After supping with the pages, whose meals were taken in a separate chamber, I inquired of the old major-domo, who I found was to be my oracle in the house, whether the Duke was likely to require my attendance upon him during the course of the evening; and, learning that I might absent myself in security, I told my old adviser that I should go out into the streets of Paris, and take a stroll through the city, which I had not seen since I left it with Lord Masterton, many months before. The good old man gave me a great many sage and prudent cautions as to my behaviour; but, at the same time, having a billet to send to his nephew, one Jacques Marlot, a printer, who lived upon the Key of the Goldsmiths, he did not at all oppose my expedition, but, on the contrary, requested me to deliver the note as I went.
I willingly undertook the task, and sallied forth full of glad thoughts, and well disposed to be pleased with everything that a great city could present.
To tell the truth, my freedom from the irksome restraint and wearisome application which my late studies demanded, made me feel very much like a bird escaped from its cage, and I walked along through the streets of Paris far happier than if I had been lord of one half of the universe. That capital, nevertheless, was not, perhaps, one of the best schools in which a boy, who, like myself, had run on far beyond his years in the race of life, could complete his education. Always the great emporium of vice and debauchery, Paris, in its present state, offers but a faint picture of its former self. The licence of every kind that then existed in the city, no tongue can tell, nor pen can describe. Everything the most sacred had become a jest. Every moral tie was broken, without shame or care; and never did liberty of speech and action arrive at the consummation of a total demoralization of the whole people, more completely than it had done, by this time, in the French capital. It luckily happened, however, that, though doubtless I might have found plenty to initiate me into all sorts of mysteries which I had better not have known, I was too young for the sort of instruction I might otherwise have received, and my nature was too quick and vehement to take pleasure in vice without passion.
All that I found then to amuse me in the streets of Paris, was the gaiety, the bustle, and the liveliness of the people, the witty ribaldry of their songs and jests, their easily excited merriment, and their extravagant grimaces. All this certainly pleased and interested me; and I met with many a sight to attract my attention and arrest my steps as I walked on to the Quai des Orfèvres. However, I at length arrived there; and, having discovered the dwelling of Jacques Marlot, I went in, and delivered his uncle's note.
He was a little, gay, joyful-looking man, not in the least resembling the worthy major-domo, but with a face not unlike the busts of Socrates, if we can conceive the countenance of the philosopher covered over with a florid and somewhat wine-imbued skin, and lighted up with two sparkling small black eyes, full of unquenchable fire and malice.
At the time that I entered, he was busily engaged, though in total solitude, in despatching the goodly form of a fat roasted capon, which he took care to bathe in repeated draughts from a tankard of warm wine, which stood in his chimney corner. He received me with the sort of gay civility which his whole demeanour bespoke; and, opening his uncle's note, grinned merrily at the contents; observing, that his relation warned him to beware of printing anything against the Court, as the Parliament and the generals were all racing against each other to see which should make peace fastest.
"Ma foi," he added, "I will make my peace as they have made theirs, with arms in my hand;" and, setting me down a cup, he insisted on my staying to drink with him, which, after having once tasted his potations, I felt very well inclined to do. It struck me, perhaps, as a little extraordinary, that a poor printer, whose trade was not at that time the most lucrative in Paris, should be able to afford rich Burgundy, and to feed upon fat capon; but I soon found that, being of a very unscrupulous nature, Master Jacques Marlot obtained large prices for printing all those defamatory libels against Mazarin, the Queen, and the whole Court, which then formed the amusement and the reproach of the city. It was his rule never to inquire who the authors were, provided they paid him largely. The more unceremonious the wit, and biting the satire, the more it agreed with the tastes of the printer himself; and many a noble, and, I believe I might add, many a reverend pen, poured forth its gall from under the mantle of Jacques. Marlot.
My promptitude in catching hisbons mots, my readiness in replying to them, my English accent, and my insular notions, as he called them, all seemed to please and to amuse the printer much; and after having, with a rueful glance, divided the last drop in the flagon equally between himself and me, he invited me cordially to come back and see him again in a few days at the same hour, which I did not fail to do more than once; and many a merry laugh have we had together at the follies and the vices of persons of every rank, class, and condition in the state. Indeed, there was such a strange mixture of the cynic, the stoic, and the epicurean, in the whole life and conduct of Jacques Marlot, that I could not help looking upon him as a great philosopher.
Whether any one, who by chance may read these pages, will coincide in my opinion, I cannot tell; but every one shall have an opportunity of judging; for this casual acquaintance, formed under such very common-place circumstances, went on into after years, and followed me through many a strange scene to distant parts of the land. Those scenes, however, will, themselves, require too long detail for me to pause upon our less interesting interviews; though the conversation of Jacques Marlot would, at the time I speak of, have formed no bad jest-book for the Fronde; and on that very night I heard morebons motsand anecdotes in half an hour than had met my ear for many a day before.
On my return home, I found a neat small room, not far from the apartments of the good major-domo, prepared as my lodging; and by the time I had half undressed myself, in order to go to bed, I was surprised to see the door open, and Monsieur de Villardin himself enter the room. As his brow was somewhat grave and stern, I imagined that he had come to chide me for my absence during the evening; and I instantly began to feel a spirit of rebellion at the very thought, partly engendered by my old habits of independence, partly by the sense of having in a degree recovered it anew. To my good young lord, whom I had lately left, I had been bound by ties of affection and gratitude, which would have made me do anything to please him, and which caused me to submit to his orders or to his rebuke with patience and good-will. Such, however, was not the case in regard to Monsieur de Villardin, at least as yet; and I determined to show him that, though I was perfectly willing to give him every sort of attendance when he required it, yet that I looked upon the rest of my time as at my own disposal. I resolved to let him know also, that, though the fortunes of my family had been for some time at a low ebb, I had as gentle blood in my veins as he had; and, in short, I was prepared to be as saucy and impertinent, I doubt not, as any wild, ungovernable, and hot-headed boy could be, when, to my surprise, he began upon quite a different topic, without taking the slightest notice of my late absence.
Setting down the taper that he carried, he threw himself into a large chair that stood by the fire, and bidding me put on my vest again, as he had a good deal to say to me, he continued, "Well, my page, we have begun together, this morning, as well as I could wish, and I find that the character I have received with you does you no more than justice: I doubt not that every hour will increase my regard for you; and I shall take care that you have every opportunity of distinguishing yourself that you could desire through life."
This discourse, so different from that I had expected, was certainly very pleasing to me; but at the same time I had learned too much of the world not to understand that it was a prelude to something else, which perhaps might not be so gratifying; and, consequently, I answered with the words which mean less than any others in the world, "Your lordship is very good."
"Nevertheless," proceeded Monsieur de Villardin, "it is but right that we should clearly understand upon what terms we are to go on together. Now," he continued, assuming a frank and easy air,--which when you see men do you may be perfectly sure that they are cheating themselves, and are trying to cheat you also,--"now, I am not in the least a suspicious man; far from it; by nature I am quite the contrary; nevertheless, I think it but right that every master of a large household like this should be thoroughly acquainted with all that takes place in his dwelling. Of course you will have a great many opportunities of observing what passes in my family, and I must require of you to be frank and free with me on all such subjects."
I did not like the matter at all, for I understood very well what he meant; and I was sure that, although he felt some difficulty in explaining himself at first, he would not be long before he found an opportunity of doing so completely. However, I thought my usual straightforward way was the best, and I answered, "I am always frank and free, my lord. I say what I think to everybody, and of everybody."
"So I have heard, so I have heard," said the Duke; "and I must desire that you do so, particularly towards me, remembering that I look upon a person who would see his master wronged as fully more culpable than the person who wrongs him."
"My lord," I replied, seeing that we must come to the point at last, "I certainly never will see you wronged without endeavouring to right you; and if I cannot do it in my own person, I shall hold myself bound to tell you, in order that you may do it. I am sure your lordship does not wish me to become a spy upon anybody, nor would it have any effect if you did; for I would not remain in the house of any one half an hour who was to require such a thing of me."
It is wonderful how many things people will do, from the very name of which they would shrink with shame if put into plain terms; and though I am perfectly convinced that Monsieur de Villardin,--from some of those vague and visionary doubts which haunt the minds of suspicious men, the spectres of a diseased imagination,--would have liked me to watch all the events of any importance that took place in his house, and make him a full report thereof, yet he immediately testified great disgust at the very name of a spy, and replied, "Far from me be such a thought for a moment, as to propose to you, young man, anything mean or dishonourable. I know you are of gentle blood, and have served well in a noble cause; and therefore, though I hold you bound by your duty, as you are also by the promise you have just made, to give me instant information if you see any one attempt to wrong me in any way, yet, of course, I do not desire you to become a spy upon those around you."
I saw evidently that he caught at the promise I had made, and, to tell the truth, I was sorry that I had made it. Not that I did not consider myself bound by the station I held in his family to do exactly as I had said; but I was a little afraid that my good lord might construe my words rather more liberally than I had intended them to be understood. As they were spoken, however, there was no help for it; and though I repeated over again,--to make the engagement as clear and definite as possible,--that I would never see him wronged without endeavouring to right him, or without giving him an opportunity of doing so himself, still I was afraid he might be inclined to exact, under that promise, more than I should be inclined to concede. I found indeed, afterwards, that he himself very well understood, that there was another way of making it a point of honour with me to do as he desired, which was by loading me with benefits, and bestowing on me that confidence which would have rendered it an act of the greatest ingratitude on my part to conceal from him any attempt to injure him.
Satisfied with the promise I had made, and determined with regard to the course he would pursue towards me, he dropped that part of the conversation there; but made me give him a long history of my family and my adventures; told me that he had been well acquainted with Lord Wilmerton, my mother's father, some fifteen years before; and ended by giving me an assurance, which he nobly accomplished, that thenceforth he would treat me more as his son than as his attendant. He then took up the light and quitted the chamber, leaving me to meditate over the future, which, notwithstanding the promises he had made, and which I fully believed he would keep, still presented some clouds and shadows that I certainly could have wished away.
After this conversation, I was almost continually with Monsieur de Villardin, especially as, in all those exercises in which noblemen of that day held themselves bound to have their pages well instructed, I was already as skilful as necessary, and, consequently, had scarcely any other occupation than that of attending upon the Duke. In the pages' room matters soon assumed the state into which I could have wished them to fall. Master Gaspard de Belleville, the eldest of my three companions, submitted to necessity with a somewhat bad grace; and the two younger, as soon as they had become reconciled to me as their new comrade, and accustomed to my manners and accent, sought shelter under my protection from the tyranny of their former despot. The old major-domo ere long acquired a great affection for me; and as I was quite willing, from the novelty of the thing, to be petted as much as any one pleased, he made quite a favourite of me, providing me with all those little comforts and luxuries which the chief domestic of a great house has always at his disposal.
Monsieur de Villardin himself was, as Lord Langleigh had said, a man who let no moment slip past him unmarked by some event; and, with a spirit of restless activity,--not unlike what was my own at that time,--he took part in everything that was going on. By day he was either busy in the intrigues of his faction, or in the field with his troops; and even at night he was very often as busy in beating up the enemy's quarters, or in stirring up the Parisians to some new absurdity. In all his expeditions I formed one of his attendants: I had constant employment,--and both at home and abroad was as happy as I could wish.
This state of things, however, could not, of course, last for ever; and had no other circumstance occurred to interrupt its duration, the gradual recovery of Monsieur de Villardin from the madness of the Fronde would ultimately have put an end to it; but an incident soon happened, to which I shall now turn, and which eventually occasioned my departure from Paris rather faster than I approved of. The first treaty of peace which had been signed was indignantly rejected, as we have seen, by the Parliament, the populace, and the generals; and the deputies were again sent back to treat at Ruel. During their conferences, as an armistice had been refused, Monsieur de Villardin and others took care to amuse Mazarin by frequent excursions, which sometimes were pushed to the gates of St. Germain. Mazarin, always timid, made concessions in proportion to his alarm; but, at the same time, as he loved not the sort of arms with which the Parisian generals fought him, he took care to combat them with weapons peculiarly his own. Three fresh armies, as I have said, were directing their course towards Paris in support of the Parliament. In regard to the one promised from Normandy, the Cardinal tampered with the general, the Duke de Longueville, and delayed its march. In regard to the other, commanded by Turenne, knowing the chief to be incorruptible, Mazarin corrupted the men. The whole army was literally bought; and when its general was about to begin his advance upon the capital, he was at once abandoned by his troops. The third, consisting of Spaniards, the Cardinal well knew would not march without the others; and having thus placed himself on more equal terms with the Parisian leaders, he took advantage of the consternation which these events produced to press the treaty of peace, which was soon after concluded and ratified by all parties, but the populace, and one or two of the leaders who had too great a love of faction, in the abstract, to yield to any measure calculated to put it down. Thus, then, the war was brought to an end; but still so turbulent and disorganized was the state of Paris, that the Court dared not set foot within its walls; and, while the people were committing every sort of excess, and the most scandalous libels upon Mazarin and the royal family were every day published, the Parliament, in order to signalise their zeal for their new allies, the Court, proceeded against the authors and printers with the most tyrannical severity.
Of course my good friend Jacques Marlot could not escape, and I one day found old Jerome Laborde, the major-domo, in great affliction on account of his nephew, who had been arrested that morning for the publication of the famous attack upon the Queen, called "La Custode." It so happened that, by my master's permission, I passed the two following days at St. Maur, with Lord Masterton, who was kindness itself towards me; and on the third morning I was sent by the Duke, immediately after my return, to gain some intelligence in the Faubourg St. Germain. As I came back, I saw an immense crowd advancing rapidly towards the Place de Grève, and crying "Honte! honte! Aux Mazarins! aux Mazarins!" Running my eye a little forward, I soon perceived that the cause of the tumult originated in the procession of the criminal lieutenant and his archers towards the place of execution, whither they were carrying some condemned criminal to make his last public appearance in the most disagreeable manner. As it was evident that the principal personage on the scene was in favour with the public, I hastened forward to obtain a glance, when, to my horror and astonishment, I beheld the jovial face of my poor acquaintance, Jacques Marlot, still as jovial as ever, notwithstanding his endeavours to assume a sober and sedate demeanour under the very grave circumstances in which he was placed.
Every sort of mad enterprise was then as common as a hedge sparrow, and some evil demon put it in my head to rescue the unhappy printer from the hands of Monsieur le Bourreau.
Amongst the mob were a great number of printers' devils, booksellers' boys, and other shopmen; and speaking a word or two to those who seemed the most zealous, our plan was quickly arranged, and spread like wild-fire amongst the people. The crowd was every minute increasing; their cries and execrations were gaining new strength at each vociferation; and I saw Grani, the criminal lieutenant, turn his head more than once to scan the aspect of the very unwelcome train which now accompanied him. He soon, however, reached the gibbet in the Place de Grève, and poor Marlot turned,--with a face out of which even his rueful situation could not banish entirely habitual fun,--to pronounce, as usual, his last oration:--"My friends, my friends," he cried, "take warning! See what comes of a Mazarinade!"
The name acted as a watchword, and the moment it was pronounced, a well-directed volley of stones was let fly at the criminal lieutenant and his archers, who were not prepared for that sort of attack. One of the men was knocked down; the rest were thrown into confusion; and, taking advantage of the moment, we pushed on and charged the panic-struck officers of justice.[2]Some of the guards were felled to the earth; some of them fled as fast as their legs would carry them. The criminal lieutenant was beaten severely, and glad to escape with his life; Jacques Marlot was in an instant set at liberty, amidst the shouts and gratulations of the populace.
Feeling that I had perhaps done a foolish thing, and--from a knowledge of the delicate situation in which the Duke stood with the Court--more apprehensive of the consequences to him than to myself, I made as much haste as I could to get away quietly, without even staying to congratulate the printer on his deliverance. As we had completely put the archers to flight, and had quite satisfied them with their airing in the Place de Grève for one day, no one opposed me on my way home, and I found Monsieur de Villardin in the hall ready to go out on horseback, accompanied by the page I have mentioned under the name of Gaspard de Belleville. I had generally found it a good plan throughout my little life, whenever I had committed a fault which I was conscious might affect some other persons, to make them acquainted with it immediately, that they might be upon their guard against the consequences; and, following this rule, I at once went up to Monsieur de Villardin, and informed him that I believed I had done a very foolish thing.
"It is half repaired by acknowledging it so frankly," replied the Duke; "but what is it, my boy, that we may do the best to remedy it?"
Without farther circumlocution I informed him of the facts, which seemed to startle him a good deal.
"This is unpleasant, indeed," he replied; "but, in truth, I cannot find in my heart to be angry with you; for I doubt not I should have done just the same: and what the master would do, he cannot well blame in the page. We will hope, however, that you have not been recognised. Nevertheless," he added, in a low tone, "have what clothes you may need packed up, and be ready to set out at a minute's notice; for in these times no one can tell one moment what they may have to do the next."
I followed my lord's orders to the letter; and as soon as he had gone out, cast everything that I had that was well worth carrying, into two large saddle-bags. In this occupation I proceeded most zealously, not having the slightest inclination to act as substitute for Jacques Marlot in the elevated station which the criminal judge of the Tournelle Court had destined him to fill that very morning. The thoughts of such a consummation to my enterprises disgusted me considerably, as, of all deaths under the sun, I had the greatest objection to that of hanging; and the idea thereof occupied me so completely, that it was not till I had finished the preparation of my saddle-bags, that I bethought me how much interested the old major-domo might feel in the mutual adventures which his nephew and myself had gone through that morning. As soon as the idea crossed my mind, however, I took my way to the old man's apartments; and, as he had heard of his nephew's condemnation, but not of his deliverance, I found him in a state of great agitation and distress.
"Cheer up, cheer up, Monsieur Jerome Laborde," I said, as soon as I had obtained admission; "cheer up, things are not so bad as you suppose."
The old man shook his head, but I went on and told him that I had heard from certain authority that his nephew had been delivered by the hands of the people. He was at first incredulous, and although I could have given him stronger proof than mere hearsay, that what I asserted was correct, I did not think it necessary or right to make any one acquainted with the share I had borne in the rescue, except my lord and master: I added, however, so many assurances, that the old man at length began to have some faith in my statement, and went out himself to ascertain the facts. I did not see him afterwards till night; but I was very well assured that he must soon receive satisfactory confirmation of the good tidings which I had brought him.
Shortly after Monsieur de Villardin's return, on the day of which I have just been speaking, I received notice that I should be required to accompany him in the evening to a great supper at the house of the Duke de Bouillon. As I was beginning, at that time, from one circumstance or another, to imagine that I was in no degree uglier than my fellow mortals, to find out that good looks were prized even in a page, and that a handsome person was not shown to less advantage by appearing in becoming apparel, I took care that the finest of my wardrobe should be displayed on the present occasion, where I was sure of seeing, and in some sort mingling with, all that was bright, and noble, and beautiful, in the French capital.
Although self-conceit has made many a man very comfortable through life, I do believe that the peculiar modification of the same feeling which is generally called vanity, seldom, if ever, produces anything but disappointment. We did not arrive at the Hotel de Bouillon till more than one half of the company had assembled; and though the scene was certainly as splendid as youth, beauty, wealth, gaiety, good taste and grace, could render it, my pleasure was of course confined to seeing others, without attracting the slightest attention myself. Confounded with the other pages, of whom there was an immense profusion, nobody, in all probability, ever saw me, except worthy Monsieur de Vitray, who recognised me instantly, and spoke a few words to me as he passed.
As is usually the case, I believe, all the visiters who appeared there, came with their own thoughts and purposes, and gave not one idea to anybody else, except as they were connected with their designs and pleasures. From the extraordinary twist, too, that everything had got in France at that time, the general order of all things seemed inverted. The bright, and the beautiful, and the young of the other sex gave up the whole of their conversation to politics and factious intrigue; while cunning statesmen, deep lawyers, and reverend divines, old warriors, and grey-headed politicians, universally devoted themselves to making love to everybody they should not have made love to.
I came away, thinking a Parisian party very dull; and sitting in theportièreof the Duke's coach, who earned along with him one or two of his particular friends in the body of the vehicle, I ruminated over my disappointment, too young, indeed, to investigate metaphysically the sensations which I experienced, but quite old enough to resolve that I would never again expect any one to take notice of me, either for my fine clothes or my good looks.
When we reached home, Monsieur de Villardin's friends descended and went in with him, to pay their respects to the Duchess, who, having been slightly indisposed, had remained at home. He, of course, accompanied them into the hall, but, as he passed me, he paused a moment to say in an under voice, "Do not go to bed." There was a good deal of anxiety in his eye, and emphasis in his tone, which made me attach to his words a greater degree of importance than they seemed at first to bear. Nor was I wrong in my interpretation, for in less than half an hour, the old major-domo called me out of the page's room,--in which I had been sitting with Gaspard de Belleville, whose spirits I had remarked to be extravagantly high,--and led me by the hand to his own apartment.
When he had got me there, and shut the door, good Jerome Laborde folded me in his arms, and the tears actually rose in his eyes. "I have bad news for you, my son," he said; "and unfortunately it happens that your kindness to my nephew is likely to prove your ruin. My lord the Duke has just been telling me that it was you who saved my poor nephew, and that the criminal lieutenant and his myrmidons have found you out."
Of course the first announcement of such a fact was not particularly agreeable to me; but, as I came hastily to reflect upon my fate, and to think that I should again be obliged to scamper off, and do the best I could for myself in the world, there seemed something so absurd in the sort of perversity with which fate destined me to be a wanderer, that I could not help laughing, notwithstanding the difficulties of my situation.
"You laugh, my son," cried the old man, in great astonishment; "but I can tell you the business is a very serious one, and that you might chance to be shut up for life in the Bastille."
"If that is the case," replied I, "the matter is serious indeed. I thought they would only have hanged me; and I have been so accustomed to risk hanging every day of my life, that it was nothing new; but, as to spending my whole existence in a prison, that is a very different affair; and therefore, good Monsieur Jerome, I shall get out of the way directly, leaving you to make my excuses to my lord, for going without asking his permission.
"You are too quick, my son--you are too quick," cried the old man; "it was the Duke himself who told me but now to speak to you. Do not suppose that he intends to leave you without protection. No, no; he is a kind-hearted man, though quick and jealous in his disposition from a boy; and he bade me tell you that he would have defended you to the last for the act you have committed, even had it not been in favour of my nephew; but that, as it was so, he will defend you more eagerly still. He thinks, however, that for your present safety, you had better quit Paris as soon as possible; and, as he intended to send some one to his estates in Brittany to-morrow, he will give you the commission, and order a groom to accompany you and show you the road."
"I am quite ready," replied I; "there is nothing to be done but to saddle the horses."
"Never did I see so hasty a boy," cried the old man; "how will you get out of the gates, I should like to know, when they are closed as firmly as locks and chains can make them?"
"I would get over the walls," replied I, smiling.
"And the horses?" said the old man, with a smile: "no, no, my son, you must follow the plans laid down for you by my lord, who knows this country, at least, better than you do. When you have everything ready, he says, go to bed, and sleep for two or three hours; rise twenty minutes before the dawn, and you will find horses, and the packet he intends you to take, all ready prepared for you. By the time you get to the gates, they will be opened, and you will have nothing else to do but to ride on as fast as possible, till you reach my lord's castle of the Prés Vallée. Remain there quietly till you hear from him, and, in a few weeks, he will have negotiated your pardon with the court."
This plan was, of course, one that both suited my wishes and provided for my safety, better than any I could have laid out for myself. It offered me the prospect, too, of new scenes and adventures of a nature somewhat less appalling than those which might lead me into a dungeon for life; and I consequently proceeded to put it into execution with every feeling of joy and gratitude. Good Jerome Laborde undertook to have me called at the appointed hour, and, accustomed from infancy to take repose at any scattered moments that offered the possibility of doing so, I laid down, and was soon asleep.
When I was called in the morning, I found, much to my surprise, that Monsieur de Villardin was himself up; and, as I afterwards discovered, had risen at that early hour solely on my account--a mark of kindness and interest that touched my heart the more, because it was totally unexpected. After receiving from his own hands a packet of letters for his different farmers and receivers in Brittany, accompanied by the assurance that he would leave no means untried to procure my pardon, I took my leave, and descending to the courtyard, found the groom who was to accompany me, holding two strong horses, on one of which already appeared the saddle-bags containing my wealth and apparel. Old Jerome Laborde was also there, ready to embrace me before I took my departure; and ere we set out, he did not forget to burden the groom with abissacloaded with various Parisian delicacies, to console me on my journey.
The Duke had strictly enjoined me to avoid all towns in the neighbourhood of Paris, and to make my first day's ride the longest and the most rapid of the whole expedition; and, consequently, when once we had passed the gates, which we were permitted to do without question, we set spurs to our beasts, and never drew a rein for twenty miles. By this time, however, I began to feel in security from the pursuit of anything but hunger, which was now pressing me hard; and after riding on a few miles further, we saw a small open wood in the neighbourhood of Epernon, into which we retired for the purpose of lightening good Jerome Laborde'sbissacof some of its savoury contents. The groom, who, like most of Monsieur de Villardin's domestics, seemed to be a connoisseur in the good things of this life, spread forth the viands on the table-cloth afforded by the green grass at the bottom of the gentle slope in the wood, with infinite taste; and the finepâteof turkey and truffles which formed the staple of thebissac, looked none the worse for its crust having cracked in more than one place under the jumbling of our ride, suffering the topaz-like jelly to shine forth through the apertures.
Scarcely, however, had I time to help myself to a ponderous slice, and to add thereto a portion of wild boar's face, which exceeded any Hampshire chaw I ever tasted, when I fancied that I heard a low groan quite near. The sound made me start up and look around; but as I could perceive nothing, as hunger was unruly, and as the groom, who by this time was deep in the appropriate worship of the pasty, declared he had heard nothing, I sat down again, and in one attack very nearly demolished the slice I had first assigned to myself. I then added a draught of excellent Burgundy from a flask which thebissacalso afforded; but I now certainly began to think that our regale had made the hamadryads envious, for another distinct groan followed, evidently proceeding from a large oak tree hard by, and the moment after, the body of a man appeared, cautiously descending from the higher boughs. As he swarmed down the trunk, tightly embracing its rugged circumference with his arms, which operation was rendered somewhat difficult by a certain degree of obesity in his own person, he every now and then turned his head partly over his shoulder, as if to obtain a sight of the good things before us, exclaiming, as he did so, "It is irresistible!--philosophy is in vain--I resign myself to my fate!"
The next minute his feet touched the ground, and turning round with a sort of joyous pirouette, he gave me a full view of my acquaintance, Jacques Marlot. I confess that a suspicion of the identity of this genius of the oak and the ci-devant printer had crossed my mind, as he descended the tree, from various peculiar points of his rotund conformation; but it appeared that on his part, although he had obtained a thorough perception of what we had been eating and drinking, his bird's-eye view in the tree had not enabled him to see enough of our faces to recognise my person, for his first exclamation was, as he turned round, "Gentlemen, I am an hungered; and if ye do not give me food, ye have committed a heinous sin in displaying that deliciouspâtébefore me.--Ye gods! what do I see?" he continued, as his eye lighted full upon me: "My ph[oe]nix of pages--my master Jean l'Anglais! My deliverer from a more elevated station than ever I coveted! Let me embrace thee in token of thanks for my abasement."
As the best welcome I could give the unfortunate printer, I made him partake liberally of our fare, and suffered him to cheer his heart with our flask, till half his woes were forgotten. While he went on, which was nearly till pasty disappeared and bottle sounded empty, I told him that I was now suffering on his account, and explained to him my situation. At first, his whole soul being engrossed in one occupation, he seemed to feel but little for my misadventures; but as soon as he had a moment's leisure, he looked shocked; and when he had finished, and could absolutely eat no more, he expressed, gracefully enough, both his gratitude for my services, and his grief for the inconveniences to which they had exposed me. He then told me that as soon as he was out of the hands of the archers the day before, he had taken leave of his friendly mob of deliverers, and trusting to nothing but his own legs, had made the best of his way out of Paris.
"As soon as I was fairly beyond the gates," he added, "I set off running again, as hard as I could; and when I could run no more, I walked; and when I could walk no longer, I stood still, which was exactly on the spot where I now am. I had nothing to eat; and you there behold my beverage," he continued, pointing to a small stream that danced before us. "I christened it, however, vin blanc d'Epernon; and though it was not quite so good as the vin blanc d'Epernay, it quenched my thirst; and having dug up as many pignuts as I could find, I mounted yonder oak with all the agility of a light diet, and soothed myself to sleep by comparing myself to Diogenes. How I should have passed over this day, I do not know; for I dared not visit my house, which, doubtless, was also pillaged long ago by the ministers of justice; and you may easily conceive that the archers of the criminal lieutenant do not suffer those who are placed under their protection to do so foolish a thing as go to the gallows with money in their pockets. However, I never despair, doubting not now, as heretofore, to make something out of whatever lot dame Fortune chooses to throw. Nor has she ever been unfavourable to those who trust to her bounty; for what can prove her kindness more strongly than sending you here for my relief and consolation?"
I complimented Maître Jacques upon his philosophy, which was much of the same quality as my own, and begged him to keep the wild boar's cheek, which had suffered less in the encounter than the pasty, as another token of fortune's favour. I found, however, that he was very desirous of accompanying us on our journey, and talked of my horse being strong enough to carry two. The groom also seconded his proposal in a way that I thought somewhat extraordinary; but, nevertheless, at the risk of appearing selfish, I put a decided negative upon it, not so much upon my own account as because I thought that it might place my lord in very unpleasant circumstances, if the criminal who had just been rescued from the gallows, and the page who had helped to rescue him, were found riding to his estates in Brittany, guided by one of his own grooms.
I represented, however, to Jacques Marlot, that in all probability the officers of justice were after us both by this time; and that, although in some cases union was security, in this instance our best hope of escape lay in separating, especially as it was more than probable that the knowledge of my being attached to Monsieur de Villardin might make the archers follow upon the very road I was pursuing.
This last argument was conclusive with the printer, and as, thanks to the bounty of Lord Masterton, I was still furnished with more money than I knew how to employ, I added thirty crowns to the breakfast I had given my acquaintance, and left him to continue his journey full of renewed hope and gratitude.
The groom who accompanied me seemed to take a greater interest in Jacques Marlot than the length of their intercourse warranted, and inquired very particularly into the route he was likely to pursue; but the printer, according to the good English proverb, was too old a bird to be taken by the chaff which my guide spread before him; and with a cunning smile evaded his questions, whispering to me as he embraced me at parting, "Beware of your guide."
Early--too early--had I learned to distrust my fellow-creatures, a lesson which we have unfortunately too frequent opportunities of repeating in our course through the world ever to forget, when once the sweet confidence of innocence and inexperience, like the bloom upon ripe fruit, has been brushed away by the first touch of the polluting world. I had seen fully enough, however, to doubt the faith of my present conductor, and I resolved to watch him closely as we proceeded, not well knowing what particular line his roguery might take, but suspecting strongly that he was not the most honest of servants, nor likely to prove the most infallible of guides.
It luckily so happened that the saddle-bags containing my stores of all kinds were upon my own horse, and therefore I possessed the power of directing all our movements, as well as the right of doing so, which my station and my lord's commands conferred. Nor was it at all unpleasant, I confess, to reflect, that in the event of any dispute arising between myself and my companion, who had been directed in all respects to consider himself as my servant, I had nothing to do but ride away, and leave him to do the best for himself,--which reflection was the more especially gratifying, as I believed he might obtain a considerable reward by betraying me, and did not much doubt that he had some thoughts of the kind in his own mind.
I showed him, at least, that expedition was part of my plan; for as soon as we were once more in our saddles, I pushed forward with all speed, and accomplished nearly forty miles more before night. A considerable town lay at the distance of a few miles to our right, and thither my guide strongly recommended me to proceed, lauding to the skies the accommodation we should there meet with; but I took my own plan, and riding on till I espied a neat cabaret in a village, halted there, preferring the risk of a bad supper to the risk of an unpleasant lodging.
The next day we proceeded in the same manner, though not at the same rate; taking whatever refreshment we needed at the smallest and most retired places I could find; and though the worthy groom more than once attempted to prove restive, and to treat me as a mere boy, he found that he had to do with one who had managed shrewder men than himself. It soon became apparent that, though our horses were strong and well seasoned to hard work, it would take us rather more than four days to reach the place of our destination; but for the last hundred miles I found my companion much more easily managed, yielding at once to my will with the best grace in the world, which conduct pleased, though it did not deceive me.
Sudden changes, without an apparent cause, always afford very good reasons for suspicion; and it was clear enough that the alteration in the good groom's behaviour had not taken place from any increased reverence for myself.
"Whatever it is he intends to do," I thought, as I remarked this change in his demeanour, "the fellow has laid out his plan, and thinks it quite secure. He must have fixed, too, upon some spot for executing it towards the end of our journey, since he is so indifferent as to the way we take here. I will watch him well, however, at every mile." This resolution I kept to the letter, never suffering him to be out of my sight for a minute; but nothing suspicious occurred till the close of our fourth day's journey, when he declared, that since I was so fond of hard riding, he thought we might get on to Rennes that night.
I did not exactly know how far it was to Rennes, for had I been aware that it was at the distance of twenty miles, when our horses were already nearly knocked up, I should have concluded that--calculating on my distaste to anything he proposed--he wanted me to stay where we were, and, therefore, suggested that we should proceed further. I certainly fell into the trap; and simply because he desired to go on, determined to halt at the next village.
When we reached it, the first house I espied was a neat cabaret, and drawing in my rein I sprang to the ground, announcing my determination of sleeping there. A grin of satisfaction on the groom's face was the first thing that excited suspicion in my mind that I had overreached myself; but the countenance of mine host, who now appeared, confirmed my doubts; and as he spoke to the servant as an old friend, I soon found that I had made a terrible mistake. On inquiring the distance to Rennes, too, and finding that our horses could by no means have accomplished it, I saw that the attempt had been proposed solely to make me do the contrary; and thence deducing that, at this very spot, the consummation of the groom's man[oe]uvres was destined to take place, of course I determined to be all eyes, ears, and understanding.
The landlord's daughter, a very pretty frank-faced brunette, of about twenty, attracted by my gay dress, and feeling that kindness which all women experience towards extreme youth, soon came up to me, and in a very short time we were great friends; but I could not attend to half her civil offers of the various sorts of refreshment that the house afforded, on account of my anxiety to keep watch over the groom. In this endeavour I was tolerably successful for some time, and I do not think he obtained an opportunity of exchanging one word with the landlord, till we had concluded our supper, except, indeed, such as related to the general affairs of Monsieur de Villardin, whose name was well known in that part of the country, and to the state of Paris. All this time, however, I had another subject of anxiety in my saddle-bags, which were left up stairs in the chamber assigned to me; and after I had sufficiently refreshed myself, I was tempted thither to see that all was safe, thinking that I should be down again in time to prevent much private conversation.
I was wrong; and on again entering the kitchen I found the places of both the landlord and the groom vacant, while the host's mother sat by the fire dozing, and the pretty brunette was spinning beside her with great eagerness.
As soon as ever I appeared, the latter beckoned me to her, and said in a low voice, "You are betrayed,mon pauvre garçon; but if you would hear how, go out at the back-door, run along at the top of the bank as quietly as you can, and make the best use of your ears."
I instantly followed her advice, and opening the door to which she pointed, soon found myself in the little court of the auberge, which again opened into what seemed the garden of aguingette, surrounded on three sides by walls, and on the fourth, which lay to my right hand, flanked by a high cliffy bank that sloped down towards the door at which I stood. It was night, and the moon had not yet risen, but there was still light enough remaining to let me see or rather divine all this, and running up the bank, and along the edge, with as noiseless a foot as possible, I soon heard voices speaking in the garden below me. I crept on as fast as I could, and the next moment clearly distinguished the words made use of. The groom was acting the orator as I came up, and proceeded as follows:--
"No, no, that won't do at all, Monsieur Parnac, for if he were to be taken in your house, under my guidance, most likely my good lord would turn me to the door, if he did not throw me out of the window, and would certainly ruin you here for your pains. You do not know what a man he is--so sharp, if you give him the least cause for suspicion! I do believe he finds out when one is going to do any little trick, even before one knows it oneself. I remember his turning off his chief ecuyer for merely whispering in the street with a maquignon, who was bringing him a horse for sale. No, no, let it be managed my way. Send off some one to-night, and have the officers stationed about the watering-place, by Meri, you know. Let them take me too, seemingly, for being in his company; and so my lord's suspicions will be set at rest, and I shall be carried back to Paris, too, where I shall get the reward."
"Ay, but, Maître Pierre, are you quite sure of the reward?" demanded mine host.
"All I can tell thee, Parnac, is this," replied the groom. "I heard it offered by proclamation, as we were riding home, the evening before I came away. A thousand crowns were to be given to any one who would deliver up the leader of those that had rescued the criminal, and two thousand crowns to those who would deliver up the criminal himself. I would have done it myself, if I had known at the time that this boy was the person; and I could have managed it easily as we came through the city. But I never found it out, as I tell you, till we met with this Jacques Marlot, and then I heard them talk about it quite as if they were in security."
"Well, well, Pierre, I think thou wilt get thy thousand crowns," answered the landlord; "and they know how to do these things so secretly at the Court, that thou mayest get them and not lose thy master's service either; but tell me, what am I to get?"
"Why, of course, I will pay thee for the man and horse sent to the city," replied the groom.
"Ay, but that will not be quite enough," answered mine host, "to pay me for risking your good lord's custom and patronage. Something more! something more! good Pierre, or thou mayest ride to Rennes to-night thyself."
"Well," answered Pierre, "I will tell you what, Parnac; the officers shall bring him on here, and while we halt to refresh, you and I will have the picking of those saddle-bags of his, in which there are a good thousand crowns besides. If he finds them gone and complains, it will pass for a piece of the archers' handiwork, and no inquiry will be made."
"Ay, now thou speakest reason," answered his respectable friend, "and I will send off directly. At the half-way watering place, thou sayest; but at what hour? We must name some hour for the officers to be there."
"Say nine o' the clock," answered the groom; "we shall not be there till eleven; but they must wait, you know, they must wait."
"Well, it shall be done without delay," replied the host, "but now, hie you in, Pierre, for you say the boy is as sharp as your master, and may suspect us. Yet stay; remember, if you fail me about the bags, I will do for you with your lord. So keep faith."
The groom replied at some length, but as their farther conversation seemed likely to refer alone to their private affairs, I made the best of my way back to the house, and ere either groom or landlord returned, had gained sufficient information from my pretty brunette, in regard to the roads, to serve my purpose for the next day. I found that, at the distance of about four miles from the village, the highway was intersected by another, which led away in the very direction I wished to take. It was neglected, however, and heavy, she said, passing through some wide forest ground, which always affords a bad foundation; and since the new road had been made, she added, few people ever travelled the old one except the couriers for St. Malo, who went that way for the purpose of dropping packets, and sometimes sums of money, at various small towns through which it alone passed. It used, she said, to have a bad reputation for robbers, and about three months before, one of the royal messengers had been plundered, but since that time she had heard of no farther outrage.
As she was speaking, the groom came in, and to break off a conversation I did not want him to hear, I asked him sharply where he had been so long. He replied that he had been tending his horses; and to put him completely off his guard, I ordered them to be at the door exactly at the hour on which I found he had already calculated. He promised to be punctual, and not doubting that he would be so, I soon after retired to bed. Danger of any kind never made me sleep less soundly, but I confess that, on this occasion, it was long before I could close my eyes; but it was self-reproach, not apprehension, kept me awake. I had been twice betrayed into an act of egregious folly during that one journey, and I began to think I was losing the acuteness which had been my most serviceable quality. I could have pardoned myself, perhaps, for suffering the groom to cheat me into staying where we then were; but for babbling myself, or suffering Jacques Marlot to babble in the hearing of a third person, I rated myself for a good hour after I was in bed.