CHAPTER XXXV. 'LE ROI EST MORT!'
It was M. d'Agen's breastpiece saved my life by warding off the pointof the varlet's sword, so that the worst injury I got was the loss ofmy breath for five minutes, with a swimming in the head and a kind ofsyncope. These being past, I found myself on my back on the ground, witha man's knee on my breast and a dozen horsemen standing round me. Thesky reeled dizzily before my eyes and the men's figures loomed gigantic;yet I had sense enough to know what had happened to me, and that mattersmight well be worse.
Resigning myself to the prospect of captivity, I prepared to ask forquarter; which I did not doubt I should receive, since they had takenme in an open skirmish, and honestly, and in the daylight. But the manwhose knee already incommoded me sufficiently, seeing me about to speak,squeezed me on a sudden so fiercely, bidding me at the same time in agruff whisper be silent, that I thought I could not do better than obey.
Accordingly I lay still, and as in a dream, for my brain was stillclouded, heard someone say, 'Dead! Is he? I hoped we had come in time.Well, he deserved a better fate. Who is he, Rosny?'
'Do you know him, Maignan?' said a voice which sounded strangelyfamiliar.
The man who knelt; upon me answered, 'No, my lord. He is a stranger tome. He has the look of a Norman.'
'Like enough!' replied a high-pitched voice I had not heard before. 'Forhe rode a good horse. Give me a hundred like it, and a hundred men toride as straight, and I would not envy the King of France.'
'Much less his poor cousin of Navarre,' the first speaker rejoined in alaughing tone, 'without a whole shirt to his back or a doublet that isdecently new. Come, Turenne, acknowledge that you are not so badly offafter all!'
At that word the cloud which had darkened my faculties swept on a suddenaside. I saw that the men into whose hands I had fallen wore whitefavours, their leader a white plume; and comprehended without more thatthe King of Navarre had come to my rescue, and beaten off the Leaguerswho had dismounted me. At the same moment the remembrance of all thathad gone before, and especially of the scene I had witnessed in theking's chamber, rushed upon my mind with such overwhelming force that Ifell into a fury of impatience at the thought of the time I had wasted;and rising up suddenly I threw off Maignan with all my force, crying outthat I was alive--that I was alive, and had news.
The equerry did his best to restrain me, cursing me under his breath fora fool, and almost; squeezing the life out of me. But in vain, for theKing of Navarre, riding nearer, saw me struggling. 'Hallo! hallo! 'tis astrange dead man,' he cried, interposing. 'What is the meaning of this?Let him go! Do you hear, sirrah? Let him go!'
The equerry obeyed and stood back sullenly, and I staggered to my feet,and looked round with eyes which still swam and watered. On theinstant a cry of recognition greeted me, with a hundred exclamationsof astonishment. While I heard my name uttered on every side in a dozendifferent tones, I remarked that M. de Rosny, upon whom my eyesfirst fell, alone stood silent, regarding me with a face of sorrowfulsurprise.
'By heavens, sir, I knew nothing of this!' I heard the King of Navarredeclare, addressing himself to the Vicomte de Turenne. 'The man is hereby no connivance of mine. Interrogate him yourself, if you will. Or Iwill. Speak, sir,' he continued, turning to me with his countenance hardand forbidding. 'You heard me yesterday, what I promised you? Why, inGod's name, are you here to-day?'
I tried to answer, but Maignan had so handled me that I had not breathenough, and stood panting.
'Your Highness's clemency in this matter,' M. de Turenne said, with asneer, 'has been so great he trusted to its continuance. And doubtlesshe thought to find you alone. I fear I am in the way.'
I knew him by his figure and his grand air, which in any other companywould have marked him for master; and forgetting the impatience whicha moment before had consumed me--doubtless I was still light-headed--Ianswered him. 'Yet I had once the promise of your lordship'sprotection,' I gasped.
'My protection, sir?' he exclaimed, his eyes gleaming angrily.
'Even so,' I answered. 'At the inn at Etampes, where M. de Crillon wouldhave fought me.'
He was visibly taken aback. 'Are you that man?' he cried.
'I am. But I am not here to prate of myself,' I replied. And withthat--the remembrance of my neglected errand flashing on me again--Istaggered to the King of Navarre's side, and, falling on my knees,seized his stirrup. 'Sire, I bring you news! great news! dreadful news!'I cried, clinging to it. 'His Majesty was but a quarter of an hour agostabbed in the body in his chamber by a villain monk. And is dying, or,it may be, dead.'
'Dead? The King!' Turenne cried with an oath. 'Impossible!'
Vaguely I heard others crying, some this, some that, as surprise andconsternation, or anger, or incredulity moved them. But I did not answerthem, for Henry, remaining silent, held me spellbound and awed by themarvellous change which I saw fall on his face. His eyes became on asudden suffused with blood, and seemed to retreat under his heavy brows;his cheeks turned of a brick-red colour; his half-open lips showed histeeth gleaming through his beard; while his great nose, which seemedto curve and curve until it well-nigh met his chin, gave to his mobilecountenance an aspect as strange as it was terrifying. Withal he utteredfor a time no word, though I saw his hand, grip the riding-whip he heldin a convulsive grasp, as though his thought were ''Tis mine! Mine!Wrest it away who dares!'
'Bethink you, sir,' he said at last, fixing his piercing eyes on me, andspeaking in a harsh, low tone, like the growling of a great dog, 'thisis no jesting-time. Nor will you save your skin by a ruse. Tell me, onyour peril, is this a trick?'
'Heaven forbid, sire!' I answered with passion. 'I was in the chamber,and saw it; with my own eyes. I mounted on the instant, and rode hitherby the shortest route to warn your Highness to look to yourself. Monksare many, and the Holy Union is not apt to stop half-way.'
I saw he believed me, for his face relaxed. His breath seemed to comeand go again, and for the tenth part of a second his eyes sought M. deRosny's. Then he looked at me again.
'I thank you, sir, he said, bowing gravely and courteously, 'for yourcare for me--not for your tidings, which are of the sorriest. God grantmy good cousin and king may be hurt only. Now tell us exactly--for thesegentlemen are equally interested with myself--had a surgeon seen him?'
I replied in the negative, but added that the wound was in the groin,and bled much.
'You said a few minutes ago, "dying or already dead!"' the King ofNavarre rejoined. 'Why?'
'His Majesty's face was sunken,' I stammered.
He nodded. 'You may be mistaken,' he said. 'I pray that you are. Buthere comes Mornay. He may know more.'
In a moment I was abandoned, even by M. de Turenne, so great was theanxiety which possessed all to learn the truth. Maignan alone, underpretence of adjusting a stirrup, remained beside me, and entreated me ina low voice to begone. 'Take this horse, M. de Marsac, if you will,' heurged, 'and ride back the way you came. You have done what you came todo. Go back, and be thankful.'
'Chut!' I said, 'there is no danger.'
'You will see,' he replied darkly, 'if you stay here. Come, come, takemy advice and the horse,' he persisted, 'and begone! Believe me, it willbe for the best.'
I laughed outright at his earnestness and his face of perplexity. 'I seeyou have M. de Rosny's orders to get rid of me,' I said. 'But I am notgoing, my friend. He must find some other way out of his embarrassment,for here I stay.'
'Well, your blood be on your own head,' Maignan retorted, swinginghimself into the saddle with a gloomy face. 'I have done my best to saveyou!'
'And your master!' I answered, laughing.
For flight was the last thing I had in my mind. I had ridden this ridewith a clear perception that the one thing I needed was a footing atCourt. By the special kindness of Providence I had now gained this;and I was not the man to resign it because it proved to be scanty andperilous. It was something that I had spoken to the great Vicomte faceto face and not been consumed, that
I had given him look for look andstill survived, that I had put in practice Crillon's lessons and come tono harm.
Nor was this all. I had never in the worst times blamed the King ofNavarre for his denial of me, I had been foolish, indeed, seeing that itwas in the bargain, had I done so; nor had I ever doubted his good-willor his readiness to reward me should occasion arise. Now, I flatteredmyself, I had given him that which he needed, and had hithertolacked--an excuse, I mean, for interference in my behalf.
Whether I was right or wrong in this notion I was soon to learn, for atthis moment Henry's cavalcade, which had left me a hundred paces behind,came to a stop, and while some of the number waved to me to come on, onespurred back to summon me to the king. I hastened to obey the orderas fast as I could, but I saw on approaching that though all was at astandstill till I came up, neither the King of Navarre nor M. de Turennewas thinking principally of me. Every face, from Henry's to that of hisleast important courtier, wore an air of grave preoccupation; which Ihad no difficulty in ascribing to the doubt present in every mind, andoutweighing every interest, whether the King of France was dead, ordying, or merely wounded.
'Quick, sir!' Henry said with impatience, as soon as I came withinhearing. 'Do not detain me with your affairs longer than is necessary.M. de Turenne presses me to carry into effect the order I gaveyesterday. But as you have placed yourself in jeopardy on my account Ifeel that something is due to you. You will be good enough, therefore,to present yourself at once at M. la Varenne's lodging, and give meyour parole to remain there without stirring abroad until your affair isconcluded.'
Aware that I owed this respite, which at once secured my present safetyand promised well for the future, to the great event that, even in M. deTurenne's mind, had overshadowed all others, I bowed in silence. Henry,however, was not content with this. 'Come, sir,' he said sharply, andwith every appearance of anger, 'do you agree to that?'
I replied humbly that I thanked him for his clemency.
'There is no need of thanks,' he replied coldly. 'What I have done iswithout prejudice to M. de Turenne's complaint. He must have justice.'
I bowed again, and in a moment the troop were gone at a gallop towardsMeudon, whence, as I afterwards learned, the King of Navarre, attendedby a select body of five-and-twenty horsemen, wearing private arms,rode on at full speed to St. Cloud to present himself at his Majesty'sbedside. A groom who had caught the Cid, which had escaped into the townwith no other injury than a slight wound in the shoulder, by-and-by metme with the horse; and in this way I was enabled to render myself withsome decency at Varenne's lodging, a small house at the foot of thehill, not far from the Castle-gate.
Here I found myself under no greater constraint than that which my ownparole laid upon me; and my room having the conveniency of a windowlooking upon the public street, I was enabled from hour to hour tocomprehend and enter into the various alarms and surprises which madethat day remarkable. The manifold reports which flew from mouth to mouthon the occasion, as well as the overmastering excitement which seizedall, are so well remembered, however, that I forbear to dwell upon them,though they served to distract my mind from my own position. Suffice itthat at one moment we heard that His Majesty was dead, at another thatthe wound was skin deep, and again that we might expect him at Meudonbefore sunset. The rumour that the Duchess de Montpensier had takenpoison was no sooner believed than we were asked to listen to the gunsof Paris firing FEUX DE JOIE in honour of the King's death.
The streets were so closely packed with persons telling and hearingthese tales that I seemed from my window to be looking on a fair. Norwas all my amusement withoutdoors; for a number of the gentlemen of theCourt, hearing that I had been at St. Cloud in the morning, and in thevery chamber, a thing which made me for the moment the most desirablecompanion in the world, remembered on a sudden that they had a slightacquaintance with me, and honoured me by calling upon me and sittinga great part of the day with me. From which circumstance I confess Iderived as much hope as they diversion; knowing that courtiers are thebest weather-prophets in the world, who hate nothing so much as to bediscovered in the company of those on whom the sun does not shine.
The return of the King of Navarre, which happened about the middle ofthe afternoon, while it dissipated the fears of some and dashed thehopes of others, put an end to this state of uncertainty by confirming,to the surprise of many, that His Majesty was in no danger. We learnedwith varying emotions that the first appearances, which had deceived,not myself only, but experienced leeches, had been themselves belied bysubsequent conditions; and that, in a word, Paris had as much to fear,and loyal men as much to hope, as before this wicked and audaciousattempt.
I had no more than stomached this surprising information, which was lesswelcome to me, I confess, than it should have been, when the arrival ofM. d'Agen, who greeted me with the affection which he never failed toshow me, distracted my thoughts for a time. Immediately on learningwhere I was and, the strange adventures which had befallen me he hadridden off; stopping only once, when he had nearly reached me, for thepurpose of waiting on Madame de Bruhl. I asked him how she had receivedhim.
'Like herself,' he replied with an ingenuous blush. 'More kindly than Ihad a right to expect, if not as warmly as I had the courage to hope.'
'That will come with time,' I said, laughing. 'And Mademoiselle de laVire?'
'I did not see her,' he answered, 'but I heard she was well. And ahundred fathoms deeper in love,' he added, eyeing me roguishly, 'thanwhen I saw her last.'
It was my turn to colour now, and I did so, feeling all the pleasureand delight such a statement was calculated to afford me. Picturingmademoiselle as I had seen her last, leaning from her horse with lovewritten so plainly on her weeping face that all who ran might read, Isank into so delicious a reverie that M. la Varenne, entering suddenly,surprised us both before another word passed on either side.
His look and tone were as abrupt as it was in his nature, which was softand compliant, to make them. 'M. de Marsac,' he said, 'I am sorry toput any constraint upon you, but I am directed to forbid you to yourfriends. And I must request this gentleman to withdraw.'
'But all day my friends have come in and out,' I said with surprise. 'Isthis a new order?'
'A written order, which reached me no farther back than two minutes ago,'he answered plainly. 'I am also directed to remove you to a room at theback of the house, that you may not overlook the street.'
'But my parole was taken,' I cried, with a natural feeling ofindignation.
He shrugged his shoulders. 'I am sorry to say that I have nothing todo with that,' he answered. 'I can only obey orders. I must ask thisgentleman, therefore, to withdraw.'
Of course M. d'Agen had no option but to leave me; which he did, I couldsee, notwithstanding his easy and confident expressions, with a gooddeal of mistrust and apprehension. When he was gone, La Varenne lostno time in carrying out the remainder of his orders. As a consequence Ifound myself confined to a small and gloomy apartment which looked, ata distance of three paces, upon the smooth face of the rock on which theCastle stood. This change, from a window which commanded all the lifeof the town, and intercepted every breath of popular fancy, to a closetwhither no sounds penetrated, and where the very transition from noon toevening scarcely made itself known, could not fail to depress my spiritssensibly; the more as I took it to be significant of a change in myfortunes fully as grave. Reflecting that I must now appear to the Kingof Navarre in the light of a bearer of false tidings, I associated theorder to confine me more closely with his return from St. Cloud; andcomprehending that M. de Turenne was once more at liberty to attend tomy affairs, I began to look about me with forebodings which were nonethe less painful because the parole I had given debarred me from anyattempt to escape.
Sleep and habit enabled me, nevertheless, to pass the night in comfort.Very early in the morning a great firing of guns, which made itselfheard even in my quarters, led me to suppose that Paris had surrendered;but the servant who brou
ght me my breakfast; declined in a surly fashionto give me any information. In the end, I spent the whole day alone, mythoughts divided between my mistress and my own prospects, which seemedto grow more and more gloomy as the hours succeeded one another. No onecame near me, no step broke the silence of the house; and for a whileI thought my guardians had forgotten even that I needed food. Thisomission, it is true, was made good about sunset, but still M. laVarenne did not appear, the servant seemed to be dumb, and I heard nosounds in the house.
I had finished my meal an hour or more, and the room was growing dark,when the silence was at last broken by quick steps passing along theentrance. They paused, and seemed to hesitate at the foot of the stairs,but the next moment they came on again, and stopped at my door. I rosefrom my seat on hearing the key turned in the lock, and my astonishmentmay be conceived when I saw no other than M. de Turenne enter, and closethe door behind him.
He saluted me in a haughty manner as he advanced to the table, raisinghis cap for an instant and then replacing it. This done he stood lookingat me, and I at him, in a silence which on my side was the result ofpure astonishment; on his, of contempt and a kind of wonder. The eveninglight, which was fast failing, lent a sombre whiteness to his face,causing it to stand out from the shadows behind him in a way which wasnot without its influence on me.
'Well!' he said at, last, speaking slowly and with unimaginableinsolence, 'I am here to look at you!'
I felt my anger rise, and gave him back look for look. 'At your will,' Isaid, shrugging my shoulders.
'And to solve a question,' he continued in the same tone. 'To learnwhether the man who was mad enough to insult and defy me was the oldpenniless dullard some called him, or the dare-devil others paintedhim.'
'You are satisfied now?' I said.
He eyed me for a moment closely; then with sudden heat he cried, 'Curseme if I am! Nor whether I have to do with a man very deep or veryshallow, a fool or a knave!'
'You may say what you please to a prisoner,' I retorted coldly.
'Turenne commonly does--to whom he pleases!' he answered. The nextmoment he made me start by saying, as he drew out a comfit-box andopened it, 'I am just from the little fool you have bewitched. If shewere in my power I would have her whipped and put on bread and watertill she came to her senses. As she is not, I must take another way.Have you any idea, may I ask,' he continued in his cynical tone, 'whatis going to become of you, M. de Marsac?'
I replied, my heart inexpressibly lightened by what he had said ofmademoiselle, that I placed the fullest confidence in the justice of theKing of Navarre.
He repeated the name in a tone, I did not understand.
'Yes, sir, the King of Navarre,' I answered firmly.
'Well, I daresay you have good reason to do so,' he rejoined with asneer. 'Unless I am mistaken he knew a little more of this affair thanhe acknowledges.'
'Indeed? The King of Navarre?' I said, staring stolidly at him.
'Yes, indeed, indeed, the King of Navarre!' he retorted, mimicking me,with a nearer approach to anger than I had yet witnessed in him. 'Butlet him be a moment, sirrah!' he continued, 'and do you listen to me. Orfirst look at that. Seeing is believing.'
He drew out as he spoke a paper, or, to speak more correctly, aparchment, which he thrust with a kind of savage scorn into my hand.Repressing for the moment the surprise I felt, I took it to the window,and reading it with difficulty, found it to be a royal patent drawn,as far as I could judge, in due form, and appointing some personunknown--for the name was left blank--to the post of Lieutenant-Governorof the Armagnac, with a salary of twelve thousand livres a year!
'Well, sir?' he said impatiently.
'Well?' I answered mechanically. For my brain reeled; the exhibition ofsuch a paper in such a way raised extraordinary thoughts in my mind.
'Can you read it?' he asked.
'Certainly,' I answered, telling myself that he would fain play a trickon me.
'Very well,' he replied, 'then listen. I am going to condescend; to makeyou an offer, M. de Marsac. I will procure you your freedom, and fill upthe blank, which you see there, with your name--upon one condition.'
I stared at him with all the astonishment it was natural for me to feelin the face, of such a proposition. 'You will confer this office on me?'I muttered incredulously.
'The king having placed it at my disposal,' he answered, 'I will. Butfirst let me remind you,' he went on proudly, 'that the affair hasanother side. On the one hand I offer you such employment, M. de Marsac,as should satisfy your highest ambition. On the other, I warn you thatmy power to avenge myself is no less to-day than it was yesterday; andthat if I condescend to buy you, it is because that course commendsitself to me for reasons, not because it is the only one open.'
I bowed. 'The condition, M. le Vicomte?' I said huskily, beginning tounderstand him.
'That you give up all claim and suit to the hand of my kinswoman,' heanswered lightly. 'That is all. It is a simple and easy condition.'
I looked at him in renewed astonishment, in wonder, in stupefaction;asking myself a hundred questions. Why did he stoop to bargain, whocould command? Why did he condescend to treat, who held me at his mercy?Why did he gravely discuss my aspirations, to whom they must seem therankest presumption? Why?--but I could not follow it. I stood looking athim in silence; in perplexity as great as if he had offered me the Crownof France; in amazement and doubt and suspicion that knew no bounds.
'Well!' he said at last, misreading the emotion which appeared in myface. 'You consent, sir?'
'Never!' I answered firmly.
He started. 'I think I cannot have heard you aright,' he said, speakingslowly and almost courteously. 'I offer you a great place and mypatronage, M. de Marsac. Do I understand that you prefer a prison and myenmity?'
'On those conditions,' I answered.
'Think, think!' he said harshly.
'I have thought,' I answered.
'Ay, but have you thought where you are?' he retorted. 'Have you thoughthow many obstacles lie between you and this little fool? How manypersons you must win over, how many friends you must gain? Have youthought what it will be to have me against you in this, or which of usis more likely to win in the end?'
'I have thought,' I rejoined.
But my voice shook, my lips were dry. The room had grown dark. The rockoutside, intercepting the light, gave it already the air of a dungeon.Though I did not dream of yielding to him, though I even felt that inthis interview he had descended to my level, and I had had the better ofhim, I felt my heart sink. For I remembered how men immured in prisonsdrag out their lives always petitioning, always forgotten; how wearilythe days go, that to free men are bright with hope and ambition. And Isaw in a flash what it would be to remain here, or in some such place;never to cross horse again, or breathe the free air of Heaven, neverto hear the clink of sword against stirrup, or the rich tones of M.d'Agen's voice calling for his friend!
I expected M. de Turenne to go when I had made my answer, or else tofall into such a rage as opposition is apt to cause in those who seldomencounter it. To my surprise, however, he restrained himself. 'Come,' hesaid, with patience which fairly astonished me, and so much the moreas chagrin was clearly marked in his voice, 'I know where you put yourtrust. You think the King of Navarre will protect you. Well, I pledgeyou the honour of Turenne that he will not; that the King of Navarrewill do nothing to save you. Now, what do you say?'
'As I said before,' I answered doggedly.
He took up the parchment from the table with a grim laugh. 'So muchthe worse for you then!' he said, shrugging his shoulders. 'So much theworse for you! I took you for a rogue! It seems you are a fool!'
CHAPTER XXXVI. 'VIVE LE ROI!'
He took his leave with those words. But his departure, which Ishould have hailed a few minutes before with joy, as a relief fromembarrassment and humiliation, found me indifferent. The statement towhich he had solemnly pledged himself in regard to the King of Navarre,that I could expect no
further help from him, had prostrated me; dashingmy hopes and spirits so completely that I remained rooted to the spotlong after his step had ceased to sound on the stairs. If what he saidwas true, in the gloom which darkened alike my room and my prospectsI could descry no glimmer of light. I knew His Majesty's weakness andvacillation too well to repose any confidence in him; if the Kingof Navarre also abandoned me, I was indeed without hope, as withoutresource.
I had stood some time with my mind painfully employed upon this problem,which my knowledge of M. de Turenne's strict honour in private mattersdid not allow me to dismiss lightly, when I heard another step on thestairs, and in a moment M. la Varenne opened the door. Finding me in thedark he muttered an apology for the remissness of the servants; which Iaccepted, seeing nothing else for it, in good part.
'We have been at sixes-and-sevens all day, and you have been forgotten,'he continued. 'But you will have no reason to complain now. I am orderedto conduct you to His Majesty without delay.'
'To St. Cloud?' I exclaimed, greatly astonished.
'No, the king of France is here,' he answered.
'At Meudon?'
'To be sure. Why not?'
I expressed my wonder at his Majesty's rapid recovery.
'Pooh!' he answered roughly. 'He is as well as he ever was. I will leaveyou my light. Be good enough to descend as soon as you are ready, for itis ill work keeping kings waiting. Oh! and I had forgotten one thing,'he continued, returning when he had already reached the door. 'My ordersare to see that you do not hold converse with anyone until you have seenthe king, M. de Marsac. You will kindly remember this if we are keptwaiting in the antechamber.'
'Am I to be transported to--other custody?' I asked, my mind full ofapprehension.
He shrugged his shoulders. 'Possibly,' he replied. 'I do not know.'
Of course there was nothing for it but to murmur that I was at theking's disposition; after which La Varenne retired, leaving me to putthe best face on the matter I could. Naturally I augured anythingbut well of an interview weighted with such a condition; and thiscontributed still further to depress my spirits, already lowered by thelong solitude in which I had passed the day. Fearing nothing, however,so much as suspense, I hastened to do what I could to repair my costume,and then descended to the foot of the stairs, where I found my custodianawaiting me with a couple of servants, of whom one bore a link.
We went out side by side, and having barely a hundred yards to go,seemed in a moment to be passing through the gate of the Castle. Inoticed that the entrance was very strongly guarded, but an instant'sreflection served to remind me that this was not surprising after whathad happened at St. Cloud. I remarked to M. la Varenne as we crossed thecourtyard that I supposed Paris had surrendered; but he replied in thenegative so curtly, and with so little consideration, that I forebore toask any other questions; and the Chateau being small, we found ourselvesalmost at once in a long, narrow corridor, which appeared to serve asthe antechamber.
It was brilliantly lighted and crowded from end to end, and almost fromwall to wall, with a mob of courtiers; whose silence, no less thantheir keen and anxious looks, took me by surprise. Here and there two orthree, who had seized upon the embrasure of a window, talked together ina low tone; or a couple, who thought themselves sufficiently importantto pace the narrow passage between the waiting lines, conversed inwhispers as they walked. But even these were swift to take alarm, andcontinually looked askance; while the general company stood at gaze,starting and looking up eagerly whenever the door swung open or anewcomer was announced. The strange silence which prevailed reminded meof nothing so much as of the Court at Blois on the night of the Dukeof Mercoeur's desertion; but that stillness had brooded over emptychambers, this gave a peculiar air of strangeness to a room thronged inevery part.
M. la Varenne, who was received by those about the door with silentpoliteness, drew me into the recess of a window; whence I was ableto remark, among other things, that the Huguenots present almostoutnumbered the king's immediate following. Still, among those who werewalking up and down, I noticed M. de Rambouillet, to whom at anothertime I should have hastened to pay my respects; with Marshal d'Aumont,Sancy, and Humieres. Nor had I more than noted the presence of thesebefore the door of the chamber opened and added to their number MarshalBiron, who came out leaning on the arm of Crillon. The sight of theseold enemies in combination was sufficient of itself to apprise me thatsome serious crisis was at hand; particularly as their progress throughthe crowd was watched, I observed, by a hundred curious and attentiveeyes.
They disappeared at last through the outer door, and the assemblageturned as with one accord to see who came next. But nearly half an hourelapsed before the Chamber door, which all watched so studiously, againopened. This time it was to give passage to my late visitor, Turenne,who came out smiling, and leaning, to my great surprise, on the arm ofM. de Rosny.
As the two walked down the room, greeting here and there an obsequiousfriend, and followed in their progress by all eyes, I felt my heart sinkindeed; both at sight of Turenne's good-humour, and of the company inwhich I found him. Aware that in proportion as he was pleased I was liketo meet with displeasure, I still might have had hope left had I hadRosny left. Losing him, however--and I could not doubt, seeing him as Isaw him, that I had lost him--and counting the King of Navarre as gonealready, I felt such a failure of courage as I had never known before.I told myself with shame that I was not made for Courts, or for suchscenes as these; and recalling with new and keen mortification the poorfigure I had cut in the King of Navarre's antechamber at St. Jean, Iexperienced so strange a gush of pity for my mistress that nothing couldexceed the tenderness I felt for her. I had won her under false colours,I was not worthy of her. I felt that my mere presence in her company insuch a place as this, and among these people, must cover her with shameand humiliation.
To my great relief, since I knew my face was on fire, neither of thetwo, as they walked down the passage, looked my way or seemed consciousof my neighbourhood. At the door they stood a moment talking earnestly,and it seemed as if M. de Rosny would have accompanied the Vicomtefarther. The latter would not suffer it, however, but took his leavethere; and this with so many polite gestures that my last hope based onM. de Rosny vanished.
Nevertheless, that gentleman was not so wholly changed that on histurning to re-traverse the room I did not see a smile flicker for aninstant on his features as the two lines of bowing courtiers openedbefore him. The next moment his look fell on me, and though his facescarcely altered, he stopped opposite me.
'M. de Marsac is waiting to see His Majesty?' he asked aloud, speakingto M. la Varenne.
My companion remaining silent, I bowed.
'In five minutes,' M. de Rosny replied quietly, yet with a distant air,which made me doubt whether I had not dreamed all I remembered of thisman. 'Ah! M. de Paul, what can I do for you?' he continued. And he benthis head to listen to the application which a gentleman who stood nextme poured into his ear. 'I will see,' I heard him answer. 'In any caseyou shall know to-morrow.'
'But you will be my friend?' M. Paul urged, detaining him by the sleeve.
'I will put only one before you,' he answered.
My neighbour seemed to shrink into himself with disappointment. 'Who isit?' he murmured piteously.
'The king and his service, my friend,' M. de Rosny replied drily. Andwith that he walked away. But half a dozen times at least; before hereached the upper end of the room I saw the scene repeated.
I looked on at all this in the utmost astonishment, unable to guess orconceive what had happened to give M. de Rosny so much importance. Forit did not escape me that the few words he had stopped to speak to mehad invested me with interest in the eyes of all who stood near.They gave me more room and a wider breathing-space, and looking at measkance, muttered my name in whispers. In my uncertainty, however, whatthis portended I drew no comfort from it; and before I had found time toweigh it thoroughly the door through which Turenne and Rosny had ent
eredopened again. The pages and gentlemen who stood about it hastened torange themselves on either side. An usher carrying a white wand camerapidly down the room, here and there requesting the courtiers to standback where the passage was narrow. Then a loud voice without cried, 'TheKing, gentlemen! the King!' and one in every two of us stood a-tiptoe tosee him enter.
But there came in only Henry of Navarre, wearing a violet cloak and cap.
I turned to La Varenne and with my head full of confusion, mutteredimpatiently, 'But the king, man! Where is the king?'
He grinned at me, with his hand before his mouth. 'Hush!' he whispered.''Twas a jest we played on you! His late Majesty died at daybreak thismorning. This is the king.'
'This! the King of Navarre?' I cried; so loudly that some round uscalled 'Silence!'
'No, the King of France, fool!' he replied. 'Your sword must be sharperthan your wits, or I have been told some lies!'
I let the gibe pass and the jest, for my heart was beating so fast andpainfully that I could scarcely preserve my outward composure. There wasa mist before my eyes, and a darkness which set the lights at defiance.It was in vain I tried to think what this might mean--to me. I could notput two thoughts together, and while I still questioned what receptionI might expect, and who in this new state of things were my friends, theking stopped before me.
'Ha, M. de Marsac!' he cried cheerfully, signing to those who stoodbefore me to give place. 'You are the gentleman who rode so fast to warnme the other morning. I have spoken to M. de Turenne about you, and heis willing to overlook the complaint he had against you. For the rest,go to my closet, my friend. Go! Rosny knows my will respecting you.'
I had sense enough left to kneel and kiss his hand; but it was insilence, which he knew how to interpret. He had moved on and wasspeaking to another before I recovered the use of my tongue, or the witswhich his gracious words had scattered. When I did so, and got on myfeet again I found myself the centre of so much observation and theobject of so many congratulations that I was glad to act upon the hintwhich La Varenne gave me, and hurry away to the closet.
Here, though I had now an inkling of what I had to expect, I foundmyself received with a kindness which bade fair to overwhelm me. Only M.de Rosny was in the room, and he took me by both hands in a manner whichtold me without a word that the Rosny of old days was back, and that;for the embarrassment I had caused him of late I was more than forgiven.When I tried to thank him for the good offices which I knew he had doneme with the king he would have none of it; reminding me with a smilethat he had eaten of my cheese when the choice lay between that andLisieux.
'And besides, my friend,' he continued, his eyes twinkling, 'You havemade me richer by five hundred crowns.'
'How so?' I asked, wondering more and more.
'I wagered that sum with Turenne that he could not bribe you,' heanswered, smiling. 'And see,' he continued, selecting from some on thetable the same parchment I had seen before, 'here is the bribe. Takeit; it is yours. I have given a score to-day, but none with the samepleasure. Let me be the first to congratulate the Lieutenant-Governor ofthe Armagnac.'
For a while I could not believe that he was in earnest; which pleasedhim mightily, I remember. When I was brought at last to see that theking had meant this for me from the first, and had merely lent thepatent to Turenne that the latter might make trial of me, my pleasureand gratification were such that I could no more express them then thanI can now describe them. For they knew no bounds. I stood before Rosnysilent and confused, with long-forgotten tears welling up to my eyes,and one regret only in my heart--that my dear mother had not lived tosee the fond illusions with which I had so often amused her turned tosober fact. Not then, but afterwards, I remarked that the salary of myoffice amounted to the exact sum which I had been in the habit of namingto her; and I learned that Rosny had himself fixed it on informationgiven him by Mademoiselle de la Vire.
As my transports grew more moderate, and I found voice to thank mybenefactor, he had still an answer. 'Do not deceive yourself, myfriend,' he said gravely, 'or think this an idle reward. My masteris King of France, but he is a king without a kingdom, and a captainwithout money. To-day, to gain his rights, he has parted with half hispowers. Before he win all back there will be blows--blows, my friend.And to that end I have bought your sword.'
I told him that if no other left its scabbard for the king, mine shouldbe drawn.
'I believe you,' he answered kindly, laying his hand on my shoulder.'Not by reason of your words--Heaven knows I have heard vows enoughto-day!--but because I have proved you. And now,' he continued, speakingin an altered tone and looking at me with a queer smile, 'now I supposeyou are perfectly satisfied? You have nothing more to wish for, myfriend?'
I looked aside in a guilty fashion, not daring to prefer on the top ofall his kindness a further petition. Moreover, His Majesty might haveother views; or on this point Turenne might have proved obstinate. Ina word, there was nothing in what had happened, or on M. de Rosny'scommunication, to inform me whether the wish of my heart was to begratified or not.
But I should have known that great man better than to suppose that hewas one to promise without performing, or to wound a friend when hecould not salve the hurt. After enjoying my confusion for a time heburst into a great shout of laughter, and taking me familiarly by theshoulders, turned me towards the door. 'There, go!' he said. 'Go up thepassage. You will find a door on the right, and a door on the left. Youwill know which to open.'
Forbidding me to utter a syllable, he put me out. In the passage, whereI fain would have stood awhile to collect my thoughts, I was affrightedby sounds which warned me that the king was returning that way. Fearingto be surprised by him in such a state of perturbation, I hurried to theend of the passage, where I discovered, as I had been told, two doors.
They were both closed, and there was nothing about either of them todirect my choice. But M. de Rosny was correct in supposing that I hadnot forgotten the advice he had offered me on the day when he gave meso fine a surprise in his own house--'When you want a good wife, M.de Marsac, turn to the right!' I remembered the words, and without amoment's hesitation--for the king and his suite were already enteringthe passage--I knocked boldly, and scarcely waiting for an invitation,went in.
Fanchette was by the door, but stood aside with a grim smile, which Iwas at liberty to accept as a welcome or not. Mademoiselle, who had beenseated on the farther side of the table, rose as I entered, and we stoodlooking at one another. Doubtless she waited for me to speak first;while I on my side was so greatly taken aback by the change wrought inher by the Court dress she was wearing and the air of dignity with whichshe wore it, that I stood gasping. I turned coward after all that hadpassed between us. This was not the girl I had wooed in the greenwoodby St. Gaultier; nor the pale-faced woman I had lifted to the saddlea score of times in the journey Paris-wards. The sense of unworthinesswhich I had experienced a few minutes before in the crowded antechamberreturned in full force in presence of her grace and beauty, and oncemore I stood tongue-tied before her, as I had stood in the lodgings atBlois. All the later time, all that had passed between us was forgotten.
She, for her part, looked at me wondering at my silence. Her face, whichhad grown rosy red at my entrance, turned pale again. Her eyes grewlarge with alarm; she began to beat her foot on the floor in a manner Iknew. 'Is anything the matter, sir?' she muttered at last.
'On the contrary, mademoiselle,' I answered hoarsely, looking every way,and grasping at the first thing I could think of, 'I am just from M. deRosny.'
'And he?'
'He has made me Lieutenant-Governor of the Armagnac.'
She curtseyed to me in a wonderful fashion. 'It pleases me tocongratulate you, sir,' she said, in a voice between laughing andcrying. 'It is not more than equal to your deserts.'
I tried to thank her becomingly, feeling at the same time more foolishthan I had ever felt in my life; for I knew that this was neither what Ihad come to tell nor she to hear. Yet
I could not muster up courage norfind words to go farther, and stood by the table in a state of miserablediscomposure.
'Is that all, sir?' she said at last, losing patience.
Certainly it was now or never, and I knew it. I made the effort. 'No,mademoiselle,' I said in a low voice. 'Far from it. But I do not seehere the lady to whom I came to address myself, and whom I have seena hundred times in far other garb than yours, wet and weary anddishevelled, in danger and in flight. Her I have served and loved; andfor her I have lived. I have had no thought for months that has not beenhers, nor care save for her. I and all that I have by the king's bountyare hers, and I came to lay them at her feet. But I do not see herhere.'
'No, sir?' she answered in a whisper, with her face averted.
'No, mademoiselle.'
With a sudden brightness and quickness which set my heart beating sheturned, and looked at me. 'Indeed!' she said. 'I am sorry for that. Itis a pity your love should be given elsewhere, M. de Marsac--since it isthe king's will that you should marry me.'
'Ah, mademoiselle!' I cried, kneeling before her--for she had come roundthe table and stood beside me--'But you?'
'It is my will too, sir,' she answered, smiling through her tears.
* * *
On the following day Mademoiselle de la Vire became my wife; the king'sretreat from Paris, which was rendered necessary by the desertion ofmany who were ill-affected to the Huguenots, compelling the instantperformance of the marriage, if we would have it read by M. d'Amours.This haste notwithstanding, I was enabled by the kindness of M. d'Agento make such an appearance, in respect both of servants and equipment,as became rather my future prospects than my past distresses. It istrue that His Majesty, out of a desire to do nothing which might offendTurenne, did not honour us with his presence; but Madame Catherineattended on his behalf, and herself gave me my bride. M. de Sully and M.Crillon, with the Marquis de Rambouillet and his nephew, and my distantconnection, the Duke de Rohan, who first acknowledged me on that day,were among those who earned my gratitude by attending me upon theoccasion.
The marriage of M. Francois d'Agen with the widow of my old rival andopponent did not take place until something more than a year later, adelay which was less displeasing to me than to the bridegroom, inasmuchas it left madame at liberty to bear my wife company during my absenceon the campaign of Arques and Ivry. In the latter battle, which addedvastly to the renown of M. de Rosny, who captured the enemy's standardwith his own hand, I had the misfortune to be wounded in the secondof the two charges led by the king; and being attacked by two footsoldiers, as I lay entangled I must inevitably have perished but for theaid afforded me by Simon Fleix, who flew to the rescue with the courageof a veteran. His action was observed by the king, who begged himfrom me, and attaching him to his own person in the capacity of clerk,started him so fairly on the road to fortune that he has since risenbeyond hope or expectation.
The means by which Henry won for a time the support of Turenne (andincidentally procured his consent to my marriage) are now too notoriousto require explanation. Nevertheless, it was not until the Vicomte'sunion a year later with Mademoiselle de la Marck, who brought him theDuchy of Bouillon, that I thoroughly understood the matter; or thekindness peculiar to the king, my master, which impelled that greatmonarch, in the arrangement of affairs so vast, to remember theinterests of the least of his servants.
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