The Little Ball O' Fire; or, the Life and Adventures of John Marston Hall

by G. P. R. James

  CHAPTER XXX.

  Never, perhaps, had turbulence and disorder worked its own cure morecompletely than in Paris. The general ruin which had overtaken everysort of art and trade, had disgusted all those classes, which in timesof tranquillity are so potent to do good, and in times of disturbanceare so potent to do evil; and they who had been the foremost insupporting faction, were now the loudest in their outcry for generalsubmission. Unhappily, nations almost always pass from one extreme tothe other; and now yielding too much to the royal authority, wherethey had before conceded too little, the parliament again verifiedevery edict of the crown, and the people only murmured that theParliament pretended to deliberate in obeying the will of the King. Inone word, the faction of the Fronde was at an end, and though ageneral indemnity was granted to all who submitted within fifteendays, yet the rebel leaders were banished from the capital, and theCardinal de Retz, the chief mover of every tumult and every intrigue,was arrested in the ante-chamber of the Queen, and confined in thecastle of Vincennes.

  The greater part of these scenes, however, passed after I had quittedParis; for, two days subsequent to the return of the Court to thecapital, I once more followed Monsieur de Villardin to the camp.Turenne soon again joined the army, but his forces were now placedupon a different footing from that on which they had hitherto stood.New regiments joined us each day, those that were already collectedwere speedily recruited, and in taking the field to force the Princede Cond? to evacuate France, Turenne found himself at the head of asuperior, rather than an inferior force.

  Through the whole of the events that succeeded I continued to serve inthe regiment of Monsieur de Villardin, but nothing of any interestoccurred in my private history till the end of the campaign, when,after the capture of Bar le Duc, Ch?teau Porcien, and Vervins, Turennedispersed his army in winter quarters, and returned to Paris with thegreater part of his officers.

  Monsieur de Villardin now at once took up his abode in his hotel inthe capital, which had escaped all the outrages that had occurred,although not a few of the best houses in the town had been pillaged atone time or another during the civil wars. His intention was to remainfor two or three weeks in Paris, and then proceed to Dumont, to whichplace, as I before said, Mademoiselle de Villardin and FatherFerdinand had been sent after the burning of the ch?teau of Virmont.Ere we had been in the capital three days, however, a messengerarrived from Brittany, bearing the sad tidings that Laura had beenattacked by a violent fever, which left but little hope of her life.We were preparing to go out in the evening when Monsieur de Villardinreceived the letter communicating this bitter intelligence, andclasping his hands together with agitation he could not master, heexclaimed, "She will die! Of course, she will die! It is a part of mypunishment!"

  I tried to raise his hopes, but in vain; and as the next best thingwas to force him into activity, I proposed that we should instantlyset out for Dumont. He caught eagerly at the idea, and as we could notdepart without permission, which was not to be obtained till the nextmorning, a servant was despatched as an avant-courier, both to orderrelays of horses to be ready at certain hours upon the road, and givenotice of our coming at the ch?teau.

  As soon as the royal leave was obtained the next morning, we mountedour horses and began our journey. No time was lost upon the road, andin a very short space, considering the distance, we arrived at thespot which had been the scene of so many painful events. It was lucky,perhaps, that Monsieur de Villardin had other matter of deep interestto occupy his mind, and call it from all the associations with whichthe place was connected; yet, though eagerness to hear whether hischild was yet in life was certainly predominant, I could see plainlythat his whole frame was shaken, and his very soul moved as we rodethrough the park to the ch?teau.

  The sound of our horses' feet had brought Father Ferdinand to theterrace; and there was a bland smile upon his lip, which told us atonce that he had good tidings in store for our welcome.

  "She is better, my brother; she is better," he said, taking Monsieurde Villardin's hand as he dismounted. "I trust that all danger isover."

  "Thank God!" cried the Duke, and without staying to ask more, hestrode on towards his daughter's apartments. I looked after him withno small feelings of interest, and, to tell the truth, I would fainhave accompanied him to see the dear little girl who had twinedherself round my heart by so many strange ties. As I gazed, however,towards the great staircase, down which from a high window the sun wasshining so strongly as almost to dazzle my eyes, I suddenly thought Isaw a beautiful boy of four or five years of age cross the end of thestaircase and disappear in the passages beyond.

  Father Ferdinand was standing beside me, asking me a number of kindlyquestions concerning myself and Monsieur de Villardin, and I turned tohim with some surprise as the boy passed across; but he seemed to haveseen nothing; and, doubting my senses, I answered his questionswithout taking any farther notice, quite sure that if such a being asI fancied I had beheld was in the ch?teau, I should soon see himagain. I had many a question to ask in return; and he repaid theaccount I gave of all my adventures, by a fuller detail of what hadoccurred at Virmont than I had yet received, and by a sketch of thequiet life he had been passing at Dumont with his young charge, ofwhom he spoke in terms of the most unmingled affection and tenderness.

  In about an hour the good priest was called to Monsieur de Villardin;and, although I was somewhat fatigued, I proceeded to visit all my oldhaunts about the house, with feelings which, I suppose, every one musthave experienced on returning, after a long absence, to scenes inwhich events of deep and lasting interest had taken place. Everything,however, was exactly as I had left it; the very furniture seemedstanding in the same places; and, as I went from room to room, nothingwould have told me that I had been absent more than five days, insteadof five years, from Dumont, except the many changes in my own bosom,which formed a strange contrast with the unaltered situation ofeverything around me.

  As almost all the old servants had accompanied us to Virmont, it wasnot so long since I had seen them; but I was glad to find that eventhe time I had been absent had only served to make them welcome myreturn with the greater pleasure, and, from the kind and yetrespectful manner in which they crowded round me, and inquired aftermy health and happiness, I could almost have fancied myself the youngheir returning to his father's house, after some long and perilousexpedition. My old friend, Jerome, seemed particularly delighted, andrelated, with tears in his eyes, how all the household had beenaffected when they heard that I had been killed on the terrace atVirmont.

  In reply to my questions concerning his nephew, he informed me, withjoy and pride, that good Jacques Marlot had fully justified me insaving him from the gallows, and had made a happy transition from thestate of an indifferent printer to that of a steady, wealthy,respectable farmer. He would be delighted to see me, he added, and toshow me all the thriving children with which the good-temperedbrunette he had taken to his bosom had blessed his fireside since lastI saw him. Promising to go down and pay him a visit the next day, Ileft the good old man, and returned to the library, intending to waitthere for Monsieur de Villardin. I found him there, however, already;and, as he was in conversation with Father Ferdinand, I wasimmediately about to withdraw, when he beckoned me into the room,saying, with a smile, "A fair lady has been asking for you, DeJuvigny, and will not be satisfied till you pay her a visit. Yourplayfellow has not forgotten you, I can assure you."

  I expressed, of course, how delighted I should be to see her; and theDuke immediately led me up to Laura's apartments, where I found herstretched upon a sofa, a good deal changed, it is true, and pale andlanguid from the illness she had lately undergone. She was still,however, a lively, sweet girl of little more than twelve years old,and, with the same affectionate familiarity in which we had alwayslived, she put her arms round me whenever I approached, and kissed mycheek as I bent over her.

  Monsieur de Villardin smiled. "You see, Laura," he said, "as I toldyou, he has gro
wn a great man since you saw him, and you must now callhim Monsieur le Baron de Juvigny."

  "No, no," replied she, half angrily; "he shall never be anything butJohn Hall with me--the same John Hall who saved my life, and who savedyour life, papa."

  "He has saved it again, my dear child," replied Monsieur de Villardin,"and conferred many another benefit on me, besides."

  "Thank you, thank you!" cried she, holding out her hand to me; "andpray always do be near papa, and take care of him; for you know I haveno one else to love in the world but him, and you, and good FatherFerdinand, now that mamma is dead."

  Monsieur de Villardin burst into tears, and quitted the apartment,while our good friend Lise, who had now become Mademoiselle deVillardin's chief attendant, chid her for mentioning her mother toMonsieur de Villardin, saying, "You know, Mademoiselle Laura, he is sogrieved for her that it is painful for him even to hear her named."

  "So am I grieved for her," replied Laura; "yet I always love to thinkof her, and hope that I shall never forget her."

  After speaking a few words of greeting to Lise, and a few more toMademoiselle de Villardin, seeing that she was far too weak to bearmuch conversation, I left her, and, retiring to my own apartments, laydown to rest.

  The next morning early I set out to visit good Jacques Marlot, takingthe intendant's house by the way, as I had full three years' arrearsof rents to receive from him, and it had become necessary for me toput my own little establishment upon rather a better footing thanit had been during the war. One of the soldiers of Monsieur deVillardin's regiment had served me for both groom and valet-de-chambre;and, as I now looked upon myself as a very wealthy and prosperouspersonage, I had resolved that my horses at least should have theadvantage of a personal attendant, though I required one butlittle myself.

  I found the intendant quite ready to settle accounts with me, though,in his cool, shrewd manner, he cited a good many deductions, whichwere to be made from the gross sum that I had to receive. Some ofwhich I suffered to pass, but some of which I contested successfully,and, by so doing, raised myself, I am convinced, several steps higherin the opinion of the intendant, who thought the acm? of humanjudgment and discretion consisted in the nice calculation of livres,_parisis_ and _tournois_. From his dwelling I proceeded immediately tomy own house of Juvigny, which I found so much improved under the careand taste of good Jacques Marlot, that I could not help blessing mystars for having sent me such a tenant, although he paid no rent forthe dwelling. I soon after found, however, that in addition to thefarm of the good Ursulines, which he continued to manage with greatcare, he rented from his wife's uncle, the intendant, my farm ofJuvigny also, which was prospering in a remarkable degree; and, infact, the affairs of good Jacques Marlot seemed to have taken a turnat the gallows' foot, and to have gone on in constant success eversince.

  The servant who had been sent on to Dumont before Monsieur deVillardin and myself, had, amongst other pieces of news, communicatedto the whole household my new dignity as Baron de Juvigny, and, assoon as Jacques Marlot beheld me, he made me a lowly reverence, incompliment to my new dignity, though with the solemnity which pervadedhis salutation there was mixed a certain touch of droll humour, whichshowed that he had not quite forgot the John Marston Hall whom he hadformerly known. Laughing at the _Monseigneur_ with which he addressedme, I told him to wait a few years, and, if my fortunes went on asprosperously as they had begun, he should have cause to give me thatepithet. After the first salutations, he led me into his dwelling, andI found Madame Marlot settled down completely into a pretty bustlingfarmer's wife, skilled in poultry and butter, and all the particularsappertaining to her calling, while three rosy children, in gradualascent from the infant in arms to the red-cheeked riotous boy,afforded sufficient employment to all her leisure time.

  This seemed the extent of her family; but before I had been tenminutes in the house, I heard a step running across the room above,and, the moment after, the same beautiful boy, of whom I had caught amomentary glance at the ch?teau, burst into the room, and stood gazingat me with some surprise.

  "What! another! Mon cher philosophe," I cried; "what, four since Ileft you?"

  "No, no," replied Jacques Marlot, laughing, "that is no son of mine,though he could not be a better boy if he were. He is the child of apoor gentleman who was killed in the late wars, and whom we have totake care of."

  There was something in the poor boy's fate so similar to my own, that,though Jacques Marlot did not enter into further details at that time,I could not but feel interested in him; and, perhaps--for there are, Ibelieve, few people on whom personal appearance has no effect--I mightbe somewhat influenced, too, by his fine countenance and noble mien,which were extraordinary in a child of his age. Calling him to me, Iset him on my knee, and was soon high in his good graces. He admiredthe tassels of my cloak, played with the hilt of my sword, and wasspeedily in a full career of questions, which, with childish rapidity,he scarcely waited to hear answered. I found afterwards from JacquesMarlot that both his father and mother were dead, and that he had nonebut some very distant relations living in one of the far provinces ofFrance. Everything I saw and everything I heard of him increased theinterest I felt, more and more; and at length, remarking that he hadacquired a strong Breton accent, I asked the ci-devant printer howhe, who knew better, could suffer the child to speak such a patois,adding, "You had better give him to me, and let me make him my page."

  "Are you serious?" demanded Jacques Marlot: "if you are, I dare saythe matter might easily be managed; but, of course, I must have theconsent of his friends."

  Although I had no idea, at the time that I did make the proposal, thatthere was any chance of its being accepted, and although the boy wasin reality too young to be of any service to me as a page, yet, thehaving once said it, together, perhaps, with a slight touch of romancein my own disposition, and a real interest in the poor boy'ssituation, made me adhere to my offer; and, after saying that I wasserious, I asked who the boy's friends were, and what was their realstation in life.

  "Oh! as to his rank," replied Jacques Marlot, "he is of as noble bloodas any in the land, though poor enough, I believe; but, however, as itwas Father Ferdinand, the good confessor at the ch?teau, who put himunder my care, I must, of course, speak with him before I can consentto anything."

  Whenever he mentioned the name of Father Ferdinand, it struck me thatthere was a likeness between the boy and the priest, which might havemade me suspect some nearer relationship between them than a vow ofcelibacy would well have admitted, had not the character of FatherFerdinand been of that pure and simple cast, severe upon himself, yetlenient to others, which set all suspicion at defiance.

  "I will speak with the good father myself," I said: "what is yourname, my boy?"

  "Clement de la Marke," he replied.

  "And will you go and be my page?" I asked.

  "Yes, that I will," he answered, "if you will let me come and seema?tre Jacques and the ladies of St. Ursula, whom he takes me tovisit."

  "Ay, and who kiss you and give you sweetmeats, too, Clement," addedthe good farmer. "You see, he knows how to make conditions already,Monsieur le Baron."

  "He is very right," replied I, rising to depart: "but, however, I willspeak with Father Ferdinand, and if he consent, he shall come up andbe my page at the ch?teau."

  "Oh! I shall be so glad of that," cried the boy; "for then I shall seeMademoiselle Laura every day, and they told me yesterday that I shouldnot see her again for a long time."

  I took upon me to promise that, in this desire at least, he should begratified, and, mounting my horse, after some further conversationwith ma?tre Jacques, I rode back fully resolved to speak with FatherFerdinand upon the subject of the boy; and, if he consented on hispart, and Monsieur de Villardin had no objection, to take littleClement, and breed him up for a soldier, as I had been bred up myself.However, as I rode on, my romance cooled a little. I recollected thatI had seen the child but twice, and that the good father might wellaccuse me of b
oyish romance, and treat my request as the offspring ofa mere idle whim; and, feeling somewhat ashamed to speak to him uponthe subject, I let the day pass without doing so. The next morning,accusing myself of irresolution, I descended early, intending to makethe proposal. On going to the confessor's apartments, however, I foundthat he was out, and when he returned, about an hour afterwards, hecame himself to seek me. He then told me that, on going down to theconvent, on the other side of the water, he had met Jacques Marlot,who had informed him of my offer.

  "I will take two days, my son," he said, "to consider of what youpropose; but you must fully understand the boy's situation before youtake upon yourself what I conceive to be a heavy responsibility. Youmust remember that his family is noble, and I must also tell you,that, though he does not possess at present above three thousandlivres a year, to pay all his expenses, yet on the death of somedistant relations, there is a probability of his succeeding to a verylarge estate. His education, therefore, must fit him for a change ofstation, while it may be as well not to let him know that such anevent is even possible."

  "In regard to his education, my good father," I replied, "all I cangive him, I am afraid, will be a military one; but, as I trust thatyou and I will never again be separated so long as we have latelybeen, you must take upon you to supply all that which I am incompetentto afford."

  "Willingly, willingly," replied Father Ferdinand; "and I think, uponthose conditions, there can be no other difficulty; yet, still, Ishould like to consider of the matter for at least two days; and, inthe meanwhile, you can ask Monsieur de Villardin's approbation ofthese arrangements."

  "Oh, I am sure he will consent," replied I, "if you, on your part,have power to consent for young Clement de la Marke, which I supposeyou have," I added, with a smile, "for he is so like you, thatthere must be some relationship."

  "It is very extraordinary," replied Father Ferdinand, "but therecertainly is a likeness strong enough to be visible to my own eyes;and yet he has nearer relations than myself living, to whom hisresemblance is not so great."

  Two days after this conversation, I informed Father Ferdinandthat Monsieur de Villardin had consented to my making anyarrangement of the kind that I liked. He, on his part, signified hisfull approbation, and, on the subsequent evening, little Clement de laMarke was removed to the ch?teau. So engaging were his manners, and soamiable his disposition, that though Monsieur de Villardin smiled atthe diminutive size of my page, I myself remained very well satisfiedwith the transaction; and, fortunately, soon after I procured a burlyBreton as a groom, who made up in size for all that little Clementwanted.