CHAPTER LII.
VENTRE ST. GRIS.
Left alone, the duke, knowing he had at least an hour beforehim, drew out his ladder and carefully examined the fastenings.
"The ladder is good," said he, at length, "and will not break."
Then he unrolled it all, and counted thirty-eight rounds of fifteeninches each.
"The length is sufficient," said he, "there is nothing to fearon that point. Ah! but if it were some of those cursed minionswho sent me to the ladder? If I attach it to the balcony theywill let me do it, and while I am descending they will cut thecords. But, no; they could not be foolish enough to think I wouldfly without barricading the door, and I should have time to flybefore they could force it. But what person in the world, except mysister herself, could know of a ladder hidden in her dressing-room?What friend of mine can it be?"
Suddenly an idea struck him, and he cried, "Bussy!"
Indeed, Bussy, whom so many ladies adored, Bussy was a hero tothe Queen of Navarre, and his only true friend--was it Bussy?Everything made him think so. The duke, of course, did not knowall his motives for being angry with him, for he did not knowhis love for Diana, and believed him to be too noble to think ofresentment when his master was a prisoner. He approached the windowagain, and fancied he could see in the fog the indistinct formsof three horses and two men by the river. Two men. These must beBussy and Remy. He then looked through the keyhole, and saw hisfour guardians; two were asleep, and two had inherited Chicot'schessboard and were playing. He extinguished his light.
Then he opened his window, and looked over the balcony; the gulfbelow him looked dreadful in the darkness, and he drew back. Butair and liberty have an attraction so irresistible to a prisoner,that Francois, on withdrawing from the window, felt as if hewere being stifled, and for an instant something like disgustof life and indifference to death passed through his mind. Hefancied he was growing courageous, and, profiting by this momentof excitement, he seized the ladder, fixed it to the balcony,then barricaded the door as well as he could, and returned tothe window. The darkness was now great, and the first growlingsof the storm began to make themselves heard; a great cloud withsilver fringes extended itself like a recumbent elephant from oneside to the other of the river. A flash of lightning broke theimmense cloud for a moment, and the prince fancied that he sawbelow him in the fosse the same figures he had imagined before. Ahorse neighed; there was no more doubt--he was waited for.
He shook the ladder to see if it was firm, then he put his legover the balustrade and placed his foot on the first step. Nothingcan describe the anguish of the prisoner at this moment, placedbetween a frail silk cord on the one hand and his brother's cruelmenaces on the other. But as he stood there he felt the ladderstiffened; some one held it. Was it a friend or an enemy? Werethey open arms or armed ones which waited for him? An irresistibleterror seized him; he still held the balcony with his left hand,and made a movement to remount, when a very slight pull at theladder came to him like a solicitation. He took courage, andtried the second step. The ladder was held as firm as a rock,and he found a steady support for his foot. He descended rapidly,almost gliding down, when all at once, instead of touching theearth, which he knew to be near, he felt himself seized in thearms of a man who whispered, "You are saved." Then he was carriedalong the fosse till they came to the end, when another man seizedhim by the collar and drew him up, and after having aided hiscompanion in the same way, they ran to the river, where stoodthe horses. The prince knew he was at, the mercy of his saviours,so he jumped at once on a horse, and his companions did the same.The same voice now said, "Quick!" And they set off at a gallop.
"All goes well at present," thought the prince, "let us hope itwill end so. Thanks, my brave Bussy," said he to his companionon the right, who was entirely covered with a large cloak.
"Quick!" replied the other.
They arrived thus at the great ditch of the Bastile, which theycrossed on a bridge improvised by the Leaguers the night before.The three cavaliers rode towards Charenton, when all at oncethe man on the right entered the forest of Vincennes, sayingonly, "Come." The prince's horse neighed, and several othersanswered from the depths of the forest. Francois would have stoppedif he could, for he feared they were taking him to an ambush,but it was too late, and in a few minutes he found himself ina small open space, where eight or ten men on horseback weredrawn up.
"Oh! oh!" said the prince, "what does this mean, monsieur?"
"Ventre St. Gris! it means that we are saved."
"You! Henri!" cried the duke, stupefied, "you! my liberator?"
"Does that astonish you? Are we not related, Agrippa?" continuedhe, looking round for his companion.
"Here I am," said D'Aubigne.
"Are there two fresh horses, with which we can go a dozen leagueswithout stopping?"
"But where are you taking me, my cousin?"
"Where you like, only be quick, for the King of France has morehorses than I have, and is rich enough to kill a dozen if hewishes to catch us."
"Really, then, I am free to go where I like?"
"Certainly, I wait your orders."
"Well, then, to Angers."
"To Angers; so be it, there you are at home."
"But you?"
"I! when we are in sight of Angers I shall leave you, and rideon to Navarre, where my good Margot expects me, and must be muchennuyee at my absence."
"But no one knew you were here?"
"I came to sell three diamonds of my wife's."
"Ah! very well."
"And also to know if this League was really going to ruin me."
"You see there is nothing in it."
"Thanks to you, no."
"How! thanks to me?"
"Certainly. If, instead of refusing to be chief of the League,when you knew it was directed against me, you had accepted, Iwas ruined. Therefore, when I heard that the king had punishedyour refusal with imprisonment, I swore to release you, and Ihave done so."
"Always so simple-minded," thought Francois, "really, it is easyto deceive him."
"Now for Anjou," thought the king. "Ah! M. de Guise, I send youa companion you do not want."