CHAPTER XXIV. A ROYAL PERIL.
The elation with which I had heard the king announce his resolutionquickly diminished on cooler reflection. It stood in particular at avery low ebb as I waited, an hour later, at the little north postern ofthe Castle, and, cowering within the shelter of the arch to escape thewind, debated whether his Majesty's energy would sustain him to thepoint of action, or whether he might not, in one of those fits oftreacherous vacillation which had again and again marred his plans, sendthose to keep the appointment who would give a final account of me.The longer I considered his character the more dubious I grew. Theloneliness of the situation, the darkness, the black front, unbroken byany glimmer of light, which the Castle presented on this side, and theunusual and gloomy stillness which lay upon the town, all contributed toincrease my uneasiness. It was with apprehension as well as relief thatI caught at last the sound of footsteps on the stone staircase, and,standing a little to one side, saw a streak of light appear at the footof the door.
On the latter being partially opened a voice cried my name. I advancedwith caution and showed myself. A brief conversation ensued betweentwo or three persons who stood within; but in the end, a masked figure,which I had no difficulty in identifying as the king, stepped brisklyout.
'You are armed?' he said, pausing a second opposite me.
I put back my cloak and showed him, by the light which streamed from thedoorway, that I carried pistols as well as a sword.
'Good!' he answered briefly; 'then let us go. Do you walk on my lefthand, my friend. It is a dark night, is it not?'
'Very dark, sire,' I said.
He made no answer to this, and we started, proceeding with caution untilwe had crossed the narrow bridge, and then with greater freedom and ata better pace. The slenderness of the attendance at Court that evening,and the cold wind, which swept even the narrowest streets and droveroisterers indoors, rendered it unlikely that we should be stopped ormolested by any except professed thieves; and for these I was prepared.The king showed no inclination to talk; and keeping silence myself outof respect, I had time to calculate the chances and to consider whetherhis Majesty would succeed where I had failed.
This calculation, which was not inconsistent with the keenestwatchfulness on my part whenever we turned a corner or passed the mouthof an alley, was brought to an end by our safe arrival at the house.Briefly apologising to the king for the meanness and darkness of thestaircase, I begged leave to precede him, and rapidly mounted until Imet Maignan. Whispering to him that all was well, I did not wait to hearhis answer, but, bidding him be on the watch, I led the king on withas much deference as was possible until we stood at the door ofmademoiselle's apartment, which I have elsewhere stated to consist ofan outer and inner room. The door was opened by Simon Fleix, and himI promptly sent out. Then, standing aside and uncovering, I begged theking to enter.
He did so, still wearing his hat and mask, and I followed and securedthe door. A lamp hanging from the ceiling diffused an imperfect lightthrough the room, which was smaller but more comfortable in appearancethan that which I rented overhead. I observed that Fanchette, whoseharsh countenance looked more forbidding than usual, occupied a stoolwhich she had set in a strange fashion against the Inner door; but Ithought no more of this at the moment, my attention passing quickly tomademoiselle, who sat crouching before the fire, enveloped in a largeoutdoor cloak, as if she felt the cold. Her back was towards us, and shewas, or pretended to be, still ignorant of our presence. With a mutteredword I pointed her out to the king, and went towards her with him.
'Mademoiselle, I said in a low voice, 'Mademoiselle de la Vire! I havethe honour--'
She would not turn, and I stopped. Clearly she heard, but she betrayedthat she did so only by drawing her cloak more closely round her. Primedby my respect for the king, I touched her lightly on the shoulder.'Mademoiselle!' I said impatiently, 'you are not aware of it, but--'
She shook herself free from my hand with so rude a gesture that I brokeoff, and stood gazing foolishly at her. The king smiled, and noddingto me to step back a pace, took the task on himself. 'Mademoiselle,' hesaid with dignity, 'I am not accustomed--'
His voice had a magical effect. Before he could add another word shesprang up as if she had been struck, and faced us, a cry of alarm on herlips. Simultaneously we both cried out too, for it was not mademoiselleat all. The woman who confronted us, her hand on her mask, her eyesglittering through the slits, was of a taller and fuller figure. Westared at her. Then a lock of bright golden hair which had escaped fromthe hood of her cloak gave us the clue. 'Madame!' the king cried.
'Madame de Bruhl!' I echoed, my astonishment greater than his.
Seeing herself known, she began with trembling fingers to undo thefastenings of her mask; but the king, who had hitherto displayed atrustfulness I had not expected in him, had taken alarm at sight of her,as at a thing unlooked for, and of which I had not warned him. 'How isthis?' he said harshly, drawing back a pace from her and regarding mewith anger and distrust. 'Is this some pretty arrangement of yours, sir?Am I an intruder at an assignation, or is this a trap with M. de Bruhlin the background? Answer, sirrah!' he continued, working himselfrapidly into a passion. 'Which am I to understand is the case?'
'Neither, sire,' I answered with as much dignity as I could assume,utterly surprised and mystified as I was by Madame's presence. 'YourMajesty wrongs Madame de Bruhl as much by the one suspicion as youinjure me by the other. I am equally in the dark with you, sire, and aslittle expected to see madame here.'
'I came, sire,' she said proudly, addressing herself to the king, andignoring me, 'out of no love to M. de Marsac, but as any person bearinga message to him might come. Nor can you, sire,' she added with spirit,'feel half as much surprise at seeing me here, as I at seeing yourMajesty.'
'I can believe that,' the king answered drily. 'I would you had not seenme.'
'The King of France is seen only when he chooses,' she replied,curtseying to the ground.
'Good,' he answered. 'Let it be so, and you will oblige the King ofFrance, madame. But enough,' he continued, turning from her to me;'since this is not the lady I came to see, M. de Marsac, where is she?'
'In the inner room, sire, I opine,' I said, advancing to Fanchette withmore misgiving at heart than my manner evinced. 'Your mistress is here,is she not?' I continued, addressing the woman sharply.
'Ay, and will not come out,' she rejoined, sturdily keeping her place.
'Nonsense!' I said. 'Tell her--'
'You may tell her what you please,' she replied, refusing to budge aninch. 'She can hear.'
'But, woman!' I cried impatiently, 'you do not understand. I MUST speakwith her. I must speak with her at once! On business of the highestimportance.'
'As you please,' she said rudely, still keeping her seat. 'I have toldyou you can speak.'
Perhaps I felt as foolish on this occasion as ever in my life; andsurely never was man placed in a more ridiculous position. Afterovercoming numberless obstacles, and escaping as many perils, I hadbrought the king here, a feat beyond my highest hopes--only to bebaffled and defeated by a waiting-woman! I stood irresolute; witless andconfused; while the king waited half angry and half amused, and madamekept her place by the entrance, to which she had retreated.
I was delivered from my dilemma by the curiosity which is,providentially perhaps, a part of woman's character, and which ledmademoiselle to interfere herself. Keenly on the watch inside, she hadheard part of what passed between us, and been rendered inquisitive bythe sound of a strange man's voice, and by the deference which shecould discern I paid to the visitor. At this moment, she cried out,accordingly, to know who was there; and Fanchette, seeming to take thisas a command, rose and dragged her stool aside, saying peevishly andwithout any increase of respect, 'There, I told you she could hear.'
'Who is it?' mademoiselle asked again, in a raised voice.
I was about to answer when the king signed to me to stand back, and,advancing himself, knocked
gently on the door. 'Open, I pray you,mademoiselle,' he said courteously.
'Who is there?' she cried again, her voice trembling.
'It is I, the king,' he answered softly; but in that tone of majestywhich belongs not to the man, but to the descendant, and seems to be theoutcome of centuries of command.
She uttered an exclamation and slowly, and with seeming reluctance,turned the key in the lock. It grated, and the door opened. I caught aglimpse for an instant of her pale face and bright eyes, and then hisMajesty, removing his hat, passed in and closed the door; and I withdrewto the farther end of the room, where madame continued to stand by theentrance.
I entertained a suspicion, I remember, and not unnaturally, that shehad come to my lodging as her husband's spy; but her first words when Ijoined her dispelled this. 'Quick!' she said with an imperious gesture.'Hear me and let me go! I have waited long enough for you, and sufferedenough through you. As for that, woman in there, she is mad, and herservant too! Now, listen to me. You spoke to me honestly to-day, andI have come to repay you. You have an appointment with my husbandto-morrow at Chaverny. Is it not so?' she added impatiently.
I replied that it was so.
'You are to go with one friend,' she went on, tearing the glove shehad taken off, to strips in her excitement, 'He is to meet you with onealso?'
'Yes,' I assented reluctantly, 'at the bridge, madame.'
'Then do not go,' she rejoined emphatically. 'Shame on me that I shouldbetray my husband; but it were worse to send an innocent man to hisdeath. He will meet you with one sword only, according to his challenge,but there will be those under the bridge who will make certain work.There, I have betrayed him now!' she continued bitterly. 'It is done.Let me go!'
'Nay, but, madame,' I said, feeling more concerned for her, on whom fromthe first moment of meeting her I had brought nothing but misfortune,than surprised by this new treachery on his part, 'will you not run somerisk in returning to him? Is there nothing I can do for you--no step Ican take for your protection?'
'None!' she said repellently and almost rudely, 'except to speed mygoing.'
'But you will not pass through the streets alone?'
She laughed so bitterly my heart ached for her. 'The unhappy are alwayssafe,' she said.
Remembering how short a time it was since I had surprised her in thefirst happiness of wedded love, I felt for her all the pity it wasnatural I should feel. But the responsibility under which his Majesty'spresence and the charge of mademoiselle laid me forbade me to indulgein the luxury of evincing my gratitude. Gladly would I have escorted herback to her home--even if I could not make that home again what it hadbeen, or restore her husband to the pinnacle from which I had dashedhim--but I dared not do this. I was forced to content myself with less,and was about to offer to send one of my men with her, when a hurriedknocking at the outer door arrested the words on my lips.
Signing to her to stand still, I listened. The knocking was repeated,and grew each moment more urgent. There was a little grille, stronglywired, in the upper part of the door, and this I was about to open inorder to learn what was amiss, when Simon's voice reached me from thefarther side imploring me to open the door quickly. Doubting the lad'sprudence, yet afraid to refuse lest I should lose some warning he had togive, I paused a second, and then undid the fastenings. The moment thedoor gave way he fell in bodily, crying out to me to bar it behind him.I caught a glimpse through the gap of a glare as of torches, and sawby this light half a dozen flushed faces in the act of rising above theedge of the landing. The men who owned them raised a shout of triumph atsight of me, and, clearing the upper steps at a bound, made a rush forthe door. But in vain. We had just time to close it and drop the twostout bars. In a moment, in a second, the fierce outcry fell to a dullroar; and safe for the time, we had leisure to look in one another'sfaces and learn the different aspects of alarm. Madame was white to thelips, while Simon's eyes seemed starting from his head, and he shook inevery limb with terror.
At first, on my asking him what it meant, he could not speak. But thatwould not do, and I was in the act of seizing him by the collar to forcean answer from him when the inner door opened, and the king came out,his face wearing an air of so much cheerfulness as proved both hissatisfaction with mademoiselle's story and his ignorance of all we wereabout. In a word he had not yet taken the least alarm; but seeing Simonin my hands, and madame leaning against the wall by the door like onedeprived of life, he stood and cried out in surprise to know what itwas.
'I fear we are besieged, sire,' I answered desperately, feeling myanxieties increased a hundredfold by his appearance--'but by whom Icannot say. This lad knows, however,' I continued, giving Simon, avicious shake, 'and he shall speak. Now, trembler,' I said to him, 'tellyour tale?'
'The Provost-Marshal!' he stammered, terrified afresh by the king'spresence: for Henry had removed his mask. 'I was on guard below. I hadcome up a few steps to be out of the cold, when I heard them enter.There are a round score of them.'
I cried out a great oath, asking him why he had not gone up and warnedMaignan, who with his men was now cut off from us in the rooms above.'You fool!' I continued, almost beside myself with rage, 'if you had notcome to this door they would have mounted to my rooms and beset them!What is this folly about the Provost-Marshal?'
'He is there,' Simon answered, cowering away from me, his face working.
I thought he was lying, and had merely fancied this in his fright. Butthe assailants at this moment began to hail blows on the door, callingon us to open, and using such volleys of threats as penetrated even thethickness of the oak; driving the blood from the women's cheeks, andarresting the king's step in a manner which did not escape me. Amongtheir cries I could plainly distinguish the words, 'In the king's name!'which bore out Simon's statement.
At the moment I drew comfort from this; for if we had merely to dealwith the law we had that on our side which was above it. And I speedilymade up my mind what to do. 'I think the lad speaks the truth, sire,' Isaid coolly. 'This is only your Majesty's Provost-Marshal. The worst tobe feared, therefore, is that he may learn your presence here beforeyou would have it known. It should not be a matter of great difficulty,however, to bind him to silence, and if you will please to mask, I willopen the grille and speak with him.'
The king, who had taken his stand in the middle of the room, and seemeddazed and confused by the suddenness of the alarm and the uproar,assented with a brief word. Accordingly I was preparing to open thegrille when Madame de Bruhl seized my arm, and forcibly pushed me backfrom it.
'What would you do?' she cried, her face full of terror. 'Do you nothear? He is there.'
'Who is there?' I said, startled more by her manner than her words.
'Who?' she answered; 'who should be there? My husband! I hear his voice,I tell you! He has tracked me here! He has found me, and will kill me!'
'God forbid!' I said, doubting if she had really heard his voice. Tomake sure, I asked Simon if he had seen him; and my heart sank when Iheard from him too that Bruhl was of the party. For the first time Ibecame fully sensible of the danger which threatened us. For the firsttime, looking round the ill-lit room on the women's terrified faces,and the king's masked figure instinct with ill-repressed nervousness, Irecognised how hopelessly we were enmeshed. Fortune had served Bruhl sowell that, whether he knew it or not, he had us all trapped--alikethe king whom he desired to compromise, and his wife whom he hated,mademoiselle who had once escaped him, and me who had twice thwartedhim. It was little to be wondered at if my courage sank as I looked fromone to another, and listened to the ominous creaking of the door, as thestout panels complained under the blows rained upon them. For my firstduty, and that which took the PAS of all others, was to the king--tosave him harmless. How, then, was I to be answerable for mademoiselle,how protect Madame de Bruhl?--how, in a word, redeem all those pledgesin which my honour was concerned?
It was the thought of the Provost-Marshal which at this moment ralliedmy failing spirits.
I remembered that until the mystery of his presencehere in alliance with Bruhl was explained there was no need to despair;and turning briskly to the king I begged him to favour me by standingwith the women in a corner which was not visible from the door. Hecomplied mechanically, and in a manner which I did not like; but lackingtime to weigh trifles, I turned to the grille and opened it without moreado.
The appearance of my face at the trap was greeted with a savage cry ofrecognition, which subsided as quickly into silence. It was followedby a momentary pushing to and fro among the crowd outside, which in itsturn ended in the Provost-Marshal coming to the front. 'In the king'sname!' he said fussily.
'What is it?' I replied, eyeing rather the flushed, eager faces whichscowled over his shoulders than himself. The light of two links, borneby some of the party, shone ruddily on the heads of the halberds, and,flaring up from time to time, filled all the place with wavering, smokylight. 'What do you want?' I continued, 'rousing my lodging at this timeof night?'
'I hold a warrant for your arrest,' he replied bluntly. 'Resistance willbe vain. If you do not surrender I shall send for a ram to break in thedoor.'
'Where is your order?' I said sharply. 'The one you held this morningwas cancelled by the king himself.'
'Suspended only,' he answered. 'Suspended only. It was given out to meagain this evening for instant execution. And I am here in pursuance ofit, and call on you to surrender.'
'Who delivered it to you?' I retorted.
'M. de Villequier,' he answered readily. 'And here it is. Now, come,sir,' he continued, 'you are only making matters worse. Open to us.'
'Before I do so,' I said drily, 'I should like to know what part in thepageant my friend M. de Bruhl, whom I see on the stairs yonder, proposesto play. And there is my old friend Fresnoy,' I added. 'And I see one ortwo others whom I know, M. Provost. Before I surrender I must know amongother things what M. de Bruhl's business is here.'
'It is the business of every loyal man to execute the king's warrant,'the Provost answered evasively. 'It is yours to surrender, and mine tolodge you in the Castle. 'But I am loth to have a disturbance. I willgive you until that torch goes out, if you like, to make up your mind.At the end of that time, if you do not surrender, I shall batter downthe door.'
'You will give the torch fair play?' I said, noting its condition.
He assented; and thanking him sternly for this indulgence, I closed thegrille.
A Gentleman of France: Being the Memoirs of Gaston de Bonne Sieur de Marsac Page 24
