In a few minutes Suzette returned, and gave me a billet, signed with her name, in the course of which she prayed Monsieur de Villardin to believe all that I should tell him in regard to his unhappy wife. She seemed anxious now to leave me, and to drop the conversation; but I detained her for a short time, to explain to me how and where she had found me on the night that I had received my wound; and she was in the act of telling me, hurriedly, that it was by mere accident, when steps sounded in the saloon which opened into my apartment, and she started up with evident marks of alarm.
Her apprehensions were not without cause, for she had not time to quit the room, ere Gaspard de Belleville entered, booted and spurred as he had dismounted, and after giving a glance towards my bed, which evidently showed him who it was that had been the object of his wife's care, he struck the unhappy woman a blow with his open hand that made her reel, asking her how she dared to bring one of the enemy within his doors.
I was in no condition to offer her any protection, but a person who had followed Gaspard into the apartment, though he did not very decidedly resent the blow, interposed to prevent another, and, taking her by the hand, he led her weeping to the door, saying, at the same time, "Come, come, Monsieur de Belleville, you must not strike a woman, and that woman my sister!"
As soon as he had led Suzette out of the room, her brother returned, and approaching her husband--who stood gazing upon me in sullen silence, from which I augured no very hospitable treatment--he turned his face full upon me also, when, not a little to my surprise, I recognised in Suzette's brother my old acquaintance, Captain Hubert, of whose achievements in the forest I had been a witness, and nearly a victim.
He was, evidently, not much slower in his recognition than myself, and although I had given him sufficient proofs of my discretion in regard to one of his professions, yet the exclamation of "Diable!" which broke from him before he was aware, showed me that he did not yet feel safe, and would willingly have avoided any fresh rencontre with such an inconvenient acquaintance.
The prospects which my situation afforded were certainly not very consolatory at that moment. There I lay, incapable of offering resistance or of attempting escape, in the presence of two men, one of whom hated me with a good old inveterate enmity, which was quite sufficiently mature to bear fruits of as bitter a--kind as heart could desire; while the other knew his life and reputation to be in my power the moment that I issued forth from those walls. I had also enjoyed the means of learning by experience that neither of these worthy personages were very scrupulous as to their actions; and, certainly, if ever I calculated fully and seriously upon having my throat cut in cold blood, it was at that moment.
I took good care, however, not to make the matter quite certain by claiming any acquaintance with Captain Hubert, while at the same time I resolved to treat Gaspard de Belleville, whom I looked upon, after all, as the worst of the two, in the same manner that I would have treated any other officer in the service of the Prince de Condé.
"Monsieur de Belleville," I said, after having given him plenty of time to speak, without his uttering one word, "I claim your protection and hospitality, as an officer and a gentleman; and I beg, also, that you will have the goodness, if the armies are in this vicinity, to send a trumpet to Monsieur de Villardin, or to Monsieur de Turenne, informing either of them that I am a prisoner in your hands, and requesting them to negotiate my liberation."
The impudence of the request seemed to strike him dumb; and, after staring at me for a minute longer, with a curling lip and contracted brow, he turned upon his heel, and taking his brother-in-law by the arm, walked out of the room without saying one word, shutting and locking the door behind him.
That I was not numbered with my fathers that very night was probably owing to two or three circumstances, which, affecting the brothers-in-law differently, prevented them from doing together what each separately might have been very desirous of executing. In the first place, my residence in his house was known to too many people for Gaspard to put me out of the way without a great chance of discovery; and it is also probable that he did not at that time know how easy and unceremonious Suzette's brother was in the disposal of obnoxious personages. On his part, Captain Hubert had some touch of humanity in his nature, and though the dislike which every man must feel to living in a state of apprehension might have made him forget his better nature, yet, as Gaspard was not aware of all his worthy relative's former occupations, and it would have been necessary to communicate them to him, in order to arrange my destruction as a joint enterprise, there can he no doubt that the Captain was wise in refraining. Indeed, it is more than probable that he looked upon me at that period as a safer depositary of his secret than his brother-in-law would have been; and I think he was right; for no man that I know was more likely to use an advantage ungenerously than Gaspard de Belleville.
These motives I have only, of course, assigned upon guess; but they were the fruits of my reflections after I was left alone, and very much they certainly did console me, as I lay helpless enough in the house of my bitter enemy, with the door locked upon me, and no means of making my situation known to any friend in the world. Many a time, however, did I wish that Suzette had left me where she found me, to take my chance of death or recovery; but all such wishes were in vain, and, as the best thing I could do, I banished thought as soon as I could, and fell asleep, feeling, at the same time, very doubtful as to what world I should wake in when I next opened my eyes.
No one, however, disturbed my slumber, and I was roused only by the daylight streaming into my room. I felt myself better and stronger for my long sleep, and much need, indeed, had I to be so, for after lying for two or three hours without any one bringing me meat or drink, a trooper entered my room, and told me that I must get up and dress myself. It was vain to resist, and therefore I made the attempt; but I was far too weak to accomplish the task myself; and it was only with the continual assistance of the soldier, who acted as a valet-de-chambre, that I was enabled to put on the same torn and bloody habiliments in which I had been brought thither.
When this unpleasant sort of toilet was completed, the progress of which had perfectly satisfied my attendant that I was not capable of walking even across the room, one of the servants was called in, and between him and the trooper I was carried out through the saloon into the court-yard, in which a light carriage, with two horses, was standing ready prepared. Although I was certainly not in the very best condition for travelling, yet, well knowing that opposition would be in vain, of course I offered none to the proceedings of those into whose hands I had fallen; and was speedily lifted into the chaise, without much ceremony or consideration. Gaspard de Belleville, however, seemed to think that my companions were showing me too much lenity, and I heard his voice from an upper window, ordering them, in no very measured terms, to put me in any how, and, above all things, to make haste.
As soon as I was finally thrust into the machine, the trooper got in beside me, the man who had aided to carry me took his seat on the coach-box, and away we went, at a pace more fitted for a cavalry regiment at the charge than for the carriage of a wounded man. While undergoing the operation of being dressed, I had discovered that the purse which was on my person when I was wounded had, by some fortunate accident, been suffered to remain in my pocket; but this had been perceived by my new attendant also, and, though he did not absolutely transfer the purse at once from my hands to his own, he soon gave me notice that he intended to make a gradual appropriation of its contents. Beyond all doubt, Gaspard de Belleville, who could not tell whether I had any money about me or not, had given the man a sufficient sum to defray his expenses on the road, and, equally beyond doubt, as the fellow was evidently a trooper in some regiment of horse, he was paid for his services as usual. Nevertheless, scarcely had we proceeded three miles, when he informed me that Monsieur le Capitaine de Belleville expected me to discharge the score at all the cabarets where we stopped on the road, and likewise to give him, my guard and attendant, the reasonable sum of four crowns per diem for his good company and assistance.
Weak and uncomfortable as I was, this method of proceeding amused me. An English blackguard would have committed robbery, and taken the purse without more ado; the Frenchman, however, was more moderate, and contented himself with cheating me out of the greater part of its contents. Though the result appeared likely to be much the same, yet there were conveniences attending the Frenchman's mode of proceeding of which I did not fail to take advantage; and representing to him civilly my weak state, and the pain and discomfort which I suffered from the furious jolting of the carriage, at that quick rate of progression, I pointed out to him that the more days we were upon the journey the greater would be the amount of crowns to be given to him; and, having discovered that his orders were to carry me to Stenay, a town on the Meuse, belonging to the Prince de Condé, I did not scruple to assure him that, if he would turn the horses' heads the other way, and drive to the quarters of Monsieur de Turenne, wherever they might be, a thousand crowns and a Serjeant's post in my troop should be his immediate reward.
The man expressed himself highly obliged by my polite offer, as he termed it, but informed me at the same time that he had three strong reasons for acting honestly in the present instance, and obeying the orders he had received. These were, that, in the first place, he would in all probability be hanged if he went near the quarters of Monsieur de Turenne, as he had lately come over from his army to that of the Prince de Condé; in the next place, that the other party, to which he now belonged, might sooner or later hang him if he again changed sides; and lastly, that even if he could make up his mind to run all these risks, the man who was driving had his orders also, and would not suffer him to deviate from the prescribed route.
I could not help acknowledging that these were all potent reasons, and, as I saw that it would be in vain to combat their influence on his mind, I suffered myself to be rolled on towards Stenay, with no farther discussion than merely what was necessary to induce my conductors to give me as much repose as possible. My brief communication with the trooper had, however, established a sort of friendly intercourse between us, which rendered him extremely civil during the rest of the journey; and from him I learned that, although Condé had completely defeated the Maréchal d'Hocquincourt at Blenau, Turenne had, by the most splendid man[oe]uvres that it is possible to conceive, arrested the progress of the victorious army with a force of not one third its number. The Prince had himself turned his steps towards Paris, and Gaspard de Belleville, as well as several superior officers, had been left to bring up a number of scattered parties which had spread over a part of Champagne and the Orleanois, during the unsteady command of the Dukes of Beaufort and Nemours. He could tell me nothing, however, in regard to Monsieur de Villardin, his daughter, or Father Ferdinand, though he had been at no great distance, he said, from the château of Virmont at the time that it was fired, which was done, he declared by the command of the Duke of Nemours, in order to give notice to another division of the army that the Prince was on his march. Notwithstanding this assurance of my companion, I could not help thinking, that Gaspard de Belleville had fully as much to do with the conflagration as the Duke of Nemours.
Five days' journey brought us to Stenay, and in spite of my wounds and my weakness, thanks to a constitution of iron, and an early hardening in the fiery furnace of the English civil wars, I was far better at the end of the time than on the day when we first set out. After being admitted within the walls of the town, which was not permitted without manifold challenges and investigations, the carriage drove direct to the prison, where I was delivered into the hands of a man whose countenance was certainly as rugged as the stone walls amidst which he dwelt. Nor can I boast of having found his heart much softer; for, though the trooper who had accompanied me had recommended me to his notice, in my hearing, as abon garçon, no sooner were the doors closed upon me, than a course of ill usage began, which was not destined to terminate for some time. My purse, rendered meagre by the frequent demands of the road, was the first thing attacked, and from that moment vanished entirely. I was then thrust into one of the dungeons, with a pile of straw for a bed, and a little grated window of about nine inches square, looking out upon the ramparts, as my only source of light and air. Bread and water became my diet, and, as the floor of the dungeon was not particularly dry, it was with no small difficulty that I kept myself from the effects of the damp.
In reply to all my questions in regard to the authority by which I was there detained, the gaoler merely told me that I was considered as a deserter from the army of the Prince de Condé, found fighting against him, and that I might think myself very well off that I had not been shot immediately. Although this was evidently a pretext, and I very well understood that both Gaspard de Belleville and good Captain Hubert might greatly approve of my detention, yet I could not bring myself to believe that this state of things could continue long; and for the first two or three days of my imprisonment I consoled myself with the expectation of its speedy termination. My health, also, I must confess, improved greatly under the severe regimen to which I was subjected, and the healing of my wounds proceeded more rapidly than I could have at all anticipated. Nevertheless, as day went by after day, and no relief came, my spirits fell, and my heart, hitherto so buoyant under all the adversities and changes which I had met with, sunk oppressed beneath that most horrible of all inflictions, solitary confinement.
No language can describe in the slightest degree the state of my feelings in that prison, by the time that ten days had passed over my head within its walls. The lingering weariness of the moments, the faint chillness of apprehension, the utter vacuity of each heavy day, the changeless, unceasing poring of thought upon one subject, the want of every event, however small, the burning thirst for freedom, and activity, and change, and the fresh air, and the fair face of nature--all combined to make a state of existence which was the very essence of "hope delayed that maketh the heart sick."
Often--often I asked myself, when was this to end, or would it ever end? Put in there by two men, to one of whom my freedom might be dangerous, and to the other of whom anything which afflicted me would be delightful, how could I tell that I might not be kept there for years. In the state of the country, at that time, no investigation was ever likely to take place, no one would, in all probability, hear of my imprisonment, nobody would strive to obtain my release. Monsieur de Villardin, doubtless, by this time, thought me dead, and I might feel perfectly sure that neither Gaspard de Belleville nor any of his household would suffer my situation to be known, so long as they could by any means conceal it. Such thoughts formed the only occupation for my mind, while I could neither find nor devise any other exercise for my limbs than that which could be obtained by traversing in every different direction a chamber of ten feet square. It is true I could occasionally hear the steps and voices of people without, passing along the ramparts; but the little 'window was so high that I could not amuse myself by the view which it might otherwise have afforded, and the merry tones of people at large, as the wind brought them to my ear, seemed but a mockery of my solitude and captivity.
At length, a slight change was afforded me. After I had lingered on in this manner for some months, the gaoler fell sick, and his wife brought me the daily loaf and pitcher of water in his place. She was not the most prepossessing person I ever beheld, it is true, but it is scarcely possible to describe the pleasure I felt at even seeing a new face. The joy that I expressed, it seems, melted her heart, and on the second day of her coming she brought me a meat meal, the first that I had tasted since I had entered the prison. Anything that was in the least degree new was, of course, delightful; but this mark of her kindness induced me to ask for more, and, showing her that it was perfectly impossible, from the size of the aperture, that I could escape by the window if I were permitted to reach it, I begged hard that she would let me have a chair, or a stool, or a table, in order to amuse myself by looking out. To this she consented, telling me, however, that she was sure her husband would take it away again, as soon as ever he was well enough to resume his official duties. Nevertheless, every day's amusement I looked upon as something gained; and in a few minutes after, she brought me a large settle, by means of which I instantly climbed up to the window, and gazed out.
No words can express the delight which the first sight of the world without afforded me; and yet, strange and absurd as it may seem, this delight was occasioned by a prospect which did not extend to the space of two hundred yards in any direction. Underneath me were the ramparts, and beyond them again, in a straight line, were some other parts of the fortifications, which bounded my view in that direction: to the left was a square tower, projecting, I believe, from the body of the prison; and to the right, at the distance of about a hundred and fifty yards, were some sheds and houses which had encroached upon the defences of the place. But it was all something new,--something different from the black solitude of the dungeon,--something that I had not seen for months; and, consequently, it was all delightful. There was nobody to be seen upon the ramparts at the time I first looked out; but there was a man washing his face at a window of the house I have mentioned, and a cat creeping along with stealthy pace from tile to tile of the roof, in order to catch a sparrow that was perched upon the ridge; and it would seem childish and frivolous thus to dwell upon the pleasure with which I watched both of these very ordinary occurrences, did it not give some idea, though a very faint one, of the dull horror of that situation, compared to which such sights were the most enchanting visions.
Standing on my settle, I remained there for hours, and could almost have wept when the sun went down. With the first ray of morning I was again at my post, and remained there the greater part of that day, which, from what the gaoler's wife told me in regard to his convalescence, was the last that I could count upon for that indulgence. Few people, indeed, passed along the ramparts; but still, every one that did so afforded me new pleasure. At length, towards evening, when I had got down for a few moments in order to rest myself, I caught the sound of several cheerful voices speaking; and, starting up again to my loop-hole, I soon saw four or five gentlemen coming round the angle of the projecting tower. They seemed officers belonging to the garrison; and, as soon as I set eyes upon them, I determined to endeavour to make my situation known to a party, amongst whom, as officers and men of honour, I doubted not that I should find some one to compassionate my situation, and, perhaps, to afford me relief. Such being my resolution, it will be easy to conceive my joy, when, as they approached, I perceived, in the person nearest to the prison, no other than Gourville, whom I had known and acted with in Paris.
"Monsieur de Gourville," I cried, "Monsieur de Gourville; stay a moment,--stay a moment, and listen to me, for God's sake!"
I had forgot that he could not see me as well as I could see him; but, nevertheless, he paused and looked round, exclaiming, "Who called me?"
"It was I; it was Monsieur de Juvigny," I replied, giving myself the name by which he had known me in Paris; "stay, and speak to me for one moment."
"But where are you?" cried Gourville, looking up towards the aperture through which I spoke.
"Here in the prison," replied I; but ere I could add another word, I found myself suddenly grasped by the arm, and thrown down upon the floor of the dungeon, with a degree of violence which hurt me much in the fall, though my head luckily lighted on the straw which composed my bed. The first object on which my eyes lighted after my compelled descent, was the grim and unshaved face of the gaoler, which, however, showed me, without further explanation, that my voice had been overheard by his jealous and watchful ear. He deigned no observation, but a few curses pretty equally divided between myself and his wife; and, snatching up the settle, he turned away from the dungeon and locked the door.
Although this was a sad and bitter disappointment to me, yet I could not help still entertaining a hope that I had made my situation sufficiently known to Gourville to urge him at least towards farther inquiries; and with that thought I consoled myself for the rest of the evening. No one came, however; and, when the next day rose and set without the appearance of my acquaintance, I began again to give myself up to despair, the more dark for the ray of light that had broken in upon me for a time.
The sun rose and set, I have said; and, sitting down upon the straw which had been given me for my bed, I covered my eyes with my hands, and could have wept; but the very fountain of tears seemed dried up; and I could only brood over my situation with a sort of gloomy horror, which I do believe would have ended in depriving me of my faculties: but, about an hour after nightfall, the bolts and bars of the dungeon began to move, and I started up with joy; for the hour was not one at which the gaoler ever visited the cell: and the slightest change in the usual current of events seemed to speak of hope. As soon as the door was opened, a light broke in from the turnkey's lantern, and his own face was the first thing I beheld; but the moment after, I perceived another figure behind; and, to my inexpressible satisfaction, saw, as soon as my eyes were a little more accustomed to the light, that it was Gourville himself.
He embraced me most kindly; and, ordering the gaoler to leave us, in a tone of authority which was instantly obeyed, he surveyed me from head to foot by the light of the lantern, which the man had set down on the floor of the dungeon ere he departed. My imprisonment and all its consequences had not improved my appearance particularly; and I saw a slight smile pass over Gourville's countenance as he made his examination, and contrasted, I dare say, in his mind, the object that now met his eyes with the gay lad who had visited him in Paris several years before. He suppressed all signs of merriment, however, for fear of giving me pain; and then made me recount all the adventures which had brought me into that situation. In my narrative, I certainly did not spare Gaspard de Belleville: but Gourville shook his head, saying, that my enemy enjoyed a considerable share of favour with the Prince de Condé.
"Nevertheless," he continued, "beyond all doubt your liberation must and will take place as soon as it is communicated to the Prince. Sorry I am that I have not the power of ordering you to be set free at once; but as I depart for Paris early to-morrow, I will take care that his Highness shall immediately know the treatment you have received. In the meanwhile that treatment shall instantly be changed in some degree, for I have authority enough for that at least, and you shall have every comfort that ever exists in a prison. A little money, too, is not a useless thing in any situation. Here, take my purse, my young friend, you can pay me when we meet again."
I assured him that if I were permitted to write to Monsieur de Villardin I should soon receive sufficient supplies, and, therefore, that I needed not to take advantage of his liberal offer, if he could obtain for me that permission. He replied, that he would take care that no obstruction should thenceforward be thrown in the way of my writing to whom I liked; but at the same time he pressed the loan of his purse upon me, saying, that I might want it before I could receive any reply to my letters. After some farther conversation, which he, who well knew what imprisonment is, took care to make as cheerful as possible, he summoned the gaoler, and after rebuking him sternly for the treatment he had shown to an officer of the King, he ordered him to let me have everything which could make me comfortable, consistent with my safe custody, and especially both to furnish me with materials for writing, and to give the letters which I did write to the post with his own hands. By the gaoler's humble tone it was very evident that he well knew the influence which Gourville possessed with the Prince de Condé; and as soon as my kind friend had left me, he made a thousand excuses for his former harshness, telling me that he had but obeyed the orders of those who brought me thither.
A great change in my situation was the first result of Gourville's visit: I was removed to a warm and dry chamber, from which I could see over the whole country round. Good food, books, and writing materials were allowed me; and my gaoler, now become civil and complacent enough, purchased for me, with part of the money which Gourville had lent, various articles of clothing, of which I had long stood in need, and for which he did not charge me much more than double the value. My first care was to write to Monsieur de Villardin, and the gaoler undertook to see the epistle despatched; but certain it is the letter never reached its destination; and whether it remained for ever within the walls of the prison at Stenay, or lost itself when it got out into the wide world, I cannot tell. It mattered but little, however; for, eight days after Gourville had left me, I was visited by one of the officers of the garrison, who informed me that he had received orders from the Prince de Condé to conduct me to Paris, and that if I had no objection, he proposed setting out the next day. I assured him that nothing on earth would give me greater pleasure; and a little after day-break I had to thank God for seeing the gates of that accursed prison thrown open to give me egress. The officer and his party were waiting me in the street, with one led horse for myself, and another for my baggage; but as all the clothes I had were those which the gaoler had purchased for me, they were easily so arranged as to go on the horse that carried myself, and the other was consequently sent back. During the last week I had been permitted to walk every day in the court of the prison, and had, in consequence, regained, in a great degree, the use of my limbs; but still I was very much fatigued when I arrived at the end of our first day's journey. The officer who conducted or guarded me was a very quiet, civil personage, and as we rode along, he told me that he was ordered to require my parole not to attempt an escape, and then to give me every sort of liberty.
My parole was, of course, willingly given, and after a slow, and, as it appeared to me, a tedious march, we arrived in Paris just three days after the battle of the Faubourg St. Antoine. We had nearly, it is true, been cut off by a body of royalist cavalry, who passed us in the neighbourhood of Charonne; but it is probable that, never dreaming a party attached to the Prince de Condé would show itself on that side of the town so immediately after his defeat, they took us for some of their own partisans. At all events, they passed within a hundred yards of our little troop; and their commander even shouted a good morrow to the officer at our head, which, on his part, was returned with great courtesy. Such was the method in which war was carried on in those days.
On our entrance into Paris we found the whole town in one universal gabble concerning the battle of St. Antoine. Distiches, sarcasms, and epigrams were flying in every direction; and the gay tone and witty repartee of each Parisian, from whom we even inquired our way, would but little have led a stranger to conclude that within three days an engagement had taken place at the very gates of the town, in which 4000 or 5000 men had been killed, and some of the noblest and bravest gentlemen of France had left their bodies on the field. Still less, indeed, did the gaiety and good humour, which were observable amongst the people, indicate, in any degree, the fierce and sanguinary passions which were soon to be called into action; and we rode on through the streets, amidst a crowd of as merry faces as ever I remember to have seen.
Although we inquired repeatedly, no one could tell us anything certain concerning the Prince de Condé. Some said that he was even then in the town; some said he was with his army, encamped without the walls, just beyond the Faubourg St. Victor; some said that he had gone to effect his junction with the Spanish force; and the officer, whose orders were merely to join him, thought it best to proceed to the Hôtel de Ville, in order to gain further information. It is not impossible, indeed, that the vicinity of a famous sutling-house, known to everybon vivantin the army, at the corner of theRue de la Mortelleriemight be an inducement to my conductor, and, at all events, certain it is that he directed his steps to the sutler's in the very first instance.
Here, however, he learned that the Prince was, at that very moment, in the Hôtel de Ville itself; and, after taking care to refresh his men and himself with the choicest stores of the sutler's larder, he left me at the house on the strength of my parole, and proceeded to seek the Prince for the purpose of obtaining further orders. As I remained in the high room in which we had dined, and had nothing else to occupy my attention, I amused myself by gazing out of the window upon the various groups that were now thronging into the open space before the Town-house. It was a hot, sultry day in July; and all the crowds of Parisians, who, like butterflies, come forth whenever the sun shines, were filling the streets, and all seemed to me pouring on in one direction. The masses in the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville became every moment more and more dense, so that it was difficult at length for those whose business called them to the Town-house, to make their way thither. A number of petty affrays took place, in consequence of the endeavours made by several individuals to force their passage through the crowd; and a spirit of riot began to manifest itself, which it was not difficult to divine would end in more serious disorders. I remarked about this time, that almost every one I saw in the crowd had one or two wheat straws stuck into his hat or cap; the greater part also appeared armed, and I could not help anticipating very unpleasant results from the assemblage of such a number of the lower classes at a moment of general excitement and licence. After a time, however, the people seemed to become more quiet; and, before long, I saw the Prince de Condé, with a number of other noblemen and gentlemen, come out of the Hôtel de Ville, and ride away amidst the acclamations of the populace.
I now expected the return of the officer every moment, but nevertheless he did not appear; and, still gazing forth upon the dark masses of the multitude, fluctuating hither and thither like the waves of a troubled sea, I soon after beheld a party of gentlemen, preceded by a royal trumpet, enter the Place de Grève, and endeavour to make their way through the people. At the head of this little body I at once recognised Monsieur de Villardin, riding beside a gentleman whom I did not know, but who, I found afterwards, was the Maréchal de L'Hôpital. With much difficulty they gained the steps of the Town-house, amidst the execrations and insults of the people; and every moment, while waiting the return of a messenger whom they sent into the building, they were exposed both to danger and offence. At length, when, as it appeared, the order for giving them admittance was returned, and they dismounted from their horses and entered the doors, a general rush of the people took place, apparently for the purpose of enveloping and massacring the King's officers, though they had come with a flag of truce. The doors, however, were closed promptly upon them; but the fury of the populace now passed all hounds: yells, more like the cries of demons than those of human beings, issued from the multitude; the signal for strife was given by the discharge of a musket; and while a number, who had possessed themselves of firelocks, kept up a scattered fire at the windows of the Hôtel de Ville, I saw a large body rush away towards the quay, from which they returned in a few minutes, bearing bundles of the fire wood which was there piled up for sale. Before any measures could be taken to prevent them, a mass of these faggots, between six and seven feet in height, was heaped up against the great door, some lighted embers were procured from a neighbouring house, and in a moment the whole was in a blase.
It was now evident that the purpose of the multitude was to massacre all those that were within the Hôtel de Ville; and the cries of "Death to them all!" "Down with the Mazarines!" "Spare not the traitors!" "Take none to mercy!" which rose up in deafening shouts as the people continued firing in at the windows of the Town-house, and piling up fresh logs of wood upon the fire before the door, convinced me that, if something could not be done to save him, the life of Monsieur de Villardin would be lost within ten minutes. The guards, indeed, within the building, fired a few shots from time to time upon the people, but their number was too few to offer any serious resistance, and the efforts that they did make only served to irritate their assailants to a pitch of frenzy.
There was no time for consideration; the life of Monsieur de Villardin depended on the turning of a die; and running down the stairs as hard as I could, I caught up for a badge of partisanship some straws, which I found under a pile of cheeses in the kitchen, and rushing forward towards the door of the Hôtel de Ville, I determined to force my way into it amongst the very first, in order to take advantage of whatever opportunity might occur to save the life of my friend. As I pushed on, elbowing my way through the crowd, one of the rioters, who was armed with a musket, turned fiercely upon me for disturbing his aim; and he seemed about to strike me with the butt end of his piece, when a shot from the windows of the building settled our dispute by going through his head. He fell forward upon me, but, throwing him off, I snatched the musket out of his hands, as it could be of no farther service to him, and might be of great service to me; and thus armed, I soon forced a passage for myself up to the very door of the building. My eagerness and haste, though inspired by very different motives from those which actuated the rest of the crowd, caught the attention and excited the applause of a number of persons in the multitude, and was afterwards of great service to me in effecting my object. Lucky it was that all these circumstances combined to facilitate my advance, for scarcely had I reached the doors, when they gave way, and fell thundering and blazing into the entrance hall. A number of those cooped up within rushed forth, and, plunging into the crowd endeavoured to effect their escape; while I, darting through the midst of them, sprang up the stairs towards those spots where Monsieur de Villardin had been generally found upon former occasions.
He was not in the great hall, however, nor in the grand chamber, where the Parliament usually assembled, but I found him in one of thebuvetteswith Monsieur de L'Hôpital, and a young man whom I had remarked amongst the most vehement of the rioters without, but who had outstripped me by passing the shortest way, and was now engaged in rapid conversation with the Maréchal de L'Hôpital. The moment I rushed in, with my face covered with the smoke and dirt of the fire which had been kindled at the gate, and the musket in my hand, Monsieur de Villardin drew his sword, not recognising a friend in the figure before him; but as soon as I had entered, I closed the door between the buvettes and the passage leading to the great chamber, and turning the key, which I put in my pocket, I thus shut out those who, I knew, could not be far behind me. By this time the Duke had recognised me, and was exclaiming, "Good God, De Juvigny! I thought you dead, my dear lad! How came you here?"
"There is no time to tell you," I replied. "Instantly change part of your clothes with me, and throw away that scarf, or you will be murdered directly. If you wish to save that gentleman," I added, turning to the young man who was speaking with the Maréchal de L'Hôpital, "make him change his dress."
Monsieur de Villardin had at that moment a fillemot-coloured cloak, lined with light blue, and light blue plumes in his hat; but without pausing for any ceremonious consent, I tore the cloak from his shoulders, and threw over him my own, which, having been purchased by the gaoler at Stenay, and having passed through a long journey in July, was neither very fine nor very clean. The blue plumes were next scattered upon the floor; and as there was a procureur's gown hanging over one of the benches, I tore off the cord to fasten a few of the straws which I had assumed as the badge of the popular party into the front of Monsieur de Villardin's hat. The white scarf was then disposed of; and as we could hear the shouts of the multitude coming from the side of the grand chamber, we took our way, as fast as possible to the small door which led from the buvettes into the outer hall. Here, however, we were met by a dense mass of the populace, who instantly assailed us with cries and hootings, and one fierce-looking savage drew back his pike to run it into my chest; but, calling him boldly an accursedMazarine, I pointed the firelock at his head, and would certainly have shot, had he made the slightest movement. But at that moment one of his companions recognised me as having shown great activity in the crowd below, and, catching my adversary by the arm, assured him that it was I who had first proposed to burn the doors. This honourable reputation, though founded on a falsehood, gained me instant applause, and knowing that the best means to manage a mob is to employ it on any mischief, I told the rascals that some Mazarines in the grand chamber had barricaded the doors of the buvettes, and leading them back to the one I had myself locked, I set them to work to demolish it, well assured that they would meet a party of their friends on the other side.
In the meanwhile, Monsieur de Villardin had been pushing his way on towards the door; and I found him held at bay by half a dozen of the rioters, who would have cut his throat within another minute; but, as I approached, I shouted with the full strength of my voice to bring sledge-hammers, and, taking him by the arm, asked if he had found any. He replied, smiling in the midst of the imminent danger which surrounded him, that he could not even seek them, for that the gentry before me would not let him pass. Strong in my reputation as a leader of the tumult, I now set to work to curse them with my whole heart, asking if they were partisans of the Court and friends of Mazarin; and bidding them, if they were followers of the Fronde and the Princes, immediately to seek sledge-hammers, to knock down all the doors. This seemed so laudable an undertaking in their sight, that, shouting, "Des marteaux! des marteaux! vite! des marteaux!" they rushed away in search of hammers, while, seizing Monsieur de Villardin by the arm, I cried, "Come, come; I know a blacksmith's where we shall find plenty." And thus boldly taking upon ourselves the character of chief rioters, we made our way down the stairs and out into thePlace. Our situation, however, was still more dangerous here than ever; for a number of the more coolly bloodthirsty had suffered the violent and the excited to make their way into the building, while they themselves remained without, in order to watch their victims as they came forth into the Place de Grève, and then massacre them without mercy. The cry for hammers, however, had already spread amongst them, and I found it a sort of watch-word, which, for a time, obtained a passage--though that passage was through the warm blood and amongst the quivering bodies of the unhappy men who had lately tenanted the Town-house.
Just as we were passing through the midst of the Place, one fierce and brutal wretch had got down the unhappy Ferrand de Vavari, one of the councillors, and was coolly running a knife into his throat, notwithstanding all his cries and struggles, with the same reckless indifference with which a butcher kills a sheep. Starting up as we passed, the assassin shouted out "More Mazarines! More Mazarines! Why do you let them go?"
The people made a movement round us; and I saw that there was nothing for it but decision. Halting abruptly in the midst, I cried, with every appearance of fury and indignation, that either my voice or features would take on, "He calls me a Mazarine!--me!--a Mazarine!--when he knows us both for officers of the Prince de Condé:--me a Mazarine!" and, without farther ceremony--seeing that the incarnate fiend, who, most probably, recognised M. de Villardin, was about to retort upon me--I presented my musket, and, at the same moment, pulled the trigger. He fell directly; and the people, convinced by the boldness of the action that I was really a follower of the Princes, who were then omnipotent amongst them, made way, shouting, "Vivent les Princes! Vive Condé!"
Without giving time for those who had crowded round my fallen opponent to become interested in his cause, or to hear anything he might have to say in case he were only wounded, I hurried forward as fast as possible, directing my course away from the river, towards which M. de Villardin seemed inclined to proceed. The fact was, however, that at the window of one of the houses in that part of the Grève I saw the head of the Duc de Beaufort backed by the faces of several of his officers; and, as I did not feel at all sure that he might not point us out for massacre as we passed, I thought it best to get out of his sight by the nearest road.
When once we were fairly away from the Place and its immediate vicinity, where the fury of the people was blind and indiscriminate, the straw in our hats secured us a free passage, though the streets were everywhere thronged with rioters; but as Monsieur de Villardin might each moment be recognised by some one who had known him during his former residence in Paris, I made the best of my way to the house of an honest shoemaker, who had served the whole household of the Duke, and served them well. All the shops were by this time shut up, for fear of pillage; and long were we obliged to knock before the good man ventured to open his door and let us in: when he did so, however, he showed us every sort of kindness, and thanked heaven a thousand times for the escape of the Duke. Bringing us to a neat upper room, where we could lie concealed from any one who might enter the lower part of the house, he pointed out to us the means of escaping over the roofs should it become necessary; but of this neither Monsieur de Villardin nor myself entertained the least apprehension; and, while the good shoemaker went down to provide, as far as possible, for our comfort and security, we began to breathe more freely than we had done for some time, and to talk over the adventures of the last few hours.
"A second time I have to thank you for life," said Monsieur de Villardin, after a few exclamations concerning the sort of insanity that had seized upon the Parisians--"a second time I have to thank you for life.--Take care," he added, with a faint smile, "take care! for you are causing me to accumulate debts which I shall never have the means of paying. But, tell me, how came you here, and where have you been for the last three months? Several of your men declared they saw you killed in attempting to repulse the party who set fire to the château of Virmont. I need hardly tell you that I and Father Ferdinand have grieved for you, and Laura has wept for you ever since."
"Thank God for that, at least," I replied: "not for your grieving for me, my lord, but for the safety of Father Ferdinand and Mademoiselle de Villardin, in regard to both of whom I have been in a cruel state of anxiety ever since I last saw them." I then proceeded to detail, as briefly as possible, all the events that had occurred to me during the last three months; and I could see that Monsieur de Villardin, while rejoicing in my escape, was moved with no slight indignation both at the treatment I had received from Gaspard de Belleville, and at the fact of his former page having been the person to burn his house to the ground.
"The villain," he said, "did hot even know that my household and my child were not still within the building; for their escape was owing solely to the civility of the officer at the village, who sent up to warn them that he was about to march, and that other parties were coming up, who might not be so well disposed towards them as himself. They took advantage of this information in time, and sought refuge in one of the cottages in the wood; otherwise they might all have been burned indiscriminately; for the first act that the enemy's soldiers were seen to commit was that of throwing a number of grenades into the open windows, by which means the whole house was fired in a few minutes. If I live three days longer," he added, after detailing these particulars, "I will represent the whole of that young villain's conduct to the Prince de Condé: he must not go any longer unpunished, whatever may have been my reasons for not dealing severely with him hitherto."
I knew well that Monsieur de Villardin's indignation would be infinitely increased when he heard all his other obligations to Gaspard de Belleville; but, as I had no inclination to irritate him farther at this time, and, as the tidings that I bore from Suzette, required to be communicated gently, I determined to reserve them for another moment. "I will request you, my Lord," I replied, "when you make your complaint against Gaspard de Belleville, to take the same opportunity of soliciting my liberation at the hands of the Prince de Condé; for, of course, as I only came out of the sutler's in order, to rescue you, I must still consider myself a prisoner upon parole."
"Fear not, fear not, De Juvigny," he replied; "you shall soon be liberated, either as a favour to myself, or upon ransom; and you shall find, through my whole life, that I never forget, on any occasion, all the services with which you have contrived to load me in the short space of five or six years."
We had still enough subjects of conversation undiscussed to give us plenty of employment for the rest of the evening, especially as our thoughts were every now and then diverted to other subjects by reports brought to us by our worthy host of all that was going on in the city. From him we soon learned that the Maréchal de L'Hôpital, on whose account Monsieur de Villardin had felt a good deal of anxiety, was in a place of safety, having effected his escape from the Hôtel de Ville by the means of the lad Noblet, whom we had seen speaking with him. About ten o'clock at night we also received the welcome tidings that the mob had dispersed, and that large parties of the Garde Bourgeoise were patrolling the streets in every direction; so that we might consider the sedition at an end. We remained in our concealment, however, during the whole of that night; but, early the next morning, finding that tranquillity was perfectly restored, we ventured out, and after having seen Monsieur de Villardin on his road to the Court, I turned my steps, as had been agreed upon between us, towards the camp of the Prince de Condé, in order to give myself up and redeem my parole.
On inquiring farther, I found that the army of the Princes was really on the other side of the river; and crossing over by the Cité, I made my way on foot towards the open grounds of St. Victor, and the little river of Biévre, between which and the Seine I soon perceived the forces of the Prince de Condé intrenched in a position which might be considered perfectly impregnable, at least against any power that the Court could bring against it. I gave myself up as a prisoner at the first outpost, but demanded to be conducted to the Prince himself, if he were then in the camp. The reply, however, was, that he was still in Paris, and I was consequently led to his Maître de Camp, who proved to be an officer to whom I was known, he having served with me during the siege of Bordeaux, and especially in defence of the demi-lune of the Porte Digeaux. From him I received every sort of kindness and attention, till the Prince himself returned to the camp, which did not take place for several hours. As soon as his arrival was known, I was conducted to his quarters, and was at once admitted to his presence. Two lacqueys were pulling off his boots and arranging his dress, while he was giving a number of orders to those around him, and at the same time signing two or three papers which different officers presented for his approval.
"Ha! Monsieur de Juvigny," he cried, as soon as his keen eye fell upon me, "I am glad to see you--I am glad to see you; but stay a minute till I have despatched all these affairs. I have a good deal to say to you, for Gourville has told me all about you."
The minute which the Prince desired me to stay, extended itself to nearly an hour and a half; for no sooner was one application attended to, than another was made from a different quarter; and as soon as one visiter left his presence, another entered.
"There! shut the door," he cried at length, as soon as he found that we were left alone even for a moment; "let any one who comes wait without till I am ready for them." The servant to whom he spoke instantly proceeded to put his commands in execution, and turning to me, the Prince added, in the brief, frank, perhaps abrupt tone, which he usually employed, "Well, Monsieur de Juvigny, I have not seen you since you were playing the garcon apothicaire, in the castle of Vincennes; and although our scheme did not succeed, and you have now, it seems, turned against me, yet I am not the less grateful for the extreme risk which you then ran in endeavouring to serve me. I hear from everybody the highest character of you. I myself have been a witness of your courage and dexterity. Such a person is now most needful to me; and what I wished to say to you is, that if you will consent to attach yourself to me, you shall find me a firm friend and an unfailing protector. I will advance you in the service, and whatever post about my person you will name shall be yours, unless it be already filled by some old and tried friend."
The offer was not only a very tempting one, but it was difficult to refuse it without the chance of giving offence--at least those who did not know the Prince de Condé would have thought so. As it was perfectly impossible for me to comply, however, feeling, as I did, that he was absolutely in a state of rebellion against his King, and that I was even then bearing a commission in that monarch's service, I answered him boldly and straightforwardly, which I had always found to be the best way with men of his keen and rapid disposition.
"Nothing I should consider a higher honour, nothing I should feel to be a greater pleasure than that of serving your Highness," I replied, "if your Highness' service were compatible with that of the King; but you must remember, my lord, that I have bound myself by oath to the cause of his Majesty."
"Pshaw!" cried the Prince de Condé. "In these times no one minds such oaths as that. Why, there is not an officer in my service that does not come and go between my camp and the King's a dozen times in the year; and, in truth, I do not always very well know, when I meet a friend in the field, whether he is my own partisan for the time or not."
"All I can reply to your Highness," I answered, "is, that had I joined your forces I should, of course, have remained with them till war were over; and, such being my feelings, I am afraid that if I can obtain my freedom either by ransom or exchange, or the kindness of your Highness, I must still go back to the camp of the King, and undergo all the defeats which I doubt not you intend to inflict upon us."
"Think of it better--think of it better," replied the Prince: "your liberty you certainly shall have; and you shall choose whether you will take it at my hands, as a full acquittal of all I owe you, for endeavouring to deliver me from Vincennes, or whether--holding still your claim upon me for that service, to be discharged by something more important hereafter--you will pay a light ransom to Master Gaspard de Belleville, who, to say the truth, is somewhat grasping and avaricious for so young a man."
Of course I could not hesitate in regard to which I should choose, and, therefore, I replied at once, "I will endeavour to pay whatever ransom your Highness may think proper to name, and will give an order for it instantly to Monsieur de Belleville, though he has no just right to consider me as his prisoner."
"Nay, nay, not so fast, not so fast!" cried the Prince; "you must take some little time to think of my proposal. De Belleville is not in the camp just now, but he will be here to-morrow or the next day. In the meanwhile, seek out Gourville, whom you will find either with the army, or at the Hotel de Rochefoucault in Paris. Bid him make much of you, and treat you well on my account, trying all he can to persuade you to remain with us. Nay, do not shake your head, but go and think over it better."
As his last words implied an order to quit him, I immediately took my leave and withdrew, somewhat mortified at not being able to obtain my freedom as soon as I had expected, but fully determined not to flinch from my duty in the slightest degree, however long I might consequently be detained a prisoner.
Almost immediately after quitting the Prince de Condé, my good fortune threw me in the way of Gourville, to whom I related all that had just passed. As far as treating me well, he certainly did follow the injunctions of his Highness, but in regard to persuading me that it would be better to join the party of the Princes, he most assuredly did not do as Condé had directed him. He shook his head at the very thought, saying, "No, no; let those who are attached to the party remain attached to it, for if no divisions existed amongst ourselves, we should do very well, and compel the Court to take what measures we liked: but it would never do for you, who neither know all the intrigues that are going on, nor the men that are conducting them; and besides, the party of the Court is, at all events, the most secure; for, however long the struggle may be protracted, it will be the successful side in the end, depend upon it."
By the assistance and attention of Gourville, everything that I could want was supplied to me; and, by means of some of the bankers in Paris, I obtained money upon an assignment of my rents in Normandy and Brittany. My first care was to repay Gourville the sum I had received from him at Stenay, which, of course, he did not affect to decline. My next step was to ascertain from him the amount which my liberation was likely to cost me. To my inquiries on this head, he replied, that he could hardly tell, but, that when he was in prison at Sedan, it had cost his friends six thousand livres to obtain his enlargement. This prospect rather frightened me, as such a sum would nearly exhaust my whole income for the year, but, of course, I was obliged to make up my mind to it, and there the matter dropped.
The day following I caught a distant glance of Gaspard de Belleville riding through the streets of Paris, and I consequently begged Gourville to represent to the Prince my extreme desire to be set at liberty. But either he thought it worth while to keep me for a day or two longer, in order to make me join his party, or he was too deeply engaged in more important affairs to attend to my request. At all events, I could obtain no answer, and remained that day and the next, without hearing anything more upon the subject.