CHAPTER XII.
THE DUEL.
I have said already how all this weighed me down; with what misgivingsI looked along the table, from the pale, pinched features of thelawyer to the smug grin of the grocer, or Buton's coarse face; withwhat sinkings of heart I found myself on a sudden the equal of thesemen, addressed now with rude abruptness, and now with servility; last,but not least, with what despondency I listened to the wrangling whichfollowed, and which it needed all the exertions of the Captain tocontrol. Fortunately, the sitting did not last long. After half anhour of debate and conversation, during which I did what I could toaid the few who knew anything of business, the meeting broke up; andwhile some went out on various missions, others remained to deal withsuch affairs as arose. I was one of those appointed to stay, and Idrew Father Benoit into a corner, and, hiding for a moment the feelingof despair which possessed me, I asked him if any further outbreakshad occurred in the country round.
"No," he answered, secretly pressing my hand. "We have done so muchgood, I think." Then, in a different tone, which showed how clearly heread my mind, he continued, under his breath, "Ah! M. le Vicomte, letus only keep the peace! Let us do what lies to our hands. Let usprotect the innocent, and then, no matter what happens. Alas, Iforesee more than I predicted. More than I dreamed of is in peril. Letus only cling to----"
He stopped, and turned, startled by the noisy entrance of the Captain;who came in so abruptly that those who remained at the table sprang totheir feet. M. Hugues' face was flushed, his eyes were gleaming withanger. The lawyer, who stood nearest to the door, turned a shadepaler, and stammered out a question. But the Captain passed by himwith a glance of contempt, and came straight to me. "M. le Vicomte,"he said out loud, blurting out his words in haste, "you are agentleman. You will understand me. I want your help."
I stared at him. "Willingly," I said. "But what is the matter?"
"I have been insulted!" he answered, his moustaches curling.
"How?"
"In the street! And by one of those puppies! But I will teach himmanners! I am a soldier, sir, and I----"
"But, stay, M. le Capitaine," I said, really taken aback. "Iunderstood that there was to be no fighting. And that you inparticular----"
"Tut! tut!"
"Would be caned before you would go out."
"_Sacre Nom!_" he cried, "what of that? Do you think that I am not agentleman because I have served in America instead of in France?"
"No," I said, scarcely able to restrain a smile. "But it is playinginto their hands. So you said yourself, a minute ago, and----"
"Will you help me, or will you not, sir?" he retorted angrily. Andthen, as the lawyer tried to intervene, "Be silent, you!" hecontinued, turning on him so violently that the scrivener jumped backa pace. "What do you know of these things? You miserable pettifogger!you----"
"Softly, softly, M. le Capitaine," I said, startled by this outbreak,and by the prospect of further brawling which it disclosed. "M.l'Avoue is doing merely his duty in remonstrating. He is in the right,and----
"I have nothing to do with him! And for you--you will not assist me?"
"I did not say that."
"Then, if you will, I crave your services at once! At once," he saidmore calmly; but he still kept his shoulder to the lawyer. "I haveappointed a meeting behind the Cathedral. If you will honour me, Imust ask you to do so immediately."
I saw that it was useless to say more; that he had made up his mind;and for answer I took up my hat. In a moment we were moving towardsthe door. The lawyer, the grocer, half a dozen cried out on us, andwould have stopped us. But Father Benoit remained silent, and I wenton down the stairs, and out of the house. Outside it was easy to seethat the quarrel and insult had had spectators; a gloomy crowd, notcompact, but made up of watching groups, filled all the sunny openpart of the square. The pavement, on the other hand, along which wehad to pass to go to the Cathedral, had for its only occupants a scoreor more of gentlemen, who, wearing white cockades, walked up and downin threes and fours. The crowd eyed them silently; they affected tosee nothing of the crowd. Instead, they talked and smiled carelessly,and with half-opened eyes; swung their canes, and saluted one another,and now and then stopped to exchange a word or a pinch of snuff. Theywore an air of insolence, ill-hidden, which the silent, almost cowedlooks of the multitude, as it watched them askance, seemed to justify.
We had to run the gauntlet of these; and my face burned with shame, aswe passed. Many of the men, whom I met now, I had met two days beforeat Madame St. Alais', where they had seen me put on the white cockade;they saw me now in the opposite camp, they knew nothing of my reasons,and I read in their averted eyes and curling lips what they thought ofthe change. Others--and they looked at me insolently, and scarcelygave me room to pass--were strangers, wearing military swords, and thecross of St. Louis.
Fortunately the passage was as short as it was painful. We passedunder the north wall of the Cathedral, and through a little door intoa garden, where lime trees tempered the glare of the sun, and thetown, with its crowd and noise, seemed to be in a moment left behind.On the right rose the walls of the apse and the heavy eastern domes ofthe Cathedral; in front rose the ramparts; on the left an old,half-ruined tower of the fourteenth century lifted a frowningivy-covered head. In the shadow, at its foot, on a piece of smoothsward, a group of four persons were standing waiting for us.
One was M. de St. Alais, one was Louis; the others were strangers. Asudden thought filled me with horror. "Whom are you going to fight?" Imuttered.
"M. de St. Alais," the Captain answered, in the same tone. And then,being within earshot of the others, I could say no more. They steppedforward, and saluted us.
"M. le Vicomte?" Louis said. He was grave and stern. I scarcely knewhim.
I assented mechanically, and we stepped aside from the others. "Thisis not a case that admits of intervention, I believe?" he said,bowing.
"I suppose not," I answered huskily.
In truth, I could scarcely speak for horror. I was waking slowly tothe consciousness of the dilemma in which I had placed myself. WereSt. Alais to fall by the Captain's sword, what would his sister say tome, what would she think of me, how would she ever touch my hand? Andyet could I wish ill to my own principal? Could I do so in honour,even if something sturdy and practical, something of plain gallantryin the man, whom I was here to second, had not already and insensiblywon my heart?
Yet one of the two must fall. The great clock above my head, slowlytelling out the hour of noon, beat the truth into my brain. For amoment I grew dizzy; the sun dazzled me, the trees reeled before me,the garden swam. The murmur of the crowd outside filled my ears. Thenout of the mist Louis' voice, unnaturally steady, gripped myattention, and my brain grew clear again.
"Have you any objection to this spot?" he said. "The grass is dry, andnot slippery. They will fight in shadow, and the light is good."
"It will do," I muttered.
"Perhaps you will examine it? There is, I think, no trip or fault."
I affected to do so. "I find none," I said hoarsely.
"Then we had better place our men?"
"I think so."
I had no knowledge of the skill of either combatant, but, as I turnedto join Hugues, I was startled by the contrast which the two presentedas they stood a little apart, their upper clothes removed. The Captainwas the shorter by a head, and stiff and sturdy, with a clear eye andkeen visage. M. le Marquis, on the other hand, was tall and lithe, andlong in the arm, with a reach which threatened danger, and a smilealmost as deadly. I thought that if his skill and coolness were on apar with his natural gifts, M. Hugues--But then again my head reeled.What did I wish?
"We are ready," M. Louis said impatiently; and I noticed that heglanced past me towards the gate of the garden. "Will you measure theswords, M. le Vicomte?"
I complied, and was about to place my man, when M. le Capitaineindicated by a sign that he wished to sp
eak to me, and, disregardingthe frowns of the other side, I led him apart.
His face had lost the glow of passion which had animated it a fewminutes before, and was pale and stern. "This is a fool's trick," hesaid curtly, and under his breath. "It will serve me right if thatpuppy goes through me. You will do me a favour, M. le Vicomte?"
I muttered that I would do him any in my power.
"I borrowed a thousand francs to fit myself out for this service," hecontinued, avoiding my eye, "from a man in Paris whose name you willfind in my valise at the inn. Should anything happen to me, I shouldbe glad if you will send him what is left. That is all."
"He shall be paid in full," I said. "I will see to it."
He wrung my hand, and went to his station; and Louis and I placedourselves on either side of the two, ready, with our swords drawn, tointerfere should need arise. The signal was given, the principalssaluted, and fell on guard, and in a moment the grinding and clickingof the blades began, while the pigeons of the Cathedral flew in eddiesabove us, and in the middle of the garden a little fountain tinkledsoftly in the sunshine.
They had not made three passes before the great diversity of theirstyles became apparent. While Hugues played vigorously with his body,stooping, and moving, and stepping aside, but keeping his arm stiff,and using his wrist much, M. le Marquis held his body erect and still,but moved his arm, and, fencing with a school correctness, as if heheld a foil, disdained all artifices save those of the weapon. It wasclear that he was the better fencer, and that, of the two, the Captainmust tire first, since he was never still, and the wrist is morequickly fatigued that the arm; but, in addition to this, I soonperceived that the Marquis was not putting forth his full strength,but, depending on his defence, was waiting to tire out his opponent.My eyes grew hot, my throat dry, as I watched breathlessly, waitingfor the stroke that must finish all--waiting and flinching. And then,on a sudden, something happened. The Captain seemed to slip, yet didnot slip, but in a moment, stooping almost prone, his left hand on theground, was under the other's guard. His point was at the Marquis'sbreast, when the latter sprang back--sprang back, and just savedhimself. Before the Captain could recover his footing, Louis dashedhis sword aside.
"Foul play!" he cried passionately. "Foul play! A stroke _dessous!_ Itis not _en regle_."
The Captain stood breathing quickly, his point to the ground. "But whynot, Monsieur?" he said. Then he looked to me.
"I scarcely understand, M. de St. Alais," I said stiffly. "Thestroke----"
"Is not allowed."
"In the schools," I said. "But this is a duel."
"I have never seen it used in a duel," he said.
"No matter," I answered warmly. "To interfere on such provocation isabsurd."
"Monsieur!"
"Is absurd!" I repeated firmly. "After such treatment I have noresource but to withdraw M. le Capitaine from the field."
"Perhaps you will take his place," some one behind me said with asneer.
I turned sharply. One of the two persons whom we had found with St.Alais was the speaker. I saluted him. "The surgeon?" I said.
"No," he answered angrily. "I am M. du Marc, and very much at yourservice."
"But not a second," I rejoined. "And, therefore, you have no right tobe standing where you are, nor to be here. I must request you towithdraw."
"I have at least as much right as those," he answered, pointing to theroof of the Cathedral, over the battlements of which a number of headscould be seen peering down at us.
I stared.
"Our friends have at least as much right as yours," he continued,taunting me.
"But they do not interfere," I answered firmly. "Nor shall you. Irequest you to withdraw."
He still refused, and even tried to bluster; but this proved too muchfor Louis' stomach; he intervened sharply, and at a word from him thebully shrugged his shoulders and moved away. Then we four looked atone another.
"We had better proceed," the Captain said bluntly. "If the stroke wasirregular, this gentleman was right to interfere. If not----"
"I am willing," M. de St. Alais said. And in a moment the two fell onguard, and to it again; but more fiercely now, and with less caution,the Captain more than once using a rough, sweeping parry, in greaterfavour with practical fighters than in the fencing school. This,though it left him exposed to a _riposte_, seemed to disconcert M. leMarquis, who fenced, I thought, less skilfully than before, and morethan once seemed to be flurried by the Captain's attack. I began tofeel doubtful of the result, my heart began to beat more quickly, theglitter of the blades as they slid up and down one another confused mysight. I looked for one moment across at Louis--and in that moment theend came. M. le Capitaine used again his sweeping parry, but this timethe circle was too wide; St. Alais' blade darted serpent-like underhis. The Captain staggered back. His sword dropped from his hand.
Before he could fall I caught him in my arms, but blood was gushingalready from a wound in the side of his neck. He just turned hiseyes to my face, and tried once to speak. I caught the words, "Youwill----" and then blood choked his voice, and his eyes slowly closed.He was dead, or as good as dead, before the surgeon could reach him,before I could lay him on the grass.
I knelt a moment beside him perfectly stunned by the suddenness of thecatastrophe; watching in a kind of fascination the surgeon feelingpulse and heart, and striving with his thumb to stop the bleeding. Fora moment or two my world was reduced to the sinking grey face, thequivering eyelids before me, and I saw nothing, heeded nothing,thought of nothing else. I could not believe that the valiant spirithad fled already; that the stout man who had so quickly yet insensiblywon my liking was in this moment dead; dead and growing livid, whilethe pigeons still circled overhead, and the sparrows chirped, and thefountain tinkled in the sunshine.
I cried out in my agony. "Not dead?" I said. "Not dead so soon?"
"Yes, M. le Vicomte, it was bad luck," the surgeon answered, lettingthe passive head fall on the stained grass. "With such a wound nothingcan be done."
He rose as he spoke; but I remained on my knees, wrapt and absorbed;staring at the glazing eyes that a few minutes before had been full oflife and keenness. Then with a shudder I turned my look on myself. Hisblood covered me; it was on my breast, my arm, my hands, soaking intomy coat. From it my thoughts turned to St. Alais, and at the moment,as I looked instinctively round to see where he was, or if he hadgone, I started. The deep boom of a heavy bell, tolled once, shook theair; while its solemn burden still hung mournfully on the ear, quickfootsteps ran towards me, and I heard a harsh cry at my elbow. "But,_mon Dieu!_ This is murder! They are murdering us!"
I looked behind me. The speaker was Du Marc, the bully who had vainlytried to provoke me. The two St. Alais and the surgeon were with him,and all four came from the direction of the door by which we hadentered. They passed me with averted eyes, and hurried towards alittle postern which flanked the old tower, and opened on theramparts. As they went out of sight behind a buttress that intervenedthe bell boomed out again above my head, its dull note full of menace.
Then I awoke and understood; understood that the noise which filled myears was not the burden of the bell carried on from one deep stroke toanother, but the roar of angry voices in the square, the babel of anapproaching crowd crying: "_A la lanterne! A la lanterne!_" From thebattlements of the Cathedral, from the louvres of the domes, fromevery window of the great gloomy structure that frowned above me, menwere making signs, and pointing with their hands, and brandishingtheir fists--at me, I thought at first, or at the body at my feet. Butthen I heard footsteps again, and I turned and found the other fourbehind me, close to me; the two St. Alais pale and stern, with brighteyes, the bully pale, too, but with a look which shot furtively hereand there, and white lips.
"Curse them, they are at that door, too!" he cried shrilly. "We arebeset. We shall be murdered. By God, we shall be murdered, and bythese _canaille!_ By these--I call all here to witness that it was afair fight! I call you to witness,
M. le Vicomte, that----"
"It will help us much," St. Alais said with a sneer, "if he does. If Iwere once at home----"
"Ay, but how are we to get there?" Du Marc cried. He could not hidehis terror. "Do you understand," he continued querulously, addressingme, "that we shall be murdered? Is there no other door? Speak, someone. Speak!"
His fears appealed to me in vain. I would scarcely have stirred afinger to save him. But the sight of the two St. Alais standing therepale and irresolute, while that roar of voices grew each moment louderand nearer, moved me. A moment, and the mob would break in; perhapsfinding us by Hugues' side, it might in its fury sacrifice allindifferently. It might; and then I heard, to give point to thethought, the crash of one of the doors of the garden as it gaveway; and I cried out almost involuntarily that there was anotherdoor--another door, if it was open. I did not look to see if theyfollowed, but, leaving the dead, I took the lead, and ran across thesward towards the wall of the Cathedral.
The crowd were already pouring into the garden, but a clump of shrubshid us from them as we fled; and we gained unseen a little door, alow-browed postern in the wall of the apse, that led, I knew--for notlong before I had conducted an English visitor over the Cathedral--toa sacristy connected with the crypt. My hope of finding the door openwas slight; if I had stayed to weigh the chances I should have thoughtthem desperate. But to my joy as I came up to it, closely followed bythe others, it opened of itself, and a priest, showing his tonsuredhead in the aperture, beckoned to us to hasten. He had little need todo so; in a moment we had obeyed, were by his side, and panting, heardthe bolts shoot home behind us. For the moment we were safe.
Then we breathed again. We stood in the twilight of a long narrow roomwith walls and roof of stone, and three loopholes for windows. Du Marcwas the first to speak. "_Mon Dieu_, that was close," he said, wipinghis brow, which in the cold light wore an ugly pallor. "We are----"
"Not out of the wood yet," the surgeon answered gravely, "though wehave good grounds for thanking M. le Vicomte. They have discovered us!Yes, they are coming!"
Probably the people on the roof had watched us enter and denounced ourplace of refuge; for as he spoke, we heard a rush of feet, the doorshook under a storm of blows, and a score of grimy savage faces showedat the slender arrow-slits, and glaring down, howled and spat cursesupon us. Luckily the door was of oak, studded and plated with iron,fashioned in old, rough days for such an emergency, and we stoodcomparatively safe. Yet it was terrible to hear the cries of the mob,to feel them so close, to gauge their hatred, and know while they beaton the stone as though they would tear the walls with their nakedhands, what it would be to fall into their power!
We looked at one another, and--but it may have been the dim light--Isaw no face that was not pale. Fortunately the pause was short. TheCure who had admitted us, unlocked as quickly as he could an innerdoor. "This way," he said--but the snarling of the beasts outsidealmost drowned his voice--"if you will follow me, I will let you outby the south entrance. But, be quick, gentlemen, be quick," hecontinued, pushing us out before him, "or they may guess what we areabout, and be there before us."
It may be imagined that after that we lost no time. We followed him asquickly as we could along a narrow subterranean passage, very dimlylit, at the end of which a flight of six steps brought us into asecond passage. We almost ran along this, and though a locked doordelayed us a moment--which seemed a minute, and a long one--the keywas found and the door opened. We passed through it, and foundourselves in a long narrow room, the counterpart of that we had firstentered. The cure opened the farther door of this; I looked out. Thealley outside, the same which led beside the Cathedral to the ChapterHouse, was empty.
"We are in time," I said, with a sigh of relief; it was pleasant tobreathe the fresh air again. And I turned, still panting with thehaste we had made, to thank the good Cure who had saved us.
M. de St. Alais, who followed me, and had kept silence throughout,thanked him also. Then M. le Marquis stood hesitating on thethreshold, while I looked to see him hurry away. At last he turned tome. "M. de Saux," he said, speaking with less aplomb than was usualwith him--but we were all agitated--"I should thank you also. Butperhaps the situation in which we stand towards one another----"
"I think nothing of that," I answered harshly. "But that in which wehave just stood----"
"Ah," he rejoined, shrugging his shoulders, "if you take it thatway----"
"I do take it that way," I answered--the Captain's blood was not yetdry on the man's sword, and he spoke to me! "I do take it that way.And I warn you, M. le Marquis," I continued sternly, "that if youpursue your plan further, a plan that has already cost one brave manhis life, it will recoil on yourselves, and that most terribly."
"At least I shall not ask you to shield me," he answered proudly. Andhe walked carelessly away, sheathing his sword as he went. The passagewas still empty. There was no one to stop him.
Louis followed him; Du Marc and the surgeon had already disappeared. Ifancied that as Louis passed me he hung a moment on his heel; and thathe would have spoken to me, would have caught my eye, would have takenmy hand, had I given him an opening. But I saw before me Hugues' deadface and sunken eyes, and I set my own face like a stone, and turnedaway.