It may well be believed that we counted the minutes as the evening of the second day went by. Every one there present felt that there was a book to be opened before them that night, on the pages of which the future destiny of all was more or less distinctly written. The two boys felt it much, but they felt it with some sort of eagerness, and some anticipations of pleasure. Old Monsieur la Tour looked grave and thoughtful, as well he might; for he was the only one there present who was fully aware of the character and previous history of the person about to be added to the domestic circle at Blancford. I had heard something, indeed, but not all; but, to counterbalance any painful reflections, I had the prospect before me of entering upon a new and more active course of being, and fulfilling the destinies to which the spirit within my bosom called me.
The person who felt the most on the occasion was Louise de Blancford; and nobody could doubt that--though a portion of the happiness of every one there present was in some way to be affected--it was her whole fate, peace, comfort, and tranquillity which then trembled in the balance. The boys would soon naturally seek the tented field, or plunge into the occupations of the city or the court; but she was to remain alone, with the happiness of every moment in the hands and at the disposal of another.
She was at that time as beautiful as a young rose, with a countenance upon which all the emotions of her pure heart traced themselves in an instant as they arose in her bosom; and I could see her eye turn towards me from time to time with an anxious and inquiring glance, which showed me at once the feelings that were going on within, and told me all she would have asked, although no words were spoken. I did my best to comfort her, and to raise up hope of bright and happy things. Perhaps I did so hypocritically; but surely it was pardonable, when I found that cheerful moments were passing away, perhaps for ever, to give her as many as I could till the power of so doing was absolutely taken from me.
It was a bright and beautiful summer's evening; and going out upon the sloping hill which was crowned by the castle, we looked in the direction where we expected to see the cavalcade appear, and watched anxiously for the first spear-head rising above the distant trees.
We waited long, however; the sun descended to the horizon in splendour; the whole sky was rosy with his light; the very air itself seemed to be filled with purple rays; and the woods, and villages, and towers around were all steeped in the same rich and glowing hue. It seemed to speak of hope and bright days to come; and yet, though we were all young, and under the soft guardianship of kind inexperience, our hearts refused to receive the colouring of the bright scene without, and the sweetness of the evening seemed rather to make us more melancholy than to raise our expectations.
The sun went down slowly; the distant lines of the country assumed the most intense blue; the last rays of the setting orb poured through hollow way in the deep masses of the forest, and caught upon a large piece of water at the foot of the hill, rendering one part like a sea of liquid gold, while the other remained shadowed by a wood as black as night. The moon, too, was coming up in the western sky, together with a single star, so pure, so soft, so full of pale light, that it seemed like a drop fallen from the eyes of the departing sun.
Louise's hand rested sisterly upon my arm; we gazed upon the glowing west and the deep blue lines beyond; we gazed upon the pale pure east, with the moon and the stars; and we gazed upon the golden water, and the shadowy wood, and the higher towers of the castle, partly lighted up, as if on fire, with beams that we could no longer behold, and partly buried in profound shadow. We then turned our eyes upon each other; and oh! how I wished at that moment that it had been in my power to command the fate of that sweet girl, and by my will alone to ensure that she should be happy.
At that moment we heard the distant sound of a trumpet; but it was far, far off, borne upon the wings of the soft westerly wind. Neither banner, nor spear, nor cavalcade could be seen as far as the eye could reach; and, after gazing for a few minutes longer, we re-entered the castle, and waited there till we heard the sound of horses coming up the hill.
All ran down at once from the room where we had been sitting; Louise and the old clergyman to the great hall, I and my two young cousins to welcome the baron at the drawbridge. He came, accompanied by a long train of retainers, with a carriage and a horse litter containing his new wife and her manifold attendants. The torches and lanterns showed us a countenance much changed since we had last seen him, older in appearance than in reality, thinner, and more harsh than ever. There was a heavy frown, too, upon his brow, and it was evident that something had gone wrong on the road.
To me he spoke but one word in answer to my inquiries after his health, and the boys, who were pressing round him with the eagerness of natural affection, he pushed roughly away, telling them that they encumbered him. He then approached the side of the carriage and handed out the lady, who, being of course masked for the journey, did not suffer her face to appear. He led her at once into the hall, where Louise and the old clergyman had remained; and his daughter, who was the only person that seemed to shrink back from himself and his new wife, was the only one to whom he spoke kindly and tenderly.
There, sheltered from the wind, and with plenty of light around, the lady took of her velvet mask; and oh, how every idea which I had previously formed of what her person was likely to present, vanished in a single instant! As she lifted that mask from her face, the imagination of memory conjured up in a moment the beautiful form of the first wife, and set it beside the new one. Certainly I had expected to find transcendent beauty in the being who had lured the heart of the husband away from such a lovely and amiable being; and who, after having made her miserable through life, had taken her place when dead.
The figure of the new baroness was fine, it is true; tall, commanding, and well-proportioned; but it wanted that soft and easy grace, that flowing symmetry of every line which had distinguished her predecessor; and if there was a difference and an inferiority in figure, what was there not in countenance? She was no longer young; the features were large and strongly marked, the eyes bright, indeed, and full of fire, but that was the fire of a harsh and domineering temper; and they were only softened, if at all, by a look of wanton meaning which sometimes came across them. The lips were thin, and generally closely shut, though the teeth were fine which they concealed; the chin was rounded, but somewhat projecting; the cheek bones were high, and the skin, though not brown, was coarse. There was a good deal of colour in the face; so much, indeed, that I should have supposed it not altogether natural, had it not been roughly scattered over the cheek with a sort of mottled appearance, which convinced me that art had no share in placing it there. The hair was fine and luxuriant, although she had passed her prime, and her hand was large and somewhat coarse, though much pains had been taken to keep it soft and white.
She gazed at Louise from head to foot, with a look of scrutiny and apparently some surprise.
"You told me that she was a girl, a mere child," the lady said, addressing the baron as he introduced his daughter to her. "Why this is a woman!"
"She was a child when I left her, madam," replied the baron, "and you may see that she is a child in heart still by the blushes which your words call up."
"She looks all the prettier for them," replied the baroness; "but I must teach her not to be such a spendthrift, and to reserve them for occasions when they will have some effect. And, pray, who is this young gentleman!" she proceeded, turning towards me while that meaning look came up in her eyes. "Not your eldest son, I suppose, my lord, for he was only twelve years old when last I heard of him, and he has not probably made such a rapid jump as the young lady. If he have, he has gotten him goodly limbs in a short time." And she ran over me with the same unblushing effrontery with which she had gazed upon Louise.
"This, madam," replied the baron, bitterly, "is a cousin of mine, Henry de Cerons, son of another cousin, Henry de Cerons, who has done me the honour of living in my house for the last twenty years."
The blood came up into my cheeks as I heard him speak. "I have been, madam," I said, taking up the words immediately, "a poor pensioner upon my cousin's bounty since the period that he speaks of. It was then that the death of my noble father left me dependant, with nothing but a sword, which he had rendered glorious, for my future fortune."
"It proved but a poor fortune to him," replied my cousin, frowning at me; "and you have suffered it somewhat to rust in the scabbard, methinks, Master Henry."
"At your own request for the last two years, my lord," I replied, "and it shall do so no longer."
I was going to add more, though I saw that the baron's mood was becoming every moment more and more fierce. But the eyes of both at that moment fell upon Louise, and we beheld the tears running through her long eyelashes and down her cheeks.
"Come, come, no more, no more," he said; "let us drop such subjects, and not make the evening bitter. Madam, I will show you your apartments. Supper, I hope, will soon be ready."
"And the baron in a better humour," said the lady, giving a sarcastic look round as she swept up the hall after him.
We left her lord and the attendants to show her the way; and the five who had tenanted the castle before her coming remained behind in the hall, gazing upon each other, while memory again drew a comparison between the present and the past, the most painful, the most bitter that it is possible to conceive. No one spoke; the sensations in the heart of every one were too dark and sad for us to give them utterance; and, before a word was uttered, the baron had returned.
How the cheerful meal of supper passed over that night in the chateau of Blancford may be easily conceived, for the same spirit which had marked the return of the lord of that castle to his dwelling pervaded the whole conversation. Why or how he had been induced to wed the woman whom he had brought thither might be difficult to say; but it was very evident that where there could never have been any esteem there now remained no affection. We were all silent but the lord and lady of the house, except when, from time to time, good Monsieur la Tour endeavoured to break the restraint by a word upon some ordinary subject, or when I replied to him, which act seemed not a little to create the baron's surprise that I should presume to converse in his presence.
When the meal was over, the lady declared she was fatigued, and retired speedily to rest. Louise followed; and, as there was now no cheerful circle gathered together in the evening to converse over the events of the day, I was about also to retire very soon; but the baron stopped me, saying he wished to speak to me, with a sort of dull, leaden look about his eyes, which he put on when he wanted to assume an air of despotic rule, and to announce his purpose in such a way as to admit of no reply.
The clergyman also stayed; and, turning to me, the baron said, "It is time, my fair cousin, if we may judge by the specimens which you have given us to-night of your conversational powers, that you should find yourself a new home."
"I am not only quite ready, my lord," I replied, "but fully determined to do so as speedily as may be."
"It may be very speedily indeed, then," replied the baron, "for I have already arranged the whole matter for you. You will be pleased to set out to-morrow morning for the town of Pau in Bearn; and I will furnish you with letters to the Protestant clergyman of that place, who will put you in the proper way so to complete your education in the college as to become, I trust, a worthy member of our church. Nay, hear me, hear me to the end. Your maintenance, and the expenses of your studies till the period of your taking orders, will be borne by myself, provided your conduct is such as to justify my kindness. And, having done this, I think I have fulfilled to the utmost the promises which I was induced to make to your late father."
"Your lordship has informed me before now," I replied, "That it was my father's wish that I should be a soldier, and pursue the profession which all my race have followed. You informed me once also that you had promised him it should be so, and that you would place me in that course where he had won glory."
"Of course, sir," replied the baron, frowning fiercely upon me, "all such promises were conditional, as were also his requests. He left your fate to my discretion, and did not dictate to me how I was to deal with the boy whom I brought up from charity."
The words were galling enough, but I struggled hard to keep down the demon of pride--a demon which had endured enough, surely, to quell him in my heart.
I therefore replied at once, "My father's wishes, my lord, I am perfectly aware, can be no law to you. To me, however, they would be a law, even did not my own inclinations second them. It is my determination, therefore--"
"Hush, hush!" said the good clergyman; "hush, my dear Henry. Do not speak of your determination; but leave it to your cousin to take into consideration the motives that you have mentioned."
"Leave him to his own obstinate folly, La Tour," replied my cousin, turning from me. "I have told him all that I will do. I have made him what may well be considered a noble offer. I give him till to-morrow to think of it; and, if he do not accept it, then I will drive him from my door like an ungrateful hound, and send him forth a beggar to the fate he deserves."
Thus saying, he turned and abruptly quitted the hall; while I remained, as may well be conceived, fully determined never to eat bread again at the expense of such a man. I remained thoughtful and silent for a moment, while La Tour gazed with interest and anxiety in my face, and at last asked me, "What do you intend to do, Henry?"
"To keep my resolution, excellent friend," I replied. "You cannot suppose that such words as I have heard can at all shake my purpose."
"But consider, my dear boy," replied the clergyman, "you are utterly without means of support. I fear, Henry, that you do not know how little is to be gained in the barren field of war; and, at all events, you will be obliged at first to support yourself till you can receive pay."
"It matters not, my good friend," I replied; "I should lose my own esteem for ever--my heart would have no strength to struggle with the world, if I let this man set his foot upon it again."
The clergyman said nothing more to change my purpose, for he saw that it was unchangeable; but he answered, "At all events, then, Henry, take what little gold I have. I need it not, my boy; and I always have the means of support. You will not mind taking it from me."
"I will not take it all," I replied, kissing his hand; "but, to show you how willingly I can bend my pride to depend upon one that loves me, I will take twenty gold crowns from you, and that shall be the fortune with which I go forth into the world. I have, indeed, nearly treble that sum in my own chamber; but that belongs to a man from whom I will take nothing, so that you shall give it to him to-morrow after I am gone."
"Do you go early, then?" demanded the clergyman, looking anxiously upon me.
"As early as possible," I replied; and he then told me that he would bring the money to my little room.
Thither I now turned my steps, and the good clergyman soon followed. He gave me the sum I had agreed to take from his little store, and pressed upon me more, which I would not accept. He sought also to persuade me that I had every right to keep the money which the baron had allowed me; but on that score my mind was made up, and I would hear no arguments.
A long conversation then ensued, and La Tour added many wise counsels and noble precepts to many which had gone before. I treasured them in my mind; and, if I have not always followed them exactly in the strife of passion and the assault of temptation, at all events, everything that has been good in my conduct or estimable in my character, I owe, first, to the sweet influence of her who so tenderly cultivated my youth, and, next, to the counsels and exhortations of that good man.
It was nearly one o'clock in the morning when he left me, and then I sat down to consider what should be my next step.
What were the baron's habits now, I knew not; but him I was resolved to see no more. All the rest of the family, however, were generally up not long after daybreak; and, if I remained, I knew that there must be a bitter parting both with Louise and with the boys; most likely, an angry parting also with the baron; and, perhaps, the pain of seeing the expression of his childrens' love for me, call down his wrath upon them. I thought of it all, and determined to suffer alone, as far as might be.
I made all my preparations in haste; took with me a few jewels and trinkets, which I inherited from my mother, and those the baroness had given me; packed up the necessary clothes which I intended to carry away; destroyed many a memorial of the place and its inhabitants, which I did not choose to have exposed to the harsh eyes of the baron, or the impure ones of his new wife; and, only preserving some little things in the handwriting of poor Louise, I prepared to take my departure for ever from the dwelling which I had so long inhabited.
As I stood upon the threshold, intending to waken one of the grooms, whom I had chosen, at the time the baron had last visited the castle, to attend upon me, having occasion for some one to carry my valise to the next cabaret, a thousand recollections of the place, sweet, and happy, and affectionate, crowded upon my heart; a thousand gloomy images of the future rose up before my eyes; Hope hung down her torch, as if its light had been extinguished; and memory strove to bind me to that past from which I was tearing myself away.
I looked round the little room which I had inhabited, and every object that my eye fell upon acquired an interest that it had never acquired before. The dreams of childhood, the thoughts of other years, the figures of some long gone, came back in crowds, and tenanted the apartment; and my heart would have broken if I had not wept.
My tears were quickly dried, however; and I went to wake the boy, and tell him of my purpose. I found him in so sound a sleep that I could hardly wake him; and, after he was roused, he gazed round him stupidly for a moment, as if he did not well comprehend what I meant. The next instant, however, he sprang up with alacrity and cast on his clothes. We went together to bring the valise from my room, and then waiting till we heard the guard (for we were still in a state of war) going round to the front gate, we descended quietly by the little staircase, and passed through the court.
As all the military arrangements in the castle had been, for the last two years, in my hands alone, the gates were thrown open at my first word. The men looked surprised, it is true: but they did not presume to ask any questions, or to make any observations, at least in my hearing; and, issuing out of the chateau about two in the morning, I stood upon Blancford Lea, prepared to seek my future fortunes with my own hand.
There were still some sad feelings in my heart which would not be driven forth; but, nevertheless, I struggled hard against them, and the natural hopefulness of youth was beginning to do its part, so far, at least, that I could find some sources of consolation in the aspect of the world around me. The moon was just going down, appearing large and red through a light haze upon the edge of the horizon. The stars overhead were light, but they were far, far distant, seeming to my fancy like some of the bright imaginations of early youth, brilliant, but unattainable. I looked to the eastern sky, however; and, there upon the very edge of the horizon, was a faint glimmering light, the first announcement of the distant dawning. There seemed to me to be hope and promise in that very sight.
"I may be covered with darkness and night," I said to myself, "but the day will certainly come at length: and, whether it be fair or bad, it too will pass away."
It is the nature of man to trust in auguries; they have been found in the flight of birds or in the entrails of the sacrifice. Let me find promises or threatenings in the various aspects of nature, where the hand of the Almighty has marked his will; and, in the course of one train of events, has often pointed out what must be the course of another.
As I walked along, I did what few young men on their outset in life think fit to do. I considered deliberately and carefully what was to be the general tone of my demeanour, what the general plan of my conduct in the path that lay before me. I considered how I stood towards the world that I was about to enter; looked at the vulnerable points in my nature; considered where I was most likely to be attacked, and how I might best defend myself. I had arrived at an age when the human intellect is in full strength; I had much acquaintance with books, and my mind, therefore, was not enfeebled for want of exercise. I had every power of looking into my own heart, guiding, guarding, and directing myself, which any other man at the same age possesses. But where I was deficient was in knowledge of the world and of my fellow-men; and here I felt that I was utterly ignorant and without experience.
I had, indeed, had some little dealings with mankind during the last two or three years; but that had only served to confirm a fact which books before had taught, me--that, in general, man looks upon himself but as a human shark, whose great object it must ever be to seize upon and devour the unwary.
In order, then, at once to conceal and defend my weak point till it could be remedied by knowledge and observation, was one part of my determination. But there were other things to be considered; and I made up my mind as to the general conduct I was to pursue before I reached the first village inn. To be honest and true, daring and firm, was, of course, the foundation of all; but, in order to prevent those with whom I was likely to have dealings from perceiving my ignorance of the world, I made up my mind to put a guard upon my lips; to affect a light and jesting tone, in order to conceal deeper feelings; to assume that perfect indifference to all things which I had already learned was a natural consequence of that experience which I did not possess; and, repressing every expression either of surprise, pleasure, or grief, to be in some degree a stoic externally, and never to lay open my heart to any persons till I had tried them long and deeply.
To execute such a resolution may appear more difficult than to form it; but there were many things which rendered the enterprise more easy to me than it would have proved to other men. My natural character was gay and light, not easily repressed, with a large share of hope, and a fearlessness of consequences which gave me a great command over my own actions and over those of others. The pitiful neglect and want of respect with which my cousin's servants had treated me, as soon as another heir had appeared in his house, had taught me to assume a tone of indifferent contempt, when the occasion served, which now stood me in great stead; and the very feelings of grief and indignation which were at my heart, by giving me matter to dwell upon in my own bosom, rendered me more careless of all that passed without.
Such, then, were my resolutions, and my means of accomplishing them, as far as the government of myself was concerned: but there were many other things, of course, to be thought of; with whom I was to take service; how I was to shape my course to join the army; how I was to obtain the necessary arms and equipments; for, following the determination I had before made, not to take anything from the castle but that which absolutely belonged to myself, I had left behind both the horses which had been given to me for my use, and the arms in which I had exercised myself since I was a boy, with the exception of the sword and dagger that I usually wore, and a rich knife, with a hilt and a sheath of gold, inlaid with jewels, which my father had brought from the East when warring against the Turks in former days.
On the first point, how I was to join the army, many difficulties existed. The short peace which had been granted to the Protestants had now been some months at an end, and the third war of religion had already began. The principal forces of the Huguenots were assembled in the neighbourhood of La Rochelle, and a considerable distance remained to be traversed before I could hope to fall in with the army.
While I was considering all these things, the eastern sky became somewhat brighter, and the faint pink of the morning air afforded sufficient light to see all the objects distinctly. I had taken my way towards Bordeaux, as the first great town where I could hope to obtain any information, and had walked on rapidly, while the boy, carrying on his shoulder the valise with which I had charged him, trudged on in perfect silence by my side, without making the slightest inquiry as to the end or object of my journey, or where he himself was going.
I had chosen him, indeed, from the rest of the servants, when I was permitted to select two of them to attend upon me, principally because he had always shown both respect and attachment towards me, but scarcely less because there was a degree of similarity between his fate and my own; his father having been killed at the battle of St. Denis, and he left an orphan to the care of strangers. He was now a stout, active youth of about nineteen, somewhat variable it his mood, occasionally loquacious, but more frequently quite the reverse; replying with a sharp, quick word, observing keenly all that passed, and having much shrewd sense under a somewhat dull and boorish exterior. On the present occasion, however, his taciturnity had been even more marked than usual. When I had roused him, at first he had looked at me with some wonder, but he had not said a word since, doing exactly as I bade him in profound silence.
At the distance of about two miles from the chateau of Blancford, we reached the first village, which boasted such a thing as an auberge; and there I had proposed to make the lad put down the valise, and, getting some one else to carry it forward with me, to give him some small pieces of money as a parting gift, and send him back. On entering the village, however, we found that no one was up; and, though there was written over the door of the inn, "Were lodge travellers on foot. A dinner six sous. A bed eight sous. Come in and try!" the closed door belied the hospitable invitation, and I was somewhat puzzled how to proceed.
"I suppose I must wait till they get up, Andriot," I said. "So you can put down the valise and return to the castle. I shall find somebody up presently to carry it on to Bordeaux for me."
"I can carry it on, sir," he said; "they'll be an hour before they're up, and I don't see why you should get an inn-boy while you've your own man."
"Alas! my good Andriot," I said, "you can be my own man no longer. I am too poor a gentleman to afford attendance upon me, and you had better go back at once, lest any review of the servants should be made at the chateau, and the baron should be angry at your absence."
"The baron may be angry once," said the lad, "but he'll not be angry any more than once with me, at least; for we all saw and heard enough last night to make me very glad when I found you were going. No, no, sir, I have been your servant for two years, and not the baron's, and the chateau of Blancford is no more a home for me if you are not there."
"But think a while, my good Andriot," I replied; "it is utterly impossible for me either to pay you any wages or to support you. I go forth with scarcely the means of supporting myself till I reach the army. I seek fortune there as a common soldier, and may not even obtain, for aught I know, the means of gaining bread for myself with my own sword. Me, therefore, you cannot accompany; and you must remember how many chances there are in these troublous times against your obtaining any situation at all comparable to that which you may still hold in the chateau of Blancford."
"I have thought of all that you say, sir," he replied, "as we came along; for it is always right to think well what one is about, after one has taken a resolution. I took mine an hour or two ago. When you first roused me I was half asleep, and didn't understand what you meant. But then again, as soon as both my eyes were open, I understood the whole, for I had thought to myself, when I went to bed, that, if what the baroness' groom had said about the baron and you was true, you would not stay in the castle much after daylight; so I made up my mind in a moment, as soon as I found that you were going. As to wages, I owe you three weeks' service, for you paid me a month in advance last Monday; then, as for food, I have taken care to have all the money that you ever gave me in my pocket to the last sous; then, besides that, I have got three crowns of the sun, and two livres Tournois, which were brought me by Sampson the squire from my poor father when he was killed at St. Denis. So you see, sir, I have plenty to keep me for a year; and as for the rest, if you are going to seek your fortune, I do not see why I should not go and seek mine with you."
"Well, then, Andriot," I replied, with a smile which I could not refrain at his using arguments for following me which were so like the reasons that existed in my own bosom for my own conduct, "if such be your resolution, take up the valise and let us go on. What you do is your voluntary act, and, at any time that you think fit to leave me, you shall do so; so pray Heaven send you soon a wealthier master, and one that can reward you for your fidelity."
"I hope to Heaven it may be so, sir," replied the youth; "and I don't suppose you'll be long before you have some piece of good luck. Fortune gets tired of troubling a man that cares little about her; and I have heard old Jansen, the Jew merchant, say that luck changes at five-and-twenty, at fifty, and at seventy-five, if a man but lives so long."
Thus saying, he once more lifted the valise; and I then perceived, for the first time, that he had strapped on it a little packet of his own goods and chattels, which showed that his resolution had, as he said, been taken before he quitted the chateau.
On approaching the gates of Bordeaux, it became necessary to determine to what inn we should go. My meager finances did not permit of my lodging for even a day at any of the expensive auberges of the Gascon capitol; and I bethought me that Andriot, born and brought up in that neighbourhood, was much more likely to be acquainted with the inferior inns than myself. I therefore consulted him upon the subject, and he replied at once,
"Oh! sir, go to the little inn kept by Jacques de Cannes, called the Soleil Levant, at the end of the Rue de Minimes. It is a poor place, but you will have plenty of Protestant news there, and you will get a good dinner for a small sum. In the evening, when you have settled all, we can go on to Carbon Blanc, or, perhaps, to Cubzac."
"We could not have a more auspicious name," I replied, "than the rising sun, Andriot; and see where the sun is indeed rising, and with as bright an aspect as one could desire."
Andriot instantly pulled off his cap towards the east with as much apparent reverence as ever did Persian to the rising orb of day. "Send us good luck, monseigneur," he said, addressing the sun; and then, with a gay laugh, full of careless hope and light-hearted cheerfulness, he followed my steps, and in a quarter of an hour we were in the town of Bordeaux.
The doors of the Soleil Levant were by this time wide open, and it was evident, by the joyous welcome given to Andriot, that it was not the first time that he had set his foot within those walls. I had just time to tell him that it might be prudent, for the time being, not to mention my name, when we were surrounded by half a dozen of his old friends and companions, who led us both into the little hall, where breakfast was in active preparation for those guests who had passed the night at the house. Only one of these, however, had as yet appeared, and he was seated at that one of the two tables the room contained which was nearest to the window that looked into the street. He was so placed, however, in the corner of the hall, that he could see the passengers who went by without being remarked himself; and though I had passed the windows but a moment before, I had not perceived that there was anybody in the room.
According to the hint that I had given to Andriot, he merely informed Jacques de Cannes that I was a gentleman adventurer seeking my fortune as a soldier, with whom he had taken service, being sick of his late employ in the chateau de Blancford. This was said after I had taken a step or two forward towards the table, and just loud enough for me to hear. The worthy aubergiste answered in the same tone, demanding, with an expressive nod, "He is one of our people, of course?"
"I should not be with him," replied the lad, "if he were not." And the aubergiste, rejoining in a somewhat lower tone, "Perhaps I can tell him where he is likely to find service by-and-by," left us to seek the basin of soup, which, with half a loaf and a small bottle of very good wine, was our allotted breakfast.
Seating myself at the same table, while Andriot took his place a little farther down, I waited patiently for the arrival of my mess, giving from time to time a glance towards the previous occupant of the room, who was busily engaged in emptying the contents of his own bowl, and, apparently, taking very little notice of what was passing around him. As far as I could see, he was a good-looking man, somewhat below forty years of age, broad and powerfully made, with hair not red, but of a light glossy brown, curling round his brow with flowing and graceful waves. The mustache which he wore upon his upper lip was very thick and long, but lighter even in colour than his hair. The features were good, without being strikingly handsome; but when he opened his mouth, the expression of his whole face was injured by the want of three of his front teeth. There was a scar or two on other parts of his countenance, which bespoke the soldier; and one of his hands, which rested somewhat listlessly on the table while he ate his soup with the other, was disfigured by a large round scar on the back, and seemed to have been penetrated either by a spear or a ball. He ate his bread with his soup, but drank no wine till he had done; he then, however, nearly filled his cup, and, after having drank it, looked up, saying, with a slight foreign accent, "Good wine in these parts. Are you of this country, young gentleman?"
"No," I replied (for I was born on the banks of the Loire); and, having satisfied myself by speaking the simple truth in one monosyllable, I took no farther notice till he said. "And yet yours is a Gascon accent, it seems to me."
"And yours a Scotch one," I replied.
"Well hit, my young falcon," replied the stranger, in a light tone; "you follow the game true."
"As every one should do," I replied, not a little doubtful of the character of my worthy companion, and answering no more than was absolutely necessary. The stranger, however, was not so easily to be frustrated, and he returned to the charge about my Gascon accent.
"Some birds," he said, "have a rare skill in deceiving their pursuers. I should not marvel still if Guienne had been your birthplace."
"You could not wish me a better," I answered.
"No, nor a shrewder wit, you think," he said: "however, I give you good-morning."
And, taking up his hat, which lay beside him, he finished his small bottle of wine and moved towards the door.
At that moment Jacques de Cannes was coming in with a bowl of soup for Andriot, and the stranger stopped him for a minute or two, saying something that we did not hear. The aubergiste replied in the same low voice, and the stranger, turning away, added aloud, "Not till I have seen him again, Maître Jacques."
After putting down the pottage for Andriot, the good aubergiste came up to me, and, bending down his head, he said, "You are seeking service in arms, I think, seigneur; you could not trust to any one better than that gentleman who has just gone out. He is an old soldier and a good one, and as stanch a Protestant as ever lived. But he will be back here to dinner, and, if you like to talk to him about your views, he will most likely get you service."
My heart beat at the offer, I must confess; but yet, pursuing my cautious determinations, I was resolved neither to trust aubergiste nor stranger too far; and, although I awaited with some impatience for the return of the latter, I schooled myself during the whole time of his absence, lest, by too great heat, I should show my own ignorance and inexperience, and fall into some snare.
About twenty minutes before the hour appointed for dinner, the stranger again entered the hall, as I was holding one more consultation with Andriot upon what was the next step to be taken. Andriot had been greatly smitten with the stranger's appearance, and he now assured me, with so many asseverations, that good Jacques de Cannes was one of the most excellent and serviceable men in France, that it was scarcely possible to doubt that he was well informed of the fact. Indeed, he added, a moment before the stranger made his appearance, that the worthy aubergiste stood in the near connexion with himself of a second cousin. Why he had not told me this at first I do not know; but it certainly did not in any degree diminish my confidence in the good landlord, to hear that he was related to one who had served me well and faithfully for two years.
"Then I may take his word fully as to the stranger's character, Andriot?" I said; "for I'm sure your cousin would tell me no falsehood."
The youth was replying eagerly, when the stranger, as I have said, entered, and, taking off his hat, approached the place where I stood. I had now a better view of him than before, and saw that he was as powerful in body as I had been led to think was the case by the mere sight of his head and shoulders. He was graceful, too, and had the air of a gentleman, though his clothes were somewhat coarse, and displayed none of the ordinary colours affected by that rank. The scabbard of his sword, however, was of velvet, and the weapon was thrown so much back across his loins, that it was impossible for him to see the hilt. This was almost a certain sign, at that time, in France, of one who prided himself upon his birth, though the custom has now greatly changed, and we wear our swords almost straight upon the thigh.
"I am glad to find you here, young gentleman," he said; "and, if I may propose such a thing, we will ask Maître Jacques to give us our dinner in some little room apart, that we may talk over matters which may interest you to hear."
I thought of my small store of money, and of the additional expense which I might be led into; but it seemed that this was a lucky chance which had befallen me, and I determined not to throw it away. I accordingly assented, and we mounted into a chamber on the second floor, where a dinner, which, though certainly not equal to those of the chateau, was by no means bad, was soon set before us, and Maître Jacques retired to serve his ordinary guests below.
"Well, sir," said the stranger, as soon as we had helped ourselves and began, "I understand your whole situation as well as if I had heard it."
"Which you probably have," I replied, in the dry tone that I had determined to maintain.
"No, upon my honour," replied the other. "I'll tell you how it all comes about, and you shall say whether I am right or wrong. First, then, and foremost, I see a gentleman of good manners and deportment, followed by a servant carrying a valise, very much better dressed than myself, come into an inn for travellers on foot. I hear he has no horses with him, and he sits down to eat his soup and drink his wine, for which he pays three sous altogether, with a lace upon his pourpoint which cost at the very lowest twenty sous in all. From all this, one gathers that on some account or another--whether it be a duel, or whether it be any other cause--this gentleman does not wish the path he has chosen to be tracked, and perhaps is in some need, by accidental circumstances, of money or employment. The landlord of the inn tells me that he is seeking military service, and is on his way, even now, to join Condé, or the admiral, or Andelot. I therefore conclude that he is willing to serve against these butchers who have been massacring the poor Protestants throughout France. There is nothing very miraculous in all this. Am I not right?"
"In general you are," I replied; "but, let me ask, how is this to affect my acquaintance with you?"
"Why, I will tell you in a moment," replied the stranger, in the same frank tone. "I happen at this moment to be engaged in the same cause, among the soldiers of which you are seeking service. I know that every man in the monarchy is wanted; and I wish both to give you such information as may enable you to join the army with all speed, and urge you to do so without a moment's delay."
"I propose hastening towards Rochelle as fast as possible," I replied.
"Rochelle!" he exclaimed, with a laugh; "Why, my good young friend, you must have been living in some hermitage, where the news of what is passing in the world penetrates but rarely. The Protestants are no longer at Rochelle. Condé and the admiral have advanced, the Lord knows how far, up the Loire, and Andelot himself has been at blows with Martigue far beyond Saumur."
My countenance fell as he spoke; for, if my finances had been barely sufficient to carry me scantily to Rochelle, the far greater journey that lay between me and the Protestant army rendered it almost impossible for me to accomplish the undertaking of joining it, except, indeed, as a mere beggar.
The stranger saw the effect that his words had produced, and demanded, with a smile, "Why has your brow grown clouded, young gentleman? What is it that makes you so suddenly gloomy?"
"The army," I replied, conquering all feelings of pride, "is much farther than I expected, and my worldly wealth is but small."
The stranger looked at me fixedly for a moment, and then said, "You have served before, have you not? You seem of an age to have seen many a stout conflict."
I answered in the negative, however, evidently to his surprise; and he mused for a minute or two without speaking. It appeared to me that my new acquaintance was considering more what should be his own conduct than what he should recommend for mine. "Have you not wherewithal to take you to the army?" he said at length.
"Doubtless I have," I replied, "but not more; and, if I spend what I have as I go, how am I to get a horse and arms when I arrive?"
"Oh, there is many a man in your case," replied the stranger. "You must not be nice when you get there; but you will find many a jockey--if there has been much fighting going on, and our party has had the advantage--who will be willing enough to supply you with a horse on the chance of your paying him a good sum for it within a certain time. It is a thing done every day. These jockeys buy horses that are taken from the enemy for an old song or a mess of pottage, and then sell them again, if they can find means, to those who will pay down. But, if they cannot find such pleasant customers, they dispose of them to any soldier of fortune who is likely to pay them well at an after period. As to arms, however, that is a more difficult matter; and I know not very well what to advise you to do. I see there is some story about you, if one did but know it; for your dress is not that of a man who cannot afford to buy himself a steel cap and a cuirass. Have you nothing that you can sell?" he added: "That Turkish dagger in your belt; if that be gold, it will furnish you well with what you want, and you must make your own right hand do the rest."
"I should not like to sell it," I replied, looking down at the dagger; "this knife is one that my father brought from the East, and was taken from a Turk killed by his own hand in battle. I should not like to sell it if I could avoid it."
"I fear, then," replied the stranger, "if you have nothing else to dispose of, you must even take to the arquebuse, buy no horse, and serve in the infantry. You will most likely find many a leader who will be glad to give you arms for your services; though I cannot think that a man of your figure was made for apedescal. I should think that your father would rather see you part with the dagger than so lower yourself."
"My father is dead," I replied; "but, were he living, I think that what you say is true, and therefore I will part with it; but I would fain place it in such hands that I may redeem it again, in case of ever being able to do so."
"There are Jews in the world," the stranger exclaimed, with a laugh; "there are Jews in the world. Thank Heaven for all things--there are Jews in the world. They will take it for six months, and lend you as much money thereon as will serve your purpose. Before that period is over, it is to be hoped that you will have clipped some of these gilded troops of the enemy of quite a sufficient portion of their golden fleece to recover your weapon. After dinner we will go and see what is the value of the knife. It is a pretty toy, and doubtless of good steel; for these Turks declare, and I believe it true, that the waters of Damascus temper iron far better than those either of Toledo or Milan."
It was joyful news for me to hear that I might thus obtain that which I most wanted, without absolutely parting with a thing which I prized, not from its intrinsic value, but from the memories associated with it, and because I had some recollection of being told, in my earliest youth, never to give it away. I thanked my new companion, therefore, warmly and sincerely for the advice he had given.
"We may have more to say to each other hereafter," he answered, smiling. "I am not, perhaps, any more than yourself, quite what I seem; and the truth is, I am here recruiting men for a company of men-at-arms. I must not venture, indeed, to place any one therein who is not a tried and well-known man; otherwise, to say the truth, from your height, and look, and manner, I should not have scrupled to engage with you at once. We may meet again, however, as I have said, and then the first vacancy you may join us, if you have proved your manhood well upon the enemy. I am glad to find you come of a fighting race, however: that is a great thing in a man's favour; for courage runs in the blood as well as cowardice."
"If it be an inheritance," I replied, "I have every right to it; and at present it is my only one."
"I cannot say that originally I was much better provided myself," replied the stranger. "Good blood, strong limbs, and a heart without fear, however, have increased my inheritance; and I look upon the beginning of this war as just a call to the sheep-shearing. I take it as a matter of course, when I talk of your entering our band, that your blood is noble, one way or another."
"It is as good as your own," I replied.
"Indeed!" he said, with a somewhat mocking smile. "Then it is of a somewhat extraordinary quality; for the man who can boast descent from a long race of kings cannot go beyond mine."
"Perhaps you mean if traced back to Adam," I replied, not quite liking his tone.
"No, young gentleman," he answered, very gravely; "I mean, if traced back for twenty generations. But come, let us go seek this Jew, and see what he says the knife is worth."
Thus saying, he rose; and, following him through manifold turnings and windings in the fine old city of Bordeaux, I entered the little alley that lies just under the Cathedral garden.
"Here lives a Jew," continued my companion, "With whom I have had some dealings. The nearer the church the farther from God, they say: so this misbegotten infidel plants himself close against the chief church."
A few steps farther brought us to a small dark doorway, which certainly gave no promise of wealth or traffic; and, feeling his way up the stairs with his hands, my guide led me on to the second floor, where he knocked hard with his clinched fist against a door.
It was not opened at once to his summons: but a part of one of the panels, about two spans square, was drawn back, admitting a little light to the landing-place on which we stood, and through it a dark countenance with a long beard examined us carefully.
"Ah, it is you, is it, my good seigneur!" cried the Jew, after having more than once keenly looked on my companion's face. "I will open the door directly, and let you in."
And, almost as he spoke, bolts and bars were withdrawn, and the door opening, gave us admission into a room which presented a very strange scene.
There were only two persons in the chamber; the first of which was the Jew himself, a man of about fifty years of age, dressed in the long, flowing black robe usually worn by his people. The top of his head was quite bald; for though he wore a small black velvet cap upon it, he uncovered himself on the entrance of my companion, and bowed down almost to the ground. His hair, however, and beard were jetty black, without a single gray hair, and his complexion was of that deep Oriental yellow-brown not uncommon to his nation.
The other person whom the room contained was a girl of about eleven or twelve years of age, as beautiful a little creature as it is possible to conceive; having, indeed, some resemblance to the Jew in feature, but so softened with womanly and with childish beauty, that all harshness was done away. She was dressed in white, but sat playing on a pile of many-coloured shawls, winding them fancifully round her, and, in so doing, throwing her beautiful figure into attitudes the most graceful that it is possible to conceive.
The interior of the chamber itself, however, had a great many other objects to attract the eye on every side. It seemed a complete showroom of rich and valuable things. On a table near the window appeared piles of different jewels and trinkets; swords, silver-mounted daggers, and many an implement of modern and ancient warfare, were scattered around on every side: in other corners lay rich dresses and magnificent embroidery; in others, piles of carpets and tapestries, and pieces of silk and velvet. Rich lace of gold and silver, and many a book, perhaps invaluable in themselves, and enriched by clasps and mountings of fine filigree-work, were cast promiscuously together with a thousand articles of high price which I have now forgotten.
Our business was soon explained to the Jew; and, taking the Turkish dagger, he looked at it, saying that he would give ten crowns for it, after he had touched a part of the haft with a touchstone.
"Ten crowns!" exclaimed my Scottish companion. "By Abraham's beard, Solomon Ahar, thou art more a Jew than the rest of thy tribe. See you not that the stones are real?"
"Nay?" exclaimed the Jew, with a look of surprise, "is it so?" And, drawing near to the window, he examined it again by the faint light that entered the chamber through the manifold tall courts and stacks of chimneys behind.
"As true as thou art a son of Israel," replied the Scotchman. But, ere he could say more, the Jew himself exclaimed, "Blessed be Heaven! it is so indeed. Here are--let me see--six, seven, nine, fourteen fine stones. Nay, then, I will give the gentleman an hundred crowns an he choose to leave it with me, as what the people of Lombardy call a pignus or pledge; and if he will sell it outright, I think I could venture to go as far as an hundred and fifty or two hundred."
"Which means that it is worth three."
"On my honour, on my conscience!" cried the Jew; and was beginning to bargain upon the worth of the thing, when I cut short the discourse by exclaiming, "I have no intention of selling the dagger: it is but for a temporary need that I want the money, and trust to pay it back full soon."
"He shall give thee an hundred and fifty for it at least," exclaimed the Scotchman. "I know how to deal with the tribe of Israel. Look ye, Master Solomon, the haft of the dagger is worth three hundred crowns or more. If the youth lives, returns, and claims it, you gain your interest of fifteen hard per cent. If he gets himself killed, as is a thousand chances to one, or dies a natural death, or never finds a crown to spare to pay thee, all of which are very probable, the dagger is yours at the end of six months or a year, and then you gain double for the loan."
"I cannot give it," replied the Jew; "I cannot give it. It is too much. It would be my ruin. How often am I a loser! What taxes have I not to pay! No, I cannot give it, I will not give it. There is your dagger, young gentleman."
I hesitated whether I should take the weapon; but the Scotchman gave me a nod, saying, "Take it, take it; there are more Jews in Bordeaux than he." And I was taking it back into my hand, when the girl suddenly left off her sport with the shawls, and, plucking the old man by the robe; she said. "Give it him, my father; give him the money. He seems as if he would fain have it. He wants it, and thou dost not."
The Jew still was silent, only putting the child away with his hand, and saying, when she urged him farther, "Silence, prattler, what is it to thee?"
The girl, turning away from him, looked up in my face; and I laid my hand upon her jetty locks, saying, "I thank thee, my pretty maiden. He will not yield to thee, but thou art kind, however."
"Nay," said the Jew; "I will yield something. You shall have a hundred and twenty-five."
"No!" said the Scot, turning towards the door; "We shall get a hundred and fifty for it from Moses Levi."
The Jew hesitated for a moment longer; but when my companion laid his hand upon the lock of the door as if to go out, he said, "Stay, stay: thou shalt have it, though I vow it is the full value of the thing."
He carried an inkhorn at his button, and soon wrote down upon two pieces of vellum a mutual acknowledgment between him and me; the one was drawn up in his name, acknowledging the receipt of the dagger, specifying every stone it contained, and promising its restitution on the payment of the sum of a hundred and fifty crowns, together with interest at the rate of fifteen per cent. The other was on my part, acknowledging the receipt of the hundred and fifty crowns, and promising to return it within the space of twelve months, paying an interest of fifteen per cent.
As soon as this was concluded, the money was paid down, and the weapon, with its glittering hilt, surrendered. I still wanted a leathern bag to carry the money in; but in the store of the Jew all things were to be found; and, having taken one from a cabinet in the room, he made me pay about double the value, and thus we departed; I far richer than I had expected to be for many a year, but feeling yet a degree of regret and disquietude at having suffered the last gift of my father to pass out of my own hand, which, for the time, more than counterbalanced the pleasure of receiving the money, even though it was to furnish me with the means of pursuing that profession for which he himself had destined me.
When we had quitted the Jew's house, my companion laughed aloud in his peculiar clear, merry, careless way.
"These sons of Israel," he said, "These sons of Israel, it needs a long acquaintance to deal with them wisely: for they always take their chance of those who traffic with them being fools, in order to cheat them, if it be possible. The old sinner knew that those were real jewels in the dagger from the first moment he set eyes on it; but he hazarded offering a small sum, in case you should not know the fact. I took my chance the other way, and swore they were real jewels, though I knew nothing about it; being very sure that, if they were not, he would not suffer me to deceive him. However, you are now not only master of enough to arm you from head to heel as a proper man-at-arms, and to buy you a horse, but to arm half a dozen others lightly to follow you; and, if you will take my counsel, I think I can set you off on a plan by which you may gain both fame and fortune, or lose your life, remember!--for that must always be put at stake. Come to the inn, however: come to the inn, and we will talk more."
I followed him through the streets meditating on what he had said, and inclined very strongly to trust him, but feeling that want of confidence in myself which was produced by a knowledge of my own inexperience, and which prevented me from being at all sure whether I was dealing with an honest man or a knave. He had certainly put me in a way of obtaining money, which I could not have done myself, and he had, as yet, asked me for no share in the sum thus obtained. There was a frankness too in his whole demeanour, which produced a strong impression in his favour; and, though I was still upon my guard, yet I was well inclined to receive any advice that he might give me under a favourable view.
"Come, Master Jacques," he said, speaking to the landlord, whom we met upon the stairs of the inn, "let us have a bottle of your best wine, for we were interrupted in our draught to go away upon business."
The landlord bowed low at orders which landlords are always willing to hear; and the stranger led the way to the same room where we had before sat, humming away the time till the aubergiste returned. Ensconced at length in that room, with the bottle and glasses before us, he began, in somewhat of a consequential tone, and with a look of superior knowledge, to direct my proceedings.
"You have now," he said, "the opportunity of making or marring your own fortunes. You have but very little experience, I have a great deal; and, were I placed exactly as you are, I would do as I am going to tell you to do. I would, in the first place, buy myself arms and horses here in Bordeaux, where you will get them cheaper than either at La Rochelle or at Charenton, where they are in more request. I would arm myself completely at all points with a plain, good suit, which may be had at a low price, of just as strong materials as if you paid two or three thousand livres for it. Then buy the armour of a demi-lance for that stout youth whom I saw with you below. Two horses may be had for you cheap enough if you can ride well; for there is a Maquinon, called Pierrot, has got a troop of wild devils from the Limousin, for which he can find no sale here among the merchants and citizens, and soft-boned gentry of Bordeaux."
I smiled, replying, "We will ride them if they can be ridden."
"I advise you," he continued, "To do this rather than to furnish yourself at the army, both because you will find it cheaper, and because it always looks better, and gives a higher opinion of a man when he joins his leader fully prepared. Besides, you have a chance of some little adventure on the road, which may take off the freshness of your arms, and give you some little reputation. Such things are as common in these days as they were in the times of the knights-errant. Now what I propose for you to do, when you have joined the army, is, not for you to put yourself in this troop or that, as a simple man-at-arms--for that is the way to get yourself killed speedily, without anybody hearing anything of you--but to look about the camp for any stray vagabonds that may be about; I mean of those whose whole fortune consists in a steel cap, a breastplate, and a horse, and the whole sum of whose virtues lies in courage. You will find two or three young fellows too at every corner, who, like yourself, are seeking service, fresh in arms, and willing to stick to any leader who will but gallop them into the cannon's mouth. They are generally younger than you are, for you have been somewhat late in taking to the trade. That, however, will only make it the more likely they should follow you, which is the great thing; for to be the leader of one of these bands is the sure means of getting on, whereas, to be a follower in one of them is the readiest way of getting hanged. You have then nothing to do, you know, but to take up absolutely the trade of adventurer, attack the enemy everywhere, harass him on every occasion, cut off his parties, attack every chateau where you think there is a soldier--in short, run your head against every stone wall that you meet with. You may chance to knock some of them down; and if you do, you will gain a reputation which will soon put you at the head of a better band than that with which you set out. Good old soldiers will be glad to come to you then, and you may work yourself up to be a general by steadiness and perseverance."
"There are two things, however," I said, "Which you have forgotten to mention: first, where I am to get the money to pay these recruits; for, after I have bought horses, and arms for myself and Andriot, there will not be much left to pay any one."
"Oh, they will pay themselves, they will pay themselves," he said. "You may have, indeed, in the first instance, to give one or two of those vagabonds who have seen service a crown a week, just to make the beginning of a band; all the others you will take merely upon trial; and, of course, you must put the Catholics under contributions. If they will have war, let them have war and pay for it. It is an undoubted fact, that, since the last peace, they have put to death, in one town or another, full ten thousand Protestants; and, therefore, we have a right to make them pay for such sorts of amusement. Then you will put the prisoners to ransom, you know; and every one that is taken by your men pays you a share too. You will therefore have plenty to keep the band up as soon as it is formed. But what was your next question?"
"Why, simply by whose authority I shall act," I replied; "for, not being of sufficient authority and rank to levy war on my own account, I must have some sanction for raising such a band."
"I had thought of that," he replied, "I had thought of that. Such things are not, indeed, much considered in these wars; and, after all, I believe you might do it on your own account: ay, and with right, for your father was a man of good nobility as well as courage; and, though he never had a crown in his purse to bless himself, might have spread his own banner according to the ordinances of St. Louis."
"Did you know my father?" I demanded, somewhat surprised: "and, if you did know him, how have you found out that I am his son?"
"I knew your father but little," replied the other, "though we have fought side by side together before now; and as to the rest, you forget that I saw you sign your name before the Jew. However, as it is better that you should have some authority for what you do, I will give you a letter to the Prince de Condé, telling him your plans and purposes, and he will not refuse you a commission under his own hand at the request of Robert Stuart."
"Robert Stuart!" I exclaimed; "What, he who killed the Constable Montmorency at the battle of St. Denis?"
"The same man that you mean," replied my companion; "but, for all that, I did not kill the constable. The world gives me greater credit than I deserve. It was one of my band who shot him with a pistol. I took him indeed, for he was down on the ground; and I thought he had formally surrendered, and believe so still, when up he jumped, and, with the pummel of his sword, dashed out my three front teeth, knocking me backward on the ground, for I had dismounted to receive his sword. One of my fellows, seeing this, called out that he was as treacherous an enemy as a friend, and shot him on the spot. That is the exact truth of the story that people tell twenty different ways. And now, knowing who I am, you will wonder, perhaps, to see me here, in a little inn, paying a few sous for my dinner. But the truth is, I came to swell my band a little by any veteran men-at-arms I can find, and also to meet here some half dozen of my friends from Scotland, who are about to join me. Now there is a certain report gone abroad, well-nigh as false as the other, that I was the person who caused that old meddling fool, the President Minard, to be assassinated. There is many a one of his friends here in the good town of Bordeaux, so that, till I am well accompanied, it might not be pleasant to lodge at a great inn and draw eyes upon me."
It may well be supposed that I now thanked this celebrated leader gratefully for what he had done and proposed to do in my behalf. But he replied that the Protestant cause was much at his heart; that he loved a good soldier and the son of a good soldier, and that what he had done for me was really nothing.
"Come," he said at length, "let us go and seek for the horses and arms: bring your boy with you, and I will let my people know where I am, that, in case the ship arrives, they may come and tell me."
The horses were soon bought, about twenty of them having been brought out for me to try. For myself, I chose one of the strongest and most fierce, having soon perceived that he was tractable and good in his temper, though he was perfectly unbroken. A lighter horse served the boy's turn; but I left my new friend to bargain with the dealer for the price of both, and was surprised to find the small sum at which he contrived to purchase the two. It is true, the dealer knew him, and imagined that I was a man-at-arms newly engaged to serve under the Scotch captain.
The arms were procured in a similar manner; and, being now fully equipped, I returned with Stuart to the inn, telling him my intention of setting out for the army that very night, in order not to lose any time in pursuing the course before me.
"That is right," he said, "That is right; I like activity! You and your man can get to Cubzac to-night. I will write the letter for you at once; and, if you can pick up another follower or two in your way to the camp, do not fail to do so; for, the more men you carry with you, the warmer will be your welcome. Do not arm yourself till you get to Cubzac, for the good people here might stop you. You must then shape your course as you hear news of the army; but avoid Angoulême; for, when I came by some ten days ago, that neighbourhood was somewhat dangerous for a Protestant."
Of course my thanks were not wanting; and, immediately after our arrival at the inn, he wrote the letter which he had promised; making no mention, indeed, of my never having served before, but simply telling the Prince de Condé, with whom he seemed on terms of great intimacy, who I was, and that the object I proposed was to raise a troop of adventurers in order to harass the Catholic armies. He farther begged him not only to give me a commission to the effect he proposed, but to point out to me the means of swelling my troop, and to afford me every assistance in so doing.
When this was finished, and the armour charged upon the servant's horse, I lost no time in mounting my own; and my new friend shaking me as heartily by the hand as if we had known each other for years, bade me adieu, saying that we should soon meet again at the camp. The landlord of the auberge and his drawers all bowed low as I came away, for I had paid whatever was asked, and perhaps had been more liberal to the attendants than some of the frequenters of the inn not poorer than myself; and, with a heart considerably lightened, I rode away and quitted the city of Bordeaux.
My first sensations were those of joy and satisfaction at being no longer dependant upon the bounty of any one, but bent upon my way through the wide world to win for myself honour and renown, and, as I trusted, high station and happy competence.
But, even while I was passing the ferry, those sensations began to change. I thought with some regret of the chateau of Blancford, of good old La Tour, of the two glad, light-hearted boys, who had been my companions for many a year, and of the sweet girl, whom I might never see again. A feeling of solitude came over me, and I do believe that it is impossible even for him who has the lightest heart, the brightest hope, and the most enviable situation, to quit the scenes and the companions of his youth without feeling as if he were left alone in the whole wide world, and without seeing before his eyes vague visions of the difficulties, dangers, distresses, and griefs which await every man who passes forth into active existence.
Such, at least, were my sensations; and, after landing, paying the ferryman his fare, and ascending the heights on the other side, I paused to look back over the scene that I was quitting, and a thousand bright and happy memories, clinging to my heart like children that would keep a parent from the wars, seemed to hold me to the spot with a force I could scarcely resist.
I thought of the condition of those that I had left behind; I saw the peaceful dwelling where I had spent so many years with but few of earth's discomforts, rendered the abode of contention, and sorrow, and discomfort; I fancied the grief of the two youths when they found that I was gone; I beheld the fair face of Louise bathed in tears, as she remained unprotected and alone, and left to the guidance, the control, perhaps the tyranny, of a harsh, bad woman. It was all painful; the thought almost unmanned me, and I would have given worlds to rescue her from such a painful situation.
I felt that I must call up such images no longer; but still the form and face of Louise haunted me: and at length, out of the darker and more gloomy thoughts that filled my brain, came forth a bright and lustrous hope, a hope on which I dared not let my mind rest; which was like the night vision of an angel to some lonely anchorite, too brilliant for the eye to gaze upon firmly, but yet full of joy, and consolation, and encouragement.
It was the first time that ever such a dream had suggested itself even to my imagination. It was wild, it was foolish; but yet how sweet was the idea, that the time might come when, having, by the exertion of every power of my mind and body, conquered the difficulties which surrounded me, swept away poverty and dependance, gained fame, and honour, and emolument, I might be enabled to snatch that sweet girl from the dark and hateful tyranny which I believed the rule of her mother's rival must necessarily become, and to repay in some degree, by kindness, and tenderness, and love for the child, the kindness, and tenderness, and love which had been shown to me by the mother.