In Kings' Byways

In Kings' Byways Page 8

by Stanley John Weyman

  THE DIARY OF A STATESMAN

  That which I am about to insert in this place may seem to some to betrifling, and on a parity with the diverting story of M. Boisrose, whichI have set down in an earlier part of my memoirs. But among thecalumnies of those who have not since the death of the late King ceasedto attack me, the statement that I kept from his Majesty things whichshould have reached his ears, has had a prominent place; though athousand times refuted by my friends. I take in hand, therefore, to showby this episode, curious in itself, the full knowledge of affairs whichthe King had, and to prove that in many matters, which were neverpermitted to become public, he took a personal share, worthy as much ofHaroun as of Alexander.

  It was my custom, before I entered upon those negotiations with thePrince of Conde which terminated in the recovery of the estate ofVillebon, where I now reside, to spend a part of the autumn and winterat Rosny. On these occasions, I was in the habit of moving from Pariswith a considerable train, including not only my Swiss, pages, andgrooms, but the maids of honour and waiting-women of the Duchess. Wehalted to take dinner at Poissy, and generally contrived to reach Rosnytowards nightfall, so as to sup by the light of flambeaux, in a mannerenjoyable enough, though devoid of that state which I have evermaintained, and enjoined upon my children, as at once the privilege andburden of rank.

  At the time of which I speak, I had for my favourite charger the sorrelhorse which the Duke of Mercoeur presented to me with a view to my goodoffices at the time of the King's entry into Paris; and which I honestlytransferred to his Majesty in accordance with a principle laid down inanother place. The King insisted on returning it to me, and for severalyears I rode it on these annual visits to Rosny. What was moreremarkable was, that on each of these occasions it cast a shoe about themiddle of the afternoon, and always when we were within a short leagueof the village of Aubergenville. Though I never had with me less than ahalf a score of led horses, I had such an affection for the sorrel thatI preferred to wait until it was shod, rather than accommodate myself toa nag of less easy paces; and would allow my household to precede me,while I stayed behind with at most a guard or two, my valet, and a page.

  The forge at Aubergenville was kept by a smith of some skill, a cheerfulfellow, whom I rewarded, in view rather of my position than hisservices, with a gold piece. His joy at receiving what was to him theincome of three months was great, and never failed to reimburse me; inaddition to which I took some pleasure in unbending, and learning fromthis simple peasant and loyal man, what the tax-payers were saying of meand my reforms--a duty I felt I owed to the King my master.

  As a man of breeding, it would ill become me to set down the homelytruths I thus learned. The conversations of the vulgar are little suitedto a nobleman's memoirs. But in this I distinguish between the Duke ofSully and the King's minister; and it is in the latter capacity that Irelate what passed on these diverting occasions. "Ho! Simon," I wouldsay, encouraging the poor man as he came bowing before me. "How goes it,my friend?"

  "Badly," he would answer, "very badly until your lordship came thisway."

  "And how was that, little man?"

  "Ah, it is the roads!" he always replied, shaking his bald head as hebegan to set about his business. "The roads since your lordship becameSurveyor-General, are so good, that not one horse in a hundred leavesits shoe in a slough! And then there are so few highwaymen, that not onerobber's plates do I replace in a twelvemonth! That is where it is."

  At this I was highly delighted. "Still, since I began to pass this waytimes have not been so bad with you, Simon," I would answer.

  Thereto he had one invariable reply. "No, thanks to St. Genevieve andyour Lordship, whom we call in this village the poor man's friend, Ihave a fowl in the pot."

  This phrase so pleased me, that I repeated it to the king. It tickledhis fancy also, and for many years it was a common remark of that goodand great ruler, that he would fain live to see every peasant with afowl in his pot.

  "But why," I remember, I once asked this honest fellow--it was on thelast occasion of the sorrel falling lame there--"do you thank St.Genevieve?"

  "She is my patron saint," he answered.

  "Then you are a Parisian?"

  "Your lordship is always right."

  "But does her saintship do you any good?" I asked curiously.

  "By your lordship's leave. My wife prays to her, and she loosens thenails in the sorrel's shoes."

  "Then she pays off an old grudge," I answered. "There was a time whenParis liked me little. But hark you, Master Smith! I am not sure 'tisnot an act of treason to conspire with Madame Genevieve against thecomfort of the King's minister. What think you, you rascal? Can you passthe justice-elm without a shiver?"

  This threw the simple fellow into great fear, which the sight of thelivre of gold converted into joy. Leaving him still staring at hisfortune, I rode away. But when we had gone some little distance, theaspect of his face, when I charged him with treason, or my ownunassisted discrimination, suggested a clue to the phenomenon.

  "La Trape," I said to my valet--the same who was with me atCahors--"what is the name of the innkeeper at Poissy, at whose house weare accustomed to dine?"

  "Andrew, may it please your lordship."

  "Ha! Ha! I thought so!" I exclaimed, smiting my thigh. "Simon and Andrewhis brother! Answer, knave; and if you have permitted me to be robbedthese many times, tremble for your ears! Is he not brother to the smithat Aubergenville who has just shod my horse?"

  La Trape professed to be ignorant on the point. But a groom who hadstayed with me, having sought my permission to speak, said it was so,adding that Master Andrew had risen in the world through dealings inhay, which he was wont to take into Paris and sell, and that he did notnow acknowledge, or see anything of his brother, the smith.

  On receiving this confirmation of my suspicion, my vanity as well as mylove of justice led me to act with the promptitude which I haveexhibited in greater emergencies. I rated La Trape for his carelessnessin permitting this deception to be practised; and the main body of myattendants being now in sight, I ordered him to take two Swiss andarrest both brothers without delay. There remained three hours ofdaylight, and I judged that by hard riding they might reach Rosny withtheir prisoners before bedtime.

  I spent some time, while still on the road, in considering whatpunishment I should inflict on the culprits, and finally laid aside thepurpose I had at first conceived--of dealing severely with them--infavour of a plan that I thought might offer me some amusement. For theexecution of this, I depended upon Maignan, my equerry, a man of livelyimagination, and the same who had, of his own motion, arranged andcarried out the triumphal procession in which I was borne to Rosny,after the battle of Ivry. Before I sat down to supper, I gave him hisdirections; and, as I had expected, news was brought to me, while I wasat table, that the prisoners were without.

  On this, I informed the Duchess and the company--for, as was usual, anumber of my country neighbours had come to compliment me on myreturn--that there was sport of a rare kind on foot; and we adjourned,Maignan and four pages bearing lights before us, to that end of theterrace which abuts on the linden avenue. Here a score of grooms,holding aloft torches, had been arranged in a semicircle, so that theyenclosed an impromptu theatre, which was as light as in the day. On asloping bank at the end of the terrace, seats had been placed for thosewho had supped at my table, while the rest of the company found suchplaces of vantage as they could, their number, indeed, amounting, withmy household, to two hundred persons. In the centre of the open space asmall forge-fire had been kindled, the red glow of which added much tothe strangeness of the scene; and on the anvil beside it were ranged anumber of horses' and donkeys' shoes, with a full complement of toolsused by smiths.

  All being ready, I gave the word to bring in the prisoners; and,escorted by La Trape and six of my guards, they were marched into thearena. In their pale and terrified faces, and the shaking limbs whichscarce supported them, I read both the consciousness of guilt and
theapprehension of immediate punishment; it was plain that they expectednothing less. I was very willing to play with their fears, and for sometime looked at them in silence, while all wondered with lively curiositywhat would ensue. In the end, I addressed them gravely, telling theinnkeeper that I knew well he had loosened each year a shoe of my horse,in order that his brother might profit by the job of replacing it; andthen I proceeded to reprove the smith for the ingratitude which had ledhim to return my bounty by the conception of so knavish a trick.

  Upon this they confessed their guilt, and flinging themselves upon theirknees, with many tears, begged for mercy. After a decent interval Ipermitted myself to be moved.

  "Your lives shall be spared," I pronounced. "But punished you must be. Iordain that Simon the smith fit, nail, and properly secure a pair ofiron shoes to Andrew's heels, and that then, Andrew, who by that timewill have learned somewhat of the smith's art, do the same to Simon. Sowill you both be taught to avoid such tricks in the future."

  It may well be imagined that a judgment so justly adapted to the offencecharmed all save the culprits; and in a hundred ways the pleasure ofthose present was evinced: to such a degree indeed that Maignan haddifficulty in restoring gravity to the assemblage. This done, however,Master Andrew was taken in hand, and his wooden shoes removed. The toolsof his trade were placed before Simon, but he cast glances so piteous,first at his brother's feet, and then at the shoes, as again gave riseto an amount of merriment that surpassed all, my pages in particularwell-nigh forgetting my presence, and rolling about in a mannerunpardonable at another time. However, I rebuked them, and was about toorder the sentence to be carried into effect, when the remembrance ofthe many pleasant simplicities which the smith had uttered to me, actingupon a natural disposition to mercy which the most calumnious of myenemies have never questioned, induced me to give the prisoners achance of escape. "Listen," I said, "Simon and Andrew. Your sentence hasbeen pronounced and will be executed, unless you can avail yourself ofthe condition I now offer. You shall have three minutes: if in that timeeither of you can make a good joke, he shall go free. If not--let a manattend to the bellows, La Trape!"

  This charmed my neighbours, who were now well assured that I had notpromised them a novel entertainment without good grounds; for thegrimaces of the two knaves thus bidden to jest if they would save theirskins were so diverting they would have made a nun laugh. The two lookedat me with their eyes as wide as plates, and for the whole of the timeof grace never a word could they utter save howls for mercy. "Simon," Isaid gravely, when the time was up, "have you a joke? No. Andrew, myfriend, have you a joke? No. Then----"

  I was about to order the sentence to be carried out when the innkeeperflung himself again upon his knees and cried out loudly--as much to myastonishment as to the regret of the bystanders, who were bent on seeingso strange a shoeing feat--"One word, my lord! One word! I can give youno joke! But I can do a service, a service to the King! I can disclose aplot, a wicked conspiracy against him!"

  I need not say how greatly I was taken aback by this publicannouncement. But I had been too long in the King's employment not tohave remarked how strangely things are brought to light; and on hearingthe man's words, which were followed by a stricken silence, I did notfail to look sharply at the faces of such of those present as it waspossible to suspect. I failed, however, to observe any sign of confusionor dismay, or anything more particular than such a statement wascalculated to produce. Doubting much whether the man was not playingwith me, I then addressed him sternly, warning him to beware lest in hisanxiety to save his heels by falsely accusing others, he lose his head.For that, if his conspiracy should prove to be an invention of his own,I should certainly consider it my duty to hang him.

  He still persisted, however, in his story, and even added desperately,"It is a plot, my lord, to assassinate you and the King on the sameday."

  This statement went home; for I had good reason to know that at thattime the king had alienated many by his infatuation for Madame deVerneuil; while I had to reckon with all whom my pursuit of hisinterests injured in reality or appearance. Forthwith I directed thatthe prisoners should be led in to the chamber adjoining my privatecloset, and taking the precaution to call my guards about me, since Iknew not what attempt despair might not breed, I withdrew myself,making such apologies to the company as the nature of the casepermitted.

  I ordered Simon the smith to be first brought before me, and in thepresence of Maignan I severely examined him as to his knowledge of anyconspiracy. He denied, however, that he had heard of the mattersreferred to by his brother, and persisted so firmly in the denial that Iwas inclined to believe him. In the end he was removed and Andrew wasbrought in. The innkeeper's demeanour was such as I have often observedin intriguers brought suddenly to book. He averred the existence of theconspiracy and that its objects were those which he had stated, and heoffered to give up his associates; but he conditioned that he should dothis in his own way, undertaking to conduct me and one other person--butno more, lest the alarm should be given--to a place in Paris on thefollowing night, where we could hear the plotters state their plans anddesigns. In this way only, he urged, could proof positive be obtained.

  I was naturally startled by this proposal, and inclined to think it atrap. But more leisurely consideration dispelled my fears. The innkeeperhad held no parley with any one save his guards, since his arrest, andcould neither have warned his accomplices, nor acquainted them with adesign the execution of which depended on his confession to me. In theend, therefore, I accepted his terms--with a private reservation that Iwould have help at hand; and before daybreak next morning I left Rosny,which I had only seen by torchlight, with my prisoner and a select bodyof Swiss. We entered Paris in the afternoon in three parties, with aslittle parade as possible, and resorted to the Arsenal, whence, as soonas evening fell, I made my way to the King.

  A return so sudden and unexpected, was as great a surprise to the Courtas to Henry, and I was not slow to mark the discomposure which appearedon more than one face as the crowd in the chamber fell back for me toapproach my master. Still, I was careful to remember that this mightarise from other causes than guilt. The King received me with his wontedaffection; and divining that I must have something important tocommunicate, he withdrew with me to the farther end of the chamber,where we were out of earshot of the Court. I related the story to hisMajesty, keeping back nothing.

  He shook his head, saying merely, "The fish, to escape the frying-pan,grandmaster, will jump into the fire. And human nature, save in ourcase, who can trust one another, is akin to the fishy."

  I was touched by the compliment, but not convinced. "You have not seenthe man, sire," I said. "And I have had that advantage."

  "You believe him?"

  "In part," I answered, with caution. "So far as to be assured that hethinks to save his skin, which he can only save if he be telling thetruth. May I beg you, sire," I added, seeing the direction of hisglance, "not to look so fixedly at the Duke of Epernon? He growsuneasy."

  "'Conscience makes'--you know the rest."

  "Nay, sire, with submission," I replied, "I will answer for him; if hebe not driven by apprehension to do something reckless."

  "I am taking your warranty every day!" my master said, with the gracewhich came so natural to him. "But now in this matter what would youhave me do?"

  "Double your guards, sire, for to-night. That is all. I will answer forthe Bastille and the Arsenal; and holding these, we hold Paris."

  But thereupon the king declared a decision, which I felt it to be myduty to combat with all my influence. He had conceived the idea of beingthe one to accompany me to the rendezvous. "I am tired of the dice," hecomplained, "and sick of tennis, at which I know everybody's strength.Madame de Verneuil is at Fontainebleau; the Queen is unwell. Oh, Sully,I would the old days were back when we had Nerac for our Paris, and knewthe saddle better than the armchair."

  "The King belongs to his people."

  "The fowl in the pot?" he
replied. "To be sure. But time enough to thinkof that to-morrow." And do what I would I could not turn him. In theend, therefore, I took my leave of him as if for the night, and retiredleaving him at play with the Duke of Epernon. But an hour later, towardseight o'clock, he made an excuse to withdraw to his closet, and met meoutside the eastern gate of the Louvre. He was masked, and had with himonly Coquet, the master of the household. I too had taken a mask and wasesquired by Maignan, under whose orders were four Swiss--whom I hadchosen because they spoke no French--and who had Andrew in charge. Ibade Maignan follow the innkeeper's directions, and we proceeded in twoparties through the streets in the direction of the Arsenal, until wereached the mouth of an obscure lane near the gardens of St. Pol, sonarrow that the decrepit wooden houses shut out well-nigh all view ofthe sky. Here the prisoner halted and called upon me to fulfil the termsof my agreement. With misgiving I complied. I bade Maignan remain withthe Swiss at a distance of fifty paces--directing him to come up only ifI should whistle or give the alarm; then I myself, with the King andAndrew, proceeded onward in the deep shadow of the houses. I kept myhand on my pistol, which I had previously showed to the prisoner,intimating that on the first sign of treachery I should blow his brainsout. However, in spite of this precaution, I felt uncomfortable to thelast degree. I blamed myself for allowing the King to expose himself tothis unnecessary danger; while the meanness of the quarter, the fetidair, the darkness of the night which was cold and stormy, and theuncertainty of the event lowered my spirits, and made every splash inthe kennel, or stumble on the reeking slippery pavements--matters overwhich the King grew merry--seem no light troubles to me. We came atlength to a house which, as far as we could judge in the darkness,seemed to be of rather greater pretensions than its fellows. Here, ourguide stopped, and whispered to us to mount some steps to a raisedwooden gallery, which intervened between the lane and the doorway. Onthis, beside the door, a couple of unglazed windows looked forth. Thewooden lattice which covered one was sufficiently open to allow us tosee a large bare crazy room, lighted by a couple of rushlights.Directing us to place ourselves close to this window, the innkeeperknocked at the door in a peculiar fashion, entered, and appeared at oncein the lighted room, of which we had a view. Gazing through the windowwe were surprised to find that the only person within save Andrew, was ayoung woman, who, crouching over a smouldering fire, was crooning alullaby while she attended to a large black pot.

  "Good evening, mistress!" the innkeeper said, advancing to the fire. Hemasked well his nervousness: nevertheless, it was patent to us.

  "Good evening, Master Andrew," she replied, looking up and nodding, butshowing no sign of surprise at his appearance. "Martin is away, but hemay return at any moment."

  "To-night?"

  "Yes."

  "Is he still of the same mind?"

  "Quite."

  "Ah! That is so, is it. And what of Sully?" he continued, somewhathoarsely. "Is he to die also?"

  "They have decided that he must," the girl answered gloomily.

  On that, it may be believed that I listened; while the King by a nudgein my side, seemed to rally me on the destiny so coolly arranged for me."Martin," the girl continued, before the chill sensation had ceased torun down my back, "Martin says it is no good killing the other, unlesshe goes too--they have worked so long together. But it vexes me sadly,Master Andrew," she added, with a certain break in her voice. "Sadly itvexes me. I could not sleep last night for thinking of it, and the riskMartin runs. And I shall sleep less--when it is done."

  "Pooh! pooh!" said that rascally innkeeper, and stirred the fire. "Thinkless about it. Things will grow worse and worse, if they are let live.The King has done harm enough already. And he grows old besides. And toput off a step of this kind is dangerous. If a word got about--'tisruin."

  "That is true!" the girl answered, gazing drearily at the pot. "And nodoubt the sooner the King is put out of the way the better. I do not saya word for him. He must go. But 'tis Sully troubles me. He has donenought, and though he may become as bad as the others--he may not. It isthat, and the risk Martin runs trouble me. 'Twould be death for him."

  "Ay," said Andrew, cutting her short; "that's so." And they both lookedat the fire.

  At this I took the liberty of gently touching the King; but, by a motionof his finger, he enjoined silence. We stooped still farther forward soas to better command the room. The girl was rocking herself to and froin evident anxiety, "If We killed the King," she said, "Martin declareswe should be no better off, as long as Sully lives. Both or neither, heSays. Both or neither. He grew mad about it. Both or neither! But I donot know. I cannot bear to think of it. It was a sad day When he broughtthe Duke here, Master Andrew, and one I fear we shall rue as long as welive!"

  It was now the King's turn to be moved. He grasped my wrist so forciblythat I restrained a cry with difficulty. "The Duke!" he whisperedharshly in my ear. "Then they are Epernon's tools! Where is yourwarranty now, Rosny?"

  I confess that I trembled. I knew well that the King, particular incourtesies, never forgot to call his servants by their titles save intwo cases: when he indicated by the error, as once in Marshal Biron'saffair, his intention to promote or degrade; or when he was moved to thedepths of his nature and fell into an old habit. I did not dare toreply, but I listened greedily for more information.

  "When is it to be done?" the innkeeper asked, sinking his voice, andglancing round as if he would call especial attention to this.

  "That depends upon Master La Riviere," the girl answered. "To-morrownight, I understand, if the physician can have the stuff ready."

  I met the King's eyes, shining in the faint light, which, issuing fromthe window, fell upon him. Of all things he hated treachery, and LaRiviere was his first physician. At this very time, as I well knew, hewas treating his Majesty for a slight derangement, which the King hadbrought upon himself by his imprudence. This doctor had formerly been inthe employment of the Bouillon family, who had surrendered his servicesto the King. Neither I nor his Majesty had trusted the Duke of Bouillonfor the last year past, so that we were not surprised by this hint thathe also was privy to the design.

  Despite our anxiety not to miss a word, an approaching step warned us toleave the window for a moment. More than once before we had done so toescape the notice of a wayfarer passing up or down. But this time I hada difficulty in inducing the King to adopt the precaution. Yet it waswell that I succeeded, for the person who came towards us did not pass,but, mounting the steps, almost within touch of me, entered the house.

  "The plot thickens," the King muttered. "Who is this?"

  At the moment he asked I was racking my brain to remember. I have a goodeye and a trained memory for faces; and this was one I had seen severaltimes. The features were so familiar that I suspected the man of being acourtier in disguise, for he was shabbily dressed; and I ran over thenames of several persons whom I knew to be Epernon's friends or agents.But he was none of these, and, obeying the King's gesture, I bent myselfanew to the task of listening.

  The girl looked up at the man's entrance, but did not rise. "You arelate, Martin," she said.

  "A little," the new-comer answered. "How do you do, Master Andrew? Whatnews of Aubergenville?" And then, not without a trace of affection inhis tone, "What, still vexing, my girl?" he added, laying a hand on thegirl's shoulder. "You have too soft a heart for this business. I alwayssaid so."

  She sighed, but made no answer.

  "You have made up your mind to it, I hear," said the innkeeper.

  "That is it. Needs must when the devil drives!" the man repliedjauntily. He had a bold, reckless, determined air; yet in his face Ithought I saw still surviving some traces of a better spirit.

  "The devil in this case was the Duke," quoth Andrew.

  "Ay, curse him! I would I had cut the dog's liver out before he crossedmy threshold," cried the man, with passion. "But there, 'tis done! It istoo late to say that now. What has to be done, has to be done."

  "How are you go
ing about it? Poison, the mistress says. And it issafest."

  "Yes, she will have it so; but, if I had my way," the man continuedhardily, "I would out one of these nights and cut the dogs' throatswithout more."

  "You could never escape, Martin!" the girl cried, clasping her hands andrising in excitement. "It would be hopeless. It would be throwing awayyour own life. And besides, you promised me."

  "Well, have it so. It is to be done your way, so there is an end," theman answered wearily. "It is more expensive, that is all. Give me mysupper. The devil take the King, and Sully too! He will soon have them!"

  Master Andrew rose on this, and I took his movement towards the door fora signal to us to retire. He came out presently, after bidding the twogood night, and closed the door behind him. He found us standing in thestreet waiting for him, and forthwith he fell on his knees in the mudand looked up at me, the perspiration standing thick on his white face."My lord," he cried hoarsely, "I have earned my pardon!"

  "If you go on," I said encouragingly, "as you have begun, have no fear."And I whistled up the Swiss, and bade Maignan go in with them and arrestthe man and woman with as little disturbance as possible. While this wasbeing done we waited without, keeping a sharp eye upon the informer,whose terror, I noted with suspicion, seemed to be increasing ratherthan diminishing. He did not try to escape, however, and Maignanpresently came to tell us that he had executed the arrest withoutdifficulty or resistance.

  The importance of arriving at the truth before Epernon and the greaterconspirators took the alarm was so vividly present to the minds both ofthe King and myself, that we decided to examine the prisoners in thehouse, rather than hazard the delay which the removal to a fit placemust occasion. Accordingly taking the precaution to post Coquet in thestreet outside, and to plant a burly Swiss in the doorway, the King andI entered. I removed my mask, as I did so, being aware of the necessityof gaining the prisoners' confidence, but I begged the King to retainhis. As I had expected, the man immediately recognized me, and fell onhis knees. A nearer view confirmed the notion I had previouslyentertained that his features were familiar to me, but I could notremember his name. I thought this a good starting point for theexamination; and bidding Maignan withdraw, I assumed an air of mildness,and asked the fellow his name.

  "Martin only, please your lordship," he answered; adding "Once I soldyou two dogs, sir, for the chase; and to your lady a lapdog calledNinette, no larger than her hand. 'Twas of three pounds weight and nomore."

  I remembered the knave then, as a well-known dog dealer, who had beenmuch about the court in the reign of Henry the Third and later: and Isaw at once how convenient a tool he might be made since he could beseen in converse with people of all ranks without arousing suspicion.The man's face as he spoke expressed so much fear and surprise that Idetermined to try what I had often found successful in the case ofgreater criminals; to squeeze him for a confession, while still excitedby his arrest, and before he had had time to consider what his chancesof support at the hands of his confederates might be. I charged himtherefore to tell the whole truth as he hoped for the King's mercy. Heheard me, gazing at me piteously; but his only answer, to my surprise,was that he had nothing to confess. Nothing! nothing, as he hoped formercy.

  "Come! come!" I replied. "This will avail you nothing. If you do notspeak quickly, and to the point, we shall find means to compel you. Whocounselled you to attempt his Majesty's life?"

  He stared at me, at that, so stupidly, and cried out with so real anappearance of horror, "How? I attempt the King's life? God forbid!" thatI doubted we had before us a more dangerous rascal than I had thought;and I hastened to bring him to the point.

  "What then--" I cried, frowning--"of the stuff Master La Riviere is togive you? To take the King's life? To-morrow night? Oh, we knowsomething I assure you. Bethink you quickly, and find your tongue if youwould have an easy death."

  I expected to see his self-control break down at this proof of ourknowledge. But he only stared at me with the same look of bewilderment,and I was about to bid them bring in the informer that I might see thetwo front to front, when the female prisoner who had hitherto stoodbeside him, weeping in such distress and terror as were to be expectedin a woman of that class, suddenly stopped her tears and lamentations.It occurred to me that she might make a better witness. I turned to her,but when I would have questioned her, she broke on the instant intohysterics, screaming and laughing in the wildest manner.

  From that, I remember, I learned nothing, though it greatly annoyed me.But there was one present who did, and that was the King. He laid hishand on my shoulder, gripping it with a force, that I read as a commandto be silent. "Where," he said to the man, "do you keep the King andSully and The Duke, my friend?"

  "The King and Sully--with his lordship's leave--" the man said quickly,but with a frightened glance at me--"are in the kennels at the back ofthe house; but it is not safe to go near them. The King is raving mad,and--and the other dog is sickening, I fear. The Duke we had to kill amonth back. He brought the disease here, and I have had such lossesthrough him as have nearly ruined me, please your lordship. And if thetale that we have got the madness among the dogs, goes about----"

  "Get up! Get up, man!" cried the King. And tearing off his mask hestamped up and down the room, so torn by paroxysms of laughter that hechoked himself whenever he attempted to speak. I too now saw themistake, but I could not at first see it in the same light. Commandingmy choler as well as I could, I ordered one of the Swiss to fetch in theinnkeeper, but to admit no one else.

  The knave fell on his knees as soon as he saw me, his cheeks shakinglike a jelly. "Mercy! mercy!" was all he could say.

  "You have dared to play with _me_?" I whispered. "With me? With me?"

  "You bade me joke!" he sobbed. "You bade me joke!"

  I was about to say that it would be his last joke in this world, for myanger was fully aroused, but the King intervened.

  "Nay," he said, laying his hand on my shoulder, "it has been the mostglorious jest. He has joked indeed. I would not have missed it for akingdom! Not for a kingdom! I command you, Sully, to forgive him."

  On which his Majesty strictly charged the three that they should not, onperil of their lives, tell the story; his regard for me, when he hadlaughed to satiety, proving strong enough to overcome his love of thediverting. Nor to the best of my belief did they do so; being soshrewdly scared when they recognized the King that I think they neverafterwards so much as spoke of the affair to one another. My masterfurther gave me his promise that he would not disclose the matter evento Madame de Verneuil, or the Queen; and upon these representations heinduced me freely to forgive the innkeeper. I may seem to have dweltlonger than I should on the amusing details of this conspiracy. Butalas! in twenty-one years of power, I investigated many, and this oneonly--and one other--can I regard with satisfaction. The rest were somany warnings and predictions of the fate which, despite all my careand fidelity, was in store for the King, my master.

  * * * * *

  Such were the reasons, which would have led me had I followed thepromptings of my own sagacity to oppose the return of the Jesuits. Itremains for me to add that these arguments lost their weight when set inthe balance against the safety of my beloved master. To this plea theKing himself for once condescended, and found those who were moststrenuous to dissuade him the least able to refute it; since the less aman loved the Jesuits, the more ready he was to allow that the King'slife could not be safe while the edict against them remained in force.The support which I gave to the King on this occasion exposed me to theutmost odium of my co-religionists, and was in later times ill-requitedby the Order. But an incident which occurred while the matter was stillin debate, and which I now for the first time make public, proved thewisdom of my conduct.

  Fontainebleau was at this time in the hands of the builders, and theKing had gone to spend his Easter at Chantilly, whither Mademoiselled'Entragues had also repaired. During his absence I was seate
d onemorning in my library at the Arsenal, when I was informed that FatherCotton, he who at Nancy had presented the petition of the Jesuits, andwho was now in Paris pursuing that business under a safe conduct,craved leave to wait upon me. I was not surprised, for I had been beforethis of some service to him. The pages of the Court while loiteringoutside the Louvre, as their custom is, had insulted the father byshouting after him, "Old Wool! Old Cotton!" in imitation of the Parisstreet cry. For this the King at my instigation had caused them to bewhipped. I supposed that the Jesuit desired to thank me for thissupport--given in truth out of regard to discipline rather than to him;and I bade them admit him.

  His first words uttered before my secretaries retired, indicated thatthis was his errand; and for a few moments I listened to suchstatements, and myself made such answers as became our positions. Then,as he did not go, I conceived the notion that he had come with a furtherpurpose; and his manner, which seemed strangely lacking in ease,considering that he was a man of skill and address, confirmed thenotion. I waited therefore with patience, and presently he named hisMajesty with some expressions of devotion to his person. "I trust," saidhe, "that the air of Fontainebleau agrees with him, M. de Rosny."

  "You mean, good father, of Chantilly?" I answered. "He is there."

  "Ay, to be sure!" he rejoined. "I had forgotten. He is, to be sure, atChantilly."

  He rose after that to depart, but was delayed by the raptures intowhich he fell on the subject of the fire, which the weather being coldfor the time of year, I had caused to be lit. "It burns so brightly,"said he, "that it must be of boxwood, M. de Rosny."

  "Of boxwood?" I exclaimed, astonished.

  "Ay, is it not?" he asked, looking at me with much simplicity.

  "No!" I made answer rather peevishly. "Who ever heard of people burningboxwood in Paris, father? In the south, perhaps."

  He apologized for his ignorance on the ground of his southern birth, andtook his departure, leaving me in doubt as to the real purport of hisvisit. I was, indeed, more troubled by the uncertainty I felt thananother less conversant with the methods of the Jesuits might have been;for I knew that it was their habit to drop a word where they dared notspeak plainly, and I felt myself put on my mettle to interpret thefather's hint. My perplexities were increased by the belief that hewould not have intervened in a matter of small moment; hence theconviction grew upon me that while I stood idle before the hearth, thegreatest interests might be at stake.

  "Michel," I said at last, addressing the doyen of my secretaries, whochanced to be a Provencal "have you ever seen a boxwood fire?"

  He replied respectfully, but with some show of surprise, that he haddone so, but not often; adding that that wood was so valuable to theturner that few people were extravagant enough to use it for fuel. Iassented, and felt the more certain that the Jesuit's remark held ameaning. The only other clue I had consisted in the mistake he had madeas to the King's residence; and this might have dropped from him ininadvertence. Yet I was inclined to think it intentional; and Iconstrued it as implying that the matter concerned the King personally.Which the more alarmed me.

  I passed the day in great perplexity; but towards evening, acting on asudden thought, I sent La Trape, my valet, a trusty fellow, who hadsaved my life at Villefranche, to the Three Pigeons, a large inn in thesuburbs of Paris, at which travellers from north to south, who do notwish to enter the city, are accustomed to change horses. Acquittinghimself of the commission with his usual adroitness, he returned withthe news that a traveller of rank had passed through three days before,having sent in advance to order relays there and at Essonnes. La Trapereported that the gentleman had remained in his coach, and that none ofthe servants of the inn had seen his face. "But he had companions?" Isaid. My mind had not failed to conceive a certain suspicion.

  "Only one, your grace. The rest were servants."

  "And that one?"

  "A man in the yard fancied that he recognized M. de la Varenne."

  "Ah!" I said. My agitation was indeed so great that, before giving reinsto it, I bade La Trape withdraw. I could scarcely believe that,acquainted as the King was with the plots which the Catholics were dailyaiming at his life; and possessing such powerful enemies among the greatProtestants as Tremonelle and Bouillon--to say nothing of Mademoiselled'Entragues' half-brother, the Count of Auvergne, who hated him--I say,I could hardly believe that with full knowledge of these facts hisMajesty had been so fool-hardy as to travel without guards toFontainebleau. And yet I now felt a certainty that this was the case.The presence of La Varenne, the confidant of his intrigues, while itinformed me of the cause of the journey, convinced me that his Majestyhad given way to the sole weakness of his nature, and was bent on one ofthose adventures of gallantry which had been more becoming in the Princeof Bearn than in the King of France. Nor was I at a loss to guess theobject of his pursuit. It had been lately whispered in the Court thatthe King had fallen in love with his mistress's younger sister, Susetted'Entragues; whose home at Malesherbes lay but three leagues fromFontainebleau, on the edge of the forest. This fact placed the King'simprudence in a stronger light; for he had scarcely in France a moredangerous enemy than her brother, Auvergne, nor had the immense sumswhich he had settled on the elder sister satisfied the avarice orconciliated the hostility of her father.

  I saw that Father Cotton had known more than I had. But his motive inspeaking I found less easy to divine. It might be a wish to baulk thisnew passion through my interference, while he exposed me to the risk ofhis Majesty's anger. Or it might be the single desire to avert dangerfrom the King's person. At any rate, constant to my rule of preferring,come what might, my master's interest to his favour, I sent for Maignan,my equerry, and bade him have an equipage ready at dawn.

  At that hour, next morning, attended only by La Trape, with a groom, apage, and four Swiss, I started, giving out that I was bound for Sullyto inspect that demesne, which had formerly been the property of myfamily, and of which the refusal had just been offered to me. Undercover of this destination, I was enabled to reach La Ferte Alaisunsuspected. There, pretending that the motion of the coach fatigued me,I mounted the led horse, without which I never travelled, and bidding LaTrape accompany me, I gave orders to the others to follow at theirleisure to Pithiviers, where I proposed to stay the night.

  La Ferte Alais, on the borders of the forest, is some five leagueswestward of Fontainebleau and as far north of Malesherbes, with whichit is connected by a high-road. Having disclosed my intentions to LaTrape, I left this road and struck into a woodland path which promisedto conduct us in the right direction. But the luxuriance of theundergrowth, and the huge chaos of grey rocks which cumber that part ofthe forest, made it difficult to keep for any time in a straight line.After being an hour in the saddle we concluded that we had lost our way,and were confirmed in this, on reaching a clearing. In place of thechateau we saw before us a small house, which La Trape presentlyrecognized as an inn, situate about a league and a half on theFontainebleau side of Malesherbes.

  We had still ample time to reach the Chateau by nightfall, but beforeproceeding farther it was necessary that our horses should have rest.Dismounting I bade La Trape see the sorrel well baited. The inn was apoor place; but having no choice, I entered it and found myself in alarge room better furnished with company than accommodation. Three men,who appeared to be of those reckless blades who are commonly to be foundin the inns on the outskirts of Paris, and who come not unfrequently totheir ends at Montfaucon, were tippling and playing cards at a tablenear the door. They looked up on my entrance, but refrained fromsaluting me, which, as I was plainly dressed, and much travel-stained,was excusable. By the fire, partaking of a coarse meal, sat a fourthman of so singular an appearance that I must needs describe him. He wasof great height and extreme leanness, resembling a maypole rather than aman. His face matched his form, for it was long and meagre, andterminated in a small peaked beard, which like his hair and moustachioswas as white as snow. With all this his eyes glowed with something
ofthe fire of youth, and his brown complexion and sinewy hands seemed toindicate robust health. He wore garments which had once beenfashionable, but now bore marks of much patching, and I remarked thatthe point of his sword, which, as he sat, trailed on the stones behindhim, had worn its way through the scabbard. Notwithstanding these signsof poverty he saluted me with the ease of a gentleman, and bade me withsome stiffness share his table and the fire. Accordingly I drew up, andcalled for a bottle of the best wine, being minded to divert myself withhim.

  I was little prepared, however, for the turn his conversation took, orthe tirade into which he presently broke; the object of which proved tobe no other than myself! I do not know that I have ever cut so whimsicala figure as while I sat and heard my name loaded with reproaches; butbeing certain that he did not know me I waited patiently, and soonlearned both who he was, and the grievance which he was about to laybefore the King. His name was Boisrose. He had been the leader in thatgallant capture of Fecamp, which took place while I represented hisMajesty in Normandy, and his grievance was, that in the face of manypromises he had been deprived of the government of the place. "He leadsthe King by the ear!" he cried loudly, and in an accent which marked himfor a Gascon. "That villain of a De Rosny! But I will shew him up! Iwill trounce him! If the King will not, I will!" And with that he drewthe hilt of his long rapier to the front with a gesture so truculentthat the three bullies who had stopped to laugh resumed their game inhaste.

  Notwithstanding his sentiments, I was pleased to meet with a man of sosingular a temper, whom I also knew to be courageous: and I was willingto amuse myself further. "But," I said modestly, "I have had someaffairs with M. de Rosny, and I have never found him cheat me."

  "Do not deceive yourself!" he cried, slapping the table. "He is arascal! There is no one he will not cheat!"

  "Yet," I ventured to reply, "I have heard that in many respects he isnot a bad minister."

  "He is a villain!" he repeated so loudly as to drown what I would haveadded. "A villain, sir, a villain! Do not tell me otherwise! But restassured! I will make the King see him in his true colours! Rest content,sir! I will trounce him! He has to do with Armand de Boisrose!"

  Seeing that he was not open to argument--for being opposed he grewwarm--I asked him by what channel he intended to approach the King, andlearned that here he felt a difficulty, since he had neither a friend atCourt, nor money to buy one. Certain that the narrative of our rencontreand its sequel would amuse his Majesty, who loved a jest, I advisedBoisrose to go boldly to the King, and speak to him; which, thanking meas profusely as he had before reproached me, he avowed he would do. Withthat I rose.

  At the last moment, and as I was parting from him, it occurred to me totry upon him the shibboleth which in Father Cotton's mouth had somystified me. "This fire burns brightly," I said, kicking the logstogether with my riding-boot. "It must be of boxwood."

  "Of what, sir?" he asked politely.

  "Of boxwood! Why not?" I replied in a louder tone.

  "My certes!" he answered, staring at me. "They do not burn boxwood inthis country. Those are larch trimmings, as all the world knows, neithermore nor less!"

  While he wondered at my ignorance, I was pleased to discover his; and sofar I had lost my pains. But it did not escape me that the threegamesters had ceased to play, and were listening to our conversation.Moreover as I moved to the door they followed me with their eyes: andwhen I turned after riding a hundred yards I found that they had come tothe door and were gaping after us.

  This did not hinder me remarking that a hound which had been lyingbefore the fire had come forth with us, and was now running in front,now gambolling about the horses' legs. I supposed that when it hadaccompanied us a certain way it would return; but it persisted, andpresently where the road forked I had occasion to notice its movements;for choosing one of the paths it stood in the mouth of it, wagging itstail and inviting us to take that road: and this it did sopertinaciously and cheerfully that though the directions we had receivedat the inn would have led us to prefer the other track, we followed thedog as the more trustworthy guide.

  We had gone from this point about four hundred paces forward, when LaTrape showed me that the path was growing narrow, and betrayed few signsof being used. It seemed certain--though the dog still ran confidentlyahead--that we were again astray; and I was about to draw rein andreturn when I saw that the undergrowth on the right of the path hadassumed the character of a thick hedge of box--a shrub common only in afew parts of the forest. Though less prone than most men to put faith inomens, I accepted this; and, notwithstanding that it wanted but an hourof sunset, I rode on, remarking that with each turn in the woodlandpath, the scrub on my left also gave place more and more to the sturdytree which had been in my mind all day. Finally, we found ourselvespassing through an alley of box--which no long time before had beenclipped and dressed. A final turn brought us into a _cul de sac_; andthere we were, in a kind of small arbour carpeted with turf, and soperfectly hedged in as to afford no exit save by the entrance. Here thedog placidly stood and wagged its tail, looking up at us.

  I must confess that this termination of the adventure seemed sosurprising, and the evening light shining on the level walls of greenabout us was so full of a solemn quiet, that I was not surprised to hearLa Trape mutter a prayer. For my part, assured that something more thanchance had brought me hither, I dismounted and spoke encouragement tothe hound. But it only leapt upon me. Then I walked round the tinyenclosure, and presently I discovered, close to the hedge, three smallpatches, where the grass was slightly beaten or trodden down. A secondglance told me more; I saw that at these places the hedge about threefeet from the ground was hacked and hollowed. I stooped, until my eyeswere level with the hole thus made, and discovered that I was lookingthrough a funnel skilfully cut in the wall of box. At my end theopening was rather larger than a man's face; at the other end not aslarge as the palm of the hand. The funnel rose gradually, so that I tookthe farther extremity of it to be about seven feet from the ground, andhere it disclosed a feather dangling on a spray. From the light fallingstrongly on this, I judged it to be not in the hedge, but a pace or twofrom it on the hither side of another fence of box. On examining theremaining loopholes, I discerned that they bore upon the same feather.

  My own mind was at once made up, but I bade my valet go through the sameinvestigation, and then asked him whether he had ever seen an ambush ofthis kind laid for game. He replied that the shot would pass over thetallest stag, or aught but a man on horseback; and fortified by this, Imounted without saying more, and we retraced our steps. The hound, whichhad doubtless the habit, as some dogs have, of accompanying the firstperson who held out the prospect of a walk, presently left us, andwithout further adventure we reached the Chateau a little after sunset.

  I expected to be received by the King with some displeasure, but itchanced that a catarrh had kept him within doors all day; and unable tohunt or visit his new flame, he had been at leisure, in this palacewithout a court, to consider the imprudence he was committing. Hereceived me therefore with the laugh of a schoolboy detected in a pettyfault, and as I hastened to relate to him some of the things which M. deBoisrose had said of the Baron de Rosny, I soon had the gratification ofperceiving that my presence was not taken amiss. His Majesty gave ordersthat bedding should be furnished for my pavilion, and that his householdshould wait on me, and himself sent me from his table a couple ofchickens and a fine melon, bidding me to come to him when I had supped.

  I did so, and found him alone in his closet awaiting me with impatience;he had already divined that I had not made this journey merely toreproach him. Before informing him, however, of my suspicions, I cravedleave to ask him one or two questions, and in particular whether he hadbeen in the habit of going to Malesherbes daily.

  "Daily," he admitted with a grimace. "What more, Father Confessor?"

  "By what road, sire?"

  "I have hunted mornings, and visited Malesherbes at midday. I havereturned as a rule
by the bridle-path, which passes the Rock of theSerpents."

  "Patience, sire, one moment," I said. "Does that path run anywherethrough a plantation of box?"

  "It does," he answered, without hesitation. "About half a mile on thisside of the rock, it skirts Queen Catherine's maze."

  Thereon I told the King without reserve all that had happened. Helistened with the air of seeming carelessness which he always assumedwhen plots against his life were under discussion; but at the end heembraced me again with tears in his eyes. "France is beholden to you!"he said. "I have never had, nor shall have, such another servant as you,Rosny! The three ruffians at the inn," he continued, "are, of course,the tools, and the hound has been in the habit of accompanying them tothe spot. Yesterday, I remember, I walked by that place with the bridleon my arm."

  "By a special providence, sire," I said gravely.

  "It is true," he answered, crossing himself, a thing I had never yetknown him do in private. "But, now, who is the craftsman who hascontrived this pretty plot? Tell me that, Grand Master."

  On this point, however, though I had my suspicions, I begged leave to beexcused until I had slept upon it. "Heaven forbid," I said, "that Ishould expose any man to your Majesty's resentment without cause. Thewrath of kings is the forerunner of death."

  "I have not heard," the King answered dryly, "that the Duke of Bouillonhas called in a leech yet."

  Before retiring, I learned that his Majesty had with him a score oflight horse, whom La Varenne had requisitioned from Melun; and that someof these had each day awaited him at Malesherbes and ridden home behindhim. Further, that Henry had been in the habit of wearing, when ridingback in the evening, a purple cloak over his hunting-suit, a fact wellknown, I felt sure, to the assassins, who, unseen and in perfect safety,could fire at the exact moment when the cloak obscured the feather, andcould then make their escape, secured by the stout wall of box fromimmediate pursuit.

  I slept ill, and was aroused early by La Varenne coming to my bedside,and bidding me hasten to the King. I did so, and found him already inhis boots and walking on the terrace with Coquet, his Master of theHousehold, Vitry, La Varenne, and a gentleman unknown to me. On seeingme he dismissed them, and while I was still a great way off, called out,chiding me for my laziness: then taking me by the hand in the mostobliging manner, he made me walk up and down with him, while he told mewhat further thoughts he had of this affair; and hiding nothing from meeven as he bade me speak to him whatever I thought without reserve, herequired to know whether I suspected that the Entragues family werecognizant of this.

  "I cannot say, sire," I answered prudently.

  "But you suspect?"

  "In your Majesty's cause I suspect all," I replied.

  He sighed, and seeing that my eyes wandered to the group of gentlemenwho had betaken themselves to the terrace steps, and were thencewatching us, he asked me if I would answer for them. "For Vitry, whosleeps at my feet when I lie alone? For Coquet?"

  "For three of them, I will, sire," I answered firmly. "The fourth I donot know."

  "He is Auvergne's half-brother."

  "M. Louis d'Entragues?" I muttered. "Lately returned, I think, fromservice in Savoy? I do not know him, sire. To-morrow I may be able toanswer for him."

  "And to-day? What am I to do to-day?"

  I begged him to act as he had done each day since his arrival atFontainebleau, to hunt in the morning, to take his midday meal atMalesherbes, to talk to all as if he had no suspicion: only on hisreturn to take any road save that which passed the Rock of the Serpents.

  The King turning to rejoin the others, I found that their attention wasno longer directed to us, but to a singular figure which had made itsappearance on the skirts of the group, and had already thrown three outof the four courtiers into a fit of laughter. The fourth, M.d'Entragues, did not seem to be equally diverted with the stranger'sappearance; nor did I fail to notice, being at the moment quick toperceive the slightest point of his conduct, that while the others werenudging one another, his countenance, darkened by an Italian sun,gloomed on the new-comer with an aspect of menace. On his side M. deBoisrose--for he it was, the grotesque fashion of his dress moreconspicuous than ever--stood eyeing the group with a mixture ofawkwardness and resentment; until made aware of his Majesty's approachand of my presence in intimate converse with the King he steppedjoyfully forward, a look of relief displacing all others on hiscountenance. "Ha! well met!" quoth the King in my ear. "It is yourfriend of yesterday. Now we shall have sport. And 'twill cheer us. Weneed it." And he pinched my arm.

  As the old soldier approached with many low bows, the King spoke to himgraciously, and bade him say what he sought. It happened then as I hadexpected. Boisrose, after telling the King his name, turned to me andhumbly begged that I would explain his complaint; which I consented todo, and did as follows: "This, sire," I said gravely, "is an old andbrave soldier; who formerly served your Majesty to good purpose inNormandy, but has been cheated out of the recompense which he thereearned by the trickery and chicanery of one of your Majesty'scounsellors, the Baron de Rosny."

  I could not continue, for the courtiers, on hearing this from my mouth,and on discovering that the stranger's odd appearance was but a preludeto the real diversion, could not restrain their laughter. The King,concealing his own amusement, turned to them with an angry air and badethem be silent; and the Gascon, encouraged by this and by the boldmanner in which I had stated his grievance, scowled at them famously."He alleges, sire," I continued, with the same gravity, "that the Baronde Rosny, after promising him the government of Fecamp, bestowed it onanother, being bribed to do so, and has been guilty of many base actswhich make him unworthy of your Majesty's confidence. That, I think, isyour complaint, M. de Boisrose?" I concluded, turning to the soldier;whom my deep seriousness so misled that he took up the story, andpouring out his wrongs did not fail to threaten to trounce me, or to addwith much fervour that I was a villain!

  He might have said more, but the courtiers, perceiving that the Kingbroke at last into a smile, lost all control over themselves, and givingvent to loud peals of laughter, clasped one another by the shoulders andreeled to and fro in an ecstasy of enjoyment. The King gave way also andlaughed heartily, clapping me again and again on the back, so that infine there were only two serious faces to be seen, that of the poorBoisrose, who took all for lunatics, and my own. For my part I began tothink that perhaps the jest had been carried far enough.

  My master presently saw this, and collecting himself, turned to theamazed Gascon. "Your complaint is one," he said, "which should not belightly made. Do you know the Baron de Rosny?"

  Boisrose, more and more out of countenance, said he did not.

  "Then," said the King, "I will give you an opportunity of becomingacquainted with him. I shall refer your complaint to him, and he willdecide upon it. More!" he continued, raising his hand for silence asBoisrose, starting forward, would have appealed to him, "I willintroduce you to him now. This is the Baron de Rosny."

  The old soldier glared at me for a moment with starting eye-balls, and adreadful despair seemed to settle on his face. He threw himself on hisknees before the King. "Then, sire," said he in a heartrending voice,"am I ruined? My six children must starve, and my young wife die by theroadside!"

  "That," answered the King, gravely, "must be for the Baron de Rosny todecide. I leave you to your audience."

  He made a sign to the others, and, followed by them, walked slowly alongthe terrace, the while Boisrose, who had risen to his feet, stoodlooking after him like one demented, muttering in a voice that went tomy heart that it was a cruel jest, and that he had bled for the King,and the King made sport of him.

  Presently I touched him on the arm. "Come, have you nothing to say tome, M. de Boisrose?" I asked quietly. "You are a brave soldier and havedone France service: why then need you fear? The Baron de Rosny is oneman, the King's minister is another. It is the latter who speaks to younow. The office of Lieutenant Governor of Angouleme is vacant.
It isworth twelve thousand livres by the year. I appoint you to it."

  He murmured with a white face that I mocked him and that he was goingmad; so that it was long before I could persuade him that I was inearnest. When I at last succeeded, his gratitude knew no bounds, and hethanked me again and again with the tears running down his face. "What Ihave done for you," I said modestly, "is the reward of your bravery. Iask only that you will not another time think that they who rulekingdoms are as those gay popinjays yonder. Whom the King, believe me,holds at their due value."

  In a transport of delight he reiterated his offers of service, andfeeling sure that I had gained him completely I asked him on a suddenwhere he had seen Louis d'Entragues before. In two words the truth cameout. He had seen him once only, on the previous day at the forest inn;the courtier had halted at the door and spoken with the three bullies,whom I had remarked there. I was not surprised, nay I had expected this,D'Entragues' near kinship to the Count of Auvergne and the mingledfeelings with which I knew that the family regarded Henry preparing meto imagine treachery. Moreover, the nature of the ambush was proof thatits author resided in the neighbourhood and was intimately acquaintedwith the forest paths. I should have carried this information at once tomy master; but I learned that he had already started, and thus baffledand believing that his affection for Mademoiselle d'Entragues, if notfor her sister, would lead him to act with undue leniency, I conceived aplan of my own.

  Two hours after noon, therefore, I set out, as if for a ride, attendedby La Trape only; but at some distance from the palace we were joined byBoisrose, whom I had bidden to be at that point well armed and mounted.Thus reinforced--for the Gascon was still strong, and in courage a veryCrillon, I proceeded to Malesherbes by a circuitous route which broughtme within sight of the gates about the middle of the afternoon. I thenhalted under cover of a little wood of chestnuts, and waited until I sawthe King, attended by several ladies and gentlemen, and followed byeight troopers, issue from the chateau. His Majesty was walking, hishorse being led behind him; and seeing this I rode out and approachedthe party as if I had that moment arrived to meet the King.

  It would very ill become me to make idle reflections on the hollownessof Court life: withal, seldom have I known it better exemplified than inthe scene then displayed before me. The sun was low, but its warm beamsfalling aslant on the gay group at the gates and on the floweredterraces and grey walls behind them seemed to present a picture at oncepeaceful and joyous. Yet I knew that treachery and death were lurking inthe midst--even as between the parterres and the walls lay the darksluggish moat; and it was only by an effort that, as I rode up, I couldmake answer to the thousand obliging things with which I was greeted andof which not the least polite were said by M. d'Entragues and his son. Itook pains to observe Mademoiselle Susette, a beautiful girl still inher teens, but noways comparable as it seemed to me, in expression andvivacity to her famous sister. She was walking beside the King, herhands full of flowers, and her face flushed with shy excitement. I came,with little thought, to the conclusion that she, at least, knew nothingof what was intended by her family; who, having made the one sister themeans of gratifying their avarice, were now baiting the trap of theirvengeance with the other. Having obtained what they needed, they wereashamed of the means by which they had obtained it: and would fainavenge their honour, while holding to that they had got by the sale ofit.

  Henry parted from the maid at length, and mounted his horse amid aripple of laughter and compliments, D'Entragues holding the stirrup, andhis son the cloak. I observed that the latter, as I had expected, wasprepared to accompany us, which rendered my plan more feasible. Our roadlay for a league in the direction of the Rock of the Serpents, the trackwhich passed the latter--and was a trifle shorter--presently divergingfrom it. For some distance we rode along in easy talk, but onapproaching the point of separation, the King looked at me with awhimsical air, as though he would lay on me the burden of finding anexcuse for avoiding the shorter way. I had foreseen this and lookedround to ascertain the positions of our company. I found that La Varenneand D'Entragues were close behind us, while the troopers with La Trapeand Boisrose were a hundred paces farther to the rear, and Vitry andCoquet had dropped out of sight. This being so, I suddenly reined in myhorse so as to back it into that of D'Entragues, and then wheeled roundon the latter, taking care to be between him and the King. "M. Louisd'Entragues," I said, dropping the mask and addressing him in a lowvoice but with the scorn which I felt and which he deserved. "Your plotis known! If you would save your life confess to his Majesty here andnow all you know, and throw yourself on his mercy!"

  I confess that I had failed to take into account the pitch to which hisnerves would be strung at such a time, and had expected to produce agreater effect than followed my words. His hand went indeed to hisbreast, but it was hard to say which seemed the more astounded, LaVarenne or he. And the manner in which he flung back my accusation,lacked neither vigour nor the semblance of innocence. While Henry stoodpuzzled, and not a little put out, La Varenne was appalled. I saw this,that I had gone too far, or not far enough, and at once calling up untomy face and form all the sternness in my power I bade the traitor remainwhere he was. Then turning to his Majesty I craved leave to speak to himapart.

  He hesitated, looking from me to D'Entragues with an air of displeasurewhich embraced us both, but in the end without permitting M. Louis tospeak he complied, and going aside with me bade me with coldness speakout. As soon as I had repeated to him Boisrose's words, his faceunderwent a change--for he too had remarked the discomfiture which thelatter's appearance had caused D'Entragues in the morning. "Thevillain!" he said. "I do not now think you precipitate! Arrest him, butdo him no harm!"

  "If he resist, sire?" I asked.

  "He will not," the King answered. "And in no case harm him! Youunderstand me?"

  I bowed, having my own thoughts on the subject, and the King withoutlooking again at D'Entragues rode quickly away. M. Louis tried to followand cried after him, but I thrust my horse in the way, and bade himconsider himself a prisoner. At the same time I requested La Varenne,with Vitry and Coquet, who had come up and were looking on like menthunderstruck, to take four of the guards and follow the King.

  "Then, sir, what do you intend to do with me?" D'Entragues asked. Thedefiant air with which he looked from me to the men who remained barelydisguised his apprehensions.

  "That depends, M. Louis," I replied, recurring to my usual tone ofpoliteness, "on your answers to three questions."

  He shrugged his shoulders. "Ask them," he said.

  "Do you deny that you have laid an ambush for the King in the road whichpasses the Rock of the Serpents?"

  "Absolutely."

  "Or that you were yesterday at an inn near here in converse with threemen?"

  "Absolutely."

  "Do you deny that there is such an ambush laid?"

  "At least I know naught of it!" he repeated with scorn. "'Tis an oldwife's story. I would stake my life on it."

  "Enough," I answered slowly. "You have said you would stake your life onit. You shall. The evening grows cold, and, as you are my prisoner, Imust have a care of you. Kindly put on this cloak, and precede me, M.d'Entragues. We return to Fontainebleau by the Rock of the Serpents."

  His eyes met mine; he read my thoughts, and for a second held hisbreath. A cold shadow fell upon his sallow face, and then for an instantI thought that he would resist. But the stern countenances of La Trapeand Boisrose, who had ridden up to his rein and stood awaiting hisanswer with their swords drawn, determined him. With a forced andmirthless laugh he took the cloak. "It is new, I hope," he said, as hethrew it over his shoulders.

  It was not, and I apologized, adding, however, that no one but the Kinghad worn it. On this he settled it about him; and having heard mestrictly charge the two guards, who followed with their arquebusesready, to fire on him if he tried to escape, he turned his horse's headinto the path and rode slowly along it, while we, in double file,followed a few pa
ces behind him.

  The sun had set, and such light as remained fell cold between the trees.The green of the sward had that pale look it puts on with the last rays,or with the dawning. The crackling of a stick under a horse's hoof, orthe ring of a spur against a scabbard, were the only sounds which brokethe stillness of the wood as we proceeded. We had gone some way when M.Louis halted, and, turning in his saddle, called to me. "M. de Rosny,"he said--the light had so far failed that I could scarcely see his face,"I have a meeting with the Vicomte de Matigny on Saturday about a littlematter of a lady's glove. Should anything prevent my appearance----"

  "I will see that a proper explanation is given," I answered.

  "Or, if M. d'Entragues will permit me," exclaimed the Gascon, who wasriding by my side, "I, M. de Boisrose of St. Palais, will appear in hisplace and make the Viscount de Caylus swallow the glove."

  "Sir," said M. Louis, with politeness, and in a steady tone, "you are agentleman. I am obliged to you."

  He waved his hand to me with a gesture which I long remembered, and,giving his horse the rein, he went forward along the path at a briskwalk. We followed, and I had just remarked that a plant of box wasbeginning here and there to take the place of the usual undergrowth whena sheet of flame leapt out through the dusk to meet us, and our horsesreared wildly. For an instant we were in confusion; then I saw that ourleader, M. Louis, had fallen headlong from his saddle, and lay on thesward without word or cry. My men would have sprung forward before thenoise of the report had died away, and, having good horses, mightpossibly have overtaken one of the assassins; but I restrained them.Enough had been done. When La Trape dismounted and raised the fallen manthe latter was dead, his breast riddled by a dozen slugs.

  Such were the circumstances, now for the first time made public, whichattended the discovery of this, the least known, yet one of the mostdangerous of the many plots which were directed against the life of mymaster. The course which I adopted may be blamed by some, but it isenough for me that, after the lapse of years, it is approved by myconscience and by the course of events. For it was ever the misfortuneof that great king to treat those with leniency whom no indulgence couldwin; and I bear with me to this day the bitter assurance that, had thefate which overtook Louis d'Entragues in the wood between Malesherbesand Fontainebleau embraced the whole of that family, the blow which, tenyears later, went to the heart of France would not have been struck.

  * * * * *

  The slight indisposition from which the Queen suffered in the spring of1602, and which was occasioned by a cold caught during her lying-in, bydiverting the King's attention from state matters, had the effect ofdoubling the burden cast on me. Though the main threads of M. de Biron'sconspiracy were in our hands as early as the month of November of thepreceding year, and steps had been taken to sound the chief associatesby summoning them to court, an interval necessarily followed duringwhich we had all to fear; and this not only from the despair of theguilty, but from the timidity of the innocent, who in a court filledwith cabals and rumours of intrigues might see no way to clearthemselves. Even the shows and interludes which followed the Dauphin'sbirth, and made that Christmas remarkable, served only to amuse theidle; they could not disperse the cloud which hung over the Louvre nordivert those who on the one side or the other had aught to fear.

  In connection with this period of suspense I recall an episode worthy, Ithink, by reason of its oddity, to be set down here; where it may servefor a preface to those more serious events attending the trial andexecution of M. de Biron, which I shall have to relate.

  I had occasion, about the end of the month of January, to see M. duHallot. The weather was cold, and partly for that reason, partly out ofa desire to keep my visit, which had to do with the Biron disclosures,from the general eye, I chose to go on foot. For the same reason I tookwith me only two servants and a confidential page, the son of my friendArnaud. M. du Hallot, who lived at this time in a house in the FaubourgSt. Germain, not far from the College of France, detained me long, andwhen I rose to leave insisted that I should take his coach, as snow hadbegun to fall, and lay an inch deep in the streets. At first I wasunwilling to do this, but reflecting that such small services are highlyvalued by those who render them, and attach men more surely than thegreatest bribes, I yielded, and, taking my place with some becomingexpressions, bade young Arnaud find his way home on foot.

  The coach had nearly reached the south end of the Pont au Change, when anumber of youths ran past me, pelting one another with snowballs, andshouting so lustily that I was at a loss which to admire more, thesilence of their feet or the loudness of their voices. Aware that ladsof that age are no respecters of persons, I was not surprised to see twoor three of them rush on to the bridge before us, and even continuetheir Parthian warfare under the feet of the horses. The result,however, was that the latter took fright at that part of the bridgewhere the houses encroach most on the roadway; and but for the care ofthe running footman, who hastened to their heads, might have done someharm either to the coach or the passers-by.

  As it was, we were brought to a stop while one of the wheels wasextricated from the kennel, in which it had become wedged. Smiling tothink what the King--who, strangely warned by Providence, was throughouthis life timid in a coach--would have said to this, I went to open thecurtains, and had effected this to some extent, when one of a crowd ofidlers who stood on the raised pavement deliberately lifted up his armand flung a snowball at me.

  The missile flew wide of its mark by an inch or two only. That I wasamazed at such audacity goes without saying; but doubting of what itmight be the preclude--for the breakdown of the coach in that narrowplace, the haunt of rufflers and vagrants of every kind, might be partof a concerted plan--I fell back into my place. The coach, as ithappened, moved on at that moment with a jerk; and before I had digestedthe matter, or had time to mark the demeanour of the crowd, we wereclear of the bridge, and rolling under the Chatelet.

  A smaller man might have stooped to punish, and to cook a sprat havepassed all Paris through the net. But remembering the days when I myselfattended the College of Burgundy, I set the freak to the credit of someyoung student, and, shrugging my shoulders, dismissed it from my mind.An instant later, however, observing that the fragments of the snowballwere melting on the seat and wetting the leather, I raised my hand tobrush them away. In doing so I discovered, to my surprise, a piece ofpaper lying among the _debris_.

  "Ho, ho!" said I to myself. "A strange snowball this! I have heard thatthe apprentices put stones in theirs. But paper! Let me see what thismeans."

  The morsel, though moistened by the snow, remained intact. Unfolding itwith care--for already I began to discern that here was something out ofthe common--I found written on the inner side, in a clerkly hand, thewords, "_Beware of Nicholas!_"

  It will be remembered that Simon Nicholas was at this time secretary tothe King, and so high in his favour as to be admitted to the knowledgeof all but his most private affairs. Gay, and of a jovial wit, he wasable to commend himself to Henry by amusing him; while his years, for hewas over sixty, seemed warranty for his discretion, and at the same timegave younger sinners a feeling of worth, since they might repent and hehad not done so. Often in contact with him, I had always found him equalto his duties, and though too fond of the table, and of the good thingsof this life, neither given to blabbing nor boasting. In a word, one forwhom I had more liking than respect.

  A man in his position possesses opportunities for evil so stupendousthat as I read the warning I sat aghast. His office gave him at alltimes that ready access to the King's person which is the aim ofconspirators against the lives of sovereigns; and short of the supremetreachery he was master of secrets which Biron's associates would givemuch to gain. When I add that I knew Nicholas to be a man of extravaganthabits and careless life, and one who, if rumour did not wrong him, hadlost much in that rearrangement of the finances which I had latelyeffected, it will be seen that those words, "Beware of Nichola
s," werecalculated to provoke me to the most profound thought.

  Of the person who had conveyed the missive to my hands I hadunfortunately seen nothing; though I believed him to be a man, andyoung. But the circumstances, which seemed to indicate the need ofsecrecy, gave me a hint as to my conduct. Accordingly, I smoothed mybrow, and on the coach stopping at the Arsenal, I descended with myusual face of preoccupation.

  At the foot of the staircase my _maitre-d'hotel_ met me.

  "M. Nicholas, the King's secretary, is here," he said. "He has beenwaiting your return an hour and more, my lord."

  "Lay another cover," I answered, repressing the surprise I could not butfeel at a visit so strangely _a propos_. "Doubtless he has come to dinewith me."

  Staying only to remove my cloak, I went upstairs with an air as easy aspossible, and, making my visitor some apologies for the inconvenience Ihad caused him, I insisted he should sit down with me. This he was notloth to do; though, as presently appeared, his errand was only to submitto me a paper connected with the new tax of a penny in the shilling,which it was his duty to lay before me.

  I scolded him for the long period which had elapsed since his lastvisit, and succeeded so well in setting him at his ease that hepresently began to rally me on my lack of appetite; for I could touchnothing but a little game and a glass of water. Excusing myself as wellas I could, I encouraged him to continue the attack; and certainly, ifappetite waits on a good conscience, I had abundant evidence in hisbehalf. He grew merry and talkative, and, telling me some free tales,bore himself so naturally that I had begun to deem my suspicionsbaseless, when a chance word gave me new grounds for entertaining them.

  I was on the subject of my morning's employment. Knowing how easilyconfidence begets confidence, and that in his position the matter couldnot be long kept from him, I told him as a secret where I had been.

  "I do not wish all the world to know, my friend," I said. "But you are adiscreet man, and it will go no farther. I am just from Du Hallot's."

  He dropped his napkin and stooped to pick it up with a gesture so hastythat it caught my attention and led me to watch him. More, although mywords seemed to call for an answer, he did not speak until he had takena deep draught of wine; and then he said only, "Indeed!" in a tone ofsuch indifference as might at another time have deceived me, but now waspatently assumed.

  "Yes," I replied, affecting to be engaged with my plate: we were eatingnuts. "Doubtless you will be able to guess on what subject."

  "I?" he said, as quick to answer as he had before been slow. "No, Ithink not."

  "La Fin," I said. "And his disclosures respecting M. de Biron'sfriends."

  "Ah!" he replied, shrugging his shoulders. He had contrived to regainhis composure, but I noticed that his hand shook, and I saw that he wasquite unable to chew the nut he had just put into his mouth. "They tellme he accuses everybody," he continued, his eyes on his plate. "Even theKing is scarcely safe from him. But I have heard no particulars."

  "They will be known by-and-by," I answered prudently. And after that Idid not think it wise to continue, lest I should give more than I got.But as soon as he had finished, and we had washed our hands, I led himto the closet looking on the river, where I was in the habit of workingwith my secretaries. I sent them away and sat down with him to hispaper; but in the position in which I found myself, between suspicionand perplexity, I gathered little or nothing from it; and had I foundanother doing the King's service as negligently I had sent him about hisbusiness. Nevertheless, I made some show of attention, and had reachedthe schedule when something in the fairly written summary, which closedthe account, caught my eye. I bent more closely to it, and presentlymaking an occasion to carry the parchment into the next room, comparedit with the hand-writing on the scrap of paper I had found in thesnowball. A brief scrutiny proved that they were the work of the sameperson!

  I went back to M. Nicholas, and after attesting the accounts, and makingone or two notes, remarked in a careless way on the clearness of thehand. "I am badly in need of a fourth secretary," I added. "Your scribemight do for me."

  It did not escape me that once again M. Nicholas looked uncomfortable.His red face took a deeper tinge and his hand went nervously to hispointed grey beard. "I do not think he would do for you," he muttered.

  "What is his name?" I asked, purposely bending over the papers andavoiding his eye.

  "I have dismissed him," he rejoined curtly. "I do not know where hecould now be found."

  "That is a pity. He writes well," I answered, as if it were nothing buta whim that led me to pursue the subject. "And good clerks are scarce.What was his name?"

  "Felix," he said--reluctantly.

  I had now all that I wanted. Accordingly I spoke of another matter, andshortly afterwards Nicholas withdrew. He left me in much suspicion; sothat for nearly half an hour I walked up and down the room, unable todecide whether I should treat the warning of the snowball with contempt,as the work of a discharged servant; or on that very account attach themore credit to it. By-and-by I remembered that the last sheet of theroll I had audited bore date the previous day; whence it was clear thatFelix had been dismissed within the last twenty-four hours, and perhapsafter the delivery of his note to me. Such a coincidence, which seemedno less pertinent than strange, opened a wide field for conjecture; andthe possibility that Nicholas had called on me to sound me and learnwhat I knew occurring to my mind, brought me to a final determination toseek out this Felix, and without the delay of an hour sift the matter tothe bottom.

  Doubtless I shall seem to some to have acted precipitately, and builtmuch on small foundations. I answer that I had the life of the King mymaster to guard, and in that cause dared neglect no precaution, howevertrivial, nor any indication, however remote. Would that all my care andvigilance had longer sufficed to preserve for France the life of thatgreat man! But God willed otherwise.

  I sent word at once to La Font, my _valet-de-chambre_, the same whopersuaded me to my first marriage, to come to me; and directing him tomake secret inquiry where Felix, a clerk in the Chamber of Accounts,lodged, bade him report to me on my return from the Great Hall, where,it will be remembered, it was my custom to give audience after dinner toall who had business with me. As it happened, I was detained that day,and found him awaiting me. A man of few words, as soon as the door wasshut, "At the 'Three Half Moons,'" he said, "in the Faubourg St. Honore,my lord."

  "That is near the Louvre," I answered. "Get me my cloak, and your ownalso; and bring your pistols. I am for a walk, and you will accompanyme."

  He was a good man, La Font, and devoted to my interests. "It will benight in half an hour," he answered respectfully. "You will take some ofthe Swiss?"

  "In one word, no!" I rejoined. "We will go out by the stable entrance,and until we return, I will bid Maignan keep the door, and admit noone."

  The crowd of those who daily left the Arsenal at nightfall happened tobe augmented on this occasion by a troop of my clients from Mantes;tenants on the lands of Rosny, who had lingered after the hour ofaudience to see the courts and garden. By mingling with these we passedout unobserved; nor, once in the streets, where a thaw had set in, thatfilled the kennel with water, was La Font long in bringing me to thehouse I sought. It stood on the outskirts of the St. Honore Faubourg, ina quarter sufficiently respectable, and a street marked neither bysqualor nor ostentation--from one or other of which all desperateenterprises take their rise. The house, which was high and narrow,presented only two windows to the street, but the staircase was clean,and it was impossible to cross the threshold without feeling aprepossession in Felix's favour. Already I began to think that I hadcome on a fool's errand.

  "Which floor?" I asked La Font.

  "The highest," he answered.

  I went up softly and he followed me. Under the tiles I found a door, andheard some one moving beyond it. Bidding La Font remain on guard, andcome to my aid only if I called him, I knocked boldly. A gentle voicebade me enter, and I did so.

  There
was only one person in the room, a young woman with fair wavinghair, a pale freckled face, and blue eyes; who, seeing a cloakedstranger instead of the neighbour she anticipated, stared at me in theutmost wonder and in some alarm. The room, though poorly furnished, wasneat and clean; which, taken with the woman's complexion, left me in nodoubt as to her province. On the floor near the fire stood a cradle;and in the window a cage with a singing bird completed the homely aspectof this interior, which was such, indeed, as I would fain multiply bythousands in every town of France.

  A lamp, which the woman was in the act of lighting, enabled me to seethese details, and also discovered me to her. I asked politely if Ispoke to Madame Felix, the wife of M. Felix, of the Chamber of Accounts.

  "I am Madame Felix," she answered, advancing slowly towards me. "Myhusband is late. Do you come from him? It is not--bad news, Monsieur?"

  The tone of anxiety in which she uttered the last question, and thequickness with which she raised her lamp to scan my face, went to aheart already softened by the sight of this young mother in her home. Ihastened to answer that I had no bad news, and wished to see her husbandon business connected with his employment.

  "He is very late," she said, a shade of perplexity crossing her face. "Ihave never known him so late before. Monsieur is unfortunate."

  I replied that with her leave I would wait; on which she very readilyplaced a stool for me, and sat down by the cradle. I remarked thatperhaps M. Nicholas had detained her husband: she answered that it mightbe so, but that she had never known it happen before.

  "M. Felix has evening employment?" I asked, after a moment's reflection.

  She looked at me in some wonder. "No," she said. "He spends his eveningswith me, Monsieur. It is not much, for he is at work all day."

  I bowed, and was preparing another question, when the sound of footstepsascending the stairs reached my ears, and led me to pause. Madame heardthe noise at the same moment and rose to her feet. "It is my husband,"she said, looking towards the door with such a light in her eyes asbetrayed the sweetheart lingering in the wife. "I was afraid--I do notknow what I feared," she muttered to herself.

  Proposing to have the advantage of seeing Felix before he saw me, Ipushed back my stool into the shadow, contriving to do this sodiscreetly that the young woman noticed nothing. A moment later itappeared that I might have spared my pains; for at sight of her husband,and particularly of the lack-lustre eye and drooping head with which heentered, she sprang forward with a cry of dismay, and, forgetting mypresence, appealed to him to know what was the matter.

  He let himself fall on a stool, the first he reached, and, leaning hiselbows on the table in an attitude of dejection, he covered his facewith his hands. "What is it?" he said in a hollow tone. "We are ruined,Margot. That is what it is. I have no more work. I am dismissed."

  "Dismissed?" she ejaculated.

  He nodded. "Nicholas discharged me this morning," he said, almost in awhisper. He dared not speak louder, for he could not command his voice.

  "Why?" she asked, as she leant over him, her hands busy about him. "Whathad you done?"

  "Nothing!" he answered with bitterness. "He has missed a place hethought to get; and I must suffer for it."

  "But did he say nothing? Did he give no reason?"

  "Ay," he answered. "He said clerks were plentiful, and the King or Imust starve."

  Hitherto I had witnessed the scene in silence, a prey to emotions sovarious I will not attempt to describe them. But hearing the King's namethus prostituted I started forward with a violence which made mypresence known. Felix, confounded by the sight of a stranger at hiselbow, rose from his seat, and retreating before me with alarm paintedon his countenance, he asked with a faltering tongue who I was.

  I replied as gently as possible that I was a friend, anxious to assisthim. Notwithstanding that, seeing that I kept my cloak about myface--for I was not willing to be recognized--he continued to look at mewith distrust.

  "What is your will?" he said, raising the lamp much as his wife haddone, to see me the better.

  "The answers to two or three questions," I replied. "Answer them truly,and I promise you your troubles are at an end." So saying, I drew frommy pouch the scrap of paper which had come to me so strangely. "When didyou write this, my friend?" I continued, placing it before him.

  He drew a deep breath at sight of it, and a look of comprehensioncrossed his face. For a moment he hesitated. Then in a hurried manner hesaid that he had never seen the paper.

  "Come," I rejoined sternly, "look at it again. Let there be no mistake.When did you write that, and why?"

  Still he shook his head; and, though I pressed him, he continued sostubborn in his denial that, but for the look I had seen on his facewhen I produced the paper, and the strange coincidence of his dismissal,I might have believed him. As it was, I saw nothing for it but to havehim arrested and brought to my house, where I did not doubt he wouldtell the truth; and I was about to retire to give the order, whensomething in a sidelong glance which he cast at his wife caught my eye,and furnished me with a new idea. Acting on it, I affected to besatisfied. I apologized for my intrusion on the ground of mistake; and,withdrawing to the door, I asked him at the last moment to light medownstairs.

  Complying with a shaking hand, he went out before me, and had nearlyreached the foot of the staircase when I touched him on the shoulder.

  "Now," I said, fixing him with my eyes, "your wife is no longerlistening, and you can tell me the truth. Who employed you to writethose words?"

  Trembling so violently that he had to lean on the balustrade forsupport, he told me.

  "Madame Nicholas," he whispered.

  "What?" I cried, recoiling. I had no doubt he was telling me the truth."The secretary's wife, do you mean? Be careful, man."

  He nodded.

  "When?" I asked suspiciously.

  "Yesterday," he answered. "She is an old cat!" he continued, with agrimace. "I hate her! But my wife is jealous, and would think allthings."

  "And did you throw it into a coach," I said, "on the Pont du Changeto-day?"

  "God forbid!" he replied, shrinking into himself again. "I wrote it forher, and she took it away. She said it was a jest that she was playing.That is all I know."

  I saw that he spoke the truth, and after a few more words I dismissedhim, bidding him keep silence, and remain at home in case I needed him.At the last, he plucked up spirit to ask who I was; but preferring tokeep that discovery for a day to come, when I might appear as thebenefactor of this little family, I told him only that I was one of theKing's servants, and so left him.

  It will be believed that I found the information I had received littleto my mind. The longer I dwelt on it, the more serious seemed thematter. While I could not imagine circumstances in which a woman wouldbe likely to inform against her husband without cause, I could recallmore than one conspiracy which had been frustrated by informers of thatclass--sometimes out of regard for the persons against whom theyinformed. Viewed in this light, the warning seemed to my mindsufficiently alarming; but when I came also to consider the secrecy withwhich Madame Nicholas had both prepared it and conveyed it to me, theaspect of the case grew yet more formidable. In the result, I had notpassed through two streets before my mind was made up to lay the casebefore the King, and be guided by the sagacity which was never wantingto my gracious master.

  An unexpected meeting which awaited me on my return to the Arsenalconfirmed me in this resolution and enabled me to carry it into effect.We entered without difficulty, and duly found Maignan on guard at thedoor of my apartments. But a glance at his face sufficed to show thatsomething was wrong; nor did it need the look of penitence which heassumed on seeing us--a look so piteous that at another time it musthave diverted me--to convince me that he had infringed my orders.

  "How now, sirrah?" I said, without waiting for him to speak. "What haveyou been doing?"

  "They would take no refusal, my lord," he answered plaintively, wavinghis hand towards the
door.

  "What!" I cried sternly; for this was an instance of such directdisobedience as I could scarce understand. "Did I not give you thestrictest orders to deny me to everybody?"

  "They would take no refusal, my lord," he answered penitently, edgingaway from me as he spoke.

  "Who are they?" I asked, leaving the question of his punishment foranother season. "Speak, rascal, though it shall not save you."

  "There are M. le Marquis de la Varenne, and M. de Vitry," he saidslowly, "and M. de Vic, and M. Erard the engineer, and M. de Fontange,and----"

  "Pardieu!" I cried, cutting him short in a rage; for he was going oncounting on his fingers in a manner the most provoking. "Have you let inall Paris, dolt? Grace! that I should be served by a fool! Open thedoor, and let me see them."

  With that I was about to enter; when the door, which I had not perceivedto be ajar, was thrown widely open, and a laughing face thrust out. Itwas the King's.

  "Ha, ha! Grandmaster!" he cried, diverted by the success of his jestand the change which doubtless came over my countenance. "Never was suchhospitality, I'll be sworn! But come, pardon this varlet. And nowembrace me, and tell me where you have been playing truant."

  Saying these words with the charm which never failed him, and in histime won more foes than his sword ever conquered, the King drew me intomy room, where I found De Vic, Vitry, Roquelaure, and the rest. They alllaughed heartily at my surprise; nor was Maignan, who was the author, itwill be remembered, of that whimsical procession to Rosny after thebattle of Ivry, which I have elsewhere described, far behind them; therascal knowing well that the King's presence covered all, and that in mygratification at the honour paid me I should be certain to overlook hisimpertinence.

  Perceiving that this impromptu visit had no other object than to divertHenry--though he was kind enough to say that he felt uneasy when he didnot see me often--I begged to know if he would honour me by staying tosup; but this he would not do, though he consented to drink a cup of myArbois wine, and praised it highly. By-and-by I thought I saw that hewas willing to be alone with me; and as I had reason to desire thismyself, I made an opportunity. Sending for Arnaud and some of mygentlemen, I committed my other guests to their care, and led the Kinginto my closet, where, after requesting his leave to speak on business,I proceeded to unfold to him the adventure of the snowball, with all theparticulars which I have set down.

  He listened attentively, drumming on the table with his fingers; nor didhe move or speak when I had done, but still continued in the sameattitude of thought. At last: "Grandmaster," he said, touching with hishand the mark of the wound on his lip, "how long is it since Chastel'sattempt--when I got this?"

  "Seven years last Christmas, sire," I answered, after a moment'sthought.

  "And Barriere's?"

  "That was the year before. Avenius' plot was that year too."

  "And the Italian's from Milan, of whom the Capuchin Honorio warned us?"

  "That was two years ago, sire."

  "And how many more attempts have there been against my person?" hecontinued, in a tone of extreme sadness. "Rosny, my friend, they mustsucceed at last. No man can fight against his fate. The end is sure,notwithstanding your fidelity and vigilance, and the love you bear me,for which I love you, too. But Nicholas? Nicholas? And yet he has beencareless and distraught of late. I have noticed it; and a month back Irefused to give him an appointment, of which he wished to have thesale."

  I did not dare to speak, and for a time Henry too remained silent. Atlength he rose with an air of resolution.

  "We will clear up this matter within an hour!" he said. "I will send mypeople back to the Louvre, and do you, Grandmaster, order half a dozenSwiss to be ready to conduct us to this woman's house. When we haveheard her we shall know what to do."

  I tried my utmost to dissuade him, pleading that his presence could notbe necessary, and might prove a hindrance; besides exposing his personto a certain amount of risk. But he would not listen. When I saw,therefore, that his mind was made up, and that as his spirits rose hewas inclined to welcome this expedition as a relief from the _ennui_which at times troubled him, I reluctantly withdrew my opposition andgave the necessary orders. The King dismissed his suite with a fewwords, and in a short space we were on our way, under cover of darkness,to the secretary's house.

  He lived at this time in a court off the Rue St. Jacques, not far fromthe church of that name; and the house being remote from the eyes andobservation of the street, seemed not unfit for secret and desperateuses. Although we noted lights shining behind several of the barredwindows, the wintry night, the darkness of the court, and perhaps theerrand on which we came, imparted so gloomy an aspect to the place thatthe King hitched forward his sword, and I begged him to permit the Swissto go on with us. This, however, he would not allow, and they were leftat the entrance to the court with orders to follow at a given signal.

  On the steps the King, who, to disguise himself the better, had borrowedone of my cloaks, stumbled and almost fell. This threw him into a fit oflaughter; for no sooner was he engaged in an adventure which promisedperil, than his spirits rose to such a degree as to make him the mostcharming companion in danger man ever had. He was still shaking, andpulling me to and fro in one of those boyish frolics which at timesswayed him, when a loud outcry inside the house startled us intosobriety, and reminded us of the business which brought us thither.

  Wondering what it might mean, I was for rapping on the door with myhilt. But the King put me aside, and, by a happy instinct, tried thelatch. The door yielded to his hand, and gave us admittance.

  We found ourselves in a gloomy hall, ill-lit, and hung with patchedarras. In one corner stood a group of servants. Of these some lookedscared and some amused, but all were so much taken up with the movementsof a harsh-faced woman, who was pacing the opposite side of the hall,that they did not heed our entrance. A glance showed me that the womanwas Madame Nicholas; but I was still at a loss to guess what she wasdoing or what was happening in the house.

  I stood a moment, and then finding that in her excitement she took nonotice of us, I beckoned to one of the servants, and bade him tell hismistress that a gentleman would speak with her. The man went with themessage; but she sent him off with a flea in his ear, and screamed athim so violently that for a moment I thought she was mad. Then itappeared that the object of her attention was a door at that side of thehall; for, stopping suddenly in her walk, she went up to it, and struckon it passionately and repeatedly with her hands.

  "Come out!" she cried. "Come out, you villain! Your friends shall notsave you!"

  Restraining the King, I went forward myself, and, saluting her, begged aword with her apart, thinking that she would recognize me.

  Her answer showed that she did not. "No!" she cried, waving me off, inthe utmost excitement. "No; you will not get me away! You will not! Iknow your tricks. You are as bad one as the other, and shield oneanother come what will!" Then turning again to the door, she continued,"Come out! Do you hear! Come out! I will have no more of your intriguesand your Hallots!"

  I pricked up my ears at the name. "But, Madame," I said, "one moment."

  "Begone!" she retorted, turning on me so wrathfully that I fairlyrecoiled before her. "I shall stay here till I drop; but I will have himout and expose him. There shall be an end of his precious plots and hisHallots if I have to go to the King!"

  Words so curiously _a propos_ could not but recall to my mind theconfusion into which the mention of Du Hallot had thrown the secretaryearlier in the day. And since they seemed also to be consistent with thewarning conveyed to me, they should have corroborated my suspicions. Buta sense of something unreal and fantastic, with which I could notgrapple, continued to puzzle me in the presence of this angry woman; andit was with no great assurance that I said, "Do I understand then,madame, that M. du Hallot is in that room?"

  "Monsieur du Hallot?" she replied, in a tone that was almost a scream."No: but Madame du Hallot is, and he would be if he had taken th
e hint Isent him! He would be! But I will have no more secrecy, and no moreplots. I have suffered enough, and now Madame shall suffer if she hasnot forgotten how to blush. Are you coming out there?" she continued,once more applying herself to the door, her face inflamed with passion."I shall stay! Oh, I shall stay, I assure you, until you do come. Untilmorning if necessary!"

  "But, Madame," I said, beginning to see daylight, and finding words withdifficulty--for already I heard in fancy the King's laughter, andconjured up the quips and cranks with which he would pursue me--"yourwarning did not perhaps reach M. du Hallot?"

  "It reached his coach, at any rate," the scold retorted. "But anothertime I will have no half measures. As for that," she continued, turningon me suddenly with her arms akimbo, and the fiercest of airs, "I wouldlike to know what business it is of yours, Monsieur, whether it reachedhim or not! I know you,--you are in league with my husband! You are hereto shelter him, and this Madame du Hallot who is within here! And withwhom he has been carrying on these three months! But----"

  At that moment the door at last opened; and M. Nicholas, wearing anaspect so meek and crestfallen that I hardly knew him, came out. He wasfollowed by a young woman plainly dressed, and looking almost as muchfrightened as himself; in whom I had no difficulty in recognizingFelix's wife.

  "Why!" Madame Nicholas cried, her face falling. "This is not--who isthis? Who--" with increased vehemence--"is this baggage, I would like toknow? This shameless creature, that----"

  "My dear," the secretary protested, spreading out his hands--fortunatelyhe had eyes only for his wife and did not see us--"this is one of yourridiculous mistakes! It is, I assure you. This is the wife of a clerkwhom I dismissed to-day, and she has been with me begging me toreinstate her husband. That is all. That is all, my dear, in truth itis. You have made this dreadful outcry for nothing. I assure you----"

  I heard no more, for, taking advantage of the obscurity of the hall, andthe preoccupation of the couple, I made for the door, and passing outinto the darkness, found myself in the embrace of the King; who, seizingme about the neck, laughed on my shoulder until he cried, continuallyadjuring me to laugh also, and ejaculating between the paroxysms, "Poordu Hallot! Poor du Hallot!" With many things of the same nature, whichany one acquainted with court life may supply for himself.

  I confess I did not on my part find it so easy to laugh: partly becauseI am not of so gay a disposition as that great prince, and partlybecause I cannot see the ludicrous side of events in which I myself takepart. But on the King assuring me that he would not betray the secreteven to La Varenne, I took comfort, and gradually reconciled myself toan episode which, unlike the more serious events it now becomes my dutyto relate, had only one result, and that unimportant. I mean theintroduction to my service of the clerk Felix; who, proving worthy ofconfidence, remained with me after the lamentable death of the King mymaster, and is to-day one of those to whom I entrust the preparation ofthese Memoirs.

  PART III

  KING TERROR

 

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