CHAPTER VII.
HOW HE ANNOYED MONSIEUR DE LA CHATRE
I had never seen Henri of Navarre, before, but had often heard himdescribed, and no other man exactly fitted his description. His favoriteoath confirmed my recognition.
He took the letter, saying, "It looks as if it had been through fireand flood."
"I had to swim the Seine with it," I said.
He read it, sitting on his horse in the middle of the road, I standingbeside the horse, the other six riders eyeing me curiously.
Having finished it, he looked at me with some interest and approval. "Andwhat made you run from us?" he asked.
"Sire, there were seven horsemen left in the party that has been chasingme for some days past. Counting seven in your group, I too quicklyassumed that it was the same."
The King of Navarre laughed, and ordered one of the lackeys to give mehis horse and proceed afoot to the nearest town. When I was mounted, heasked me to ride beside him.
"The speed at which you rode excited our curiosity," he explained, "andthat is why we gave chase."
I learned, later, that Henri and three of his gentlemen, with threevalets, had been inspecting the defences of one of his Gascon towns, andwere now returning to Nerac. He sometimes traversed those parts of hisFrench provinces where his authority as governor was recognized, withoutany state, and often without a guard.
In reply to his questions, I said that I preferred a military position toa civil one, but confessed my inexperience. He told me that I might serveas ensign in one of his regiments, at Nerac, until I should acquire someknowledge of military affairs, when he would give me a captain'scommission, and I might enlist a company.
I told him of the destruction of my chateau, and the loss of my money. Hethereupon required me to accept the horse on which I rode, and a pursewhich one of the valets handed over to me. As he then beckoned one of hisgentlemen to his side, I fell back. We entered Nerac in the evening. Assoon as the gate was passed, the King and his followers turned towardsthe chateau, and I took the main street to an inn.
The King of Navarre kept his promises. I had been ensign for only a fewmonths, stationed at Nerac, when he sent for me, and informed me that heintended to augment his army, and that he would maintain a company of myraising. He caused a captain's commission to be given to me before I leftthe chateau. I walked thence, down the avenue of fine trees, which werenow in full leaf, before the chateau, debating with myself thepossibility of easily raising a company. When I reached the square beforethe inn, I heard from within a human roar which had a familiar sound.Entering, I found that it proceeded from the stentorian lungs of BlaiseTripault, the young soldier who had aided my flight to Gascony by killingtwo Guisards in my defence. He was sitting at a table, very drunk.
"Ah, Blaise Tripault," I cried, "I see that your father prevailsin you now!"
He recognized me, threw his bottle of wine out of the open window, andmade an attempt at sobriety.
"You have been long on the way to Nerac," I went on, "but you come justin time to keep your promise. I enroll you first in the company which theKing has commissioned me to raise."
"I thank you, monsieur," he replied. "I will now go to bed, and will cometo you as soon as I am sober."
He was of great use to me in enlisting the company. He scoured thecountry daily, and brought me recruits. When the roll was complete, I wasordered to remain at Nerac for a time. Subsequently, I was sent togarrison different towns, one after another, not only in Gascony andparts of Guienne but also in Henri's principality of Bearn and his littlekingdom of Navarre.
I am proud to have had a share in the constant efforts made by Henri ofNavarre, while the world thought him given over entirely to gallantry athis small but agreeable court, to increase his territory and hisresources against the time when he was to strike the great blows that noone yet dreamed he was meditating. Thanks to the unwillingness, orinability, of the King of France to put him in actual possession of hisgovernorship of Guienne, we had the pleasant task, now and then, ofwresting some town from the troops of the League or of Henri III. OurHenri had to take by force the places ceded to him by the King of Franceas Marguerite's dower, but still withheld from him. One of these wasCahors, in the taking of which I fought for days in the streets, alwaysnear our Henri, where the heart of the fighting was. It was there thatBlaise Tripault covered himself with glory and the blood of the enemy,and was openly praised by the King.
But my life in the south had other pleasures besides those of fighting.As Henri's was a miniature kingdom, so was his court, at cheerful Neracor sombre Pau, a miniature court; yet it had its pretty women andgallant gentlemen. Gaiety visited us, too, from the greater world. Whenthe King of France and the Queen-mother thought it to their interest toseem friendly to our Henri, they ordered Marguerite to Nerac. Catherineherself came with her, bringing the Flying Squadron, that Henri and hisHuguenots might be seduced into the onesided treaties desired by her.Catherine was one of the few, I think, who foresaw Henri's possiblefuture. Her astrologer, Cosmo Ruggieri, had predicted that he wouldsucceed her three sons to the throne of France, and I suppose she couldnot endure the thought of this. Better a Guise than a Bourbon, the sonof Jeanne d'Albret. But our Henri might be useful to her as aninstrument to check the Duke of Guise in any attempted usurpationduring the life of her son. Therefore, Henri was to be cajoled while hewas being restrained. But he was not fooled into disadvantageouscompacts or concessions. All that he lost was a single town, whichCatherine caused to be attacked while he was at a fete; but he learnedof this at the fete, and retaliated by taking a town of the FrenchKing's on the same night.
I was presented to Catherine while she was at Nerac. No allusion was madeto the circumstances which had caused my flight from Paris, or, indeed,to my having ever been in Paris. Yet, from her scrutiny of my features, Iknew that she recalled those circumstances with my name. But Nerac wasnot the place where it would serve her to concern herself about me. Ilearned from one of Catherine's gentlemen that Mlle. d'Arency, who hadnot come with her to Nerac, had wedded the Marquis de Pirillaume, who wasjealous and kept her on his estate in Dauphiny, away from the court. Iwished him joy of her.
When Catherine and her troop went back to the French court, leavingMarguerite at Nerac, they could boast of a few Huguenot gentlemen wonover to their designs, but I was not one of the few. I do not say that Idid not amuse myself where charming women abounded, but I kept my heartto myself. I had not resolved to become invulnerable to woman, but I haddetermined that she by whom I would let myself be wounded should be onevastly unlike any in Catherine's train. When I should find the woman pureas beautiful, incapable of guile, I would love. "Somewhere in France," Ioften said to myself, "that woman exists. I shall know her when I seeher." As in the former affair, I had my ideal already formed, and wasalready in love, watching for the embodiment of that ideal to appear. Butthis second ideal was different from the first. And it is time to tellhow at last I met her,--and how, for a while, the reality seemed worseeven than the first. The death of the Duke of Anjou, after hisreconciliation with the King, his brother, and his failure to win thecrown he sought in the Netherlands, was a great event for us in Gascony.It left our Henri of Navarre next in succession to the throne of France.And our Henri was a sturdy man, while Henri III. seemed marked by destinyto follow the three other sons of Catherine to an early grave. Itappeared that Marguerite monopolized all the longevity granted to thefamily. But we knew that the Guises and their League would not let ourHuguenot Henri peacefully ascend his throne. Therefore, Henri's policywas to strengthen himself against the time when the death of Henri III.should leave the throne vacant for him. It was his interest also toprevent a usurpation of that throne during the life of Henri III., forsuch a usurpation would eventually exclude himself also. Thuscircumstance made him the natural ally of Henri III. It was, conversely,the interest of the Guises to sow enmity between the two kings. The powerof the League in France, and particularly in Paris, was now so great thatHenri I
II. dared not oppose the wishes of the Duke of Guise. He wasreduced to devices for gaining time. And so, against his own interest, hesanctioned the war which the League presently demanded against theHuguenots,--a war which might do two things for the Duke of Guise:destroy the next heir to the throne, and deprive the present King of hischief resource against a usurpation. For the present, the Duke of Guisecloaked his design by having the Pope proclaim the old Cardinal deBourbon heir to the throne, our Henri being declared ineligible onaccount of heresy.
In the summer of 1585, the King of France issued anti-Huguenot edictsrequired by the League. Governors of provinces were ordered to make ituncomfortable for the "heretics." Several of them promptly obeyed,arresting some Huguenots for remaining in their provinces, and arrestingothers for trying to escape therefrom. By this time, Henri of Navarre hadgathered a sufficient army and acquired a sufficient number of towns tohold his own in Guienne, and, indeed, throughout southwestern France. ThePrince de Conde also put a Huguenot army in the field. Pending the actualopening of war, which the edicts of Henri III. foreshadowed, our Henrimaintained a flying camp in Guienne. Every day recruits came, some ofthem with stories of persecution to which they had been subjected, somewith accounts of difficulty in escaping from their provinces. One day Iwas summoned to the presence of Henri of Navarre.
"M. de la Tournoire," said he, speaking with his usual briskness anddirectness, "there are, in most of the provinces of France, manyHuguenots who have publicly recanted, to save their lives and estates.Many of these are secretly for us. They would join me, but they fear todo so lest their estates be confiscated. These are to be assured thatwhat they may lose now by aiding me shall some day be restored to them.Here is a list of a number of such gentlemen in the province of Berry,and you are to give them the assurances necessary to enlist them in ourcause. Use what persuasions you can. Take your company, and find someplace of concealment among the hills of the southern border of Berry. Youcan thus provide escort in crossing the border for those who may need it.Where you can in any way aid a Huguenot to escape from the province,where you can rescue one from death or prison, do so, always on conditionof promised service in our cause. As for the gentlemen whose names are onthis list, have them bring, as contributions, what money and arms theycan. We are in even greater need of these than of men. Impress upon thesegentlemen that their only hope of ultimate security lies in our triumph.It is a task of danger with which I charge you, monsieur, and I know thatyou will, therefore, the more gladly undertake it. The governor of Berry,M. de la Chatre, is one of the bulwarks of the League. I learn that he isenforcing the edicts of Henri III. against the Protestants with thegreatest zeal. He is devoted to the Duke of Guise, and is one of our mostformidable enemies. It will not, therefore, be well for you to fall intohis hands. Go, monsieur, and God be with you!"
I bowed my thanks for the favor of this dangerous mission, and wentaway with the list in my doublet, proud of having been made theconfidant of Henri's resolution to fight for his rights to the end. Iwas elated, too, at the opportunity to work against the King of Franceand the Duke of Guise.
To annoy and hamper M. de la Chatre in his work of carrying out thepublic edicts of the King and the secret designs of the Duke, would giveme the keenest joy. For once, both my great enemies, usually so opposedto each other in interest, could be injured at the same time by the samedeeds; and such deeds would help my beloved captain, by whom I had beenchosen to perform them. I could hardly contain my happiness when Ireturned to my company, and ordered immediate preparations for a night'smarch northward.
We set out, myself and Tripault mounted, the others afoot, with severalhorses bearing provisions and supplies. Marching at night, and concealingourselves in the forests by day, we at last reached the mountains thatform part of the southern boundary of Berry. They were thickly wooded,and though the month of August made them a series of masses of deepgreen, they presented a sombre aspect.
"It is somewhere up there," I said, pointing toward the still andfrowning hills before us, "that we are to find a burrow, from which toissue forth, now and then, to the plains on the other side."
"The only man in the company who knows this country," replied my devotedsquire, Blaise Tripault, "is Frojac, but he makes up for the ignorance ofthe others by knowing it very well. He can lead us to the most desertedspot among these mountains, where there is an abandoned chateau, which issaid to be under a curse."
"If part of it is under a roof as well, so much the better," I answered."Bring Frojac to me."
Blaise rode back along the irregular line formed by my rude soldiers,picked out an intelligent looking young arquebusier, and led him forwardto me. I made this man, Frojac, our guide.
After toilsome marches, forcing our way up wooded ascents devoid of humanhabitation, and through almost impenetrable thickets of brushwood, wecrossed the highest ridge of the mountain chain, and from a bare spot, anatural clearing, gazed down on the Creuse, which wound along the lineformed by the northern base of the mountains. Beyond that lay theprovince of Berry, which was to be the scene of our operations. Someleagues to the northeast, crowning a rocky eminence that rose from theleft bank of the Creuse, stood a mass of grim-looking towers and highgray walls. From the southern side of this edifice, a small town ran downthe declivity to the plain.
"What is that place yonder?" I asked.
"It is the town and chateau of Clochonne," said Frojac.
"Who occupies the chateau?"
"It belongs to M. de la Chatre, the governor of the province, whosometimes comes there. A part of it is occupied by a garrison."
We resumed our progress through the forest, now descending the northernslope of the ridge. After some hours, when night was already beginning tofall in the woods, Frojac pointed ahead to a knoll covered with hugetrees between whose trunks the space was choked with lesser vegetation.
"There it is," he said. "The Chateau de Maury."
We made our way through the thicket, and came suddenly upon ruined walls,rising in the midst of trees. Wild growths of various kinds filled upwhat had been the courtyard, and invaded the very doors. The broken wallsand cracked towers themselves seemed as much a part of nature as thetrees and bushes were. Branches thrust themselves through apertures inthe crumbling stone. Southward from the foot of the knoll rose themountains, eastward and westward extended an undulating natural platformthat interrupted the descent of the mountain side. Northward the groundfell in a steep precipice to the left bank of the Creuse, along which rana little-used road from Clochonne, which was northeast, to Narjec, whichwas southwest.
"Is there a path down the slope, by which we could reach that road,should we wish to go north by way of Clochonne?" I asked.
"I do not think so," replied Frojac. "But there used to be a road fromhere to Clochonne, through the forest. It has not been used since theSieur de Maury left, twenty years ago, to hunt for gold in the new world.They said that, before going, he made a compact with the devil, here, bywhich Satan was to lead him to a land of gold across the sea. The devilis believed to be taking care of his estate until he returns. Perhapsthis road has not been entirely wiped out by the forest."
A part of the chateau was yet under roof. This portion included the halland three or four chambers above it. On the day after our arrival, wefound the road through the forest still sufficiently open to serve us forexpeditious egress. This abandoned way did not itself go to Clochonne,but it ran into a road that went from that town southward across themountain. At the point of junction was the abode of an old woodman andhis wife, where the couple maintained a kind of inn for theentertainment of people crossing the mountain. This man, Godeau, wasrheumatic, bent, thin, timid, shrill-voiced, and under the domination ofhis large, robust, strong-lunged spouse, Marianne. By means of a littleflattery, a gold piece, promises of patronage, and hints of direvengeance upon any who might betray me, I secured this woman's completedevotion. These two were the only human dwellers within two leagues ofour chosen hiding-place.
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p; In Guienne, my master considered as enemies those who did not acknowledgehis authority, and he provisioned his army at their expense. Inasmuch asthe province of Berry was making war on our party, I treated it ashostile country, subject to pillage, according to the customs of war. Itis true, some of its people were friendly to our cause, but it was asmuch their duty to contribute to our maintenance, since we were fightingin their behalf, as it was our right to take from those to whom ourrelation was one of warfare. So I gave my men permission to forage,putting but one condition upon them,--that of losing their lives ratherthan allow our hiding-place to be disclosed. Thus, by virtue of manynightly visits to farms in the vicinity of Clochonne and Narjec, wecontrived to avoid the pangs of an empty stomach.
Having established my company on a living basis at Maury, I began withrelish the work of annoying M. de la Chatre. I sent out certain of mymen, severally, to different parts of southern Berry as seekers ofinformation. In the guise of peasants, or of soldiers going to serve inthe army which the Governor, La Chatre, was then augmenting, they learnedmuch that was valuable to me. It is written, under the title of "How theLord Protected His Own and Chastised His Enemies in Berry," in the bookcalled "The Manifold Mercies of God to His Children," by the pastorLaudrec, who has reported rightly what I related to him: how we maderecruits for Henri of Navarre by finding out Huguenots in towns andvillages and convincing them that they were sure to be arrested shouldthey remain in Berry; how we guided these out of the province by variousways of our own discovery, across the mountain; how we interrupted thehanging of several men at Issoudun, who had been condemned for heresy andtreason, and sent them in safety to Guienne; how certain of my men,without my authority, despoiled Catholic churches of their instruments ofidolatry, and thus helped to replenish the treasury of our master; how Ionce marched my company by night to a wood near Bourges, lay in waitthere until a guard came, conducting captured Huguenots for trial,attacked the guard, rescued the prisoners, and protected them in ahurried flight to the border, whence they proceeded to swell the army ofour Henri; and how we served our cause in numerous other exploits, whichI need not relate here, as you may read them in Laudrec's book, printedin Geneva.
The many secret departures of Huguenots from southern Berry, despite thevigilance of the garrisons at Clochonne and other frontier strongholds,must naturally have attracted the attention of the authorities, and somust the sudden public appearances that I made with my company onoccasions like that at Issoudun and that near Bourges. My men, who moved,unknown, among the people, began to hear reports of a mysterious captainwho hid in the southern hills and sallied forth at night to spiritHuguenots away. To this mysterious captain and his band were attributednot only all the exploits that we did accomplish, but many that we didnot; and some daring robberies, of which we were innocent, were laid toour charge.
Finally, in September, I had evidence that our deeds had begun to make animpression on M. de la Chatre, the illustrious governor of the provinceand of the Orleannais as well. One of my men, Roquelin, saw in themarket-place of Chateauroux an offer of five hundred crowns for thecapture of this unknown rebel captain, which document was signed by LaChatre. I here saw an opportunity to make myself known in high places asone capable of harming and defying his enemies, despite their greatness.I was rejoiced at the hope of acquainting the Duke of Guise and the Kingof France with the fact that I had survived to work defiantly againsttheir cause, under the very nose of one of their most redoubtableservants. I had not been of sufficient consequence for the Duke to fear,or for the King to protect, but now I was of sufficient consequence, astheir enemy, for a price to be put on my head. So I sent one of my cleverfellows, Sabray, to fasten by night beside La Chatre's placard inChateauroux, a proclamation of my own, in which I offered ten crowns forthe head of M. de la Chatre, and twenty crowns for that of his master,the Duke of Guise. I appended this signature: "The Sieur de la Tournoire,who does not forget." I knew that some of La Chatre's enemies would takegreat pleasure in making this known to the Duke of Guise, and that thelatter would reproach the King with my continued existence. It irritatesthe great to be defied by the small, and to irritate these two great oneswas my delight.
I soon learned, with glee, that my return of compliments had reached theknowledge of the governor. Maugert brought me word of a notice posted inClochonne, in which La Chatre doubled his offer and termed me the"heretic, rebel, traitor, and robber calling himself Sieur de laTournoire."
While I gave myself the pleasure of annoying M. de la Chatre, I did notneglect the more important service imposed on me by Henri of Navarre.Accompanied only by Blaise Tripault, and travelling by night, I visited,one after another, the gentlemen named on my master's list, and usedwhat eloquence I had, pointing out the expediency of assuring futuresecurity by making present sacrifices for our cause. Many of themrequired very little persuasion. On hearing that Henri of Navarre hadgiven his word to defend his succession with his sword, they nobly lefttheir estates and went to join his army, carrying with them what moneyand arms they could take. Thanks to the guidance of my men, they eludedthe garrisons on the border.
It was in early October, when the forests were turning yellow, brown, andred, and the fallen leaves began to lie in the roads, that I started outwith Blaise Tripault to visit the gentleman named last on the list.
"Monsieur," said Blaise, as we neared the end of our hidden forest roadand were approaching the inn of Godeau, "I have in me a kind of feelingthat this, being our last excursion, is likely to be the most dangerous.It would doubtless please Fortune to play us an ugly trick after havingserved us so well hitherto."
"Nonsense!" I replied.
"I believe that is what the famous Bussy d'Amboise said when he waswarned not to keep his appointment with Mme. de Monsoreau," returnedBlaise; "yet he was, none the less, killed by the rascals that lay inambush with her husband."
"Thanks to the most kingly King of France, Henri III., who advised M. deMonsoreau to force his wife to make the fatal appointment with Bussy.Thanks, also, to the truly grateful Duke of Anjou, who rewarded Bussy forhis faithful service by concurring in the plot for his assassination."
"The Duke was worse than the King, for the King has been loyal to hischosen favorites. Think of the monument he erected in honor of De Quelus,and the others who got their deaths in that great duel in thehorse-market. _Par dieu!_ I should like to have seen those girl-men ofthe King and those Guisards killing one another!"
"I have observed, Blaise, that you take an extraordinary pleasure in theslaughter of Guisards."
"I was in Coligny's house, monsieur, on the night of the St. Bartholomew.I was one of those who, at the Admiral's command, fled to the roof, andfrom the roof of the next house I saw Coligny's body thrown into hiscourtyard, and the Duke of Guise turn it over with his foot and wipe theblood from the face to see if it were indeed my old captain's. Sincethen, the sight of the white cross of Guise stirs in me all the hell thatmy diabolical father transmitted to me. And I should not like to see youfall into the hands of this Chatre, who is the right arm of the Duke ofGuise in Berry. That is why I give heed to the premonition that troublesme regarding this journey."
"Certainly we cannot abandon the journey."
"No, but we can take unusual precautions, monsieur. Reports of our doingsare everywhere. Has it never occurred to you that you are, in appearance,exactly the sort of man who would be taken for our leader? Ought you notto disguise yourself?"
"An excellent idea, Blaise! I shall put on your clothes, and you shallput on mine,--I shall pass as your lackey. It will be quite amusing."
"That is not the disguise I should have suggested," said Blaise, lookingnot too well pleased with the idea. "It would require me to pass as agentleman."
But I saw possibilities of fun in the thing, and welcomed any means ofenlivening our excursion. Therefore, we dismounted at Godeau's inn, andmade the exchange of attire, much against the liking of Blaise, who nowrepented of having advised any disguise at all. My clothes were a
littletoo tight for Blaise, for I was of medium size, and he puffed and turnedred in the face, and presented a curious appearance of fierceness anddiscomfort. When I looked at him, I could not help laughing, and he metmy glance with a grim and reproachful countenance. I did not think thathis brown doublet and breeches and brown felt hat and feather were muchdisguise for me. As we rode along, I diverted myself by trying to assumea servile mien, which did not easily fit my rather bold face, prominentnose, keen gray eyes, up-curling brown mustache and pointed brown beard.With his curly reddish hair and beard, defiant mustache, honest, big,blue eyes, swelling red cheeks, and robust body, Blaise looked like onewho must have had his dignities thrust upon him very recently.
We reached, without accident, our destination,--the chateau of the Barond'Equinay,--and that gentleman was speedily won by the assurances that Ibore him from Henri of Navarre. He desired, before starting for Guienne,to go to Paris, where he had resources, and he rode off northward at thesame moment when we departed southward to return to Maury.
"It is well!" I cried to Blaise, as we rode in the bracing air of theOctober morning. "We have carried our King's message to every one of hischosen adherents in Berry. We ride through the province of M. de laChatre, breathe his fresh air, absorb his sunshine as freely as he doeshimself. You see how reliable were your premonitions when we last set outfrom Maury."
"It is not too late yet, monsieur," growled Blaise, whose temper was illwhile he wore my clothes; "we are not yet back at Maury."
"You will talk less dismally over a bottle of good wine, Blaise.Therefore, I intend to stop at the first inn on the way. I hope it is agood one, for I am very hungry."
"There is an inn at this end of Fleurier," said Blaise, "but I would notstop if I were you."
But I was not to be moved from my intention. When a man has finished aset task, it is time to eat and drink. Therefore, we stopped at thelittle inn at the northern edge of Fleurier. A gray, bent innkeeper, verydesirous of pleasing, welcomed us and went to look after our horses,while Blaise, acting the part of master, ordered a black-eyed, prettyinn-maid to serve us dinner in a private chamber. The room assigned uswas at the head of a stairway leading from the kitchen. We had no soonerseated ourselves than our ears were assailed by the clatter of manyhorses on the road outside. They stopped before the inn, and we heard thevoices of two men who entered the kitchen, and of a great number whoremained without. When the inn-maid brought us a bottle of wine, Blaiseasked her whose cavalcade it was that waited before the inn.
"It is that of the governor of the province, M. de la Chatre," said she,"who is below with his secretary, M. de Montignac."
And she left the room in haste to help serve so distinguished a guest.