CHAPTER XXVII.
THE HAND OF GOD.
On leaving Madame de Sauve Henry had said to her:
"Go to bed, Charlotte. Pretend that you are very ill, and on no accountsee any one all day to-morrow."
Charlotte obeyed without questioning the reason for this suggestion fromthe king. She was beginning to be accustomed to his eccentricities, aswe should call them to-day, or to his whims as they were then called.Moreover, she knew that deep in his heart Henry hid secrets which hetold to no one, in his mind plans which he feared to reveal even in hisdreams; so that she carried out all his wishes, knowing that his mostpeculiar ideas had an object.
Whereupon that evening she complained to Dariole of great heaviness inher head, accompanied by dizziness. These were the symptoms which Henryhad suggested to her to feign.
The following day she pretended that she wanted to rise, but scarcelyhad she put her foot on the floor when she said she felt a generaldebility, and went back to bed.
This indisposition, which Henry had already announced to the Ducd'Alencon, was the first news brought to Catharine when she calmly askedwhy La Sauve was not present as usual at her levee.
"She is ill!" replied Madame de Lorraine, who was there.
"Ill!" repeated Catharine, without a muscle of her face betraying theinterest she took in the answer. "Some idle fatigue, perhaps."
"No, madame," replied the princess. "She complains of a severe headacheand of weakness which prevents her from walking." Catharine did notanswer. But, to hide her joy, she turned to the window, and perceivingHenry, who was crossing the court after his conversation with De Mouy,she rose the better to see him. Driven by that conscience which,although invisible, always throbs in the deepest recesses of hearts mosthardened to crime:
"Does not my son Henry seem paler than usual this morning?" she askedher captain of the guards.
There was nothing in the question. Henry was greatly troubled mentally;but physically he was very strong.
By degrees those usually present at the queen's levee withdrew. Three orfour intimate ones remained longer than the others, but Catharineimpatiently dismissed them, saying that she wished to be alone. When thelast courtier had gone Catharine closed the door and going to a secretcloset hidden in one of the panels of her room she slid back a door in agroove of wood and took out a book, the worn leaves of which showedfrequent use. Placing the volume on a table, she opened it to abook-mark, then resting her elbow on the table and her head on one hand:
"That is it," murmured she, reading, "'headache, general weakness, painin the eyes, swelling of the palate.' As yet they have mentioned onlythe pains in the head and weakness. But the other symptoms will not beslow in forthcoming."
She continued:
"'Then the inflammation reaches the throat, extends to the stomach,surrounds the heart like a circle of fire, and causes the brain to burstlike a thunderclap,'" she read on to herself. Then in a low voice:
"For the fever, six hours; for the general inflammation, twelve hours;for the gangrene, twelve hours; for the suffering, six hours; in allthirty-six hours. Now, suppose that the absorption is slow, and thatinstead of thirty-six hours we have forty, even forty-eight, yes,forty-eight hours should suffice. But Henry, how is it that he is stillup? Because he is a man, because he has a strong constitution, becauseperhaps he drank after he kissed her, and wiped his lips afterdrinking."
Catharine awaited the dinner hour with impatience.
Henry dined every day at the king's table. He came, he in turncomplained of pain in his head; he ate nothing, and withdrew immediatelyafter the meal, saying that having been awake a part of the previousnight, he felt a pressing need of sleep.
Catharine listened as his uncertain steps died away. Then she had himfollowed. She was told that the King of Navarre had gone to Madame deSauve's apartments.
"Henry," said she to herself, "will this evening complete the work ofdeath which some unfortunate chance has left half finished."
The King of Navarre had indeed gone to Madame de Sauve's room, but itwas to tell her to continue playing her role.
The whole of the following morning Henry did not leave his chamber; nordid he appear at dinner. Madame de Sauve, they said, was growing worseand worse, and the report of Henry's illness, spread abroad by Catharineherself, sped like one of those presentiments which hover in the air,but which no one can explain.
Catharine was delighted. The previous morning she had sent Ambroise Pareto help one of her favorite servants, who was ill at Saint Germain, soit had to be one of her own men who was called in to see Madame de Sauveand Henry. This man would say only what she wished him to say. If,contrary to all expectation, some other doctor had been summoned, and ifsome whisper concerning poison had frightened the court, in which somany such reports had already been circulated, she counted greatly onthe rumor to arouse the jealousy of Marguerite regarding the variousloves of her husband. We remember she had spoken strongly of thisjealousy which had been apparent on various occasions; among others, onthe hawthorn walk, where, in the presence of several persons, she hadsaid to her daughter:
"So you are very jealous, Marguerite?" Therefore, with unruffledfeatures she waited for the door to open, when some pale, startledservant would enter, crying:
"Your majesty, the King of Navarre has been hurt, and Madame de Sauve isdead!" Four o'clock in the afternoon struck. Catharine finished herluncheon in the aviary, where she was crumbling some bread for her rarebirds which she herself had raised. Although her face was calm and evengloomy, as usual, her heart throbbed violently at the slightest sound.Suddenly the door opened.
"Madame," said the captain of the guards, "the King of Navarre is"--
"Ill?" hastily interrupted Catharine.
"No, madame, thank God! His majesty seems to be wonderfully well."
"What is it, then?"
"The King of Navarre is here."
"What does he want?"
"He is bringing your majesty a rare kind of monkey."
Just then Henry entered holding in his hand a basket, in which was alittle monkey he was petting.
He entered smiling and seemed wholly absorbed in the dear little animalhe brought; but occupied as he appeared to be, he did not fail to givehis usual first glance around. This was sufficient for him under tryingcircumstances. As to Catharine, she was very pale, of a pallor whichdeepened as she saw that the cheeks of the young man were flushed withthe glow of health.
The queen mother was amazed at this turn of affairs. She acceptedHenry's gift mechanically, appeared agitated, complimented him onlooking so well, and added:
"I am all the more pleased to see you looking so, because I heard thatyou were ill, and because, if I remember rightly, you yourselfcomplained of not feeling well, in my presence. But I understand now,"she added, trying to smile, "it was an excuse so that you might befree."
"No, I have really been very ill, madame," said Henry, "but a specificused in our mountains, and which comes from my mother, has cured myindisposition."
"Ah! you will give me the recipe, will you not, Henry?" said Catharine,really smiling this time, but with an irony she could not disguise.
"Some counter-poison," she murmured. "We must look into this; but no,seeing Madame de Sauve ill, it will be suspected. Indeed, I believe thatthe hand of God is over this man."
Catharine waited impatiently for the night. Madame de Sauve did notappear. At play she inquired for her, but was told that she wassuffering more and more.
All the evening she was restless, and everyone anxiously wondered whatwere the thoughts which could move this face usually so calm.
At length everyone retired. Catharine had herself undressed and put tobed by her ladies-in-waiting. Then when everyone had gone to sleep inthe Louvre, she rose, slipped on a long black dressing-gown, took alamp, chose from her keys the one which unlocked the door of Madame deSauve's apartments, and ascended the stairs to see her maid-of-honor.
Had Henry foreseen this visit? Was he
busy in his own rooms? Was hehiding somewhere? However this may have been, the young woman was alone.Catharine opened the door cautiously, crossed the antechamber, enteredthe reception-room, set her lamp on a table, for a night lamp wasburning near the sick woman, and glided like a shadow into thesleeping-room. Dariole in a deep armchair was sleeping near the bed ofher mistress.
This bed was entirely shut in by curtains.
The respiration of the young woman was so light that for an instantCatharine thought she was not breathing at all.
At length she heard a slight sigh, and with an evil joy she raised thecurtain in order to see for herself the effect of the terrible poison.She trembled in advance at the sight of the livid pallor or thedevouring purple of the mortal fever she hoped for. But instead of this,calm, with eyes hidden under their white lids, her mouth rosy and halfopen, her moist cheek pressed gently against one of her gracefullyrounded arms, while the other arm, fresh and pearly, was thrown acrossthe crimson damask which served as counterpane, the beautiful youngwoman lay sleeping with a smile still on her lips. No doubt some sweetdream brought the smile to her lips, and to her cheek the flush ofhealth which nothing could disturb. Catharine could not refrain fromuttering a cry of surprise which roused Dariole for a moment. The queenmother hastily stepped behind the curtains of the bed.
Dariole opened her eyes, but overcome with sleep, without even wonderingin her drowsy mind why she had wakened, the young girl dropped her heavylids and slept again.
Then Catharine came from behind the curtain, and glancing at the otherobjects in the room, saw on a table a bottle of Spanish wine, somefruit, pastry, and two glasses. Henry must have had supper with thebaroness, who apparently was as well as himself. Walking on tiptoe,Catharine took up the small silver box that was partly empty. It was thesame or very similar to the one she had sent to Charlotte. She removedfrom it a piece as large as a pearl on the point of a gold needle,returned to her room, and gave it to the little ape which Henry hadbrought her that evening. Attracted by the aromatic odor the animaldevoured it eagerly, and turning around in his basket, went to sleep.Catharine waited a quarter of an hour.
"With half of what he has just eaten," said she, "my dog Brutus died,swelling up instantly. Some one has played me a trick. Is it Rene?Impossible. Then it is Henry. O fatality! It is very evident that sincehe is to reign he cannot die. But perhaps the poison was not strongenough. We shall see by trying steel."
And Catharine went to bed revolving in her mind a fresh idea which nodoubt was perfected the following day; for she called her captain of theguards to her, gave him a letter, ordered him to take it to its addressand to deliver it only into the hands of the one for whom it wasintended. It was addressed to the Sire de Louviers de Maurevel, Captainof the King's Petard Makers, Rue de la Cerisaie, near the Arsenal.