CHAPTER XVII.
In speaking of Father Ferdinand, I have compressed into one view theeffect which was produced upon my mind by many long interviews withhim. These took place, as I have said, almost every morning; but inthe meanwhile several events occurred to which I must now turn. Aslight variation in our dull and somewhat painful course of life wasafforded, about this time, both to good Jerome Laborde and myself, bythe coming of Jacques Marlot and his bride to my house at Juvigny, andby the preparations which preceded his arrival. In these preparations,indeed, I did not share; but almost every day I perceived that goodJerome continued to absent himself from his duties at the ch?teau fora sufficient space of time to run down, through the park, to Juvigny;and many a time did I meet him with gleesome satisfaction depicted onhis countenance, returning from his expedition to his nephew's newdwelling.
As soon as I had learned that my friend Socrates had brought home hisXantippe, and was fairly in possession of his new abode, I asked theDuke permission to absent myself for an hour or two, and sallied forthto make him a visit of congratulation. I found him gazing forth fromhis door, with pleasure and content at the prospect around him, havingthe farm which he was to cultivate for the good Ursulines just on theopposite side of the river, the convent itself within a quarter of amile; and a little stone bridge, at half that distance, to render iteasily accessible.
Madame la mari?e was within, aided by a bustling big-nosed Bretonneservante, arranging the household gods; and Jacques Marlot himself hadthus an opportunity, without any sacrifice of dignity in the eyes ofhis bride, to pour forth his joy and gratitude to John Marston Hall.
As he somewhat belaboured me with thanks for all sort of kindnesses,past, present, and to come, I cut him as short as I could, bydemanding impatiently to see the bride.
"Ha! ha! my young lord and master," he exclaimed, "do not excite myjealousy within the first fortnight of my marriage; for I have butlately found out that you are an old friend and high favourite of mydear better half."
These tidings surprised me more, perhaps, than they might have done ata later period of my life; for at that time the extent of my femaleacquaintance was very limited, and perhaps the most decided fragmentof my boyhood that then remained to me was a lingering dislike to thegenerality of female society, and a very juvenile contempt for womenin general.
"Indeed!" exclaimed I, in reply to Jacques Marlot's information,"indeed! you make me but the more curious. Let me offer my adorationswith all speed to the first of your household divinities."
"Well, well; enter, enter, by all means," he cried: "I am not made ofjealous stuff, thank God; and as our love has already lasted five longyears, I trust it will not break short at matrimony."
I was now conducted in form into the house; and on the first floor wefound the bride and her coadjutrix, when my surprise was still moreexcited, by beholding in Madame Marlot the pretty brunette whom I hadseen at the inn near St. Aubin, on my first arrival in Brittany, andwho had warned me of what was passing between her father and the groomwho then accompanied me. After the first salutation, I returned her mythanks in set form, although I had nearly lost my life in consequenceof her information; and I then enquired after her worthy andrespectable father as tenderly as my conscience would permit me to do.In reply, she informed me that her parent had most unjustly beensuspected of having given information to the same band of robbers whohad plundered me, that the courier for St. Malo was about to passwithin their hospitable neighbourhood, on a certain day and hour; andthat, in consequence, he had been arrested and thrown into prison,where, within one fortnight, he died, just as the authorities wereabout to liberate him, having become convinced of his innocence, andjudging that a fortnight's imprisonment was a sufficient punishmentfor being suspected. The prisoner having thus liberated himself, hisdaughter was left, according to her own account, sole heiress of herfather's wealth, which proved a burden less weighty than she hadanticipated. She also found so many persons in this generous worldwilling to relieve her of it, that she saw very clearly it would soonbe no burden at all; and therefore, she set herself to consider whatshe might best do under such circumstances, when suddenly her ancientlover, Jacques Marlot, appeared one night at the inn, and presentedher with an expedient that she did not fail to adopt.
In reply to this communication, I paid her my compliments upon herwisdom; and, as I found that the kind-hearted brunette and herbridegroom were both bent upon my staying to partake of their firstdinner in their new dwelling, I yielded to my fate, and found thatneither Jacques Marlot's taste for _friandise_, nor the skill whichMadame had acquired in the kitchen of an inn, had abandoned them.During our meal, my philosopher gave me a sketch of his wandering lifein the guise of a pedlar; and then related the means he had employedto obtain his pardon, which were ingenious enough. It appears that inFrance the presence of the King is always mercy, and that if he butset eyes upon a condemned criminal his punishment is remitted. Wellknowing this fact, and trusting to his disguise, Jacques Marlot madehis way towards Paris, and having heard that the King and Court wereabout to make their public entrance into the capital on a certain day,he prepared to take advantage thereof, to obtain his pardon. This plansucceeded to his wish. Bribing some of the guards at the palace with aconsiderable portion of what he had gained in his petty traffic, heplaced himself in a spot where the royal party were sure to pass, indescending from their carriages; and, as the young King and the Queencame on together, he struggled forward to cast himself at their feet.One of the ushers, indeed, opposed his progress, and knocked the poorprinter down to make him clear the way; but this only brought himliterally to the King's knees; and the young monarch's first impulsewas to stoop in order to raise him, reproving, at the same time, theusher for his violence.
Jacques Marlot rose no farther than his knees, however, and in thatposition besought pardon for his offences. It being now ascertainedwho the intruder really was, the guards were ordered by Mazarin totake him into custody; and poor Marlot was removed, trembling, as heacknowledged, for the consequences of his bold attempt. The rule,however, was suffered to prevail even in his case, although the Queenand the Cardinal were both exasperated in a high degree against theunfortunate printer. After remaining in one of the rooms of the palacefor more than an hour, his pardon was brought him, but coupled withthe condition that he should quit Paris immediately, never to return,and should never more exercise the trade of printing in any part ofFrance. "And thus, my dear benefactor," he added, "I turned my stepshither, determined to become a new Cincinnatus, and, abandoning thegovernment of Roman capitals, to dwell upon my farm and put my hand tothe plough."
In such conversation we passed an hour or two very cheerfully; at theend of which time I took my leave, and left the pair to conclude theirevening alone. It was now about two o'clock, on a fine April day; and,walking slowly along, I meditated over all the strange turns of thatstrange and unaccountable thing, fate, which, principally by the meansof a complete stranger, had conducted the _ci-devant_ printer in lessthan a year from the foot of the gallows to a peaceful retirement in abeautiful country.
On entering the park, I took the shady walk by the bank of the stream,both because the warmth of the day made a shelter from the sun notunpleasant, though the year was yet so young, and because I always hadan indescribable pleasure in sauntering by a running water, and gazingupon the current gushing brightly by me. The banks here wereirregular, sometimes high and overhanging, sometimes sloping softlydown, and dipping their turf into the stream; and, as I often pausedto gaze, and ponder, and revolve a number of sweet sunshiny dreamsthat were now very common to my mind, I was at least twice the lengthof time in the walk that I needed to have been.
Luckily did it happen that I was so. When I had got about half way tothe ch?teau, I perceived that there were others in the walk besidesmyself; and, straining my eyes a little, I saw that it was Madame deVillardin, with a servant a step behind her, and her little girlrunning on before. The Duches
s approached but slowly, with her fineeyes, as usual now, bent pensively upon the ground, and her hands,which were very beautiful, clasped together, and resting on her waist.The little girl, full of the joy and vivid life of youth, ranbackwards and forwards before her mother, now gathering a flower, nowpeeping over at the stream, and receiving, from time to time, a gravecaution from the soubrette, who walked behind, against approaching toonear the water. As soon as she saw me, however, the little Laura had anew object of attention, and running along the walk like light, shecame towards her playfellow. The impulse, however, was soon over; and,ere she had half reached me, she slackened her pace on hearing thevoices of her father and the Confessor in one of the other paths hardby, and was turning gaily to seek them, when an early butterflystarted up from the bosom of a flower and caught her notice. Thepainted insect fluttered on before her with that sort of faintimpotent flight which leads so many a child to follow on for miles,still hoping to catch it at every step. Eagerly she pursued, with herwhole young soul beaming out of her beautiful eyes. For some way thebutterfly flew on down the alley, and Laura de Villardin was closeupon it; when rising a little in the air, it turned its course towardsthe opposite bank of the river. With a bound forward, Mademoiselle deVillardin strove to catch it ere it escaped for ever, slipped her footon the bank, and plunged over at once into the stream.
It is impossible to describe the three or four long thrilling shrieksthat burst from the lips of Madame de Villardin as her childdisappeared. For one instant they overpowered me; but the next Idarted forward to the bank. Luckily the stream was flowing towards me,and, though deep and rapid, was smooth enough. I cannot remember thetime when I could not swim, and the only difficulty was to discoverthe object of our search. The first plunge over had made her sink, andnothing appeared as my eye ran along the river, but the flatglistening surface of the stream.
An instant after, however, the little girl rose again, and with afaint cry, held out her arms at the distance of about twenty yardsfrom me. I plunged in, with two or three strokes brought myself to thespot, and finding that she had sunk again, dived down where I caughtthe gleaming of her clothes; and, throwing my left arm round her, shotup to the surface, holding her head above my own. By the convulsivegrasp with which she seized my neck and hair, I found that she wasstill living: and the joy which that conviction gave me wasindescribable, when, on rising above the water, I saw the scene thatthe bank presented. Madame de Villardin, on her knees, with her handsclasped, and eyes straining upon the spot where I had disappeared, wasthe first object that met my view; but a little nearer stood the Duke,called to the spot by the shrieks of his wife; while, with the frenzyof agony in his whole aspect, he was evidently only restrained fromplunging over also by the firm grasp which the priest had laid uponhis arm. Behind him appeared the form of Father Ferdinand, raising uphis left hand with impressive energy; and I could not but think he waspredicting I would save the child. The whole scene was made up by anumber of servants running down towards the spot, together with thewoody irregular banks, the bright green shades of the young leaveswhich clothed some of the trees, and the calm, bright sunshine,streaming cheerfully over all, as if there were no such things asdanger, and terror, and care, and distress, in all the many scenes helooks upon.
A shout of joy, that made the banks echo again, burst from thespectators, when we rose above the surface of the stream, especiallywhen, by the ease with which my old habits of swimming enabled me tobear my little charge, they saw that she was placed beyond furtherrisk; and when a motion of her hand towards her father evinced thatshe was uninjured from that which had already occurred. All crowdedround the spot to which I directed my course; and Monsieur deVillardin, stooping down as I approached, caught his child in hisarms, and pressed her again and again to his heart. For some timeMadame de Villardin wept in silence, holding one little hand of herrescued child, and kissing her fair cheek as she lay sobbing andagitated in her father's bosom. The priest looked on for a moment ortwo without speaking; but then calling to their remembrance Him towhom their thanks were first due, he offered a short prayer of praiseand gratitude in their name to the Almighty Giver of all good.
When this was concluded, Madame de Villardin besought her husband togive their little Laura into the hands of one of the servants, withorders to carry her to the ch?teau, lest, from the dripping state ofher clothes, she might encounter a danger different from that whichshe had just escaped. Her father, however, would not part with her;but, so far following the suggestion, he himself carried her home,hurrying forward as fast as possible, while Madame de Villardin, withthe rest, followed more slowly, her situation preventing her fromaccompanying her husband so rapidly. Her feelings were too intense forspeech, and she proceeded in perfect silence; while the priest, whofollowed by my side, questioned me concerning all the circumstanceswhich had attended the accident.
When we arrived at the castle, we were met by Monsieur de Villardinhimself, leading his daughter by the hand, now clad in drier garments,and smiling as gaily as if nothing had happened. Such moments softenand expand the heart; and the Duke's first act was one which inspiredbright but delusive hopes of better days in the bosom of more than oneperson present. He held his daughter up in his arms to embrace hermother, and then taking the Duchess's hand, he pressed a kiss upon hercheek.
Without pretending to any fine feelings, I may truly say, that I feltas glad as if some great benefit had fallen upon myself. His next act,however, was one which gave me gratification more entirely personal.The little Laura, having embraced her mother, turned to me, and, as Ibent over her to ask her how she was, she sprang into my arms andkissed my cheeks repeatedly, with all the warmth and sincerity ofchildish gratitude. Monsieur de Villardin smiled kindly upon us both;and the Duchess, who was again drowned in tears of joy, held out to meher hand, which I raised respectfully to my lips. We all now enteredthe ch?teau, and, although I was not very apt to fear wet clothes, Imade the state of my dress an excuse for retiring to my chamber,feeling that the Duke and Duchess would be better left alone togetherwith their child under the circumstances in which they were thenplaced. A couple of hours elapsed before I again saw any of thefamily; but, at the end of that time, one of the lacqueys entered myroom, and informed me that Monsieur de Villardin desired to speak withme. I instantly followed, not doubting, certainly, that his intentionwas to thank me for the assistance I had rendered to his child; butnot expecting, by any means, the deep and enthusiastic pouring forthof gratitude with which he now overwhelmed me.
He knew not, he said, how he could express his feelings towards me. Ifhe had before looked upon me as a member of his own family, in whatlight could he now look upon me, when I had saved his child, the idolof his heart, from the death which so imminently threatened her? Inconclusion, he again asked what he could do to testify his affectionfor me, and to express his thanks; and bade me point out myself anyway which would prove most gratifying to myself, and he wouldinstantly pursue it, did it involve the sacrifice of half his fortune.
"My lord," I replied, "I hope for nothing, I wish nothing, I willaccept of nothing, for doing an act which is far more than repaid byseeing the happiness which it has given to yourself and your mostexcellent lady. Or, if I must ask a boon, it shall be alone, that youwill, through life, give me the same place in your regard andaffection that you do now, and let me share your love and confidenceas long as we both live."
"That boon," replied the Duke, "was granted before you sought it. Fornever, of course, can I behold you in any other light than as thedearest and best beloved of my friends--nay more, as a benefactor,though the benefits conferred are of a kind that I can never repay.You must think, therefore, of some other request; or, if you think ofnone now, let it stand over to the future, and I promise, whateverboon you then ask me, to grant you, upon my honour."
"I do not think I shall have cause, my lord," I replied, "to call uponyou to fulfil your word; but, as there is nothing that I either wantor wish for at present, I can certainly ask nothi
ng now."
"Well, then," he added, "let it remain for the future; but one thing Imust myself do immediately, which I have heretofore forgotten: as Itold you before, it will require a royal ordinance to put you, as aforeigner, in full and entire possession of your farm of Juvigny; and,as I stand not over well with the Court, I was almost afraid that sucha favour might be refused me, if I applied without some special reasonwhich I could assign for making over the property to you. I now canassign the noblest and the most valid of reasons, and I will at oncewrite to the Prince de Cond?, one of my best friends, entreating himto make immediate application to the court for such letters patent asmay enable you hereafter and for ever to obtain and hold lands andlordships in France, as if you were a native subject of the realm."
I thanked him sincerely for all his kindness, and the letter to thePrince de Cond? was immediately written and despatched by a specialmessenger, who, before three weeks were over, brought me back lettersof naturalization in all due form, and entitling me, John MarstonHall, _Sieur de Juvigny_--a name which, afterwards, I occasionallyadopted when circumstances required.
If, in the household of Monsieur de Villardin, there had before beenanything wanting to my being considered and treated as one of his ownfamily, such was no longer the case. Every day something new was doneto contribute to my comfort and happiness. My time was left perfectlyat my own disposal. A servant was selected peculiarly to attend uponme. A suite of handsome apartments were assigned me in one of thewings of the ch?teau. Two beautiful horses were presented to me for myown use; and no young cavalier, of the first quality, could have beenbetter equipped in every respect than I now found myself. That whichgratified me the most of all, however, was to find that Monsieur deVillardin now selected me continually for his companion; and thoughbut little conversation of a very private nature took place betweenus, yet I felt that, as far as his confidence went, Gaspard deBelleville was beneath my feet for ever.
From Father Ferdinand, too, I received a mark of affection andkindness, which, as I had now learned to appreciate his characterproperly, gratified me much. The apartments assigned me consisted ofan ante-chamber, a little saloon, a bed-room, and a dressing-room; andI was surprised, on returning one morning, to see the carpenters, whowere always more or less employed about the house, engaged in puttingup a neat bookcase in my ante-room. This was followed by the arrivalof two large packets of books from Rennes; and I soon after found thegood priest busily employed in placing them in order. When the taskwas concluded, he begged me to accept them for his sake, and added, "Ihave had them placed here for you, because there are many leisuremoments in every man's life which he is glad to employ in reading, ifa book be at hand, when, probably, he would not take the trouble ofgoing down to seek one out in a large library like that below."
When I came to examine the store that the good father had provided formy mind, I was both pleased and amused with his selection; and,indeed, it offered not a bad type of his own mind. The books were ingeneral of anything but a heavy or very serious cast, though amongstthem were to be found a number of volumes, in the pages of which a mandisposed to seek for sound and wholesome ideas was sure to find themon every branch of morals or ethics. The generality, however,consisted of the best and purest poets in the language; of historiansa considerable number; of romance writers a very few; but all werechosen evidently with a view to induce a habit of reading, and to leadthe mind on to knowledge and virtue, by the pleasant path ofentertainment.
The effect was such as the good priest could have wished and desired:as I was not naturally obstinate or perverse, the knowledge of hisdesign led me rather to endeavour to accomplish than to defeat it.Although my taste for reading was, certainly, never so great as itmight have been, yet the half hour that I snatched twice or thrice inthe course of each day to peruse some of the volumes with which he hadsupplied me, carried me through a great number of the classicalauthors, both in French and Latin, and gave me a taste for many thingswhich I had before but little appreciated.
Owing both to new pursuits and feelings, my time did not now hangheavy on my hands; but it must be remarked, also, that a renewed gleamof sunshine had fallen upon our dwelling, which made everything seemcheerful around. The burst of kindly emotions and tender feeling, towhich Monsieur de Villardin had given way, had proved more permanentthan might have been expected. For several days before, the Confessorhad been labouring to free his mind from its delusions; and althoughhe had clung to his suspicions with all the tenacity of a jealousdisposition, yet the calm, steadfast reasoning of the priest had, itappears--together with my former representations--produced a greateffect; and it wanted but some little circumstance to wake the dormantaffections of his heart, when the accident that befel his childoccurred. The consequence, at the time, I have already noticed; andfor several weeks the same mood continued. Everything assumed a newaspect, and to me, especially, the whole scene was full of enjoyment.
Although the season was no longer one in which we could urge thechase, as we had formerly done at the Pr?s Vall?e, yet fishing andfalconry, which was still a favourite sport in that part of Brittany,afforded us constant amusement; and, as I have said, I was ever by theside of Monsieur de Villardin, often his only follower, and always hismost cherished companion. The only one in the house whom this changeseemed really to oppress, was my old enemy, Gaspard de Belleville; andnever did I set out with the Duke on any expedition of pleasure, but Icaught a sight of his brow lowering upon us, evidently full of gloomydisappointment at seeing the new hold I had obtained of his master'saffections. That he would struggle to regain them himself, andendeavour to deprive me of the confidence and regard which he coveted,I did not at all doubt; but as I feared nothing for myself, andtrusted that his power of injuring Madame de Villardin, at least inregard to the Count de Mesnil, was at an end, his hatred andmalevolence were more a matter of mockery to me than anything else. Itis difficult, however, to know when the fangs of a snake are drawncompletely; and I had yet to learn what a base and malicious heart canaccomplish, when it scruples at no means to serve its own sordid andungenerous purpose. I thought it quite sufficient that I did notaffect to triumph over him who was evidently my enemy, and that,without insulting him by anything like protection or condescension, Itreated him with civility. I have sometimes, indeed, been sorry sincethat I did not pursue a different course, and even, by irritating himstill more against myself, who could always defend myself, give adifferent direction to efforts which, without serving his own purpose,were but too fatal to the peace of others.