"Do you forget that I knew nothing of the relationship?"
"Ah! true."
"And I was idiotic enough—you will forgive me, won't you, Nanon?" continued the duke, holding out his hand to the young woman—"I was idiotic enough to be jealous of you!"
"Indeed! jealous of me! Oh! monseigneur, you were very, very wrong!"
"I was about to ask you if you had any suspicion as to the identity of the rascal who played informer?"
"No, not the slightest. But you understand, monseigneur, that such acts do not go unpunished, and some day you will know who did it."
"Oh! yes, certainly I shall know it some day, and I have taken precautions in abundance to that end; but I would have preferred to know it immediately."
"Ah!" rejoined Cauvignac, pricking up his ears; "ah! you say you have taken precautions to that end, monseigneur?"
"Yes, yes! And the villain," continued the duke, "will be very fortunate if my signature in blank doesn't lead to his being hanged."
"Why, how can you distinguish that particular signature from all the other orders you give out, monseigneur?"
"Because I made a private mark upon it."
"A mark?"
"Yes; an invisible mark, which I can render visible with the aid of a chemical process."
"Well, well!" said Cauvignac, "that is certainly a most ingenious device, monseigneur; but you must be careful that he doesn't suspect the trap."
"Oh! there's no danger of that; who do you think is likely to tell him of it?"
"True! true!" replied Cauvignac; "not Nanon, surely, nor I—"
"Nor I," said the duke.
"Nor you. So you are right, monseigneur; you cannot fail to know some day who the man is, and then—"
"Then, as I shall have kept my agreement with him, for he will have obtained whatever he chose to use the signature for, I will have him hanged."
"Amen!" said Cauvignac.
"And now," continued the duke, "as you can give me no information concerning the miscreant—"
"No, monseigneur; in very truth, I cannot."
"As I was saying, I will leave you with your sister.—Nanon, give the boy precise instructions, and above all things, see that he loses no time."
"Never fear, monseigneur."
"Adieu to you both."
He waved his hand gracefully to Nanon, bestowed a friendly nod upon her brother, and descended the stairs, saying that he should probably return during the day.
Nanon went with the duke to the head of the stairs.
"Peste!" said Cauvignac to himself, "my gallant friend did well to warn me. Ah! he's no such fool as he seems. But what shall I do with his signature?Dame!I'll do what I would do with a note; discount it."
"Now, monsieur," said Nanon, returning, and closing the door behind her, "now let us understand each other."
"My dear little sister," Cauvignac replied, "I came hither for the purpose of having a talk with you; but in order to talk at our ease, we must be seated. Sit you down, therefore, I beg."
As he spoke, he drew a chair near to his own and motioned to Nanon that it was intended for her.
Nanon seated herself with a frown, which augured ill for the harmony of the interview.
"First of all," said she, "why are you not where you should be?"
"Ah! my dear little sister, that is hardly courteous. If I were where I should be, I should not be here, and consequently you would not have the pleasure of seeing me."
"Did you not wish to take orders?"
"No, not I; say rather, that certain persons who are interested in me, notably yourself, wished to force me to take orders; but personally, I have never had a particularly earnest vocation for the Church."
"But you were educated for a religious life?"
"Yes, sister; and I believe I have piously profited by that fact."
"No sacrilege, monsieur; do not joke on sacred subjects."
"I am not joking, dear sister; I am simply stating facts. Look you; you sent me to the Minim brethren at Angoulème to prepare for the priesthood."
"Well?"
"I studied diligently there. I know Greek like Homer, Latin like Cicero, and theology like John Huss. Having nothing more to learn among those worthy monks, I left their establishment, still following out your wishes, and went to the Carmelites at Rouen, to make profession of faith."
"You forget to say that I had promised you a yearly allowance of a hundred pistoles, and that I kept my promise. A hundred pistoles for a Carmelite was more than enough, I should say."
"I don't deny it, my dear sister; but the convent always claimed my allowance on the pretext that I was not yet a Carmelite."
"Even so, did you not, when you consecrated your life to the Church, take a vow of poverty?"
"If I did make such a vow, dear sister, I give you my word that I have faithfully lived up to it; no one was ever poorer than I."
"But how did you leave the convent?"
"Ah! there you are! In the same way that Adam left the earthly paradise; it was knowledge that undid me, sister; I knew too much."
"What's that? you knew too much?"
"Yes. Imagine, if you can, that among the Carmelites, who have not the reputation of being Erasmuses or Descartes, I was looked upon as a prodigy,—of learning, be it understood. The result was that when Monsieur le Duc de Longueville came to Rouen to urgethat city to declare in favor of the parliament, I was sent to harangue Monsieur de Longueville; the which I did in such elegant and well-chosen language, that Monsieur de Longueville not only expressed himself as well pleased with my eloquence, but asked me if I would be his secretary. This happened just as I was about to take the vows."
"Yes, I remember; and on the pretext that you were saying farewell to the world, you asked me for a hundred pistoles, which were given into your own hands."
"And they are the only ones I received, on the word of a gentleman!"
"But you were to renounce the world."
"Yes, such was my intention; but such was not the intention of Providence, which probably had other plans for me. It made a different disposition of me through the medium of Monsieur de Longueville; it was not its will that I should remain a monk. I therefore conformed to the will of a merciful Providence, and I am free to say that I do not repent having done so."
"Then you are no longer in the Church?"
"No, not for the moment, at least, my dear sister. I do not dare say that I may not return to it some day; for what man can say to-day what he will do to-morrow? Has not Monsieur de Rancé recently founded the Trappist order? Perhaps I shall follow in his footsteps, and found some new order. But for the moment I have dallied with war, you see, and that has made me profane and impure for some time to come; at the first opportunity I shall purify myself."
"You a fighting man!" exclaimed Nanon, with a shrug.
"Why not?Dame!I won't pretend to say that I am a Dunois, a Duguesclin, a Bayard, a knight withoutfear and without reproach. No, I am not so vainglorious as to claim that I have not some trifling peccadilloes to be ashamed of, nor will I ask, like the famous condottiere Sforza, what fear is. I am a man, and, as Plautus says: 'Homo sum et nihil humani me alienum puto;' which means: 'I am a man, and nothing pertaining to mankind is strange to me.' I do know what fear is, therefore, but that does not prevent my being courageous on occasion. I handle a sword or a pistol prettily enough when I am driven to it. But my real bent, my decided vocation, is diplomacy. Unless I am sadly mistaken, my dear Nanon, I am on the way to become a great politician. A fine career is politics; Monsieur de Mazarin will rise very high if he's not hanged. And I am like Monsieur de Mazarin; so that one of my apprehensions, the greatest of them all, in fact, is, that I may be hanged. Fortunately, I have you, dear Nanon, and that gives me great confidence."
"So you are a warrior?"
"And a courtier, too, at need. Ah! my sojourn with Monsieur de Longueville was of the greatest benefit to me."
"What did you learn when you were with him?"
"What one always learns in the service of princes,—to fight, to intrigue, to betray."
"And those accomplishments—"
"Raised me to the very highest position."
"Which you have lost?"
"Dame!Hasn't Monsieur de Condé lost his? A man can't rule events. Dear sister, I, poor creature that I am, have governed Paris."
"You?"
"Yes, I."
"For how long a time?"
"For an hour and three quarters, watch in hand."
"You governed Paris?"
"With despotic power."
"How did that come about?"
"In the simplest way imaginable. You must know that Monsieur le Coadjuteur, Monsieur de Gondy, the Abbé de Gondy—-"
"Well?"
"Was absolute master of the city. Well, at that precise moment, I was in the service of Monsieur le Duc d'Elbœuf; he is a Lorraine prince, and one need not be ashamed to belong to him. For the time being, Monsieur d'Elbœuf was at enmity with the coadjutor. So I led an uprising in favor of Monsieur d'Elbœuf, in the course of which I captured—"
"Whom? the coadjutor?"
"No; I shouldn't have known what to do with him, and should have been much embarrassed. I captured his mistress, Mademoiselle de Chevreuse."
"Why, that was a terrible thing to do!" cried Nanon.
"Isn't it a terrible thing that a priest should have a mistress? At all events, that's what I said to myself. My purpose was, therefore, to carry her away, and carry her so far that he would never see her again. I sent word to him of my purpose; but the devil of a man uses arguments one can't resist; he offered me a thousand pistoles."
"Poor woman! to be thus bargained for!"
"Nonsense! on the contrary, she should have been overjoyed, for that proved how dearly Monsieur de Gondy loved her. None but men of the Church are so devoted as all that to their mistresses. I fancy that it's because they are forbidden to have them."
"You are rich, then?"
"Rich?"
"Of course, after all these acts of brigandage."
"Don't speak of it; look you, Nanon, I was most unlucky. Mademoiselle de Chevreuse's maid, whom no one thought of ransoming, and who consequently remained with me, took the money from me."
"I hope that you retained at least the good-will of those in whose interest you acted in putting this affront upon the coadjutor."
"Ah! Nanon, that proves how little you know of princes. Monsieur d'Elbœuf was reconciled with the coadjutor. In the treaty they entered into I was sacrificed. I was forced therefore to enter the service of Monsieur de Mazarin, who is a contemptible creature; and as the pay was by no means commensurate with the work to be done, I accepted an offer that was made me to incite anotherémeutein honor of Councillor Broussel, the object being to secure the election of the Chancellor Seguier. But my men, the bunglers! only half killed him. In that affray I was in greater danger than ever before threatened me. Monsieur de la Meilleraie fired a pistol at me almost point-blank. Luckily, I stooped in time; the bullet whistled over my head, and the illustrious marshal killed no one but an old woman."
"What a tissue of horrors!" exclaimed Nanon.
"Why no, dear sister; simply the necessities of civil war."
"I can understand that a man capable of such things might have dared to do what you did yesterday."
"What did I do, pray?" queried Cauvignac with the most innocent expression; "what did I dare?"
"You dared to throw dust in the eyes of so eminent a man as Monsieur d'Épernon. But what I cannotunderstand, and would never have believed, is that a brother, fairly laden with favors at his sister's hands, could in cold blood form a plan to ruin that sister."
"Ruin my sister?—I?" said Cauvignac.
"Yes, you!" retorted Nanon. "I had no need to wait for the tale you have just told me, which proves that you are capable of anything, to recognize the handwriting of this letter. Tell me! do you deny that this unsigned letter was written by you?"
And Nanon indignantly held before her brother's eyes the denunciatory letter the duke had handed her the night before.
Cauvignac read it composedly.
"Well," said he, "what have you to say against this letter? Is it not couched in well-turned phrase? If you thought so, I should be very sorry for you, for it would prove that your literary taste is vitiated."
"This is not a question of the composition, monsieur, but of the fact itself. Did you, or did you not write this letter?"
"Unquestionably I did. If I had proposed to deny the fact, I should have disguised my handwriting; but it was useless. I have never intended to hide it from you; indeed, I was anxious that you should recognize the letter, as coming from me."
"Oh!" exclaimed Nanon, with a horrified gesture, "you admit it!"
"It is a last relic of humility, dear sister; yes, I may as well tell you that I was actuated by a desire for revenge—"
"Revenge?"
"Yes, most naturally—"
"Revenge upon me, you wretch! Pray, consider what you are saying. What injury have I ever doneyou that the thought of seeking revenge should enter your mind?"
"What have you done to me? Ah! Nanon, put yourself in my place. I left Paris because I had too many enemies there; 't is the misfortune of all men who dabble in politics. I returned to you—I implored you. Do you remember? You received three letters,—you won't say that you did not recognize my hand; it was precisely the same as in this anonymous letter, and furthermore, those letters were signed,—I wrote you three letters, begging for a hundred beggarly pistoles—a hundred pistoles! to you, who had millions, it was the merest trifle. But a hundred pistoles, as you know, is my favorite figure. Very good; my sister ignored me! I presented myself at my sister's house; my sister's door was closed in my face! Naturally, I made inquiries. 'Perhaps she is in want,' I said to myself;'if so, this is the time to show her that her benefactions have not fallen on stony soil. Perhaps she is no longer free; in that case her treatment of me is pardonable.' You see my heart sought excuses for you, until I learned that my sister was free, happy, wealthy, and rich—rich, richer, richest!—and that one Baron de Canolles, a stranger, had usurped my privileges, and was enjoying her protection in my place. Thereupon jealousy turned my head."
"Say cupidity. You sold me to Monsieur d'Épernon as you sold Mademoiselle de Chevreuse to the coadjutor! What business was it of yours, I pray to know, that I was on friendly terms with Monsieur le Baron de Canolles?"
"What business was it of mine? None at all, and I should not even have thought of interfering if you had continued to be on friendly terms with me."
"Do you know that if I were to say a single word to Monsieur d'Épernon, if I should tell him the whole truth, you would be lost?"
"Certainly."
"You heard with your own ears from his mouth a moment since, what fate is in store for the man who extorted that signature in blank from him."
"Don't speak of it; I shuddered to the very marrow of my bones; and it needed all my self-control to prevent me from betraying myself."
"And you say that you do not tremble now, although you confess your acquaintance with fear?"
"No; for such an open confession on your part would show that Monsieur de Canolles is not your brother, and that note of yours, being addressed to a stranger, would take on very sinister meaning. It is much better, believe me, to have made the disingenuous confession you have made, ungrateful sister—I dare not say blindly, I know you too well for that; but consider, pray, how many advantages, all foreseen by me, result from this little episode, for which all the credit is due to my thoughtfulness. In the first place, you were greatly embarrassed, and dreaded the arrival of Monsieur de Canolles, who, not having been warned, would have floundered around terribly in the midst of your little family romance. My presence, on the other hand, has made everything smooth; your brother is no longer a mystery. Monsieur d'Épernon has adopted him, and in a very flattering way, I am bound to say. Now, therefore, the brother is under no further necessity of skulking in corners; he is one of the family;ergo, correspondence, appointments without, and why not within?—provided always that the brother with black eyes and hair is careful not to come face to face withMonsieur d'Épernon. One cloak bears an astonishing resemblance to another, deuce take it! and when Monsieur d'Épernon sees a cloak leave your house, who is to tell him whether it is or is not a brother's cloak? So there you are, free as the wind. But to do you this service, I have unbaptized myself; my name is Canolles, and that's a nuisance. You ought to be grateful to me for the sacrifice."
Nanon was struck dumb by this resistless flood of eloquence, the fruit of inconceivable impudence, and she could think of no arguments to oppose to it. Cauvignac made the most of his victory, and continued,—
"And now, dear sister, as we are united once more after so long a separation; as you have found a real brother, after so many disappointments, confess that henceforth you will sleep in peace,—thanks to the shield which love stretches over you; you will lead as tranquil a life as if all Guyenne adored you, which is not precisely the fact, you know; but Guyenne must bend to our will. In short, I have taken my station at your threshold; Monsieur d'Épernon procures a colonel's commission for me; instead of six men, I have two thousand. With those, two thousand men I will perform again the twelve tasks of Hercules; I shall be created duke and peer; Madame d'Épernon dies; Monsieur d'Épernon marries you—"
"Before all this happens you must do two things," said Nanon, shortly.
"What are they, dear sister? Tell me; I am listening."
"First of all, you must return the duke's signature in blank to him; otherwise, you will be hanged. You heard your sentence from his own lips. Secondly, you must leave this house instantly, or not only am I ruinedforever, for which you care nothing, but you will be involved in my ruin,—a consideration which will cause you to think twice, I trust, before you decide."
"These are my answers, dear lady: the signature in blank is my property, and you can't prevent my getting myself hanged, if such is my good pleasure."
"God forbid!"
"Thanks! I shall do nothing of the kind; never fear. I declared my aversion to that kind of death a few moments since; I shall keep the document, therefore, unless you have a craving to purchase it from me, in which case we may come to terms."
"I have no use for it; I give them away."
"Lucky Nanon!"
"You will keep it, then?"
"Yes."
"At the risk of what may happen to you?"
"Don't be alarmed; I have a place for it. As to taking my leave, I shall make no such blunder, being here by the duke's invitation. Furthermore, in your desire to be rid of me, you forget one thing."
"What is that?"
"The important commission the duke mentioned, which is likely to make my fortune."
Nanon turned pale.
"Why, you know perfectly well that it was not intended for you," she said. "You know that to abuse your present position would be a crime, for which you would have to pay the penalty one day or another."
"For that reason I don't propose to abuse it. I am anxious to use it, nothing more."
"Besides, Monsieur de Canolles is named in the commission."
"Very good; am I not Baron de Canolles?"
"Yes; but his face, as well as his name, is known at court. Monsieur de Canolles has been there several times."
"A la bonne heure!that's a strong argument; it's the first you have put forward, and you see that I yield to it."
"Moreover, you might fall in with your political opponents there," said Nanon; "and perhaps your face, although under a different name, is as well known as Monsieur de Canolles'."
"Oh! that would amount to nothing, if, as the duke says, the mission is destined to result advantageously to France. The message will be the messenger's safeguard. A service of such importance implies pardon for him who renders it, and amnesty for the past is always the first condition of political conversions. And so, dear sister, it is not for you, but for me, to impose conditions."
"Well, what are yours?"
"In the first place, as I was saying, the first condition of every treaty,—general amnesty."
"Is that all?"
"Secondly, the adjustment of our accounts."
"It would seem that I owe you something, then?"
"You owe me the hundred pistoles, which you inhumanly refused me."
"Here are two hundred."
"Good! I recognize the real Nanon in that."
"But I give them to you on one condition."
"What is that?"
"That you repair the wrong you have done."
"That is no more than fair. What must I do?"
"You must take horse and ride along the Paris road until you overtake Monsieur de Canolles."
"In that case, I lose his name."
"You restore it to him."
"And what am I to say to him?"
"You will hand him this order, and make sure that he sets out instantly to execute it."
"Is that all?"
"Absolutely."
"Is it necessary that he should know who I am?"
"On the contrary, it is of the utmost importance that he should not know."
"Ah! Nanon, do you blush for your brother?"
Nanon did not reply; she was lost in thought.
"How can I be sure," she began, after a moment's silence, "that you will do my errand faithfully? If you held anything sacred, I would require your oath."
"You can do better than that."
"How?"
"Promise me a hundred more pistoles after the errand is done."
"It's a bargain," said Nanon, with a shrug.
"Mark the difference. I ask you for no oath, and your simple word is enough for me. We will say a hundred pistoles to the man who hands you from me Monsieur de Canolles' receipt."
"Yes; but you speak of a third person; do you not expect to return yourself?"
"Who knows? I have business myself which requires my presence in the neighborhood of Paris."
Nanon could not restrain an exclamation of delight
"Ah! that's not polite," said Cauvignac, with a laugh; "but never mind, dear sister, no malice."
"Agreed; but to horse!"
"Instantly; simply time to drink a stirrup cup."
Cauvignac emptied the bottle of Chambertin into his glass, saluted his sister deferentially, vaulted into the saddle, and disappeared in a cloud of dust.
The moon was just rising as the viscount, followed by the faithful Pompée, left Master Biscarros' hostelry behind him, and started off on the road to Paris.
After about quarter of an hour, which the viscount devoted to his reflections, and during which they made something like a league and a half, he turned to the squire, who was gravely bobbing up and down in his saddle, three paces behind his master.
"Pompée," the young man asked, "have you my right glove by any chance?"
"Not that I am aware of, monsieur," said Pompée.
"What are you doing to your portmanteau, pray?"
"I am looking to see if it is fastened on securely, and tightening the straps, for fear the gold may rattle. The rattle of gold is a fatal thing, monsieur, and leads to unpleasant meetings, especially at night."
"It's well done of you, Pompée, and I love to see that you are so prudent and careful."
"Those are very natural qualities in an old soldier, Monsieur le Vicomte, and are well adapted to go with courage; however, as rashness is not courage, I confess my regret that Monsieur Richon couldn't come with us; for twenty thousand livres is a risky burden, especially in such stormy times as these."
"What you say is full of common-sense, Pompée, and I agree with you in every point," the viscount replied.
"I will even venture to say," continued Pompée,emboldened in his fear by the viscount's approbation, "that it is imprudent to take the chances we are taking. Let us halt a moment, if you please, while I inspect my musket."
"Well, Pompée?"
"It seems to be in good condition, and the man who undertakes to stop us will have a bad quarter of an hour. Oho! what do I see yonder?"
"Where?"
"A hundred yards ahead of us, to the right; look, over there."
"I see something white!"
"Yes, yes!" said Pompée, "white; a cross-belt, perhaps. I am very anxious, on my honor, to get behind that hedge on the left. In military language that is called intrenching; let us intrench ourselves, Monsieur le Vicomte."
"If those are cross-belts, Pompée, they are worn by the king's soldiers; and the king's soldiers don't rob peaceful travellers."
"Don't you believe it, Monsieur le Vicomte, don't you believe it! On the contrary, we hear of nothing but road-agents, who use his Majesty's uniform as a cloak under which to commit innumerable villanies, each one more damnable than the last; and lately, at Bordeaux, two of the light-horse were broken on the wheel. I think I recognize the uniform of the light-horse, monsieur."
"Their uniform is blue, Pompée, and what we see is white."
"True; but they often put on a blouse over their uniform; that's what the villains did who were recently broken on the wheel at Bordeaux. It seems to me that they are gesticulating a great deal; they are threatening.That's their tactics, you see, Monsieur le Vicomte; they lie in ambush like this, by the road, and, carbine in hand, compel the traveller to throw his purse to them from a distance."
"But, my good Pompée," said the viscount, who, although considerably alarmed, kept his presence of mind, "if they threaten from a distance with their carbines, do the same with yours."
"Yes; but they don't see me," said Pompée; "so any demonstration on my part would be useless."
"Well, if they don't see you, they can hardly be threatening you, I should say."
"You understand absolutely nothing of war," retorted the squire, ill-humoredly; "the same thing is going to happen to me here that happened at Corbie."
"Let us hope not, Pompée; for, if I remember aright, Corbie is where you were wounded."
"Yes, and a terrible wound. I was with Monsieur de Cambes, and a rash gentleman he was! We were doing patrol duty one night to investigate the place where the battle was to be fought. We spied some cross-belts. I urged him not to do a foolhardy thing that would do no good; he persisted and marched straight up to the cross-belts. I turned my back angrily. At that moment, a cursed ball—viscount, let us be prudent!"
"Prudent we will be, Pompée: I ask nothing better. But it seems to me that they do not move."
"They are scenting their prey. Wait."
The travellers, luckily for them, had not to wait long. In a moment the moon shone out from behind a black cloud, and cast a bright light upon two or three shirts drying behind a hedge, with sleeves outstretched, some fifty paces away.
They were the cross-belts which reminded Pompée of his ill-fated patrol at Corbie.
The viscount laughed heartily, and spurred his horse; Pompée followed him, crying:—
"How fortunate that I did not follow my first impulse; I was going to send a ball in that direction, and it would have made me a second Don Quixote. You see, viscount, the value of prudence and experience in warfare!"
After a period of deep emotion, there is always a period of repose; having safely passed the shirts, the travellers rode on two or three leagues peacefully enough. It was a superb night; a clump of trees by the roadside made a broad shadow, black as ebony, across the road.
"I most assuredly do not like the moonlight," said Pompée. "When you can be seen from a distance you run the risk of being taken by surprise. I have always heard men versed in war say that of two men who are looking for each other the moon never helps but one at a time. We are in the bright light, Monsieur le Vicomte, and it isn't prudent."
"Very well, let us ride in the shadow, Pompée."
"Yes, but if men were lying hidden in the edge of the wood, we should literally run into their mouths. In war time you never approach a wood until it has been reconnoitred."
"Unfortunately," rejoined the viscount, "we lack scouts. Isn't that what they call the men who reconnoitre woods, brave Pompée?"
"Yes, yes," muttered the squire. "Deuce take Richon, why didn't he come? We could have sent him forward as advance-guard, while we formed the main body of the army."
"Well, Pompée, what shall we do? Shall we stay in the moonlight, or go over into the shadow?"
"Let us get into the shadow, Monsieur le Vicomte; it's the most prudent way, I think."
"Shadow it is."
"You are afraid, Monsieur le Vicomte, aren't you?"
"No, my dear Pompée, I swear I'm not."
"You would be foolish, for I am here and on the watch; if I were alone, you understand, this would trouble me very little. An old soldier fears neither God nor devil. But you are a companion as hard to watch as the gold I have on behind; and the double responsibility alarms me. Ah! what is that black form I see over there? This time it is moving."
"There's no doubt about that," said the viscount.
"See what it is to be in the shadow; we see the enemy, and he doesn't see us. Doesn't it seem to you as if the villain has a musket?"
"Yes; but he's alone, Pompée, and there are two of us."
"Monsieur le Vicomte, men who travel alone are most to be feared; for their being alone indicates a determined character. The famous Baron des Adrets always went by himself. Look! he's aiming at us, or I'm much mistaken! He 's going to fire; stoop!"
"Why, no, Pompée, he's simply changing his musket from one shoulder to the other."
"Never mind, we must stoop all the same; it's the custom; let us receive his fire with our noses on our saddles."
"But you see that he doesn't fire, Pompée."
"He doesn't fire?" said the squire, raising his head. "Good! he must be afraid; our determined bearing has intimidated him. Ah! he's afraid! Let me speak to him, and do you speak after me, and make your voice as gruff as possible."
The shadow was coming toward them.
"Holé!friend, who are you?" cried Pompée.
The shadow halted with a very perceptible start of terror.
"Do you shout now," said Pompée.
"It's useless," said the viscount; "the poor devil is frightened enough already."
"Ah! he's afraid!" said Pompée, raising his weapon.
"Mercy, monsieur!" exclaimed the man, falling on his knees, "mercy! I am only a poor pedler, and I haven't sold as much as a pocket-handkerchief for a week; I haven't a sou about me."
What Pompée had taken for a musket was the yard-stick with which the poor devil measured off his wares.
"Pray understand, my friend," said Pompée, majestically, "that we are no thieves, but fighting men, travelling at night because we are afraid of nothing; go your way in peace; you are free."
"Here, my friend," the milder voice of the viscount interposed, "here's a half-pistole for the fright we gave you, and may God be with you!"
As he spoke, the viscount, with his small white hand, gave the poor devil a half-pistole, and he walked away, thanking Heaven for the lucky meeting.
"You were wrong, Monsieur le Vicomte, you were very wrong," said Pompée, a few steps farther on.
"Wrong, wrong! wherein, pray?"
"In giving that man a half-pistole. At night you should never admit that you have money about you; look you, wasn't it that coward's first cry that he hadn't a sou?"
"True," said the viscount, smiling; "but he's a coward, as you say, while we, as you also said, are fighting men, who fear nothing."
"Between being afraid and being suspicious, Monsieur le Vicomte, there is as great a distance as between fear and prudence. Now, it isn't prudent, I say again, to let a stranger whom you meet on the high-road see that you have money."
"Not when the stranger is alone and unarmed?"
"He may belong to an armed band; he may be only a spy sent forward to see how the land lies. He may return with a crowd, and what can two men, however brave they may be, do against a crowd?"
This time the viscount realized the reasonableness of Pompée's reproof, or rather, to cut the lecture short, pretended to admit his guilt, and they rode on until they reached the bank of the little river Saye, near Saint-Genès.
There was no bridge, and they were obliged to ford the stream.
Pompée, thereupon, delivered a learned discourse upon the passage of rivers, but as a discourse is not a bridge, they were not the less obliged to ford the stream after the discourse was concluded.
Fortunately, the river was not deep, and this latest incident afforded the viscount further proof that things seen at a distance, especially at night, are much more alarming than when seen at close quarters.
He was really beginning, therefore, to feel safe, especially as the day would break in about another hour, when, as they were in the midst of the wood which lies about Marsas, the two travellers suddenly drew rein; they could hear, far in their rear, but distinctly, the hoof-beats of galloping horses.
At the same moment their own horses raised their heads, and one of them neighed.
"This time," said Pompée, in a stifled voice, seizingthe bridle of his companion's horse, "this time, Monsieur le Vicomte, you will show a little docility, I trust, and be guided by the experience of an old soldier. I hear a troop of mounted men; they are pursuing us. Of course it's your pretended pedler's band; I told you so, imprudent youth that you are! Come, no useless bravado, but let us save our lives and our money! Flight is often a means of winning the battle; Horace pretended to fly."
"Very well, let us fly, Pompée," said the viscount, trembling from head to foot.
Pompée drove in his spurs; his horse, an excellent roan, leaped forward with a zeal that inflamed the ardor of the viscount's barb, and they dashed away at full speed, followed by a train of sparks, as their iron-shod hoofs flew along the hard road.
This race lasted about half an hour; but instead of gaining ground, it seemed to the fugitives that their enemies were coming nearer.
Suddenly a voice issued from the darkness,—a voice which, mingling with the hissing sound produced by the speed at which they were riding, seemed like the muttered menace of the spirits of the night.
It made the gray hair stand erect on Pompée's head.
"They cried 'Stop!'" he muttered; "they cried 'Stop!'"
"Well, shall we stop?" asked the viscount.
"By no means!" cried Pompée; "let us double our speed, if possible. Forward! forward!"
"Yes, yes! forward! forward!" cried the viscount, as thoroughly terrified now as his defender.
"They are gaining, they are gaining!" said Pompée; "do you hear them?"
"Alas! yes."
"They are not more than thirty—Listen, they are calling us again. We are lost!"
"Founder the horses, if we must," said the viscount, more dead than alive.
"Viscount! viscount!" shouted the voice. "Stop! stop! stop, old Pompée!"
"It is some one who knows us, some one who knows we are carrying money to Madame la Princesse, some one who knows we are conspirators; we shall be broken on the wheel alive!"
"Stop! stop!" the voice persisted.
"They are shouting to some one to stop us," said Pompée; "they have some one ahead of us; we are surrounded!"
"Suppose we turn into the field, and let them pass?"
"A good idea," said Pompée; "let us try it."
They guided their horses with rein and knee at the same time, and turned to the left; the viscount's mount, skilfully handled, leaped the ditch, but Pompée's heavier beast took off too late, the ground gave way under his feet, and he fell, carrying his rider down with him. The squire emitted a shriek of despair.
The viscount, who was already fifty paces away, heard his cry of distress, and although sadly frightened himself, turned and rode back to his companion.
"Mercy!" howled Pompée. "Ransom! I surrender; I belong to the house of Cambes!"
A loud shout of laughter was the only response to this pitiful appeal; and the viscount, riding up at that moment, saw Pompée embracing the stirrup of the conqueror, who, in a voice choking with laughter, was trying to reassure him.
"Monsieur le Baron de Canolles!" exclaimed the viscount.
"Sarpejeu!yes. Go to, viscount, it isn't fair to lead people who are looking for you such a race as this."
"Monsieur le Baron de Canolles!" echoed Pompée, still doubting his good luck; "Monsieur le Baron de Canolles and Monsieur Castorin!"
"Why, yes, Monsieur Pompée," said Castorin, rising in his stirrups to look over his master's shoulder, as he bent forward, laughing, over his saddle-bow; "what are you doing in that ditch?"
"You see!" said Pompée. "My horse fell just as I was about to intrench myself, taking you for enemies, in order to make a vigorous defence! Monsieur le Vicomte," he continued, rising and shaking himself, "it's Monsieur de Canolles."
"You here, monsieur!" murmured the viscount, with something very like joy, which was reflected in his tone in spite of himself.
"'Faith, yes, it's myself," replied Canolles, gazing at the viscount with a degree of pertinacity which his finding of the glove sufficiently explained. "I was bored to death in that inn. Richon left me after winning my money. I learned that you had taken the Paris road. Luckily I had business in the same direction, so I set out to overtake you; I didn't suspect that I should have to run such a race to do it!Peste!my young gentleman, what a horseman you are!"
The viscount smiled, and stammered a few words.
"Castorin," continued Canolles, "assist Monsieur Pompée to mount. You see that he can't quite manage it, notwithstanding his skill."
Castorin dismounted and lent a hand to Pompée, who finally regained his seat.
"Now," said the viscount, "we will ride on, by your leave."
"One moment," said Pompée, much embarrassed; "one moment, Monsieur le Vicomte; it seems to me that I miss something."
"I should say as much," said the viscount; "you miss the valise."
"Oh!mon Dieu!" ejaculated Pompée, feigning profound astonishment.
"Wretch!" cried the viscount, "can you have lost it?"
"It can't be far away, monsieur," Pompée replied.
"Isn't this it?" inquired Castorin, picking up the object in question, which he found some difficulty in lifting.
"It is," said the viscount.
"It is," echoed Pompée.
"It isn't his fault," said Canolles, anxious to make a friend of the old squire; "in his fall the straps broke and the valise fell off."
"The straps are not broken, monsieur, but cut," said Castorin. "Look!"
"Oho! Monsieur Pompée," said Canolles, "what does that mean?"
"It means," said the viscount, sternly, "that, in his terror at being pursued by robbers, Monsieur Pompée cleverly cut the straps of the valise so that he might not have the responsibility of being the treasurer. In military parlance, what is that ruse called, Monsieur Pompée?"
Pompée tried to excuse himself by putting the blame on his hunting-knife which he had imprudently drawn; but, as he could give no satisfactory explanation, he remained under the suspicion, in the viscount's eyes, of having chosen to sacrifice the valise to his own safety.
Canolles was more lenient.
"Nonsense! nonsense!" said he; "that may or maynot be; but strap the valise on again. Come, Castorin, help Monsieur Pompée. You were right, Master Pompée, to be afraid of robbers; the valise is heavy, and would be a valuable prize."
"Don't joke, monsieur," said Pompée, with a shudder; "all joking is equivocal at night."
"You are right, Pompée, always right; and so I propose to act as escort to you and the viscount. A re-enforcement of two men may be of some use to you."
"Yes, indeed!" cried Pompée, "there is safety in numbers."
"What say you to my offer, viscount?" said Canolles, who observed that the viscount welcomed his obliging suggestion with less enthusiasm than the squire.
"I, monsieur," was the reply, "recognize therein your usual desire to oblige, and I thank you very sincerely; but our roads are not the same, and I should dislike to put you to inconvenience."
"What!" said Canolles, greatly disappointed to find that the struggle at the inn was to begin again in the high-road; "what! our roads are not the same? Aren't you going to—"
"Chantilly," said Pompée, hastily, trembling at the thought of pursuing his journey with no other companion than the viscount.
That gentleman made an impatient gesture, and if it had been daylight, an angry flush might have been seen to mount to his cheeks.
"Why," cried Canolles, without seeming to notice the furious glance with which the viscount blasted poor Pompée,—"why, Chantilly lies directly in my way. I am going to Paris, or rather," he added with a laugh, "I have no business, my dear viscount, and I don't know where I am going. Are you going to Paris? so am I.Are you going to Lyons? I am going to Lyons. Are you going to Marseilles? I have long had a passionate desire to see Provence, and I am going to Marseilles. Are you going to Stenay, where his Majesty's troops are? let us go to Stenay together. Though born in the South, I have always had a predilection for the North."
"Monsieur," rejoined the viscount, in a determined tone, due doubtless to his irritation against Pompée, "you force me to remind you that I am travelling alone on private business of the utmost importance; and forgive me, but if you insist, you will compel me, to my great regret, to tell you that you annoy me."
Nothing less than the thought of the little glove, which lay hidden upon his breast between his shirt and doublet, would have restrained the baron, who was as quick-tempered and impulsive as any Gascon, from an outburst of wrath. However, he did succeed in controlling himself.
"Monsieur," he replied in a more serious tone, "I have never heard it said that the high-road belonged to one person more than to another. Indeed, if I mistake not, it is called the king's road, as an indication that all his Majesty's subjects have an equal right to use it. I am, therefore, upon the king's road with no purpose of annoying you; indeed I am here to make myself useful to you, for you are young, weak, and practically undefended. I did not suppose that I looked like a highway-man. But since you so imply, I must needs admit my unprepossessing appearance. Forgive my intrusion, monsieur. I have the honor of presenting my respects to you.Bon voyage!"
With that, Canolles, having saluted the viscount, rode to the other side of the road, followed by Castorin in the flesh and by Pompée in spirit.
Canolles acted throughout this scene with such perfect courtesy his gestures were so graceful, the brow which his broad felt hat shaded was so unruffled, and surrounded by such silky black hair, that the viscount was even less impressed by his words than by his lofty bearing. He had moved away, as we have said, followed by Castorin, sitting stiff and straight in his saddle. Pompée, who remained with the viscount, sighed in a heartrending way, fit to break the hearts of the stones in the road. Thereupon the viscount, having duly reflected, urged his horse forward, joined Canolles, who pretended not to see or hear him, and whispered in an almost inaudible voice,—
"Monsieur de Canolles!"
Canolles started and turned his head; a thrill of pleasure ran through his veins; it seemed to him as if all the music of the heavenly spheres were taking part in a divine concert for his benefit alone.
"Viscount!" said he.
"Listen, monsieur," continued the viscount, in a soft, sweet voice; "really I am distressed at the thought of being guilty of any discourtesy to one so courteous and obliging as yourself. Forgive my timidity, I pray you; I was brought up by relatives whose affection for me made them reluctant to let me out of their sight; I ask you once more, therefore, to forgive me; I have not intended to offend you, and I trust you will permit me to ride beside you, as a proof of our sincere reconciliation."
"Marry! that I will!" cried Canolles, "a hundred and a thousand times, yes! I bear no malice, viscount, and to prove it—"
He put out his hand, into which fell or slipped a little hand as soft and shrinking as a sparrow's claw.
During the rest of the night the baron talked incessantly. The viscount listened, and laughed now and then.
The two servants rode behind,—Pompée explaining to Castorin how the battle of Corbie was lost, when it might perfectly well have been won, if they had not neglected to summon him to the council of war held in the morning.
"But how did you get out of your affair with Monsieur d'Épernon?" said the viscount, as the first rays of daylight appeared.
"It was no difficult matter," Canolles replied; "according to what you told me, viscount, it was he who had business with me, not I with him; either he got tired of waiting for me and went his way, or he was obstinate about it and is waiting still."
"But what of Mademoiselle de Lartigues?" queried the viscount, with some hesitation.
"Mademoiselle de Lartigues cannot be at home with Monsieur d'Épernon, and at the Golden Calf with me, at one and the same time. We mustn't ask a woman to do the impossible."
"That is no answer, baron. I ask you how it is that you could bear to leave Mademoiselle de Lartigues, being so fond of her as you are."
Canolles gazed at the viscount with eyes which already saw too clearly, for it was quite light by this time, and there was no other shadow on the young man's face than that cast by his hat.
The baron felt a mad impulse to reply by speaking his thoughts; but the presence of Pompée and Castorin, and the viscount's serious expression held him back; moreover, he was not yet absolutely free from doubt.
"Suppose that I am mistaken, and that it should prove to be a man, despite the little glove and little hand; upon my soul, I never should dare look him in the face again!"
He took patience therefore and answered the viscount's question with one of those smiles which serve to answer any question.
They stopped at Barbézieux for breakfast and to breathe their horses. Canolles breakfasted with the viscount, and as they sat at table gazed admiringly at the hand whose perfumed envelope had caused him such lively emotion. Furthermore, the viscount was bound in common courtesy to remove his hat before taking his seat, and as he did so he disclosed such a wealth of lovely, soft hair that any other than a man in love, and consequently blind, would have been relieved of all uncertainty; but Canolles dreaded the awakening too keenly not to prolong the dream as much as possible. There was something fascinating to him in the viscount's disguise, which permitted him to indulge in a multitude of little familiarities which a more thorough acquaintance or a complete confession would have forbidden. He therefore said not a word to lead the viscount to think that his incognito was detected.
After breakfast they resumed their journey, and rode until dinner. Gradually, a feeling of weariness, which he found more and more difficulty in concealing, caused a haggard look to appear on the viscount's face, and a slight shivering of his whole body, of which Canolles in a friendly way asked him the cause. Thereupon Monsieur de Cambes would smile and pretend that the feeling had passed away, and even suggest quickening their pace; which Canolles refused to do, saying that they had a long distance still to travel, and that they must therefore spare their horses.
After dinner the viscount found some difficulty in rising. Canolles darted to his assistance.
"You need rest, my young friend," said he; "a continuousjourney like this would kill you before you finish the third stage. We will not ride to-night, but go to bed. I propose that you shall have a good night's sleep, and may I die if the best room in the inn is not given you!"
The viscount looked at Pompée with such an expression of terror that Canolles could not conquer his desire to laugh.
"When we undertake so long a journey," said Pompée, "we ought each to have a tent."
"Or one tent for two," observed Canolles, with the most natural air; "that would be quite enough."
The viscount shivered from head to foot.
The blow struck home, and Canolles saw that it did; out of the corner of his eye he noticed that the viscount made a sign to Pompée. Pompée went to his master's side, who said a few words to him in an undertone, and a moment later the old squire, muttering some excuse, rode on ahead and disappeared.
An hour and a half after this incident, which Canolles did not seek to have explained, as they rode into a considerable village the two travellers spied the squire standing in the doorway of a hostelry of decent appearance.
"Aha!" said Canolles, "it would seem that we are to pass the night here, eh, viscount?"
"Why, yes, baron, if you choose."
"Nonsense! it is for you to choose. As I told you I am travelling for pleasure, while you tell me that you are travelling on business. I'm afraid that you won't fare very well in this hovel."
"Oh! a night is soon passed."
They halted, and Pompée, more alert than Canolles, darted forward and took his master's stirrup; moreover,it occurred to Canolles that such an attention would be absurd from one man to another.
"Show me to my room at once," said the viscount. "In truth, you are right, Monsieur de Canolles," he continued, turning to his companion, "I am really extremely fatigued."
"Here it is, monsieur," said the hostess, throwing open the door of a good-sized room on the ground-floor, looking on the court-yard, but with bars at the windows, and nothing but the garret above.
"Where is mine, pray?" cried Canolles, casting his eyes cautiously at the door next the viscount's, and at the thin partition, which would have been very slender protection against a curiosity so thoroughly sharpened as his.
"Yours?" said the hostess. "Come this way, monsieur, and I'll take you to it."
Without apparently noticing Canolles' ill-humor, she led him to the farther end of an exterior corridor, lavishly supplied with doors, and separated from the viscount's room by the width of the court-yard.
The viscount stood at his door looking after them.
"Now," said Canolles, "I am sure of my fact; but I have acted like a fool. To put a bad face on the matter would ruin me irretrievably; I must assume my most gracious air."
He went out again upon the sort of gallery formed by the exterior corridor, and cried,—
"Good-night, my dear viscount; sleep well! you sadly need it. Shall I wake you in the morning? No? Very well, then, do you wake me when you choose. Good-night!"
"Good-night, baron!"
"By the way," continued Canolles, "is there nothingyou lack? shall I lend you Castorin to wait upon you?"
"Thanks! I have Pompée; he sleeps in the next room."
"A wise precaution; I will see that Castorin does the same. A prudent measure, eh, Pompée? One can't take too many precautions at an inn. Good-night, viscount!"
The viscount replied by echoing the compliment, and closed his door.
"Very good, very good, viscount," murmured Canolles; "to-morrow it will be my turn to engage quarters for the night, and I'll have my revenge. Aha! he pulls both curtains close at his window; he hangs up a cloth to intercept his shadow!Peste!a very modest youth is this little gentleman; but it's all the same. To-morrow."
Canolles entered his room grumbling, undressed in high dudgeon, went to sleep swearing, and dreamed that Nanon found the viscount's pearl-gray glove in his pocket.
The next morning Canolles was in even more jovial humor than on the preceding day; the Vicomte de Cambes too gave freer rein to his natural animation. Even the dignified Pompée became almost playful in describing his campaigns to Castorin. The whole morning passed in pleasant conversation.
At breakfast Canolles apologized for leaving the viscount; but he had, he said, a long letter to write to one of his friends who lived in the neighborhood, and he told him also that he intended to call upon another friend of his, whose house was situated three or four leagues beyond Poitiers, almost on the high-road. Canolles inquired about this last-named friend, whose name he mentioned to the inn-keeper, and was told that he would find his house just before reaching the village of Jaulnay, and could easily identify it by its two towers.
Thereupon, as Castorin was to leave the party to deliver the letter, and as Canolles too was to make a détour, the viscount was asked to decide where they should pass the night. He glanced at a little map which Pompée carried in a case, and suggested the village of Jaulnay. Canolles made no objection, and even carried his perfidy so far as to say aloud:—
"Pompée, if you are sent on before as quarter-master, as you were yesterday, secure a room for me, if possible, near your master's, so that we may talk together a little."
The crafty squire exchanged a glance with the viscountand smiled, fully determined to do nothing of the sort. Castorin, meanwhile, who had received his instructions beforehand, took the letter and was told to join the rest of the party at Jaulnay.
There was no danger of mistaking the inn, as Jaulnay could boast but one,—the Grand Charles-Martel.
The horses were saddled, and they set out. About five hundred yards beyond Poitiers, where they dined, Castorin took a cross-road to the right. They rode on for about two hours. At last they came to a house, which Canolles, from the description given him, recognized as his friend's. He pointed it out to the viscount, repeated his request to Pompée as to the location of his room, and took a cross-road to the left.
The viscount was entirely reassured. His manœuvre of the previous evening had been successful without a contest, and the whole day had passed without the slightest allusion to it. He no longer feared that Canolles would place any obstacle in the way of his wishes, and as soon as he saw in the baron nothing more than a kindly, jovial, witty travelling companion, he desired nothing better than to finish the journey in his company. And so, whether because the viscount deemed it a useless precaution, or because he did not wish to part company with his squire, and remain alone in the high-road, Pompée was not even sent on ahead.
They reached the village at nightfall; the rain was falling in torrents. As good luck would have it, there was a vacant room with a good fire. The viscount, who was in haste to change his clothes, took it, and sent Pompée to engage a room for Canolles.
"It is already done," said Pompée, the selfish, who was beyond measure anxious to go to bed himself; "the hostess has agreed to look out for him."
"'T is well. My toilet-case?"
"Here it is."
"And my bottles?"
"Here they are."
"Thanks. Where do you sleep, Pompée?"
"At the end of the corridor."
"Suppose I need you?"
"Here is a bell; the hostess will come—"
"That will do. The door has a good lock, has it not?"
"Monsieur can see for himself."
"There are no bolts!"
"No, but there's a stout lock."
"Good; I will lock myself in. There's no other entrance?"
"None that I know of."
Pompée took the candle and made the circuit of the room.
"See if the shutters are secure."
"They are all hooked."
"Very well. You may go, Pompée."
Pompée went out, and the viscount turned the key in the lock.
An hour later, Castorin, who had arrived first at the inn, and was quartered near Pompée, without his knowledge, left his room on tiptoe, and opened the door to admit Canolles.
Canolles, with beating heart, glided into the inn, and leaving Castorin to secure the door, inquired the location of the viscount's room and went upstairs.
The viscount was just about to retire when he heard footsteps in the corridor.
The viscount, as we have seen, was very timid; the footsteps startled him, and he listened with all his ears?
The footsteps stopped at his door. An instant later some one knocked.
"Who's there?" inquired a voice, with such a terrified accent, that Canolles could not have recognized it, had he not already had occasion to study all its variations.
"I!" said Canolles.
"What! you?" rejoined the voice, passing from terror to dismay.
"Yes. Fancy, viscount, that there's not a single unoccupied room in the inn. Your idiot of a Pompée didn't think of me. Not another inn in the whole village—and as your room has two beds—"
The viscount glanced in dismay at the two twin beds standing side by side in an alcove, and separated only by a table.
"Well, do you understand?" continued Canolles. "I claim one of them. Open the door quickly, I beg, for I am dead with cold—"
At that there was a great commotion inside the room, the rustling of clothes and hurried steps.
"Yes, yes, baron," said the viscount's voice, more dismayed than ever, "yes, I am coming, I—"
"I am waiting. But in pity's name make haste, dear friend, if you don't wish to find me frozen stiff."
"Forgive me; but I was asleep, you see—"
"What! I thought I saw a light."
"No, you were mistaken."
And the light was at once extinguished. Canolles made no complaint.
"I am here—I can't find the door," the viscount continued.
"I should think not," said Canolles. "I hear your voice at the other end of the room. This way, this way—"
"Oh! I am looking for the bell to call Pompée."
"Pompée is at the other end of the corridor, and will not hear you. I tried to wake him to find out something, but 't was impossible. He is sleeping like the deaf idiot he is."
"Then I will call the hostess."
"Nonsense! the hostess has given up her bed to one of her guests, and has gone to the attic to sleep. So no one will come, my dear friend. After all, why call anybody? I need no assistance."
"But I—"
"Do you open the door, and I will thank you. I will feel my way to the bed, turn in, and that's the whole of it. Open the door, I beg."
"But there must be other rooms," said the viscount, in despair, "even if they are without beds. It's impossible that there are no other rooms. Let us call and inquire."
"But it's after half-past ten, my dear viscount. You will rouse the whole establishment. They will think the house is on fire. The result would be to keep everybody awake all night, and I am dying for want of sleep."