kneeling by his bedside that +Eustacie poured out her thankfulness for her child's preservation, +and her own repentance for the passing fit of self-will and +petulance. The thought of Rayonette's safety seemed +absolutely to extinguish the fresh anxiety that had arisen since it +had become evident that her enemies no longer supposed her dead, +but were probably upon her traces. Somehow, danger had become +almost a natural element to her, and having once expressed her firm +resolution that nothing should separate her from her adopted +father, to whom indeed her care became constantly more necessary, +she seemed to occupy herself very little with the matter; she +nursed him as merrily as ever, and left to him and Madame de Quinet +the grave consultations as to what was to be done for her +security. There was a sort of natural buoyancy about her that +never realized a danger till it came, and then her spirit was +roused to meet it.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXXVI. SPELL AND POTION</h3> + +<p>Churl, upon thy eyes I throw</p> + +<p>All the power this charm doth owe</p> + +<p> MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM</p> + +<p>Her rival lived! The tidings could not but be communicated +to Diane de Selinville, when her father set out <i>en grande +tenue</i> to demand his niece from the Duke de Quinet. This, +however, was not till spring was advancing; for the pedlar had not +been able to take a direct route back to Nid-de-Merle, since his +first measure had necessarily been to escape into a province where +the abstraction of a Huguenot nobleman's despatches would be +considered as a meritorious action. Winter weather, and the +practice of his profession likewise, delayed Ercole so much that it +was nearly Easter before he brought his certain intelligence to the +Chevalier, and to the lady an elixir of love, clear and coloured as +crystal, and infallible as an inspirer of affection.</p> + +<p>Should she administer it, now that she knew her cousin not to be +the lawful object of affection she had so long esteemed him, but, +as he persisted in considering himself, a married man? Diane +had more scruples than she would have had a year before, for she +had not so long watched and loved one so true and conscientious as +Berenger de Ribaumont without having her perceptions elevated; but +at the same time the passion of love had become intensified, both +by long continuance and by resistance. She had attached +herself, believing him free, and her affections could not be +disentangled by learning that he was bound--rather the +contrary.</p> + +<p>Besides, there was plenty of sophistry. Her father had +always assured her of the invalidity of the marriage, without +thinking it necessary to dwell on his own arrangements for making +it invalid, so that was no reasonable ground of objection; and a +lady of Diane's period, living in the world where she had lived, +would have had no notion of objecting to her lover for a previous +amour, and as such was she bidden to rank Berenger's relations with +Eustacie. And there was the less scruple on Eustacie's +account, because the Chevalier, knowing that the Duchess had a son +and two grandsons, had conceived a great terror that she meant to +give his niece to one of them; and this would be infinitely worse, +both for the interests of the family and of their party, than even +her reunion with the young Baron. Even Narcisse, who on his +return had written to Paris a grudging consent to the experiment of +his father and sister, had allowed that the preservation of +Berenger's life was needful till Eustacie should be in their power +so as to prevent such a marriage as that! To Diane, the very +suggestion became certainty: she already saw Eustacie's shallow +little heart consoled and her vanity excited by these magnificent +prospects, and she looked forward to the triumph of her own +constancy, when Berenger should find the image so long enshrined in +his heart crumble in its sacred niche.</p> + +<p>Yet a little while then would she be patient, even though nearly +a year had passed and still she saw no effect upon her prisoners, +unless, indeed, Philip had drunk of one of her potions by mistake +and his clumsy admiration was the consequence. The two youths +went on exactly in the same manner, without a complaint, without a +request, occupying themselves as best they might--Berenger +courteously attentive recovered his health, and the athletic powers +displayed by the two brothers when wrestling, fencing, or +snow-balling in the courtyard, were the amazement and envy of their +guard. Twice in the course of the winter there had been an alarm of +wolves, and in their eagerness and excitement about this new sport, +they had accepted the Chevalier's offer of taking their parole for +the hunt. They had then gone forth with a huge posse of +villagers, who beat the woods with their dogs till the beast was +aroused from its lair and driven into the alleys, where waited +gentlemen, gendarmes, and game keepers with their guns. These +two chases were chiefly memorable to Berenger, because in the +universal intermingling of shouting peasants he was able in the +first to have some conversation with Eustacie's faithful protector +Martin, who told him the incidents of her wanderings, with tears in +his eyes, and blessed him for his faith that she was not dead; and +in the second, he actually found himself in the ravine of the +Grange du Temple. No need to ask, every voice was shouting +the name, and though the gendarmes were round him and he durst not +speak to Rotrou, still he could reply with significative +earnestness to the low bow with which the farmer bent to evident +certainty that here was the imprisoned Protestant husband of the +poor lady. Berenger wore his black vizard mask as had been +required of him, but the man's eyes followed him, as though +learning by heart the outline of his tall figure. The object +of the Chevalier's journey was, of course, a secret from the +prisoners, who merely felt its effects by having their meals served +to them in their own tower; and when he returned after about a +month's absence though him looking harassed, aged, and so much out +of humour that he could scarcely preserve his usual +politeness. In effect he was greatly chagrined.</p> + +<p>'That she is in their hands is certain, the hypocrites!' he said +to his daughter and sister; 'and no less so that they have designs +on her; but I let them know that these could be easily +traversed.'</p> + +<p>'But where is she, the unhappy apostate child?' said the +Abbess. 'They durst not refuse her to you.'</p> + +<p>'I tell you they denied all present knowledge of her. The +Duke himself had the face to make as though he never heard of +her. He had no concern with his mother's household and guests +forsooth! I do not believe he has; the poor fellow stands in +awe of that terrible old heretic dragon, and keeps aloof from her +as much as he can. But he is, after all, a <i>beau jeune +home</i>; nor should I be surprised if he were the girl's gay +bridegroom by this time, though I gave him a hint that there was an +entanglement about the child's first marriage which, by French law, +would invalidate any other without a dispensation from the +Pope.'</p> + +<p>'A hard nut that for a heretic,' laughed the Abbess.</p> + +<p>'He acted the ignorant--knew nothing about the young lady; but +had the civility to give me a guide and an escort to go to +Quinet. <i>Ma foi</i>! I believe they were given to hinder +me--take me by indirect roads, make me lose time at chateaux. +When I arrived at the grim old chateau--a true dungeon, precise as +a convent--there was the dame, playing the Queen Jeanne as well as +she could, and having the insolence to tell me that it was true +that Madame la Baronne de Ribaumont, as she was pleased to call +her, had honoured her residence for some months, but that she had +now quitted it, and she flatly refused to answer any question +whither she was gone! The hag! she might at least have had +the decorum to deny all knowledge of her, but nothing is more +impertinent that the hypocritical sincerity of the heretics.'</p> + +<p>'But her people,' exclaimed the Abbess; 'surely some of them +knew, and could be brought to speak.'</p> + +<p>'All the servants I came in contact with played the +incorruptible; but still I have done something. There were +some fellows in the village who are not at their ease under that +rule. I caused my people to inquire them out. They knew +nothing more than that the old heretic Gardon with his family had +gone away in Madame la Duchesse's litter, but whither they could +not tell. But the <i>cabaretier</i> there is furious secretly with +the Quinets for having spoilt his trade by destroying the shrine at +the holy well, and I have made him understand that it will be for +his profit to send me off intelligence so soon as there is any +communication between them and the lady. I made the same +arrangement with a couple of gendarmes of the escort the Duke gave +me. So at least we are safe for intelligence such as would +hinder a marriage.'</p> + +<p>'But they will be off to England!' said the Abbess.</p> + +<p>'I wager they will again write to make sure of a +reception. Moreover, I have set that fellow Ercole and others +of his trade to keep a strict watch on all the roads leading to the +ports, and give me due notice of their passing thither. We +have law on our side, and, did I once claim her, no one could +resist my right. Or should the war break out, as is probable, +then could my son sweep their whole province with his troops. +This time she cannot escape us.'</p> + +<p>The scene that her father's words and her own imagination +conjured up, of Eustacie attracting the handsome widower-duke, +removed all remaining scruples from Madame de Selinville. For +his own sake, the Baron must be made to fulfil the prophecy of the +ink-pool, and allow his prison doors to be opened by love. +Many and many a tender art did Diane rehearse; numerous were her +sighs; wakeful, languishing, and restless her nights and days; and +yet, whatever her determination to practise upon her cousin the +witcheries that she had learnt in the <i>Escadron de la +Reine-mere</i>, and seen played off effectually where there was not +one grain of love to inspire them, her powers and her courage +always failed her in the presence of him whom she sought to +attract. His quiet reserve and simplicity always disconcerted +her, and any attempt at blandishment that he could not mistake was +always treated by him as necessarily an accidental error, as if any +other supposition would render her despicable; and yet there was +now and then a something that made her detect an effort in his +restraint, as if it were less distaste than self-command. Her +brother had contemptuously acquiesced in the experiment made by +herself and her father, and allowed that so long as there was any +danger of the Quinet marriage, the Baron's existence was needful. +He would not come to Nid-de-Merle, nor did they want him there, +knowing that he could hardly have kept his hands off his +rival. But when the war broke out again in the summer of 1575 +he joined that detachment of Guise's army which hovered about the +Loire, and kept watch on the Huguenot cities and provinces of +Western France. The Chevalier made several expeditions to +confer with his son, and to keep up his relations with the network +of spies whom he had spread over the Quinet provinces. The +prisoners were so much separated from all intercourse with the +dependants that they were entirely ignorant of the object of his +absence from home. On these occasions they never left their +tower and its court, and had no enlivenment save an occasional gift +of dainties or message of inquiry from the ladies at +Bellaise. These were brought by a handsome but slight, pale +lad called Aime de Selinville, a relative of the late Count, as he +told them, who had come to act as a gentleman attendant upon the +widowed countess. The brothers rather wondered how he was +disposed of at the convent, but all there was so contrary to their +preconceived notions that they acquiesced. The first time he +arrived it was on a long, hot summer day, and he then brought them +a cool iced sherbet in two separate flasks, that for Philip being +mixed with wine, which was omitted for Berenger; and the youth +stood lingering and watching, anxious, he said, to be able to tell +his lady how the drinks were approved. Both were excellent, +and to that effect the prisoners replied; but no sooner was the +messenger gone than Berenger said smilingly, 'That was a love +potion, Phil.'</p> + +<p>'And you drank it!' cried Philip, in horror.</p> + +<p>'I did not think of it till I saw how the boy's eyes were gazing +curiously at me as I swallowed it. You look at me as +curiously, Phil. Are you expecting it to work? Shall I +be at the fair lady's feet next time we meet?'</p> + +<p>'How can you defy it, Berry?'</p> + +<p>'Nay, Phil; holy wedded love is not to be dispelled by a +mountebank's decoction.'</p> + +<p>'But suppose it were poisonous, Berry, what can be done?' cried +Philip, starting up in dismay.</p> + +<p>'Then you would go home, Phil, and this would be over. +But'-- seeing his brother's terror--'there is no fear of +that. She is not like to wish to poison me.'</p> + +<p>And the potion proved equally ineffective on mind and body, as +indeed did all the manipulations exercised upon a little waxen +image that was supposed to represent M. le Baron. Another +figure was offered to Diane, in feminine form, with black beads for +eyes and a black plaster for hair, which, when stuck full of pins +and roasted before the fire, was to cause Eustacie to peak and pine +correspondingly. But from this measure Diane shrank. If +aught was done against her rival it must be by her father and +brother, not by herself; and she would not feel herself directly +injuring her little cousin, nor sinking herself below him whom she +loved. Once his wife, she would be good for ever, held up by +his strength.</p> + +<p>Meantime Berenger had received a greater shock than she or her +father understood in the looking over of some of the family +parchments kept in store at the castle. The Chevalier, in +showing them to him, had chiefly desired to glorify the family by +demonstrating how its honours had been won, but Berenger was +startled at finding that Nid-de-Merle had been, as it appeared to +him, arbitrarily and unjustly declared to be forfeited by the Sieur +de Bellaise, who had been thrown into prison by Louis XI. for some +demonstration in favour of the poor Duke de Berri, and granted to +the favourite Ribaumont. The original grant was there, and to +his surprise he found it was to male heirs--the male heirs alone of +the direct line of the Ribaumont--to whom the grant was made. +How, then, came it to Eustacie? The disposal had, with almost +equal injustice, been changed by King Henry II. and the late Count +de Ribaumont in favour of the little daughter whose union with the +heir of the elder line was to conclude all family feuds. Only +now did Berenger understand what his father had said on his +death-bed of flagrant injustice committed in his days of +darkness. He felt that he was reaping the reward of the +injuries committed against the Chevalier and his son on behalf of +the two unconscious children. He would willingly at once have +given up all claim to the Nid-de-Merle estate--and he was now of +age; two birthdays had passed in his captivity and brought him to +years of discretion--but he had no more power than before to +dispose of what was the property of Eustacie and her child; and the +whole question of the validity of his marriage would be given up by +his yielding even the posthumous claim that might have devolved on +him in case of Eustacie's death. This would be giving up her +honour, a thing impossible.</p> + +<p>'Alas!' he sighed, 'my poor father might well say he had bound a +heavy burthen round my neck.'</p> + +<p>And from that time his hopes sank lower as the sense of the +justice of his cause left him. He could neither deny his +religion nor his marriage, and therefore could do nothing for his +own deliverance; and he knew himself to be suffering in the cause +of a great injustice; indeed, to be bringing suffering on the still +more innocent Philip.</p> + +<p>The once proudly indifferent youth was flagging now; was losing +appetite, flesh, and colour; was unwilling to talk or to take +exercise; and had a wan and drooping air that was most painful to +watch. It seemed as if the return of summer brought a sense +of the length and weariness of the captivity, and that the sunshine +and gaiety of the landscape had become such a contrast to the +captives' deadness of spirit that they could hardly bear to behold +them, and felt the dull prison walls more congenial to their +feelings than the gaiety of the summer hay and harvest-fields.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXXVII. BEATING AGAINST THE BARS</h3> + +<p>My horse is weary of the stall,</p> + +<p>And I am sick of captive thrall.--LADY OF THE LAKE</p> + +<p>Letters! They were hailed like drops of water in a thirsty +land. No doubt they had been long on the way, ere they had +reached the hands of the Chevalier de Ribaumont, and it was quite +possible that they had been read and selected; but, as Berenger +said, he defied any Frenchman to imitate either Lord Walwyn's style +or Sir Marmaduke's, and when late in the autumn the packet was +delivered to him, the two captives gloated over the very outsides +before they opened them.</p> + +<p>The first intelligence that greeted them made them give a cry of +amusement and surprise. Lady Thistlewood, whose regrets that +each of her girls was not a boy had passed into a proverb, had at +length, in Dolly's seventh year, given birth to a son on Midsummer +Day.</p> + +<p>'Well,' said Philip, sighing, 'we must drink his health +tonight! It is well, if we are to rot here, that some one +should make it up to them!'</p> + +<p>'And join Walwyn and Hurst!' said Berenger; and then both faces +grew much graver, as by these letters, dated three months since, +they understood how many they must have missed, and likewise that +nothing had been heard of themselves since they had left Paris +sixteen months ago. Their letters, both to their relations +and to Sir Francis Walsingham, had evidently been suppressed; and +Lord North, who had succeeded Walsingham as ambassador, had +probably been misled by design, either by Narcisse de Nid-de-Merle +himself, or by some of his agents, for Lord Walwyn had heard from +him that the young men were loitering among the castles and +garrisons of Anjou, leading a gay and dissipated life, and that it +was universally believed that the Baron de Ribaumont had embraced +the Catholic faith, and would shortly be presented to Henry III. to +receive the grant of the Selinville honours, upon his marriage with +his cousin, the widow of the last of the line. With much +earnestness and sorrow did good old Lord Walwyn write to his +grandson, conjuring him to bethink himself of his some, his pure +faith, his loving friends, and the hopes of his youth: and, at +least, if he himself had been led away by the allurements of the +other party, to remember that Philip had been intrusted to him in +full confidence, and to return him to his home. 'It was grief +and shame to him,' said the good old man, 'to look at Sir +Marmaduke, who had risked his son in the charge of one hitherto +deemed trustworthy; and even if Berenger had indeed forgotten and +cast away those whom he had once seemed to regard with love and +duty, he commanded him to send home Philip, who owed an obedience +to his father that could not be gainsaid.' Lord Walwyn further bade +his grandson remember that the arrangements respecting his +inheritance had been made in confidence that his heir was English +in heart and faith, and that neither the Queen nor his own +conscience would allow him to let his inheritance pass into French +of Papist hands. There was scarcely a direct reproach, but +the shaken, altered handwriting showed how stricken the aged man +must be; and after his signature was added one still more trembling +line, 'An ye return not speedily, ye will never see the old +grandsire more.'</p> + +<p>Berenger scarcely finished the letter through his burning tears +of agony, and then, casting it from him, began to pace the room in +fierce agitation, bursting out into incoherent exclamations, +grasping at his hair, even launching himself against the massive +window with such frenzied gestures and wild words that Philip, who +had read through all with his usual silent obtuseness, became +dismayed, and, laying hold of him, said, 'Prithee, brother, do not +thus! What serves such passion?'</p> + +<p>Berenger burst into a strange loud laugh at the matter-of-fact +tone. 'What serves it! what serves anything!' he cried, 'but +to make me feel what a miserable wretch I am? But he will +die, Philip--he will die--not having believed me! How shall +we keep ourselves from the smooth-tongued villain's throat? +That I should be thus judged a traitor by my grandfather----'</p> + +<p>And with a cry as of bodily anguish, he hid his face on the +table, and groaned as he felt the utter helplessness of his strong +youth in bonds.</p> + +<p>'It can't be helped,' was the next of the unconsolatory +platitudes uttered by Philip, who always grew sullen and dogged +when his brother's French temperament broke forth under any sudden +stroke. 'If they will believe such things, let them! +You have not heard what my father says to it.'</p> + +<p>'It will be all the same,' groaned Berenger.</p> + +<p>'Nay! now that's a foul slander, and you should be ashamed of +doing my father such wrong,' said Philip, 'Listen;' and he +read: 'I will believe no ill of the lad no more than of thee, +Phil. It is but a wild-goose chase, and the poor young woman +is scarce like to be above ground; but, as I daily tell them, 'tis +hard a man should forfeit his land for seeking his wife. My +Lord North sends rumours that he is under Papist guiding, and sworn +brother with the Black Ribaumonts; and my Lady, his grandmother, is +like to break her heart, and my Lord credits them more than he +ought, and never a line as a token comes from you. Then +there's Dame Annora, as proud of the babe as though neither she nor +woman born ever had a son before, and plains over him, that both +his brothers should be endowed, and he but a younger son. +What will be the end on't I cannot tell. I will stand up for +the right as best man may do, and never forget that Berry is her +first-born, and that his child may be living; but the matter is +none of mine, and my Lord is very aged, nor can a man meddle +between his wife and her father. So this I tell you that you +may make your brother lay it to heart. The sooner he is here +the better, if he be still, as I verily believe and maintain him to +be, an honest English heart that snaps his fingers at French +papistry.' 'There,' conclude Philip triumphantly, 'he knows +an honest man! He's friend and good father to you as much as +ever. Heed none of the rest. He'll never let this +little rogue stand in your light.'</p> + +<p>'as if I cared for that!' said Berenger, beginning his +caged-tiger walk again, and, though he tried to repress his +anguish, breaking out at times into fierce revilings of the cruel +toils that beset him, and despairing lamentations over those +beloved ones at home, with sobs, groans, and tears, such as Philip +could not brook to witness. Both because they were so violent and +mourn-full, and because he thought them womanish, though in effect +no woman's grief could have had half that despairing force. +The <i>fierte</i> of the French noble, however, came to his +aid. At the first sound of the great supper-bell he dashed +away his tears, composed his features, washed his face, and +demanded haughtily of Philip, whether there were any traces in his +looks that the cruel hypocrite, their jailer, could gloat over.</p> + +<p>And with proud step and indifferent air he marched into the +hall, answered the Chevalier's polite inquiry whether the letter +had brought good tidings by coolly thanking him and saying that all +at home were well; and when he met the old man's inquiring glance +out of the little keen black bead in the puckered, withered eyelid, +he put a perfectly stony unmeaningness into his own gaze, till his +eyes looked like the blue porcelain from China so much prized by +the Abbess. He even played at chess all the evening with such +concentrated attention as to be uniformly victorious.</p> + +<p>Yet half the night Philip heard suppressed moans and sobs--then +knew that he was on his knees--then, after long and comparatively +silent weeping, he lay down again, and from the hour when he awoke +in the morning, he returned no more to the letters; and though for +some little time more sad and dispirited, he seemed to have come to +regard the misjudgment at home as a part of the burthen he was +already bearing.</p> + +<p>That burthen was, however, pressing more heavily. The +temperaments of the two brothers so differed that while the French +one was prostrated by the agony of a stroke, and then rallied +patiently to endure the effects, the English character opposed a +passive resistance to the blow, gave no sign of grief or pain, and +from that very determination suffered a sort of exhaustion that +made the effects of the evil more and more left. Thus, from +the time Philip's somewhat tardy imagination had been made to +realize his home, his father, and his sisters, the home-sickness, +and weariness of his captivity, which had already begun to +undermine his health and spirits, took increasing effect.</p> + +<p>He made no complaint--he never expressed a wish--but, in the +words of the prophet, he seemed 'pining away on his feet.' He +did not sleep, and though, to avoid remark, he never failed to +appear at meals, he scarcely tasted food. He never willingly +stirred from cowering over the fire, and was so surly and +ill-tempered that only Berenger's unfailing good-humour could have +endured it. Even a wolf-hunt did not stir him. He only +said he hated outlandish beasts, and that it was not like chasing +the hare in Dorset. His calf-love for Madame de Selinville +had entirely faded away in his yearnings after home. She was +only one of the tediously recurring sights of his captivity, and +was loathed like all the rest. The regulation rides with the +Chevalier were more detestable than ever, and by and by they caused +such fatigue that Berenger perceived that his strength must be +warning, and became so seriously alarmed that one evening, when +Philip had barely dragged himself to the hall, tasted nothing but a +few drops of wine, and then dropped into an uneasy slumber in his +chair, he could not but turn to the Chevalier an appealing, +indignant countenance, as he said, in a low but quivering voice, +'You see, sir, how he is altered!'</p> + +<p>'Alas! fair nephew, it is but too plain. He is just of the +age when such restraint tells severely upon the health.'</p> + +<p>Then Berenger spoke out upon the foul iniquity of the boy's +detention. For himself, he observed, he had nothing to say; +he knew the term of his release, and had not accepted them; but +Philip, innocent of all damage to the Ribaumont interests, the heir +of an honourable family, what had he done to incur the cruel +imprisonment that was eating away his life?</p> + +<p>'I tell you, sir,' said Berenger, with eyes filled with tears,' +that his liberty is more precious to me than my own. Were he but +restored to our home, full half the weight would be gone from my +spirit.'</p> + +<p>'Fair nephew,' said the Chevalier, 'you speak as though I had +any power in the matter, and were not merely standing between you +and the King.'</p> + +<p>'Then if so,' said Berenger, 'let the King do as he will with +me, but let Philip's case be known to our Ambassador.'</p> + +<p>'My poor cousin,' said the Chevalier, 'you know not what you +ask. Did I grant your desire, you would only learn how +implacable King Henri is to those who have personally offended +him--above all, to heretics. Nor could the Ambassador do +anything for one who resisted by force of arms the King's +justice. Leave it to me; put yourself in my hands, and +deliverance shall come for him first, then for you.'</p> + +<p>'How, sir?'</p> + +<p>'One token of concession--one attendance at mass--one pledge +that the alliance shall take place when the formalities have been +complied with--then can I report you our own; give you almost +freedom at once; despatch our young friend to England without loss +of time; so will brotherly affection conquer those chivalrous +scruples, most honourable in you, but which, carried too far, +become cruel obstinacy.'</p> + +<p>Berenger looked at Philip; saw how faded and wan was the ruddy +sun-burnt complexion, how lank and bony the sturdy form, how +listless and wasted the hands. Then arose, bursting within +him, the devoted generosity of the French nature, which would even +accept sin and ruin for self, that so the friend may be saved; and +after all, had he not gone to mass out of mere curiosity?--did he +not believe that there was salvation in the Gallican Church? +Was it not possible that, with Philip free to tell his story at +home, his own deliverance might come before he should be +irrevocably committed to Madame de Selinville? If Eustacie +were living, her claims must overthrow that which her rival was +forcing upon him at her own peril. Nay, how else could he +obtain tidings of her? And for those at home, did they +deserve that he should sacrifice all, Philip included, for their +sake? The thoughts, long floating round his brain, now surged +upon him in one flood, and seemed to overwhelm in those moments of +confusion all his powers of calling up the other side of the +argument; he only had an instinct remaining that it would be a lie +to God and man alike. 'God help me!' he sighed to himself; +and there was sufficient consideration and perplexity expressed in +his countenance to cause the Chevalier to feel his cause almost +gained; and rising eagerly, with tears in his eyes, he exclaimed, +'Embrace me, my dear, dear son! The thing is done! Oh! +what peace, what joy!'</p> + +<p>The instinct of recoil came stronger now. He stepped back +with folded arms, saying again, 'God help me! God forbid that +I should be a traitor!'</p> + +<p>'My son, hear me; these are but easily removed points of +honour,' began the Chevalier; but at that moment Philip suddenly +started from, or in his slumber, leapt on his feet, and called out, +'Avaunt, Satan!' then opened his eyes, and looked, as if barely +recalling where he was.</p> + +<p>'Philip!' exclaimed Berenger, 'did you hear?'</p> + +<p>'I--I don't know,' he said, half-bewildered. 'Was I +dreaming that the fiend was parleying with us in the voice of M. le +Chevalier there to sell our souls for one hour of home?'</p> + +<p>He spoke English, but Berenger replied in French.</p> + +<p>'You were not wrong, Philip. Sir, he dreamt that the devil +was tempting me in your voice while you were promising me his +liberty on my fulfilling your first condition.'</p> + +<p>'What?' said Philip, now fully awake, and gathering the state of +things, as he remembered the words that had doubtless been the +cause of his dream. 'And if you did, Berenger, I give you +warning they should never see me at home. What! could I show +my face there with such tidings? No! I should go +straight to La Noue, or to the Low Countries, and kill every Papist +I could for having debauched you!'</p> + +<p>'Hush! hush! Philip,' said Berenger; 'I could not break my +faith to Heaven or my wife even for your sake, and my cousin sees +how little beholden you would be to me for so doing. With +your leave, Monsieur, we will retire.'</p> + +<p>The Chevalier detained Berenger for a moment to whisper, 'What I +see is so noble a heart that I know you cannot sacrifice him to +your punctilio.'</p> + +<p>Philip was so angry with Berenger, so excited, and so determined +to show that nothing ailed him, that for a short time he was +roused, and seemed to be recovering; but in a few days he flagged +again, only, if possible with more gruffness, moodiness, and +pertinacity in not allowing that anything was amiss. It was +the bitterest drop of all in Berenger's cup, when in the end of +January he looked back at what Philip had been only a month before, +and saw how he had wasted away and lost strength; the impulse +rather to ruin himself that destroy his brother came with such +force that he could scarcely escape it by his ever-recurring cry +for help to withstand it. And then Diane, in her splendid +beauty and witchery, would rise before him, so that he knew how a +relaxation of the lengthened weary effort would make his whole self +break its bonds and go out to her. Dreams of felicity and +liberty, and not with Eustacie, would even come over him, and he +would awaken to disappointment before he came to a sense of relief +and thankfulness that he was still his own. The dislike, +distaste, and dread that came so easily in his time of pain and +weakness were less easy to maintain in his full health and forced +inactivity. Occupation of mind and hope seemed the only +chance of enabling either of the two to weather this most dreary +desert period; and Berenger, setting his thoughts resolutely to +consider what would be the best means of rousing Philip, decided at +length that any endeavour to escape, however arduous and desperate, +would be better than his present apathetic languor, even if it led +to nothing. After the first examination of their prison, +Berenger had had no thought of escape; he was then still weak and +unenterprising. He had for many months lived in hopes of +interference from home; and, besides, the likelihood that so +English a party as his own would be quickly pursued and recaptured, +where they did not know their road and had no passports, had +deterred him lest should fall into still straiter +imprisonment. But he had since gained, in the course of his +rides, and by observation from the top of the tower, a much fuller +knowledge of the country. He knew the way to the grange du +Temple, and to the chief towns in the neighbourhood. Philip +and Humfrey had both lost something of their intensely national +look and speech, and, moreover, was having broken out again, there +was hope of falling in with Huguenot partisans even nearer that at +La Rochelle. But whether successful or not, some enterprise +was absolutely needed to save Philip from his despondent apathy; +and Berenger, who in these eighteen months had grown into the +strength and vigour of manhood, felt as if he had force and power +for almost any effort save this hopeless waiting.</p> + +<p>He held council with Humfrey, who suggested that it might be +well to examine the vaults below the keep. He had a few days +before, while going after some of the firewood stored below the +ground-floor chamber, observed a door, locked, but with such rusty +iron hinges that they might possibly yield to vigorous efforts with +a stone; and who could tell where the underground passages might +come out?</p> + +<p>Berenger eagerly seized the idea. Philip's mood of +contradiction prompted him to pronounce it useless folly, and he +vouchsafed no interest in the arrangements for securing light, by +selecting all the bits of firewood fittest for torches, and saving +all the oil possible from the two lamps they were allowed. +The chief difficulty was that Guibert was not trusted, so that all +had to be done out of his sight; and on the first day Berenger was +obliged to make the exploration alone, since Humfrey was forced to +engross Guibert in some occupation out of sight, and Philip had +refused to have anything to do with it, or be like a rat routing in +the corners of his trap.</p> + +<p>However, Berenger had only just ascertained that the ironwork +was so entirely rusted away as to offer no impediment, when Philip +came languidly roaming into the cellar, saying, 'Here! I'll +hold the torch! You'll be losing yourself in this wolf's +mouth of a place if you go alone.'</p> + +<p>The investigation justified Philip's predictions of its +uselessness. Nothing was detected but rats, and vaults, and +cobwebs; it was cold, earthy, and damp; and when they thought they +must have penetrated far beyond the precincts of the keep, they +heard Humfrey's voice close to them, warning them that it was +nearly dinner-time.</p> + +<p>The next day brought them a more promising discovery, namely of +a long straight passage, with a gleam of light at the end of it; +and this for the first time excited Philip's interest or +curiosity. He would have hastened along it at once, but for +the warning summons from Humfrey; and in the excitement of even +this grain of interest, he ate more heartily at supper than he had +done for weeks, and was afterwards more eager to prove to Berenger +that night was the best time to pursue their researches.</p> + +<p>And Berenger, when convinced that Guibert was sound asleep, +thought so too, and accompanied by Humfrey, they descended into the +passage. The light, of course, was no longer visible, but the +form of the crypt, through which they now passed, was less antique +than that under the keep, and it was plain they were beneath a +later portion of the Castle. The gallery concluded in a wall, +with a small barred, unglazed window, perfectly dark, so that +Berenger, who alone could reach to the bottom of it, could not uses +where it looked out.</p> + +<p>'We must return by daylight; then, maybe, we may judge,' sighed +Philip.</p> + +<p>'Hark!' exclaimed Berenger.</p> + +<p>'Rats,' said Philip.</p> + +<p>'No--listen--a voice! Take care!' he added, in a lower +tone, 'we may be close on some of the servants.'</p> + +<p>But, much nearer than he expected, a voice on his right hand +demanded, 'Does any good Christian hear me?'</p> + +<p>'Who is there?' exclaimed Philip.</p> + +<p>'Ah! good sir, do I hear the voice of a companion in +misery? Or, if you be free, would you but send tidings to my +poor father?'</p> + +<p>'It is a Norman accent!' cried Berenger. 'Ah! ah! can it +be poor Landry Osbert?'</p> + +<p>'I am--I am that wretch. Oh, would that M. le Baron could +know!'</p> + +<p>'My dear, faithful foster-brother! They deceived me,' +cried Berenger, in great agitation, as an absolute howl came from +the other side of the wall: 'M. le Baron come to this! +Woe worth the day!' and Berenger with difficulty mitigated his +affectionate servant's lamentations enough to learn from him how he +had been seized almost at the gates of Bellaise, closely +interrogated, deprived of the letter to Madame la Baronne, and +thrown into this dungeon. The Chevalier. Not an unmerciful +man, according to the time, had probably meant to release him as +soon as the marriage between his son and niece should have rendered +it superfluous to detain this witness to Berenger's +existence. There, then, the poor fellow had lain for three +years, and his work during this weary time had been the scraping +with a potsherd at the stone of his wall, and his pertinacious +perseverance had succeeded in forming a hole just large enough to +enable him to see the light of the torch carried by the +gentlemen. On his side, he said, there was nothing but a +strong iron door, and a heavily-barred window, looking, like that +in the passage, into the fosse within the walled garden; but, on +the other hand, if he could enlarge his hole sufficiently to creep +through it, he could escape with them in case of their finding a +subterranean outlet. The opening within his cell was, of +course, much larger than the very small space he had made by +loosening a stone towards the passage, but he was obliged always to +build up each side of his burrow at the hours of his jailer's +visit, lest his work should be detected, and to stamp the rubbish +into his floor. But while they talked, Humfrey and Philip, +with their knives, scraped so diligently that two more stones could +be displaced; and, looking down the widening hole through the +prodigious mass of wall, they could see a ghastly, ragged, +long-bearded scarecrow, with an almost piteous expression of joy on +his face, at once again seeing familiar faces. And when, at +his earnest entreaty, Berenger stood so as to allow his countenance +to be as visible as the torch could make it through the +'wall's-hole,' the vault echoed with the poor fellow's delighted +cry. 'I am happy! M. le Baron is himself again. The +assassin's cruel work is gone! Ah! thanks to the +saints! Blessed be St. Lucie, it was not in vain that I +entreated her!'</p> + +<p>The torches were, however, waxing so low that the sight could +not long be afforded poor Osbert; and, with a promise to return to +him next day, the party returned to the upper air, where they +warmed themselves over the fire, and held council over measures for +the present relief of the captive. Berenger grieved that he +had given him up so entirely for lost as to have made no exertions +on his behalf, and declared his resolution of entreating that he +might be allowed to enjoy comparative comfort with them in the +keep. It was a risk, but the Chevalier might fairly suppose +that the knowledge of Osbert's situation had oozed out through the +servants, and gratitude and humanity alike impelled Berenger to run +some risk for his foster-brother's sake. He was greatly +touched at the poor fellow's devotion, and somewhat amused, though +with an almost tearful smile at the joy with which he had +proclaimed--what Berenger was quite unaware of, since the keep +furnished no mirrors--the disappearance of his scars. ''Tis +even so,' said Philip, 'though I never heeded it. You are as +white from crown to beard as one of the statues at Paris; but the +great red gash is a mere seam, save when yon old Satan angers you, +and then it blushes for all the rest of your face.'</p> + +<p>'And the cheek-wound is hidden, I suppose,' said Berenger, +feeling under the long fair moustache and the beard, which was +developing into respectable proportions.</p> + +<p>'Hidden? ay, entirely. No one would think your bald crown +had only twenty-one years over it; but you are a personable fellow +still, quite enough to please Daphne,' said Philip.</p> + +<p>'Pshaw!' replied Berenger, pleased nevertheless to hear the +shadow of a jest again from Philip.</p> + +<p>It was quite true. These months of quiescence--enforced +though they were--had given his health and constitution time to +rally after the terrible shock they had sustained. The severe +bleedings had, indeed, rendered his complexion perfectly +colourless; but there was something in this, as well as in the +height which the loss of hair gave his brow, which, added to the +depth and loftiness of countenance that this long period of +patience and resolution had impressed on his naturally fine +features, without taking away that open candour that had first +attracted Diane when he was a rosy lad. His frame had +strengthened at the same time, and assumed the proportions of +manhood; so that, instead of being the overgrown maypole that +Narcisse used to sneer at, he was now broad-shouldered and robust, +exceedingly powerful, and so well made that his height, upwards of +six feet, was scarcely observed, except by comparison with the rest +of the world.</p> + +<p>And his character had not stood still. He had first come +to Paris a good, honest, docile, though high-spirited boy: and +though manly affections, cares, and sorrows had been thrust on him, +he had met them like the boy that he was, hardly conscious how deep +they went. Then had come the long dream of physical +suffering, with only one thought pertinaciously held +throughout--that of constancy to his lost wife; and from this he +had only thoroughly wakened in his captivity, the resolution still +holding fast, but with more of reflection and principle, less of +mere instinct, than when his powers were lost or distracted in the +effort of constant endurance of pain and weakness. The charge +of Philip, the endeavour both of educating him and keeping up his +spirits, as well as the controversy with Pere Bonami, had been no +insignificant parts of the discipline of these months; and, little +as the Chevalier had intended it, he had trained his young kinsman +into a far more substantial and perilous adversary, both in body +and mind, than when he had caged him in his castle of the +Blackbird's Nest.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE ENEMY IN PRESENCE</h3> + +<p>Then came and looked him in the face,</p> + +<p> An angel beautiful and bright,</p> + +<p>And then he knew it was a fiend,</p> + +<p> That miserable knight.--COLERIDGE</p> + +<p>'Father, dear father, what is it? What makes you look so +ill, so haggard?' cried Diane de Selinville, when summoned the next +morning to meet her father in the parlour of the convent.</p> + +<p>'Ah, child! see here. Your brother will have us make an +end of it. He has found her.'</p> + +<p>'Eustacie! Ah, and where?'</p> + +<p>'That he will not say, but see here. This is all billet +tells me:</p> + +<p>"The hare who has doubled so long is traced to her form. +My dogs are on her, and in a week's time she will be ours. I +request you, sir, to send me a good purse of crowns to reward my +huntsmen; and in the meantime--one way or the other--that pet of my +sister's must be disposed of. Kept too long, these beasts +always become savage. Either let him be presented to the +royal menagerie, or there is a still surer way."'</p> + +<p>'And that is all he says!' exclaimed Diane.</p> + +<p>'All! He was always cautions. He mentions no +names. And now, child, what is to be done? To give him +up to the King is, at the best, life-long imprisonment, yet, if he +were still here when my son returns-- Alas! alas! child, I have +been ruined body and soul between you! How could you make me +send after and imprison him? It was a mere assassination!' +and the old man beat his head with grief and perplexity.</p> + +<p>'Father!' cried Diane, tearfully, 'I cannot see you thus. +We meant it for the best. We shall yet save him.'</p> + +<p>'Save him! Ah, daughter, I tossed all night long thinking +how to save him, so strong, so noble, so firm, so patient, so good +even to the old man who has destroyed his hope--his life! +Ah! I have thought till my brain whirls.'</p> + +<p>'Poor father! I knew you would love him,' said Diane, +tenderly. </p> + +<p>'Ah! we will save him yet. He shall be the best of +sons to you. Look, it is only to tell him that she whom he +calls his wife is already in my brother's hands, wedded to +him.'</p> + +<p>'Daughter,'--and he pushed back his gray hair with a weary +distressed gesture,--'I am tired of wiles; I am old; I can carry +them out no longer.'</p> + +<p>'But this is very simple; it may already be true--at least it +will soon be true. Only tell him that she is my brother's +wife. Then will his generosity awaken, then will he see that +to persist in the validity of his marriage would be misery, +dishonour to her, then---'</p> + +<p>'Child, you know not how hard he is in his sense of right. +Even for his brother's sake he would not give way an inch, and the +boy was as obstinate as he!'</p> + +<p>'Ah! but this comes nearer. He will be stung; his +generosity will be piqued. He will see that the kindest thing +he can do will be to nullify his claim, and the child----'</p> + +<p>The Chevalier groaned, struck his brow with his fist, and +muttered, 'That will concern no one--that has been provided +for. Ah! ah! children, if I lose my own soul for you, +you----'</p> + +<p>'Father, my sweet father, say not these cruel things. Did +not the Queen's confessor tell us that all means were lawful that +brought a soul to the Church? and here are two.'</p> + +<p>'Two! Why, the youth's heresy is part of his point of +honour. Child, child, the two will be murdered in my very +house, and the guilt will be on my soul.'</p> + +<p>'No, father! We will--we will save him. See, only +tell him this.'</p> + +<p>'This--what? My brain is confused. I have thought +long--long.'</p> + +<p>'Only this, father, dear father. You shall not be +tormented any more, if only you will tell him that my brother has +made Eustacie his wife, then will I do all the rest.'</p> + +<p>Diane coaxed, soothed, and encouraged her father by her +caresses, till he mounted his mule to return to the castle at +dinner-time, and she promised to come early in the afternoon to +follow up the stroke he was to give. She had never seen him +falter before,--he had followed out his policy with a clear head +and unsparing hand,-- but now that Berenger's character was better +known to him, and the crisis long delayed had come so suddenly +before his eyes, his whole powers seemed to reel under the +alternative.</p> + +<p>The dinner-bell clanged as he arrived at the castle, and the +prisoners were marched into the hall, both intent upon making their +request on Osbert's behalf, and therefore as impatient for the +conclusion of the meal, and the absence of the servants, as was +their host. His hands trembled so much that Berenger was +obliged to carve for him; he made the merest feint of eating; and +now and then raised his hand to his head as if to bring back +scattered ideas.</p> + +<p>The last servant quitted the room, when Berenger perceived that +the old man was hardly in a state to attend to his request, and yet +the miserable frost-bitten state of poor Landry seemed to compel +him to speak.</p> + +<p>'Sir,' he began, 'you could do me a great kindness.'</p> + +<p>The Chevalier looked up at him with glassy eyes.</p> + +<p>'My son,' he said, with an effort, 'I also had something to +say. Ah! let me think. I have had enough. Call my +daughter,' he added, feeling helplessly with his hands, so that +Berenger started up in alarm, and received him in his arms just in +time to prevent his sinking to the floor senseless.</p> + +<p>'It is a stroke,' exclaimed Berenger. 'Call, Phil! +Send the gendarmes.'</p> + +<p>The gendarmes might be used to the sight of death of their own +causing, but they had a horror of that which came by Nature's +hand. </p> + +<p>The purple face and loud gasps of the stricken man terrified +them out of their senses. <i>'C'est un coup,'</i> was the +cry, and they went clattering off to the servants. These, all +men but one old crone, came in a mass to the door, looked in, +beheld their master rigid and prostrate on the floor, supported by +the prisoner, and with fresh shrieks about 'Mesdames! a priest! a +doctor!' away they rushed. The two brothers were not in much +less consternation, only they retained their senses. Berenger +loosened the ruff and doublet, and bade Philip practice that art of +letting blood which he had learnt for his benefit. When +Madame de Selinville and her aunt, with their escort, having been +met half-way from Bellaise, arrived sooner than could have been +expected, they found every door open from hall to entrance gateway, +not a person keeping watch, and the old man lying deathlike upon +cushions in the hall, Philip bandaging his arm, and Berenger +rubbing his temples with wine and the hottest spices on the +table. 'He is better--he is alive,' said Berenger, as they +entered; and as both ladies would have fallen on him with shrieks +and sobs, he bade them listen, assured them that the only chance of +life was in immediate care, and entreated that bedding might be +brought down, and strong essences fetched to apply to the nose and +temples. They obeyed, and the sister infirmarer had arrived +from the convent, he had opened his eyes, and, as he saw Berenger, +tried to murmur something that sounded like <i>'Mon fils'.'</i></p> + +<p>'He lives!--he speaks!--he can receive the sacraments!' was the +immediate exclamation; and as preparations began to be made, the +brothers saw that their presence was no longer needed, and returned +to their own tower.</p> + +<p>'So, sir,' said the gendarme sergeant, as they walked down the +passage, 'you did not seize the moment for escape.'</p> + +<p>'I never thought of it,' said Berenger.</p> + +<p>'I hope, sir, you will not be the worse for it,' said the +sergeant. 'An honourable gentleman you have ever proved +yourself to me, and I will bear testimony that you did the poor old +gentleman no hurt; but nobles will have it their own way, and pay +little heed to a poor soldier.'</p> + +<p>'What do you mean, friend?'</p> + +<p>'Why, you see, sir, it is unlucky that you two happened to be +alone with M. le Chevalier. No one can tell what may be said +when they seek an occasion against a person.'</p> + +<p>To the brothers, however, this suggestion sounded so horrible +and unnatural, that they threw it from them. They applied +themselves at every moment possible to enlarging Osbert' hole, and +seeking an outlet from the dungeon; but this they had not been able +to discover, and it was necessary to be constantly on their guard +in visiting the vaults, lest their absence from their apartment +should be detected. They believed that if Narcisse arrived at +the castle, they should find in him a far less gentle jailer than +the poor old man, for whose state their kindly young hearts could +not but grieve.</p> + +<p>They heard that he had recovered consciousness enough to have +made a sort of confession; and Pere Bonami brought them his formal +request, as a dying man, for their pardon for all the injuries he +had done them; but his speech was too much affected for any +specification of what these were. The first thing they heard +in early morning was that, in the course of the night, he had +breathed his last; and all day the bells of all the churches round +were answering one another with the slow, swinging, melancholy +notes of the knell.</p> + +<p>In the early twilight, Pere Bonami brought a message that Madame +de Selinville requested M. le Baron to come and speak with her, and +he was accordingly conducted, with the gendarme behind him, to a +small chamber opening into the hall--the same where the +incantations of the Italian pedlar had been played off before +Philip and Diane. The gendarme remained outside the door by +which they entered the little dark room, only lighted by one little +lamp.</p> + +<p>'Here, daughter,' said the priest, 'is your cousin. He can +answer the question you have so much at heart;' and with these +words Pere Bonami passed beneath the black curtain that covered the +entrance into the hall, admitting as he raised it for a moment a +floor of pure light from the wax tapers, and allowing the cadence +of the chanting of the priests to fall on the ear. At first +Berenger was scarcely able to discern the pale face that looked as +if tears were all dried up, and even before his eyes had clearly +perceived her in the gloom, she was standing before him with +clasped hands, demanding, in a hoarse, breathless whisper, 'Had he +said anything to you?'</p> + +<p>'Anything? No, cousin,' said Berenger, in a kind +tone. 'He had seemed suffering and oppressed all dinner-time, +and when the servants left us, he murmured a few confused words, +then sank.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, ah, he spoke it not! Thank Heaven! Ah! it is a +load gone. Then neither will I speak it,' sighed Diane, half +aloud. 'Ah! cousin, he loved you.'</p> + +<p>'He often was kind to us,' said Berenger, impelled to speak as +tenderly as he could of the enemy, who had certainly tortured him, +but as if he loved him.</p> + +<p>'He bade us save you,' said Diane, her eyes shining with strange +wild light in the gloom. 'He laid it on my aunt and me to +save you; you must let us. It must be done before my brother +comes,' she added, in hurried accents. 'The messengers are gone; he +may be here any moment. He must find you in the +chapel--as--as my betrothed!'</p> + +<p>'And you sent for me here to tempt me--close to such a chamber +as that?' demanded Berenger, his gentleness becoming sternness, as +much with his own worse self as with her.</p> + +<p>'Listen. Ah! it is the only way. Listen, cousin. Do +you know what killed my father? It was my brother's letter +saying things must be brought to an end: either you must be given +up to the King, or worse--worse. And now, without him to +stand between you and my brother, you are lost. Oh! take pity +on his poor soul that has left his body, and bring not you blood on +his head.'</p> + +<p>'Nay,' said Berenger, 'if he repented, the after consequences to +me will have no effect on him now.'</p> + +<p>'Have pity then on yourself--on your brother.'</p> + +<p>'I have,' said Berenger. 'He had rather die with me than +see me a traitor.'</p> + +<p>'And least of all,' she exclaimed, with choking grief, 'have you +compassion on me!--on me who have lost the only one who felt for +me--on me who have loved you with every fibre of my heart--on me +who have lived on the music of your hardest, coldest word--on me +who would lay my life, my honour, in the dust for one grateful +glance from you--and whom you condemn to the anguish of--your +death! Aye, and for what? For the mere shadow of a +little girl, who had no force to love you, or whom you know +nothing--nothing! Oh! are you a crystal rock or are you a +man? See, I kneel to you to save yourself and me.'</p> + +<p>There were hot tears dropping from Berenger's eyes as he caught +Diane's hand, and held it forcibly to prevent her thus abasing +herself. Her wild words and gestures thrilled him in every +pulse and wrung his heart, and it was with a stifled, agitated +voice that he said--</p> + +<p>'God help you and me both, Diane! To do what you ask +would--would be no saving of either. Nay, if you will kneel,' +as she struggled with him, 'let it be to Him who alone can bring us +through;' and releasing her hand, he dropped on his knees by her +side, and covered his face with his hands, in an earnest +supplication that the spirit of resistance which he almost felt +slipping from him might be renewed. The action hushed and +silenced her, and as he rose he spoke no other word, but silently +drew back so much of the curtain that he could see into the hall, +where the dead man still lay uncoffined upon the bed where his own +hands had laid him, and the low, sweet requiem of kneeling priests +floated round him. Rest, rest, and calm they breathed into +one sorely tried living soul, and the perturbed heart was quelled +by the sense how short the passage was to the world where captivity +and longing would be ended. He beckoned to Pere Bonami to +return to Diane, and then, protected by his presence from any +further demonstrations, kissed her hand and left her.</p> + +<p>He told Philip as little as possible of this interview, but his +brother remarked how much time he spent over the Psalms that +evening.</p> + +<p>The next day the brothers saw from their upper winder the +arrival of Narcisse, or, as he had called himself for the last +three years, the Marquis de Nid-de-Merle, with many attendant +gentlemen, and a band of fifty or sixty gendarmes. The court was +filled with their horses, and rang with their calls for +refreshment. And the captives judged it wise to remain in +their upper room incase they should be called for.</p> + +<p>They were proved to have been wise in so doing; for about an +hour after their arrival there was a great clanging of steel boots, +and Narcisse de Ribaumont, followed by a portly, heavily-armed +gentleman, wearing a scarf of office, by two of the servants, and +by two gendarmes, entered the room. It was the first time the +cousins had met since <i>le baiser d'Eustacie</i> had been hissed +into Berenger's ear. Narcisse looked older, sallower, and +more worn than at that time; and Philip, seeing his enemy for the +first time, contrasted him with the stately presence of Berenger, +and felt as if a rat were strangling a noble steed.</p> + +<p>Each young man punctiliously removed his hat, and Nid-de-Merle, +without deigning further salutation, addressed his companion. +'Sir, you are here on the part of the King, and to you I deliver up +these prisoners, who, having been detained here on a charge of +carrying on a treasonable correspondence, and protected by my +father out of consideration for the family, have requited his +goodness by an attempt to strangle him, which has caused his +death.'</p> + +<p>Philip actually made a leap of indignation; Berenger, better +prepared, said to the officer, 'Sir, I am happy to be placed in +charged of a King's servant, who will no doubt see justice done, +and shelter us from the private malice that could alone devise so +monstrous an accusation. We are ready to clear ourselves upon +oath over the corpse, and all the household and our own guards can +bear witness.'</p> + +<p>'The witnesses are here,' said Narcisse, pointing to the +servants, ill-looking men, who immediately began to depose to +having found their master purple-faced and struggling in the hands +of the two young men, who had been left alone with him after +dinner.</p> + +<p>Berenger felt that there was little use in self-defence. +It was a fabrication the more easily to secure his cousin's purpose +of destroying him, and his best hope lay in passing into the hands +of persons who were less directly interested in his ruin. He +drew himself up to his full height, saying, 'If there be justice in +France, our innocence will be proved. I demand, sir, that you +examine the abbess, the priest, the steward, the sergeant of +gendarmes: they are impartial witnesses, and will serve the King's +justice, if justice be his purpose. Or, if this be but M. de +Nid-de-Merle's way of completing the work he left unfinished four +years ago, I am ready. Only let my brother go free. He +is heir to nothing here.'</p> + +<p>'Enough, sir. Words against the King's justice will be +reckoned against you,' said the officer. 'I shall do myself +the honour of attending the funeral the day after to-morrow, and +then I shall convey you to Tours, to answer for this deed at your +leisure. Monsieur le Marquis, are the prisoners secure here, +or would you have them <i>garde a vue</i>.'</p> + +<p>'No need for that,' said Narcisse, lightly; 'had there been any +exit they would have found it long ago. Your good fellows +outside the door keep them safe enough. M. le Baron de +Ribaumont, I have the honour to wish you a good morning.'</p> + +<p>Berenger returned his bow with one full of defiance, and the +door was again locked upon the prisoners; while Philip exclaimed, +'The cowardly villain, Berry; is it a hanging matter?'</p> + +<p>'Not for noble blood,' said Berenger. 'We are more likely +to be brought to no trial, but to lie prisoners for life;' then, as +Philip grew white and shivered with a sick horror, he added +bravely, 'But they shall not have us, Philip. We know the +vaults well enough to play at hide and seek with them there, and +even if we find no egress we may hold out till they think us fled +and leave open the doors!'</p> + +<p>Philip's face lighted up again, and they did their best by way +of preparation, collecting wood for torches, and putting aside food +at their meals. It was a very forlorn hope, but the +occupation it caused was effectual in keeping up Philip's spirits, +and saving him from despondency.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XXXIX. THE PEDLAR'S PREDICTION</h3> + +<p>But if ne'er so close you wall him,</p> + +<p> Do the best that you may;</p> + +<p>Blind Love, if so you call him,</p> + +<p> Will find out his way.--OLD SONG</p> + +<p>'Too late,' muttered Berenger to himself, as he stood by the +fire in his prison-chamber. Humfrey and Philip were busy in +the vaults, and he was taking his turn in waiting in the +sitting-room to disarm suspicion. 'It is too late now, and I thank +God that so it is.'</p> + +<p>'Do you indeed, M. le Baron?' said a low voice close beside him; +and, as he turned in haste, he beheld, at the foot of the +turret-stair, the youth Aime de Selinville, holding a dark lantern +in his hand, and veiling its light.</p> + +<p>'Ha!' and he started to his feet. 'Whence come you?'</p> + +<p>'From my Lady,' was the youth's answer. 'She has sent me +to ask whether you persist in what you replied to her the other +day. For if not, she bids me say that it is not too +late.'</p> + +<p>'And if I do persevere?'</p> + +<p>'Then--ah! what do I know? Who can tell how far malice can +go? And there are towers and bastilles where hope never +enters. Moreover, your researches underground are known.'</p> + +<p>'Sir,' said Berenger, the heart-sinking quelled by the effort of +resistance, 'Madame de Selinville has my answer--I must take +the consequences. Tell her, if she truly wishes me +well, the honourable way of saving us would be to let our English +friends know what has befallen us.'</p> + +<p>'You forget, M. le Baron, even if she could proclaim the +dishonour of her family, interference from a foreign power might +only lead to a surer mode of removing you,' said Aime, lowering his +voice and shuddering.</p> + +<p>'Even so, I should thank her. Then would the bitterest +pang be taken away. Those at our home would not deem us +faithless recreants.'</p> + +<p>'Thank her!' murmured the lad in an inward voice. 'Very +well, sir, I will carry her your decision. It is your final +one. Disgrace, prison, death--rather than freedom, love, +wealth!'</p> + +<p>'The semblance of dishonour rather than the reality!' said +Berenger, firmly.</p> + +<p>The light-footed page disappeared, and in a few moments a very +different tread came up from below, and Philip appeared.</p> + +<p>'What is it, Berry? Methought I heard a voice.'</p> + +<p>'Forgive me, brother,' said Berenger, holding out his hand; 'I +have thrown away another offer.'</p> + +<p>'Tush, the thing to pardon would be having accepted one. I +only wish they would leave us in peace! What was it this +time?'</p> + +<p>'A messenger through young Selinville. Strange, to trust +her secrets to that lad. But hush, here he is again, much +sooner than I thought. What, sir, have you been with your +lady again?'</p> + +<p>'Yes, sir,' the young said, with a trembling voice, and Berenger +saw that his eyes were red with weeping; 'she bids me tell you that +she yields. She will save you eve while you have and despite +her! </p> + +<p>There is only one thing---'</p> + +<p>'And what is that?'</p> + +<p>'You must encumber yourself with the poor Aime. You must +let me serve you instead of her. Listen, sir, it cannot be +otherwise.' Then with a brisker, more eager voice, he +continued: 'Monsieur knows that the family burial-place is +Bellaise? Well, to-morrow, at ten o'clock, all the household, +all the neighbourhood, will come and sprinkle holy water on the +bier. The first requiem will be sung, and then will all +repair to the convent. There will be the funeral mass, +the banquet, the dole. Every creature in the castle --nay, in +all the neighbourhood for twenty miles round--will be at the +convent, for the Abbess has given out that the alms are to be +double, and the bread of wheat. Not a soul will remain here, +save the two gendarmes on guard at that door, and the poor Aime, +whom no one will miss, even if any person could be distinguished in +their black cloaks. Madame la Comtesse has given him this +key, which opens a door on the upper floor of the keep, unknown to +the guards, who, for that matter, shall have a good tankard of +spiced wine to console and occupy them. Then is the way clear +to the castle court, which is not over looked by their window, the +horses are in the stables, and we are off,--that is if M. le Baron +will save a poor youth from the wrath of M. de Nid-de-Merle.'</p> + +<p>'You are and honest fellow!' cried Philip, shaking him +vehemently by the hand. 'You shall go with us to England, and +we will make a brave man of you.'</p> + +<p>'We shall owe you our lives,' said Berenger, warmly, 'and be +ever bound to you. Tell your lady that THIS is magnanimity; +that now I truly thank her as our preserver, and shall bless her +all the days of the life she gives us. But my servants?'</p> + +<p>'Guibert is a traitor,' said Aime; 'he has been so ever since +you were at Paris. Breathe no word to him; but he, as a Catholic, +shall be invited to the funeral. Your stout Englishman should +by all means be with us.'</p> + +<p>'My Norman also,' added Berenger,--'my dear foster-brother, who +has languished in the dungeon for three years;' and when the +explanation had been made, Aime assented, though half-unwillingly, +to the necessity, and presently quitted them to bear back their +answer to his lady. Philip shook his hand violently again, +patted him on the back, so as almost to take away his breath, and +bade him never fear, they would be sworn brothers to him for ever; +and then threw up his hat into the air, and was so near astonishing +the donjon walls with a British hurrah, that Berenger had to put +his hand over his mouth and strangle the shout in his very +throat.</p> + +<p>The chief of that night was spent in enlarging the hole in +Osbert's wall, so as to admit of his creeping through it; and they +also prepared their small baggage for departure. Their stock +of money, though some had been spent on renewing their clothes, and +some in needful gratuities to the servants and gendarmes, was +sufficient for present needs, and they intended to wear their +ordinary dress. They were unlikely to meet any of the +peasants in the neighbourhood; and, indeed, Berenger had so +constantly ridden out in his black mask, that its absence, now that +his scars were gone, was as complete a change as could be effected +in one whose height was of unusual.</p> + +<p>'There begins the kneel,' said Philip, standing at the +window. 'It's our joy-bell, Berry! Every clang seems to +me to say, "Home! home! home!"</p> + +<p>'For you, Phil,' said Berenger; 'but I must be satisfied of +Eustacie's fate first. I shall go first to Nissard--whither +we were bound when we were seized--then to La Rochelle, whence you +may---'</p> + +<p>'No more of that,' burst out Philip. 'What! would you have +me leave you now, after all we have gone through together? +Not that you will find her. I don't want to vex you, brother, +on such a day as this, but you conjurer's words are coming true in +the other matter.'</p> + +<p>'How? What mean you, Phil?'</p> + +<p>'What's the meaning of Aime?' asked Philip. 'Even I am +French scholar enough for that. And who sends him?'</p> + +<p>Meantime the court was already filling with swarms of persons of +every rank and degree, but several anxious hours had passed before +the procession was marshalled; and friars and monks, black, white, +and gray,--priests in rich robes and tall caps,--black-cloaked +gentlemen and men-at-arms,--all bearing huge wax tapers,--and +peasants and beggars of every conceivable aspect,--filed out of the +court, bearing with them the richly-emblazoned bier of the noble +and puissant knight, the Beausire Charles Eutache de Ribaumont +Nid-de-Merle, his son walking behind in a long black mantle, and +all who counted kindred of friendship following two and two; then +all the servants, every one who properly belonged to the castle, +were counted out by the brothers from their windows, and Guibert +among them.</p> + +<p>'Messieurs,' a low, anxious voice sounded in the room.</p> + +<p>'We will only fetch Osbert.'</p> + +<p>It was a terrible only, as precious moments slipped away before +there appeared in the lower chamber Berenger and Humfrey, dragging +between them a squalid wretch, with a skin like stained parchment +over a skeleton, tangled hair and beard, staring bewildered eyes, +and fragments of garments, all dust, dirt, and rags.</p> + +<p>'Leave me, leave me, dear master,' said the object, stretching +his whole person towards the fire as they let him sink down before +it. 'You would but ruin yourself.'</p> + +<p>'It is madness to take him,' said Aime, impatiently.</p> + +<p>'I go not without him,' said Berenger. 'Give me the soup, +Philip.'</p> + +<p>Some soup and wine had been placed by the fire, and likewise a +shirt and a suit of Humfrey's clothes were spread before it. +Aime burst out into the yard, absolutely weeping with impatience, +when, unheeding all his remonstrances, his three companions applied +themselves to feeding, rubbing, and warming Osbert, and assuring +him that the pains in his limbs would pass away with warmth and +exercise. He had been valiant of heart in his dungeon; but +his sudden plunge into upper air was like rising from the grave, +and brought on all the effects of his dreary captivity, of which he +had hardly been sensible when he had first listened to the voice of +hope.</p> + +<p>Dazzled, crippled, helpless, it seemed almost impossible that he +should share the flight, but Berenger remained resolute; and when +Aime returned from his fourth frantic promenade, he was told that +all was ready.</p> + +<p>But for the strength of Berenger and Humfrey the poor fellow +could never have been carried up and up, nearly to the top of the +keep, then along a narrow gallery, then down again even to the +castle hall, now empty, though with the candle-sticks still around +where the bier had been. Aime knelt for a moment where the +head had been, hiding his face; Osbert rested in a chair; and +Philip looked wistfully up at his own sword hung over the +chimney.</p> + +<p>'Resume your swords, Messieurs,' said Aime, observing him; +'Madame desires it; and take pistols also.'</p> + +<p>They gladly obeyed; and when, after this short delay, they +proceeded, Osbert moved somewhat less painfully, but when they +arrived at the stable only four horses stood there.</p> + +<p>'Ah! this miserable!' cried Aime, passionately, 'he ruins all my +arrangements.'</p> + +<p>'Leave me,' again entreated Landry. 'Once outside, I can +act the beggar and cripple, and get back to Normandy.'</p> + +<p>'Better leave me,' said Humfrey; 'they cannot keep me when you +are out of their clutches.'</p> + +<p>'Help me, Humfrey,' said Berenger, beginning to lift his +foster-brother to the saddle, but there the poor man wavered, cried +out that his head swam, and he could not keep his seat, entreating +almost in agony to be taken down.</p> + +<p>'Lean on me,' said Berenger, putting his arms round him. +'There! you will be able to get to the Grange du Temple, +where you will be in safe shelter.'</p> + +<p>'Sir, sir,' cried Aime, ready to tear his hair, 'this is +ruin! My lady meant you to make all speed to La Rochelle and +there embark, and this is the contrary way!'</p> + +<p>'That cannot be helped,' said Berenger; 'it is the only safe +place for my foster-brother.'</p> + +<p>Aime, with childish petulance, muttered something about +ingratitude in crossing his lady's plans; but, as no one attended +to him, he proceeded to unfasten his horse, and then exclaimed, +half crying, 'Will no one help me?'</p> + +<p>'Not able to saddle a horse! a pretty fellow for a cavalier!' +exclaimed Philip, assisting, however, and in a few minutes they +were all issuing from a low side gate, and looking back with +bounding hearts at the drooping banner on the keep of +Nid-de-Merle.</p> + +<p>Only young Aime went with bowed head and drooping look, as +though pouting, and Berenger, putting Osbert's bridle into +Humfrey's hand, stepped up to him, saying, 'Hark you, M. de +Selinville, I am sorry if we seemed to neglect you. We owe +you and your lady all gratitude, but I must be the judge of my own +duty, and you can only be with me if you conform.'</p> + +<p>The young seemed to be devouring his tears, but only said, 'I +was vexed to see my lady's plan marred, and your chance thrown +away.'</p> + +<p>'Of that I must judge,' said Berenger.</p> + +<p>They were in a by-lane, perfectly solitary. The whole +country was at the funeral. Through the frosty air there came +an occasional hum or murmur from Berenger, or the tinkle of a +cow-bell in the fields, but no human being was visible. It +was certain, however, that the Rotrous, being Huguenots, and no +vassals of Nid-de-Merle, would not be at the obsequies; and +Berenger, walking with swift strides, supporting Osbert on his +horse, continued to cheer him with promises of rest and relief +there, and listened to no entreaties from Philip or Humfrey to take +one of their horses. Had not Osbert borne him on his +shoulders through the butchery at Paris, and endured three years of +dungeon for his sake?</p> + +<p>As for Philip, the slow pace of their ride was all insufficient +for his glee. He made his horse caracole at every level +space, till Berenger reminded him that they might have far to ride +that night, and even then he was constantly breaking into attempts +at shouting and whistling as often repressed, and springing up in +his stirrups to look over the high hedges.</p> + +<p>The Grange was so well concealed in its wooded ravine, that only +when close upon the gate the party became aware that this +farm-yard, usually so solitary, formed an exception to the general +desertion of the country. There was a jingle and a stamp of +horses in the court, which could hardly be daylight echoes of the +Templars. Berenger feared that the Guisards might have +descended Rotrou, and was stepping forward to reconnoiter, while +young De Selinville, trembling, besought him not to run into +danger, but to turn and hasten to La Rochelle. By this time, +however, the party had been espied by two soldiers stationed at the +gate, but not before Berenger had had time to remark that they did +not wear either the gold <i>fleur-de-lys</i> like his late guards, +or the white cross of Lorraine; nor had they the strange air of gay +ferocity usual with the King's mercenaries. And almost by +instincts, at a venture, he made the old Huguenot sign he had +learnt form his father, and answered, 'For God and the +Religion.'</p> + +<p>The countersign was returned. 'Bearn and Bourbon is the +word to-day, comrade,' replied the sentinel. <i>'Eh quoi!</i> +have you had an encounter, that you bring a wounded man?'</p> + +<p>'Not wounded, but nearly dead in a Guisard prison,' said +Berenger, with an unspeakable sense of relief and security, as the +sentries admitted them into the large walled court, where horses +were eating hay, being watered and rubbed down; soldiers snatching +a hasty meal in corners; gentlemen in clanking breastplates coming +in and out of the house, evidently taking orders from a young man +in a gray and silver suit, whose brown eagle face, thin cheeks, +arched nose, and black eyes of keenest fire, struck Berenger at +once with a sense of recognition as well as of being under a glance +that seemed to search out everybody and everything at once.</p> + +<p>'More friends!' and the tone again recalled a flood of +recollections. 'I thank and welcome you. What! +You have met the enemy--where is he?'</p> + +<p>'My servant is not wounded. Sire,' said Berenger, removing +his hat and bending low. 'This is the effect of long +captivity. We have but just escaped.'</p> + +<p>'Then we are the same case! Pardon me, sir, I have seen +you before, but for once I am at fault.'</p> + +<p>'When I call myself De Ribaumont, your Grace will not +wonder.'</p> + +<p>'The dead alive! If I mistake not, it was in the Inferno +itself that we last met! But we have broken through the gates +at last! I remember poor King Charles was delighted to hear +that you lived! </p> + +<p>But where have you been a captive?'</p> + +<p>'At Nid-de-Merle, Sire; my kinsmen accused me of treason in +order to hinder my search for my wife. We escaped even now +during the funeral of the Chevalier.'</p> + +<p>'By favour of which we are making our way to Parthenay +unsuspected, though, by my faith, we gather so like a snowball, +that we could be a match for a few hundreds of Guisards. Who +is with you, M. de Ribaumont?'</p> + +<p>'Let me present to your Majesty my English brother, Philip +Thistlewood,' said Berenger, drawing the lad forward, making due +obeisance, though entirely ignorant who was the plainly-dressed, +travel-soiled stranger, so evidently a born lord of men.</p> + +<p>'An Englishman is ever welcome,' was his gracious reception.</p> + +<p>'And,' added Berenger, 'let me also present the young De +Selinville, to whom I owe my escape. Where is he, +Philip?'</p> + +<p>He seemed to be busy with the horses, and Berenger could not +catch his eye.</p> + +<p>'Selinville! I thought that good Huguenot house was +extinct.'</p> + +<p>'This is a relation of the late Count de Selinville, my cousin's +husband, Sire. He arranged my evasion, and would be in +danger at Nid-de-Merle. Call him, Philip.'</p> + +<p>Before this was done, however, the King's attention was +otherwise claimed, and turning to one of his gentlemen he said, +'Here, d'Augigne, I present to you an acquaintance made in +Tartarus. See to his entertainment ere we start for +Parthenay.'</p> + +<p>Agrippa d'Aubigne, still young, but grave and serious-looking +greeted M. de Ribaumont as men meet in hours when common interests +make rapid friendships; and from him Berenger learnt, in a few +words, that the King of Navarre's eyes had been opened at last to +the treachery of the court, and his own dishonourable +bondage. During a feverish attack, one night when D'Aubigne +and D'Armagnac were sitting up with him, his resolution was taken; +and on the first hunting day after his recovery, he, with these +two, the Baron de Rosny and about thirty more of his suite, had +galloped away, and had joined the Monsieur and the Prince of Conde +at Alencon. He had abjured the Catholic faith, declared that +nothing except ropes should bring him back to Paris, and that he +left there the mass and his wife--the first he could dispense with, +the last he meant to have; and he was now on his way to Parthenay +to meet his sister, whom he had sent Rosny to demand. By the +time Berenger had heard this, he had succeeded in finding honest +Rotrou, who was in a state of great triumph, and readily undertook +to give Osbert shelter, and as soon as he should have recovered to +send him to head-quarters with some young men who he knew would +take the field as soon as they learnt that the King of Navarre had +set up his standard. Even the inroads made into the good +farmer's stores did not abate his satisfaction in entertaining the +prime hope of the Huguenot cause; but Berenger advanced as large a +sum as he durst out of his purse, under pretext of the maintenance +of Osbert during his stay at the Grange. He examined Rotrou +upon his subsequent knowledge of Isaac Gardon and Eutacie, but +nothing had been heard of them since their departure, now nearly +three years back, except a dim rumour that they had been seen at +the Synod of Montauban.</p> + +<p>'Well, my friend,' said Philip, when about to remount, 'this +will do rather better than a headlong gallop to Rochelle with +Nid-de-Merle at our heels.'</p> + +<p>'If M. le Baron is safe, it is well,' said Aime shortly.</p> + +<p>'Is Selinville there?' said Berenger, coming up. 'Here, +let me take you to the King of Navarre: he knew your family in +Languedoc.'</p> + +<p>'No, no,' petulantly returned the boy. 'What am I that he +should notice me? It is M. de Ribaumont whom I follow, not +him or his cause.'</p> + +<p>'Boy,' said Berenger, dismayed, 'remember, I have answered for +you.'</p> + +<p>'I am no traitor,' proudly answered the strange boy, and +Berenger was forced to be thus satisfied, though intending to watch +him closely.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XL. THE SANDS OF OLONNE</h3> + +<p> Is it the dew of night</p> + +<p> That on her glowing cheek</p> + +<p>Shines in the moonbeam?--Oh, she weeps, she weeps,</p> + +<p> And the good angel that abandoned her</p> + +<p> At her hell baptism, by her tears drawn +down</p> + +<p> Resumes his charge...and the hope</p> + +<p> Of pardon and +salvation rose</p> + +<p> As now she +understood</p> + +<p>Thy lying prophecy of truth.--SOUTHEY</p> + +<p>'M. de Ribaumont,' said Henry of Navarre, as he stood before the +fire after supper at Parthenay, 'I have been thinking what +commission I could give you proportioned to your rank and +influence.'</p> + +<p>'Thanks to your Grace, that inquiry is soon answered. I am +a beggar here. Even my paternal estate in Normandy is in the +hands of my cousin.'</p> + +<p>'You have wrongs,' said Henry, 'and wrongs are sometimes better +than possessions in a party like ours.'</p> + +<p>Berenger seized the opening to explain his position, and mention +that his only present desire was for permission, in the first +place, to send a letter to England by the messenger whom the King +was dispatching to Elisabeth, in tolerable security of her secret +countenance; and, secondly, to ride to Nissard to examine into the +story he had previously heeded so little, of the old man and his +daughter rescued from the waves the day before La Sablerie was +taken.</p> + +<p>'If Pluto relented, my dear Orpheus, surely Navarre may,' said +Henry good-humouredly; 'only may the priest not be more adamantine +than Minos. Where lies Nissard? On the Sable +d'Olonne? Then you may go thither with safety while we lie +here, and I shall wait for my sister, or for news of her.'</p> + +<p>So Berenger arranged for an early start on the morrow; and young +Selinville listened with a frown, and strange look in his dark +eyes. 'You go not to England?' he said.</p> + +<p>'Not yet?' said Berenger</p> + +<p>'This was not what my Lady expected,' he muttered; but though +Berenger silenced him by a stern look, he took the first +opportunity of asking Philip if it would not be far wiser for his +brother to place himself in safety in England.</p> + +<p>'Wiser, but less honest,' said Philip.</p> + +<p>'He who has lost all here, who has incurred his grandfather's +anger,' pursued Aime, 'were he not wiser to make his peace with his +friends in England?'</p> + +<p>'His friends in England would not like him the better for +deserting his poor wife's cause,' said Philip. 'I advise you +to hold your tongue, and not meddle or make.'</p> + +<p>Aime subsided, and Philip detected something like tears. +He had still much of rude English boyhood about him, and he laughed +roughly. 'A fine fellow, to weep at a word! Hie thee +back to feed my Lady's lap-dog, 'tis all thou art fit for.'</p> + +<p>'There spoke English gratitude,' said Aime, with a toss of the +head and flash of the eye.</p> + +<p>Philip despised him the more for casting up his obligations, but +had no retort to make. He had an idea of making a man of +young Selinville, and his notion of the process had something of +the bullying tendency of English young towards the poor-spirited or +cowardly. He ordered the boy roughly, teased him for his +ignorance of manly exercises, tried to cure his helplessness by +increasing his difficulties, and viewed his fatigue as affectation +or effeminacy. Berenger interfered now and then to guard the +poor boy from a horse-jest or practical joke, but he too felt that +Aime was a great incumbrance, hopelessly cowardly, fanciful, and +petulant; and he was sometimes driven to speak to him with +severity, verging on contempt, in hopes of rousing a sense of +shame.</p> + +<p>The timidity, so unusual and inexplicable in a youth of eighteen +or twenty, sowed itself irrepressibly at the Sands of Olonne. +These were not misty, as on Berenger's former journey. +Nissard steeple was soon in sight, and the guide who joined them on +a rough pony had no doubt that there would be ample time to cross +before high water. There was, however, some delay, for the +winter rains had brought down a good many streams of fresh water, +and the sands were heavy and wet, so that their horses proceeded +slowly, and the rush and dash of the waves proclaimed that the low +of the tide had begun. To the two brothers the break and +sweep was a home-sound, speaking of freshness and freedom, and the +salt breeze and spray carried with them life and ecstasy. +Philip kept as near the incoming waves as his inland-bred horse +would endure, and sang, shouted, and hallooed to them as welcome as +English waves; but Aime de Selinville had never even beheld the sea +before: and even when the tide was still in the distance, was +filled with nervous terror as each rushing fall sounded nearer; +and, when the line of white foamy crests became more plainly +visible, he was impelled to hurry on towards the steeple so fast +that the guide shouted to him that he would only bury himself in a +quicksand.</p> + +<p>'But,' said he, white with alarm, and his teeth chattering, 'how +can we creep with those dreadful waves advancing upon us to drown +us?'</p> + +<p>Berenger silence Philip's rude laugh and was beginning to +explain that the speed of the waves could always be calculated by +an experienced inhabitant; and his voice had seemed to pacify Aime +a little, when the spreading water in front of a broken wave +flowing up to his horse's feet, again rendered him nearly +frantic. 'Let us go back!' he wildly entreated, turning his +horse; but Berenger caught his bridle, saying, 'That would be truly +death. Boy, unless you would be scorned, restrain your +folly. Nothing else imperils us.'</p> + +<p>Here, however, the guide interposed, saying that it had become +too late to pursue their course along the curve of the shore, but +they must at once cut straight across, which he had intended to +avoid, because of the greater depth of a small river that they +would have to cross, which divided further out into small channels, +more easily forded. They thus went along the chord of the arc +formed by the shore, and Aime was somewhat reassured, as the sea +was at first farther off; but before long they reached the stream, +which lost itself in many little channels in the sands, so that +when the tide was out there was a perfect network of little streams +dividing low shingly or grassy isles, but at nearly high tide, as +at present, many of these islets were submerged, and the strife +between river and sea caused sudden deepenings of the water in the +channels.</p> + +<p>The guide eagerly explained that the safest place for crossing +was not by the large sandbank furthest inland and looking firm and +promising--it was a recent shifting performance of the water's +heaping up, and would certainly sink away and bury horse the +channels on either side had shingly bottoms, and were +safe. </p> + +<p>'This way,' called Berenger, himself setting the example, and +finding no difficulty; the water did not rise above his boots, and +the current was not strong. He had reached the shingly isle +when he looked round for his companions; Humfrey and Philip were +close behind him; but, in spite of the loud '<i>gare</i>!' of the +guide, Aime, or his horse,--for each was equally senseless with +alarm,--were making inwards; the horse was trying to tread on the +sandbank, which gave way like the water itself, under its frantic +struggles-- there was a loud cry--a shrill, unmistakable woman's +shriek--the horse was sinking--a white face and helpless form were +being carried out on the waves, but not before Berenger had flung +himself from his horse, thrown off his cloak and sword, and dashed +into the water; and in the lapse of a few moments he struggled back +to the island, where were Philip and Humfrey, leg-deep in water: +the one received his burthen, the other helped him to land.</p> + +<p>'On, gentlemen, not a moment to lose,' cried the guide; and +Berenger, still panting, flung himself on his horse, held out his +arms, gathered the small, almost inanimate figure upon the horse's +neck before him, and in a few minutes more they had crossed the +perilous passage, and were on a higher bank where they could safely +halt; and Philip, as he came to help his brother, exclaimed, 'What +a fool the boy is!'</p> + +<p>'Hush!' said Berenger, gravely, as they laid the figure on the +ground.</p> + +<p>'What! he can't have been drowned in that moment. +We'll bring him to.'</p> + +<p>'Hands off!' said Berenger, kneeling over the gasping form, and +adding in a lower voice, 'Don't you see?' He would his hand +in the long drenched hair, and held it up, with cheeks burning like +fire, and his scar purple.</p> + +<p>'A woman!--what?--who?' Then suddenly divining, he +exclaimed, 'The jade!' and started with wide eyes.</p> + +<p>'Stand back,' said Berenger; 'she is coming to herself.'</p> + +<p>Perhaps she had been more herself than he knew, for, as he +supported her head, her hand stole over his and held it fast. +Full of consternation, perplexity, and anger as he was, he could +not but feel a softening pity towards a creature so devoted, so +entirely at his mercy. At the moment when she lay helpless +against him, gasps heaving her breast under her manly doublet, her +damp hair spread on his knees, her dark eyes in their languor +raised imploring his face, her cold hand grasping his, he felt as +if this great love were a reality, and as if he were hunting a +shadow; and, as if fate would have it so, he must save and gratify +one whose affection must conquer his, who was so tender, so +beautiful--even native generosity seemed on her side. But in +the midst, as in his perplexity he looked up over the gray sea, he +seemed to see the picture so often present to his mind of the pale, +resolute girl, clasping her babe to her breast, fearless of the +advancing sea, because true and faithful. And at that thought faith +and prayer rallied once again round his heart, shame at the +instant's wavering again dyed his cheek; he recalled himself, and +speaking the more coldly and gravely because his heart was beating +over hotly, he said, 'Cousin, you are better. It is but +a little way to Nissard.'</p> + +<p>'Why have you saved me, if you will not pity me?' she +murmured.</p> + +<p>'I will not pity, because I respect my kinswoman who has save +our lives,' he said steadying his voice with difficulty. 'The +priests of Nissard will aid me in sparing your name and fame.'</p> + +<p>'Ah!' she cried, sitting up with a start of joy, 'but he would +make too many inquiries! Take me to England first.'</p> + +<p>Berenger started as he saw how he had been misunderstood.</p> + +<p>'Neither here nor in England could my marriage be set aside, +cousin. No; not priest shall take charge of you, and place you in +safety and honour.'</p> + +<p>'He shall not!' she cried hotly. 'Why--why will you drive +me from you--me who ask only to follow you as a menial +servant?'</p> + +<p>'That has become impossible,' he answered; 'to say nothing of my +brother, my servant and the guide have seen;' and, as she +remembered her streaming hair, and tried, in dawning confusion, to +gather it together, he continued: 'You shrank from the eye of the +King of Navarre. You cannot continue as you have done; you +have not even strength.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! have you sailed for England,' she murmured.</p> + +<p>'It had only been greater shame,' he said. 'Cousin, I am +head of your family, husband of your kinswoman, and bound to +respect the reputation you have risked for me. I shall, +therefore, place you in charge of the priest till you can either +return to your aunt or to some other convent. You can ride +now. We will not wait longer in these wet garments.'</p> + +<p>He raised her from the ground, threw his own dry cloak round her +shoulders and unmanageable hair, and lifted her on his horse; but, +as she would have leant against him, he drew himself away, beckoned +Philip, and put the bridle into his hands, saying, 'Take care of +her. I shall ride on and warm the priest.'</p> + +<p>'The rock of diamond,' she murmured, not aware that the diamond +had been almost melting. That youthful gravity and +resolution, with the mixture of respect and protection, imposed as +usual upon her passionate nature, and daunted her into meekly +riding beside Philip without a word--only now and then he heard a +low moan, and knew that she was weeping bitterly.</p> + +<p>At first the lad had been shocked beyond measure, and would have +held aloof as from a kind of monster, but Madame de Selinville had +been the first woman to touch his fancy, and when he heard how +piteously she was weeping, and recollected where he should have +been but for her, as well as all his own harshness to her as a +cowardly boy, he felt himself brutally ungrateful, and spoke:</p> + +<p>'Don't weep so, Madame; I am sorry I was rude to you, but you +see, how should I take you for a woman?'</p> + +<p>Perhaps she heard, but she heeded not.</p> + +<p>'My brother will take good care to shield you,' Philip +added. 'He will take care you are safe in one of your +nunneries;' and as she only wept the more, he added, with a sudden +thought, 'You would not go there; you would embrace the Protestant +faith?'</p> + +<p>'I would embrace whatever was his.'</p> + +<p>Philip muttered something about seeing what could be done. +They were already at the entrance of the village, and Berenger had +come out to meet them, and, springing towards him, Philip +exclaimed, in a low voice, 'Berry, she would abjure her Popish +errors! You can't give her up to a priest.'</p> + +<p>'Foolery, Philip,' answered Berenger, sternly.</p> + +<p>'If she would be a convert!'</p> + +<p>'Let her be a modest woman first;' and Berenger, taking her +bridle, led her to the priest's house.</p> + +<p>He found that Pere Colombeau was preaching a Lent sermon, and +that nobody was at home but the housekeeper, to whom he had +explained briefly that the lady with him had been forced to escape +in disguise, had been nearly drowned, and was in need of +refreshment and female clothing. Jacinthe did not like the +sound, but drenched clothes were such a passport to her master's +house, that she durst not refuse. Berenger carried off his +other companions to the cabaret, and when he had dried himself, +went to wait for the priest at the church door, sitting in the +porch where more than one echo of the exhortation to repentance and +purity rang in his ears, and enforced his conviction that here he +must be cruel if he would be merciful.</p> + +<p>It was long before Pere Colombeau came out, and then, if the +scar had not blushed for all the rest of his face, the sickly, +lanky lad of three years since would hardly have been recognized to +the good cure. But the priest's aspect was less benignant +when Berenger tried to set before him his predicament; he coldly +asked where the unhappy lady was; and when Berenger expressed his +intention of coming the next morning to ask his counsel, he only +bowed. He did not ask the brothers to supper, nor show any +civility; and Berenger, as he walked back to the cabaret, perceived +that his story was but half believed, and that, if Diane's passion +were still stronger than her truth or generosity, she would be able +to make out a terrible case against him, and to willing ears, +naturally disposed against a young cavalier and a heretic.</p> + +<p>He sat much dispirited by the fire of the little wine shop, +thinking that his forbearance had been well-nigh thrown away, and +that his character would never be cleared in Eustacie's eyes, +attaching, indeed, more importance to the blot than would have been +done by a youth less carefully reared.</p> + +<p>It was quite dark when a knock came to the door: the cure's +white head appeared in the lamplight; he nodded kindly to all the +guests, and entreated that M. de Ribaumont would do him a favour to +come and speak with him.</p> + +<p>No sooner were they outside the house, than the cure held out +his hand, saying 'Sir, forgive me for a grievous injustice towards +you;' then pressing his hand, he added with a voice tremulous with +emotion, 'Sir, it is no slight thing to have saved a wandering +sheep by your uprightness and loyalty.'</p> + +<p>'Have you then opened her eyes, father?' said Berenger, relieved +from a heavy load.</p> + +<p>'You have, my son,' said the old man. 'You have taught her +what truth and virtue are. For the rest, you shall heard for +yourself.'</p> + +<p>Before Berenger knew where he was, a door was opened, and he +found himself in the church. The building was almost entirely +dark; there were two tall lights at the altar in distance, and a +few little slender tapers burning before certain niches and +shrines, but without power to conquer with the gloom more than +enough to spread a pale circle of yellow light beneath them, and to +show mysteriously a bit of vaulting above. A single lamp hung +from an arch near the door, and beneath it, near a pillar, knelt, +or rather crouched, on the floor, a female figure with a dark +peasant cloak drawn over her head.</p> + +<p>'The first token of penitence is reparation to the injured,' +said the priest.</p> + +<p>Berenger looked at him anxiously.</p> + +<p>'I will not leave you,' he added. 'See, I shall pray for +you yonder, by the altar,' and he slowly moved up the aisle.</p> + +<p>'Rise, cousin, I entreat you,' said Berenger, much embarrassed, +as he disappeared in the darkness.</p> + +<p>'I must speak thus,' she answered, in a hoarse, exhausted +voice. 'Ah! pardon, pardon!' she added, rising, however, so +far as to raise clasped hands and an imploring face. 'Ah! can +you pardon? It was through me that you bear those wounds; +that she--Eustacie-- was forced into the masque, to detain you for +THAT night. Ah! pardon.'</p> + +<p>'That is long past,' said Berenger. 'I have been too near +death not to have pardoned that long ago. Rise, cousin, I +cannot see you thus.'</p> + +<p>'That is not all,' continued Diane. 'It was I--I who moved +my father to imprison you.' Then, as he bent his head, and +would have again entreated her to rise, she held out her hand as if +to silence him, and spoke faster, more wildly. 'Then--then I +thought it would save your life. I thought---' she looked at +him strangely with her great dark eyes, all hollow and cavernous in +her white face.</p> + +<p>'I know,' said Berenger, kindly, 'you often urged it on me.'</p> + +<p>There was a sort of movement on the part of the kneeling figure +of the priest at the altar, and she interrupted, saying +precipitately. 'Then--then, I did think you free.'</p> + +<p>'Ah!' he gasped. 'Now---!'</p> + +<p>'Now I know that she lives!' and Diane once more sank at his +feet a trembling, shrinking, annihilated heap of shame and +misery.</p> + +<p>Berenger absolutely gave a cry that, though instantly repressed, +had the ring of ecstasy in it. 'Cousin--cousin!' he cried, +'all is forgiven--all forgotten, if you will only tell me +where!'</p> + +<p>'That I cannot,' said Diane, rousing herself again, but speaking +in a dull, indifferent tone, as of one to whom the prime bitterness +was past, 'save that she is under the care of the Duchess de +Quinet;' and she then proceeded, as though repeating a lesson: 'You +remember the Italian conjurer whom you would not consult? +Would that I had not!' she added, clasping her hands. 'His +prediction lured me? Well, he saw my father privately, told +him he had seen her, and had bought her jewels, even her +hair. My father sent him in quest of her again, but told not +me till the man returned with tidings that she was at Quinet, in +favour with the Duchess. You remember that he went from +home. It was to demand he; and, ah! you know how long I had +loved you, and they told me that your marriage was void, and that +all would be well upon the dispensation coming. And now the +good father there tells me that I was deceived--cruelly +deceived--that such a dispensation would not be granted save +through gross misrepresentation.' Then, as Berenger began to +show tokens of eagerness to come at tidings of Eustacie, she +continued, 'Ah! it is vain to seek to excuse one you care not +for. My father could learn nothing from the Duchess; she +avowed that she had been there, but would say no more. +However, he and my brother were sure she was under their +protection; they took measures, and--and the morning my poor father +was stricken, there had been a letter from my brother to say he was +on her track, and matters must be ended with you, for he should +have her in a week;' and then, as Berenger started forward with an +inarticulate outburst, half of horror, half of interrogation, she +added, 'Where, he said not, nor did I learn from him. All our +one interview was spend in sneers that answered to my wild +entreaties; but this I know--that you would never have reached +Tours a living man.'</p> + +<p>'And now, now he is on the way to her!' cried Berenger, 'and you +kept it from me!'</p> + +<p>'There lay my hope,' said Diane, raising her head; and now, with +glittering eyes and altered voice, 'How could I not but hate her +who had bereaved me of you; her for whose sake I could not earn +your love?'</p> + +<p>The change of her tone had, perhaps, warned the priest to draw +nearer, and as she perceived him, she said, 'Yes, father, this is +not the way to absolution, but my heart will burst if I say not +all.'</p> + +<p>'Thou shalt not prevail, foul spirit,' said the priest, looking +earnestly into the darkness, as though he beheld the fiend hovering +over her, 'neither shall these holy walls be defiled with accents +of unhallowed love. You have made your reparation, daughter; +it is enough.'</p> + +<p>'And can you tell me no more?' said Berenger, sadly. 'Can +you give me no clue that I may save her from the wolf that may be +already on her track? Cousin, if you would do this, I would +bless you for ever.'</p> + +<p>'Alas! I would if I could! It is true, cousin, I have no +heart to deceive you any longer. But it is to Madame de +Quinet that you must apply, and if my brother has though me worth +pursuit, you may be in time! One moment,'--as he would have +sprung away as if in the impulse to fly to the rescue,--'cousin; +had you gone to England as I hoped, I would have striven to deserve +to win that love of yours, but you have conquered by your +constancy. Now, father, I have spoken my last save as +penitent.'</p> + +<p>She covered her head and sank down again.</p> + +<p>Berenger, bewildered and impelled to be doing something, let the +priest lead him out before he exclaimed, 'I said nothing to her of +pardon!'</p> + +<p>'You do pardon?' said the priest.</p> + +<p>He paused a moment. 'Freely, if I find my wife. I +can only remember now that she set me on the way. I would +ease her soul, poor thing, and thinking would make me hard +again.'</p> + +<p>'Do the English bring up their sons with such feelings?' asked +the cure, pausing for a moment.</p> + +<p>'Of course,' said Berenger. 'May I say that one word, +sir?' </p> + +<p>'Not now,' said the priest; 'she had better be left to think of +her sin towards Heaven, rather than towards man.'</p> + +<p>'But do you leave her there, sir?'</p> + +<p>'I shall return. I shall pray for her true penitence,' +said the priest, and Berenger perceived from his tone that one +without the pale might inquire no further. He only asked how +safe and honourable shelter could be found for her; and the cure +replied that he had already spoken to her of the convent of Lucon, +and should take her there so soon as it could safely be done, and +that Abbess Monique, he trusted, would assist her crushed spirit in +finding the path of penitence. He thought her cousin had +better not endeavour to see her again; and Berenger himself was +ready to forget her very existence in his burning anxiety to +outstrip Narcisse in the quest of Eustacie.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XLI. OUR LADY OF HOPE</h3> + +<p>Welcome to danger's hour,</p> + +<p>Brief greeting serves the time of strife.--SCOTT</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p>As soon as it was possible to leave Nissard, Berenger was on his +way back to head-quarters, where he hoped to meet the Duke de +Quinet among the many Huguenot gentlemen who were flocking to the +Bourbon standard; nor was he disappointed in the hope, for he was +presented to a handsome middle-aged gentleman, who told him, with +much politeness, that his mother had had the honour to receive and +entertain Mme. de Ribaumont and that some months ago he had himself +arranged for the conveyance of her letters to England, but, he +said, with a smile, he made a point of knowing nothing of his +mother's guests, lest his duties as a governor might clash with +those of hospitality. He offered to expedite M. de +Ribaumont's journey to Quinet, observing that, if Nid de Merle +were, indeed, on the point of seizing the lady, it must be by +treachery; indeed he had, not ten days back, had the satisfaction +of hanging an Italian mountebank who had last year stolen a whole +packet of dispatches, among them letters from Mme. de Ribaumont, +and the fellow was probably acting as a spy upon her, so that no +time was to be lost in learning from his mother where she +was. On the next morning he was about to send forward twenty +men to reinforce a little frontier garrison on the river Dronne, +and as M. le Baron must pass through the place, it would be +conferring a favour on him to take the command. The men were +all well mounted, and would not delay; and when once across the +frontier of Guyenne, no escort would be needed.</p> + +<p>Berenger gladly accepted the proposal. It did not occur to +him that he was thus involved in the civil war, and bearing arms +against the sovereign. In spite of Queen Elisabeth's alliance +with the French court, she connived at her youthful subjects +seeking the bubble reputation in the mouths of Valois cannon; and +so little did Henry III. seem to Berenger to be his king, that he +never thought of the question of allegiance,--nay, if the royal +officers were truly concerned in his arrest, he was already an +outlaw. This was no moment for decision between Catholic and +Calvinist; all he wanted was to recover his wife and forestall her +enemies.</p> + +<p>Henry of Navarre gave his full consent to the detachment being +placed under charge of M. de Ribaumont. He asked somewhat +significantly what had become of the young gentleman who had +attended M. de Ribaumont, and Philip blushed crimson to the ears, +while Berenger replied, with greater coolness than he had given +himself credit for, that the youth had been nearly drowned on the +Sable d'Olonne, and had been left at Dom Colombeau's to +recover. The sharp-witted King looked for a moment rather as +Sir Hugh the Heron did when Marmion accounted for his page's +absence, but was far too courteous and too INSOUCIANT to press the +matter further, though Berenger saw quite enough of is expression +to feel that he had been delivered from his companion only just in +time.</p> + +<p>Berenger set forth as soon as his impatience could prevail to +get the men into their saddles. He would fain have ridden day +and night, and grudged every halt for refreshment, so as almost to +run the risk of making the men mutinous. Evening was coming +on, and his troop had dismounted at a cabaret, in front of which he +paced up and down with Philip, trying to devise some pretext for +hastening them on another stage before night, when a weary, +travel-stained trooper rode up to the door and was at once hailed +as a comrade by the other men, and asked, 'What cheer at Pont de +Dronne?'</p> + +<p>'Bad enough,' he answered, 'unless you can make the more speed +there!' then making obeisance to Berenger he continued his +report, saying that Captain Falconnet was sending him to M. le Duc +with information that the Guisards were astir, and that five +hundred <i>gens d'armes</i>, under the black Nid de Merle, as it +was said, were on their way intending to surprise Pont de Dronne, +and thus cut the King of Navarre off from Guyenne and his kingdom +beyond it. After this Berenger had no more difficulty with +his men, who were most of them Quinet vassals, with homes south of +the Dronne, and the messenger only halted for a hasty meal, +hastening on to the Duke, that a more considerable succour might at +once be dispatched.</p> + +<p>'Is she there whom they call the Lady of Hope?' asked one of the +soldiers, a mercenary, less interested than most of his comrades, +as he had only a fortnight since transferred his services from +Guise to Quinet.</p> + +<p>'Our Lady of Sadness just now,' replied the messenger; 'her old +father is at the point of death. However, she is there, and +at our last siege twenty wine-skins would not so well have kept up +men's hearts.'</p> + +<p>'And the little one, the white fairy, is she there too? +They say 'tis a spirit, a changeling that could not brook the +inside of a church, but flew out of the Moustier at Montauban like +a white swan, in the middle of a sermon.'</p> + +<p>'I only know I've seen her sleep like a dormouse through +prayers, sermon, and all at Pont de Dronne. <i>Follette</i> +is she be, she belongs to the white elves of the moonlight.'</p> + +<p>'Well, they say bullets won't touch her, and no place can be +taken where she is,' replied the trooper. 'Nay, that Italian +pedlar rogue, the same that the Duke has since hung, has sold to +long Gilles and snub-nosed Pierre silver bullets, wherewith +they have sworn to shoot the one or the other next time they had a +chance.'</p> + +<p>These words were spoken at not great distance from Berenger, but +passed by him as mere men-at-arms' gossip, in his eagerness to +expedite the start of his party; and in less than an hour they were +<i>en route</i> for Pont de Dronne; but hasten as he would, it was +not till near noon the next day that he came in sight of a valley, +through which wound a river, crossed by a high-backed bridge, with +a tall pointed arch in the middle, and a very small one on either +side. An old building of red stone, looking like what it +was--a monastery converted into a fortress--stood on the nearer, or +northern bank, and on the belfry tower waved a flag with the arms +of Quinet. Higher up the valley, there was an ominous hum, +and clouds of smoke and dust; and the <i>gen d'armes</i>, who knew +the country, rejoiced that they were come just in time, and +exchanged anxious questions whether the enemy were not fording the +river above them, so as to attack not only the fortress on this +northern side, but the bridge tower on the southern bank of the +river.</p> + +<p>Spurring down the hill, the party were admitted, at the +well-guarded gateway, into a large thickly-walled yard, where the +soldiers and horses remained, and Berenger and Philip, passing +through a small arched doorway into the body of the old monastery, +were conducted to a great wainscoted hall, where a pulpit +projecting from the wall, and some defaced emblematic ornaments, +showed that this had once been the refectory, though guard-room +appliances now occupied it. The man who had shown them in +left them, saying he would acquaint Captain Falconnet with their +arrival, and just then a sound of singing drew both brothers to the +window. It looked out on what had once been the quadrangle, +bounded on three sides by the church, the refectory, and the monk's +lodgings, the cloistered arcade running round all these. The +fourth side was skirted by the river, which was, however, concealed +by an embankment, raised, no doubt, to supply the place of the +wall, which had been unnecessary to the peaceful original +inhabitants. What attracted Berenger's eyes was, however, a +group in the cloister, consisting of a few drooping figures, some +of men in steel caps, others of veiled, shrouded women, and +strange, mingled feelings swept over him as he caught the notes of +the psalm sung over the open grave--</p> + +<p> 'Si qu'en paix et seurte bonne Coucherai et +reposerai-- </p> + +<p> Car, Seigneur, ta bonte tout ordonne</p> + +<p> Et elle seule espoir donne</p> + +<p> Que seur et sain regnant serai.'</p> + +<p>'Listen, Philip,' he said, with moistening eyes; then as they +ended, 'It is the 4<sup>th</sup> Psalm: "I lay me down in peace and +take my rest." Eustacie and I used to sing it to my +father. It was well done in these mourners to sing it over +him whom they are laying down to take his rest while the enemy are +at the gates. See, the poor wife still kneels while the rest +disperse; how dejected and utterly desolate she looks.'</p> + +<p>He was so intently watching her as not to perceive the entrance +of a tall, grizzled old man in a steel cap, evidently the commander +of the garrison. There was the brief welcome of danger's +hour--the briefer, because Captain Falconnet was extremely deaf, +and, taking it for granted that the new-comers were gentlemen of +the Duke's, proceeded to appoint them their posts without further +question. Berenger had intended to pursue his journey to +Quinet without delay, but the intelligence that the enemy were on +the southern as well as the northern side of the river rendered +this impossible; and besides, in defending this key of Guyenne +against Narcisse, he was also defending Eustacie.</p> + +<p>The state of affairs was soon made known to him. The old +monastery, covering with its walls an extensive space, formed a +fortress quite strong enough to resist desultory attacks, and +protect the long bridge, which was itself strongly walled on either +side, and with a barbican at the further end. In former +assaults the attacks had always been on the north, the Catholic +side, as it might be called; but now the enemy had crossed the +river above the fort, and were investing the place on both +sides. Long foreseeing this, the old commandant had guarded +the bank of the river with the earthwork, a long mound sloped +irregularly on either hand, over which numerous little paths had +since been worn by the women within, when on their way to the river +with their washing; but he had been setting every one to work to +destroy and fill up these, so that the rampart was smooth and +slopping, perfectly easy indeed to cross, but high and broad enough +to serve as an effectual protection against such artillery as the +detached troops of the Guise party were likely to possess; and the +river was far too wide, deep, and strong in its main current to be +forded in the face of a hostile garrison. The captain had +about fifty <i>gen d'armes</i> in his garrison, besides the twenty +new-comers whom he persisted in regarding as Berenger's charge; and +there were, besides, some seventy peasants and silk spinners, who +had come into the place as a refuge from the enemy--and with these +he hoped to hold put till succour should come from the Duke. +He himself took the command of the north gate, where the former +assaults had been made, and he instructed to his new ally the tower +protecting the bridge, advising him to put on armour; but Berenger, +trying on a steel cap, found that his head could not bear the +weight and heat, and was forced to return to his broad-brimmed +Spanish hat, while Philip in high glee armed himself as best he +could with what Captain Falconnet could lend him. he was too +much excited to eat of the scanty meal that was set before them: a +real flight seemed like a fair-day to him, and he was greatly +exalted by his brother's post of command--a post that Berenger felt +a heavy responsibility only thrust upon him by the commandant's +incapacity of hearing how utterly inexperienced he was.</p> + +<p>The formal summons to surrender to the King, and the refusal, +had duly passed, and it became evident that the first attack was to +be on the bridge-gate. Captain Falconnet hurried to the +place, and the fighting was hot and desperate. Every +assailant who tried to throw his fagot into the moat became a mark +for arquebus or pistol, and the weapons that had so lately hung +over the hearth at Nid de Merle were now aimed again and again at +the heads and corslets of Guisards, with something of the same +exulting excitement as, only higher, more engrossing, and fiercer +than, that with which the lads had taken aim at a wolf, or ridden +after a fox. Scaling-ladders were planted and hurled down +again; stones were cast from the battlements, crushing the enemy; +and throughout Berenger's quick eye, alert movements, and great +height and strength, made him a most valuable champion, often +applauded by a low murmur of commendation from old Falconnet, or a +loud shout of 'Ha, well done, the Duke's Englishman,' from the <i> +gen</i> <i>d'armes</i>--for English they would have him to be--on +the presumptions afforded by his companions, his complexion, and +his slow speech. Nor did Philip and Humfrey fail to render +good service. But just as the enemy had been foiled in a +sharp assault and were dragging away their wounded, Philip touched +his brother, and saying, 'I can hold out no longer,' showed blood +trickling down his right side.</p> + +<p>Berenger threw an arm round him, and Captain Falconnet, seeing +his case, said, 'You are hit, <i>petit Anglais</i>; you have done +gallantly. There will be time for you to take him to his +quarters, sir; these fellows have had enough for the present, and +you can tarry with him till you hear the bugle. Whither, did +you ask? Let me see. You, Renaud, take him to the +chapel: the old chancel behind the boarding will be more private; +and desire Madame to look to him. Farewell!</p> + +<p>I hope it may prove slight; you are a brave youth.' And he +shook hands with Philip, whose intense gratification sustained him +for many steps afterwards</p> + +<p>He hardly remembered receiving the hurt, and was at first too +busy to heed it, or to call off any one attention, until a dread of +falling, and being trodden on, had seized him and made him speak; +and indeed he was so dizzy that Berenger with difficulty kept him +on his feet over the bridge, and in the court lifted him in his +arms and carried him almost fainting into the cloister, where by +the new-made grave still knelt the black-veiled mourner. She +started to her feet as the soldier spoke to her, and seemed at +first not to gather the sense of his words; but then, as if with an +effort, took them in, made one slight sound like a moan of +remonstrance at the mention of the place, but again recollecting +herself, led the way along a stone passage, into which a flight of +stairs descended into the apsidal chancel, roughly boarded off from +the rest of the church. It was a ruinous, desolate place, and +Berenger looked round in dismay for some place on which to lay down +his almost unconscious burthen. The lady bent her head and +signed towards the stone sedilia in the wall; then, after two +ineffectual essays to make her voice audible, choked as it was with +long weeping, she said, low and huskily, 'We will make him more +comfortable soon;' and added some orders to the soldier, who +disappeared up the stairway, and Berenger understood that he was +gone to fetch bedding. Then taking from under her heavy +mourning cloak a large pair of scissors, she signed to Berenger how +to support his brother, while they relieved him of his corslet, +sword-belt, and doublet. The soldier had meantime returned +with an old woman, both loaded with bedding, which she signed to +them to arrange in one of the little bays or niches that served to +form a crown of lesser chapels around the chancel. She flung +aside her muffling cloak, but her black hood still hung far over +her face, and every now and then hand or handkerchief was lifted as +if to clear her eyes from the tears that would not cease to gather +and blind her; and she merely spoke when some direction to an +assistant, some sympathetic word to the patient, was needed. +Even Philip in his dizzy trance guessed that he was succeeding to +the bed whence one much dearer had gone to his quieter rest in the +cloister. Before he was laid there, however, the bugle +sounded; there was a loud shout, and Philip exclaimed, 'Go, +brother!'</p> + +<p>'Trust him to me, sir,' said the sunken, extinguished voice; 'we +will do our best for him.'</p> + +<p>He was forced merely to lift Philip to the bed, and to hurry +away, while the soldier followed him saying, consolingly, 'Fear +not, sir, now our Lady of Hope has him. Nothing goes ill to +which she sets her hand.'</p> + +<p>Another growl of artillery was not heard, and it was time for +the warriors to forget the wounded in the exigencies of the +present. An attack was made on both gates at once, and the +commandant being engaged at his own post, Berenger had to make the +utmost of his brief experience, backed by the counsel of a tough +old sergeant; and great was his sense of exhilaration, and absolute +enjoyment in this full and worthy taxing of every power of mind or +body. The cry among the enemy, 'Aime at the black plume,' +attested his prominence; but he black plum was still unscathed when +spring twilight fell. The din began to subside; recalls were +sounded by the besiegers; and Berenger heard his own exploit bawled +in the ear of the deaf commandant, who was advancing over the +bridge. The old captain complimented him, told him that he should +be well reported of to M. le Duc and Sieur la Noue, and invited him +to supper and bed in his own quarters. The supper Berenger +accepted, so soon as he should know how it was with his brother; +but as to bed, he intended to watch his brother, and visit his post +form time to time.</p> + +<p>The captain entered by the main door of the chapel, where ten or +twelve wounded were now lying, tended by peasant women. +Berenger merely passed through, seeing as he went the black hood +busy over a freshly-brought-in-patient. He found a door which +admitted him through the rough screen of boards to the choir where +he had been in the earlier part of the day. The moonlight +came through the shivered eastern windows, but a canvas curtain had +been hung so as to shelter Philip's vaulted recess from the cold +draught, and the bed itself, with a chair beside it, looked neat, +clean, and comfortable. Philip himself was cheery; he said the +bullet had made a mere flesh-wound, and had passed out on the other +side, and the Lady of Hope, as they called he, was just such +another as Aunt Cecily, and had made him very comfortable, with +clean linen, good cool drinks, and the tenderest hand. But he +was very sleepy, so sleepy that he hardly cared to hear of the +combat, only he roused himself for a moment to say, 'Brother, I +have seen Dolly.'</p> + +<p>'Dolly!'</p> + +<p>'Our sister Dolly.'</p> + +<p>'Ah, Phil! many a strange visitor has come to me in the Walnut +Chamber at home.'</p> + +<p>'I tell you I was in my perfect senses,' returned Philip; 'there +she was, just as when we left her. And, what was stranger +still, she talked French.'</p> + +<p>'Sleep and see her again,' laughed Berenger.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XLII. THE SILVER BULLET</h3> + +<p>I am all wonder, O my son, my soul</p> + +<p>Is stunned within me; powers to speak to him</p> + +<p>Or to interrogate him have I none,</p> + +<p>Or even to look on him.--Cowper's ODYSSEY</p> + +<p> </p> + +<p>In his waking senses Philip adhered to his story that his little +sister Dolly had stood at the foot of his bed, called him <i>'le +pauvre'</i> and had afterwards disappeared, led away by the nursing +lady. It seemed to Berenger a mere delusion of feverish +weakness; for Philip had lost a great deal of blood, and the wound, +though not dangerous, permitted no attempt at moving, and gave much +pain. Of the perfections of the lady as nurse and surgeon +Philip could not say enough, and, pale and overwept as he allowed +her to be, he declared that he was sure that her beauty must equal +Mme. De Selinville's. Berenger laughed, and looking round +this strange hospital, now lighted by the full rays of the morning +sun, he was much struck by the scene.</p> + +<p>It was the chancel of the old abbey church. The door by +which they had entered was very small, and perhaps had led merely +to the abbot's throne, as an irregularity for his own convenience, +and only made manifest by the rending away of the rich wooden stall +work, some fragments of which still clung to the walls. The +east end, like that of many French churches, formed a semicircle, +the high altar having been in the centre, and five tall deep bays +forming lesser chapels embracing it, their vaults all gathered up +into one lofty crown above, and a slender pillar separating between +each chapel, each of which further contained a tall narrow +window. Of course, all had been utterly desolated, and Philip +was actually lying in one of these chapels, where the sculptured +figure of St. John and his Eagle still remained on the wall; +and a sufficient remnant of his glowing sanguine robe of love was +still in the window to serve as a shield from the <i> +bise</i>. The high altar of rich marbles was a mere heap of +shattered rubbish; but what surprised Berenger more than all the +ruined architectural beauty which his <i>cinque-cento</i> trained +taste could not understand, was, that the tiles of the pavement +were perfectly clean, and diligently swept, the rubbish piled up in +corners; and here and there the relics of a cross or carved figure +lay together, as by a tender, reverential hand. Even the +morsels of painted glass had been placed side by side on the floor, +so as to form a mosaic of dark red, blue, and green; and a child's +toy lay beside this piece of patchwork. In the midst of his +observations, however, Captain Falconnet's servant came to summon +him to breakfast; and the old woman appearing at the same time, he +could not help asking whether the lady were coming.</p> + +<p>'Oh yes, she will come to dress his wound in good time,' +answered the old woman.</p> + +<p>'And when? I should like to hear what she thinks of it,' +said Berenger.</p> + +<p>'How?' said the old woman with a certain satisfaction in his +disappointment; 'is our Lady of Hope to be coming down among you +gay gallants?'</p> + +<p>'But who is this Lady of Hope?' demanded he.</p> + +<p>'Who should she be but our good pastor's daughter? Ah! and +a brave, good daughter she was too, abiding the siege because his +breath was so bad that he could not be moved.'</p> + +<p>'What was his name?' asked Berenger, attracted strangely by what +he heard.</p> + +<p>'Ribault, Monsieur--Pasteur Ribault. Ah! a good man, and +sound preacher, when preach he could; but when he could not, his +very presence kept the monks' REVENANTS from vexing us--as a cat +keeps mice away; and, ah! The children have been changed creatures +since Madame dealt with them. What! Monsieur would know why +they call her our Lady of Hope? Esperance is her true name; +and, moreover, in the former days this abbey had an image that they +called Notre-Dame de l'Esperance, and the poor deceived folk +thought it did great miracles. And so, when she came hither, +and wrought such cures, and brought blessing wherever she went, it +became a saying among us that at length we had our true Lady of +Hope.</p> + +<p>A more urgent summons here forced Berenger away, and his +repetition of the same question received much the same answer from +deaf old Captain Falconnet. He was obliged to repair to his +post with merely a piece of bread in his hand; abut, though +vigilance was needful, the day bade fair to be far less actively +occupied than its predecessor: the enemy were either disposed to +turn the siege into a blockade, or were awaiting reinforcements and +heavier artillery; and there were only a few desultory attacks in +the early part of the morning. About an hour before noon, +however, the besiegers seemed to be drawing out in arms, as if to +receive some person of rank, and at the same time sounds were heard +on the hills to the eastward, as if troops were on the march. +Berenger having just been told by the old sergeant that probably +all would be quiet for some time longer, and been almost laughed at +by the veteran for consulting him whether it would be permissible +for him to be absent a few minutes to visit his brother, was +setting out across the bridge for the purpose, his eyes in the +direction of the rampart, which followed the curve of the +river. The paths which--as has been said--the feet of the +washerwomen and drawers of water had worn away in quieter times, +had been smoothed and scarped away on the outer side, so as to come +to an abrupt termination some feet above the gay marigolds, +coltsfoot, and other spring flowers that smiled by the +water-side. Suddenly he beheld on the rampart a tiny gray and +white figure, fearlessly trotting, or rather dancing, along the +summit and the men around him exclaimed, 'The little moonbeam +child!' 'A fairy--a changeling!'--'They cannot shoot at such +a babe!' 'Nor could they harm her!' 'Hola! little +one! <i>Gare</i>! Go back to your mother!' 'Do not +disturb yourself, sir; she is safer than you,' were the +ejaculations almost at the same moment, while he sprang forward, +horrified at the peril of such an infant. He had reached the +angle between the bridge and rampart, when he perceived that +neither humanity nor superstition were protecting the poor child; +for, as she turned down the remnant of one of the treacherous +little paths, a man in bright steel and deep black had spurred his +horse to the river's brink, and was deliberately taking aim at +her. Furious at such brutality, Berenger fired the pistol he +held in his hand, and the wretch dropped from his horse; but at the +same moment his pistol exploded, and the child rolled down the +bank, whence a piteous wail came up, impelling Berenger to leap +down to her assistance, in the full face of the enemy. +Perhaps he was protected for the moment by the confusion ensuing on +the fall of the officer; and when he reached the bottom of the +bank, he saw the little creature on her feet, her round cap and +gray woollen dress stripped half off in the fall, and her flaxen +hair falling round her plump, white, exposed shoulder, but +evidently unhurt, and gathering yellow marigolds as composedly as +though she had been making May garlands. He snatched her up, +and she said, with the same infantine dignity, 'Yes, take me up; +the naughty people spoilt the path. But I must take my beads +first.' And she tried to struggle out of his arms, pointing +therewith to a broken string among the marshy herb-age on which +gleamed--the pearls of Ribaumont!</p> + +<p>In the few seconds in which he grasped them, and then bore the +child up the embankment in desperate bounds, a hail of bullets +poured round him, ringing on his breastplate, shearing the plume +from his hat, but scarcely even heard; and in another moment he had +sprung down, on the inner side, grasping the child with all his +might, but not daring even to look at her, in the wondrous flash of +that first conviction. She spoke first. 'Put me down, +and let me have my beads,' she said in a grave, clear tone; and +then first he beheld a pair of dark blue eyes, a sweet wild-rose +face--Dolly's all over. He pressed her so fast and so close, +in so speechless and over powering an ecstasy, that again she +repeated, and in alarm, 'Put me down, I want my mother!'</p> + +<p>'Yes, yes! your mother! your mother! your mother!' he cried, +unable to let her out of his embrace; and then restraining himself +as he saw her frightened eyes, in absolute fear of her spurning +him, or struggling from him, 'My sweet! my child! Ah! do you not +know me?' </p> + +<p>Then, remembering how wild this was, he struggled to speak +calmly:</p> + +<p>'What are you called, my treasure?'</p> + +<p>'I am <i>la petite Rayonette</i>,' she said, with puzzled +dignity and gravity; 'and my mother says I have a beautiful long +name of my own besides.'</p> + +<p>'Berangere--my Berangere---'</p> + +<p>'That is what she says over me, as I go to sleep in her bosom at +night,' said the child, in a wondering voice, soon exchanged for +entreaty, 'Oh, hug me not so hard! Oh, let me go--let me go +to her! Mother! mother!'</p> + +<p>'My child, mine own, I am take thee!--Oh, do not struggle with +me!' he cried, himself imploring now. 'Child, one kiss for +thy father;' and meantime, putting absolute force on his vehement +affection, he was hurrying to the chancel.</p> + +<p>There Philip hailed them with a shout as of desperate anxiety +relieved; but before a word could be uttered, down the stairs flew +the Lady of Hope, crying wildly, 'Not there--she is not--' but +perceiving the little one in the stranger's arms, she held out her +own, crying, 'Ah! is she hurt, my angel?'</p> + +<p>'Unhurt, Eustacie! Our child is unhurt!' Berenger said, +with an agonized endeavour to be calm; but for the moment her +instinct was so entirely absorbed in examining into the soundness +of her child's limbs, that she neither saw nor hear anything +else.</p> + +<p>'Eustacie,' he said, laying his hand on her arm, she started +back, with bewildered eyes. 'Eustacie--wife? do you not know +me? Ah! I forgot that I am changed.'</p> + +<p>'You--you--' she gasped, utterly confounded, and gazing as if +turned to stone, and though at that moment the vibration of a +mighty discharge of cannon rocked the walls, and strewed Philip's +bed with the crimson shivers of St. John's robe, yet neither of +them would have been sensible of it had not Humfrey rushed in at +the same moment, crying, 'They are coming on like friends, +sir!'</p> + +<p>Berenger passed his hand over his face. 'You will know me +WHEN--IF I return, my dearest,' he said. 'If not, then still, +thank God! Philip, to you I trust them!'</p> + +<p>And with one kiss on that still, cold, almost petrified brow, he +had dashed away. There was a space of absolutely motionless +silence, save that Eustacie let herself drop on the chancel step, +and the child, presently breaking the spell, pulled her to attract +her notice to the flowers. 'Mother, here are the <i> +soucis</i> for the poor gentleman's broth. See, the naughty +people had spoilt all the paths, and I rolled down and tore my +frock, and down fell the beads, but be not angry, mother dear, for +the good gentleman picked them up, and carried me up the bank.'</p> + +<p>'The bank!' cried Eustacie, with a scream, as the sense of the +words reached her ears. 'Ah! no wonder! Well might thy danger +bring thy father's spirit;' and she grasped the little one +fervently in her arms, murmuring, 'Thank, thank God, indeed! +Oh! my precious one; and did He send that blessed spirit to +rescue thee?'</p> + +<p>'And will you tie up my frock? and may I put the flowers into +the broth?' chattered Rayonette. 'And why did he kiss me and +hug me so tight? and how did he know what you say over me as we +fall asleep?'</p> + +<p>Eustacie clasped her tighter, with a convulsive, shudder of +thankfulness; and Philip, but half hearing, and barely gathering +the meaning of her mood, ventured to speak, 'Madame---'</p> + +<p>As if touched by an electric shock, Eustacie started up, as +recalled to instant needs, and coming towards him said, 'Do you +want anything, sir? Pardon one who has but newly seen a +spirit from the other world--brought by his child's danger.' +And the dazed, trance-like look was returning.</p> + +<p>'Spirit!' cried Philip. 'Nay, Madame, it was +himself. Ah! and you are she whom we have sought so long; and +this dear child--no wonder she has Dolly's face.'</p> + +<p>'Who--what?' said Eustacie, pressing her temples with her hands, +as if to retain her senses. 'Speak; was yonder a living or +dead man-- and who?'</p> + +<p>'Living, thank God! and your own husband; that is, if you are +really Eustacie. Are you indeed?' he added, becoming +doubtful.</p> + +<p>'Eustacie, that am I,' she murmured. 'But he is dead--they +killed him; I swathe blood where he had waited for me. His +child's danger brought him from the grave.'</p> + +<p>'No, no. Look at me, sister Eustacie. Listen to +me. Osbert brought him home more dead than alive--but alive +still.'</p> + +<p>'No!' she cried, half passionately. 'Never could he have +lived and left me to mourn him so bitterly.'</p> + +<p>'If you knew--' cried Philip, growing indignant. 'for +weeks he lay in deadly lethargy, and when, with his left hand, he +wrote and sent Osbert to you, your kinsfolk threw the poor fellow +into a dungeon, and put us off with lies that you were married to +your cousin. All believed, only he--sick, helpless, +speechless, as he was--he trusted you still; and so soon as +Mericour came, though he could scarcely brook the saddle, nothing +would hold him from seeking you. We saw only ruin at La +Sablerie, and well-nigh ever since have we been clapped up in +prison by your uncle. We were on the way to Quinet to seek +you. He has kept his faith whole through wounds and pain and +prison and threats,--ay, and sore temptation,' cried Philip, waxing +eloquent; 'and, oh, it cannot be that you do not care for him!'</p> + +<p>'Doubt not my faith, sir,' said Eustacie, proudly; 'I have been +as true to him as if I had known he lived. Nor do I know who +you are to question me.'</p> + +<p>At this moment the child pressed forward, holding between her +tow careful plump hands a red earthenware bowl, with the tisane +steaming in it, and the yellow petals strewn over the +surface. She and Philip had taken a great fancy to each +other, and while her mother was busy with the other patients, she +had been left to her quiet play with her fragments of glass, which +she carried one by one to display, held up to the light, to her new +friends; who, in his weak state, and after his long captivity, +found her the more charming playmate because she so strangely +reminded him of his own little sisters. She thought herself +his little nurse, and missing from his broth the yellow petals that +she had been wont to think the charm of tisane, the housewifely +little being had trotted off, unseen and unmissed, across the +quadrangle, over the embankment, where she had often gathered them, +or attended on the <i>'lessive'</i> on the river's brink; and now +she broke forth exultingly, 'Here, here is the tisane, with all the +<i>soucis</i>. Let me feed you with them, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! thou sweet one,' gasped Philip, 'I could as soon eat +them as David could drink the water! For these--for +these---!' and the tears rushed into his eyes. 'Oh! let me +but kiss her, Madame; I loved her from the first moment. She +has the very face of my little sweeting, (what French word is good +enough for her?) didst run into peril for me, not knowing how near +I was to thee? What, must I eat it? Love me then.'</p> + +<p>But the boarded door was thrown back, and 'Madame, more +wounded,' resounded. The thrill of terror, the elastic +reaction, at the ensuing words, 'from the north gate,' was what +made Eustacie in an instant know herself to be not widow but +wife. She turned round at once, holding out her hand, and +saying with a shaken, agitated voice, <i>'Mon frere</i>, pardon me, +I know not what I say; and, after all, he will find me <i>bien +mechante</i> still.' Then as Philip devoured her hand with +kisses, and held it fast, 'I must go; these poor men need me. +When I can, I will return.'</p> + +<p>'Only let me have the little one,' entreated Philip; 'it is +almost home already to look at her.'</p> + +<p>And when Eustacie next looked in on them, they were both fast +asleep.</p> + +<p>She, poor thing, the only woman with brains among the many +scared females in the garrison, might not rest or look the wonder +in the face. Fresh sufferers needed her care, and related +gallant things of 'the Duke's Englishman,' things of desperate +daring and prowess that sent the blood throbbing to her heart with +exultation, but only to be followed by a pang of anguish at having +let him go back to peril--nay, perhaps, to death--without a word of +tenderness or even recognition. She imaged him as the sunny-faced +youth who had claimed her in the royal castle, and her longing to +be at his side and cling to him as his own became every moment more +fervent and irresistible, until she gladly recollected the +necessity of carrying food to the defenders; and snatching an +interval from her hospital cares, she sped to the old circular +kitchen of the monastery, where she found the lame baker vainly +trying to organize a party of frightened women to carry provisions +to the garrison of the bridge-tower.</p> + +<p>'Give some to me,' she said. 'My husband is there! I +am come to fetch his dinner.'</p> + +<p>The peasant women looked and whispered as if they thought that, +to add to their misfortunes, their Lady of Hope had become +distracted by grief; and one or two, who held the old faith, and +were like the crane among the sparrows, even observed that it was a +judgment for the profane name that had been given her, against +which she had herself uniformly protested.</p> + +<p>'My husband is come,' said Eustacie, looking round with shining +eyes. 'Let us be brave wives, and not let our men +famish.'</p> + +<p>She lifted a loaf and a pitcher of broth, and with the latter +poised on her erect and graceful head, and elastic though steady +step, she led the way; the others following her with a sort of awe, +as of one they fancied in a superhuman state. In fact, there +was no great danger in traversing the bridge with its lofty parapet +on either side; and her mind was too much exalted and moved to be +sensible of anything but a certain exulting awe of the battle +sounds. There was, however, a kind of lull in the assault +which had raged so fiercely ever since the fall of the officer, and +the arrival of the reinforcements. Either the enemy had +paused to take food, or were devising some fresh mode of attack; +and as the line of women advanced, there started forth from under +the arch a broad-shouldered, white-faced, golden-bearded personage, +who cried joyously, 'My dearest, my bravest! this for me!' and +lifted the pitcher from her head as he grasped her hand with a +flesh and blood clasp indeed, but the bright-cheeked, wavy-haired +lad of her dream withered away with a shock of disappointment, and +she only looked up with wistful puzzled earnestness instead of +uttering the dear name that she had so long been whispering to +herself. 'Dearest,' he said, 'this is precious indeed to me, +that you should let me feast my eyes once more on you. But +you may not tarry; the rogues may renew the attack at any +moment.'</p> + +<p>She had thought of herself as insisting on standing beside him +and sharing his peril. Had he been himself she must have don +so, but this was a stranger, whose claiming her made her shrink +apart till she could feel the identity which, though she believed, +she could not realize. Her hand lay cold and tremulous within +his warm pressure, but he was too much wrought up and too full of +joy and haste to be sensible of anything but of the brave affection +that had dared all to come to him; and he was perfectly happy, even +as a trumpet-call among the foe warned him to press her fingers to +his lips and say, as his bright blue eye kindled, 'God grant that +we may meet and thank Him tonight! Farewell, my lost and +found! I fight as one who has something to fight for.'</p> + +<p>He might not leave his post, but he watched her with eyes that +could not be satiated, as she recrossed the bridge; and, verily, +his superabundant ecstasy, and the energy that was born of it, were +all needed to sustain the spirits of his garrison through that +terrible afternoon. The enemy seemed to be determined to +carry the place before it could be relieved, and renewed the storm +again and again with increasing violence; while the defenders, +disheartened by their pertinacity, dismayed at the effects of the +heavy artillery, now brought to bear on the tower, and direfully +afraid of having the bridge destroyed, would have abandoned their +barbican and shut themselves up within the body of the place, had +not Berenger been here, there, and everywhere, directing, +commanding, exhorting, cheering, encouraging, exciting enthusiasm +by word and example, winning proud admiration by feats of valour +and dexterity sprung of the ecstatic inspiration of new-found +bliss, and watching, as the conscious defender of his own most +beloved, without a moment's respite, till twilight stillness sank +on the enemy, and old Falconnet came to relieve him, thanking him +for his gallant defence, and auguring that, by noonday tomorrow at +latest, M. le Duc would succour them, unless he were hampered by +any folly of this young Navarre.</p> + +<p>Too blissful for the sense of fatigue, Berenger began to impart +to the Commandant his delight, but the only answer he got was +'Hope, yes, every hope;' and he again recognized what he had +already perceived, that the indistinctness of his utterance made +him entirely unintelligible to the deaf Commandant, and that +shouting did but proclaim to the whole garrison, perhaps even to +the enemy's camp, what was still too new a joy not to be a secret +treasure of delight. So he only wrung the old Captain's hand, +and strode away as soon as he was released.</p> + +<p>It was nearly dark, in spite of a rising moon, but beneath the +cloister arch was torchlight, glancing on a steel head-piece, and +on a white cap, both bending down over a prostrate figure; and he +heard the voice he loved so well say, 'It is over! I can do +no more. It were best to dig his grave at once here in +silence--it will discourage the people less. Renaud and +Armand, here!'</p> + +<p>He paused for a few minutes unseen in the shadow while she +closed the eyes and composed the limbs of the dead soldier; then, +kneeling, said the Lord's Prayer in French over him. Was this +the being he had left as the petted plaything of the palace? +When she rose, she came to the arch and gazed wistfully across the +moonlit quadrangle, beyond the dark shade cast by the buildings, +saying to the soldier, 'You are sure he was safe?'</p> + +<p>'My Eustacie,' said Berenger, coming forward, 'we meet in grave +times!'</p> + +<p>The relief of knowing him safe after the sickening yearnings and +suspense of the day, and moreover the old ring of tenderness in his +tone, made her spring to him with real warmth of gladness, and cry, +'It is you! All is well.'</p> + +<p>'Blessedly well, <i>ma mie</i>, my sweetheart,' he said, +throwing his arm round her, and she rested against him murmuring, +'Now I feel it! Thou are thyself!' They were in the +dark cloister passage, and when he would have moved forward she +clung closer to him, and murmured, 'Oh, wait, wait, yet an +instant--thus I can feel that I have thee--the same--my own!'</p> + +<p>'My poor darling,' said Berenger, after a second, 'you must +learn to bear with both my looks and speech, though I be but a +sorry shattered fellow for you.'</p> + +<p>'No, no,' she cried, hanging on him with double fervour. +'No, I am loving you the more already,--doubly--trebly--a thousand +times. Only those moments were so precious, they made all +these long years as nothing. But come to the little one, and +to your brother.'</p> + +<p>The little one had already heard them, and was starting forward +to meet them, though daunted for a moment by the sight of the +strange father: she stood on the pavement, in the full flood of the +moonlight from the east window, which whitened her fair face, +flaxen hair, and gray dress, so that she did truly look like some +spirit woven of the moonbeams. Eustacie gave a cry of +satisfaction: 'Ah! good, good; it was by moonlight that I saw +her first!'</p> + +<p>Berenger took her in his arm, and held her to his breast with a +sense of insatiable love, while Philip exclaimed, 'Ay, well may you +make much of her, brother. Well might you seek them far and +wide. Such treasures are not to be found in the wide +world.'</p> + +<p>Berenger without answering, carried the little one to the step +of the ruined high altar, and there knelt, holding Eustacie by the +hand, the child in one arm, and, with the moon glancing on his high +white brow and earnest face, he spoke a few words of solemn thanks +and prayer for a blessing on their reunion, and the babe so +wonderfully preserved to them.</p> + +<p>Not till then did he carry her into the lamplight by Philip's +bed, and scan therein every feature, to satisfy his eyes with the +fulfilled hope that had borne him through those darkest days, when, +despairing of the mother, the thought of the child had still +sustained him to throw his will into the balance of the scale +between life and death. Little Berangere gazed up into his +face silently, with wondering, grave, and somewhat sleepy eyes, and +then he saw them fix themselves on his powder-grimed and +blood-stained hands. 'Ah! little heart,' he said, 'I am truly +in no state to handle so pure a piece of sugar as thou; I should +have rid myself of the battle-stains ere touching thee, but how +recollect anything at such a moment?'</p> + +<p>Eustacie was glad he had broken the spell of silence; for having +recovered her husband, her first instinct was to wait upon +him. She took the child from him, explaining that she was +going to put her to bed in her own rooms up the stone stair, which +for the present were filled with fugitive women and children who +had come in from the country, so that the chancel must continue the +lodging of Berenger and his brother; and for the time of her +absence she brought him water to wash away the stains, and set +before him the soup she had kept warm over her little charcoal +brazier. It was only when thus left that he could own, in +answer to Philip's inquiries, that he could feel either hunger or +weariness; nay, he would only acknowledge enough of the latter to +give a perfect charm to rest under such auspices. Eustacie +had dispatched her motherly cares promptly enough to be with him +again just as in taking off his corselet he had found that it had +been pierced by a bullet, and pursuing the trace, through his +doublet, he found it lodged in that purse which he had so long worn +next his heart, where it had spent its force against the single +pearl of Ribaumont. And holding it up to the light, he saw +that it was of silver. Then there returned on him and Philip +the words they had heard two days before, of silver bullets forged +for the destruction of the white moonlight fairy, and he further +remembered the moment's shock and blow that in the midst of his +wild amaze on the river's bank had made him gather his breath and +strength to bound desperately upwards, lest the next moment he +should find himself wounded and powerless.</p> + +<p>For the innocent, then, had the shot been intended; and she +running into danger out of her sweet, tender instincts of +helpfulness, had been barely saved at the extreme peril of her +unconscious father's life. Philip, whose vehement affection +for the little one had been growing all day, was in the act of +telling Berenger to string the bullet in the place of the injured +pearl, as the most precious heirloom of Ribaumont bravery, when +Eustacie returned, and learning all, grew pale and shuddered as +danger had never made her do before: but this strange day had +almost made a coward of her.</p> + +<p>'And this is has spared,' said Berenger, taking out the string +of little yellow shells. 'Dost know them, sweet heart? +They have been my chaplet all this time.'</p> + +<p>'Ah!' cried Eustacie, 'poor, good Mademoiselle Noemi! she +threaded them for my child, when she was very little. Ah! +could she have given them to you--could it then not have been +true--that horror?'</p> + +<p>'Alas! it was too true. I found these shells in the empty +cradle, in the burnt house, and deemed them all I should ever have +of my babe.'</p> + +<p>'Poor Noemi! poor Noemi! She always longed to be a martyr; +but we fled from her, and the fate we had brought on her. +That was the thought that preyed on my dear father. He +grieved so to have left his sheep--and it was only for my +sake. Ah! I have brought evil on all who have been good to +me, beginning with you. You had better cast me off, or I +shall bring yet worse!'</p> + +<p>'Let it be so, if we are only together.'</p> + +<p>He drew her to him and she laid her head on his shoulder, +murmuring, 'Ah! father, father, were you but here to see it. So +desolate yesterday, so ineffably blest today. Oh! I cannot +even grieve for him now, save that he could not just have seen us; +yet I think he knew it would be so.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, it may be that he does see us,' said Berenger. +'Would that I had known who it was whom you were laying down "<i>en +paix et seurte bonne</i>!" As it was, the psalm brought +precious thoughts of Chateau Leurre, and the little wife who was +wont to sing it with me.'</p> + +<p>'Ah!' said Eustacie, 'it was when he sang those words as he was +about to sleep in the ruin of the Temple that first I-- cowering +there in terror--knew him for no Templar's ghost, but for a +friend. That story ended my worst desolation. That +night he became my father; the next my child came to me!'</p> + +<p>'My precious treasure! Ah! what you must have undergone, +and I all unknowing, capable of nothing wiser than going out of my +senses, and raging in a fever because I could convince no one that +those were all lies about your being aught but my true and loving +wife. But tell me, what brought thee hither to be the +tutelary patron, where, but for the siege, I had over-passed thee +on the way to Quinet?'</p> + +<p>Then Eustacie told him how the Italian pedlar had stolen her +letters, and attempted to poison her child--the pedlar whom he soon +identified with that wizard who had talked to him of 'Esperance,' +until the cue had evidently been given by the Chevalier. Soon +after the Duke had dispatched a messenger to say that the Chevalier +de Ribaumont was on the way to demand his niece; and as it was a +period of peace, and the law was decidedly on his side, Madame de +Quinet would be unable to offer any resistance. She therefore +had resolved to send Eustacie away--not to any of the seaports +whither the uncle would be likely to trace her, but absolutely to a +place which he would have passed through on his journey into +Guyenne. The monastery of Notre-Dame de l'Esperance at Pont +de Dronne had been placed there, as well as a colony of +silk-spinners, attracted by the mulberry-trees of the old abbey +garden. These, however, having conceived some terror of the +ghosts of the murdered monks, had entreated for a pastor to protect +them; and Madame la Duchesse thought that in this capacity Isaac +Gardon, known by one of the many aliases to which the Calvinist +ministers constantly resorted, might avoid suspicion for the +present. She took the persecuted fugitives for some stages in +an opposite direction, in her own coach, then returned to face and +baffle the Chevalier, while her trusty steward, by a long <i> +detour</i>, conducted them to Pont de Dronne, which they reached +the very night after to Chevalier had returned through it to Nid de +Merle.</p> + +<p>The pastor and his daughter were placed under the special +protection of Captain Falconnet, and the steward had taken care +that they should be well lodged in three rooms that had once been +the abbot's apartments. Their stay had been at first intended +to be short, but the long journey had been so full of suffering to +Isaac, and left such serious effects, that Eustacie could not bear +to undertake it again, and Madame de Quinet soon perceived that she +was safer there than at the chateau, since strangers were seldom +admitted to the fortress, and her presence there attracted no +attention. But for Isaac Gardon's declining health, Eustacie +would have been much happier here than at the chateau; the homely +housewifely life, where all depended on her, suited her; and, using +her lessons in domestic arts of nursing and medicine for the +benefit of her father's flock, she had found, to her dismay, that +the simple people, in their veneration, had made her into a sort of +successor to the patroness of the convent. Isaac had revived +enough for a time to be able to conduct the worship in the church, +and to instruct some his flock; but the teaching of the young had +been more and more transferred to her, and, as he ingenuously said, +had taught her more than she ever knew before. He gradually +became weaker through more suffering, and was absolutely incapable +of removal, when an attack by the Guisards was threatened. +Eustacie might have been sent back to Quinet; but she would not +hear of leaving him; and this first had been a mere slight attack, +as if a mere experiment on the strength of the place. She +had, however, then had to take the lead in controlling the women, +and teaching them to act as nurses, and to carry out provisions; +and she must then have been seen by some one, who reported her +presence there to Narcisse--perhaps by the Italian pedlar. +Indeed Humfrey, who came in for a moment to receive his master's +orders, report his watch, and greet his lady, narrated, on the +authority of the lately enlisted men-at-arms, that M. de Nid de +Merle had promised twenty crowns to any one who might shoot down +the heretics' little white <i>diablesse</i>.</p> + +<p>About six weeks had elapsed since the first attack on Pont de +Dronne, and in that time Gardon had sunk rapidly. He died as +he lived, a gentle, patient man, not a characteristic Calvinist, +though his lot had been thrown with that party in his perplexed +life of truth-seeking and disappointment in the aspirations and +hopes of early youth. He had been, however, full of peace and +trust that he should open his eyes where the light was clear, and +no cloud on either side would mar his perception; and his +thankfulness had been great for the blessing that his almost +heaven-sent daughter had been to him in his loneliness, +bereavement, and decay. Much as he loved her, he did not show +himself grieved or distressed on her account; but, as he told her, +he took the summons to leave her as a sign that his task was done, +and the term of her trials ended. 'I trust as fully,' he +said, 'that thou wilt soon be in safe and loving hands, as though I +could commit thee to them.'</p> + +<p>And so he died in her arms, leaving her a far fuller measure of +blessing and of love than ever she had derived from her own father; +and as the enemy's trumpets were already sounding on the hills, she +had feared insult to his remains, and had procured his almost +immediate burial in the cloister, bidding the assistants sing, as +his farewell, that evening psalm which had first brought soothing +to her hunted spirit.</p> + +<p>There, while unable, after hours of weeping, to tear herself +from the grave of her father and protector, had she in her utter +desolation been startled by the summons, not only to attend to the +wounded stranger, but to lodge him in the chancel. 'Only this +was wanting,' was the first thought in her desolation, for this had +been her own most cherished resort. Either the <i>bise</i>, +or fear of a haunted spot, or both, had led to the nailing up of +boards over the dividing screen, so that the chancel was entirely +concealed from the church; and no one ever thought of setting foot +there till Eustacie, whose Catholic reverence was indestructible, +even when she was only half sure that it was not worse than a +foible, had stolen down thither, grieved at its utter desolation, +and with fond and careful hands had cleansed it, and amended the +ruin so far as she might. She had no other place where she +was sure of being uninterrupted; and here had been her oratory, +where she daily prayed, and often came to hide her tears and rally +her spirits through that long attendance on her fatherly +friend. It had been a stolen pleasure. Her reverent +work there, if once observed, would have been treated as rank +idolatry; and it was with consternation as well as grief that she +found, by the Captain's command, that this her sanctuary and refuge +was to be invaded by strange soldiers! Little did she +think---!</p> + +<p>And thus they sat, telling each other all, on the step of the +ruined chancel, among the lights and shadows of the apse. How +unlike to stately Louvre's halls of statuary and cabinets of +porcelain, or the Arcadian groves of Montpipeau! And yet how little +they recked that they were in a beleaguered fortress, in the midst +of ruins, wounded sufferers all around, themselves in hourly +jeopardy. It was enough that they had one another. They +were so supremely happy that their minds unconsciously gathered up +those pale lights and dark fantastic shades as adjuncts of their +bliss.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XLIII<i>. LE BAISER D'EUSTACIE</i></h3> + +<p>No pitying voice, no eye, affords</p> + +<p>One tear to grace his obsequies.--GRAY</p> + +<p>Golden sunshine made rubies and sapphires of the fragments of +glass in the windows of Notre-Dame de l'Esperance, and lighted up +the brown face and earnest eyes of the little dark figure, who, +with hands clasped round her knees, sat gazing as if she could +never gaze her fill, upon the sleeping warrior beside whom she sat, +his clear straight profile like a cameo, both in chiselling and in +colour, as it lay on the brown cloak where he slept the profound +sleep of content and of fatigue.</p> + +<p>Neither she nor Philip would have spoken or stirred to break +that well-earned rest; but sounds from without were not long in +opening his eyes, and as they met her intent gaze, he smiled and +said, 'Good morrow, sweet heart! What, learning how ugly a +fellow is come back to thee?'</p> + +<p>'No, indeed! I was trying to trace thine old likeness, and +then wondering how I ever liked thy boyish face better than the +noble look thou bearest now!'</p> + +<p>'Ah! when I set out to come to thee, I was a walking rainbow; +yet I was coxcomb enough to think thou wouldst overlook it.'</p> + +<p>'Show me those cruel strokes,' she said; 'I see one'--and her +finger traced the seam as poor King Charles had done--'but where is +the one my wicked cousin called by that frightful name?'</p> + +<p>'Nay, verily, that sweet name spared my life! A little +less spite at my peach cheek, and I had been sped, and had not +lisped and stammered all my days in honour of <i>le baiser +d'Eustacie</i>!' and as he pushed aside his long golden silk +moustache to show the ineffaceable red and purple scar, he added, +smiling, 'It has waited long for its right remedy.'</p> + +<p>At that moment the door in the rood-screen opened. Captain +Falconnet's one eye stared in amazement, and from beneath his gray +moustache thundered forth the word '<i>Comment</i>!' in accents fit +to wake the dead.</p> + +<p>Was this Esperance, the most irreproachable of pastor's +daughters and widows? 'What, Madame, so soon as your good +father is under ground? At least I thought ONE woman could be +trusted; but it seems we must see to the wounded ourselves.'</p> + +<p>She blushed, but stood her ground; and Berenger shouted, 'She is +my wife, sir!--my wife whom I have sought so long!'</p> + +<p>'That must be as Madame la Duchesse chooses,' said the +Captain. 'She is under her charge, and must be sent to her as +soon as this <i>canaille</i> is cleared off. To your rooms, +Madame!'</p> + +<p>'I am her husband!' again cried Berenger. 'We have been +married sixteen years.'</p> + +<p>'You need not talk to me of dowry; Madame la Duchesse will +settle that, if you are fool enough to mean anything by it. +No, no, Mademoiselle, I've no time for folly. Come with me, +sir, and see if that be true which they say of the rogues +outside.'</p> + +<p>And putting his arm into Berenger's, he fairly carried him off, +discoursing by the way on <i>feu</i> M. l'Amiral's saying that +'over-strictness in camp was perilous, since a young saint, an old +devil,' but warning him that this was prohibited gear, as he was +responsible for the young woman to Madame la Duchesse. +Berenger, who had never made the Captain hear anything that he did +not know before, looked about for some interpreter whose voice +might be more effectual, but found himself being conducted to the +spiral stair of the church steeple; and suddenly gathering that +some new feature in the case had arisen, followed the old man +eagerly up the winding steps to the little square of leaden roof +where the Quinet banner was planted. It commanded a wide and +splendid view, to the Bay of Biscay on the one hand, and the inland +mountains on the other; but the warder who already stood there +pointed silently to the north, where, on the road by which Berenger +had come, was to be seen a cloud of dust, gilded by the rays of the +rising sun.</p> + +<p>Who raised it was a matter of no doubt; and Berenger's morning +orisons were paid with folded hands, in silent thanks-giving, as he +watched the sparkling of pikes and gleaming of helmets--and the +white flag of Bourbon at length became visible.</p> + +<p>Already the enemy below were sending out scouts--they rode to +the top of the hill--then a messenger swan his horse across the +river. In the camp before the bridge-tower men buzzed out of +their tents, like ants whose hill is disturbed; horses were +fastened to the cannon, tents were struck, and it was plain that +the siege was to be raised.</p> + +<p>Captain Falconnet did his ally the honour to consult him on the +expedience of molesting the Guisards by a sally, and trying to take +some of their guns; but Berenger merely bowed to whatever he said, +while he debated aloud the PROS and CONS, and at last decided that +the garrison had been too much reduced for this, and that M. le Duc +would prefer finding them drawn up in good order to receive him, to +their going chasing and plundering disreputable among the enemy-- +the Duke being here evidently a much greater personage than the +King of Navarre, hereditary Governor of Guyenne though he +were. Indeed, nothing was wanting to the confusion of +Berenger's late assailants. In the camp on the north side of +the river, things were done with some order; but that on the other +side was absolutely abandoned, and crowds were making in disorder +for the ford, leaving everything behind them, that they might not +have their retreat cut off. Would there be a battle? +Falconnet, taking in with his eye the numbers of the succouring +party, thought the Duke would allow the besiegers to depart +unmolested, but remembered with a sigh that young king had come to +meddle in their affair!</p> + +<p>However, it was needful to go down and marshal the men for the +reception of the new-comers, or to join in the fight, as the case +might be.</p> + +<p>And it was a peaceful entrance that took place some hours later, +and was watched from the windows of the prior's rooms by Eustacie, +her child, and Philip, whom she had been able to install in her own +apartments, which had been vacated by the refugee women in haste to +return home, and where he now sat in Maitre Gardon's great straw +chair, wrapped in his loose gown, and looking out at the northern +gates, thrown open to receive the King and Duke, old Falconnet +presenting the keys to the Duke, the Duke bowing low as he offered +them to the King, and the King waving them back to the Duke and the +Captain. Then they saw Falconnet presenting the tall +auxiliary who had been so valuable to him, his gesture as he +pointed up to the window, and the King's upward look, as he doffed +his hat and bowed low, while Eustacie responded with the most +graceful of reverences, such as reminded Philip that his little +sister-in-law and tender nurse was in truth a great court lady.</p> + +<p>Presently Berenger came up-stairs, bringing with him his +faithful foster-brother Osbert, who, though looking gaunt and lean, +had nearly recovered his strength, and had accompanied the army in +hopes of finding his master. The good fellow was full of +delight at the welcome of his lady, and at once bestirred himself +in assisting her in rectifying the confusion in which her guests +had left her apartment.</p> + +<p>Matters had not long been set straight when steps were heard on +the stone stair, and, the door opening wide, Captain Falconnet's +gruff voice was heard, 'This way, Monseigneur; this way, Sire.'</p> + +<p>This was Madame la Baronne de Ribaumont's first reception. +She was standing at the dark walnut table, fresh starching and +crimping Berenger's solitary ruff, while under her merry +superintendence those constant playfellows, Philip and Rayonette, +were washing, or pretending to wash, radishes in a large wooden +bowl, and Berenger was endeavouring to write his letter of good +tidings, to be sent by special messenger to his grand-father. +Philip was in something very like a Geneva gown; Eustacie wore her +prim white cap and frill, and coarse black serge kirtle; and there +was but one chair besides that one which Philip was desired to +retain, only two three-legged stools and a bench.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, Madame de Ribaumont was equal to the occasion; +nothing could have been more courtly, graceful, or unembarrassed +than her manner of receiving of King's gallant compliments, and of +performing all the courtesies suited to the hostess and queen of +the place: it was the air that would have befitted the stateliest +castle hall, yet that in its simplicity and brightness still more +embellished the old ruinous convent-cell. The King was +delighted, he sat down upon one of the three-legged stools, took +Rayonette upon his knee, undertook to finish washing the radishes, +but ate nearly all he washed, declaring that they put him in mind +of his old hardy days on the mountains of Bearn. He insisted +on hearing all Rayonette's adventure in detail; and on seeing the +pearls and the silver bullet, 'You could scarcely have needed the +token, sir,' said he with a smile to Berenger; 'Mademoiselle had +already shown herself of the true blood of the bravest of +knights.'</p> + +<p>The tidings of the attack on Pont de Dronne had caused the Duke +to make a forced march to its relief, in which the King had +insisted on joining him; and they now intended to wait at Pont de +Dronne till the rest of the troops came up, and to continue their +march through Guyenne to Nerac, the capital of Henry's county of +Foix. The Duke suggested that if Philip were well enough to +move when the army proceeded, the family might then take him to +Quinet, where the Duchess would be very desirous to see Madame; and +therewith they took leave with some good-humoured mirth as to +whether M. le Ribaumont would join them at supper, or remain in the +bosom of his family, and whether he were to be regarded as a gay +bridegroom or a husband of sixteen year's standing.</p> + +<p>'Nay,' said the King, 'did his good Orpheus know how nearly his +Eurydice had slipped through his fingers again? how M. de Quinet +had caught the respectable Pluto yonder in the gray moustache +actually arranging an escort to send the lady safe back to Quinet +<i>bon gre malgre</i>--and truly a deaf Pluto was worse than even +Orpheus had encountered!'</p> + +<p>So laughing, he bowed again his compliments; but Eustacie +demanded, so soon as he was gone, what he meant by calling her by +such names. If he thought it was her Christian name, it was +over-familiar--if not, she liked it less.</p> + +<p>'It is only that he last saw you in the Infernal Region, <i>ma +mie</i>,' said Berenger; 'and I have sought you ever since, as +Orpheus sought Eurydice.'</p> + +<p>But her learning did not extend so far; and when the explanation +was made, she pouted, and owned that she could not bear to be +reminded of the most foolish and uncomfortable scene in her life-- +the cause of all her troubles; and as Berenger was telling her of +Diane's confession that her being involved in the pageant was part +of the plot for their detention at Paris, Osbert knocked at the +door, and entered with a bundle in his arms, and the air of having +done the right thing.</p> + +<p>'There, sir,' he said with proud satisfaction, 'I have been to +the camp across the river. I heard there were good stuffs to +be had there for nothing, and thought I would see if I could find a +coat for Monsieur Philippe, for his own is a mere ruin.'</p> + +<p>This was true, for Eustacie had been deciding that between blood +and rents it had become a hopeless case for renovation; and Osbert +joyfully displayed a beautifully-embroidered coat of soft leather, +which he had purchased for a very small sum of a plunderer who had +been there before him. The camp had been so hastily abandoned +that all the luggage had been left, and, like a true valet, Osbert +had not neglected the opportunity of replenishing his master's +wardrobe. 'And,' said he, 'I saw there on whom M. le Baron +knows, --M. de Nid de Merle.'</p> + +<p>'Here!' cried Eustacie, startled for a moment, but her eyes +resting reassured on her husband.</p> + +<p>'Madame need not be alarmed,' said Osbert; 'M. le Baron has well +repaid him. Ah! ah! there he lies, a spectacle for all good +Christians to delight in.'</p> + +<p>'It was then he, <i>le scelerat</i>?' exclaimed Berenger; 'I +have already thought it possible.'</p> + +<p>'And he fell by your hands!' cried Eustacie. 'That is as +it should be.'</p> + +<p>'Yes, Madame,' said Osbert; 'it did my very heart good to see +him writhing there like a crushed viper. M. le Baron's bullet +was mortal, and his own people thought him not worth the moving, so +there he lies on the ground howling and cursing. I would have +given him the <i>coup de grace</i> myself, but that I thought M. le +Baron might have some family matters to settle with him; so I only +asked what he thought now of clapping guiltless folk into dungeons, +and shooting innocent children like sparrows; but he grinned and +cursed like a demon, and I left him.'</p> + +<p>'In any one's charge?' asked Berenger.</p> + +<p>'In the field's, who is coming for him,' said the descendant of +the Norseman. 'I only told Humfrey that if he saw any one +likely to meddle he should tell them he was reserved for you. +Eh! M. le Baron is not going now. Supper is about to be +served, and if M. le Baron would let me array him with this ruff of +Spanish point, and wax the ends of his belle moustache---'</p> + +<p>'It is late,' added Eustacie, laying her hand on his arm; 'there +may be wild men about--he may be desperate! Oh, take +care!'</p> + +<p><i>'Ma mie</i>, do you not think me capable of guarding myself +from a wild cat leap of a dying man? He must not be left +thus. Remember he is a Ribaumont.'</p> + +<p>Vindictiveness and revenge had their part in the fire of +Eustacie's nature. Many a time had she longed to strangle Narcisse; +and she was on the point of saying, 'Think of his attempts on that +little one's life--think of your wounds and captivity;' but she had +not spent three years with Isaac Gardon without learning that there +was sin in giving way to her keen hatred; and she forced herself to +silence, while Berenger said, reading her face, 'Keep it back, +sweet heart! Make it not harder for me. I would as soon +go near a dying serpent, but it were barbarity to leave him as +Osbert describes.'</p> + +<p>Berenger was too supremely and triumphantly happy not to be full +of mercy; and as Osbert guided him to the hut where the miserable +man lay, he felt little but compassion. The scene was worse +than he had expected; for not only had the attendants fled, but +plunderers had come in their room, rent away the coverings from the +bed, and torn the dying man from it. Livid, nearly naked, +covered with blood, his fingers hacked, and ears torn for the sake +of the jewels on them, lay the dainty and effeminate tiger-fop of +former days, moaning and scarcely sensible. But when the +mattress had been replaced, and Berenger had lifted him back to it, +laid a cloak over him, and moistened his lips, he opened his eyes, +but only to exclaim, 'You there! As if I had not enough to mock +me! Away!' and closed them sullenly.</p> + +<p>'I would try to relieve you, cousin,' said Berenger.</p> + +<p>The answer was a savage malediction on hypocrisy, and the words, +'And my sister?'</p> + +<p>'Your sister is in all honour and purity at the nunnery of +Lucon.'</p> + +<p>He laughed a horrible, incredulous laugh. 'Safely disposed +of ere you cajoled <i>la petite</i> with the fable of your +faithfulness! Nothing like a Huguenot for lying to both +sides;' and then ensued another burst of imprecations on the delay +that had prevented him from seizing the fugitives--till be--till be +felt as if the breath of hell were upon him, and could not help +vindicating himself, vain though he knew it to be: 'Narcisse de +Ribaumont,' he said gravely, 'my word has never been broken, and +you know the keeping of it has not been without cost. On that +word believe that Madame de Selinville is as spotless a matron as +when she periled herself to save my life. I never even knew +her sex till I had drawn her half drowned from the sea, and after +that I only saw her in the presence of Dom Colombeau of Nissard, in +whose care I left her.'</p> + +<p>Narcisse's features contorted themselves into a frightful sneer +as he muttered, 'The intolerable fool; and that he should have got +the better of me, that is if it be true--and I believe not a word +of it.'</p> + +<p>'At least,' said Berenger, 'waste not these last hours on hating +and reviling me, but let this fellow of mine, who is a very fair +surgeon, bind your wound again.'</p> + +<p>'Eh!' said Narcisse, spitefully, turning his head, 'your own +rogue? Let me see what work he made of <i>le baiser +d'Eustacie</i>. Pray, how does it please her?'</p> + +<p>'She thanks Heaven that your chief care was to spoil my +face.'</p> + +<p>'I hear she is a prime doctress; but of course you brought her +not hither lest she should hear HOW you got out of our +keeping.' </p> + +<p>'She knows it.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! she has been long enough at court to know one must +overlook, that one's own little matters may be overlooked.'</p> + +<p>Berenger burst out at last, 'Her I will not hear blasphemed: the +next word against her I leave you to yourself.'</p> + +<p>'That is all I want,' said Narcisse. 'These cares of yours +are only <i>douceurs</i> to your conceited heretical conscience, +and a lengthening out of this miserable affair. You would +scoff at the only real service you could render me.'</p> + +<p>'And that is---'</p> + +<p>'To fetch a priest. Ha! ha! one of your sort would sooner +hang me. You had rather see me perish body and soul in this +Huguenot dog-hole! What! do you stammer? Bring a +psalm-singing heretic here, and I'll teach him and you what you MAY +call blasphemy.'</p> + +<p>'A priest you shall have, cousin,' said Berenger, gravely; 'I +will do my utmost to bring you one. Meanwhile, strive to +bring yourself into a state in which he may benefit you.'</p> + +<p>Berenger was resolved that the promise should be kept. He +saw that despair was hardening the wretched man's heart, and that +the possibility of fulfilling his Church's rites might lead him to +address himself to repentance; but the difficulties were +great. Osbert, the only Catholic at hand, was disposed to +continue his vengeance beyond the grave, and only at his master's +express command would even exercise his skill to endeavour to +preserve life till the confessor could be brought. Ordinary +Huguenots would regard the desire of Narcisse as a wicked +superstition, and Berenger could only hurry back to consult some of +the gentlemen who might be supposed more unprejudiced.</p> + +<p>As he was crossing the quadrangle at full speed, he almost ran +against the King of Navarre, who was pacing up and down reading +letters, and who replied to his hasty apologies by saying he looked +as if the fair Eurydice had slipped through his hands again into +the Inferno.</p> + +<p>'Not so, Sire, but there is one too near those gates. Nid +de Merle is lying at the point of death, calling for a priest.'</p> + +<p><i>'Ventre Saint-Gris</i>!' exclaimed the King, 'he is the very +demon of the piece, who carved your face, stole your wife, and had +nearly shot your daughter.'</p> + +<p>'The more need of his repentance, Sire, and without a priest he +will not try to repent. I have promised him one.'</p> + +<p>'A bold promise!' said Henry. 'Have you thought how our +good friends here are likely to receive a priest of Baal into the +camp?'</p> + +<p>'No, Sire, but my best must be done. I pray you counsel +me.'</p> + +<p>Henry laughed at the simple confidence of the request, but +replied, 'The readiest way to obtain a priest will be to ride with +a flag of truce to the enemy's camp--they are at St. Esme--and say +that M. de Nid de Merle is a prisoner and dying, and that I offer +safe-conduct to any priest that will come to him--though whether a +red-hot Calvinist will respect my safe-conduct or your escort is +another matter.'</p> + +<p>'At least, Sire, you sanction my making this request?'</p> + +<p>'Have you men enough to take with you to guard you from +marauders?'</p> + +<p>'I have but two servants, Sire, and I have left them with the +wounded man.'</p> + +<p>'Then I will send with you half a dozen Gascons, who have been +long enough at Paris with me to have no scruples.'</p> + +<p>By the time Berenger had explained matters to his wife and +brother, and snatched a hasty meal, a party of gay, +soldierly-looking fellows were in the saddle, commanded by a +bronzed sergeant who was perfectly at home in conducting messages +between contending parties. After a dark ride of about five +miles, the camp at the village of St. Esme was reached, and this +person recommended that he himself should go forward with a +trumpet, since M. de Ribaumont was liable to be claimed as an +escaped prisoner. There was then a tedious delay, but at +length the soldier returned, and another horseman with him. A +priest who had come to the camp in search of M. de Nid de Merle was +willing to trust himself to the King of Navarre's safe-conduct.</p> + +<p>'Thanks, sir,' cried Berenger; 'this is a work of true +charity.'</p> + +<p>'I think I know that voice,' said the priest.</p> + +<p>'The priest of Nissard!'</p> + +<p>'Even so, sir. I was seeking M. de Nid de Merle, and had but +just learnt that he had been left behind wounded.'</p> + +<p>'You came to tell him of his sister?'</p> + +<p>And as they rode together the priest related to Berenger that M. +de Solivet had remained in the same crushed, humiliated mood, not +exactly penitent, but too much disappointed and overpowered with +shame to heed what became of her provided she were not taken back +to her brother or her aunt. She knew that repentance alone +was left for her, and permitted herself to be taken to Lucon, where +Mere Monique was the only person whom she had ever respected. +There had no doubt been germs of good within her, but the crime and +intrigue of the siren court of Catherine de Medicis had choked +them; and the first sense of better things had been awakened by the +frank simplicity of the young cousin, while, nevertheless, jealousy +and family tactics had led her to aid in his destruction, only to +learn through her remorse how much she loved him. And when in +his captivity she thought him in her power, but found him beyond +her reach, unhallowed as was her passion, yet still the +contemplation of the virtues of one beloved could not fail to raise +her standard. It was for his truth and purity that she had +loved him, even while striving to degrade these quantities; and +when he came forth from her ordeal unscathed, her worship of him +might for a time be more intense, but when the idol was removed, +the excellence she had first learnt to adore in him might yet lead +that adoration up to the source of all excellence. All she +sought NOW was shelter wherein to weep and cower unseen; but the +priest believed that her tears would soon spring from profound +depths of penitence such as often concluded the lives of the gay +ladies of France. Mere Monique had received her tenderly, and +the good priest had gone from Lucon to announce her fate to her +aunt and brother.</p> + +<p>At Bellaise he had found the Abbess much scandalized. She +had connived at her niece's releasing the prisoner, for she had +acquired too much regard for him to let him perish under Narcisse's +hands, and she had allowed Veronique to personate Diane at the +funeral mass, and also purposely detained Narcisse to prevent the +detection of the escape; but the discovery that her niece had +accompanied his flight had filled her with shame and furry.</p> + +<p>Pursuit had been made towards La Rochelle, but when the +neighbourhood of the King of Navarre became known, no doubt was +entertained that the fugitives had joined him, and Narcisse, +reserving his vengeance for the family honour till he should +encounter Berenger, had hotly resumed the intention of pouncing on +Eustacie at Pont de Dronne, which had been decided on upon the +report of the Italian spy, and only deferred by his father's +death. This once done, Berenger's own supposed infidelity +would have forced him to acquiesce in the annulment of the original +marriage.</p> + +<p>It had been a horrible gulf, and Berenger shuddered as one who +had barely struggled to the shore, and found his dear ones safe, +and his enemies shattered and helpless on the strand. They +hurried on so as to be in time. The priest, a brave and +cautious man, who had often before carried the rites of the Church +to dying men in the midst of the enemy, was in a secular dress, and +when Berenger had given the password, and obtained admittance they +separated, and only met again to cross the bridge. They found +Osbert and Humfrey on guard, saying that the sufferer still +lingered, occasionally in a terrible paroxysm of bodily anguish, +but usually silent, except when he upbraided Osbert with his +master's breach of promise or incapacity to bring a priest through +his Huguenot friends.</p> + +<p>Such a taunt was on his tongue when Pere Colombeau entered, and +checked the scoff by saying, 'See, my son, you have met with more +pardon and mercy even on earth than you had imagined possible.'</p> + +<p>There was a strange spasm on Narcisse's ghastly face, as though +he almost regretted the obligation forced on him, but Berenger +scarcely saw him again. It was needful for the security of +the priest and the tranquillity of the religious rites that he +should keep watch outside, lest any of the more fanatical of the +Huguenots should deem it their duty to break in on what they had +worked themselves into believing offensive idolatry.</p> + +<p>His watch did not prove uncalled for. At different times +he had to plead the King's safe-conduct, and his own honour, and +even to defend his own Protestantism by appealing to his wounds and +services. Hearts were not soft enough then for the cruelty of +disturbing a dying man to be any argument at all in that fierce +camp; but even there the name of Pere Colombeau met with +respect. The saintly priest had protected too many enemies +for any one who had heard of him to wish him ill.</p> + +<p>Nearly all night was Berenger thus forced to remain on guard, +that the sole hope of Narcisse's repentance and salvation might not +be swept away by violence from without, renewing bitterness +within. Not till towards morning was he called back. +The hard, lingering death struggle had spent itself, and slow +convulsive gasps showed that life was nearly gone; but the satanic +sneer had passed away, and a hand held out, a breathing like the +word 'pardon' seemed to be half uttered, and was answered from the +bottom of Berenger's kind and pitying heart. Another quarter +of an hour, and Narcisse de Ribaumont Nid de Merle was dead. +The priest looked pale, exhausted, shocked, but would reveal +nothing of the frame of mind he had shown, only that if he had been +touched by any saving penitence, it was owing to his kinsman.</p> + +<p>Berenger wished to send the corpse to rest in the family vault +at Bellaise, where the Chevalier had so lately been laid; and the +priest undertook to send persons with a flag of truce to provide +for the transport, as well as to announce the death to the sister +and the aunt. Wearied as he was, he would not accept +Berenger's earnest invitation to come and take rest and refreshment +in the prior's rooms, but took leave of him at the further side of +the fortress, with almost reverent blessings, as to one not far +from the kingdom of heaven; and Berenger, with infinite +peacefulness in his heart, went home in the silence of the Sunday +morning, and lay sleeping away his long fatigue through the chief +part of the day, while Pastor Merlin was preaching and eloquent +sermon upon his good brother Isaac Gardon, and Eustacie shed filial +tears, more of tenderness than sorrow.</p> + +<h3>CHAPTER XLIV. THE GALIMAFRE</h3> + +<p>Speats and raxes, speats and raxes, speat and raxes</p> + +<p>Lord Somerville's billet</p> + +<p>Never wont to let the grass grow under his feet, Henry of +Navarre was impatient of awaiting his troops at Pont de Dronne, and +proposed to hasten on to Quinet, as a convenient centre for +collecting the neighbouring gentry for conference. Thus, +early on Monday, a party of about thirty set forth on horseback, +including the Ribaumonts, Rayonette being perched by turns in front +of her father or mother, and the Duke de Quinet declaring that he +should do his best to divide the journey into stages not too long +for Philip, since he was anxious to give his mother plenty of time +to make preparations for her royal guest.</p> + +<p>He had, however, little reckoned on the young King's +promptitude. The first courier he had dispatched was +overtaken at a <i>cabaret</i> only five leagues from Pont de +Dronne, baiting his horse, as he said; the second was found on the +road with a lame horse; and the halt a day's journey remained +beyond it. The last stage had been ridden, much to the Duke's +discontent, for it brought them to a mere village inn, with +scarcely any accommodation. The only tolerable bed was +resigned by the King to the use of Philip, whose looks spoke the +exhaustion of which his tongue scorned to complain. So +painful and feverish a night ensued that Eustacie was anxious that +he should not move until the Duke should, as he promised, send a +mule litter back for him; but this proposal he resented; and in the +height of his constitutional obstinacy, appeared booted and spurred +at the first signal to mount.</p> + +<p>Nor could Eustacie, as she soon perceived, annoy him more than +by showing her solicitude for him, or attracting to him the notice +of the other cavaliers. As the only lady of the party, she +received a great deal of attention, with some of which she would +gladly have dispensed. Whether it were the King's habit of +calling her <i>'la Belle Eurydice</i>,' or because, as she said, he +was <i>'si laid</i>' and reminded her of old unhappy days of +constraint, she did not like him, and had almost displeased her +husband and his brother by saying so. She would gladly have +avoided the gallantries of this day's ride by remaining with Philip +at the inn; but not only was this impossible, but the peculiar +ill-temper of concealed suffering made Philip drive her off +whenever she approached him with inquiries; so that she was forced +to leave him to his brother and Osbert, and ride forward between +the King and the Duke, the last of whom she really liked.</p> + +<p>Welcome was the sight of the grand old chateau, its mighty wings +of chestnut forest stretching up the hills on either side, and the +stately avenue extending before it; but just then the last courier +was discovered, reeling in his saddle under the effects of repeated +toasts in honour of Navarre and Quinet.</p> + +<p>'We are fairly sped,' said the Duke to Eustacie, shrugging his +shoulders between amusement and dismay.</p> + +<p>'Madame la Duchesse is equal to any <i>galimafre</i>,' said +Eustacie, demurely; at which the Duke laughed heartily, saying, 'It +is not for the family credit I fear, but for my own!'</p> + +<p>'Nay, triumph makes everything be forgiven.'</p> + +<p>'But not forgotten,' laughed the Duke. 'But, <i> +allons</i>. Now for the onset. We are already +seen. The forces muster at the gateway.'</p> + +<p>By the time the cavalcade were at the great paved archway into +the court, the Duchess stood at the great door, a grandson on +either side, and a great burly fresh-coloured gentleman behind +her.</p> + +<p>M. de Quinet was off his horse in a second, his head bare, his +hand on the royal rein, and signing to his eldest son to hold the +stirrup; but, before the boy had comprehended, Henry had sprung +down, and was kissing the old lady's hand, saying, 'Pardon, +Madame! I trust to your goodness for excusing this surprise +from an old friend's son.'</p> + +<p>Neither seeing nor caring for king or prince, the stranger +gentleman at the same moment pounced upon Eustacie and her little +girl, crying aloud in English, 'Here she is! My dear, I am +glad to see you. Give her to me, poor Berenger's little +darling. Ah! she does not understand. Where's +Merrycourt?'</p> + +<p>Just then there was another English exclamation, 'My +father! Father! dear father!' and Philip, flinging himself +from the saddle, fell almost prone on that broad breast, sobbing +convulsively, while the eyes that, as he truly boasted, had never +wasted a tear on his enemies, were streaming so fast that his +father's welcome savoured of reproof: 'What's all this? +Before these French too.'</p> + +<p>'Take care, father,' cried Berenger, leaping from his horse; 'he +has an ugly wound just where you are holding him.'</p> + +<p>'Wounded! my poor boy. Look up.'</p> + +<p>'Where is your room, sir?' said Berenger, seeing his hosts +entirely occupied with the King; and at once lifting the almost +helpless Philip like a little child in his strong arms, he followed +Sir Marmaduke, who, as if walking in his sleep, led the way up the +great stone staircase that led outside the house to the upper +chambers.</p> + +<p>After a short interval, the Duchess, in the plenitude of her +glory at entertaining her dear Queen's son, came up <i>en grande +tenue</i>, leading the King by the hand, the Duke walking backwards +in front, and his two sons each holding a big wax candle on either +side.</p> + +<p>'Here, Sire, is the chamber where the excellent Queen did me the +honour to repose herself.'</p> + +<p>The Duke swung open the door of the state bed-chamber. +There on the velvet-hung bed sat <i>le gros Chevalier Anglais</i>, +whom she had herself installed there on Saturday. Both his +hands were held fast in those of a youth who lay beside him, deadly +pale, and half undressed, with the little Ribaumont attending to a +wound in his side, while her child was held in the arms of a very +tall, bald-headed young man, who stood at the foot of the +bed. The whole group of interlopers looked perfectly +glorified with happiness and delight. Even the wounded youth, +ghastly and suffering as he was, lay stroking the big Englishman's +hand with a languid, caressing air of content, almost like that of +a dog who has found his master. None of them were the least +embarrassed, they evidently thought this a visit of inquiry after +the patient; and while the Duchess stood confounded, and the Duke +much inclined to laugh, Eustacie turned eagerly, exclaiming, +'Ah! Madame, I am glad you are come. May I beg +Mademoiselle Perrot for some of your cooling mallow salve. +Riding has sadly inflamed the wound.'</p> + +<p>'Riding--with such a wound! Are we all crazed?' said +Madame la Duchesse, absolutely bewildered out of her dignified +equanimity:</p> + +<p>and her son, seeing her for once at a loss, came to her +rescue. 'His Grace will condescend to the Andromeda Chamber, +Madame. He kindly gave up his bed to our young friend last +night, when there was less choice than you can give him.'</p> + +<p>They all moved off again; and, before Eustacie was ready for the +mallows, Madame de Quinet, for whom the very name of a wound had an +attraction, returned with two hand-maidens bearing bandages and +medicaments, having by this time come to the perception that the +wounded youth was the son of the big Englishman who had arrived +with young Mericour in search of her little <i>protegee</i>, and +that the tall man was the husband so long supposed to be +dead. She was curious to see her pupil's surgery, of which +she highly approved, though she had no words to express her +indignation at the folly of travelling so soon. Indeed, +nothing but the passiveness of fatigue could have made her +despotism endurable to Philip; but he cared for nothing so long as +he could see his father's face, and hear his voice--the full tones +that his ear had yearned for among the sharp expression of the +French accent--and Sir Marmaduke seemed to find the same perfect +satisfaction in the sight of him; indeed, all were so rejoiced to +be together, that they scarcely exerted themselves to ask +questions. When Berenger would have made some explanation, +Sir Marmaduke only said, 'Tell me not yet, my dear boy. I see +it is all right, and my head will hold no more yet but that I have +you and the lad again! Thank God for it! Never mind +how.'</p> + +<p>When, however, with some difficulty they got him away from +Philip's bedside down to supper, the King came and made him high +compliments upon the distinguished bravery of his sons, and +Mericour interpreted, till Sir Marmaduke--though answering that of +course the lads must do their duty, and he was only glad to hear +they had done it--became more and more radiant and proud, as he +began to gather what their trials and what their steadfastness and +courage had been. His goodly face, beaming with honest +gladness, was, as Henry told the Duchess, an absolute ornament to +her table.</p> + +<p>Unable, however, to converse with any one but Berenger and +Mericour, and pining all the time to get back to his son, the +lengthy and ceremonious meal was a weary penance to him; and so +soon as his release was possible, he made his way up-stairs again, +where he found Philip much refreshed by a long sleep, and only +afraid that he should find the sight of his father merely a dream; +then, when satisfied on that head, eager to hear of all at +home--</p> + +<p>'the sisters, the dogs, my mother, and my little brother?' as he +arranged his inquiry.</p> + +<p>'Ha! you heard of that, did you?'</p> + +<p>'Yes,' said Philip, 'the villains gave us letters once--only +once-- and those what they thought would sting us most. O +father, how could you all think such foul shame of Berry?'</p> + +<p>'Don't speak of it, Phil; I never did, nor Aunt Cecily, not for +a moment; but my Lord is not the man he was, and those foes of +yours must have set abroad vile reports for the very purpose of +deceiving us. And then this child must needs be born, poor +little rogue. I shall be able to take to him now all is right +again; but by St. George, they have tormented me so about +him, and wanted me to take him as a providence to join the estates +together, instead of you and Berry, that I never thought to care so +little for a child of my own.'</p> + +<p>'We drank his health at Nid de Merle, and were not a little +comforted that you would have him in our place.'</p> + +<p>'I'd rather--- Well, it skills not talking of it, but it just +shows the way of women. After all the outcry Dame Annora had +made about her poor son, and no one loving him or heeding his +interest save herself, no sooner was this little fellow born than +she had no thought for any but he, and would fain have had her +father settle all his lands on him, protesting that if Berry lived, +his French lands were enough for him. Out of sight, out of +mind, is the way with women.'</p> + +<p>Womanhood was already made accountable for all Lady +Thistlewood's follies, and Philip acquiesced, asking further, 'Nay, +but how came you hither, father? Was it to seek us or +Eustacie?'</p> + +<p>'Both, both, my lad. One morning just after Christmas, I +rid over to Combe with my dame behind me, and found the house in +commotion with a letter that young Sidney, Berry's friend, had just +sent down by special messenger. It had been writ more than a +year, but, bless you, these poor foreigners have such crooked ears +and tongues that they don't know what to make of a plain man's +name, and the only wonder was that it ever came at all. It +seems the Duke here had to get it sent over by some of the secret +agents the French Protestants have in England, and what do they do +but send it to one of the Vivians in Cornwall; and it was handed +about among them for how long I cannot say, till there was a chance +of sending it up to my Lord of Warwick; and he, being able to make +nothing if it, shows it to his nephew, Philip Sidney, who, +perceiving at once whom it concerned, sends it straight to my Lord, +with a handsome letter hoping that it brought good tidings. +There then it was, and so we first knew that the poor lady had not +been lost in the sack of the town, as Master Hobbs told us. +She told us how this Duchess had taken her under her protection, +but that her enemies were seeking her, and had even attempted her +child's life.'</p> + +<p>'The ruffians! Even so.'</p> + +<p>'And she said her old pastor was failing in health, and prayed +that some trusty person might be sent to bring home at least the +child to safety with her kindred. There was a letter to the +same effect, praising her highly too, from the Duchess, saying that +she would do her best to guard her, but the kinsmen had the law on +their side, and she would be safer in England. Well, this was +fair good news, save that we marveled the more how you and Berry +should have missed her; but the matter now was who was the trusty +person who should go. Claude Merrycourt was ready---'</p> + +<p>'How came he there?' demanded Philip. 'I thought he had +gone, or been sent off with Lady Burnet's sons.'</p> + +<p>'Why, so he had; but there's more to say on that score. He +was so much in favour at Combe, that my Lord would not be denied +his spending the holiday times there; and, besides, last summer we +had a mighty coil. The Horners of Mells made me a rare good +offer for Lucy for their eldest son, chiefly because they wanted a +wife for him of my Lady Walwyn's and Mistress Cecily's breeding; +and my wife was all for accepting it, having by that time given up +all hope of poor Berry. But I would have no commands laid on +my girl, seeing that I had pledged my word not to cross her in the +matter, and she hung about my neck and prayed me so meekly to leave +her unwedded, that I must have been made of stone not to yield to +her. So I told Mr. Horner that his son Jack must wait for +little Nancy if he wanted a daughter of mine--and the stripling is +young enough. I believe he will. But women's tongues +are not easy to stop, and Lucy was worn so thin, and had tears in +her eyes--that she thought I never marked--whenever she was fretted +or flouted, and at last I took her back to stay at Combe for Aunt +Cecily to cheer up a bit; and--well, well, to get rid of the matter +and silence Dame Nan, I consented to a betrothal between her and +Merrycourt--since she vowed she would rather wait single for him +than wed any one else. He is a good youth, and is working +himself to a shadow between studying and teaching; but as to +sending him alone to bring Berry's wife back, he was over-young for +that. No one could do that fitly save myself, and I only wish +I had gone three years ago, to keep you two foolish lads out of +harm's way. But they set up an unheard-of hubbub, and made +sure I should lose myself. What are you laughing at, you +Jacksauce?'</p> + +<p>'To think of you starting, father, with not a word of French, +and never from home further than once to London.'</p> + +<p>'Ah! you thought to come the travelled gentleman over me, but +I've been even with you. I made Dame Nan teach me a few +words, but I never could remember anything but that "mercy" is +"thank ye." However, Merrycourt offered to come with me, and +my Lord wished it. Moreover, I thought he might aid in +tracing you out. So I saw my Lord alone, and he passed his +word to me that, come what would, no one should persuade him to +alter his will to do wrong to Berenger's daughter; and so soon as +Master Hobbs could get the THROSTLE unladen, and fitted out again, +we sailed for Bordeau, and there he is waiting for us, while Clause +and I bought horses and hired a guide, and made our way here on +Saturday, where we were very welcome; and the Duchess said she +would but wait till she could learn there were no bands of the +enemy at hand, to go down with me herself to the place where she +had sent the lady. A right worthy dame is this same Duchess, +and a stately; and that young King, as they call him, seems hard to +please, for he told Berry that his wife's courtliness and ease in +his reception were far above aught that he found here. What +he means is past a plain man, for as to Berry's wife she is handy, +and notable enough, and 'tis well he loves her so well; but what a +little brown thing it is, for a man to have gone through such risks +for. Nothing to look at beside his mother!'</p> + +<p>'If you could only see Madame de Selinville!' sighed Philip; +then--</p> + +<p>'Ah! sir, you would know the worth of Eustacie had you seen her +in yonder town.'</p> + +<p>'Very like!' said Sir Marmaduke; 'but after all our fears at +home of a fine court madam, it takes one aback to see a little +homely brown thing, clad like a serving wench. Well, Dame Nan +will not be displeased, she always said the girl would grow up no +beauty, and 'tis the way of women to brook none fairer than +themselves! Better so. She is a good Protestant, and +has done rarely by you, Phil.'</p> + +<p>'Truly, I might be glad 'twas no court madam that stood by me +when Berry was called back to the fight: and for the little one, +'tis the loveliest and bravest little maid I ever saw. Have +they told you of the marigolds, father?'</p> + +<p>'Why, the King told the whole to the Duchess, so Berry said, and +then drank the health of the daughter of the bravest of knights; +and Berry held her up in his arms to bow again, and drink to them +from his glass. Berry looked a proud man, I can tell you, and +a comely, spite of his baldness; and 'tis worth having come here to +see how much you lads are thought of--though to be sure 'tis not +often the poor creatures here see so much of an Englishman as we +have made of Berry.'</p> + +<p>Philip could not but laugh. ''Tis scarce for that that +they value him, sir.'</p> + +<p>'Say you so? Nay, methinks his English heart and yours did +them good service. Indeed, the King himself told me as much +by the mouth of Merrycourt. May that youngster's head only +not be turned! Why, they set him at table above Berenger, and +above half the King's gentlemen. Even the Duchess makes as if +he were one of her highest guests--he a poor Oxford scholar, +doubting if he can get his bread by the law, and flouted as though +he were not good enough for my daughter. 'Tis the world topsy +turvy, sure enough! And that this true love that Berenger has +run through fire and water after, like a knight in a pedlar's run +through turn out a mere little, brown, common-looking woman after +all, not one whit equal to Lucy!'</p> + +<p>Sir Marmaduke modified his disappointment a little that night, +when he had talked Philip into a state of feverishness and +suffering that became worse under Madame de Quinet's reproofs and +remedies, and only yielded to Eustacie's long and patient +soothing. He then could almost have owned that it was well +she was not like his own cherished type of womanhood, and the next +day he changed his opinion still more, even as to her +appearance.</p> + +<p>There was a great gathering of favourers of the Huguenot cause +on that day; gentlemen came from all parts to consult with Henry of +Navarre, and Madame de Quinet had too much sense of the fitness of +things to allow Madame de Ribaumont to appear at the ensuing +banquet in her shabby, rusty black serge, and tight white +borderless cap. The whole wardrobe of the poor young Duchess +de Quinet was placed at her service, and though, with the thought +of her adopted father on her heart, she refused gay colours, yet +when, her toilette complete, she said into Philip's room, he almost +sprang up in delight, and Sir Marmaduke rose and ceremoniously +bowed as to a stranger, and was only undeceived when little +Rayonette ran joyously to Philip, asking if <i>Manan</i> was not +<i>si belle, si belle.</i></p> + +<p>The effects of her unrestful nights has now passed away, and +left her magnificent eyes in their full brilliancy and arch fire; +the blooming glow was restored to her cheek; and though neck, brow, +and hands were browner than in the shelter of convent or palace, +she was far more near absolute beauty than in former days, both +from countenance and from age. Her little proud head was +clustered with glossy locks of jet, still short, but curling round +her brow and neck, whose warm brunette tints contrasted well with +the delicate, stiffened cobweb of her exquisite standing ruff, +which was gathered into a white satin bodice, with a skirt of the +same material, over which swept a rich black brocade train open in +front, with an open body and half-sleeves with falling lace, and +the hands, delicate and shapely as ever, if indeed a little tanned, +held fan and handkerchief with as much courtly grace as though they +had never stirred broth nor wrung out linen. Sir Marmaduke +really feared he had the court madam on his hands after all, but he +forgot all about his fears, as she stood laughing and talking, and +by her pretty airs and gestures, smiles and signs, making him enter +into her mirth with Philip, almost as well as if she had not spoken +French.</p> + +<p>Even Berenger started, when he came up after the counsel to +fetch her to the banqueting-hall. She was more entirely the +Eustacie of the Louvre than he had ever realized seeing her, and +yet so much more; and when the Duchess beheld the sensation she +produced among the <i>noblesse</i>, it was with self-congratulation +in having kept her in retirement while it was still not known that +she was not a widow. The King of Navarre had already found +her the only lady present possessed of the peculiar aroma of +high-breeding which belonged to the society in which both he and +she had been most at home, and his attentions were more than she +liked from one whose epithet of Eurydice she had never quite +forgiven; at least, that was the only reason she could assign for +her distaste, but the Duchess understood her better than did +Berenger, nay, better than she did herself, and kept her under the +maternal wings of double form and ceremony.</p> + +<p>Berenger, meanwhile, was in great favour. A command had +been offered him by the King of Navarre, who had promised that if +he would cast in his lot with the Huguenots, his claims on all the +lands of Ribaumont should be enforced on the King of France when +terms were wrung from him, and Narcisse's death removed all valid +obstacle to their recognition; but Berenger felt himself bound by +all home duties to return to England, nor had he clear convictions +as to the absolute right of the war in which he had almost +unconsciously drawn his sword. Under the Tudors the divine +right of kings was strongly believed in, and it was with many +genuine misgivings that the cause of Protestant revolt was favoured +by Elisabeth and her ministers; and Berenger, bred up in a strong +sense of loyalty, as well as in doctrines that, as he had received +them, savoured as little of Calvinism as of Romanism, was not ready +to espouse the Huguenot cause with all his heart; and as he could +by no means have fought on the side of King Henry III. or of the +Guises, felt thankful that the knot could be cut by renouncing +France altogether, according to the arrangement which had been +defeated by the Chevalier's own supper-subtle machinations.</p> + +<p>At the conference of gentlemen held at Quinet, he had been +startled by hearing the name of the Sieur de Bellaise, and had +identified him with a grave, thin, noble-looking man, with an air +of high-bred and patient poverty. He was a Catholic but no +Guisard, and supported the middle policy of the Montmorency party, +so far as he possessed any influence; but his was only the weight +of personal character, for he had merely a small property that had +descended to him through his grandmother, the wife of the +unfortunate Bellaise who had pined to death in the dungeon at +Loches, under Louis XI. Here, then, Berenger saw the right +means of riding himself and his family of the burthen that his +father had mourned over, and it only remained to convince +Eustacie. Her first feeling when she heard of the King's +offer, was that at last her ardent wish would be gratified, she +should see her husband at the head of her vassals, and hear the +war-cry motto <i>'A moi Ribaumont</i>.' Then came the old +representation that the Vendeen peasants were faithful Catholics +who could hardly be asked to fight on the Calvinist side. The +old spirit rose in a flush, a pout, a half-uttered query why those +creatures should be allowed their opinions. Madame la Baronne +was resuming her haughty temperament in the <i>noblesse</i> +atmosphere; but in the midst came the remembrance of having made +that very speech in her Temple ruin--of the grave sad look of +rebuke and shake of the head with which the good old minister had +received it--and how she had sulked at him till forced to throw +herself on him to hinder her separation from her child. She +burst into tears, and as Berenger, in some distress, began to +assure her that he would and could do nothing without her consent, +she struggled to recover voice to say, 'No! no! I only grieve that +I am still as wicked as ever, after these three years with that +saint, my dear father. Do as you will, only pardon me, the +little fierce one!'</p> + +<p>And then, when she was made to perceive that her husband would +have to fight alone, and could not take her with him to share his +triumphs or bind his wounds, at least not except by bringing her in +contact with Henry of Navarre and that atmosphere of the old court, +she acquiesced the more readily. She was a woman who could +feel but not reason; and, though she loved Nid de Merle, and had +been proud of it, Berenger's description of the ill-used Sieur de +Bellaise had the more effect on her, because she well remembered +the traditions whispered among the peasants with whom her childhood +had been passed, that the village crones declared nothing had gone +well with the place since the Bellaise had been expelled, with a +piteous tale of the broken-hearted lady, that she had never till +now understood.</p> + +<p>For the flagrant injustice perpetrated on her uncle and cousin +in the settlement on Berenger and herself she cared little, +thinking they had pretty well repaid themselves, and not entering +into Berenger's deeper view, that this injustice was the more to be +deplored as the occasion of their guilt; but she had no doubt or +question as to the grand stroke of yielding up her claims on the +estate to the Sieur de Bellaise. The generosity of the deed +struck her imagination, and if Berenger would not lead her vassals +to battle, she did not want them. There was no difficulty +with Sir Marmaduke; he only vowed that he liked Berenger's wife all +the better for being free of so many yards of French dirt tacked to +her petticoat, and Philip hated the remembrance of those red +sugar-loaf pinnacles far too much not to wish his brother to be rid +of them.</p> + +<p>M. de Bellaise, when once he understood that restitution was +intended, astonished Sir Marmaduke by launching himself on +Berenger's neck with tears of joy; and Henry of Navarre, though +sorry to lose such a partisan as the young Baron, allowed that the +Bellaise claims, being those of a Catholic, might serve to keep out +some far more dangerous person whom the court party might select in +opposition to an outlaw and a Protestant like M. de Ribaumont.</p> + +<p>'So you leave us,' he said in private to Berenger, to whom he +had taken a great liking. 'I cannot blame you for not casting +your lot into such a witch's caldron as this poor country. My +friends think I dallied at court like Rinaldo in Armida's +garden. They do not understand that when one hears the name +of Bourbon one does not willingly make war with the Crown, still +less that the good Calvin left a doctrine bitter to the taste and +tough of digestion. Maybe, since I have been forced to add my +spoon to stir the caldron, it may clear itself; if so, you will +remember that you have rights in Normandy and Picardy.'</p> + +<p>This was the royal farewell. Henry and his suite departed +the next morning, but the Duchess insisted on retaining her other +guests till Philip's cure should be complete. Meantime, +Claude de Mericour had written to his brother and arranged a +meeting with him. He was now no boy who could be coerced, but +a staid, self-reliant, scholarly person, with a sword by his side +and an English passport to secure him, and his brother did not +regard him as quite the disgrace to his family he had at first +deemed him. He was at least no rebel; and though the law +seemed to French eyes infinitely beneath the dignity of a scion of +nobility, still it was something not to have him a heretic +preacher, and to be able at least to speak of him as betrothed to +the sister of the Baron de Ribaumont. Moreover, that Huguenot +kinsman, whose extreme Calvinist opinions had so nearly revolted +Mericour, had died and left him all his means, as the only +Protestant in the family; and the amount, when Claude arranged +matters with his brother, proved to be sufficient to bear him +through his expenses handsomely as a student, with the hope of +marriage so soon as he should have kept his terms at the +Temple.</p> + +<p>And thus the good ship THROSTLE bore home the whole happy party +to Weymouth, and good Sir Marmaduke had an unceasing cause for +exultation in the brilliant success of his mission to France.</p> + +<p>After all, the first to revisit that country was no other than +the once homesick Philip. He wearied of inaction, and thought +his county neighbours ineffably dull and lubberly, while they +blamed him for being a fine, Frenchified gentleman, even while +finding no fault with their old friend Berenger, or that notable +little, lively, housewifely lady his wife, whose broken English and +bright simplicity charmed every one. Sorely Philip needed +something to do; he might have been a gentleman pensioner, but he +had no notion, he said, of loitering after a lady to boat and hunt, +when such a king as Henry of Navarre was in the field; and he +agreed with Eustacie in her estimate of the court, that it was +horribly dull, and wanting in all the sparkle and brilliancy that +even he had perceived at Paris.</p> + +<p>Eustacie gladly retreated to housewifery at Combe Walwyn, but a +strenuous endeavour on Lady Thistlewood's part to marry her stepson +to a Dorset king's daughter, together with the tidings of the +renewed war in France, spurred Philip into writing permission from +his father to join the King of Navarre as a volunteer.</p> + +<p>Years went by, and Philip was only heard of in occasional +letters, accompanied by presents to his sisters and to little +Rayonette, and telling of marches, exploits, and battles,--how he +had taken a standard of the League at Coutras, and how he had led a +charge of pikemen at Ivry, for which he received the thanks of +Henry IV. But, though so near home, he did not set foot on +English ground till the throne of France was secured to the hero of +Navarre, and he had marched into Paris in guise very unlike the +manner he had left it.</p> + +<p>Then home he came, a bronzed gallant-looking warrior, the pride +of the county, ready for repose and for aid to his father in his +hearty old age, and bearing with him a pressing invitation from the +King to Monsieur and Madame de Ribaumont to resume their rank at +court. Berenger, who had for many years only known himself as +Lord Walwyn, shook his head. 'I thank the King,' he said, +'but I am better content to breed up my children as wholly +English. He bade me to return when he should have stirred the +witch's caldron into clearness. Alas! all he has done is to +make brilliant colours shine on the vapour thereof. Nay, +Phil; I know your ardent love for him, and marvel not at it. +Before he joined the Catholic Church I trusted that he might have +given truth to the one party, and unity to the other; but when the +clergy accepted him with all his private vices, and he surrendered +unconditionally, I lost hope. I fear there is worse in +store. Queen Catherine did her most fatal work of evil when +she corrupted Henry of Navarre.'</p> + +<p>'If you say more, Berry, I shall be ready to challenge you!' +said Philip. 'When you saw him, you little knew the true king +of souls that he is, is greatness, or his love for his +country.'</p> + +<p>'Nay, I believe it; but tell me, Philip, did you not hint that +you had been among former friends--at Lucon, you said, I +think?'</p> + +<p>Philip's face changed. 'Yes; it was for that I wished to +see you alone. My troop had to occupy the place. I had +to visit the convent to arrange for quartering my men so as least +to scandalize the sisters. The Abbess came to speak to +me. I knew her only by her eyes! She is changed--aged, +wan, thin with their discipline and fasts--but she once or twice +smiled as she alone in old times could smile. The place rings +with her devotion, her charity, her penances, and truly her face +is'--he could hardly speak--'like that of a saint. She knew +me at once, asked for you all, and bade me tell you that NOW she +prays for you and yours continually, and blesses you for having +opened to her the way of peace. Ah! Berry, I always told you +she had not her equal.'</p> + +<p>'Think you so even now?'</p> + +<p>'How should I not, when I have seen what repentance has made of +her?'</p> + +<p>'So!' said Berenger, rather sorrowfully, 'our great Protestant +champion has still left his heart behind in a French convent.'</p> + +<p>'Stay, Berenger! do you remember yonder villain conjurer's +prediction that I should wed none but a lady whose cognizance was +the leopard?'</p> + +<p>'And you seem bent on accomplishing it,' said Berenger.</p> + +<p>'Nay, but in another manner--that which you devised on the spur +of the moment. Berenger, I knew the sorcerer spake sooth when +that little moonbeam child of yours brought me the flowers from the +rampart. I had speech with her last night. She has all +the fair loveliness that belongs of right to your mother's +grandchild, but her eye, blue as it is, has the Ribaumont spirit; +the turn of the head and the smile are what I loved long ago in +yonder lady, and, above all, she is her own sweet self. +Berenger, give me your daughter Berangere, and I ask no portion +with her but the silver bullet. Keep the pearls for your +son's heirloom; all I ask with Rayonette is the silver bullet.'</p> + +<h3>THE END</h3> + +<p>The End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Chaplet of Pearls +by Charlotte M Yonge.</p> + +<pre> +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHAPLET OF PEARLS *** + +This file should be named chplt10h.htm or chplt10h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, chplt11h.htm +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, chplt10ah.htm + +Prepared by Hanh Vu, capriccio_vn@yahoo.com. +A web page for Charlotte M Yonge will be found at www.menorot.com/cmyonge.htm + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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